Peace With Your Enemy

28 They replied, “We can plainly see that the Lord is with you. So we want to enter into a sworn treaty with you. Let’s make a covenant.
Genesis 26:28 (NLT)

We shall continue with the story of Isaac. In the previous 2 articles, we have seen how Isaac got rich when he was living in a poor country that was experiencing famine. His investment in farming yielded him 100 times returns every year and his animals were reproducing rapidly. His net worth took a drastic leap during famine because of the following factors:

1. Isaac’s inheritance of the Covenant of Abraham. God’ promises to Abraham are applicable to all his seeds. Isaac was Abraham’s seed.

2. Isaac’s obedience to God in not moving to a more prosperous country. He trusted in the blessing of God more than the natural circumstances.

3. Isaac’s commitment to sow seeds despite famine. He did not stay idle. He sowed and worked for his prosperity.

The above factors caused Isaac to be very rich. The good news for us is, these factors are available to us as well if we do what Isaac did.

Subsequently Isaac’s wealth was so huge that the locals got jealous and sabotaged him. Even the king could not stand him and threw him out. The harassment did not stop after Isaac left Gerar. The locals took over the wells he dug. However, Isaac did not give up. His engineer’s mind gave him the perseverance to keep digging until one day he got his own well. He settled there and continued to prosper.

In today’s story, Isaac moved to another place. There, God visited him again.

23 From there Isaac moved to Beersheba,
24 where the Lord appeared to him on the night of his arrival. “I am the God of your father, Abraham,” he said. “Do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you. I will multiply your descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will do this because of my promise to Abraham, my servant.”
25 Then Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the Lord. He set up his camp at that place, and his servants dug another well.
Genesis 26:23-25 (NLT)

God was there to remind Isaac of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac’s daddy. The contents are:

“Do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you. I will multiply your descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will do this because of my promise to Abraham, my servant.”

Let me arrange it into point forms:
1. Do not be afraid,
2. for I am with you and
3. will bless you.
4. I will multiply your descendants, and
5. they will become a great nation.
6. I will do this because of my promise to Abraham, my servant

God told Isaac not to be afraid. Why not? Isaac was not in Gerar at that time where there was at least some sort of functioning government in place. He was facing a lot of uncertainties at that time. It was easy to be afraid. There wasn’t any justice system there. You can dig a well and someone else can claim it and chase you away. You may have a huge flock but there could be bandits out there who could rob you of them. No wonder God was there to encourage him.

How can Isaac not be afraid? The answer is in Point 2 onwards. Isaac was not alone. God was with him and will bless him. As we have learned in the previous article when God blessed someone, He will make this person rich and adds no sorrow to it. Isaac was very rich at that time. He was so rich that even the king felt insecure to have him around and decided to throw him out. Yet God still wanted to bless him more.

This is the nature of our God. He does not know the word “enough”. If you are poor, he can bless you with 100 fold returns every year. He will make you so rich that your neighbors got jealous of you. Even the government will feel insecure in your presence. After you got very rich, God want you to be even richer. He does not know when to stop. Don’t you think it is great to have such a wonderful God? Religious people can never understand what a privilege it is to be a Christian.

In Point 4 and 5, God reaffirmed his promised to bless multiply Isaac’s descendants and they will become a great nation. Did God keep his promise? Look at the Jews who are Isaac’s natural descendents. Their population may be small in relation with other races but they are extremely influential. They have dominated every field of excellence may there be in literature, science, business, banking, art, politics and any other area you can think of. Why is that so? Do they have bigger brains? No, the only advantage they have over other races is the Covenant God made with Abraham. This Covenant makes them powerful. There was even a Muslim politician once said that the Jews ruled the world by proxy. This is the proof that God keeps his promises.

In Point 6, God highlighted the source of Isaac’s blessing – The Covenant Of Abraham. This means the blessings of God in Isaac’s life were based on the Covenant and not on Isaac’s personal performance. In fact, Isaac was not perfect himself. Earlier, he lied about his wife out of fear. Yet God did not hold it against him and even bailed him out of that sin.

As Christians we are the spiritual seeds of Abraham and we are equally entitled to the same blessing. Not only that, we also have the Covenant of the Cross where Jesus died for our sins. This is good for imperfect people like us. Our mistakes like our failure to fully holy in our thoughts and acts will not be able to block us from the blessings of God for us. We will be blessed despite our mistakes. So if you happen to be troubled by the mistakes you have made in the past, God wants you to let them go and start moving forward. Isaac himself had sinned but that did not stop him from getting extremely rich.

Let us move on with the story. After that Isaac got a visit from an old “friend”.

26 One day King Abimelech came from Gerar with his adviser, Ahuzzath, and also Phicol, his army commander.
27 “Why have you come here?” Isaac asked. “You obviously hate me, since you kicked me off your land.”
Genesis 26:26-27 (NLT)

The king came to visit Isaac together with his adviser and army commander. It looked quite formal. Isaac was not very pleased because he had a bad history with the king. That was the same king who kicked him off the land. The king was feeling insecure of Isaac’s wealth that he decided to throw Isaac out of his territory but now this same king decided to make a formal visit to Isaac’s house. What do you think had make the king bestowed such honor to Isaac? Here is his answer.

28 They replied, “We can plainly see that the Lord is with you. So we want to enter into a sworn treaty with you. Let’s make a covenant.
29 Swear that you will not harm us, just as we have never troubled you. We have always treated you well, and we sent you away from us in peace. And now look how the Lord has blessed you!”
Genesis 26:28-29 (NLT)

According to the king’s delegation, they could plainly see that the Lord was with Isaac. The question is, what did they see? Did the Lord appeared as a King Kong and stood beside Isaac’s house? No, they saw it through Isaac’s wealth. Isaac must have an exceeding big numbers of sheep, goats and cattle that no one can ever doubt that God must be with him.

Please note that when Isaac was first thrown out from the king’s territory, he was already very rich. He was so rich that his neighbors got jealous and made the king felt so insecure that he wanted Isaac to go away. However, at Verse 28-29 the king wanted to make a covenant with the same man he drove away. Why was that so? Isaac must be far richer that the king still felt insecure despite the fact that Isaac was no longer in his territory. This tells us that Isaac’s riches must have grown astronomically. If he was a millionaire when he was driven out by the king, he must be a billionaire by the time the king visited him.

