Sunday, March 10, 2013

Death and Life Rest In. . . (Part 8)


So, in the story of Job, we have four tragic events taking place on the same day, each included the lost of human life and each completely orchestrated by Satan himself.  We see Satan’s ability to control those who are apparently loyal to him and operate at his bidding.  We see that he used the Sebeans and the Chaldeans, both a band of nomadic marauders, for his purposes and to carry out his plan.

So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote (struck) Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown (Job 2:7).

He even struck Job with sore boils from the sole of his feet to the top of his head.

In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them (II Corinthians 4:4).

Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince (ruler) of this world be cast out (John 12:31).

Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince (ruler) of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me (John 14:30).

Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course (age) of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2).

Satan, who controls the world’s system, is the god of this world, the prince of this world, and the prince of the power of the air.

And the devil, taking him up into a high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said unto him, All this power (authority) will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it (Luke 4:5-6).

He has authority over the world system, which was delivered to him by Adam.

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part (shared) of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;  and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage (slavery) (Hebrews 2:14-15).

And he has the power of death.  Wait one minute here.  What did that say about death?  Who has the power of death?  Let us look at this passage again just to make sure we interpreted correctly.  The passage says that since we are flesh and blood, he likewise took part of the same so that through his death he might render powerless him who had the power of and over death, that being the devil.  And it is through his death on the cross, that those who have been subjected to a lifetime of bondage were freed from their fear of death.

Wow, we really did read that right the first time.  It is the devil that has the power of death, not God.  All this time, we have been blaming God for what the devil controls and for those things that the devil has been doing.

Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death (I Corinthians 15:24-26).

So, when the end comes, the son will deliver up the kingdom to God the Father, once the son has overthrown all rule, all authority and power.  According to this passage, the son must reign as king until he has put all of his enemies under his feet.  The last enemy to be rendered powerless is death.  If death be an enemy of the son, then why would death not be an enemy of the Father as well?

He that committeth (practices) sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning.  For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil (I John 3:8).

It would seem pointless for the son of God to show up on the scene render powerless the works of the devil and God be the one who has the power of death, which is according to scripture, an enemy of the son.  But this has been one of Satan’s greatest deceptions, one that started with a conversation between a women and a serpent in a garden.  Since that time, Satan has continually tried to convince man that God is hiding something from him, restricting him, or controlling him.  Since that time, Satan has not changed his method of operation.  He continues to cast doubt on God’s word by blinding man’s ability to truly see God.  As we stated in Part 5 of this series, Satan’s only purpose has been to deceive the world.  He comes but for one purpose, to steal, and to kill, and to destroy (John 10:10) and he uses deception to accomplish his goal.  In other words, he cannot take us out.

But the really sad part, the part that needs to change, is the part where we continue to blame God for all the bad things that happen to us.  Because of one statement by an individual and its misapplication, the statement has been accepted as truth.  It has become a staple in the body of Christ and the go-to answer whenever a reason is needed for a tragic event and an alternative cannot be found.  Because Job made the statement, the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord, many have a false sense of who God is.  The only truth this statement has is that fact that Job was the one who actually said it; this statement is not a statement of truth.

Now that you know the truth, it is our hope that you will help to spread that truth.  We know that it is very difficult to overcome traditional doctrine and tradition teachings, but if this knowledge can help one person, then it will be worth the effort.  Think of the impact this knowledge could make in the kingdom of God.  No longer will the children of God be afraid of the something that is not of God and something that truly has been destroyed.  No longer will the one who has the power of death be able to convince them that God is the one who has caused their pain.  No longer will God’s children be destroyed for a lack of knowledge, a lack that has kept so many in bondage their entire lifetime.  By changing one, we change others, but it will take a kingdom effort to make this happen.  While he who has the power of death has been rendered powerless, his ability to deceive is still in full force.

We know that this is a little off topic, but it seems to be most appropriate to mention this now.  We need to spread the message that the God does not give us something and then take that something away.  We need to spread the word that it is not God who takes away our loved ones or calls them home.  We need to spread the word that God is the giver of life and not the taker of life.  We need to spread the word that God’s gifts and calling are never taken back nor does he go back on his promises.  We need to spread the truth and stop spreading the untruths.  We need to let people know the truth about Satan and his abilities.

