One of our primary responsibilities and privileges as children of God is to provide Him a field upon which His blessings will land. This field is a place and space in our lives. It’s when a clearing is forged because of our faith; just like the Red Sea parting that the Children of Israel experienced. Many of us will not accept that this is in truth our responsibility, and therefore, will wait on the Lord to carry out something that He has clearly told us to execute as a duty to faith. James 2:17(ESV) tells us, “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” Young folks have a little more time to learn this lesson, but if you’re over 40 years of age, it is absolutely essential that you get it securely under your belt very, very soon.
I’ve heard about and seen many premature deaths. People are getting out of here at an almost alarming rate these days, and age is not a discriminating factor. You hear people say things like, “The Lord needed them in heaven, so He took them on home.” Listen, heaven is overflowing with God’s goodness. It is a place where lack and need do not exist. As His sons and daughters, while we live on earth we have the privilege to draw down from heaven; and although millions of us use Heavenly Father’s resources every second of every day, those resources are never depleted. God is not in the business of taking people from the earth to fulfill a need in heaven. This would not jive with His omnipotence and overwhelming intelligence. Hypothetically, if He needed us in heaven, we would never have come to earth, but again, our Heavenly Father does not deal in lack and neither does His dwelling place.
It is paramount that we know beyond knowing that God wants us to enjoy an abundant life. He tells us in John 10:10 that this is why He sent His Son to die for us. God could have allowed us to remain in a sinful state, where we would have been doomed to be in slavery to the devil for an eternity. We would have been bound by the opuses of hell continually, but Colossians 1:13 tells us, “For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son.”
God desires us to live long and strong, and He is not glorified when we do not enjoy a long and prosperous life. Jesus Christ said in Mark 12:27 (NLT), “So he is the God of the living, not the dead.” By this we can know that God loves life and His Will is that we live and not die. We cannot build authority in Christ by believing what some might call a ‘half-truth’. A half-truth is a belief that may have some elements of the truth in it, but is mostly an untruth or wrong believing. It is a cloaked lie, and many of us fall for it. An example is the statement “Yes, I believe God loves me, but I also believe He will cut my life short.” These two statements are not congruent. They do not build upon each other, because both statements cannot be true. The truth is that love and life go hand and hand. Believing anything contrary to this will allow the enemy an opportunity to smuggle a thriving life away from us.
James 1:8 (KJV) tells us, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” The mind cannot hold a belief of faith and fear at the same time. Either we will believe the truth or not, but faith will not come where the truth isn’t present. The authority of Christ must have truth at its core, and it can only be built on the foundation of God’s Word. So if a person is sick, and they confess, “If it is God’s Will, I will be healed;” it sounds very pious and humble, but it is a statement that lacks authority. Faith demands that we believe in the finished work of Christ “by whose stripes you were healed.” (1Peter 2:24)
Hebrews 11:6 tells us that we cannot please God without faith, and our faith requires us to trust Him, and to know that He desires above all things that we be in good health and prosper. We can’t afford to wait until we’re feeble and weakened by a lack of knowledge to begin to build faith. Now is the time to pull on the resources of heaven for understanding, stamina, and knowledge regarding our destinies. We need to be confident in our loving Heavenly Father’s desire for us to thrive as we live with vigor and renewed strength, no matter what age we are.
This is absolutely available, and let no one tell you otherwise. Philippians 4:19(KJV) affirms, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” This means that if we’re sick, it is available to see God’s promise beyond the sickness, and to live strong and long through the wholeness that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, has made available to us. ■
English Standard Version (ESV), The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“God Wants You Strong and Living Long” written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2018. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.