Life Giving Commandments

93 I will never forget your commandments, for by them you give me life.
Psalm 119:93 (NLT)

Today, I want to write on God’s commandments. If you have been attending some religious churches, you will find this term to be very politically correct. You will not be accused of “prosperity gospel” or “cheap grace” when you fill your sentences with “God’s commandments”.

Therefore, writing on this topic should be very safe for me. The theologians and doctrine worshippers will not be angry with me because they may think I am singing the same tune as them. However, if you have known me for some time you will realize that I have no intention to please those heretics.

As far as I am concern, I am only interested in finding out the truth and use it for my prosperity. Let me assure you that the contents in this article will not be approved by any religious church.

Let us begin by exploring the term “commandment” in the Bible. What does that mean?

My first church was religious and infested with theology. When I was there, I thought of this term as things I must do as a Christian. If I fail to obey God’s commandments, God will either send me to hell or do some perverted things to me like giving me Aids. Once, I really thought I would not be able to go to heaven unless I join at least one mission trip. Thus, my life in this church was like a living hell.

I thank God because he has set me free from the lies of my first church. Today, I no longer think of the word “commandment” as a blackmail. This word is now a positive word to me. The above verse explains it.

As shown in the above verse, the writer told God that he will never forget God’s commandments because they were the instruments to give him life. He did not view God’s commandments as a blackmail. Instead, he saw them as something good that will improve his life on earth. This happens to be my view as well.

What does this supposed to mean?

First, you must reject the theological lies that you must obey God’s commandments at all cost or God will punish you. God is not a terrorist. He does not blackmail. Unlike the theologians, God has integrity.

Second, you must learn the truth that sets you free. The truth is, God designed his commandments with the intention of giving us good lives. In other words, God’s commandments are our tools for us to achieve prosperity in every area in our lives.

We should not feel threatened each time we come across this word. Instead we should rejoice because we have received another tool for our prosperity.

Third, always keep in mind that you have the choice and the right to reject any of God’s commandments. When you do that, God will still love you. He will never send you to hell or do any perverted things to you. As Christians, we have the right to disobey God and still go to heaven. Thus we are never threatened into obedience.

Forth, we must be aware that though God will never punish us for disobeying his commandments, there are still consequences of our disobedience.

Let me give you an example.

God wants you not to smoke. You can choose to disobey him and smoke as much as you want. If you keep doing it, your health may suffer and you might even get lung cancer. When that happens, you must realize that God is not the one who gave you that lung cancer. The lung cancer was caused by nicotine, not God. God is not nicotine and nicotine is not God.

God’s will for us is always for us to live better lives. God wants us to have more wealth (includes more money), better health, better relationships and greater prosperity in all things. Therefore, all his commandments were designed as tools for us to achieve greater prosperity in our lives. We use these tools by obeying them.

What if we choose to disobey them and even do the opposite? In this case, we will receive the opposite of “prosperity in every area of our lives”. When that happens, it is not the will of God for us to be poor. It is our will and we exercise it by no using the tools God has given us.

In conclusion, the choice is yours. Do you want to obey God’s commandments?

What Is Faith?

1 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.
Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)

I have not been writing for quite some time. Now, I would like to get to the basics. I am writing on faith. What is faith? In the current social norm, most people will think of religious affiliation when they hear of this word. If you bother to ask a theologian, he will tell you that faith means believing in whatever he wants you to believe.

What is God’s definition of faith? The above verse gives us a clear answer on what Bible faith is all about. It tells us that faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen. Through faith, we have the assurance that we can have what we want even if the situation around us tells us how impossible it is.

A Christian life is a life of faith. We are not supposed to be moved by what we see, hear or feel. We are only moved by what we believe and we believe in the Word of God. In other words, we choose to think positive, talk positive and feel positive even if we are physically in a bad situation.

Sounds good but how do we put this into practice?

Read the above verse again. The first part tells us that faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen. This means we need to have things to hope for before we can use our faith. This is the truth where theological infested minds can never understand.

Faith is never meant to be an idol. It is a tool God gave us to get whatever we want. In order for us to start using it, we have to decide what we want.

