[Re-posted from 5/20/2009]
When I consider what Satan has stolen from the church, it makes my blood boil. So many Christians are living defeated lives, wondering why God isn't helping them.
Satan has deceived us into laying down the most powerful weapons available to us, and in doing so has crippled us from our calling to reign in life. When you remove these from the Christian's arsenal, it's no wonder we are defeated.
Praise
"It's not really necessary, just praise God if you feel like it. It's optional."
NO...praise is a powerful weapon. Read Psalms 149 and you'll see that it is one of the weapons used to bind strong enemies!
If you have trouble getting started, get some praise music and sing along. Or, read one the Psalms [145 to 150 in particular] out loud, personalizing it as you go.
Praying in the Spirit
"That's not for today. Only weirdos do it. You can if you want, but it's not necessary."
NO...praying in the Spirit is how we pray when we don't know how. It is how the Holy Spirit intercedes for us according to the will of God. [Romans 8:26,27]
Praying in the Spirit builds us up in our most holy FAITH! [Jude 1:20]
Praying in the Spirit speaks mysteries to God [1 Corinthians 14:2] and edifies us—builds up, restores, repairs, establishes...promotes growth in Christian wisdom, affection grace and virtue! [1 Corinthians 14:4]
Sounds good to me! Ask God to be baptized in His Holy Spirit and start praying. If words come that don't sound like your own native language, keep going! It might be slow at first, and you'll have to fight the natural inclination to stop because it seems like you're making it up, but KEEP GOING!
It is His will for you.
Meditation/Imagination/Visualization
"That's not for Christians. That's New Age, Buddhism—you'd better watch out or you'll open yourself up to evil spirits. It's evil."
NO...Joshua 1;8 says 'This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.'
Most of the prophets 'saw' the word from the Law—we are told to look at the unseen. [2 Corinthians 4:18] What would that include? Everything that the Word says is ours--angelic protections, wealth, health, favor, etc.
David talks about meditating on God's Word, His glorious works, etc throughout the Psalms--God called him a 'man after My heart.' [Acts 13:22]
It is one of the primary tools for renewing your mind and transforming your life.
The Word
"You don't have to read the Bible every day. Any inspirational book will do. It's not that important."
NO...Jesus IS the Word [John 1:14] and we are the Word multiplied [Acts 12:24]
The Word is the other weapon mentioned in Psalm 149, and is described in the Ephesians and Revelations as the 'sword of the Spirit.' His word is settled forever [Psalm 119:89] and will not return to Him without accomplishing His desire [Isaiah 55:11].
Jesus said a branch cut off from the vine is dead--when we're cut off from the Word, we're dead, too. [John 15:4-8]
Wealth
"Christians aren't supposed to be wealthy. It's okay to have some things, but watch that you don't have too much. It's not God's will."
NO...read the Bible. If there are more verses on another topic, I don't know what it is. It is absolutely the will of God that His people be blessed in every area, including the financial. All things belong to us already [1 Corinthians 3:22,23], richly to enjoy [1 Timothy 6:17].
Wealth accompanies wisdom [Proverbs 3:16] and Jesus became to us wisdom [1 Corinthians 1:30]. We are not the poor, we are rich, and Satan has stolen our God-given wealth. We have the blessing of Abraham, and Satan is trying to make sure we never find out.
Plus, you're not going to help anyone if you're just barely getting by. The greatest philanthropists in the world are the richest men and women.
Healing/Long Life
"It's not always God's will to heal. He might want you to suffer to teach you something. He might want to take you home early. He might get glory from your sickness. Remember Paul's thorn."
[yikes]
NO...Read the Bible. Jesus already bore our sicknesses and pains, and by His stripes WE WERE HEALED [Isaiah 53:4, 1 Peter 2:24]. We are not the sick, we are the healed and Satan is trying to steal our health!
Proverbs 3:16 says long life is in Wisdom's right hand, and Psalm 91:16 says that He will satisfy us with long life!
Jesus healed everyone who asked--the only people He could not heal were those from His home town, because they didn't believe in Him. And it's clear that it was His desire to heal them--their unbelief stopped His power. [Matthew 13:58]
And Paul's thorn was a messenger of Satan...a demonic being, not a sickness. [2 Corinthians 12:7]
This is another subject on which there are many scriptures. Get out the book and dig. Sick people can't do anything for the Kingdom, either.
Protection
"Well, you never know what's going to happen. The accident may have been God's will. You shouldn't go [fill in the blank] because it's too dangerous. I'm afraid to fly. I'm terrified when my kids are driving at night."
NO...read Psalm 91, Isaiah 54:17, Psalms 23, 32, 34, 68 [ok, go ahead, read them all]. The angel(s) are there, in that unseen realm--see them, and believe. [2 Kings 6:17]
Blessings On Our Children
Well, we don’t know why God took your baby. He may have needed a flower for His garden.
Don’t even get me started. I’m so tired of hearing about children of Christian parents dying young. I have pages and pages of promises for the offspring of the righteous, and none contain any of the BS excuses I hear about God’s will to kill 9 or 17 year olds.
I believe this is one of the greatest deceptions foisted on the church, specifically designed to do the most damage to individuals and to the corporate body as well.
I sat in a packed out memorial service for a 22 year old friend of my son’s and heard the minister say “We don’t know why God let this happen…”
I wanted to scream “Tell the truth! These parents have another son! We all have children! Teach us to protect them with the Word of God!” But I didn’t, being the chicken that I am. And thousands of people went home that day believing that God might want to kill their kids, too.
Understanding
"You can't ever know what God's will is. Eye has not seen, nor ear heard..."
[double yikes]
This is one of my pet peeves. Why is it that only the first part of that verse is quoted, usually at funerals, to justify why we can't understand why God [fill in the tragedy].
READ THE BIBLE!!! 1 Corinthians 2:9 is quoting Isaiah 64...but the very next verse says 'For to us God revealed them through the Spirit...' Verse 12 goes on to say 'Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit Who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God...'
1 John 2 says we have an anointing which teaches us all things! Jesus has become to us wisdom from God! [1 Corinthians 1:30]
This deception goes hand in hand with the one about praying in the Spirit and the Word. These are the principle ways to access the mind of Christ, which is ours already [1 Corinthians 2:16]
The answer, by the way, re: why God is [fill in the tragedy] is that He's not..."The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." [John 10:10] These words are in red, by the way...an alternate translation reads "...and have abundance."
More...
There is so much more to be written on this topic. Watch for it...
