Be At Rest Once More

7 Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you.
Psalm 116:7 (NLT)

In this installment of Psalm 116, I am going to focus on just one verse and one issue – rest. It may sound simple but the truth is, rest is among the most spiritual discipline for us Christians. The above verse begins with the writer telling his soul to rest once more. This means his soul was not at rest when he said that.

What does this mean? The term “soul” is another word for “mind”. It is basically our software or operating system. Our souls define who we are. Whether we are good or bad, generous or stingy, brave or cowardly are in our souls. Our souls are “us” inside our bodies. Souls need to be at rest.

When we do physical work or exercise, our physical bodies will get tired. It is easy to understand that our bodies need to rest. What if we keep working and exercising without allowing our bodies to rest? Our bodies will reach the stress limit and we will collapse. It is a form of breakdown. We will be forced to rest.

In the realm of the soul, being at rest means we are free from anxiousness, worries and fears. A soul that is not at rest is in stress caused by anxiousness, worries and fears. If it continues in this state, it will reach its stress limit, which will course it to breakdown. The person will go crazy.

This is how mental illness happens to people. It begins in their thoughts. People worry or scare themselves into mental breakdown. If you are to conduct a research on how people have mental illness, I suspect you will find that it always begins with negative thoughts. I do not think you can find people who go crazy because they are positive.

It is obvious that it is the will of God for us to be mentally healthy. Being mentally healthy is a part of God’s will for us to prosper and be in health as our souls prosper. The question is, how are we going to maintain our mental health? The answer is in the second part of the verse: “for the LORD has been good to you.”

We need to believe beyond doubt that our God is good to us. God has been good to us, he is presently good to us and he will continue to be good to us for eternity. What is good? Let the dictionary tells us. (If you want to skip the definitions, just scroll down until after the italics.)

good  /gʊd/ Show Spelled [good] Show IPA adjective, bet⋅ter, best, noun, interjection, adverb
Use good in a Sentence
See web results for good
See images of good
–adjective
1.morally excellent; virtuous; righteous; pious: a good man.
2.satisfactory in quality, quantity, or degree: a good teacher; good health.
3.of high quality; excellent.
4.right; proper; fit: It is good that you are here. His credentials are good.
5.well-behaved: a good child.
6.kind, beneficent, or friendly: to do a good deed.
7.honorable or worthy; in good standing: a good name.
8.educated and refined: She has a good background.
9.financially sound or safe: His credit is good.
10.genuine; not counterfeit: a good quarter.
11.sound or valid: good judgment; good reasons.
12.reliable; dependable; responsible: good advice.
13.healthful; beneficial: Fresh fruit is good for you.
14.in excellent condition; healthy: good teeth.
15.not spoiled or tainted; edible; palatable: The meat was still good after three months in the freezer.
16.favorable; propitious: good news.
17.cheerful; optimistic; amiable: in good spirits.
18.free of distress or pain; comfortable: to feel good after surgery.
19.agreeable; pleasant: Have a good time.
20.attractive; handsome: She has a good figure.
21.(of the complexion) smooth; free from blemish.
22.close or intimate; warm: She’s a good friend of mine.
23.sufficient or ample: a good supply.
24.advantageous; satisfactory for the purpose: a good day for fishing.
25.competent or skillful; clever: a good manager; good at arithmetic.
26.skillfully or expertly done: a really good job; a good play.
27.conforming to rules of grammar, usage, etc.; correct: good English.
28.socially proper: good manners.
29.remaining available to one: Don’t throw good money after bad.
30.comparatively new or of relatively fine quality: Don’t play in the mud in your good clothes.
31.best or most dressy: He wore his good suit to the office today.
32.full: a good day’s journey away.
33.fairly large or great: a good amount.
34.free from precipitation or cloudiness: good weather.
35.Medicine/Medical. (of a patient’s condition) having stable and normal vital signs, being conscious and comfortable, and having excellent appetite, mobility, etc.
36.fertile; rich: good soil.
37.loyal: a good Democrat.
38.(of a return or service in tennis, squash, handball, etc.) landing within the limits of a court or section of a court.
39.Horse Racing. (of the surface of a track) drying after a rain so as to be still slightly sticky: This horse runs best on a good track.
40.(of meat, esp. beef) noting or pertaining to the specific grade below “choice,” containing more lean muscle and less edible fat than “prime” or “choice.”
41.favorably regarded (used as an epithet for a ship, town, etc.): the good ship Syrena.
–noun
42.profit or advantage; worth; benefit: What good will that do? We shall work for the common good.
43.excellence or merit; kindness: to do good.
44.moral righteousness; virtue: to be a power for good.
45.(esp. in the grading of U.S. beef) an official grade below that of “choice.”
46.goods,
a.possessions, esp. movable effects or personal property.
b.articles of trade; wares; merchandise: canned goods.
c.Informal. what has been promised or is expected: to deliver the goods.
d.Informal. the genuine article.
e.Informal. evidence of guilt, as stolen articles: to catch someone with the goods.
f.cloth or textile material: top-quality linen goods.
g.Chiefly British. merchandise sent by land, rather than by water or air.
47.the good,
a.the ideal of goodness or morality.
b.good things or persons collectively.
–interjection
48.(used as an expression of approval or satisfaction): Good! Now we can all go home.
–adverb
49.Informal. well.
—Idioms
50.as good as. as 1 (def. 22).
51.come to no good, to end in failure or as a failure: Her jealous relatives said that she would come to no good.
52.for good, finally and permanently; forever: to leave the country for good. Also, for good and all.
53.good and, Informal. very; completely; exceedingly: This soup is good and hot.
54.good for,
a.certain to repay (money owed) because of integrity, financial stability, etc.
b.the equivalent in value of: Two thousand stamps are good for one coffeepot.
c.able to survive or continue functioning for (the length of time or the distance indicated): These tires are good for another 10,000 miles.
d.valid or in effect for (the length of time indicated): a license good for one year.
e.(used as an expression of approval): Good for you!
55.good full, Nautical. (of a sail or sails) well filled, esp. when sailing close to the wind; clean full; rap full.
56.make good,
a.to make recompense for; repay.
b.to implement an agreement; fulfill.
c.to be successful.
d.to substantiate; verify.
e.to carry out; accomplish; execute: The convicts made good their getaway.
57.no good, without value or merit; worthless; contemptible: The check was no good.
58.to the good,
a.generally advantageous: That’s all to the good, but what do I get out of it?
b.richer in profit or gain: When he withdrew from the partnership, he was several thousand dollars to the good.

