THE GOOD NEWS OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS THAT THE POOR CAN BECOME RICH BECAUSE OF GRACE: GRACE IS GOD’S RICHES AT CHRIST’S EXPENSE
Matthew 5:3 ” Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Luke 6: 20 Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said: ” Blessed are you poor, For yours is the kingdom of God.
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ “
16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.
17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
BUT IT’S A HOGWASH TO SAY THAT CHRIST LIKENESS IS FORMED BY TRIALS AND TRIBULATION.
CHRIST LIKENESS IS FORMED BY THE SUPPLY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. MORE HOLY SPIRIT MORE CHRIST LIKENESS AND MORE MIRACLES, MORE HEALING, MORE DELIVERANCE, MORE PROSPERITY AND MORE OF EVERYTHING GOOD!
APOSTLE PAUL WAS APPOINTED TO SUFFER IN HIS MINISTRY BECAUSE HE WAS STUPID AND MURDERED INNOCENT CHRISTIANS. AS A RESULT HE REAPED WHAT HE HAD SOWED.
DEMONIC IDIOTS POINT OUT THAT THEY ARE SUFFERING LIKE JOB WHO WAS ATTACKED BY THE DEVIL BUT THEY CAN NEVER SAY THEY WERE HEALED, DELIVERED, BLESSED AND PROSPERED LIKE JOB BECAUSE THEY ARE OFF THE WALL.
AND IF SUFFERING PRODUCED CHRIST LIKENESS THAN ALL THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE SUFFERED SINCE ADAM AND EVE SINNED SHOULD BE CHRIST LIKE!
THE FACT OF LIFE IS THAT IF YOU GRIEVE AND IGNORE THE HOLY SPIRIT AS A CHRISTIAN YOUR TRIALS AND TRIBULATION ARE A WASTE OF TIME.
SO IN REALITY MANY CHRISTIANS SUFFER NEEDLESSLY AND THE CHARACTER OF CHRIST IS NOT FORMED IN THEM.
AND I KNOW THIS AS A FACT FROM MANY CHRISTIANS WHO HAVE NEVER GOT OUT OF THE WILDERNESS OF THEIR OWN MAKING AND HAVE WANDERED AROUND THE SAME MOUNTAIN FOR FORTY YEARS
Psalms 78:40 How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert!
Psalms 95:10 For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.’
Isaiah 63:10 But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; So He turned Himself against them as an enemy, And He fought against them
Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
IN OTHER WORDS IT’S IMPORTANT TO WALK IN THE SPIRIT AND NOT IN THE FLESH AS A CHRISTIAN AS THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS A BY PRODUCT OF THE SPIRIT AND NOT OF THE FLESH – AND THOSE WHO WALK IN THE FLESH WILL NOT GO TO HEAVEN – GALATIANS 5:
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
When I used to be a Baptist I believed that nonsense that suffering is part of God’s plan as per Hebrews 5:8-9 and Romans 8:17.
Until I became Full Gospel and when I was suffering I would run to the Lord and get healed. Now assuming suffering is the will of God have come these so called believers never ask God to afflict them like He afflicted Job and take away their health and their wealth like He did to Job so that they could glorify God in their suffering and produce the character of Christ? And instead of asking for more sickness and poverty they run to the doctor to get healed and to the investment banker to get more money?
Suffering can never be God’s direct plan otherwise people would be sick continually and God would not heal them. And suffering came as a result when sin and the devil entered the picture and people did things by the flesh rather than by the Spirit. Hence the bible says that Jesus learned Obedience by the things He suffered Hebrews 5:5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: ” You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.”
6 As He also says in another place: “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek”;
7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear,
8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.
9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,
Some foolish ones quote Romans 8:16 (The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. as the basis the physical suffering being God’s will)
Well the suffering of Romans 8:17 is not physical or mental but rather emotional that we cannot do or be all that we want to be or do due to the limitations of our physical body as well as time, space and lack of wealth as we really are not manifested as the sons of God. And that is why Paul talks about groanings not physical sickness 9 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
THE SUFFERINGS OF JOB WERE PHYSICAL, MENTAL, EMOTIONAL AND FINANCIAL WHICH HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HEBREWS 5: OR ROMANS 8: NEITHER OF WHICH PRODUCED THE CHARACTER OF CHRIST. AND NONE THE SUFFERING OF EVANGELICALS TODAY PRODUCE THE CHARACTER OF CHRIST OR THEY WOULD ACT AND DO WHAT JESUS DID IN ACTS 10:38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
IF SUFFERING AS DEFINED BY DECEIVED EVANGELICALS WAS GOD’S WILL GOD WOULD NEVER SAY IN HIS WORD:
Psalms 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.
Psalms 103: FORGET NOT ALL HIS BENEFITS
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:
3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The LORD executes righteousness And justice for all who are oppressed.
JUST BECAUSE PROSPERITY PREACHERS SEEM ONE SIDED DOESN’T CHANGE THE FACT THAT GOD’S PROMISES ARE ALSO PHYSICAL AND FINANCIAL NOT JUST SPIRITUAL! A FACT THAT JOB WHO WAS PHYSICALLY HEALED AND FINANCIAL BLESSED COULD TESTIFY AND REJOICE IN!
THE BIBLE CLEARLY TELLS US THAT WHAT GOD DID FOR JOB HE WANTS TO DO FOR ALL – Job 42
10 And the LORD restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.
11 Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been his acquaintances before, came to him and ate food with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversity that the LORD had brought upon him. Each one gave him a piece of silver and each a ring of gold.
12 Now the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys.
13 He also had seven sons and three daughters.
14 And he called the name of the first Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-Happuch.
15 In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.
16 After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations.
17 So Job died, old and full of days.
James 5:11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord — that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
Yes The New Covenant gives us hundreds of promises because Jesus took our curses on the cross…
Galatians 3:
12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.
13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
The blessings of Abraham is shown in Deut. 28 along side the curses that Jesus redeemed us from…
1 “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.
2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:
3 “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.
4 “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.
5 “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
6 “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
7 “The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.
8 “The LORD will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
9 “The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways.
10 Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you.
11 And the LORD will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you.
12 The LORD will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.
13 And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them.
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