If God told you that He would give you whatever you ask if you took two steps to the left, one step forward, and then two steps to the right, would you do it? Would you trust God?
Most Christians would say “yes,” and then they would quickly say something like, “but God hasn’t promised that.” However, do we know what God has promised and what we need to do in order to receive it?
No, God has not instructed us to do some sort of line dance, but He has given us promises that will position us to where we can ask anything of Him with results.
John 15:7-8 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. NKJV
John 15:16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. NKJV
1 John 3:22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. NKJV
You are probably shocked that promises like these are found in scripture, and you may wonder why you never hear them in church. It’s obvious. We don’t believe them. Let us repent and return to the Lord our God!
Let’s be honest here. If we trusted God we would have heard these promises many times over in a place called church, including the conditions.
However, not only do we ignore promises like the ones above, but we also teach in opposition to the conditions, assuring that no one at our gatherings will be in a position to ask whatever they desire of God. Let me explain.
99% of churches today in this country never mention abiding in Jesus Christ, or the doctrine of abiding in Him, which is found in John 15:1-10. I would say 100%, since I have yet to find one church in the past twenty years that teaches it, but I’m leaving room in hope.
99% of churches today in this country never mention that we need to obey Jesus. However, all of the promises above have obeying Jesus as a condition, since the only way to abide in Jesus is to obey Him (John 15:10). Let us repent and return to the Lord our God!
Many churches even teach that if we do anything after we are saved, we are trying to earn our salvation, and have been disqualified because we have not trusted in what Christ has done for us. That’s hogwash.
My friend, Jesus is the One Who appointed us to bear fruit (John 15:16, above). That means that Jesus Himself wants us to “do something” after we accept Him as the Lord of our life. In fact, He expects us to obey Him.
Luke 6:46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? NKJV
Not only that, but according to what Jesus said in John 14:21-24 (below), when will He make His home on the inside of us? Is it before, or after we keep His Word?
John 14:21-24 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”
23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me. NKJV
When will Jesus make His home in us according to what Jesus said in verse 23 above? Check it in your Bible.
If we don’t teach in opposition to what Jesus said, why do most churches proclaim that Jesus made His home is us as soon as we said a sinner’s prayer? Did Jesus lie, or did we hire storytellers, and deceivers, and false teachers, unwilling to simply preach the Word of God?
Who loves Jesus according to what Jesus said in verse 21 above? So, are those who teach that we should “not do anything” after we are saved teaching in line with God’s Word? Nope. Let us repent and return to the Lord our God!
Why do they come straight out of college teaching against what their own Bible says? They have no understanding because they refuse to obey the precepts (Psalm 111:10).
Is it possible to lead people away from obeying Jesus, and have a good understanding, when Jesus is our understanding (1 John 5:20)? Who enabled the disciples to understand the scriptures, according to Luke 24:45?
Luke 24:45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. NKJV
Did the Pharisees, who studied the scriptures night and day, have a good understanding? Can the veil be lifted when we refuse to teach the doctrine of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 3:14-16)? Go figure.
You should recognize that those who persuade you to disobey the truth are not working for God, but for themselves (Acts 20:29-31). Let us repent and return to the Lord our God!
Galatians 5:7-8 You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. NKJV
Jesus even told His disciples that He would not be their friend unless they did what He commanded (John 15:14, below).
John 15:14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. NKJV
Again, 99% of all churches in this country would welcome anyone who declares the exact opposite of what Jesus said in that verse, and refuse to hear those who proclaim the truth. Let us repent and return to the Lord our God!
Are you beginning to see why the promises above are not being used by the majority of Christians today? Are you beginning to see why they are never even mentioned?
Prosperity preachers don’t even mention those promises, and yet those promises are exactly what the millions who follow them so desperately need. God’s people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because we don’t know God’s Word (Hosea 4:6).
My friend, get your Bible out and start trusting God. Get away from the deceivers, who only claim to preach God’s Word, and start seeking God for yourself. You do not need anyone to teach you, and you especially don’t need the unrighteous, who suppress the truth (Romans 1:18).
1 John 2:27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. NKJV
Get this! The only thing that God’s people need, in order to turn them from evil, is to hear God’s Word.
Jeremiah 23:22 But if they had stood in My counsel, And had caused My people to hear My words, Then they would have turned them from their evil way And from the evil of their doings. NKJV
God is not looking for the wisest man in the world to explain what He meant. He is looking for someone willing to simply speak His Words to His people, and His Word, which is alive (Hebrews 4:12), will work all by itself on the inside of those who believe it (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
God’s Word is able to sanctify us (John 17:17), and God’s Word is able to build us up and give us an inheritance (Acts 20:32). Know those verses for yourself. Let us repent and return to the Lord our God!
The only thing that God’s people need, in order to receive “all things that pertain to life and godliness” is the knowledge of God, and to partake (participate) in His promises.
2 Peter 1:3-4 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. NKJV
This is a test. Quickly make a list of the promises that you are living by. Now, look them up to make sure that they are written in the way that you believe them, and learn the conditions. God wants all of us to repent, and come to the knowledge of the truth (2 Peter 3:9, 1 Timothy 2:4).
I’m alan ballou; a Bible teacher by the grace of God (Ephesians 4:11-12). That means I was minding my own business, making a mess of my life, and hell bound, when God saved me and called me to teach. I did not learn these things from a man, but by the grace of God, I am what I am.
Let us repent and return to the Lord our God!
