Is God in Control?

Hello everyone, I recently had someone tell me that they did not understand why bad things happened. They were speaking about something that happened in their life personally that affected our family when they made the comment. I heard this person say, “Well God is in control, why didn’t He stop that?”

 

I want to address that today. For the most part, God is not in control in our world today.  There is going to come a time when Jesus returns and then God will be in complete control.  But right now, we are in control of what we allow and what we don’t in our lives.

 

Think about it.  If God is in control, He is really bad at running the world.  As a matter of fact, He isn’t very good at just running the city where I live.  Everyday, people die here from murder.  People steal and do other bad things.  Our country is even worse because of all the bad things that happen.  There are wars that kill people.  If I was God and I was running the world, I wouldn’t want to put my name on it.

 

God can only operate where we allow Him to do so.  God is not going to just come into your life and make everything OK. The Bible says the God works all things for good but that doesn’t mean we sit back and do nothing and “poof” God makes it all better. How many people reading this are struggling?  God can take control of things were we let him. But he can’t control things that we don’t. 

 

The reason bad things happen on this earth, is because there is a real devil that still has control of part of this earth. And he does bad things to people all the time. God allows this because he is not in control of all the earth. He owns it but he’s not in control of all of it. I have complete ownership of a company. But I don’t control everything that goes on in our company.  I need to add this – God doesn’t make anyone sick.  1 Peter 2:24 says that by Jesus stripes we were healed.  The devil puts sickness and disease on people – not God!

 

I know this is going to sound strong, but the truth is it’s our job to take the weapons that God has given us and drive the devil out of our life. The devil is not going anywhere on his own. We have to drive him out using God’s power.

If you are reading this and you don’t know Jesus, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to my friend Jesus. Would you like a personal relationship with Him? All you have to do is pray this simple prayer. Say, “Jesus, come into my life. I make you my Lord and Savior.” If you prayed that prayer, I believe you got born into the family of Christ. The Bible says that Jesus will always be with you. He wants a relationship with you.

If you prayed, would you please leave a comment saying, “I prayed”. We would love to know you did.

 

Also, if you would like to learn more about who you are and how God really sees you, please click the link below. We would love to send you study material absolutely free.

 

http://eepurl.com/gLci8D

 

That's Another Opinion of the Minion

A Caution About Faith

Hello everyone,

Before I discuss how to activate faith, I want to take this blog to say a few things about where we can use our faith and where we cannot. I believe some people who have heard the phrase “name it, claim it” or “blab it, grab it” have a misconception about how Faith works. As I may have said, God is not a genie in a lamp like from Aladdin that we get to command to give us wishes. God doesn’t work that way. Let me give you an example of how I tried that, and it didn’t work.

When I was married to my first wife, I was a financial disaster. I would buy things on credit that we didn’t need and couldn’t afford but I was so selfish, if I wanted it, I tried to get it. Back then we wrote checks for the grocery store, etc. One of the things I did (because I was addicted to food and a horrible money manager) was write a check for $35 and cash it. When I wrote the check, there was not enough money in the account to cover it but I hoped that I could deposit my paycheck before the check I wrote tried to clear the bank.

Why did I write the check you ask? I would love to tell you that it was for medicine or something else that we really needed but sadly that was not the case. It was because I didn’t want to eat at home. I wanted to go out to eat. So, we would pay $25 for the meal. Then the check would clear the back before I could deposit it so I would owe the bank $25 for the bounced check and then I would owe the restaurant $25 for the bounced check. So, I wound up paying $75 for a $25 meal that I didn’t need. I was spending money wrongly and selfishly.

During this time, I was a tither and I happened to be going to law school at night. One day on my way to school I got a brilliant idea. Because I was a tither and I had Faith that I could ask God for things and He would give them to me, I was going to buy a lottery ticket and win the lottery! After all, I could “name it, and claim it.” As I drove to school that night, I got more and more excited. I just knew my faith was going to make me rich. It was difficult to concentrate and the closer to the end of class we came, the more excited I got. Finally, class was over! I jumped in the car and raced home to check the results. I was already planning how I would spend the money and what we would do. When I got home, I didn’t get one number right. My Faith didn’t produce the winning number.

