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Doctrines of Devils

1Timothy 4:1-5  Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

A certain Christian group would have many fewer lawsuits if they allowed certain of their leaders to marry. Where did this forbidding of church leaders to marry come from? Doctrines or teachings of devils.

Some groups forbid the eating of certain types of meat, and some secular groups forbid the eating of meat altogether. Where did this teaching come from? Doctrines of devils. Teachings from misguided souls that listened to the wrong source.

I read a short book the other day written by a preacher much older than I that said he grew up in a denomination that said, “God, you keep him (talking about the preacher) humble, and we will keep him poor.”

Where did this teaching that having money was wrong come from? Same as the others. Doctrines or teachings of devils. Since the first and second century, the church has taught that to have money at all was evil. That the pious have renounced all worldly goods. That if you desire more than the needs for the week, you are greedy. God must have changed because God did not present poverty as a virtue in the Old Testament. For instance:

Genesis 24:35 And the LORD hath blessed my master (Abraham) greatly; and he is become great: and he (God) hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses.

Job 42:10 And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

2Chronicles 32:29 Moreover he (Hezekiah) provided him cities, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance: for God had given him substance very much.

If you think that God only prospered certain people that He especially loved and you are not good enough or lovable enough, consider this:

 Romans 2:11 For there is no respect of persons with God.

In the book of Proverbs, God would be addressing all His family, and there He states:

Proverbs 8:21 That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures (storehouses).

In the last book of the Old Testament, God reminds us:

 Malachi 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; ….

Toward the end of the New Testament, God again reminds us of another great truth:

3John 1:2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

Health and prosperity are the two great areas where the devil attacks God’s children. But no matter how much you have been attacked by the devil in these two areas, you have the right to reach out and claim your God-given heritage.

The idea of having a lot of money being sinful started as early as 100 AD and came into its own around 300 AD. Here are several quotes from the early church fathers:

You are not making a gift of your possession to the poor person. You are handing over to him what is his.  Ambrose of Milan, 340-397 AD

Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours but theirs.      John Chrysostom, 347-407 AD

Instead of the tithes which the law commanded, the Lord said to divide everything we have with the poor. And he said to love not only our neighbors but also our enemies, and to be givers and sharers not only with the good but also to be liberal givers toward those who take away our possessions.  Irenaeus, 130-200 AD

The rich are in possession of the goods of the poor, even if they have acquired them honestly or inherited them legally. John Chrysostom, 347-407 AD

Now you can see better where this poverty teaching in the church comes from. It came from twisting the scriptures to a devilish end. Our Father is the same today as He was in the days of Abraham, Job and Hezekiah. He is the Lord God, and He does not change. He desires above all things that we prosper and be in health as we keep Him first and love Him in our lives.

2 Peter 3:16-18 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them concerning these things. (In them some things are hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable twist around, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures unto their own destruction.) You, therefore, beloved, since you have foreknown these things, watch so that you are not led astray by the delusion of the lawless ones and fall from your own steadfastness. Instead, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and unto the day of the age. Amen. (WTJ)

The more you look at what God actually said in His Word, you can see His desire for you is to prosper and He wants to fill your storehouses with good things.

So, if you have begun to tithe/give and save as God teaches in His Word, you might find some good books on how to save, invest and become a good steward of the wealth your Father has in store for you.

Learning to look at God’s Word for yourself for your doctrine is all part of The Prosperous Life.

 

 

 

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Three Things to Consider Maybe Four

A Short on Prosperity #13

 

Many years ago, I taught someone about tithing/giving on a Friday night. They went home and shared what they learned with another young man. He tithed for the first time in his life on Sunday. On Tuesday, his pager went off and found they had a liver for him. He was jaundiced and needed a liver very badly or he would die. Now he had one. Coincidence? NOT! He was already born again and had manifested the spirit within, but he needed to learn about tithing/giving to receive what His Father wanted to give him back. A huge repayment for a small gift/tithe.

Apparently, each of us has different pieces of the puzzle we need to put together to see the promises of God come to pass in our lives.

Personally, we had to learn to save our money. Save part of what God gave us back as He promises to do in His Word. In Proverbs, God teaches us that we are to honor Him with the first fruits of all our increase, and then He promises to fill our barns (storehouses) for honoring Him — keeping Him first in our lives. I finally saw that a barn or storehouse in our day and time was more like a savings account. Once we diligently started to save, as we were paying off debt, our lives became dramatically different — more prosperous.

