November 24, 2010
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Why is there sickness? by Pastor Don
After John’s testimony, Pastor Don wanted to go over some passages that may cause people challenges. This teaching is from Sept. 10, 2010
Pastor Don told us that if people speak negative words over you, you can begin to accept them, and that can cause a great heartache. We can get sold into slavery to sin.
Romans 7:14-25 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Lamentations 3:37-38 Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, when the Lord has not commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that woe and well-being proceed?
We make a mistake if we assume that God can only speak good for us. That is His desire, that He can bless us, but if we test God, and do not obey Him, we get out from underneath His blessing and leave ourselves open to pain and hurt.
Lamentations 3:39-42 Why should a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the LORD; let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven. We have transgressed and rebelled; You have not pardoned.
We know that we are receiving consequences for our sins but we can turn back and repent, and receive forgiveness for our sins. We can pray for a crop failure, but there are some things that we may still have to face even after God has forgiven us. There are natural consequences to our actions. For example, if you rob a bank you may have to serve jail time, even if God forgives your for stealing.
Lamentations 3:43 You have covered Yourself with anger and pursued us; You have slain and not pitied.
Unless we repent there are consequences for our sins. If a person makes a declaration of faith and they are still in sin, God withholds His hand of protection until the person receives the just punishment for their sins. God can punish by commission, or withhold His covering.
In the realm of the natural some are spiritual babies, others are more mature. We will reap what we sow. But in the spiritual realm satan tries to get authority in a person’s life by attacking God’s children. He does that by playing on weakness and areas we have left open to satan through sin.
In the reality of life, most people are facing their challenges without the anointing of God. Those who are outside of God’s covering are leaving themselves open to diseases and oppression.
When the Israelites were in the wilderness for 40 years there was no sickness, their shoes did not wear out, nor did their clothes. At that point they were under God’s protection. When they entered the Promised Land, they became accustomed to a good lifestyle and ceased to place God first, so they stepped outside of God’s covering and sickness came back on them.
If we won’t come to God on our own, He will use the weakness that satan puts on us to draw us back to Him, helping us to become overcomers.
How we come back to God is dependent on Him. We make a choice to either do God’s will or not. Saul/Paul was out of God’s will when he was attacking Christians, and was blinded, until he came to his senses and realized that God did not want him attacking Christians.
No matter how sick we are, it is not a problem for God to heal us. We walk around in error saying, “If God wants to heal me, He will, if not, it is the cross I have to bear.” God’s will is to heal you, ALWAYS. We fall into religious stupidity when we feel that God wants to use our limps for his ministry. Joni Erickson Tada ministers from her wheelchair, and is dealing currently with cancer. She does have an effective ministry but can you imagine how God could be glorified if she got healed and got out of that wheelchair? God would get far more glory from her healing than he gets from her staying in that chair. I know this sounds harsh, but God’s heart is not to keep his people sick and incapacitated.
Romans 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.
We became sold under sin when we were under the Law.
Romans 7: 8-9 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.
Below the age of accountability, a child is without sin. If a two year old reacts to his situation by striking out, or talking when adults are talking, we realize that that child does not know the right way to behave and is not able to understand what the proper behavior is. As the child grows older, what was acceptable when the child was 2, is not acceptable for a teenager. The teenager has an understanding of the law and is held accountable to the law.
Up until Adam and Eve chose to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, man was without sin. Once knowledge of good and evil came in, then man was under the law of sin. They committed a willful act of disobedience. Knowing is the gateway to all sin. It is: I want to know vs faith.
We became sold out to sin. Eve said, “I want to know.”
Because Zechariah questioned the angel, wanting to know, he was mute for nine months until the birth of his son, John the Baptist.
Why is there sickness, death and disease? These come from the devil, but God permits sickness to come on us when we are knuckleheads. We take our own knowledge and explain away God’s simple answer to disease: SIN.
If God said it, I believe it and that settles it.
Pursue the Word of God until we know the will of God. Stop debating God, and come in agreement with His Word.
There is the prophetic word and the written Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must agree. We were sold into sin. The words spoken to us by our parents can bring us into slavery. We are in a process of learning to get out from the bondage we are in. There is untold potential in us. God gives us the ability to choose.
1. We can choose dominion over slavery, choosing to believe God’s Word over the lies of satan.
2. By faith I refuse to be ill. I don’t have to wait until God gets us back to the Garden. I don’t need to know why what is happening to me is happening, I just need to focus on God, by faith, and speak the truth of God’s Word.
We need to watch what we say for we can talk ourselves out of God’s blessing and plan for our life.
I pray this blesses you.
Heather