Why? Well that’s a different post but let’s just say that it wasn’t God’s will for me to get out of my financial problem that way. First, I wasn’t trusting God. Second, because I was being selfish and blowing money all the time, God could not trust me with that money. Also, based on what I was doing, even if I had won, I would have lost it all.

Now it was certainly God’s will to get me out of debt, but He had to work on me. Today, God has blessed us financially in a way I could not even understand back then but I am a little more grown up around money and He can trust me with it. He is showing me ways to do things now that are so much better than the lottery.

So, what is the takeaway? In my next post, I will discuss how to activate Faith but as we prepare to activate our Faith, we must understand that Faith must be based on God’s Word, it’s not just a wish list machine.

If you are reading this for the first time and are thinking, “How do I get in on the God thing?” Have you invited Jesus into your life? He is the God of today. He’s not just a life insurance policy for after you die. If not, just pray this simple prayer. “Jesus, I ask you to come into my life. I believe that you are the Son of God and that you died for ALL my sin and that God raised you from the dead. I make you my Lord and Savior.” If you prayed that prayer, you are now part of the family. If you prayed that prayer, would please let me know by commenting on this and telling me?

That’s another Opinion of the Minion

How to Strengthen Your Faith

Today I want to discuss how to get/strengthen you Faith. This part is not very hard spiritually, but it will take time. I like to think of Faith like a muscle. Muscles are something that we have from birth. When we are born, they are not very big. A newborn baby can’t bench press 300 pounds when he is 2 weeks old right? Yet, he has all the muscles he would need to someday do just that.

Our Faith is the same way. When we are born again, we become like little children in the Kingdom of God. In Romans 12:3, the Bible says, God has given us a measure or the measure of faith. In another place, Jesus talks about Faith that can move mountains. However, most of us don’t have mountain moving faith the day we are born again even though we have some Faith then. Think about this, we had to have Faith that Jesus is the son of God, that He died on the cross and rose again to be saved. So, we know we have Faith. Yet many times our Faith isn’t as strong as we need it to be. In my life, I have seen my Faith produce amazing results. For instance, in my life, I got a real revelation of God’s word on healing from disease according to 1 Peter 2:24. Because of that, I haven’t been sick in years. I have had the devil attack my body but my Faith in that revelation has kept me well. However, I have experienced ringing in my ears for years as well and I believe that Jesus paid for my healing 2000 years ago. Why have I not received my healing? That’s a question for a different post.

I have seen God do miraculous things in my finances because I believe in tithing and have done it for 25 years. I’m not a preacher and I haven’t asked anyone for money since I was in my mid 20s (I’m 48 now) asking my parents for help. Why? Because my faith is developed in that area. Some people say tithing doesn’t work and it’s all a scam for churches to get money. Since I’m not a pastor or a preacher, I don’t know. I can tell you this. Tithing works for me! I don’t have time to tell you all the blessings I have received from the Lord. That’s may be a different blog.

So how do we go from being an infant to being able to lift 300 pounds? That’s pretty simple but it can take some time. The answer is we allow our muscles to grow. We exercise them and we feed them lots of protein so they will develop to a point where we can lift that much weight. Faith is no different. We have to feed our Faith and exercise our Faith until it grows to the point where we can move mountains. How? The way to feed/develop Faith is to put the Word in us. The Bible says that Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God Romans 10:17. How do we hear the Word? We read it and put it in our sprit through our eyes and we listen to the Word preached and put it in our spirit through our ears. That’s why it’s good to go to church. I can’t say that enough. I am not saying this brag, but I read my Bible everyday and have for many years. Why? Because I need to strengthen my spiritual muscles and I want to know more about my Father and Big Brother, the Lord and Jesus.

After that, we exercise the Faith we have. We don’t go from lifting 5 pounds to 300 pounds in one day. We do it by lifting 5 pounds then 10, then 15, then 20 and keep going up until we get to 300 pounds. It’s the same way in our spiritual life. Let me help someone with this. If you get sick, go to see a doctor. It doesn’t mean you aren’t spiritual or that you are not loved by God. It may be that your Faith muscle in that area isn’t developed enough yet. Don’t worry about it. God will still be with you. At the same time, use your Faith to believe that God will heal you. As we do that, our faith begins to grow. I heard teachings on healing for many, many years and got sick many times while I was listening to and reading about healing and I went to see a doctor. What was happening? My faith was building until one day I was sitting in a movie theater watching The Passion of the Christ. When I saw Jesus hit with the cat of nine tails and a piece of flesh came off His back, the scripture in 1 Peter 2:24 (By His stripes you are healed) came to my mind and before I had a chance to think about it, I said out loud – “I will never be sick another day in my life!” And I haven’t! Now I continue to feed my Faith in that area as I work on other areas where my Faith isn’t as strong as this area.