—Synonyms
pure, moral, conscientious, meritorious, worthy, exemplary, upright. 2. commendable, admirable. 5. obedient, heedful. 6. kindly, benevolent, humane, gracious, obliging. 23. full, adequate. 24. profitable, useful, serviceable, beneficial. 25. efficient, proficient, capable, able, ready, suited, suitable, dexterous, expert, adroit, apt. 46. See property.

Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/good

Some people may wonder why would I bother to refer to the dictionary for such a simple word. The answer is many churches today are infected with a heresy called theology. Theologians tell us that God can be so “good” that he can do perverted things to us like making us poor, infecting us with disease, killing our loved ones to give us sorrow, creating disasters to kill people or any other perversions. In fact, if you want to learn theology, let me show you a shortcut. All theological doctrines can be summed up in one sentence: God is a pervert. “God is good” means God can do perverted things to you.

Yet if you are to read the above definitions on the word “good”, you can never find such perversion. When the Bible says God is good, it refers to the “good” in the dictionary not theology. The moment you believe that God is good to you based on the “good” in the dictionary, your soul will be automatically at rest.

It is only when our souls are at rest, our faith can work at its optimum efficiency. We will receive everything we ask for in prayer. Our financial problems will turn into financial abundance. Our sickness will turn into health. Our failures will turn into success. We will be delivered from all our troubles. Our future will only consist of success and prosperity.

This is the will of God for us. Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you.

When You Are Overcome By Trouble And Sorrow

3 The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow.
4 Then I called on the name of the LORD : “O LORD, save me!”
5 The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.
6 The LORD protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, he saved me.
Psalm 116:3-6 (NIV)

This is the second installment of my series in Psalm 116. Here, the writer shared his experience on a setback he faced. He must had been in a very serious problem for him to say such words in Psalm 116:3. The cords of death entangled him and the anguish of the grave came upon him. He was basically drowning under trouble and sorrow. In short, he was in a very bad shape.

Do you find yourself in a similar situation? Welcome to this world. The truth is every one of us, regardless of whether we are Christians face troubles and sorrows in this world. There are times that our troubles and sorrows were so big that we feel like we are drowning inside them. We may find Psalm 116:3 to be an accurate description on how we feel.

The above passage tells us that troubles and sorrows are inevitable as long as we are in this world but it does not stop there. Throughout the Bible, God speaks of the problems we may face but he has never stopped there and left us on our own. He provides us with the right solution. So, do not stop reading after Psalm 116:3. After Psalm 116:3, God provide us with Psalm 116:4-6 to help us to overcome the problems we face. Let us go for it.

When the writer faced the problems in Psalm 116:3, he immediately responded with calling on the name of the Lord.

4 Then I called on the name of the LORD : “O LORD, save me!”
Psalm 116:4 (NIV)

He prayed a very simple prayer: “O LORD, save me!” If you can remember, Peter prayed that when he was drowning in the sea. He was rescued. If anyone wants to learn how to pray, here is a quick lesson. Just say “O LORD, save me!” whenever you face any troubles in your life. Real prayer is really simple. There is neither theology nor doctrines involved. This is why I have asserted that the Bible is an engineering book. Its contents are very simple and yet able to help us to get the results we want.

What will happen after we ask God to save us? In the subsequent verse, the writer seemed to want us to first understand the characteristic of God.

5 The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.
Psalm 116:5 (NIV)

In short, God is good. In today’s context, God is not a pervert. It is impossible for God to be gracious, righteous, full of compassion and at the same time do perverted things to his people in the name of his sufficient grace, his love, some lessons, some sort of discipline or any other nonsense the theologians can come up with. It is imperative for us to always remind ourselves that God is always on our side against our problems. Even if you have committed sins, God is with you against your sins. God is never against you for your sins.

