DIG for Saturday the 26th of August…..the ultimate aim of sickness is to steal, kill and destroy…..John 10 v 10

There is an erroneous teaching in the body of Christ that says sickness can come from God in order to teach us a lesson or make us humble (see what people say about Paul’s thorn in the flesh).

This however is wrong teaching; sickness is not from God, in fact sickness originated at the fall along with death.

What people fail to realise is that sickness is a form of death.

Sickness is death in progress.

Not many in the church will now say that God will kill us however that is the ultimate aim of sickness.

Sickness is a killer, so how can we associate it with God?

It is the enemy who comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10 v 10).

Jesus came to bring us life and life in abundance.

Sickness is trying to steal from you, kill you and destroy you; sickness is never about life and life in abundance.

That is why we should always resist sickness and fight it (James 4 v 7).

When people who teach that sickness can be from God I always ask them the same question; “why do you go to the doctor then?”

If sickness was a good thing and from God you should stay sick and learn your lesson, even if it kills you.

But deep down even people who teach this nonsense know that sickness is inherently evil so try to get rid of it.

Sickness is of the devil and needs to be be resisted with all our strength.

We should submit to the truths in the Word of God and thank God for the healing that has been provided through the finished work of Jesus.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that you have already provided all the healing I will ever need”.

John 10 v 10…..The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly

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DIG for Thursday the 1st of September……get angry and resist…..James 4 v 7

Over the last week or so I have learned some valuable lessons about healing and the manifestation, or not, of healing.

I have seen someone close to me manifest supernaturally quick healing from multiple fractures in her arms, healing that is too quick in the natural, and I have taken on board a few lessons.

When problems and issues from the enemy come upon us we need to resist with aggressive and passion, we need to get angry.

We need to say, “No, I am not having this” and really mean it.

We need to fight to keep our healing, and I say “keep” instead of “get” as the enemy can only steal, kill and destroy what we already have (John 10 v 10).

At the same time we need to stand on the Word of God, no matter what we feel and no matter what others may be saying.

While others look at the natural and ask questions in the natural we need to look to the spiritual.

Even when good meaning fellow believers try and cast doubt and uncertainty into our minds through their natural unbelief we need to speak out what we know is the truth.

In other words we need to live out James 4 v 7; we need to resist the devil and submit to God.

And we need to be aggressive in both, aggressively resist the enemy and aggressively hold onto the goodness and truth of God.

Even if it offends people, hold onto and speak out what you believe, hold onto and speak out the truth in the Word of God.

By His stripes you have been healed!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for the finished work of Jesus and thank you for my healing that was released through the cross”.

James 4 v 7…..Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you

DIG for Monday the 28th of September…..you may not be able to play the harp, but you can worship…..Psalm 100 v 1 and 2

Worship is a useful tool against the enemy and as a means of rejoicing.

Anyone can worship and it can be done anywhere.

You do not need a worship band with good musicians and other believers; it can be a solo occupation done anywhere.

Yes, David used his musical skills to comfort Saul and release him from bondage (1 Samuel 16 v 23).

Most of us cannot play the harp, but we can make a joyful noise, we can serve the Lord and we can sing in His presence (Psalm 100 v 1 and 2).

Whether we worship or not is a choice.

Sitting by the sea watching the sunset (it was awesome last night up here in the north of Scotland) and gasping in amazement is an act of worship.

Singing along to your favourite cd (like Charlie and Jill LeBlanc’s “Simply Worship”) is an act of worship; I could easily be listening to something else at the moment, but I have chosen to listen to worship music.

Speaking out in tongues and in prayer is an act of worship.

Even sitting quietly in prayer and meditation, focussing on Jesus is an act of worship.

All the above are acts of will, and we have to choose to do them; we can all worship if we choose to.

And when we worship we are resisting the devil and submitting to God and is part of the process of seeing the devil flee from us (James 4 v 7).

Make a good choice this morning and make the choice to worship.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that I can worship you whenever and wherever I want”.

Psalm 100 v 1 and 2…..Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing

DIG for Tuesday the 15th of September…..counter doubt with His Word…..Matthew 4 v 3 and 4

Many of us have doubts and fears (or temptations) coming at us and against us, much like the way Jesus did when He has in the wilderness (Matthew 4).