Let me end with this. If you don’t have this Faith in your life, the first step is to be born again spiritually. To do that, all you have to do is say, “Jesus, come into my life. I make you my Lord and Savior.” If you pray that simple prayer, Jesus will come into your life and you can start this wonderful Faith journey with all your new brothers and sisters. If you prayed that prayer, would you please let me know. I would love to celebrate with you!

That’s Another Opinion of the Minion

What do We Use Our Faith On?

OK now that we know we are supposed to use our faith in God as a tool, what do we use our faith on? Think of it this way. Now that we have a screwdriver, what screws do we turn with it? The answer to this question is we use our faith on anything God says we can use it on. So how do we know if we can or we can’t? We look to the Word of God (the Bible) to tell us what we can do. I am not suggesting that our Faith in God is some sort of multiple wish machine where we can get anything we want because that’s not true.

For example, God said, “You shall not steal.” So, if I try to use my Faith to rob a bank, it won’t work. Why? It’s against God’s will. God doesn’t want us to rob a bank. He want’s us to use our Faith to believe that He will provide for us. There is a long list of things we can use our Faith to bring from God’s spiritual realm into this natural one. For example:

We can believe God for money. Phil 4:19 – “My God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus.” Malachi 3:10 – “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse . . . and I will open up the windows of Heaven and pour you out such a blessing that you will not have room enough to receive it.” Let me stop here and say, money is not evil. The Bible says, “The LOVE of money is the root of all evil.” 1Tim 6:10. You can love money and not have any. So, don’t let the devil trick you into believing that God doesn’t want you to have money. God just doesn’t want money to have you. If you don’t have money, you can’t bless others with it. Would you like to build an orphanage in Africa? You can’t do it without money.

We can believe God for healing. “By Jesus stripes we ARE healed.” 1 Peter 2:24. “By Jesus wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5. Let that settle in your mind forever. It is God’s will for us to be healed. We should never ever pray, “Lord, if it’s your will please heal Johnny.” We know, it is God’s will to heal Johnny. Now someone might ask, “Well, I prayed for Johnny and he didn’t get healed. Why did that happen?” I can’t answer that here because there is a lot that goes into it. But know this, if Johnny doesn’t get healed it is not because God did not want him healed.

We can believe God for peace. Isaiah 53:5 “The chastisement of our peace was upon Him (Jesus).”

Let me just say this about what we can use our Faith to produce. Last week, during my quiet time with the Lord, I heard Him say basically, “Son, you are the only limitation on what I can do. I can do anything you can believe Me to do.”

Anything in the Word of God (the Bible) that God says we can have, we can use our Faith to produce it.

I can already hear someone saying, “Now that I know what Faith is, why I have it and where to use it, how do I use it?” I will discuss this in the next blog.

For now, that’s another Opinion of the Minion.

Why do We Have Faith

Hello everyone,

In my last blog, we discussed what faith is. Now I would like to talk to you about why we have faith. If God gave us this tool, He must have done it for a reason. If you gave me a screwdriver, it would make sense that I use it on a screw. It’s the same way with our faith. Faith in God is a tool that God wants us to use to bring the things He has for us from the spiritual world into our natural world.

While this seems simple, I can’t tell you how many times I have heard, “Well we are just waiting on God and hoping He will do something.” Then when we don’t see what we were hoping for we either get mad at God or we say something like, ”Well I guess it wasn’t the Lord’s will to heal me. He must have put this sickness on me to teach me something or to bring Him glory.” There are a couple of things wrong with that statement. First of all, God doesn’t have sickness to give anyone. The Bible says that when Jesus touched people they were healed. Where would He get sickness anyway? Is there any sickness in Heaven? The answer is no. The Bible also says that Satan came to steal, kill and destroy. God is a good Father. He is not going to put sickness on us to teach us something.

