God's on Your Side

We are seeing a major move of God in the world today. God is revealing His Word to His people, the Body of Jesus Christ.

Satan has no defence against the Word of God. He has no defence against the lordship of Jesus or the Name of Jesus. He has no defence against the born-again believer who is walking in faith and acting on the Word of God. Satan has no defence against them because Jesus said that all power has been given unto Him, both in heaven and in earth (Matthew 28:18).

Satan has been stripped of his power. He knows he is defenceless, so in order to stop the revelation of God's Word in the believer, he uses the tool of deception -- and he usually does this most successfully in the area of religion. Satan uses religion to blind and deceive people. Although Saran has no defence against our real spiritual weapons, he can easily defend himself against our carnal, religious traditions.

One major deception Satan is sowing in the Church today is the thought that our problems, trials, and temptations are sent to teach and develop us spiritually, physicallv, and in other ways. Taken to the extreme, this would mean that God is the author of our troubles, or that God is the One who makes us sick in order to teach us something!

This is absolutely against the Word of God! A basic principle a' the Christian life is to know that God put our sin, sickness, disease. sorrow, grief, and poverty on Jesus at Calvary. For God to put any of this on us now would be a miscarriage of justice. Jesus was made a curse for us, the Bible teaches, so that we can receive the blessing of Abraham, which is prosperity in every area of life (Gal. 3:13,14).

The fifty-third chapter of Isaiah is a prophecy about Jesus, the Messiah. Isaiah is prophesying here about the things that are to be laid on Jesus.

Notice verse 5: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes, we are healed." The dictionary defines "chastisement" as punishment by inflicting pain. Jesus bore our sins so we don't have to bear them. He bore our sicknesses so we don't have to bear them. Jesus bore our chastisement - or punishment with pain - on the cross so we don't have to bear it.

Praise God! The Greek word translated "chastise" actually means to instruct or train. The questions then arise, How does God chastise His own? How does God instruct and train us? Does He unleash a bad dog to bite us on the leg so we will learn to wear our boots? No, He does not! Let's look at what the Bible says about chastisement:

For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.

If ye endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chastens not?

But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? Hebrews 12:6-9

Jesus said, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6). Our natural fathers corrected us in the flesh, but God is a spirit, and He uses spiritual tools, not carnal tools. Jesus said, "My words are spirit" (John 6:63).

Now let's look at this a little closer: "For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives." The word "scourge" means to beat on. God is the Father of spirits. He doesn't scourge the flesh; He scourges the inner man, which is the spirit man, or the real "you." How does He do this? With His Word! Paul wrote in Second Timothy 3:16, 17,

"Every Scripture is God-breathed - given by His inspiration - and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, and for training in righteousness...So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well-fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work" (The Amplified Bible).

The Lord chastises His own with the Scriptures.

The Lord chastises His own with the Scriptures. Put yourself in subjection to the Word. The sword of the Spirit is two-edged: one side is for Satan, and the other side is for you! The Word trims away the flesh and its lusts; it sanctifies us. Let's look at some examples of this from the Scriptures. The Apostle Paul wrote in Second Corinthians 7:8,9: "For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner...."

This is the way in which God convicts, brings repentance, chastens His own, and scourges us - with His Word! He sent His Word to the church at Corinth, and it hurt so much that they would have preferred being beaten with a stick! They knew how to handle sickness and disease, but when God reprimanded them with His Word, it cut deep into the spirits, and they were sorry. The Amplified Bible translation of Proverbs 17:10 is, "A reproof enters deeper into one of understanding than a hundred lashes into a {self-confident} fool." When Peter preached the Word to the Jews on the Day of Pentecost, it pricked them to their hearts, and they had to get saved. God does this with Spirit-power, His Word.

It chastens unbelief and purifies the human spirit in such a way that the man comes out strong, not weak and condemned. Jesus prayed, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth" (John 17:17) It seems that some people have an overwhelming desire to believe the worst about God! Some will fight to prove that God inflicted them with some tragedy! I refuse to believe that my heavenly Father would hurt me, even though I may not understand all the circumstances. It may look as if He is behind something, but I refuse to fall for that line of reasoning.

I knew He sent His Son to die for me, so I'm not going to hesitate for one moment and give Satan the opportunity to move in on me. I accepted Calvary as the sacrifice that paid the price for my total redemption from sin, sickness, poverty, and death. I believe that, and I stand on it. I have certain rights, called righteousness, in the Kingdom of God, and one of these is a right to a healthy body. Jesus has provided it for me, and I take hold of it with my faith.

I have certain rights, called righteousness, in the Kingdom of God, and one of these is a right to a healthy body.

What about the question of whether or not God permits bad things to happen to us? The answer is: Yes, He does permit them. There isn't much He can do about it. Why? Because we were given authority in the earth. God gave Adam the authority to rule the earth: to have dominion over it and to subdue it. God didn't interfere in man's business after that. He kept His word to Adam, even though He had to swear to His own hurt to keep it. Did God send the devil to "get" Adam? No, He kicked the devil out and gave Adam authority over the whole situation. Adam was the one who let the devil in! Jesus said, "All power has been given unto me, both in heaven and on earth, so you go into all the world and preach the Gospel. In my Name, cast out devils...."

There is no reason why Satan should run over any born-again believer. Jesus gave believers His Name and the Great Commission to use that Name. There should be no hesitation; nothing dubious about our thinking. We have the authority of the Name of Jesus and the Living Word of God. There is no reason why Satan should run over any born-again believer. Deuteronomy 30:19 makes it clear: The choice is yours for either life or death, blessing or cursing:

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.

Jesus said, "My words are life." Proverbs 4:20-22 tells us to attend to the words of God, "For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh." In order to choose life and blessing, you must choose the Word of God, for it is life. You must become Word-minded instead of trouble-minded, and life-minded instead of death-minded. You must become single-minded on the Word of God. When you become Word-minded, you will begin to realise that He who raised Jesus from the dead is residing in you - and He that is in you is greater than he that is in the world .

John 10:10 is the dividing line between life and death. The thief, Satan, comes only to kill, steal, and destroy. Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Become single-minded! Make the right decision: Choose life and blessing. Decide to win. Decide to overcome. Until this decision is made, you will be double-minded. But the moment you make your decision to be a winner, you will be on top. There will be times when you'll have to stand and be patient and consistent, but when believers are consistent on the Word of God, they will know the truth, and the truth will make them free!

By Jim Kaseman