 If you are drowning in the sea, God is not the one who pushed you. He is the one who arranged for the rescue boat to reach you.

 If your light bulb is burnt, God is not the one who caused it to burn. He is the one who has provided you with everything you need to replace it with a new one.

 If you are sick, God is not the one who had infected you with the disease. He is your healer, not your disease giver.

 If you are poor and have financial problems, God is not the one who caused it. He wants you to be rich, not poor. God wants to bless you with abundant riches. He does not believe in the Vow of Poverty. He will never create financial problems to force you to take up that vow.

I use the above some illustrations to emphasize on the true characteristics of God. If you hear theologians or doctrine worshippers telling you that God can do perverted things to people, refer to Psalm 116:5.

Now that we have determined on the true nature of God, we can safely predict how he will respond to our plea of help.

6 The LORD protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, he saved me.
Psalm 116:6 (NIV)

The Lord protects and saves us. Let us look deeper into this verse. The first part says The LORD protects the simplehearted. We need to be simple hearted to receive the Lord’s protection. What does that mean? We need to focus on simplicity. This is another proof that the Bible is about engineering because engineering is about simplicity too.

Simplicity means believing God based on what he says in the Bible, NOT on what the theologians or doctrine worshippers say what he says. We do not need middle men to help us to interpret God’s words for us. Let me give you some examples in this.

 When the Bible says God is good, it means what is says. Do not be fooled by the theologians or doctrine worshippers who tell you that the “good” here can mean God can do perverted things to you like giving you some thorns in the flesh to show you his sufficient grace.

 When the Bible says God wants to make you rich in gold and silver, it means what it says. . Do not be fooled by the theologians or doctrine worshippers who tell you that this promise is not longer literal because Jesus said he has no place to lay his head, Peter said he did not have gold or silver or many Christians who are still poor. God says it and that settles it.

 When the Bible says God wants heal you, it means what it says. . Do not be fooled by the theologians or doctrine worshippers who tell you that this promise is not longer literal because there are Christians who are sick.

In short, God says it and that settles it. If only all Christians are committed to believe in what the Bible says the way it says it, we will all be living in victorious lives. We will live in abundant prosperity, divine health, long lives and be successful in every area of our lives. When we face troubles, we can call on the name of the Lord and live with expectation that he will protect and save us.

Finally, the last part of the verse says, when I was in great need he saved me. The magnitude of our needs, no matter how big or small, is nothing to God. He is willing and able to save us from all our troubles. Whatever problems you are facing right now, never focus on how big they are. The solution lies in focusing on the God’s characteristics in Psalm 116:5. God is capable of overcoming it for us.

Whether you have a million dollars problem or a billion dollars problem, God can still solve it your you. He has the money. Our role is to believe. As Jesus said, “Fear not. Just believe.”

Reason For Loving The Lord

1 I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy.
2 Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.
Psalm 116:1-2 (NIV)

I am starting a series in Psalm 116. I am sure the title of this post will be offensive to the theologians and doctrine worshippers. After all, are we not supposed to love God unconditionally? How can we love him for any reason?

If you have been reading the posts in this blog for some time, I believe you should have realized by now that unlike the theologians and doctrine worshippers, I am not a hypocrite. I write what I truly believe in and I am not under the obligation of abiding to political correctness. The opinions of those heretics are irrelevant to the truth. I have no intention of pleasing them.

Let me begin by telling you the history of my relationship with the Lord. Before I was a Christian, the Lord was just one of the many dieties promoted by religions. When I became a Christian in my first church, I started off with a good impression on him. How not to have a good impression on a God who give his Son for my sins?

However, after attending several sermons, my impression on the Lord became bad. The corrupt pastors in that church created the impression that the Lord is only interested in me going for missions and giving money to the church. Everything else is not important to him. He has no intention to deliver me from my troubles, give me a lot of money, gives me good health and success in every area of my life. In fact, sometimes he can even do perverted things to people to show them his “sufficient grace”. In short, I thought of the Lord as the pervert of the lowest order. All thanks to the sermons I received from a theological and doctrinally correct church.

It was only after I came across New Creation Church that I was set free. I began to realize that not only is the Lord not a pervert, he is a kind and loving person. I am his top priority. His desire is for me to be always rich, healthy and be successful in every area of my life. His love for me will never change even if I refuse to go for missions or give money to the church.

For your information, I have never go for missions in my life and since I left my first church I have never given a single cent to any church. The closest thing I have done is to tithe and sow for my own prosperity. It has never been my concern whether any church has enough money to pay their pastors. If any church does not have enough money to the extend of having to manipulate its members, this tells me that the “God” of this church is hopeless. I am not interested in worshipping a hopeless “God”.

Do I love the Lord? I love him because he is willing to help me to get everything I want. He is always on my side to deliver me from all my troubles and blessed me with every spiritual blessing in the spiritual realm. Having a lot of money, good health, strong family and all success are among the “every spiritual blessing in the spiritual realm.”

