PROSPERITY MINISTRY: DOES OUR TONGUE HAVE CREATIVE GOD-LIKE POWER?

PROSPERITY MINISTRY: DOES OUR TONGUE HAVE CREATIVE GOD-LIKE POWER?

For more great blogs as this one go to Daniel’s blog site at:

www.Mannsworld.blogspot.com

We fear that we are living anemic Christian lives because we are unable to exercise the “creative power” of our tongues. This is the claim of the Prosperity Ministers. From her TBN show, Senior Pastor, Paula White claimed:

• “There is creative power in your mouth right now. God spoke and created the universe; you have creative power to speak life and death! If you believe God, you can create anything in your life.”

There are two verses to which these pastors appeal in support of this blasphemous assertion:

• From the fruit of a man's mouth his stomach is satisfied; he is satisfied by the yield of his lips. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits. (Proverbs 18:20-21)

Certainly, the tongue is a powerful instrument. We can build others up with it when we teach the truth, or we can tear them down when we teach against the truth. It is also personally rewarding to teach the truth.

But this isn’t White’s point. Instead, she claims that this verse teaches that we have creative supernatural God-like power in our tongues. However, there is nothing in this context that suggests that we have such power. Besides, there is nothing in the entire Book of Proverbs that suggests this.

Instead, the entirety of the Scriptures informs us that we are children, bereft of our own power and entirely dependent on the mercies of our Savior (James 1:17; John 15:5; 2 Corinthians 3:5).

Prosperity Ministers even use this verse, which only pertains to God’s power in creation, to support their unsupportable doctrine:

• ...as it is written, "I have made you [Abraham] the father of many nations"—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. (Romans 4:17)

This verse does not refer to Abraham’s power to give life to the dead but to God’s power. In doing so, these ministers appropriate for themselves the power that belongs only to God and pervert the Word of God. Likewise, they teach the ignorant to pervert the truth, telling them to claim that they are healthy even when they are terminally ill.

In contrast, Scripture never encourages us to claim that we have the power to speak things into existence. Instead, as James had cautioned the Church, success and healing depend upon the will of God:

• Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. (James 4:13-16)

We are not even to claim that we have the power to become successful. We are only a vapor. Instead, our lives and their outcome belong to our Lord. Consequently, it is arrogant and sinful to make such claims.

Instead of creating truth, our mouths are meant to serve the truth. Therefore, James instructs us to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” To go beyond this is an offense to God along with those who teach such perversions. Consequently, Jesus also warned us against claiming what we don’t have the ability to accomplish:

• “And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil.” (Matthew 5:36-37)

Prosperity teachings come from evil and produce evil. They even boastfully claim that we have authority over Satan. However, even the Archangel Michael understood that he lacked the authority to rebuke him (Jude 8-10).

Prosperity Ministers also teach us to have wrong desires and hopes:

• But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. (1 Timothy 6:6-10)

To teach the love of money and success is to depart from the faith and to mislead many, leading them in the way of evil.

Besides, the more we believe in our own powers, the less we will believe in God’s.

Too often, we honor those teachers who are preaching against the Word of God. To honor them is to dishonor our Lord.

THROUGH THE CROSS

Through the Cross

Read: 2 Corinthians 4:8–18
Bible in a Year: Psalms 23–25; Acts 21:18–40

[Nothing] will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.—Romans 8:39

My coworker Tom keeps an 8" by 12" glass cross on his desk. His friend Phil, who like Tom is a cancer survivor, gave it to him to help him look at everything “through the cross.” The glass cross is a constant reminder of God’s love and good purposes for him.

That’s a challenging idea for all believers in Jesus, especially during difficult times. It’s much easier to focus on our problems than on God’s love.

The apostle Paul’s life was certainly an example of having a cross-shaped perspective. He described himself in times of suffering as being “persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:9). He believed that in the hard times, God is at work, “achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen” (vv. 17–18).

To “fix our eyes . . . on what is unseen” doesn’t mean we minimize the problems. Paul Barnett, in his commentary on this passage, explains, “There is to be confidence, based on the certainty of God’s purposes for [us] . . . . On the other hand, there is the sober recognition that we groan with hope mingled with pain.”

Jesus gave His life for us. His love is deep and sacrificial. As we look at life “through the cross,” we see His love and faithfulness. And our trust in Him grows. —Anne Cetas

Father, teach us who You are. Increase our trust in You. Fill our minds with Your perspective.

