I've got some startling news for you...God is as big as you think He is, at least in your life. That's what Jesus meant when He told people "By your faith be it done unto you."
If you think healing has passed away, then you're not going to get healed. If you think it might be His will for you to get healed, but it might be His will for you to suffer, to teach you [whatever]...then you're probably not going to get it, either.
If you think God is glorified in your lack, then you will live in lack all the days of your lives, despite the Bible's many verses to the contrary. If you think you can have some things, but shouldn't expect or want too much, then that's what you'll get, as well.
His Will
Ah, yes...there's the question of His Will.
I've got another news flash for you. His Word is His will. Jesus is His will. Everything Jesus bore on the cross, He bore for you so you wouldn't have to. His will is that we live on earth as He lives in heaven...remember the Lord's Prayer? "Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
You see, God doesn't have two standards...one for heaven, another for earth. When Jesus talked about binding and loosing in earth what was already bound or loosed in heaven, the actual Greek words are allowing and forbidding. Yes, we allow or forbid in the earth, and it is already accomplished in heaven. Another quantum brain twister!
Soul Prosperity
I think His will is pretty much summed up in 3 John 2: 'Beloved [yes, that's us], I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.' What does that mean, exactly?
We are triune beings, just like God...created in His image, actually. We are a spirit, we have a soul, and we live in a body. The soul is everything except our spirit and our body--your mind, your will and your emotions.
Our spirit has been reborn and we are now one Spirit with the Lord [1 Corinthians 6:17]. Our body is the temple of God, of the Holy Spirit [I Corinthians 3:16, 6:19]. Part of the work of the Holy Spirit is to give life to your mortal body! [Romans 8:11]
Your mind, however, must be renewed to think like God thinks, according to the Word and the anointing which teaches you all things [1 John 2:20,27]. David often talked to his soul, telling it what to believe...a good practice, I think, which helps to rein in wild, unruly thoughts. Take charge of your thoughts--make them serve you, don't serve them!
We can see from the Word that prosperity and health is God's will for us, and that it comes through the soul. That's why Romans 12:2 tells us to '...be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect..' I think Paul emphasized that God's will is good because he knew the deceiver would work through religious doctrines to tell us that His will was sickness, tragedy and poverty. Or worse, it might be His will--then again, it might not be--leaving us with the impression that God is capricious and cannot be trusted. Since there is no Bible proof that these things exist in heaven, I think we can be sure that they are not the will of God in the earth.
And don't forget Proverbs 23:7...'For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.' [NKJ]
God is Sovereign
Many say "But God is sovereign, He is in charge. Everything will work out the way He wants it to--whatever will be, will be."
Yes, God is sovereign, and what He did with that sovereignty is to give us authority in the earth. He told us to heal the sick, to cast out demons...He told us to talk to trees and mountains and they would obey us. We are to reign in life, through the One, Christ Jesus [Romans 5:17] and are to administer the Kingdom on the earth [Ephesians 1:10] This is why we are to be strengthened with all power in our inner man [Colossians 1:11]--so that we can do our jobs!
Proverbs 18:21 says 'The power [Hebrew yad, or hand] of life and death is in the tongue' [see Yad] which clearly puts the ball in our court. God told Israel "See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity...I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. [and here' the big hint...] So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants..." [Deuteronomy 30:15, 19]
A quick aside here...notice how He lumps life, prosperity and blessing together, as well as death, adversity and the curse. Interesting...then He tells them 'Pick life, you dummies!' [I'm paraphrasing here, but you get the point.]
How we live is clearly our choice. Yes, God is sovereign, but He chose to give us wills to direct our lives [see The Power of Purpose and The Power of Purpose Revisited].
My Dad is Bigger Than Your Dad
So we see that God has given us free will to choose either blessing or cursing, and we choose it with our mouths.
How much can we choose? How big is your God?
We know from several verses that He has already given us all things [2 Corinthians 1;20; 1 Corinthians 3; 22,23; 1 Timothy 6:17; Romans 8:32] and we are told that all things are possible to him who believes. The sky is the limit! Nothing is impossible with Him!
He has already given us all things, and told us that nothing is impossible for us...how? Because He said so, and His Word is settled forever! Because His word does not return to Him without accomplishing what He desires [Isaiah 55:11]. Because He lives within us to back His promises...'Now to Him Who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us...' [Ephesians 3:20]
Another aside...Isaiah 5:11 says that His word is His desire. So His desire is that we walk in love, in peace, in wholeness and abundance, with angels guarding us!
Anyway...when Jesus explained that we could move mountains [Mark 11:22-24] He prefaced it by saying "Have faith in God." Why? Because God is backing us with His power!
God is limited by our beliefs of what He will and will not do. Psalm 78:41 says Israel pained, or limited God! They could not enter the Promised Land because of their unbelief! [Hebrews 3:16-19] The Promised Land was God's idea...total abundance! But they limited Him by their unbelief and did not enter His best will for them...it was not until those with the slave mentality passed away that He could finally bring them into His rest. And He did it by a man who had believed Him all along--Joshua!
When Jesus went to His hometown, '...He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.' [Matthew 13:58] The Word teaches that it is we who limit God...He has already given us all things richly to enjoy!
Change your ideas about your Heavenly Father. See Him as unlimited in His grace toward you, and realize that it is only your beliefs that limit His work and provision in your life.