This is the reason and the condition for my love to the Lord. It may not go well with the heretics like the theologians and doctrine worshippers but who cares? This is the truth. I am not ashamed to tell the truth as it is.

So, what is the Bible’s view of such a conditional love? Psalm 116:1 seems to say that it was a common practice at that time. The writer tell us that he love the Lord because the Lord heard his voice and cry for mercy. So there were some conditions there too.

What can we learn here?

First the Lord is not a pervert. Psalm 116:1 does not say “I love the LORD, for he did perverted things to me to show me his sufficient grace.” This tells us the writer did not see the Lord as a sadist.

Secondly, he was not ashamed to reveal the real reason for his love of the Lord. He loved the Lord because the Lord always heard his prayer. What do you think will happen after the Lord heard our prayers? He acts on it. If you have read the Bible you will realize that the Lord is a very action oriented person. He will not just send his condolence after you tell him his problems. He always takes action to deliver us from all our troubles.

19 A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all;
Psalm 34:19 (NIV)

Let me simplify the above sequence here:
1. When I am in trouble, I call on the Lord.
2. When I call on the Lord, he hears me.
3. When he hears me, he always delivers me.

This is the truth that no theologian can understand. Yet it works. The writer of Psalm 116 must have comprehended this truth or he would not have been encouraged to keep seeking the Lord.

2 Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.
Psalm 116:2 (NIV)

He had decided to call on the Lord as long as he lived. Smart move. In fact I think this is simple common sense. Since the Lord has declared that he always hear our prayers, deliver us from all our troubles and give us everything we ask for, don’t you think that is simple common sense to seek him as often as we can? This is what the writer was committed to do. So, it is not necessary to blackmail people to pray and seek the Lord. The truth would suffice.

Tripped Seven Times

16 The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.
Proverbs 24:16 (NLT)

This is among the most powerful verse in the Bible. It begins by telling us that the godly may trip seven times. The truth is being Christians do not cause us to be immune to troubles and failures. We Christians can be poor, sick, fail in our work or even die before our time. We are still subjected to the natural law. This is the part that carnal Christians like the theologians and doctrine worshippers can never understand or pretend not to understand.

First, they accuse us, (the true spiritual Christians) of saying that Christians are not supposed to have any troubles. Then they tried to convince us that the Bible says Christians can have troubles. This is why I do not believe in any honest dialog between the true spiritual Christians and Christians who are under the bondage of theology. Those who are under the bondage of theology can never think straight.

The truth is there are many parts in the Bible that says the godly can get into not just troubles but many troubles. However, those verses do not stop there. There is always a full context for those verses. The above verse is an example. We, the godly people can get into troubles, make mistakes and trip seven times. (The phase “seven times” refers to many times.) This is only half a sentence. The other half tells us that we will get up again. God has promised us that no matter how many times we have tripped in our lives we will always be able to get up.

Let put this in another way. God has promised that our ability to overcome our troubles is as certain as the existence of troubles in our lives. As long as there are problems, there is always solution.

Whatever problems you are facing right now, God has promised deliverance from it.

If you are poor and have financial problems, God has promised you the ability to overcome them and become rich. It does not matter how bad the economy is or how incapable you are in the natural to make money because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. God will certainly fulfil all his promises. Instead of having the problem of not enough money, you will have more than enough money.

If you happen to be sick, God promised you the ability to overcome your sickness and be healthy. It does not matter how “incurable” that sickness is because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. God will certainly fulfil all his promises. Instead of suffering in sickness, you will be able to enjoy health you never had before.

The same principle applies to all the troubles we face in this world.

The second part of the above verse tells us why it never pays to be evil. Their future is the exact opposite from ours. We can face many mistakes and failures in our lives but we can always stand up each time we fall. No matter what the devil throws at us, we always have the power to overcome them. We may fall many times but as long as we do not give up, we will eventually win.

The scenario of the wicked is the opposite. They may seem successful now. They may even be enjoying themselves in prosperity, good health and other success that we wish we have. However, that is not the end. They have no resilient to the challenges in life. All it takes is one disaster and all their “success” and “prosperity” will be gone. So, it is better to be godly than wicked.

Here is another illustration. There is a saying. Statistically, only one out of ten new business will succeed. In other words, nine out of ten new startup businesses are doomed to failure. Does this mean the society is better off if no one bothers to start new businesses? The answer is no. Do you know why? On average, the one successful business can make more money, create more jobs and pay more taxes than the other nine that failed.

Likewise, in our life journey as believers, we may have failed many times and suffer many losses. However, if we choose not to give up and hold on to our faith on the integrity of God, we will have the ability to stand up to fight on each time we are knocked down. As long as we continue to press on and not to give up, we will eventually overcome all our troubles. At that time, we will seem more and more blessings of God manifesting in our lives. All the things that we receive and give away will be more than the all the losses we suffered in the battles. The society on the whole will be better off if the godly refuses to give up.

