Mike Wilkins Ministries

JAMES 1:17 ESV
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming
down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation
or shadow due to change.

We all face many problems in life, but God is not behind our
problems.

God is your answer, not your problem.

Insurance contracts may call natural catastrophes “acts of
God,” but they are wrong. They are not acts of the Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, but acts of the god of this world, the
devil.

2 CORINTHIANS 4:4 NLT
4 Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of
those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious
light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message
about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

Jesus made a clear distinction between the work of God and the
work of the thief in John 10:10.

JOHN 10:10 ESV
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came
that they may have life and have it abundantly.

When terrible things happen, it is not unusual to find people
saying “God, why did you do this to me?” This assumes God
is responsible for every thing that happens. But the Bible
gives us a different message.

1 JOHN 5:19 NLT
19 We know that we are children of God and that the world
around us is under the control of the evil one.

The devil is behind the evil in the world. And people have
allowed the devil to do his dirty work. So, ultimately, we
humans are to blame. We cannot blame God. He has given us
authority to stop evil, but we have failed to exercise our
authority as we should have.

God gave mankind dominion on earth.

GENESIS 1:26 ESV
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea
and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and
over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on
the earth.”

When Jesus redeemed mankind, He restored to us dominion through
His Name. We are responsible for what we allow to happen on
earth, because Jesus has given us His authority.

LUKE 10:19 ESV
19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and
scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing
shall hurt you.

MATTHEW 18:18 NLT
18 “I tell you the truth, whatever you forbid on earth will be
forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be
permitted in heaven.

Heaven will back us, but we have the responsibility to stand
against evil on earth, using our spiritual authority.

Anything that steals, kills, or destroys is not from God the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, but from our enemy, so it
should be resisted.

Jesus Christ perfectly represented God and He went around doing
good and healing people (Acts 10:38), not hurting people. Jesus
was a giver, not a taker. And He is still the same today.

JAMES 1:2-4 NIV
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials
of many kinds,
3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops
perseverance.
4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature
and complete, not lacking anything.

Why are prayers not all answered instantly? Why don’t we always
experience the blessings promised in the Bible immediately?

If all results were instant, we could never walk in faith.
Without faith, we could never please God. (Hebrews 11:6)

If you always reaped the harvest of your deeds immediately, the
incentive to do right and refrain from wrongdoing would only be
selfish. No faith, or love for God, would be required.

During delays we have opportunity to demonstrate whether we
really love God, and trust Him, or not.

A delay is a test. Without testing, there could be no reward.
God does not test us so that we can fail, but so that we can
overcome. He believes we will make it with His help.

We desire an instant manifestation of victory. God’s desire is
for us to press into Him and His Word and walk in faith until
we see victory.

To overcome there must be opposition and struggle. God cannot
always shield us from problems without taking away from us the
privilege of overcoming.

Victory is sweet. What makes it sweet is that it is not easy.

If we really trust God, time is not a problem. Leave that with
God. His timing is perfect and He is dependable!

HEBREWS 4:13-16 NLT
13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is
naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we
are accountable.
14 So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered
heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we
believe.
15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he
faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.
16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.
There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help
us when we need it most.

You should talk to God just as you would to a very well-
respected friend. Don’t worry about using any special form of
words. Just talk openly, honestly, and sincerely from your
heart. (This is what “prayer” is supposed to be.)

God knows what you are thinking anyway. You can’t fool God or
hide anything from Him. God knows you better than you know
yourself. And the wonderful thing is that God still loves you!

Nothing that concerns you is unimportant to God. Remember, He
even keeps count of how many hairs you have!

God is not too busy to hear about every detail of your life. I
have no idea how God can listen to all of us, but He can. He is
not bound by time like we are. However He does it, we don’t
have to be concerned but can just trust Him.

JEREMIAH 33:3 NKJ
33 ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and
mighty things, which you do not know.’

What a privilege to have the input and counsel of God who knows
everything. Don’t fail to take advantage of this tremendous
opportunity.

We are called into fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ! That
means we should share everything with Him.

1 CORINTHIANS 1:9 NKJ
9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship
of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

God invites us to fellowship with Him. That would include just
discussing things. Just visiting. Just “hanging out” together.
This is what God desires. So don’t disappoint Him!

Don’t talk at God, talk directly to God. Prayer should not be a
spiritual exercise you have to get through. It’s a conversation
with Someone who loves you, and is very smart.

“But what can I say to God?”

“Thank You!” would be a good start. What would you say to any
friend who was with you? You wouldn’t have any trouble figuring
out what to talk about with them would you?

“But,” you say, “God doesn’t talk back.”

Yes, that is a difference you have to get used to. True, God
does not usually speak back to us in the normal human fashion.
The main way He “speaks” to us is through inward impressions or
ideas, all of which will line up with His written Word, the
Bible. We have to learn His way of communicating.

1 JOHN 5:4 NIV
4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the
victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.

God does not expect any of His children to be failures.

There is nothing wrong with failing. It’s part of learning. No
child learns to walk without falling down multiple times. But
they do not stay down, they get back up.

