hope

In God's eyes, you are exactly as Ephesians 1:3-4 describes you: "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes."

If you're like many believers, however, when you read the two verses above, your heart sinks. How can that be? Sometimes I stumble and mess things up.

Remember: As the Body of Christ, we don’t have a lack of money! God has provided every dollar we will ever need not only to have all our needs met, but also to bless others.

When you’re feeling lack, what you need is to get hold of God’s Word about your finances and have a renewing of your mind concerning money in your life. The devil would like to keep you thinking you will never have an abundance of money. That’s a lie!

Dealing with the death of a loved one, whether you are prepared for it or not, can be very difficult. It’s natural to experience sadness over the separation. But be aware that Satan will try to get you to stay in a place of sadness—a place where sorrow and grief will attempt to press in on you.

Religious tradition teaches that we just can’t know what God is going to do from one situation to the next, so it’s a good idea to tack on “if it be Thy will” to every prayer, just in case. Many churches teach that we should pray this way because Jesus did, but He only prayed this way once: in Luke 22:42. In most instances, He prayed with boldness and certainty of receiving an answer. For example, when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He didn’t pray, “Lord, if it be Thy will, bring Lazarus up.” No. He said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me” (John 11:41).

Yes! You can always count on God to heal you! He has given you His Word on it and He always keeps His Word.

James 5:15 leaves no room for doubt. It says, “...the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.”

Why then do so many good Christians remain sick? Because, they somehow fail to receive God’s provision of healing.

With the pressures and pain that can come in this earthly life, we can sometimes think it might be better to leave this world and go home to be with the Lord. Paul shares his feelings in Philippians 1:21, “For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.” He goes on to say, however, “But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.” (verses 22-24).