Life is a beautiful thing. God made us to enjoy all that He promised us in His Word. Heaven and earth are at our disposal to satisfy our needs, wants, and desires. God provided all things for us to enjoy simply because He is good and takes delight and seeing His children enjoy His abundant provision.
However, pressures often come to take away our joy and persuade us to not trust in what God has promised us in His Word. Let’s face it, we have an enemy. His name is Satan and he is a liar! His unique goal and only power is that of deceptive persuasion. He wants to get us to distrust what God has promised. If he succeeds, which he often does, we will end up depressed and discouraged.
There are two major pressures that can cause us to cave-in and in essence call God a liar. These pressures involve finances and health. God has clearly promised us two things in His Word that are undeniable truths: Abundance and health. God promised Abraham and his seed many blessings, which include riches and wealth. If you are a born-again believer of Jesus, you are a seed of Abraham and an heir of all God’s possessions. This is the truth (Galatians 3:14,16, 27-29)! Satan will often come to tempt us to deny our position in Christ by trying to disrupt the flow of wealth into our lives and convince us that God is not faithful or that His promises don’t apply to “me.” If we fall for this lie, we will end up in defeat and under the authority of darkness. In this state, we live like everyone else and are doomed to a life of lack. I know this to be true because I lived it!
Sickness is another pressure, like finances, it’s personal! When sickness visits, fear often accompanies it. We get an ache or pain and our mind begins to worry. Is it cancer? We think, “Is it some other terminal illness?” We say to ourselves, “I don’t want to be sick and I surely don’t want to die before my time!” We may even go to the doctor and get bad news. What do we do? The pressure comes, and we often fall for the lie. We believe the doctors report and become overcome with fear and worry. The doctor’s report may be a fact, but what is the truth? The truth is that God provided for our healing through Jesus Christ. Jesus paid for our healing when He was scourged. His wounds paid for our pain, disease, and illnesses (Isaiah 53:4-5, Matthew 8:14-17). Satan, through convincing symptoms, will get us to deny God’s Word and side with the sickness. We begin in confess, “I have cancer!” and fear takes over and we convince ourselves it’s over and end up in defeat.
In both of the cases above we have a choice. The pressure of lack and sickness may come, but we do not have to cave under that pressure. We can rise up and declare, “God is faithful, and His Word is the report that I will believe!” When we persist in God’s Word and honor Him with our trust, He intervenes, and we prevail.
They don’t take the time to condition their mind and heart with God’s Word and when tragedy strikes it’s often too late to do anything about it because they have not prepared themselves for the battle they are facing. They have not learned to trust God as their provider and healer and cannot seem to overcome their circumstances. Again, I lived in this realm for decades! I was a born-again believer and for years and did not properly condition my heart to live the blessed life promised in God’s Word. I let circumstances dictate my life instead of God’s promises. I did not trust God! I trusted my ability, bank account, and doctor’s reports. How sad is that! The good news is that I did not continue in that way. Since around the year 2008 I began earnestly seeking God to discover and experience His promises. I can tell you His Word is TRUE, and He is faithful. Satan no longer has an easy way with me for I know what God says and I stick with His Word and not the devil’s lie.
Remember, Satan’s primary weapon is the lie. By his lie He deceives us to distrust God and bow to his deception. The devil says, “Did God really promise that?” Maybe that promise doesn’t apply to you.” “You are too sinful for God to bless you” and other outright lies. I beg you to become and student of God’s Word and condition your heart and mind with the truth. Then you too will begin to truly live the good life abundantly promised in the Bible.