Why isn't peace on the earth?

by Barbara Latta

Glory to god in the highest and on earth, peace and good will toward men” (Luke 2:14).

This verse is quoted each Christmas and  interpreted as if Jesus’ birth would bring peace to the earth. But the angels were saying that peace has been given from God to mankind because the Savior had been born to bring peace between God and man. The wrath of God against sin was poured out at the cross (1 Thessalonians 5:9). Jesus absorbed the wrath of God against mankind’s sin because God loved His creation so much He Himself paid the price which was death.

The angels proclaimed the birth of the Son of God to bring peace to men not peace to the earth. Jesus Himself said he came to not to bring peace but a sword; a sword dividing people who believe and those who do not (Matthew 10:34).

Shootings abound all over the country. Politicians call for gun control as if taking weapons away from people who are already breaking the law would cause them to obey the law to get rid of their guns.

After the tragedy in California this week headlines in papers have said “Why isn’t God doing

anything about it; He isn’t answering prayers.”

What these uninformed people do not realize is God gave control of the earth to Adam and Eve at creation (Genesis 1:28). They disobeyed God and gave the dominion God had bestowed upon them to Satan.

Satan retained that dominion on the earth until Jesus died and was resurrected. Christ went into hell to disarm the devil and buy back what mankind lost (Colossians 1:13). Before He ascended into heaven, Jesus gave His disciples the authority He had (Matthew 28:18-19).

The problem is we do not dig into the Word to find out what we have been given so therefore we do not use it. We act as if God is in heaven pulling the strings on puppets, so when something tragic happens it must be His fault.

God gave choice to man. Man can choose to do evil or good. When evil is the choice the populations blames God because He didn’t do anything about it. But God put us in charge of the earth (Psalm 115:16) and we are not doing enough to stop the spread of evil. We can’t simply fold our hands and pray to God to stop things. We need to pray for revelation

knowledge of what we need to do ((Ephesians 1:17), stand on the Word for protection (Psalm 91), and spread the gospel around the world to change people’s hearts (Mark 16:15).

The earth will only have peace when the Prince of peace rules the earth (Revelation 21:3). Until then we must stand against evil and trust God for peace in our hearts. When more people have peace in their hearts, violence will stop.

God loves you and sent His Son to give us peace. Do you have peace in your heart? If not, all you have to do is ask Jesus to come in and forgive your sin. Then peace will be yours.

For more teaching on this subject, read Andrew Wommack's article, The War is Over.

Share your thoughts.

Do You Know The Difference Between Your Spirit and Your Soul?

by Barbara Latta

Some people use the terms spirit and soul interchangeably while referring to the same element of our being, but the Bible clearly makes a distinction between the two. 

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (I Thessalonians 5:23). This verse specifies three separate parts of a person.

The body is obvious to us. This is the physical part of we can see and where we experience our senses such as sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch.

Our soul is our personality, or our mind and emotions. This is where we think, feel, and

Our soul contains our emotions

make decisions.

The spirit of a person is the part that communicates with God, hears His voice, and will live forever.

2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us we become new creations when we are born again. Then why doesn’t everything about us become new at that point of decision? Why can our thoughts and actions revert back to our old ways?

We are three part beings

Picture a target with an inner, middle, and outer circle. The inner most part is our spirit, the middle our soul (mind, emotions), and the outer our body. For something to influence our spirit, it must go through our body (hearing or sight), through our mind (thought processes where we make decisions) to our inner most being (where we become born again.) The reverse is also true. For us to benefit from what God has deposited into our spirit, we must have revelation knowledge of our gifts. 

Soul

The corruption of the mind gets in the way of revelation. Influences of the world, people, and traditions we have been taught will dominate what we think and do unless we change our perceptions based on what God says. Romans 12:1-2, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

We hear the term “soul-winning” a lot in Christian circles. But our soul is not what gets saved at salvation. It is our spirit. Saving our soul happens when we renew our minds.

Body

Our bodies have not been redeemed yet. Because sin entered the world, and through sin, death, our bodies age and deteriorate (Romans 5:12). We will receive a glorified body in heaven, but this part of us will not be redeemed until we meet Christ face to face. 

(1 Corinthians 15:53.)

Spirit

Live in the spirit through the Word of God

Romans 8:11 says we have the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwelling in us. My spirit is the real me. Ephesians 1: 18 tells us "the eyes of our understand being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints."

Our inheritance is in our spirit, but we bring it out to benefit us through our soul by understanding through His Word what He has given us so we can walk in it in this life (Colossians 1:10).

"...because as he is so are we in this world" (I John 4:17). We are like Christ in our spirit but we have to bring our mind and body into submission through His Word.

Now that you know you are a three part being, what does that mean to you? Join the conversation.

For further teaching on this subject Andrew Wommack’s book “Spirit, Soul, and Body” is available at www.awmi.net. 

The True Nature of God

Book Review Friday

By Barbara Latta

Is God angry with people? Does He punish sin the way He did in the Old Testament?

Do you ever wonder about questions like these and struggle with finding the answers?

Andrew Wommack addresses these and many more issues in his book, The True Nature of God. Explaining God’s dealings with man from the Garden of Eden until the cross, Andrew shows us the difference in God’s mercy and God’s judgment from the law.

This book can help unravel confusion you may have had for years and release you from the bondage of feeling God is out to get you.

This book is available at www.awmi.net or Amazon.

For further teaching Andrew Wommack is teaching on this subject during the television ministry being broadcast now on The Gospel Truth.

Don't Limit God

Book Review Friday

by Barbara Latta

Did you know you could limit what God wants to do in your life?

Have you ever considered that the benefits of what God has done for you is determined by you being willing to receive it?

In his book, Don't Limit God, Andrew Wommack shares insights he has gained over his forty years of ministry that have helped him gain the success he needs to fulfill God's call on his life.

Andrew shares examples of times in his life when he limited God and the outcome was frustration and more hardships than necessary.  Andrew shows us how we can learn from the mistakes of the Israelites while they wandered in the wilderness instead of believing God and following His directives. 

Reading this book can change your life and the way you view success.

Don't Limit God is available at www.awmi.net or on Amazon.