Have you ever wondered why some people receive a blessing and some don’t? Some might respond to that by saying, “Well, you just never know what God is going to do.” Yes we do. He told us what He would do in His Word. God is also not a gamble. His Word is sure. It works every time.

How does this relate to using Faith as a tool? Good question. When the devil attacks us, God is waiting on us to use our Faith in Him to stop that attack. When we don’t have enough money, God is waiting on us to use our Faith in Malachi 3:10 to believe that when we tithe, He will pour out such a blessing that there is not room enough to receive it. That’s why He gave us Faith. There are many times in the New Testament when Jesus told someone, “Go your way. YOUR faith has made you whole.” Notice, it wasn’t Jesus faith, it was the person asking for healing’s faith.

Think of it this way. If we don’t use our Faith, it’s like we are starving and sitting at a table with our favorite meal on it. Instead of picking up something to eat and extinguishing the hunger in our body, we stand around and pray, “Lord, please feed me. Lord, I’m so hungry. Lord, I’m hungry but I know if it’s your will for me to starve, I’m starving for your glory.” The whole time, the Lord is saying – “EAT. I’ve put the food right in front of you. All you have to do is use your hand to pick it up and eat it.” That’s what we do with our Faith many times. God has given us this wonderful gift and we don’t use it.

That’s something the Devil doesn’t want us to know. He wants us to sit around questioning God and wondering why bad stuff is happening to us. Because he knows that if we ever discover how to use our Faith in God, there is nothing the devil can do to stop us.

That’s another Opinion of the Minion

Faith

Hello Everyone,

I have started posting again but mostly I do it directly on Facebook.  I want to put these here in case you don't have a Facebook.

Today let’s start talking about faith. I really like all the definitions that you posted. Simply put, faith is trusting that God will do what He said He would do. But it’s a little more than that. Would I would like to discuss over the next few blogs is - What is faith, how do I get faith, and lastly, how do I use faith? Ultimately, faith is something we use like a tool. It’s just like a mechanic uses a wrench. But I’m getting a little ahead of myself.

What is faith? The Bible says in Hebrews 11:1 that faith is a substance. Faith is our link between the spiritual world and this physical world. WE are supposed to use our faith to bring things from the spiritual realm into the natural realm. I know that can sound a little spooky but it’s not. Think of it this way. If you are reading this, you probably believe that I exist because I am writing the blog, right? How can you be sure that I exist? Can you see me? Even if you are one of my close friends, you still must believe that I am writing this. As a matter of fact, I am sitting at my desk in my office and no one is watching me write this.

And yet, many people believe that I wrote this blog. It’s no different with God. I didn’t see people write the Bible. That doesn’t bother me though because I believe God inspired them to write what they wrote. I have faith that God could cause His word to be put in a book. If He can make the whole universe, He can certainly cause people to write His book correctly.

As I said, faith is what we use to bring stuff from the realm where God lives into this one. We are to use it just like God did. When He said, “Light be,” then light moved from the spiritual realm into the physical realm. Think of it this way, if I told you that I was going to send you $100 if you gave me your bank account number, would you do it? You would if you had faith that I was going to do what I said I would. Even though you can’t see me, you might have faith that I would send you $100. If that happened, you would use your faith in my word to give me an account number. That would allow me to send you $100 into your bank account. Your actions with your faith would cause something to move from a world you cannot see (my office) to a world you can see (your bank account). Ultimately, that is exactly what we are supposed to do with our faith in God. That’s why the word says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things you can’t see.”

I believe that here is where many Christians stop. They believe that God is God, but they don’t use the faith that He gave them. We are supposed to use OUR faith to cause things to happen in this natural world just like the Lord did when He created the universe.

That’s Another Opinion of the Minion

Is God Mad at Me?

Hello everyone. If I asked you, “Are you a good person?” What would you say? I think most people would say yes. If I asked them why they are good, they might list several things they do that are good. I believe the reverse is true. I think there are people who believe that because they have made some bad choices, it makes them a bad person. I also think that when people do bad things, some of them spend way too much time thinking about all the bad things they did. The...y can spend so much time thinking about their past that it effects their present and their future. If that’s you then I have good news for you.