On the opposite end, think of crime. A burglar may have the success rate of 90% where he can get away in nine out of ten crimes that he committed. However, the one time that he got caught would have caused him to lose all his loots in the previous nine crimes. All it takes is one arrest and his crime spree in over. Crime and wickedness doesn’t pay.

In conclusion, don’t give up. It does not matter how many times you have fallen or failed. Get up and fight on. As long as you refuse to give up, you will live to see your victory before you.

Blessings That Cannot Be Broken II

10 For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken,” says the Lord, who has mercy on you.
Isaiah 54:10 (NLT)

In the previous article, I have written on the above verse. I have explained that God’s covenant of blessing is eternal. It can outlast everything we see here on earth. In the article, I pointed out the achievements of the Jews today to as the proof of God’s faithfulness. Despite their extremely small population on earth, the Jews are practically over-represented as achievers in every field. This is the result of God’s unbroken covenant of blessing. If this covenant can be so effective to the Jews, who relied on the blood of animals to cover their sins, how much more for Christians who have Jesus to die for our sins? I don’t think I have to convince anyone that Jesus has a higher status than the animals.

This means God’s covenant of blessing can sustain the passage of time. It does not decay with time. The Second Law of Thermodynamics has no effect of God’s covenant to his people.

In this article, I want to emphasize that the same covenant can also overcome bad events in our world today. This is especially relevant because we are supposed to be in the worst global recession in history. The question here is, does this covenant still work in a recession?

I remember in the earlier days of this blog where I got a lot of responses (or objections) from many doctrine worshippers. One of the tactics they used to support their heresy is to cite situations where it seems impossible for Christians to get rich.

How about Christians who live in poor countries?
How about Christians who are currently serving life sentence in jail?

It seems to the doctrine worshipers that as long as there is one Christian who lives in poor country or under a life sentence, God’s promise to give us prosperity is no longer valid. God is a liar. This tells us that doctrine worship can cause brain damage.

If you have read the Bible, you will remember that God always keep his promises regardless of the physical situation. Isaac faced the worst famine in his time. Yet God made him even richer in the midst of it. Isaac did not starve in the famine. He did not get poorer. He got richer. Joseph was sold as a slave to Egypt and later imprisoned for molest. Yet, God’s blessing could still make him rich, powerful and successful. Throughout the Bible, we can see that God always keep his promises regardless on how bad the physical situation was.

So, God can still prosper us even in the worst recession in history. Let me put this in another way. The worst recession in history cannot break the covenant of blessing God had with us. God’s desire for us to be rich, healthy and successful in every area is still valid today. Go ahead and make your millions.

The above verse ends with “says the Lord, who has mercy on you.” Mercy is an important factor here. Why mercy? The answer is we are still imperfect. We still make mistakes. We are still vulnerable in the areas of our weakness. We would have been unqualified to receive God’s blessings based on our own strength. Thank God for his mercy. The mercy of God enables us to continue to receive God’s blessings despite our imperfection. This brings glory to God.

So, we are blessed not because of our own strength but because of God’s mercy on us. All we have to do is to keep obeying and trusting in him. Are you not glad that you have such a wonderful God?

Blessings That Cannot Be Broken

10 For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken,” says the Lord, who has mercy on you.
Isaiah 54:10 (NLT)

Somehow, I come across another verse on mountains again. I did not intentionally look for it. Yet I can see it repeatedly. It must be God’s will for me to study deeper into this subject.

The above verse begins with mountains moving and hills disappear. If you have been living in this planet for some time, you will realize that mountains do not move and hills do not disappear. Mountain represents things that are permanent and immovable. If you own a mountain, you can be sure that your descendents in generations to come will still be able to see it.

In the above verse, God compares his covenant of blessing to the mountains and hills. I myself will very happy if God’s covenant blessing with me is as stable as the mountains and hills. Yet God went beyond that. God is saying that his covenant of blessing can even outlast the mountains and the hills. Even when the mountains move and the hills disappear, God’s covenant blessing will never be broken.

This verse was directed to the Jews at that time. Today, we can see the effects of this covenant on their descendents. The Jewish population in the world is extremely small to the point of insignificant. Yet their wealth and achievements are totally out of proportion. They are among the most successful bankers, investors, fund managers, artists, musicians, lawyers, scientists and every area you can find. Why is that so? Do the Jews have better brains? There is no scientific proof on this. No matter which area you look into, the Jews are not much different from the rest. Yet their achievements are truly astounding.

The only answer lies in the above verse. Their ancestors had a covenant of blessing with God and this covenant is still effective until today. The next question is how about Christians? Since the above verse was directed to the Jews, how can we Christians benefit from it?

Let us now compare the difference between the Christians and the Jews. I am referring specifically to the non-Christian Jews.

1. The Jews are the natural seeds of Abraham. Christians are the spiritual seeds of Abraham. Spiritual is always superior than the natural.

2. The sins of the Jews are covered by the blood of goats and lambs. Our sins are redeem by the blood of Jesus, Son of the Living God. Do I have to convince you that Jesus is greater than the goats and lambs?