The enemy can come at us and try to bring doubts into our minds.

The enemy cannot make us do anything but he can use his lies to cause us to doubt the truth of what God has done for us through Jesus.

He can tell us that healing and prosperity are not for us, not for today, he can even get us to doubt our salvation sometimes.

At times like these we need to use the same model that Jesus used.

We need to say, “It is written” and then quote God’s Word on the subject.

We counter doubt and fear with truth from God’s Word, with what is written in the Bible.

Doubt and fear is like darkness from the enemy, we counter darkness and make it flee by bringing forth light from His Word.

Using this “model” we resist the devil and submit to God (James 4 v 7).

The devil does not have an answer for the Word of God, other than more lies and doubts.

If we are assured of what the Word says then the enemy cannot trick us into a different way of thinking.

If we know we have been healed through Jesus’ finished work on the cross we can counter his nonsense about illness and disease (1 Peter 2 v 24).

If we know Jesus became poor so that we might be rich we can counter his nonsense about being poor to be humble (2 Corinthians 8 v 9).

Truth will make doubt free; knowing the truth will set us free (John 8 v 32).

Speak this out today…..”Thank you for the truths within your Word and thank you that knowing the truth has set me free”.

Matthew 4 v 3 and 4…..And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God

DIG for Wednesday the 13th of May…..don’t just ignore, but resist…..James 4 v 7

As Christians we sometimes give the enemy more credit than he deserves, however he is not to be ignored.

If we read the whole Word we know that he is a defeated foe but he is still active in the world today.

Even though he is defeated he can still cause grief and heartache if we let him.

If and when he comes our way what are we to do?

Of course we turn to God and submit to Him, but at the same time we are to resist the enemy (James 4 v 7).

Resist means to stand against or to oppose; it is an active measure and not passive.

Ignoring the enemy is no good, we must be active and stand against him, we must get angry and not let him have an effect on our lives.

If a robber came into your house to steal your goods and hurt your family would you stand aside and let him do what he wanted?

No, you would stand against him and fight!

Let’s start doing the same with the enemy.

At the same time we are to turn to God, to trust Him and believe His Word; that is what it means to submit.

The Word is clear in this matter; if we submit to God and resist the enemy, the enemy will have to flee.

He does not have a choice, he has to flee; that is what the Word says.

Is the enemy coming against you or your family today?

Stand up and fight him, tell him where to go!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that through the finished work of Jesus Christ the enemy is a defeated foe and I can, and will, resist him”.

James 4 v 7…..Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you

DIG for Sunday the 12th of April….we choose who we let influence us…..Proverbs 23 v 7

We had a great message at MGF today highlighting the fact that we were created to be influenced by God.

We were created to learn and increase our understanding about the Lord.

It is very important to say however that if God is not influencing us then someone or something else will take that place.

As with everything else in this Christian life we are responsible what we are influenced by.

We choose who we listen to, we choose what we read, we choose what we watch, we choose who we interact with and come into fellowship with; in other words we choose who we give the opportunity to influence us.

We should submit to God and let Him influence us; this does not give the enemy a chance (James 4 v 7).

Whatever influences us will alter the way we think and alter what we believe about ourselves.

As Christians it is our responsibility to believe what the Word of God says and let that influence us.

We are special and unique and there is a plan for our lives; that is what the Word of God says and that is what we should let influence us.

Stop listening to the “doom and gloom merchants” and start listening to God through His Word.

Stop letting “Mr and Mrs Negative” have space in your head and give that space instead to a God who loves you, desires you and wants the best for you.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that you love me, want to spend time with me and want to influence me with Your truth”.

Proverbs 23 v 7…..For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he……

DIG for Friday the 20th of March…..temptations, trials and tests are not from God but can be used by God…..James 1 v 13

How often have you heard the following when you are in trouble or in a bad situation, “well God must have a purpose for putting you through this”?

NO!

God does not put temptations, trials or tests upon us.

He does not use illness, poverty, pain or anything evil to “try” or “test” us.

But what about James 1 v 2 to 4 then where it quite clearly says that we can be “improved” through temptations and trials?

I agree with that, but what I disagree with is the source of the temptation or trial.

Nowhere in those verses does it say God sends them.

Indeed if people would only look further on in this book they would see that truth.