Let me prove my theory on the insecurity of the king. In Verse 29, the king stated his request to Isaac:

“Swear that you will not harm us, just as we have never troubled you. We have always treated you well, and we sent you away from us in peace. And now look how the Lord has blessed you!”

What does this sound to you? Does the above sound like a powerful king issuing an order to a helpless farmer? No, it doesn’t. It sounds like someone begging for mercy. The king asked Isaac to swear not to harm his kingdom and stated the reasons that Isaac was not that badly treated when he was living there. The last part tells us the reason for the king’s fear, “And now look how the Lord has blessed you!”

Let me simplify the story here:
1. God has blessed Isaac as he had promised.
2. Isaac got so rich that everyone in the region was convinced beyond doubt that it was the blessing from God.
3. The king was convinced that the blessing of God had made Isaac more powerful than him despite the fact that the only people under Isaac’s command were shepherds and servants.
4. So, the king paid a personal visit to Isaac and begged him for a peace treaty. He wanted Isaac to swear not to attack him.

This story tells us why Christians must be extremely rich. If Isaac was not extremely rich, the king would not have begged him for peace. He could have been continued to face harassment from the locals. Now that the king himself came to beg for peace, I am sure those locals would not dare to disturb Isaac and his household again. As Christians, we have to be extremely rich to bring peace.

How did Isaac respond? He took advantage on the king’s diplomatic efforts.

30 So Isaac prepared a covenant feast to celebrate the treaty, and they ate and drank together.
31 Early the next morning, they each took a solemn oath not to interfere with each other. Then Isaac sent them home again, and they left him in peace.
Genesis 26:30-31 (NLT)

He conducted a feast and took a solemn oath with his guests on not interfering with each other. The peace treaty was signed. Isaac and his household were able to live in peace and prosperity for the rest of his life.

The Problem Of Getting Rich

14 He acquired so many flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and servants that the Philistines became jealous of him.
Genesis 26:14 (NLT)

We shall continue from yesterday’s story. In the previous article, we stopped at Isaac reaped a hundred fold on the amount he sowed and got richer and richer. However, the story did not end there. His success had resulted in some side effects. The above verse tells us that Isaac’s prosperity had resulted in the locals, who were the Philistines getting jealous of him.

Why would the Philistines getting jealous? Obviously they could not achieve what Isaac had achieved. This tells us that it was not a norm at that time and place for farmers to reap a hundredfold of the seeds they sowed. Only the household of Isaac could achieve that. In other words, the success of Isaac was from the blessings of God and not from the natural circumstances. In the natural, that place was in severe famine. When people were in a famine, their primary objective was to try to survive. Yet Isaac got rich in a famine.

In case some religious people try to tell us that God’s blessing is spiritual, Genesis 26:14 tells us that the Isaac’s blessings was so evident that he had so many flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and servants that the Philistines became jealous of him. The Philistines could see clearly on how successful Isaac was, by the amount of animals and servants he had. In short, Isaac’s riches had reached another level during the famine. This means God is still capable to bless us with abundant riches even if we are physically living in a poor country. In reply to the religious people who asked me on how about the Christians in North Korea and Somalia, my answer is they can be like Isaac.

Let us continue from the perspective of the Philistines. How would you feel if you were in their shoes? Imagine yourself farming and herding animals since you were young. Despite your hard work, you only managed to make enough for your family to live modestly. The situation is worse now and your income had dropped due to the severe famine that is affecting your country.

Suddenly a foreigner named Isaac moved in and settled in your neighborhood. He and his household did the same thing you have been doing and yet their results are far better. They planted their crops and reaped a hundredfold while yours can’t even grow until harvest. Their flocks of sheep, goats and herds of cattle had been multiplying while yours are barely surviving. How would you feel? Don’t you think you will feel a little jealous? How would you respond to the prosperity of your neighbor? It depends on whether you are a theologian or an engineer.

If you are an engineer, you will do whatever it takes to find out the secret to your neighbor’s success, copy them and use them to get the same results. Unfortunately, according to the subsequent verses, the Philistines behaved like theologians instead. They got angry and played dirty.

15 So the Philistines filled up all of Isaac’s wells with dirt. These were the wells that had been dug by the servants of his father, Abraham.
Genesis 26:15 (NLT)

They filled up all of Isaac’s wells with dirt. Why would they do that? They wanted to make sure that Isaac would not have enough water for his flocks and herds. They wanted Isaac’s animals to die of thirst and Isaac to become poor like them. The question is, how were these Philistines going to benefit from Isaac’s poverty? The answer is none. Sabotaging Isaac’s water supply did not make the Philistines richer. They were not acting rationally. They were acting in hate just like the theologians.

Today’s equivalents are the religious people. Why do you think religious people are willing to devote so much resource to degrade the Gospel of Jesus Christ, spread lies on us, slander us and insult us with names like “Prosperity Gospel” and “Name-It-And-Claim-It”? (The latest label I got is “Me First Gospel”) How do you think they benefit from such actions? The answer is they can never benefit from such sins.

They were not acting rationally. They were acting in fear. They can see that we Christians are set free by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are no longer living in bondage. We are going to get richer and richer. Christian churches are experiencing exponential growth in attendance. We go to church with positive expectations and joy.

In contrast, religious people are still living under the bondage of religion, they are poor, they live in fear and their churches are declining, as more and more Christians are moving from religious churches to Christian churches. So, these religious leaders are trying to defend their turf through their slanders and lies. They must be hoping that if they spread enough lies, we Christians will leave the Gospel and back to their bondage. I am sure many of us are convinced that their efforts are futile but that does not stop them from their mission.

Let us move on with the story. Not only were the Philistines played dirty, even the king got involved.

