More reasons why Christians suffer needlessly

Living in sin

Many people suffer sickness and other problems because they live in sin. God desires and commands certain things in the Word of God for our protection.
God does not tell us not to do things because He doesn’t like us to have fun. Many people think that God is against fun. He isn’t against fun — He is against the things of sin, which look like fun, but will destroy us. Let’s look at it in natural terms. When you were a child and your parents told you to look both ways before crossing the street, did they tell you that for no reason? Did they say it for their sake? No, they would instruct you for your own protection, so that when you crossed the street you would not be run over by a car.

God tells us how to live in order to protect us. It is as if He has an umbrella spread out over His people. On the earth it is raining sickness, sin, poverty, oppression, and every other evil work of the devil. God says if you stay under the umbrella of His protection, by living in obedience to His. Word, you will stay free from all of these evil things. But if you go out from under that umbrella, you take yourself out from under God’s protection, and it is raining out there.
Gal.6:7,8 ‘Be not deceived; God is not mocked. for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the spirit, shall of the spirit reap life everlasting.’

In Chapter 5 of Galations, we can see what the works of the flesh are- ‘..Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulation’s, wrath, strife, sedition’s, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like..’

Proverbs 6:16 tells of the things which the Lord hates, things that are an abomination to Him —“a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that
shed innocent blood, an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be sw4ft in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.’

Sin starts inside the heart and the outward manifestation is the end result. Murder begins in the heart as hatred and then manifests itself outwardly. Pride is listed first in Proverbs 6:16. When people say “I don’t need Jesus. I lead a good life.”; that’s pride.

Before I committed my life to Jesus, I really sowed my wild oats.’ And once I began my Christian walk, the devil would keep reminding me of what I had done in the past and telling me that what I had sowed, I would have to reap. But when I came to Jesus, I became a new creature, old things passed away and all things became new (II Cor. 5:17) And the Lord showed me the example of a farmer planting seed.

When that seed is planted, it has to be watered and nurtured until it begins to grow. But if the farmer comes back and plucks out the seed, of course it cannot grow. And the way to pluck out that which you have sown once you are a new creature, is to act on I John 1:9 ‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’

Many people wonder about unknown sin in their lives. The Word tells us that God will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That is known sin and unknown sin. Proverbs 13:15 ‘.., but the way of transgressors is hard.’
Many times sin can make you sick. James 5:14,15 ‘Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the Church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and ~f he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.’

James is saying that if a person is sick as a result of sin, the prayer of faith can bring healing to him, and his sins will be forgiven. I think most of us have seen the result of a sinful life, where a man lives in such a fashion that it affects his health. You see it often in the world; a film star, married six times dies at the age of 40. Sin will kill you in the end. The result of sin is death.
James 5:16 ‘Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.’ We are not to allow strife to enter in. We are to walk in love and apologise to our brother or sister if we have offended them.

Not discerning the Lord’s Body

I Cor. 11:17-29 ‘Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. For first of all, when ye come together in the church, 1 hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper. For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper; and one is hungry and another is drunken.

What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not. For 1 have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which He was betrayed took bread:

And when He had given thanks, He brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also He took the cup, when He had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till He come.

Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.’

We need to walk in love towards each other in the Body of Christ.
I Cor. 11:30,31 ‘For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For ~f we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.’
We need to judge ourselves. And we need to be aware of all that our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us by His sacrifice on the cross, when we partake of communion.

Unforgiveness

Someone says, “lam believing for my husband to get saved, but when he comes into the same room with me, I feel like hitting him over the head with a stick. But, ~f God can do anything with him, that’s fine.” That person has Unforgiveness and bitterness in their heart. II Cor. 2:10,11 ‘To whom ye forgive anything, I forgive also, for if I forgave anything, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes I forgave it in the person of Christ; Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.’

What Paul is saying here is that if we do not walk in forgiveness, we are ignorant of Satan’s devices, and he is taking advantage of us. Mark 11:25,26 tells us if we don’t forgive as we stand praying, our prayers will not be answered, and the blessings of God cannot flow through us. We ask why our families are apart, and why things are going wrong. It is because we are not walking in love. God is love and God never fails. Therefore love never fails.

Envy and Strife

James 3:14-16 ‘But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and str4fe is, there is confusion and every evil work.’

When you walk in envy and strife, there will be confusion and every evil work. Often, people say, “Well, God is allowing this.” No, God has to allow it because you are walking in envy, strife and bitterness.

II Tim 2:24-26 ‘And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.’

Entering into strife will allow the devil to take you captive at his will.

Pride

Prov. 16:18 ‘Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.’ I Tim. 3:6 ‘...lest being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil.’ Lucifer fell from the heavens because of pride, and he will attempt to cause you to fall by the same means. But, praise God, we can walk before God without pride, in total submission to His will, always ready to share and minister His Word.

Murmuring and Complaining

Finally, murmuring and complaining can be a source of suffering. I Cor. 10:10 ‘Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.’ Trials and tribulations will come against you. What matters is how you act in them. If you boldly stand on the Word of God and resist the devil, he will flee from you (James 4:7). But if you murmur and complain, you will be destroyed by the destroyer.