No one is a failure until they accept and believe they are a
failure.

Growth is a process. We learn and then make adjustments. No one
is born mature.

So don’t be discouraged by your present state. Don’t give up
just because you have fallen over and over. Get up and go
again!

You are a child of God if Jesus is your Lord, and God placed
within you everything you need to be a winner — an overcomer.
As you trust in Him, and keep on keeping on, you can walk in
victory.

ROMANS 5:8 NKJ
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we
were still sinners, Christ died for us.

God has proven His love for you. So don’t doubt it.

What proves that God loves you more than you love yourself? He
died in your place — suffering the punishment for sin that you
deserved, so you could go free. God was more willing to suffer
Himself than to see you suffer.

Of course, the devil constantly tries to get you to doubt that
God loves you. That’s why you must rely on what the Bible says
– not what your feelings or circumstances may tell you.

You may think you don’t love yourself — maybe you think you
hate yourself. Even if you don’t think too highly of what you
have done, you still love yourself in the sense that you desire
the best for yourself. You don’t desire pain or loss.

So it is with God — He desires good for you — even more than
you do. And He demonstrated at Calvary that He would put your
interest before His own.

1 JOHN 4:16 NKJ
16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us.
God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God
in him.

There are at least two reasons why God loves you so much.
First, it is His nature to love. The Bible says that God is
love. Love is the word that best describes God’s nature.

Second, you are His creation. God loves you just as good
earthly parents love their offspring. People may not seem very
special to others, but to their mother and father they are
always special. This should help you understand how God could
really like you — even though you may not like yourself very
much.

Also, God sees you as you can be and will become — not just as
you are now. God has faith in you and in His ability to make
you someone special.

1 PETER 2:24 NKJ
24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that
we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness — by
whose stripes you were healed.

“Time” is difficult to understand. Scientists tell us that time
is “relative,” just something that seems real to us.

The Bible indicates God is “outside of time.” God created time
so He is not confined to it. Can we easily comprehend this? No.

When a human makes a statement that is not true at this present
moment in time, we call it a lie — not the truth.

But when God says something that does not seem to be true at
this moment — we cannot accuse Him of telling a lie — because
God is not limited to our time frame. (Also, we do not know
everything.)

Having said all that, the Bible clearly says that you ARE
healed.

ISAIAH 53:4-5 NRSV
4 Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and
afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our
iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and
by his bruises we are healed.

So, you have a choice. You can look at it from your perspective
and say, “That is not true. I am not healed.”

Or, you can view the situation from God’s perspective, and
because of your faith in Him, agree with what He said.

Which choice is best? As you decide your answer, remember to
include eternity in your evaluation. Pleasing God by accepting
His Word can bring benefits to you after this life.

Here is one way of understanding all this. God made provision
for everyone to be healed. That provision must be received by
faith — by believing and acting on what God has said in His
Word. Humans have a choice: believe God’s Word and resist
anything that would try to steal their health, or, let their
feelings and circumstances control them.

If you disagree with all this, let’s not argue or fight. That
will not help anyone. But remember, the Bible will still say
what it says.

MATTHEW 8:16-17 NKJ
16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were
demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and
healed all who were sick,
17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the
prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our
sicknesses.”

God made provision for your healing, but the devil tries to
steal it away from you.

Here is the bottom line: we do not understand everything. God
does. Since God loves us, it seems best to trust in Him instead
of trusting in our own limited understanding. So, I choose to
believe and say what God says, whether I understand it or not.

The Bible says I am healed. I choose to agree with
what God has said in the Bible.

2 THESSALONIANS 1:3 NLT
3 Dear brothers and sisters, we can’t help but thank God for
you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one
another is growing.

God made you for a purpose. God has a plan. You are not an
accident.

You may not have discovered where you fit and what your purpose
is yet, but God has not forgotten you. He is still at work.

Most of us will not affect the whole world, or even our entire
city. That does not mean you are not important.

The Bible uses the picture of a human body to illustrate the
Body of Christ. Not every part is ever seen, but every part is
important.

1 CORINTHIANS 12:22 NLT
22 In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least
important are actually the most necessary.

Even if no one knows the part you are doing, God does. You are
important to God — important enough to die for.

God has a plan for you, and it lasts far beyond this life that
we can now see.

ROMANS 5:17 NIV
17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned
through that one man, how much more will those who receive
God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of
righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

The New Testament reveals the good news that God offers
righteousness as a free gift to everyone who receives the Lord
Jesus Christ.

Righteousness means right-wise-ness, or being right. So
righteousness is right standing, or good standing with God.

Righteousness is a GIFT from God — not something you can earn
or achieve. God simply declares that you are innocent, as far
as He is concerned, because you believe in Jesus.

You are righteous if Jesus is your Lord. In fact, Jesus is your
righteousness. So, you are really as righteous as God is –
because He IS your righteousness. As a believer in Jesus, you
will never be more righteous — no matter what you do.

1 CORINTHIANS 1:30 NIV
30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has
become for us wisdom from God — that is, our righteousness,
holiness and redemption.