God is awesome, God is generous and compassionate, and God is very forgiving. God made it incredibly easy for you and I and everyone else to be saved! After the sacrifice of God's own son, we have now been adopted as sons and daughters and will spend eternity in paradise, close to him as opposed to the torment of an eternity in hell. Romans 10:12 - For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, Romans 10:13 - for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

This is an incredible gift from God, however, the main theme of this scripture is not that one is magically transformed and transported to heaven the moment they yell "Jesus!", the theme is mostly that salvation is for everyone of "all" nationalities, not exclusively for the Jews alone, and this particular gift pertains to the hereafter, not so much the "here and now". Make no mistake, death is only a transition. Your body, some day, will die, but you will live on forever. The question is, "where" will you live forever? What you have read above, is what God promised. The modern day Church has convinced everyone that miracles, healings and blessings are part of being saved as though it were a "Package Deal". It is Not! Now before someone whips out 1 Peter 2:24 and tries to shoot me with it, that particular scripture, refers to "sin" as the disease. It is another commonly misquoted scripture. 1 Peter 2:24 - Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. This scripture, as incredible as it is, (and true) does not apply to miracles, healings or little else in your everyday life. Salvation is "free", miracles and healings you actually have to "work for" (in a sense) by prayer and fasting and a personal relationship with your Father, and guess what? It Works! There are dozens of scriptures in the bible that warn against "false prophets", but we rarely apply these scriptures to the real and obvious false prophets that we see every day. We see on television and even in person, preachers who have drawn crowds of thousands and even tens of thousands of people, while performing healings on the stage of enormous arenas and other platforms, however, I don't recall any of the prophets in the bible, old or new testament, that had people clamoring after them for healings or miracles, with the exception of Jesus Christ. John the Baptist had a large following, but his function was primarily to Baptize, preach the repentance of sins and make a path for the one who was yet to come. (Christ) Nothing about John the Baptist's ministry ever implied that he was "The One", but instead, prepared people to be ready and watch for the one that they should follow. Mark 1:7 - And he was preaching, and saying, "After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals. I have yet to see even one of these so called healers do an "obvious" miracle or healing. Never have I seen a person with leprosy walk off the stage clean and healed. I have never seen an amputee's limbs restored. Unlike the miracles of Jesus, these miracles are all things like: "Oh My! The Pain is gone!" or "Gee, I can hear out of my left ear now". Make no mistake, NOTHING is impossible for God, but these people are "not" God, and neither are they doing his will. They are however, turning the majesty of God into a cheap carnival side show atmosphere. If you need a miracle, healing, financial or marriage restoration, or anything else, put your wallet back in your pocket. That big shot on the stage doesn't have any more ability to heal you than you do. As a matter of fact, "you" actually "DO" have the ability to receive a miracle or healing. If you need a miracle or healing, it is God that can give it to you, "not" the flashy, clever man or woman standing under the bright lights in front of thousands of people. If you want to perform miracles or healings, it is the Holy Spirit who gives you the power to do so, "not" the rich, popular, (so called) evangelist with thousands of people applauding him or her. To the many self proclaimed prophets running all over the place enjoying that title and the stature that some folks are silly enough to give them, I say quit beating around the bush! If you are going to continue to give "pointless prophesies" and "feel good" predictions about members of the congregation, just skip that nonsense and give them next weeks winning lottery numbers instead.

Maybe it's time someone told you the truth! No one believes in miracles and healings more than I do, and no one could convince me otherwise (I've seen it!), however, lets call a spade a spade! If you've been a faithful tither, and have never received the promise you've been taught every Sunday morning (just before the offering plate is passed around), that God will shower you with money and blessings until you can't contain it all, all I can say to you is "Duh!" (sorry) Consider this! Out of the tens of millions of people who tithe every paycheck, once in a while someone gives a testimony that God showered them with riches in return. For one thing, it's probably the law of averages. Second, if those are the odds, you would stand a better chance of winning the lottery if you simply spend "one dollar" a week as opposed to 10% of your total earnings. Giving for "that" reason, will not benefit you! Millions of people faithfully arrive at Church every Sunday morning and Wednesday evening, to hopefully receive a blessing! There's nothing wrong with being blessed and I wish everyone who reads this would be blessed, but the truth is, it's not about "you" being blessed, it's about "you" being the blessing to others. When you make a personal relationship with God and being a blessing to others among your highest priorities, "then" God will start pouring out blessings on you that you can't contain. If you want to give to the Church, I highly recommend it, if they are preaching the "true" message of God. Give 100% of your earnings if it pleases you, but don't call it a tithe, and don't expect a reward in return. Do you want to be rewarded? Give to the poor! That is what Christ told us to do, and that "does" come with a promise of prosperity. If you need a miracle or healing, don't seek the power, instead, seek the one who has the power. (Hint - It's not your pastor) God is not a vending machine. You don't put your money in the offering plate and then pull a miracle, healing or blessing out from the bottom of the altar. If you need a miracle, healing or blessing, Jesus told us in "Plain Direct Words" (no parables or mystic language), how to receive it!

DD