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.

The Spirit Pleads For Us In Harmony With God’s Own Will

27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.
Romans 8:27 (NLT)

This is another verse that tells us the added benefits of praying in Tongues. As explained earlier, when we pray in Tongues, the Holy Spirit prays through us. He is on our side fighting our battles and presenting our case. According to the above verse, the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying. It means God the Father is listening to all our Tongues. In other words, all our prayers including Tongues get to the Throne of God. This is good news.

The subsequent part of the verse tells us the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.
What does that mean? To put it simply, the Holy Spirit knows his job. He knows the system and he knows how his way around the system to get our prayers answered in the most favorable terms to us. This is why the above verse says “pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.” Our prayers will be answered in harmony with God’s own will.

This sounds like the equivalent of getting a competent tax accountant to file our tax returns. In Singapore, most of us do not engage tax accountants to do our taxes. We don’t have many of them around. However, based on what I know, there are a lot of them in countries like Australia where the income tax rate is higher and more complex. So, if you are working and paying taxes in Australia, it is good to get yourself a good tax accountant. This guy knows the system and is able to help you to submit your forms in the way that will minimize your taxes without involving any illegal activities. Chances are the fees that you pay will be lesser than the savings you gained from the reduction of taxes. This example tells us that getting professionals who know the system to help us enables us to get things done faster and cheaper.

The Holy Spirit is the professional we need. He dwells within us and knows everything about us. As I mentioned before, he is not God’s watchdog. He is our friend. He wants to help us more than we want to be helped. He wants to prosper us beyond our wildest dreams. He wants to heal us more than we want to be healed. This is his nature. I think it is time we show our appreciation for the Holy Spirit by treating him like a friend and not like a watchdog.

One way of doing so is to pray in Tongues as often as we can. Praying in Tongues is easier than conventional prayers because we don’t have to concentrate to pray. You can still pray in Tongues under your breath while walking on the streets. You can do while driving or even in the toilet. Just remember to do it under your breath when you do it in public or people will think you are insane.

Praying In Tongues

26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
Romans 8:26 (NLT)

This is another topic that religious churches are willing to destroy at all cost – Praying In Tongues. The truth that the Bible supports praying in Tongues makes no difference to them. In their mind, if you speak in Tongues, you are worshipping Satan. You will go to hell. Such intense hatred for Tongues by the religious people tells me that Satan must be very terrified of it. Anything that terrifies Satan must also be very useful for our prosperity and I intend to study further on it. I invite you to join me in this journey.

There is a history on Tongues in the book of Acts but I am not going through it as I am only interested in the application at this moment. The above verse tells us on the benefits of praying in Tongues. Let us begin.

The first part says the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. It continues from the previous verse on the need of patience and confidence in hoping for our glorious future. Unfortunately, life is not that simple. We have obstacles along the way and some of them come from our own weakness. I don’t think I have to convince you that all of us have weakness. We need to overcome them. However, sometimes we may find ourselves to be too weak to carry on. What will you do when you find your faith weakening and you are beginning to crumble under pressure?

The above verse tells us that the Holy Spirit is always around to help us in our weakness. This is his sole purpose for dwelling inside us. He does not dwell in us because he cannot find other place to live. Neither is he here to serve as God’s watchdog. The Holy Spirit is here to help us. He is our friend.

The subsequent part of the verse gives an example on how the Holy Spirit helps us. We may be in a situation where we are so distressed that we don’t know what to pray. We may be in distress and confused but the Holy Spirit is still strong. He is able to help us to pray with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. It means Tongues. When we pray in Tongues, we allow the Holy Spirit to pray through us. In doing so, we will still be able to receive the benefits of prayers despite our inability to pray.

At this point, I am sure there are many questions on Tongues and I will try to address them in the following part of this article.

Praying in Tongues is not possession.
When I pray in Tongues, I do not lose control of my body. I have the freedom to start, stop and restart, increase and decrease volume or even follow a tune. I can pray like I am singing a song. There were times where my wife told me to stop making fun of God when my Tongues got too dramatic. I guess she is used to it now, so is God. So it is not the Holy Spirit version on demon possession.