But we must remember that all Satan can do is tempt us.  He cannot take us out.  He has to get us to yield to his temptation in order to take us out.  Satan will feed thoughts into our mind and then tempt us with those same thoughts.  He has to get us to agree with or act upon those thoughts in order to take us out.  Satan will come to cast doubt on the word of God.  Satan knows who and what we are but he tries to get us to doubt who and what we are.  This is why we need to know who we are, what we have, what we can do, and what we are to believe.  He is out to take us out and he does not play fair.  Satan cannot read our mind but he does plant thoughts in our mind, hoping we will speak our mind, so he then can take control us.  When we speak something, we give life to those words that we speak and we set that something in motion, either for us or against us.

This is what happened to Job.  He allowed Satan to impact his life through a doorway that was opened according to this principle, speak it, believe it, get it.  Whosoever shall say (speak it), believing that those things which he says shall come to pass (believe it), shall have whatsoever he says (get it; be it positive or negative).  Job allowed Satan to impact his life through the doorway he opened that mirrored this very principle.  By violating this principle, Job unknowingly created an opportunity for Satan to enter in and do what he does best, steal, kill, and destroy.  Remember, Satan patrols the earth listening for opportunities so that he can devour us.  He waits for something negative, like a negative confession, so he can act upon it.  He waits because this is how the system, the order of things has been designed by God.

For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith (Mark 11:23).

God has set this principle forth.  Be it positive or negative, what we speak shall come to pass when we believe that which we say.  The whole system has been ordered not to do anything until something is said, an announcement is made, or some type of command is given.  Ordered not to do anything until we activate it, until we say it with our mouth, therefore Satan and his crew must also wait to see what we are going to say before they can do anything.

I call heaven and earth to record (as witnesses) this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live (Deuteronomy 30:19).

Satan has to wait until the system is activated.  With our mouth, we activate the system.  With our mouth, we make the choice.  With our mouth, we make the choice between life and death.  With our mouth, we make the choice to operate under the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus or law of sin and death (Romans 8:2).  Death and life rest in the power of the tongue.

We have become very proficient at giving Satan business and less proficient at giving God business.  Most of our confessions are negative one and are very seldom positive.  Although we seldom pay any attention to what we say, it does not change the principle, it does not change how the system operates.  Sayings like, I am sick and tired of this; that would scare me to death; or even I would just die if have become a part of our everyday language.  Most of the time what we say is just an innocent statement, a cute little saying, or an old cliché.  The system does not know that you are just joking or as you might say, running off at the mouth.  The system is activated by our spoken word.  Those waiting for the opportunity to act upon the things that we say are not interested in playing fair.  They exist just to take us out.  The more time we spend doing something, the more proficient we become at doing it.  The more things we speak (positive or negative; good or bad), the faster these things will come our way.  We speak our fears and think nothing about.  We complain believing it has no affect on anything.  Job in this case spoke of his greatest fear, that one thing that he dreaded the most.  He said the thing that he greatly feared had come on him and that which he was afraid of had come to him (Job 3:25).  Job spoke a negative confession, believed that negative confession, and received that negative confession which he believed.

When there is are negative confession like I am sick and tired of this; that would scare me to death; or even I would just die if, we seldom notice when they come true.  We will say we are sick and tired of something.  Why do we use two negative confessions in the same statement?  Not only are we going to be sick, we are going to be tired at the same time.  And, when we get sick and tired, we will usually attribute it to something that is going around.  We never place the blame where it truly belongs.  We will say something that we have to do would scare us to death but we seldom notice when it comes true.  And when we are scared to death, others will attribute it to something else.  The tragedy of death will override any prior comments.  The same applies to comment made when using I would just die if.  Again, the tragedy of death will override any prior comments.

Here is a challenge for you.  See how many negative confession you make in your daily conversations.  Note how many negative confession your friends make in your conversations with them.  See how many of them will say, especially during this time of the year, I believe I am getting or I am trying to catch something.  Take note of how many actually get sick.  You will know they were sick because they will tell you they were sick.  Usually they will respond with a statement like, I told you I thought I was catching something or I told you I was going to get sick.  It will amaze you if you just give an ear to it. (to be continued).

Enjoy your blessings - KW


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