"It's not enough to beg, you have to demand what you want from God!"
"God wants us to be healthy and wealthy!"
"You give God permission to do what He wants!"
"Speak what you will into existence!"
"You can get anything you want in Jesus' name if you name it and claim it!"
"Take the Kingdom by force!"
God is good. God is our provider. He knows exactly what we need and has counted all the hairs of our head. But it is easy to misinterpret this and think that we can ask of God whatever we want. This is sort of what happened recently. I had an encounter with a Name-it-Claim-it proponent, and though he didn't necessarily said all the things I just posted above (he said some of them), the mentality that you can just speak whatever you desire and God will grant it was definitely there.
I can never quite understand how this mentality develops in some professing Christians. Yes, God will provide for our needs and will give us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4), and yes, we need to be persistent in praying and asking God for our daily bread (Matthew 6:11). But know this: God is NOT obligated to give you a new car or a paycheck for ten thousand dollars. God will give us riches according to the kind intentions of His will. What about Job? God gave him riches, and God allowed Satan to take them away from him. It all took place according to His plan, and He does make all things work for good in the end (Romans 8:28). His ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9), so we must not always expect that what we want is what God will provide to us. After all, is it not a mark of faith that we seek His will rather than that of our own carnal desires?
And one last thing: Jesus said that He has overcome the world, and He has promised that we will overcome the world with Him. He never promised though that this overcoming of the world would come in the form of great health and wealth. Our victory in Him comes from our justification and forgiveness from our sins, the inward renewal of the Spirit that comes after, and the persevering grace that keeps us secure in Him forevermore. Do not seek after this "health and wealth" gospel, for it is another gospel, one that is bound to bring on one the anathema pronounced by Paul (Galatians 1:8-9). Be content with what God provided, for as the apostle has also written:
"God wants us to be healthy and wealthy!"
"You give God permission to do what He wants!"
"Speak what you will into existence!"
"You can get anything you want in Jesus' name if you name it and claim it!"
"Take the Kingdom by force!"
God is good. God is our provider. He knows exactly what we need and has counted all the hairs of our head. But it is easy to misinterpret this and think that we can ask of God whatever we want. This is sort of what happened recently. I had an encounter with a Name-it-Claim-it proponent, and though he didn't necessarily said all the things I just posted above (he said some of them), the mentality that you can just speak whatever you desire and God will grant it was definitely there.
I can never quite understand how this mentality develops in some professing Christians. Yes, God will provide for our needs and will give us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4), and yes, we need to be persistent in praying and asking God for our daily bread (Matthew 6:11). But know this: God is NOT obligated to give you a new car or a paycheck for ten thousand dollars. God will give us riches according to the kind intentions of His will. What about Job? God gave him riches, and God allowed Satan to take them away from him. It all took place according to His plan, and He does make all things work for good in the end (Romans 8:28). His ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9), so we must not always expect that what we want is what God will provide to us. After all, is it not a mark of faith that we seek His will rather than that of our own carnal desires?
And one last thing: Jesus said that He has overcome the world, and He has promised that we will overcome the world with Him. He never promised though that this overcoming of the world would come in the form of great health and wealth. Our victory in Him comes from our justification and forgiveness from our sins, the inward renewal of the Spirit that comes after, and the persevering grace that keeps us secure in Him forevermore. Do not seek after this "health and wealth" gospel, for it is another gospel, one that is bound to bring on one the anathema pronounced by Paul (Galatians 1:8-9). Be content with what God provided, for as the apostle has also written:
But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
(1 Timothy 6:6-10)
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