Look at everything through the cross.

INSIGHT: Through the cross we see God’s loving payment for our sin. But it teaches us more. Jesus’s suffering also exposed the nature and cruelty of our sin against Him and against humanity. He endured the worst we could do to Him to expose Satan’s lie that our Creator isn’t as good as He says He is. He even suffered unimaginable wrongs to show us how to love those who hurt us.

What else does God want to teach us about cross-shaped love and what it can do in us and for others? Mart DeHaan

WHAT GOD CAN DO

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

OUR DAILY BREAD DEVOTIONS

What God Can Do

Read:  2 Corinthians 1:3-11

[God] delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom

we trust that He will still deliver us.  2 Corinthians 1:10

They were called the “lost boys” of Sudan.  Thousands of them fled the civil war in that country and sought refuge from the chaos and killing.  Many had been taught the gospel in churches founded by missionaries, but they knew little of the world beyond their villages.

A National Geographic article profiled one of these “lost boys” who is now resettled in the United States.  He told a church congregation that he is grateful for the comforts of the U.S., but also for the faith he learned through hardship.  “Americans believe in God,” he told them, “but they don’t know what God can do.”

In the crucible of testing, we move from theory to reality as we experience God’s power.  When there seems to be no hope, we may share Paul’s feeling of being “burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we [despair] even of life” (2 Corinthians 1:8).  But we can also learn, as Paul did, that in the darkest times “we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the seat” (v.9).

If God has allowed you to be in a desperate situation today, why not reconsider all that the Almighty has done and can still do.  By trusting God in hardship we learn what He can do in our lives.     DCM

Though weak and helpless in life’s fray,

God’s mighty power shall be my stay;

Without, within, He gives to me

The strength to gain the victory. -DJD

God is the only ally we can always count on.

WHAT'S YOUR PASSION?

What’s Your Passion?

Read: Psalm 20:6–9
Bible in a Year: Psalms 20–22; Acts 21:1–17

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.—Psalm 20:7

One of the tellers at my bank has a photograph of a Shelby Cobra roadster on his window. (The Cobra is a high-performance automobile built by the Ford Motor Company.)

One day, while transacting business at the bank, I asked him if that was his car. “No,” he replied, “that’s my passion, my reason to get up every morning and go to work. I’m going to own one someday.”

I understand this young man’s passion. A friend of mine owned a Cobra, and I drove it on one occasion! It’s a mean machine! But a Cobra, like everything else in this world, isn’t worth living for. Those who trust in things apart from God “are brought to their knees and fall,” according to the psalmist (Psalm 20:8).

That’s because we were made for God and nothing else will do—a truth we validate in our experience every day: We buy this or that because we think these things will make us happy, but like a child receiving a dozen Christmas presents or more, we ask ourselves, “Is this all?” Something is always missing.

Nothing this world has to offer us—even very good things—fully satisfies us. There is a measure of enjoyment in them, but our happiness soon fades away (1 John 2:17). Indeed, “God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from Himself,” C. S. Lewis concluded. “There is no such thing.” —David H. Roper

I have found Him whom my soul so long has craved! Jesus satisfies my longings—through His blood I now am saved. Clara Williams

There is a longing in every heart that only Jesus can satisfy.

INSIGHT: Psalm 20 warns against idolatry—worshiping and trusting in human objects instead of the Lord Himself. King David saw how easy it could be to shift his trust in the Lord to trust in military might: “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God” (v. 7). In our culture, idolatry can take many different forms. But for the believer there’s only One who should be the object of our adoration and the One in whom we place our trust. It’s Christ who is the supreme example of courage, character, and compassion.

How is God teaching you that He’s the only true source of satisfaction? Dennis Fisher

Share your thoughts on today’s devotional on Facebook or odb.org.

FRIGHTENED BY A BOXER

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

OUR DAILY BREAD DEVOTION

Frightened by a Boxer

Read:  Psalm 91:1-11

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed,

for I am your God.  Isaiah 41:10

On a bright Sunday morning one of my boys, who was just a little fellow, was walking to church with me.  Soon the sights and sounds of a new day invited him to skip on ahead. Suddenly his carefree progress came to an end.  A few yards away was a boxer dog looking at him.  Stopping abruptly, my son turned and rushed to my side.  Only when his hand was securely in mine and he knew I was right beside him was he able to walk undisturbed past the boxer.