God doesn’t think you are a bad person. No matter what you did, He’s not mad at you. And no matter how bad a mistake you made, He still loves you and has a great plan for your life. You may spend time trying to earn His forgiveness, but you can’t earn something that has been given to you. His forgiveness is a free gift and you don’t have to spend the rest of your life trying to earn it. It was expensive. It cost Jesus His life but He freely gives it to us. Yet while Jesus was on the cross dying for our sins, He looked at the guys who were murdering Him and asked God to forgive them. He did it while they were murdering Him! That sounds crazy but that’s how much Jesus loves you. Do you want to get free from that bad decision you made? Just simply say, “Jesus, I did some bad things (You can name them if you want but He already knows). I ask you to forgive me. I ask you to come into my life. I make you my Lord and Savior.” If you prayed that prayer, it is finished! You are forgiven! God won’t hold anything against you that you have ever done. God has a great plan for your life!

That's another Opinion of the Minion

You are Priceless!

Hi All,

I’m not sure who this is for, but I know someone needs to hear this.  I want to talk to you about what you are worth.  I believe many of us have a very low opinion of ourselves and think we aren’t worth very much.  Some of us value ourselves based on how much we weigh or how good we look.  Some of us value ourselves based on how many likes we have on social media.  I believe there is a young girl somewhere reading this who places a value on herself based on what a boy thinks of you.  I also believe that this person is using sex as a way to get boys to like them.  They are basing their sense of self value on how a boy treats them.

I want to encourage you to see yourself for who you really are.  Your actions or the things that have been done to you don’t tell the true story of who you really are.  You need to see yourself as extremely valuable.  As a matter of fact, you are priceless.  How do I know this?  Because Jesus gave his life for you.  Sure, He did it because He wants you to go to Heaven, but He also did it because He loves you and He wants you to have a good life here and now.  Here’s another cool thought.  No matter what you have done in your past, His value of you doesn’t change.  You can’t have done anything so bad that He doesn’t see you as a priceless work of art and He will always look at you that way.  He set your worth 2,000 years ago and the value will never change.

Do you know what the worst thing ever done in the history of the world is?  It was when Adam ate of the fruit in the garden of Eden.  When he did that, he condemned the world to all sorts of horrible acts.  Every awful thing you can think of, came from that one act.  Every murder, every theft, every horrible crime came from that act.  Guess what God did when He found out about it?  The first thing He did was come up with a plan to fix it.  As soon as He found out, He made the decision to send Jesus to pay for Adams sin and He sent Jesus to pay for ours too!  After that, He clothed them, and He still had a good plan for their lives. 

No matter what you have done, God always has a plan B.  Guess what plan B is always a good plan!  He’s also got a plan C, D, E …  He never runs out of good plans for your life!  He loves you that much!  Now if He sees us as that valuable, isn’t it time we start seeing ourselves the same way? 

That’s another Opinion of the Minion

Does My Past Disqualify My Future?

Hello Everyone,

Today I want to discuss a question that I think many of us have asked ourselves once or twice.  The question is, have I done something so bad that I have doomed my future?  What's the answer?  Well, I want you to take a look at something to answer that question.  How many of you know the story of Adam and Eve?  We all do right.  This is the story of the most evil human being to ever walk the Earth.  What he did was doom the entire planet because he wouldn't do thinks God's way.

Think about that for a minute.  How did hate crimes get in the Earth?  Through Adam's sin.  How did racism get in the Earth?  Through Adam.  How did all kinds of failure get in the Earth.  Through Adam.  You can indirectly blame every hateful word, every murder, every rape, every theft, every unkind act on Adam because he was the door that let all of this into the world.

Obviously someone like this deserves the most harsh punishment right?  If anyone deserves to go to Hell it would be Adam.  The Bible says we were all born with a sinful nature because of Adam.  So what did God do to Adam when He confronted Adam in Genesis?  Well before He even discussed the punishment with Adam, He had a plan to fix it.  He told the snake in the garden that because he tricked Adam, woman's offspring would crush his head and Satan would bruise his heel.  Guess who God was referring to? - JESUS.  Before God even dealt with Adam and Eve's sin, he put the fix for the whole world into motion!