Think of a map. A map tells us how to get to the places around us. However, if you have no idea on where do you want to go, the map is useless. You have to decide where you want to go and then use the map to help you to get there.

The same applies for faith. Decide on what you want right now. What do you want? Do you want to have a lot of money, good health, long life, happy family, good friends or anything else that will make you happy? Determine what you want and then use your faith to get them. This is the real application of faith.

The second part of the verse tells us that through the right use of faith, we have the assurance of a good life even if we cannot see them in the natural. This is crucial for those of us who are presently in a bad shape right now.

You may be poor and debt ridden. You may have a terminal disease and there is no hope for recovery. Your marriage may be breaking down. All these scenarios are real to you and may seem like a huge immovable mountain to you but in the eyes of God, they can easily be changed. God has given us the tool to move even the highest mountain and this tool is called faith. We don’t have to pray to beg God to move the mountains for us. We use our faith to move our own mountains.

23 I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.
24 I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.
Mark 11:23-24 (NLT)

The bottom line is, no matter how big your problems appear to be right now, they are not immune to faith. You have been given the power to overcome them. You have been given the power to have everything you desire. It is the will of God for you to use this power.

Welcome to the power of faith.

The Meaning Of Trusting The Lord

7 “But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.
8 He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NIV)

The above tells us the benefits we gain by putting our trust and confidence in the Lord. Ask yourself this question:

· Do you trust the Lord?
· Do you have full confidence in him?

I am sure many Christian would have come up with a politically correct answer and said “yes” but what they have in their minds are different from what the above verse says.

When the religious people said they trust God, what they truly meant is they believe the situation around them is caused by God. Their role as believers is to accept them passively.

· If they are sick, they believe God made them sick for some reasons. Trusting God means accepting his “gift” of sickness and believing that God has a purpose to make them sick.

· If they got into an accident and broke their legs, they believe God planned for the accident for some reasons. Trusting God means accepting his “gift” of accident and believing that God has a purpose to break their legs.

· If they failed in an examination, they believe God made them fail for some reasons. Trusting God means accepting his “gift” of failure and believing that God has a purpose to make them fail.

· If they are poor, they believe God made them poor for some reasons. Trusting God means accepting his “gift” of poverty and believing that God has a purpose to make them poor.

The above are not exhaustive but I believe you got the idea. However, the truth is God is not a sadist. He will never do perverted things on us for any reason. When God tells us to trust in him, He wants us to tap into his resources so that we can be the people he wants us to be, according to Jeremiah 17:8.

8 He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
Jeremiah 17:8 (NIV)

Let me show you the detailed meaning of the above verse:

“He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.”
The writer uses the analogy of a tree. When a tree is planted by the water and has its roots by the stream, it has access to unlimited water supply. This tree will never run out of water.

Water represents refreshment and the necessity of life. When we live our lives in full confidence to the Lord, we can live our lives with great confidence no matter how the situation around us changes because our supply of refreshments and the necessities will never run out. There is always hope for us.

“It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.”
Heat represents the unpleasant things we face. If you have been living in the real world long enough, you will know that things can invariably go wrong.

· No matter how well you take care of your health, there will be some sickness attacking you.

· No matter how well you manage your finances, there are bound to be some financial difficulties from time to time.

· No matter how well you do your job, there will still be some hiccups either caused by you or somebody else.

In short, welcome to the real world. However, if your roots are strong through your faith in the Lord, you shall be able to overcome all these difficulties. You don’t have to fear when the heat comes. Your leaves are always green.

“It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
Drought represents a prolonged state of an unpleasant situation like an economic crises. Many of us are living in a drought now. Just as we thought the sub-prime crises in the United States is bad, the European countries are facing the same problem. How to survive, let alone get rich in such situation?

However, if you have truly put your trust and confidence in the Lord, you do not have to worry at all because the Lord knows how to do his job. The blessing of God is not depended on our external environment. The economic statistic is not the source of our prosperity. The Lord is.

This is why we can bear fruit even in a year of drought.

Conclusion.
Trusting and having confidence in the Lord is not about accepting the situation around us passively. They are about living our lives boldly, positively and with full confidence that we can overcome all the trials, difficulties and challenges that are in our way.