Based on the above comparison, it is clear that Christians are superior to the Jews in every spiritual way. Therefore, it is only right that the covenant of blessings God has for us must be far superior. Imagine this: Suppose Christians have the same level blessings as the Jews. This would mean Jesus is at the same level with goats and lambs. If Christians have lesser blessings than the Jews, Jesus would be in lower position than the animals. That would be a blasphemy.

The conclusion is clear. Christians are blessed in every area of our lives. We should see the achievements of the Jews today as the beginning of what we could have achieved if we are to take our covenant with our God seriously. If you read the Bible, you will be able to see that God is not a sadist who takes joy in making people suffer. God is a normal and healthy person who enjoys seeing his children living in good health, lots of wealth, long life, healthy relationships and be successful in every area of our lives.

Welcome to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Sinner’s Wealth

22 Good people leave an inheritance to their grandchildren, but the sinner’s wealth passes to the godly.
Proverbs 13:22 (NLT)

The above verse makes it very clear to us on the direct result of being good or godly. In the Bible, the terms
“good” and “godly” means the same. They refer to living in accordance to the will of God. In this verse, God is telling us very clearly if you obey God, you will be wealthy.

At this point, I am sure carnal Christians like theologians and doctrine worshippers will question on what type of wealth is this. It has been a habit of those heretics to stick in the word “spiritual” to every promise on health or wealth in the Bible. This is how they keep insisting that God has never promised health and wealth in the Bible. So, I will not be surprise that the followers of heresy will say that the wealth in the above verse refers only to “spiritual” wealth.

Are they right? Let us look into the context of the above verse. There are 2 parts in this verse. The first part says good people leave an inheritance to their grandchildren. What inheritance can good people leave to their grandchildren? It can be both physical and spiritual. Let me give you an example.

Consider the story of Abraham. Abraham was a godly man and he was very rich. He left all his money to his son Isaac when he died. After some time, Isaac had a huge problem. The area he lived in faced a severe famine. Yet, God had blessed him and made him even richer in the midst of the famine. The Bible tells us that God did it for Abraham’s sake. So, it was Isaac’s spiritual inheritance from his father that helped him not only to overcome the famine but also made him richer from it. Whether the inheritance is in physical or spiritual form, the result is always the same – prosperity.

The second part of the verse is more clear-cut. The sinner’s wealth passes to the godly. Sinners do not have spiritual wealth. They only have physical wealth. Physical wealth is the only form of wealth sinners can recognize and cause them to chase after. In my articles under the category of “Financial Toxic Series”, I have exposed some real life examples on how some people are willing to put their moral integrity aside when they sell financial toxic to the public for the sake of money. This is an example on what sinners are willing to do in order to make money.

However, God is not going to allow the sinners to keep their money for long. He has promised in the above verse that the sinners’ wealth will be passed on to us, the godly. This event is also known as “ The Wealth Transfer”. I like the King James Version on this verse.

22A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.
Proverbs 13:22 (KJV)

When you see sinners out there who appear to be being rewarded for their sins, do not feel like God has mistreated you. It is not over yet. Since these people had chosen to disobey God, God has graciously allowed them to live the way they like. They are free to sacrifice everything they have to make money. However, since they do not have God in their hearts, they do not have the ability to retain, let alone enjoy the wealth they gained. Their wealth will eventually be transferred to the godly like us.

So, God has not mistreated you. He is only allowing the sinners more time to make more money so that when he transfer them to you, you will have more money. Start rejoicing and praise God for his goodness.

Has such even happened before? The answer is yes. Let me prove this.

37 The Lord brought his people out of Egypt, loaded with silver and gold; and not one among the tribes of Israel even stumbled.
Psalm 105:37 (NLT)

Wen the Israelites left Egypt, they did not leave with only their own original possessions. They left with a lot of gold and silver. God had effectively transferred the wealth of Egypt to the Israelites. If he could did it then, he can do the same now in a larger scale. One day, we too will be loaded with a lot of gold and silver from the sinners.

I am sure some theologians will say, “Sure, it will happen in heaven.” The truth is, sinners do not go to heaven. Sinners will not go to heaven with their physical wealth and pass them to us. The Transfer will happen here on earth when we are still alive. This is the truth that no theologian can pervert.

What does this mean to us? It gives us hope for a great future on earth. We do not have to wait to die and go to heaven to have great future. Our great and glorious future begins now. Sure, may see a lot of seemingly injustice here on earth where many sinners get rich while godly people like you remain poor but you must realize that such imbalance will not last for long. The wealth of the sinners will soon be passed on to you. God will make sure it happens.

What is our role in this? The answer is to get ready to receive. Build up your faith. Read the Bible. Confess the goodness of God. Make it a habit to praise God when good things (no matter how small) happen to you. When bad things happen, never falter nor give up. Keep believing that God is still on your side. He is working behind the scenes to deliver and prosper you. Failure is not in your future. Defeat is not in your future. If the devil knocks you down seven times, get up eight! Never give up your faith because your faith the only link you have to the supernatural power of God.

The wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.

