Today we continue our series, “Progress On Purpose.” I told you that God wants us to walk in “NEW LEVELS IN 2021!” But if we are going to do so, we must be intentional about our progress. With that in mind, as we lay the foundation for the year, I told you that I would discuss “Leveling Up” in five areas:
1. Spiritually
2. Financially
3. Physically
4. Internally
5. Externally
We have covered the first two thus far. Today we start the third: leveling up physically. In this section, I will cover the following:
1. Is health and wealth good or bad?
2. Healing is the will of the Father
3. God wants you to live long and strong
4. Some things you can do to live long and strong
So what does this mean for you today? When it comes to the question of health and wealth, I believe I have made it clear that God is not opposed to you prospering financially. Now let’s discuss the health component.
(Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 NLT)
“Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life. And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God. God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past.”
1. God is not opposed to health and wealth.
In our text for today, Ecclesiastes 5:19, Solomon said, “it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it.” It’s hard to misconstrue that. God made Solomon the richest man to ever live, he used the wealth to advance God’s Kingdom on this planet, and he did not see anything wrong with it. He also did not see anything wrong with enjoying God’s blessing. And then, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he wrote what he wrote in this text. I also have to tell you that the sentiment expressed by the Holy Spirit in this passage is congruent with a wealth of scripture. You can fight against it if you want, and you can say that health and wealth are part of some “prosperity gospel,” and therefore not God’s will, but doing so will require you to ignore or reject a good portion of the Bible. In the end, God is not opposed to blessing you financially and then also blessing you with the health to enjoy your divine assignment while you are on this planet.
I used titled this message “health and wealth” on purpose. I know some Christians will immediately push against that statement in their minds as if having either is bad. But I believe this confusion comes from satan. If you think God is opposed to health and wealth, then do you think God’s will is being broke and sick? I know some preachers have manipulated people where money and healing are concerned, but that does not change God or His will. To use the terms of a tailor, let’s agree that the pattern is right, even though the material may be flawed. Meaning that God’s Word is true, even though a few unscrupulous preachers have taken advantage of people by using it the wrong way. In the end, bad preachers don’t change the fact that we have a good God who is not opposed to blessing us richly.
2. It takes church people to confuse things that should be very clear.
If you ask any person on the street if it is better to have or not have money, anyone with any sense will tell you that having money is better than not having it. Likewise, if you ask anyone on the street if it is better to be sick or healthy, any person with any sense will tell you that being healthy is better. But for some reason, in the church, some preachers have confused people. Some have vilified money to the point where they think it is somehow “holy” to be poor, and others have told people that God put certain sicknesses and diseases on them in order to teach them something. Solomon said this very clearly, “It is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it.” (Ecc 5:19).
a) Anyone who thinks poverty is a blessing is someone who has never actually been poor. My wife and I both grew up in poor conditions, and I can tell you, from a first-hand experience, that poverty is far from a blessing.
b) Anyone who thinks sickness is a blessing is obviously someone who has never been sick. It only takes a few moments at the bedside of a sick person to know that sickness and disease are not a blessing.
c) God does not need to make you sick to teach you a lesson. God has given you His Word, His Spirit, and His leaders to teach you.
d) If you believe God put sickness or disease on you, then you shouldn’t go to the doctor because you should want everything God gives you. If you really believe it came from God, then keep it, but I can tell you that your belief is not based in scripture.
3. The Bible is pretty clear on what is part of God’s blessing and what is part of the curse brought into the earth through Adam.
As part of The Blessing, God has promised to:
— Satisfy us with long life (Ps 91:16).
— Forgive our sins and heal our diseases (Ps 103:3).
— Renew our youth (Ps 103:5).
— Keep us from deadly diseases (Deut 7:15).
— Heal our sick through the prayer of faith (James 5:15).
— Use us to lay hands on the sick in order for them to get well (Mark 16:18).
So while I know bad things do happen to good people, let’s not confuse the issue by attempting to claim that something bad is actually good. Sickness is bad, period. Poverty is bad, period. Don’t let any Christian confuse you. This was clear in your mind before you came to Christ.
4. Jesus helps us see what comes from God and what comes from satan.
The Bible tells us that Jesus came to “Destroy the works of the devil.” (1 Jn 3:8). The Bible also teaches us that Jesus “went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.” (Acts 10:38).
I just had a conversation about this with someone close to me. This person said, “Such and such is in the ICU, struggling with COVID. But God knows what He is doing.” I responded, “Wait a minute, do you think God put COVID on this person?” She responded, “Well, God does everything.” I proceeded to explain to her how that is most certainly NOT the case. It is this type of thinking that turns people away from God and His church.
If sickness came from God, then why would this same God heal people through His Son Jesus?
If sickness came from God and Jesus went around healing the sick, then wouldn’t He be working against the Father?
The clear answer is that sickness is part of the curse, not The Blessing, and it IS NOT a good thing to be sick.
I will stop here for today, and we will discuss this further tomorrow.
I will close with a declaration I believe will bless you. This declaration, and others like it, are found on my website. Here is the link: https://ripministries.org/teaching/bible-declarations
Declaration of Faith to LEVEL UP in our Health in 2021
Father, I thank You for declaring NEW LEVELS in 2021. I believe and receive what heaven has announced for me!
I will walk in NEW LEVELS of HEALTH in this season!
I confess Your Word concerning health and healing. As I do, I believe Your Word will not return to You void. It will accomplish what You have declared!
In the Name of Jesus, I believe I am healed according to Your Word. Jesus is the Lord of my life. Sickness and disease have no power over me!
I am healthy inside and out. I am free from unforgiveness and strife. I refuse to harbor bitterness in my heart. I know unforgiveness can open the door to disease in my life. I walk in Your love, empowered by Your Spirit!
I have abundant life through Your Word Father, and Your healing power flows to every organ, cell, tissue, and joint in my body, bringing life and health.
If sickness and disease touch my body in 2021, I declare that it has to die instantly because I am redeemed, and THE CURSE has NO POWER over me!
Your Word is life and healing to all my flesh. Therefore, I declare that every system of my body functions in the perfection in which Christ Jesus ordained it to function. I will live long and strong and declare Your works on this planet!
The angel of the Lord encamps round about me and delivers me from every evil work. No evil shall befall me, no plague or calamity shall come near my dwelling.
Your Word abides in me, and it is life and medicine to my flesh. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus operates in me, making me free from the law of sin and death.
Therefore, I declare:
I walk in NEW LEVELS of health in 2021!
I have control of my appetite, and it does not have control of me.
I eat healthy foods, I exercise, and I honor the physical body You have provided me, Father.
I am submitted to You in all ways, including my physical body.
So, I will not die because I am sick.
I will not die because I am old.
I will only die when I am DONE!
Until I complete my assignment on this planet, no sickness, disease, virus, germ, bacteria, or demonic spirit can stop me!
I LEVEL UP in 2021!
I declare this by faith, in Jesus’s name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