What a picture of our pilgrimage through this world!  From time to time the fierce-looking obstacles of illness, money problems, or personal conflicts appear before us, striking fear into our hearts.  At first we are bewildered and life seems to be at a dead end.  But then by faith we make our way to the Savior, realizing we dare not go forward without the assurance of His presence.  As we completely trust in Him, He helps us face the future by walking with us each step of the way.

If anxiety and dread are lurking on the threshold of your tomorrow, remember God’s wonderful promise in Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, yes, I will hep you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”   DJD

Though there are dangers untold and stern

Confronting me in the way,

Willingly still would I go, nor turn,

But trust You for grace each day. -Tovey

If we can’t find a way out, look up.

I JUST CAN'T DO IT

I Just Can’t Do It

Read: 1 Corinthians 1:26–31
Bible in a Year: Psalms 18–19; Acts 20:17–38

The law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.—Galatians 3:24 nkjv

“I just can’t do it!” lamented the dejected student. On the page he could see only small print, difficult ideas, and an unforgiving deadline. He needed the help of his teacher.

We might experience similar despair when we read Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount. “Love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44). Anger is as bad as murder (v. 22). Lust equals adultery (v. 28). And if we dare think we can live up to these standards, we bump into this: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (v. 48).

“The Sermon on the Mount produces despair,” says Oswald Chambers. But he saw this as good, because at “the point of despair we are willing to come to [Jesus] as paupers to receive from Him.”

In the counterintuitive way God so often works, those who know they can’t do it on their own are the ones who receive God’s grace. As the apostle Paul put it, “Not many of you were wise by human standards. . . . But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise” (1 Corinthians 1:26-27).

In God’s wisdom, the Teacher is also our Savior. When we come to Him in faith, through His Spirit we enjoy His “righteousness, holiness and redemption” (v. 30), and the grace and power to live for Him. That’s why He could say, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). —Tim Gustafson

Thank You, Lord, for blessing those who are poor in spirit, who mourn, and who hunger and thirst for Your righteousness. You are our righteousness!

Read more from Oswald Chambers at utmost.org.

Through the Son we can enjoy life in God’s kingdom.

INSIGHT: The Bible is filled with stories of how God used weak, unlikely, or flawed characters to bring about His purposes. Included in that lineup are Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, and Peter—just to name a few. God chose elderly Abraham and his barren wife to be “the father [and mother] of many nations” (Genesis 17:5). He used Isaac, who played favorites (25:27-28), and Jacob, a deceiver, to continue that line (25:29-34; 27:1-29). God called the reluctant Moses, a murderer on the run, to lead His people out of slavery in Egypt (Exodus 2:11-15; 14:1-31). God chose the prostitute Rahab to hide the spies in Jericho (Joshua 2) and to be included in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:5); He called Gideon, who cowered in fear, to serve as judge and rescue the Israelites from the Midianites (Judges 6-8); and He appointed Peter, an outspoken fisherman, to be His disciple (Matthew 16:22). God still uses flawed characters—you and me—to fulfill His purposes.

For more on how God can use you, check out christianuniversity.org/SF212. Alyson Kieda

Share your thoughts on today’s devotional on Facebook or odb.org.

RAKU

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

OUR DAILY BREAD DEVOTIONS

Raku

Read:  James 1:2-4

Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation.  Romans 12:12

Some friends gave us a piece of Raku pottery.  “Each pot is hand formed,”  the tag explained, “a process that allows the spirit of the artist to speak through the finished work with particular directness and intimacy.”

Once the clay has been shaped by the potter it is fired in a kiln.  Then, glowing red hot, it is thrust into a smoldering sawdust pile where it remains until finished.  The result is a unique product-“one of a kind,” the tag on our piece insists.

So it is with us.  We bear the imprint of the Potter’s hand.  He too has spoken through His work “with particular directness and intimacy”  Each of us is formed in a unique way for a unique work.  “We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for Good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

But though we are created for good works, we’re not yet finished.  We must experience the kiln of affliction.  Aching hearts, weary spirits, aging bodies are the processes God uses to finish the work He has begun.

Don’t fear the furnace that surrounds you.  Be “patient in tribulation” and await the finished product.  “Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:4).       DHR

He who has begun a good work in you will complete it

until the day of Jesus Christ. -Philippians 1:6