God does not tempt us with evil (James 1 v 13) and poverty, illness and pain are clearly evil (Deuteronomy 28).

Yes God can use them to help us in our walk and in our life.

This is a very important truth as if people think something is from God they will have less of an emphasis to resist it.

Pain, illness and poverty are from the enemy and we are meant to resist him.

Healing and abundance are from God (3 John 2) and we a re to submit to Him.

Resist the things of the enemy and submit to the things of God, that is what we should be doing (James 4 v 7).

This assumes that we know what is from God and what is from the enemy; this can be learned from His Word.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that you want the best for us, you want us to live in health and prosperity”.

James 1 v 13…..Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man

DIG for Sunday the 22nd of February…..not just life, but abundant life…..John 10 v 10

My daily reading took me to John 10 v 10 this morning, a verse that has always excited me.

Today however I’ve been meditating on the first part, the steal, kill and destroy part.

For something to be killed it must first be alive.

For something to be stolen from a person they must first own that thing.

For something to be destroyed it must first be in existence.

The enemy wants you to live a life of sickness and poverty; he wants to steal, kill and destroy these aspects of your life.

So you must already be in possession of these things, you must already have health and prosperity, they must already be in existence and alive in your life.

They must be my friends or the enemy would not be able to try and steal, kill and destroy them.

Yes, in your life ALREADY you have all the health and prosperity that you will ever need; you ALREADY have all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1 v 3) and you ALREADY have all that you need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1 v 3).

You have life and life in abundance already; that is what Jesus came to do for you (John 10 v 10).

The enemy can only steal what you already own!

If a burglar came to your house to steal your goods (that you already own) you would resist and put up a fight would you not?

Well then, if the devil comes along and tries to steal your health and prosperity put up a fight, or in other words resist him (James 4 v 7).

Submit to the truths of God that Jesus came to bring you life in abundance (John 10 v 10) and that God wants, above all things, that you live in health and prosperity (3 John 2).

Submit to God and resist the devil, and you can see that health and abundance that Jesus died for flowing in your life.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for the finished work of Jesus Christ, and thank you that He came for me to have life and life more abundantly”.

John 10 v 10…..The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly

DIG for Friday the 31st of October……our battle is not against flesh and blood…….Ephesians 6 v 12

Paul says that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (2 Corinthians 10 v 4).

We are not in a carnal, natural fight!

In the battle with our enemy we don’t use natural weapons and natural armour.

We don’t use natural wisdom and reasoning.

There is nothing in the natural, physical realm that we can use in our battle with the enemy.

We are in a Spiritual battle and so we need Spiritual weapons and Spiritual armour.

We fight by making the choice to change our thinking from carnal, earthly thinking, to Spiritual, Word, Kingdom thinking.

We fight by resisting the enemy, which means being determined not to think the way he wants us to think, but to submit to God and let His Word fill our minds and determine our actions (James 4 v 7).

We fight by taking unto ourselves the whole armour of God (Ephesians 6 v 11).

Speak this out today……”Thank you Lord that as my mind is renewed by Your Word I am empowered to fight in this spiritual battle”.

Ephesians 6 v 12….For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

DIG for Friday the 17th of October……duel action of submitting and resisting……James 4 v 7

James 4 v 7 is a very important verse for the born again believer.

All of us are aware that the enemy is “out to get us”; the Word says he prowls about like a lion looking for those he can devour (2 Peter 5 v 8).

This should not scare us as in the book of James we are giving a model as to how to deal with this adversary.

We do have to resist the enemy; that means to oppose him and actively stand against him.

However we also have a duel action to do and that is submitting to God; this means to be subject to and obey.

As well as fighting against the enemy we need to partner with God and “go along” with what the Word says.

But this assumes one big thing and that is that we know what is from the enemy and what is from God.

This can only be found in one place and that is the Word of God.

Too many of us confuse what God and the enemy can and will do; if this is the case how can we be sure what to submit to and what to resist?

Knowledge and understanding of the Word of God is key to living out James 4 v 7.

Understanding of the true nature of God (and not the nonsense that religion and legalism will teach) will show us what to submit to.

Anything not of God will therefore be something to resist.

Focus on God and fight the enemy; that will see the enemy flee from you

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for your Word, thank you that it is the place to find out about you”.

James 4 v 7…..Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you