Mountain Talk Again

7 “What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’ ”
Zechariah 4:7 (NLT)

This is another example of talking to mountains. When Jesus talked about telling the mountain to throw itself to the sea at Mark 11:23, he was not saying something new. The idea of talking to mountains and overcoming them with the words of our mouths is established in the Old Testament. The above verse is the proof of this.

In this article, I shall explore further on this idea, in particular on how to apply it to use it to overcome the mountains of our lives. Let us look at the context of this verse. This verse is preceded by a more famous verse, which is:

6 So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.
Zechariah 4:6 (NLT)

The Lord was telling Zerubbabel that success in life is not dependent to his personal might and power alone. He needs the blessing of God to make it through in life. This is what “but by my Spirit” means.

In the next verse, the Lord mocked the mountain in Zerubbabel’s life. I like the part on “What are you, O mighty mountain?” It seems that the mighty mountain is nothing in the eyes of the Lord. Not only that, because of the blessing of the Lord, the mighty mountain is also nothing to Zerubbabel.

“Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground.”

It seems that even Zerubbabel can turn a mighty mountain into level ground. If this can work for Zerubbabel, this can also work for all of us who have the same God. All of us have the power to turn our mountains into level ground.

You may be burdened with debts as high as mountains where there does not seem to any way out. Your mountain could be the lack of jobs and opportunities to advance to a higher pay scale. Or it could be a supposedly incurable disease. In short, the mountain represents a huge obstacle to achieve your desires. Mountains are supposed to be permanent and immovable. Many times, we may feel the same about the problems we face.

However, God is telling us that this mountain that you are facing now and many others to come must become level ground. Your poverty must be turn into prosperity. Your sickness must turn into health and your failures into success. This is the will of God for us as believers. Our role is to align our lives with his will for the transformation to take place.

How are we supposed to do that? The answer is in the last part of Zechariah 4:7.

“Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!”

In short, the solution is to confess the blessing of God over our problems. Whatever problem you are facing right now, no matter how big, impossible or complex, the blessing of God can overcome it. All you need is to confess the blessing of God over the problem. It always works because God knows his stuff.

This is also what God expects us to do when we face any problems in our lives. We are to confess the blessing of God to overcome them. The blessing of God always works and if you are really serious in overcoming the mountains in your life, start confessing it.

Financial Toxic: Whole Life Insurance Plans

This is the second installment on my financial toxic series. In this article I shall explore a common insurance product known as whole life insurance plan. It is also known as whole of life in some countries. Basically, it is meant to last as long as the life of the underlying person insured under it. I am sure many people have such plans in their portfolios and it has generated a lot of commission income for those who sold it. However, the product itself is toxic and I am going to prove it.

Before I move on to the proofs, let me repeat my disclaimer. This article is an expression of my personal opinion. I am neither a licensed financial adviser nor a financial expert. I am only an engineer. Here is the difference: Financial advisers and financial experts are trained to obey everything written in their text books without question while engineers are trained to think and analyze logically. In addition, engineers do not receive commissions for selling financial toxic.

Now that I have presented my disclaimer, I shall proceed with my points. Let me start by presenting the sales pitch for this product.

Sales pitch.
This is a savings plan. You save some money regularly in this plan. If you die, the insurance company will give a huge sum of money to your family. However, if you live to old age and do not need insurance protection anymore, you can take out the money you have saved. You will get back all the money you have put it plus interest which will definitely be more than what the banks can give. So, you have everything to gain and nothing to lose in this plan.

The hidden truth.
As you can see, the above is the common sales pitch for this product. Is it true? The answer is, it is only partial truth. There are other facts that are intentionally hidden in order not to lose the sale. Let me present the hidden truths in this product.

I shall address the insurance portion in the later part of this article. Here I will show you the flaws in the “savings plan” pitch. It is true that you keep the whole life plan for a long time like 20 years before surrendering it, you can get back more than you have put it only if you do not factor in the inflation rate for the whole of 20 years. If you factor in the rate of inflation, your real gain in this “savings plan” will be very small if not negative. So, it is a bad savings plan.

The sales pitch also compares this product with bank deposit. I find this comparison to be totally idiotic. Maybe, those sales folks really think the public as idiots to come up with such comparison. Let me show you why this comparison is flawed. Our money in the banks is liquid. We can withdraw them anytime we want. Even if you have put your money in a fixed deposit, you can still take the out at some cost like forfeiting the interest or even some penalty fees. You can never do that in a whole life plan.

If you have just bought this plan, there is no money in your account even after you have paid a few installments. Why? Most of the money you paid goes to the commission income of your agent, your agent’s manager and the agent’s manager’s manager. (In Singapore, the government allows up 3 levels for commissions.) The rest goes to the insurance company to cover the cost of administration and risk. So, you have nothing. Does this sound like day light robbery to you? This tells us that it is possible to rob legally. All you need is to sell this plan.

After some time, when the agent stop taking your money, you will have some cash value in your account. However you can never take them out without giving up this plan. The insurance company in its mercy will lend you the money you want based on the cash value in your whole life plan with interest. In other words, the insurance company will lend you your own money and charge you interest for it.