I recently read a book by a well-known preacher that God had to teach him personally about prosperity. This is because, overall, the church does not teach what God really says in His Word about how to prosper financially.

That man had laid out his bills before God and said, “You promised if I was obedient and willing, I would eat of the fat of the land.”  He told God his car had been hauled off for junk, and he was afoot. His children were not well fed or clothed, and his family was not well housed. God told him you have “faith” (we might say believing) for healing and I can see that, but you have none for finances. You have “faith” to see people born again and to teach them how to manifest the spirit born within, but you do not apply that “faith” (believing) in your finances.

When God put Adam in the Garden of Eden, God gave Adam dominion over everything. Adam, through a treasonous act, gave his dominion over to the devil. Now the devil is the god of this world. As the god of this world, the two main places he can mess with the lives of God’s children is their finances and their health. Partly, how the devil has messed with the prosperity of God’s children is through wrong teaching/wrong doctrine in the church. You cannot believe beyond what you are taught. If you are taught wrong doctrine, that really impedes your growth financially, as that is our topic here.

The preacher said God told him the devil is the god of this world, but that God still owns the cattle on a thousand hills. God says all the gold and the silver are His. God did not put all this abundance on the earth for the devil and his cohorts. God put these blessings here for His children, His family. We just need to claim what is rightfully ours.

In the 23rd Psalm, it says, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not WANT.” That is more than just having food and clothing. God has also promised that He will supply all our needs in Christ. Malachi says God will rebuke the devourer for our sake. Perhaps if you have tithed, saved and endeavored to believe all God has said concerning prosperity, you may need to ask Him to rebuke the devourer and trust that He will. Then expect to see the promises of God come to pass in your life.

Perhaps, we could take a lesson from George Muller and start with small requests. As our trust and believing grow, we can ask for bigger needs to be met and trust God there also.

Each of us may have different areas we need to rise up in. There is much to learn in our walk with God as we grow in our understanding of The Prosperous Life, and as we wait for the return of our lord from heaven.

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What does the Bible say about saving money?

A Short on Prosperity #12

(Copied from: https://www.gotquestions.org/saving-money.html)

The Bible teaches that saving money is a wise practice for many different reasons. God is our source and provider for everything we need. “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). One of the main ways God provides for us is through money, and it is our job to steward that money well (Matthew 25:14–27).

We are accountable to God for how we use everything He gives us in this life, including money. Saving money demonstrates good stewardship of the resources God gives us. Saving money allows us to be prepared for the future, and being prepared for the future is good. Proverbs 6:6–8 shows us that this principle is lived out even in nature: “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and its food at harvest.” Planning ahead and saving money makes it easier to accomplish goals and allows us to be more effective in ministry (see 1 Corinthians 16:2). When we don’t plan ahead and save money, we are more prone to go into debt, which the Bible tells us is unwise (Proverbs 22:7).

Of course, there are plenty of wrong motives for saving money. If we’re saving money out of fear of the future, it shows we’re not really trusting God to provide (see Luke 12:7; 2 Timothy 1:7). Miserliness is sin, and it’s foolish and arrogant to make money our security. “The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it a wall too high to scale” (Proverbs 18:11), yet riches “will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle” (Proverbs 23:5). First Timothy 6:10 warns against greed, saying, “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

To fully understand the value of saving money, we must remember what the Bible says about giving. God desires His people to be cheerful givers (2 Corinthians 9:7). It’s impossible to out-give God! “Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38).

Sometimes when God gives us things, be it money or something else, it’s intended for us to give away. Other times, He gives us things that are meant for us to keep for ourselves and use in His service and for His glory. It’s wise to hold everything God gives us loosely so that we can give it away if He asks us to.

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You Are Not A Tree

A blog about change!


One of the great benefits of being human is our capacity for rational thought.  We can observe, think, analyze and change if we want to.  Although most people change slowly, it is possible. Trees on the other hand are stuck right where they are.  If storms or fires are coming, there is nothing a tree can do but endure.  But we are not trees.

People change all the time. A young person with no knowledge of engineering goes to school and after a few years, they graduate as an engineer. Another person chooses psychology and learns how people think and how to help them. Another person decides to be a plumber and does what it takes to learn and to get a contractor’s license.

Animals other than humans live mostly according to built-in instinct. Ducks fly south in the winter, bears hibernate and salmon return to their birthplace to lay eggs. As people, we can step back and change any part of our lives that are in disarray and come up with a new plan. Only humans can do that.  Even people of only body and soul can change the course of their lives. With Christ in us, we can do even more.