Difference between Tongues and conventional prayers.
Conventional prayers rely heavily on our minds. You need to be able to think clear, specify your objectives before you can pray. However, if you happen to be in an extreme situation that you have no time to be calm, Tongues will be very useful.

Why must God used me to pray to God?
I used to think it is silly for the Holy Spirit to pray through me. Why can’t he just talk directly to God the Father? Since when have I become the middle man between them? The answer is God respects our freedom. He wants us to have choices whether to accept or reject his help. When the Holy Spirit prays through us, he does not bypass us. He is still in contact with our spirits. He knows what our spirits want and prays accordingly. So, he is not exactly bypassing us in Tongues. Our minds may be bypassed but not our spirits.

Final note. The Holy Spirit is not a pervert. He will not use Tongues to pray for you to be poor and sick. So don’t worry of him sabotaging you in Tongues. Start praying in Tongues for your prosperity.

Hope

24 We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it.
25 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)
Romans 8:24-25 (NLT)

In this article, we continue with the study of Romans 8 series. We have reached Verse 24-25. These verses are on the topic of hope. According to the above verses, we have been given this hope when we were saved. So what is “this hope” in this verse? Based on what we have learned in the earlier verses, it must be the hope of a glorious future.

When we hope for something, we look forward in positive expectation. The things we hope for would not have arrived or our hopes will be fulfilled. Verse 25 tells us that if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently. Patience and confidence are necessary components for our hopes. We can never hope for things if we have no patience and confidence.

Let us look at some practical applications for hope. What are you hoping for? We need a target to hope for. You cannot possibly go on a journey without knowing your destination. What is in your heart? What do you like to do? What are your ambitions? What are your desires? You need to be true to yourself in identifying the above and don’t ever allow yourself to be affected by the world, especially religious people.

I remember sharing that I hope to be rich to help the poor. Those religious people responded by questioning my beliefs and motives in their efforts to discourage me. They had even came up with phases like “God can use the poor”, as though God cannot use the rich. Why do you think these people were so determined to stop me from getting rich? What benefits would they get if I am to give up my faith? The answer is nothing. They could not have benefited personally if I am to give up my faith and allow myself to be oppressed under the bondage of their religion. The only reason why they did what they did is because they were working under the influence of Satan.

Satan and religious people have been working together to make us give up our faith and hopes. So, don’t be surprised when you hear religious people persuade you to give up your hopes. They are just doing their jobs. It is their nature to be hopeless and they cannot bear to see Christians living in hopes. Their carnal eyes cannot see beyond the natural. They will say, “If God wants me to be rich, I will be rich. If God wants me to be poor, I will be poor.” They refused to believe the truth that Jesus died poor at the Cross to make us rich despite it is clearly printed in the Bible. In their mind, as long as there is one Christian living in poverty, the promise of prosperity in the Bible is false and God is a liar.

This is why they never knew hope. They do not have the patience and the confidence for the future. If you are to join them in their religion, you will end up hopeless like them.

Some may want to ask “Why do I need hope?”

Hope gives life to our souls. It gives us things to look forward to every time we wake up. If you are a Christian, your place in heaven is secure by the Blood of Jesus. You will be in heaven when you die or the Rapture, whichever comes first. However, there is still some time between now and the day you step into heaven. I don’t know how long this time is but chances are it will be quite long.

What are you going to do in the meantime? This is where we need to have hopes in our lives. We were designed by God to live in hope. If you have nothing to hope for, start looking and begin you life in hope.

Let me share about one of my hopes. I want to have billions of dollars flowing into my bank accounts everyday. I want to use my billions to fight poverty. I want to build farms everywhere in the world including the Sahara Dessert to ensure there is enough food for everyone. No one will have to go through hunger when I am still on earth. I also want the true Gospel of Jesus Christ to be proclaimed to every corner of this world. Every human being in this world will have chance to hear from their own language that God loves them. God is good. He wants them to be blessed in every area in their lives. He sent Jesus to die at the Cross to redeem mankind from sin. Jesus took all our sins for us to live in righteousness. Jesus took all our sicknesses that we can live in health. Jesus died poor for us to live rich.

I look forward for my hopes to manifest on this earth.