Pursuit Of His Presence

James 1:12-17 

 12Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

13When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

16Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Devotional

Yield to Life!

by Kenneth Copeland

“Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.” Deuteronomy 28:61
Tradition has taught that God uses sicknesses, trials and tribulation to teach us. This idea, however, is not based on the Word. God has never used sickness to discipline His children and keep them in line. Sickness is of the devil, and God doesn’t need the devil to straighten us out!
“But Brother Copeland, what about Deuteronomy 28:61? It says the Lord will put sickness on me.” The wording of the King James Version of such scriptures has caused many people to draw this conclusion.
In Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Bible, Dr. Robert Young sheds some crucial light on that. There he explains that the Hebrew language contains idioms which cannot be translated into the English language and properly understood. Also, there was little understanding of permissive and causative verbs.
In other words, according to Dr. Young’s studies, Deuteronomy 28:61 should have been translated with a permissive verb and would more accurately read, “Every sickness and every plague, which is not written in the book of the law, them will the Lord allow to ascend upon thee until thou be destroyed.” (You can read verse 15 and see how it confirms this.)
“But even if God is not the source of sickness,” you may ask, “isn’t it still true that He allows the devil to make us sick?”
Yes. Not from the standpoint of correction, but from the standpoint of authority. God allows it because we do. Why? Because He’s given us the right to make our own choices, along with authority over the kingdom of darkness in Jesus’ Name.
According to Deuteronomy 30:19, He has set before us life and death, blessing and cursing. He has further instructed us to choose life. The choice of what we experience is up to us. It has been that way since Creation.
You have the power to live after God’s ways and resist sickness, or not to. You have the choice to let Satan run over you, or use the authority you have been given. Good and perfect gifts come from God. No matter what tradition has taught, sickness and disease simply don’t fall into the category of good and perfect gifts...ever.
So make a decision today. Resist Satan’s sicknesses and diseases. Cast off those old traditions. Yield to all that God has put within you. Yield to life!
Speak the Word
“The Lord has set before me life and death, blessing and cursing. I choose life!” —Deuteronomy 30:19
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