16 Finally, Abimelech ordered Isaac to leave the country. “Go somewhere else,” he said, “for you have become too powerful for us.”
Genesis 26:16 (NLT)

Abimelech ordered Isaac to leave the country. He threw Isaac out. Why? He thought Isaac got too powerful. What a silly move. Looks like Abimelech is more of a theologian than an engineer. Driving out the rich will only make your country poor. This is why many countries with good sense today are competing to attract the rich. Why are the rich people so important? Rich people create wealth and job opportunities to their communities. If a nation chooses to punish the rich by imposing high tax rates, the rich people will only leave that nation and settle in other nations that are friendlier. In doing so, the rich people will also take along their wealth creation expertise and job opportunities.

At this point, I am glad to announce that my country Singapore is friendly to the rich. If you happen to be a rich person and you want to settle in a place where you will not be treated like a blood sucker or punished with high taxes, please consider to come to Singapore.

So much for my patriotic contribution, let us see how Isaac responded to those obstacles.

17 So Isaac moved away to the Gerar Valley, where he set up their tents and settled down.
18 He reopened the wells his father had dug, which the Philistines had filled in after Abraham’s death. Isaac also restored the names Abraham had given them.
Genesis 26:17-18 (NLT)

He moved on. Isaac was behaving like an engineer. When he faced problems in life, he looked for solutions. When he was not welcomed in Gerar, he moved out. When his wells were filled, he reopened them. A theologian would never do that. If Isaac were a theologian he would probably say, “Maybe it is the will of God for us to be poor. Since our host country does not like us to be rich, let us be poor.” Isaac did not say that. He believed in God’s promises to him. He moved on and got richer elsewhere.

However, his problem did not end there.

19 Isaac’s servants also dug in the Gerar Valley and discovered a well of fresh water.
20 But then the shepherds from Gerar came and claimed the spring. “This is our water,” they said, and they argued over it with Isaac’s herdsmen. So Isaac named the well Esek (which means “argument”).
21 Isaac’s men then dug another well, but again there was a dispute over it. So Isaac named it Sitnah (which means “hostility”).
Genesis 26:19-21 (NLT)

The locals were still making things difficult for him. Each time Isaac’s servants dug a well, the Philistines appeared and claimed ownership of that well. At that time, Isaac did not have an army to defend his territory. Even the government was clearly against him. He had no choice but to move on and dug more wells which ended up being claimed by others.

How would you feel if you were in his shoes? Will you think like an engineer and persevere or will you give up and behave like a theologian? Isaac chose to be an engineer. He did not give up. Ho chose to believe that his God is greater than the problems he faced. At last, his perseverance was rewarded.

22 Abandoning that one, Isaac moved on and dug another well. This time there was no dispute over it, so Isaac named the place Rehoboth (which means “open space”), for he said, “At last the Lord has created enough space for us to prosper in this land.”
Genesis 26:22 (NLT)

He managed to dig a well that no one would rob him from. This is why he said, “At last the Lord has created enough space for us to prosper in this land.”

What can we learn form Isaac’s experience? We are called to battle and destined to win. The moment we choose to obey God, we can expect opposition from the enemy. Satan will do everything he can to discourage us from obeying God. However, just because he is doing his best, it does not mean he must be successful. Our God is far greater than all of Satan’s resources and we Christians have full access to God’s power. We are destined to win in Jesus’ name.

Getting Rich In A Poor Country

12 When Isaac planted his crops that year, he harvested a hundred times more grain than he planted, for the Lord blessed him.
Genesis 26:12 (NLT)

Context: Genesis 26:1-13 (NLT)

One of the popular ways for religious people to discredit the Gospel Of Jesus Christ is in the form of this question: “What about Christians in poor countries like North Korea and Somalia?” As I have mentioned in the previous article, their basic idea is as follow:
1. There are Christians in poor countries.
2. Christians in poor countries must be poor.
3. The existence of poor Christians means the Gospel Of Jesus Christ is false.

I fully agree on the first point. There are Christians everywhere including poor countries. However I disagree with the second point and I am going to prove to you from the Bible that believers can still be rich even if they live in poor countries. Let us begin.

Here is the background story. Abraham died and passed on his estate to his son Isaac. Before long, there was a severe famine in the region.

1 A severe famine now struck the land, as had happened before in Abraham’s time. So Isaac moved to Gerar, where Abimelech, king of the Philistines, lived.
Genesis 26:1 (NLT)

A famine is the equivalent of economic recession. It was a situation that there was no harvest from the farms. There was no food. Isaac was not just facing an ordinary famine. According to the Bible, it was a severe famine. This means the problem was worse than the usual famine. Isaac and his entire household could be starved to death. What would Isaac do? It depends on whether he is an engineer or a theologian.

If Isaac were a theologian, he would have said, “It is the will of God for this severe famine to take place here. Maybe he is using this famine to teach us humility and his grace. Let us stay here and starve for the glory of God. Praise be to God.” Thank God, Isaac was not a theologian. He was an engineer. When he faced any problems, he looked for solutions, the way engineers do. He moved his entire household to Gerar, the territory of Abimelech, king of the Philistines in his attempt to prevent his household from the prospect of starvation.`

God spoke to him.

2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt, but do as I tell you.
Genesis 26:2 (NLT)

Why would, the Lord told Isaac not to go to Egypt? Isaac must be planning to go there. I suspect Egypt did not experience famine at that time. So it makes sense to go there. However the Lord appeared to Isaac and said don’t go to Egypt. Why did God do that? Was he really a pervert who wanted his people to starve? The following verses tell us the answer.

3 Live here as a foreigner in this land, and I will be with you and bless you. I hereby confirm that I will give all these lands to you and your descendants,[a] just as I solemnly promised Abraham, your father.
4 I will cause your descendants to become as numerous as the stars of the sky, and I will give them all these lands. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed.
5 I will do this because Abraham listened to me and obeyed all my requirements, commands, decrees, and instructions.”
Genesis 26:3-5 (NLT)

Let me simplify the above.

1. God wanted Isaac to live as a foreigner in that land.
2. God will be with him and bless him.
3. God confirmed that he will give to Isaac and his descendents those lands He promised to Abraham.
4. The entire world will be blessed through the descendents of Isaac.
5. The reason for the above blessings is the obedience of Abraham.