If you don’t like how your life has been going, you can tear up the script and write a new one. Sigmund Freud said that we cannot change. He taught we are the products of our genetic code, and we are the products of our parents and our environment. Many say of other people in poor circumstances that it is not their fault, it is how they were raised. But these things are lies. God asks us to renew our minds, and many people in God’s Word made some drastic changes in their thinking patterns such as the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus and David after he was confronted by Nathan the prophet.

God’s Word gives us the underlying principles that govern a prosperous life in so many areas. Others having successfully incorporated those principles into their lives have written books and teach courses on how they accomplished what they were seeking. By reading their books and taking their courses, we can take a shortcut to accomplish the same thing. Instead of making all of the mistakes and having the frustrations that comes with changing, we can shortcut that by learning from others.

In Ephesians, God tells us to not let the sun go down on our wrath, yet many people find getting rid of anger hard to do.  So, they take courses in anger management to learn how not to become so angry. Take a course to learn how to do what God asks us to, what a unique thought.  How about a course or book on marriage or handling finances, or forgiveness?

Many people come from families that hold grudges against even their own family members — mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and even exes. If you grew up this way, it may take some work learning how to change your thinking patterns.

God says not to be drunk with wine wherein is excess, so some people join Alcoholics Anonymous to learn from previous addicts the shortcuts to go from being addicts to being sober. A shortcut is not cheating. It means learning from other people’s mistakes so that we don’t have to repeat them in our search for deliverance.

People join Toastmasters and become public speakers. (Some people fear public speaking more than death.) But after they have faced the fear, risen up and opened their mouths hundreds of times, the fear goes away. They have changed.

But if you will notice, all of the changes I just listed were changes that occurred inside the person. A person does not change because of his surroundings, circumstances or his appearance. You cannot go to the beauty parlor or The Gap and come out a new person.  What is inside is still the same only the outside looks different.

You cannot change by moving to a new city or state.  As Emerson said, “We carry our Goliaths with us.”
When you change the way you think, the way you believe or the focus of your life in a certain area, then your outer world can begin to change.

I read years ago that some family lines continually produce preachers, nurses and teachers — those concerned with helping others. Other family lines constantly have members in jail, are thieves or prostitutes.  These are learned behaviors and are passed from parents and relatives to young children. Children grow up being exposed to certain mindsets — good or bad.

I met a lady that lived in the country northwest of where I live, and she worked as a highway patrol trooper.  I asked her where she was originally from because of her nonlocal accent.  Her family was in another state.  She said she moved here when she had children because she did not want them raised around her relatives.  She did not want them to grow up and be acquainted with their lifestyle.  She said those negative traits in her family were stopping with her.

I don’t know what traits, habits, or mindsets her family had that she did not want her children to grow up with. In the movie, Hell or High Water, at the end, the main character said, “Poverty is a disease that is handed down from one generation to the next.” It also reminded me of President Harry S. Truman who had a sign on his desk that said, “The buck stops here.”

If like the lady, you have negative family traits, you can decide that they stop with you. If your family has high divorce rates, you can learn together how to stay married. If your family has a problem with forgiveness, that can end with you. If your family has a problem with handling money, you can teach your offspring how to prosper. We have the ability to change any part of our lives we want to, but it may take some work.

You can’t have a strong family if you merely talk about building a better relationship with your spouse and kids. Take some courses, read some books and learn from the shortcuts of other people. Make a plan, and put it into action. You have to get out of your comfort zone. You have to step up and do the work.

Excerpts from Change Begins with Choice by Jim Rohn

1.    Any day we wish, we can discipline ourselves to change it all.
2.    Any day we wish, we can open the book that will open our minds to new knowledge.
3.    Any day we wish, we can start a new activity.
4.    Any day we wish, we can start the process of life change. We can do it immediately, or next week, or next month, or next year.

We can also do nothing. We can pretend rather than perform.
And if the idea of having to change ourselves makes us uncomfortable, we can remain as we are. We can choose rest over labor, entertainment over education, delusion over truth, and doubt over confidence. The choices are ours to make.
As Shakespeare uniquely observed, “The fault is not in the stars, but in ourselves.” We created our circumstances by our past choices. We have both the ability and the responsibility to make better choices beginning today.
And if I may be so bold to offer my last piece of advice for someone seeking and needing to make changes in their life: If you don’t like how things are, change it! You’re not a tree. You have the ability to totally transform every area in your life. And it all begins with your very own power of choice.