So let me as you this?  What have you done in your life that would disqualify you from achieving all God has called you to do?  What did you do that was bigger than Adam?  How about this.  What did you do that was bigger than God's redemption plan?  The answer is NOTHING.  God said in Jeremiah 29:11 that He has good plans for your life!  So if you have screwed something up in your life - divorce, getting fired from a job, screwing up a relationship, being convicted of a crime..., guess what?  GOD HAS A PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE!  There is nothing you can do or have done that changes this.

Maybe you are getting a little older and the dream God put in your heart seems really impossible.  It's not!  God still has a plan for your life.  If you feel that life is hopeless and that you can never succeed because of something you did or maybe something you should have but did not do, GOD STILL HAS A GOOD PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE!

If you are struggling, why don't you take whatever the problem is to the Lord?  If you do, He can show you the good plan he still has for your life!

That's another Opinion of the Minion!

I'm Getting a Divorce ... But NOT from My Wife

Hello Everyone,

It's been a long time since I have posted anything but as I have said before, a couple of times, I am going to start writing more.

Today's topic is Divorce.  Let me say that I am totally for it but not like you think.

This came up inside me because of an individual in my life.  This particular person (It's not one of my family or friends) continues to be a constant source of wrong thinking, upset and worry.  You know the type.  The person who is constantly saying something or doing something just to be mean and upset you.  The person that you constantly catch yourself thinking about what you want to say to them and how you want to give them a piece of your mind.  You go through the day and play different conversations out in your head.  They said this and then you would say something back that would really put them in their place.

But the truth is that 99% of the time these conversations never happen.  When you actually talk with someone it never goes the way you thought it out.  The net effect of the whole situation is that you didn't say all the things you wanted and you let that person dominate your thought life for some part of the day.  Maybe you worried about what they would say or do and how it would effect you or someone else.  Maybe you got really angry and dreamed about getting them back.  So when WE spend all that time going through those thoughts and replaying what that person said or did over and over again we miss things.  See I could have all that time thinking about my God or my kids or my wife.  I could have spent that time planning what I was going to do to bless them or bless someone else and then doing it.  But I chose to spend the time day dreaming in a negative way about that person!  So to those thoughts, consider this your official notice - I'm getting a divorce!!

Now let me tell you about a few things about divorce.  My ex-wife and I owned a house and I paid every payment on that house.  But here's the thing - as soon as the judge signed the divorce decree that was no longer my house.  I was no longer allowed in that house without my ex-wife's permission.  That's exactly what happens with our thought life.  You can choose what thoughts you let in your house and which ones have to stay out side.  They may ring the doorbell and ask to come in but you can tell them no.

So to that person who is causing us so much trouble, let me say that we have irreconcilable difference so it's over.  You are no longer allowed in my thought life.  I expect you to say ugly things and I expect you to be selfish and manipulative but I am no longer allowing you in my home!

Here are a few other things that have been served their divorce papers.

Politics - We are through.  I'm divorcing you from my thought life.  I will vote as the Lord leads me but I will not take you to dinner anymore and I will certainly not invite you back to my place.  I know that their are family and friends who would like us to stay together but we simply don't belong together.  Note:  If you like to talk about politics, what are you actually doing?  Remember, discussing a problem without implementing a solution is just complaining.

Judgmental attitudes - It's over between us.  I know we have only been together for a short time but you have been a complete negative in my life.  But I don't want you to meet my family and I don't see us growing old together.  Have you ever spent time judging people?  You know - She shouldn't wear that dress or he shouldn't drive that car.  I actually caught myself judging someone the other day while I was driving down the road!!  I don't know one thing about the person!

Other detrimental areas - I've seen you with other people so you aren't even true to me.  When we are together, you are abusive and cause me to lose my peace.  You don't want me to go to church; you don't want me to tithe; you don't want me to love my wife.  As a matter of fact, you are jealous of anything that I think about other than you.  You are so narcissistic.  It's over between us.  Pack your stuff and get out of my life.

Now friends if this stirs something in you and makes you want to divorce some of those stinking thinking areas in your own life then let me say this.  You must be vigilant.  Those areas can be stalkers and they can try to track you down to get back with you but don't let them.  Stay Vigilant!!!  If you know me and you see me making a V sign with my fingers it's for vigilance.

That's another Opinion of the Minion