God wanted Isaac to stay on in the place he was in and not to go to a richer country. God promised to be with Isaac and bless him. If you are religious, such promise means nothing to you. I have a religious guy who wrote in to tell me that his countrymen earned an average of $1 a day and they are more blessed than us Singaporeans. If earning $1 a day is a blessing then God must be very cheap. I am sure many of us are willing to give away such “blessings”. What actually is a blessing? This is what the Bible says.

22The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.
Proverbs 10:22(KJV)

The blessing of God makes us rich. So, the blessing of God is not having an income of $1 a day. When God promised Isaac blessings, it means God will make sure Isaac will be rich. Please note that Isaac was physically staying in a poor country at that time. This means God can still bless you (and make you rich) even if you are physically living in a poor country right now.

In Points 3 and 4, God reaffirms his promised to Abraham, Isaac’s daddy and Isaac was the beneficiary of that promise. Point 5 tells us that Isaac’s blessings originated from Abraham’s obedience. So, Isaac’s blessings were based on his father’s obedience and on his own obedience to God. Does this sound familiar to you? Why do you think God is willing to bless you? Do you think God blesses you because of your obedience, or do you think God is blessing you because of Jesus’ obedience? This makes a great difference to our prosperity.

If we choose to rely on our own obedience (Self Righteousness), our blessings will not be secure because our obedience is imperfect. However if we choose to rely on Jesus’ obedience (Christ Righteousness), our blessings is eternal because Jesus’ obedience is perfect and eternal.

What was Isaac’s choice?

6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar.
Genesis 26:6 (NLT)

He was smart enough to obey God. He cancelled his immigration plan.

Then the problem started. Isaac committed a sin.

7 When the men who lived there asked Isaac about his wife, Rebekah, he said, “She is my sister.” He was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “They will kill me to get her, because she is so beautiful.”
8 But some time later, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out his window and saw Isaac caressing Rebekah.
9 Immediately, Abimelech called for Isaac and exclaimed, “She is obviously your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?”

“Because I was afraid someone would kill me to get her from me,” Isaac replied.
10 “How could you do this to us?” Abimelech exclaimed. “One of my people might easily have taken your wife and slept with her, and you would have made us guilty of great sin.”
11 Then Abimelech issued a public proclamation: “Anyone who touches this man or his wife will be put to death!”
Genesis 26:7-11 (NLT)

Isaac was afraid that the king might kill him for his wife. So he lied by telling the people there that Rebekah was his sister. He resorted to sin. How did God respond to Isaac’s sin? Please note that the Law of Moses did not exist at that time. So, God was not bounded by the Law to punish the sinner. Instead God bailed Isaac out. God arranged for the lie to be exposed and even caused the king to guarantee the safety of Isaac and his wife. Why would God do that? What was so special about Isaac that not only was he able to get away from his sin, he even had God to bail him out from his sin and got him a formal guarantee of his safety. The answer: the Covenant Of Abraham.

The covenant that God made with Abraham had obligated God not only to bless his descendents but also to deliver and bail them out of their own sins. This is good news for us Christians. As Christians, we are the spiritual seed of Abraham. If you happen to have made serious mistakes or sins in the past, God is still on your side. He will bless you and bail you out of that sin. If you think you deserve some punishments for your sins, just remember Jesus had taken those punishments on your behalf at the Cross. You can start your life anew. You can live your life everyday and face God as if you have never sin. Isn’t God good?

Let us continue with the story.

12 When Isaac planted his crops that year, he harvested a hundred times more grain than he planted, for the Lord blessed him.
13 He became a very rich man, and his wealth continued to grow.
Genesis 26:12-13 (NLT)

God kept his promise. God’s blessings made Isaac rich. Isaac’s net worth increased one hundred times a year in a time and place that were supposed to be in severe famine. Verse 13 tells us that Isaac became a very rich man and his wealth continued to grow. The moral of this story is, God can make you rich even if you are in a poor country right now. He did it before and he can do it again. The question is, are you willing to believe and obey?

Verse 12 tells us that Isaac had a role to play in his prosperity. He planted his crops. Other translations say he sowed. If you want to be rich even in famine, you have to sow your seeds. What does that mean?

First it refers to giving. Sowing and reaping is the natural law of God. It works every time even for non Christians. In my opinion, the greatest proof that the Bible is true is, it works even for non Christians when they obeyed its principles. There are many non Christians out there got extremely rich using the principles from the Bible. It is a shame for us not to be richer than them. So, start sowing what you have. God has promised that we will reap what we sow. If you want to have a lot of money, sow money. The harvest is always greater than the seeds. In Isaac’s case, he got back a hundred times in a year. Let us do the same.

The second meaning to the phase “plant our crops” is to take up any legitimate jobs available to us. If you happened to have been laid off by your company and you are unable to find similar jobs, then God wants you to take up any legitimate jobs available even if is about selling burgers, washing dishes or sweeping the streets. Don’t be idle. No matter how bad those jobs are, God can still bless you as long as you continue to trust in him.

In conclusion, the blessing of God can still work even in the situation that says the opposite. The question is, are you willing to believe?

Are You Convinced Of The Power Of God’s Love?

38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.
39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39 (NLT)

We have reached the last installment of the Romans 8 series. Roman 8 ends with a bang. It speaks of the power of God’s love for us. In the previous verses we learn that God loves us so much that he gave us his only Son. If he is willing to give us Jesus, what else will he hold back from us? Whatever we want in life, he is willing to give them to us. No matter what happened in the past, whether good or bad, God can turn them into good. All our troubles will have to make way for the love of God to come into our lives.

The verses above tell us further on how powerful this love is. It begins with the writer telling us that he is convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. The first lesson for us is, we must be convinced. This is a personal quest. No one can be convinced on your behalf. You have to do it yourself. Each of us must be convinced beyond doubt in our hearts that the love of God is able to help us to overcome every challenge in life and bring us prosperity in every area in life. Others around us can only assist us but we ourselves are the ones who need to be convinced of our God’s love for us.