“Our dilemma is that we hate change, but we love it at the same time.
What we want is for things to remain the same but to get better.” –Sidney Harris

No one can change your life for you.  They can only open the door. They can show the way. God can light the path, but we have to walk through the door and follow the path for ourselves.

So in our quest for The Prosperous Life in the area of money, take a course, listen to podcasts, read some books, formulate a plan, and get started.  It is never too late. Along the way, you may find you need to change your plan in ways you never thought of in the beginning. Our Father will be with you lighting your path all along the way. Eventually, you may be able to help others with the process of change in the area that they struggle in. Remember, You Are Not A Tree.  You can change any area of your life that needs it.  This is all part of living The Prosperous Life.

The Winds
One ship drives east and another drives west
With the selfsame winds that blow,
‘Tis the set of the sails and not the gales
Which tells us the way to go

Like the winds of the sea, are the ways of men
As we voyage along through life
“Tis the set of the soul that decides its goal
And not the calm or the strife.

–Ella Wheeler Wilcox

 

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Who is Your Provider? God or Your Job?

A Short on Prosperity #11


I remember years ago when I did the finances for our home.  I was self-employed.  Some jobs would be three or four days, and some two to three weeks.

The short jobs were nice.  I could get paid once or twice a week and had the money then to pay off my bills, buy food, gas, etc.  But the longer-term jobs presented a problem. By the time the job was finished, I had quite a stack of bills and needed to go shopping for food, so I really looked forward to getting paid.  So much so that I pinned a lot of hope on getting that check to solve my problems without much thought about God.

When I would finally get paid, I was elated.  I felt that now everything would be set right, and life would be lovely.  But as always happened as I set down to pay the bills and by the time I was done, all the money was gone.  This was very disheartening. It took all the wind out of me.  The feeling of elation was gone.  This feeling of hope was just a feeling and not a logical thought.

I did not like the disappointment, the letdown. It took that happening repeatedly over several years for me to understand that this way of seeing things was wrong.

As I thought on this, finally, I realized my thinking/feelings were all wrong.  I was putting my hope for paying my bills in my job and getting paid. As I pondered this dilemma, I realized our trust for our sufficiency should rest on God not on getting paid.  I finally thought to myself, “What happens if after the three weeks you don’t get paid for whatever reason?”  Do you starve? Lose your home?  Is God out of business?

I finally understood that as we work, we look to God to provide.  It is like the verse that says:

Proverbs 21:31 The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD.

In this verse, the man prepared the horse and perhaps himself by great training, but at the end of the battle, he knew that the reason he was safe was because God had provided for his safety.

We likewise do our diligence to work and run our businesses, but at the end of the day, it is God that provides.

We pray and God will help. This is part of learning the process of applying God’s word to everyday life.

Think about this: we let our requests and prayers be known to God, and at times he supplies those requests through people.

Luke 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

Exodus 3:21-22 And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty: But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians

Job 42:11 Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold.

In these verses, we see God supplying through people.

Many times, He may provide by you getting paid for your work.  But He also provides in many different ways. God provided Abraham a ram in a thicket, so Abraham named that place, and it became one of the names of God. “The Lord will provide.”

Genesis 22:14 – Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-Jireh, the LORD is my provider. As it is said to this day, “In the LORD’s mountain it will be provided.”

He provided Israel with manna in the wilderness.

Psalms 23:1 – The Lord is my shepherd: I shall lack nothing.  (We look to God)
Psalms 34:9, 10 – Oh fear the LORD, you his saints, For there is no lack with those who fear him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.

Here is another great example of God’s supply in the Old Testament.

Leviticus 25:20-22 And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store.

How do you explain how the land brought forth so much that year?  If you have a really great year money-wise, it might be wise to put a lot in the bank.  You can not see what is coming tomorrow, but He can.

Jeremiah 17:5-8 Thus says the LORD: Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the LORD. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose trust the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, who spreads out its roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat comes, but its leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

Our trust is in God to supply.  We work our butts off, but at the end of the day, we realize that He is the one that provides.

As it says in the 121st Psalm:

…From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.

We do our due diligence to work heartily, but we keep our eyes upon God and put our trust in our Father.  Even if we did not get paid, He is still the Lord that provides.  Learning some of these things and setting our minds on the right paths are all part of learning to live The Prosperous Life.

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