Next, let us look at the opportunity cost of this plan. If you have put in the same amount of money in an index fund that tracks index like S&P500 for 20 years, you will surely have much higher profits with close to zero probability of loss.

Are you convinced by now that the insurance companies have a very low opinion of your intelligence?

Therefore, the slogan that says the whole live plan is a savings plan is nothing more than an insult to our intelligence.

Next I am going to present what the whole life plan truly is.

Components of the whole life insurance plan.
The whole life insurance plan is made up with the following components:
1. High cost insurance.
2. Low yield investment.
3. High commission.

This first and second component makes it toxic but the third makes it the bestseller for insurance companies. Welcome to the world of financial services. You can sell any toxic waste as long as you are willing to be generous with the commissions. There will be a lot of people are willing to suspend their moral integrity to help you to sell your toxic. Of course the buyers of this toxic will the ones who will suffer the consequences but who cares. The commissions are in the accounts of the agents when it happens.

I am sure many people, especially those who make money from selling this plan will challenge me on the first two points. I shall explain in detail on them.

High cost insurance.
In order to help you to understand this part, I shall explain the basic operation of an insurance company. This may sound surprising to you but the truth is, insurance companies operate on the same principle as casinos and gaming companies. It is based on the law of probability.

If you go into a casino and place your chips in one of the squares on the table, you may win or lose but the casino always wins at the end of the day. In every hour, the casino collects a lot of money from those who lost their bets and gives away a lot of money to those who won. However, at the end of each day, it can be very sure that the amount of money it collects will be more than the money it gives away. Why? The rules of the games are designed this way. The house always has the edge.

Insurance companies work the same way. Every month, they collect a lot of money in insurance premiums. At the same time, they also give away a lot of money as insurance pay-outs, commissions and other costs. However, they can be very sure that in every year, the amount they receive is more than the amount they give out. They set their rules like the premium rates to ensure this.

This is why insurance companies operate the same way as casinos. The difference is, casinos do not insult our intelligence by telling us that they have savings plan for us, they care for our financial future or they care for our families.

How does this relate to my allegation of high cost insurance? Suppose that you are young and healthy. You want to buy a one year term insurance. How much do you think the insurance company will charge you in relation to the payout you expect? The answer is it will try to charge you a low as it can. Why? There is close to 100% certainty that you will stay alive for the coming one year period. The company can collect your premium and expect not to pay you anything. You are an ideal client. The company will try to charge as low as possible in order not to lose your business to its rivals.

This is like lottery. You pay a small amount of money for a small chance of winning a lot of money. In the above insurance example, you pay a small of money for your family to have a chance of receiving a lot of money if you die within the one year period. However, there is a huge chance that you will not die.

How does this affect the whole life insurance plan? In this plan, as long as you hold on to it, you can be certain that you will be eligible to receive the payout. In other words, you can be sure of hitting the jackpot. You only don’t know when. Let us use some common sense here. Do you think in the insurance company will lose money selling your this plan? Do you think insurance companies will design products that will make their customers make profit at their expense? I believe the answer is quite clear. The premiums must have been set in such a way that they will be more than the payout you are expected to receive after taking into account their time value.

Buying a whole life insurance plan for protection is like buying all the lottery tickets for one draw. If you buy up all the lottery tickets in one draw, I can give you 2 guarantees. The first guarantee is you will qualify to win all the prizes offered. The second is, the total amount of money you spent in buying all these tickets will be more than the total amount of prizes you receive. So, you will have a net loss. In other words, a certainty of loss.

The only way you can “win” in a whole life insurance plan is when you die early. If you happen to live to ripe old age, your situation is like buying all the lottery tickets. So, do you still think this product is a good deal? Welcome to the high cost insurance.

Low yield investment.
Now, I shall explain why the investment returns for the whole life are always so low even when the stock market is booming. If you have such plans, you will notice that the cash you have inside it will always go up and never comes down no matter how bad the stock market is. This is an example on how the system works.

Suppose the market is booming and the insurance company makes 20% from its investment return in a year. It will not give you the full 20%. It will credit only 3% into your account leaving the balance of 17% in reserve. In a bad year where the investment suffers a loss of 5%, it will take out the reserves, make up the loss and still give you an annual return of 3%. So, you will have the impression of a consistent gain but do not be fooled. It comes from your own money. As I have mentioned earlier, if you have placed the same amount of money in an index tracking fund for the same period of time like 20 years, you can get in excess of more than 10% annualized returns safely. This is certainly more than the mere 3% annual returns from the whole life plan.

(The 3% I used is meant to the overall investment returns including the generous commissions paid to the agents. Without the commissions, the investment return in your insurance plan will be much higher.)

This explains why the investment portion in the whole life insurance plan is consistently low.

Conclusion
I hope I have explained sufficiently on why the above product is toxic. The money spent on this product can be allocated somewhere for better returns. Please note that I have never said insurance is bad. All I said is some insurance products are simply toxic and should be avoided. Otherwise you will only be making others rich at your own expense.