If you have explored this blog, you would have found many comments from religious people who expected me to convince them that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. (I wonder why they bother to identify themselves as Christians in the first place?) One of their common tactics is to ask me about the Christians in poor countries like North Korea and Somalia. Here is their flow of logic:
1. There are Christians in poor countries.
2. Christians in poor countries must be poor.
3. As long as there are poor Christians in this world, the Gospel of Jesus Christ must be false.

Does the above sounds logical to you? Do you think these people were really sincere to learn, or were they just trying to sound smart without realizing that they were giving us the opposite impression of themselves? If you read their comments, you will be able to see that they are not only unconvinced of God’s love for them, they were actively refuse to be convinced that God loves them enough to prosper them and gives them health as their souls prosper. This is why the religious people are still under the bondage of religion.

In case there are people who do not understand, I will explain the flaws of the above logic. First, it is true that there are Christians in poor countries. However, it is never the will of God that everyone who lives in poor countries must be poor. If you read the Bible, you will find many believers were rich and stayed in poor countries. For example, the Bible said Isaac sowed in the famine and reaped a hundredfold. This tells us that you can live in a poor country and still be rich. Our prosperity is guaranteed at the Cross of Calvary and not on the economic condition in our countries. Jesus died poor for us to live rich despite the economic success of the country we live in.

As for the final point, the existence of poor Christians does not mean the Gospel of Jesus Christ is false. It only means that many Christians need to know the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They need to know that the God of the Bible is not the pervert who goes around making people poor, sick and create disasters for his glory. It is never the will of God for Christians to take up the Vow Of Poverty. It is never the will of God for Christians to be religious and worship theology. The greatest wish of God for every Christian is prosperity and health as our souls prosper. Once every Christian is convinced of this truth, there will be no lack among us.

Let us continue with the above verse. The subsequent part expounds on the power of God’s love.

“Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.
No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

There are 2 points here. They are:
1. The love of God is greater than everything else like:
a. death nor life
b. angels nor demons
c. our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow
d. the powers of hell
e. power in the sky above or in the earth below
f. all creation

2. The love of God is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The first point elaborates on the power of God’s love. This is the greatest power in the universe. It is greater than death nor life, angels nor demons, our worries about tomorrow, powers of hell, power in the sky above or in the earth below, nor in all creation. Once we have this power, we can overcome all the above powers. In other words, if you have this power, a few billion dollars a day is nothing for you.

So far so good but how are we going to get hold of this power? The second point tells us the answer. The love of God is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. The power of God’s love is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. It is in Jesus. You have to make Jesus your Lord if you want to attain the greatest power in all creation.

In practice, it means spending time with Jesus. Spend time to pray, read the Bible, listen to faith messages, fill you mind with godly and positive thoughts and your heart with his love. As you do that, you will be more and more convinced of his love for you. This love will give you the power to overcome every obstacle that comes your way.

Your future is glorious.

Overwhelming Victory Is Ours Through Christ Who Loved Us

35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?
36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”)
37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
Romans 8:35-37 (NLT)

This is another powerful passage in the Bible. Verse 35 has 2 questions but they are not truly questions. They are challenges for us. The message of this verse says nothing can separate us from Christ’s love. Jesus’ love for us is so powerful that it enables us to overcome every adversity in life, may they be trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death. Jesus’ love for us is greater than them all.

I am not surprise if there are religious people who will pervert this beautiful verse in saying that Christ’s love means he will cause us to have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death. That is a lie from the pit of hell. It is a common practice for religious people to take the lies from hell as their doctrines.

In this article, we shall stick to what the Bible says and not the perversion of religion. Verse 35 tells us that Jesus’ love for us is greater than all the troubles that we can ever face. It does not say Jesus’ love creates troubles for us.

In Verse 36, Paul tells us the about the setbacks that believers had gone through. “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.” Please note that this is only a setback. It is not meant to be permanent nor was it a calling. It is never the will of God for us to be killed every day and be slaughtered like sheep. Our God is not a pervert. Every one of us will face some setbacks in our lives but that does not mean we must allow them to oppress us forever. How are we going to deal with these setbacks? Verse 37 tells us how.

It says, “No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.” I like the “No”. Our response to the setbacks we face is a clear “No.” Just because we face some setbacks in life, it does not mean we can never overcome them. After the “No”, the writer continues with “despite all these things”. The “these things” in this verse refers to the setbacks listed in Romans 8:35-36. So, despite the worst setbacks mentioned in Romans 8:35-36, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

Let me simplify that. Romans 8:37 speaks of:
1. We have overwhelming victory.
2. This victory comes from Christ who loved us.
3. This victory is ours despite the worst setbacks we can ever face.

Let us start with the first point. We are not just destined to be victorious. Our destiny is overwhelming victory. I like the “overwhelming”. It means more than we can ever dream of. This is the character of our God. He likes to give us more than we ever dare to dream or ask for. So, get ready for your overwhelming victory. If you are asking God for a million dollars, get ready for a billion or even a trillion dollars. God is committed to overwhelming you with good things. Are you ready for it? How do you plan to get ready for it? The second point gives us the answer.

We need to realize that it is Jesus’ love for us that enables us to receive the overwhelming victory that God has for us. Never stray from his love. How do we stay in Jesus’ love and not stray from it? The answer is to spend time with him. Take time to pray, read the Bible, listen to faith message, confess his goodness and do whatever you can to remind yourself how much Jesus loves you. In other words, do whatever you can to fill your heart with Jesus’ love. When that happens, your overwhelming victory will manifest very soon.

What if you are still facing some setbacks right now? The third point tells us that God’s overwhelming victory is true despite the setbacks you are facing right now. This means our focus and faith must be on the faithfulness of God and not on the problems. Our God is greater than all our problems and he has guaranteed us that he will give us overwhelming victory over them.

You may be very poor and deep in debt. If you focus on your poverty, nothing will happen. However, if you choose to focus on how much Jesus loves you and fill your heart with his love, your overwhelming victory will come. Your overwhelming victory will not just remove your poverty and debts. It will make you very rich. In fact, you will be overwhelming rich. In case some people are too religious to understand the meaning of “rich”, let me make it simple. Being rich includes having a lot of money. You will have so much money that you can afford to live like a king. Living like a king may be a blasphemy to religious people but not to God.

Here is another one. You are very sick and the doctors have told you there is no hope for recovery. If you focus on those statements, nothing will happen. However, if you choose to focus on how much Jesus loves you and fill your heart with his love, your overwhelming victory will come. Your overwhelming victory will not just remove your “incurable” disease. It will even give you overwhelming health. You will be healthier than before you were infected with that “incurable” disease. It will be fun if you can stand in front of those doctors who had earlier pronounced you “incurable” and challenge them to prove the existence of that disease in your body. Watch their shock faces when they cannot find it. Overwhelming victory is fun.

In conclusion, no matter how many or how bad your setbacks are right now, God will give you overwhelming victory over them. Once you have that overwhelming victory, you situation will turn around. Your poverty will turn into prosperity. Your sickness will turn into health. Your failures will turn into successes. All you need to do is to fill your heart with Jesus’ love for you.

Who Dares To Accuse Or Condemn Us?

33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself.
34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
Romans 8:33-34 (NLT)

Welcome to my Romans 8 series. This time, we have reached the part of spiritual warfare. I am sure it is no longer a surprise for us that as Christians we face constant accusations and condemnations from Satan. They come to us in the following ways:
1. Negative thoughts that accuse and condemn us, planted by Satan and his devils.
2. Direct accusations and condemnation by religious people.

The first method should be quite familiar to all of us. Who doesn’t have negative thoughts? They were planted by Satan to discourage us from our faith. He has been hoping and is still hoping that we will fall for his lies and give up our faith. However, that does not guarantee his success. I will explain later based on the above verses.

The second method can be seen in the comments at this blog. Alternatively you can conduct a search on Christian preachers like “Kenneth Copeland” and you will see a lot of religious sites spreading lies and slanders on the man. Why would they do that? Those slanderers and liars are religious people who are more interested in defending their religion than to know the truth. They will not hesitate to sink to any level to accuse and condemn Christians who choose to believe in what the Bible says. In the minds of the religious people, we Christians have no right to preach the true Gospel Of Jesus Christ. The only acceptable “Gospel” is their religion, which is based on their perversion. No wonder Satan loves them. I suspect religious people are Satan’s primary weapon in his war against God.

Now that we have identified our accusers and condemners, it is time to plan for our defenses. Let us start from Verse 33. It says: Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself.

It begins with a question. However, this is not an innocent question. This is a daring question. In this verse, we Christians are the ones labeled as “whom God has chosen for his own”. We belong to God. Anyone who accuses us, accuses God. So, when they accuse us with terms like “Prosperity Gospel”, they are effectively accusing God because we belong to God.

The second part of the verse says: No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. The phase “no one” means no one has the right. However, just because they don’t have the right does not mean they will not try. This is the same reason why we install locks to our doors. Just because no one has the right to come into our houses without our permission it does not mean they will not try.

Here is our defense to their accusations: God himself has given us right standing with himself.

We have the right standing with God. Another word for “right standing” is “righteousness”. As Christians, our righteousness comes from God through Jesus’ death at the Cross. At the Cross, Jesus took all our sins for us to live in his righteousness. This is why we Christians rely on Christ Righteousness. Christ Righteousness is based on Jesus’ works at the Cross and independent from our own failures and mistakes. Our righteousness is unshakeable and we able to withstand any trials that come our way. Christ Righteousness enables us to overcome our accusers.

In contrast, religious people rely on Self Righteousness. Self Righteousness is fully based on personal performance. It will fail each time a religious person fails or makes mistakes. This is the root of their cover-ups and hypocrisy. Self Righteousness makes them accusers.

Verse 34 speaks of condemnations. Again it begins with a dare. Who dares to condemn us? The format is the same as the previous verse. No one has the right to condemn us but it does not mean they will not try. Here is our defence:

Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

Let me simplify the above:
1. Christ Jesus died for us
2. and was raised to life for us,
3. and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

In short, Jesus is on our side. He died for us, raised to life for us and is now pleading for us. Jesus is responsible in destroying all the condemnations for us. This means that no matter who are condemning me or how hard they try, they will fail because Jesus is on my side. The same goes for you if you are a Christian.

In conclusion, we Christians have what it takes to overcome all our accusers and condemners. So, don’t waste time on them. We should focus on living the lives God wants us to live, prosper and be in health as our souls prosper.

Will God Give You Everything You Ask?

32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?
Romans 8:32 (NLT)

Welcome to the continuation of the series in Romans 8. This time we have come to another powerful verse in the Bible. The above verse is the best answer to any question on whether God is willing to give us every thing we ask for in prayer. The verse says: Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? The answer is a definite yes. No matter what you ask God to give you, he is always willing to do so as long as the thing you asked is worth lesser than Jesus.

I remember a religious guy tried to advise me that God can say no to our requests. Sometimes God answers our prayers with a no. Obviously religious people like him do not read Romans 8:32. Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Religious people can never understand the meaning of this verse. Thank God, we Christians are not religious.

The above verse is clear. God values his Son dearly. There is nothing he cares more than his Son. Yet, he is willing to give his Son to redeem us from our sins, what else will he not give us? (I can imagine religious people getting heart attacks reading this but that is not going to stop me from writing about the truth.) You may have realized by now that I am not interested in finding the truth for the sake of the truth alone. I am an engineer. It is my nature to find the truth in order to use it for my prosperity.

So, here is the question: How are we going to take advantage of this truth? How are we going to make use of it for our prosperity? I am sure you can see that the application is obvious. Don’t be shy. Ask anything you want from God. Ask for big things. Do not limit your asking to your own benefits alone. Since God is so generous as to give us everything we ask for, we can be as generous as well. Ask for more you need so that you can bless others as well.

Here is an example:

You may want to ask God for a lot of money because you want to live like a king. That is a great idea. Religious people may scorn at this but we Christians are above them. Unlike those heretics, we have no problem with people wanting to live like kings. In fact, it will be good testimonies for God if every Christian is living like a king. After all, we have no intention of taking the Vow Of Poverty.

However, living like a king is more than just luxuries. Kings have kingdoms. The greatness of a king is measured by the prosperity of his kingdom. A prosperous kingdom is a strong kingdom where its people live in peace and prosperity. It is a place where all their basic needs are fully met. In this kingdom, no one dies of hunger. Everyone have access to basic medical care. Everyone have access to jobs and opportunities for improvements. Every child goes to school.

God does not want us just to live like kings. He wants us to go further to be great kings. He gives us Romans 8:32 for us to establish great kingdoms on earth. Since we can get everything we ask from God, it will be a waste if we don’t use it correctly. Remember his promise: Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?

In other words, whatever you want to do, reach for the sky.

This is how I live now. I want to live like a king. I want to be a great king who brings the love of God to the world. I want the world to know the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. I want them to know that God is not a pervert as propagated by religious churches. God loves us to much that he is willing to sacrifice his only begotten Son to deliver us from our sins. Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? It is my dream for everyone on earth to live in freedom based on the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. The idea of God not interested in our financial wellbeing is nothing more than a lie from the pit of hell.

In conclusion, God wants us to think big. Don’t limit your dreams within your palace walls. Build a great kingdom. Ask for big things. Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?

If God Is For Us, Who Can Ever Be Against Us?

31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?
Romans 8:31 (NLT)

This is one of the most powerful verses in the Bible. If God is for us, who can ever be against us? This is not an innocent question. This is a daring question. This is the type of question we should ask to dare our enemies because we know they are no match for us. Anyone who dares to come against us, is against God.

Let us study deeper into the verse. The above verse consists of 2 questions. The first question is: What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? The “wonderful things” refers to the promises of God in the earlier verses which I have written on in the previous articles. God has promised that he is always on our side in helping us to overcome every challenge we face. He has made us his children with Jesus as the firstborn. Jesus is no longer God’s only begotten Son. He is now God’s firstborn with many brothers and sisters. You and I are among them. God wants us to have a glorious future. How are we going to respond to all these wonderful things? The answer is in the next question.

If God is for us, who can ever be against us?

How does the above sounds to you? It sounds to me like someone daring anyone for a fight. I believe this question is meant to give us confidence to go through life challenges. Despite the question mark at the end, this is not a question. This is a statement of confidence and this confidence is inspired by the writer’s faith in the reliability of God.

How do you respond when faced with challenges in life? Do you face them alone or do you involve God in your fight? You decision on whether to involve God makes a difference between victory and defeat. Let me give you some examples.

You may be very poor now. You may be burdened with a mountain of debts. You tried every way you know to get out of this situation but there is none available. Whichever direction you turn to, you cannot find hope for your situation. What are you going to do? Religious people will tell you that it is alright to be poor because God can still use you when you are poor as long as your doctrines are right. How do you know whether your doctrines are right? The answer is simple. As long as you follow everything they say, your doctrines are right. If you ever dare to oppose them, they will condemn you to hell.

What do you think will happen if you are to believe in their lies? The answer is nothing. Your situation will not change. You will still be poor and debt ridden. This is why, if you truly want improve your life, you will need to turn to God and stay away from religion. God has not just promised prosperity for you. He had even sent Jesus to die poor at the Cross for you to live rich. How then can you be poor and debt ridden?

Now that you know that you have the right to be rich, it is time for you take back everything that is rightfully yours. Ask yourself the question: If God is for me, who can ever be against me? It does not matter whether it is Satan or his religious people who wants to make you poor. It does not matter how hard they tried. The bottom line is, if they are against you, they are against God. They cannot defeat you without defeating God first. In other words, you are destined to win. Start reading the Bible, listening to faith messages and fill your mind with positive thoughts. You need to build strong faith to fight big battles. Fighting big battles will result in big victories, which will lead to huge war spoils and war reparations.

Poverty and debts have no place in your life. As long as you commit yourself to the rights God has given to you, you are going to win. No matter how impossible the situation around you appears to be, you are going to defeat your poverty and receive your prosperity. Wealth and riches are yours in Jesus’ name. The only way you can fail is to give up before you receive your prosperity. So, what is your choice today?

Here is another one. You may be very sick now. All the doctors you have met told you that there is no cure for your disease. You are going to be in this condition until you die. If you ask the religious people, they will tell you that this is God’s will for you. God is making you sick for his glory. God is glorified when he sees people suffering in sickness. Maybe he gets high from enjoying the sight of people suffering. This is basically religious people’s impression of God. If you are to believe in such perversion, I can tell you for sure, your condition will never improve. Your incurable disease will remain incurable. Is there an alternative to this? The answer is yes. You can turn to God.

At the Cross, Jesus took all away all our sicknesses and diseases. By his stripes we are healed. Living in health is our right bought by Jesus at the Cross. That incurable disease has no right to come to you. Start building up your faith. Read the Bible, listen to faith messages, confess your right to good health, fill your heath with joy and do everything you can to overcome that disease. It does not matter how incurable it is. Just remember that you have what it takes to overcome it and get rid of it. If those religious people tell you that the disease is a blessing from God, just tell them that you are going to transfer this “blessing” to them. Then look at their hypocritical faces and have a good laugh.

In conclusion, we are called to battle and destined to win. It does not matter what challenges you are facing right now. It does not matter how impossible the situation appears to be. It does not matter how weak and incapable you think you are. The only thing that matters is God is on your side and he will fight this battle for you. If God is for us, who can ever be against us?

We Have The Glory Of God

29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.
Romans 8:29-30 (NLT)

Welcome to my series of Romans 8. In the previous verse, we learned of God who causes everything to work together for our good. The above verses tell us more on God’s plan for our future.

Let us begin with Verse 29. The first part says God knew us in advance. We are not strangers to god. He knew us long before we were born. This means there is nothing about us that we can hide from God. Therefore, there is no alternative to being truthful to God. This has been my policy ever since I knew of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am completely truthful to God and I have told him everything in my mind no matter how “inappropriate” they are.

What do you want to do with your life? What do you wish to accomplish and achieve? What are your dreams? Do you want to be extremely rich? So you want to live like a king? Religious people may condemn you for having such “unspiritual” thoughts and even advise you that God can also use the poor but God will never do that. He knows what our desires are because he was the one who put them there. So, go ahead, live your life and dream your dreams. God knows all about them and he is on your side.

The second part of Verse 29 says he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. Do you notice the change in Jesus’ status here? Before the Cross, Jesus was God’s only begotten Son. In Romans 8:29, he has become the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. Right now, Jesus is no longer the only Son. He is now God’s eldest son among many brothers and sisters. You and I are among the brothers and sisters.

What does this mean? When God said in Verse 29 that He chose us to become like his Son, He was not referring to just us imitating Jesus’ behavior. He was referring to our complete change in position and species. As Christians, we have become members of a new species. We belong to the same species as Jesus. We have the same rights as him. No wonder we are his co-heir. Put all these together, we Christians have the same position, rights and prosperity as Jesus.

So, if you happen to be wondering what is God’s will for your future, all you need to do is to ask what is God’s will for Jesus. That is his will for you.

• Does God want Jesus to live in good health? If he does, then God also wants you to live in good health.

• Does God want Jesus to live long life? If he does, then God also wants you to live long life.

• Does God want Jesus to live in prosperity? If he does, then God also wants you to live in prosperity.

• Does God want Jesus to be successful? If he does, then God also wants you to be successful.

We belong to the same family of God.

The first part of Verse 30 says God called us to come to him. What does the term “called” means? This term comes with 2 characteristics:
1. It is done in a distance.
2. It is not forced.

When God first called us, he was not inside us. That was the time before we decided to believe in Him and became Christians. He wants every one of us to be saved and called us to follow him. At the same time, He will not force us to believe. This is what calling is supposed to be, God will never force us to do anything against our will, including our salvation. He will never resort to blackmails the way religious churches presented Him to be.

Next, when we choose to follow his call, the subsequent part of Verse 30 says he gave us right standing with himself. Right standing means righteousness. Our righteousness is given to us from God. It is not earned. This is also known as Christ Righteousness. This is opposed to the form of righteousness taught in religious churches. They only believe in Self Righteousness. Religious churches only believe in Self Righteousness because they think they have to follow certain rules in order to be right with God. Yet the Verse 30 above tells us otherwise. Our righteousness is given by God. As Christians we are Christ Righteous and not Self Righteous.

The last part of Verse 30 says after we have received God’s righteousness, he gives us his glory. Our future is glorious. Please note that the Bible is referring to the true God’s glory and not the perverted “glory” promoted by religious churches. God will never make you sick and poor for his glory. That is the perversion from religion. The greatest wish of God for our lives is for us to prosper and be in health as our souls prosper. We have a great and glorious future ahead of us. Great prosperity is coming our way. So, rejoice and be glad for our future shall be glorious.

God Causes Everything To Work Together For The Good

28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Romans 8:28 (NLT)

Welcome to the series of my study on Romans 8. We have reached one of the most positive verses in the Bible. I love the part that says “God causes everything to work together for the good.” In this article, we shall study in depth what this verse means and how we can make use of it for our prosperity.

Let us begin with the term “everything” in the above verse. It covers all the events and situations that are in our lives, both good and bad. If you look back in you life, I am sure you will find good and bad things happened in the past. God has promised us that he will cause all of them, both good and bad to work together our good.

This is a great encouragement for those of us who are troubled by mistakes we made in the past. You could be troubled today because you have made mistakes in the past. You made wrong choices that lead to terrible consequences. The damage was done. Right now, you wished you could go back to the past and unmake those decisions but you know you can never do that. God is telling you to let go of that guilt and trust in him. He is giving you a promise that He will turn this bad experience of yours into something good. Your past mistakes might have caused 10 people died but God can turn it around and give you the ability to save 1,000 lives. You past mistakes might have caused you to lose $100,000 but God can turn it around and give you the ability to make an additional $100,000,000. This is the nature of our God.

Please note that the above verse does not name God as the pervert who caused the bad experiences to happen. God is the person who made bad things into good. He is not the one who caused the bad things to happen in the first place. God is not a hypocrite. He will not push you into the water and then throws you a float to save you in order to show you how much he loves you. That is the religious people’s version of God, not the Bible’s.

I remember some time ago my brother-in-law was hospitalized because he was infected by some disease. As we reached his bed, there were many people surrounding him with their hands on him. It looked like these people are his church friends praying for his recovery. However, after the prayer, one lady in the group said, “Maybe God wants you to rest more.”

What do you think she meant by that? It seemed to her that God could be the one who gave my brother-in-law the disease because He wanted him to rest more. What do you think of this? Do you think God loves you so much that he wants you to have good rest and He will do everything it takes to make you rest even to the extent of giving you some disease? In my view, that is perversion. I can never respect a God who gives disease to help people rest. It is very sickening although I am not surprised that religious churches to be quite used to it.

Let me repeat this as it is extremely important. God is not the pervert who caused bad things to happen to us in order to give himself the opportunity to play hero. God was not the one who caused the troubles we faced. He is our savior, not killer. He cannot be our deliverer and oppressor at the same time. You have to make up your mind on whether God is your deliverer or your oppressor. As for me, I choose to believe in what the Bible says. God causes everything to work together for my good.

The subsequent part of the verse tells us the only conditions to have God causing everything to work together for our good. Such privilege is for those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. The first condition is we must love God. The question is how to love God? If you are in a religious church, they will tell you that you must love God and the way to do that is to obey all their rituals. That is not what the Bible says.

The truth is one cannot be forced to love anyone including God. You can never force anyone to love you at gun point. Nor can you bribe anyone to do the same. They will only love the bribe and not you. So, the only way we can love God is for us to find out how much he loves us. Read the Bible. Read how Jesus treated his people. See for yourself how kind and loving he is. There is nothing He wished more than for you to prosper and be in health as your soul prospers. Not only that, Jesus was willing to die for our sins. At the Cross, he took all our sins for us to live in righteousness. He took all our diseases for us to live in health. He died poor for us to live rich. The more you are aware on how much He loves you, you can’t help loving him.

The second condition is we are called according to His purpose. This is not our call but His. So, God had fulfilled this condition for us.

In conclusion, God causes everything to work together for our good.