Preface

Because of the many erroneous doctrines that are taught in the church today, so many Christians do not truly understand God's goodness towards them. They do not have a clear or concise definition of what His goodness really is. They often wonder, "What can I expect from God as a result of His goodness."

Promises of answered prayer that seem so plain and clear are given stipulations by religious people - stipulations that have no foundation in Scripture. Things are taught concerning God's goodness that does not seem to even make good sense.

I hope to give a better understanding of what the goodness of God truly is and how it may be appropriated. I try to do this by proving from the Bible itself that many of the teachings in Christian circles that are opposed to the Christian receiving what is truly the goodness of God are in error.

The errors that we will be discussing are those that prevent God's people from appropriating all that He has for them. People will receive from God based on the knowledge that they have concerning Him. If they are taught that there is no guarantee for them to prosper (whether this prosperity is financial or otherwise is for you to determine), be healed, be delivered from problems and bondages, etc. then they most surely will not waste their time trying.

God is like the best of any earthly Father, He wants to bless His children abundantly. Yet, He has established a law called faith. It is by living within the guidelines of this law that we maintain a relationship with God and also how we appropriate any blessing from Him.

I believe that there are people who have bad health and are in poverty and truly love God. They have an intimate relationship with Him. These people do have faith, but their faith is based on the information that they have concerning their heavenly Father. They have faith to endure their trial with courage and bravery but they limit themselves to this alone. They believe that sickness will draw them close to God and God, and because He loves them He will be there in their sickness. However, is this a good reason to reject healing?

I would never say that the poor and sick have no faith, but their faith is based on what they have been taught. When they read the Bible for themselves, they read it in the "light" of what their pastors have taught them. Therefore, they have faith to know there is a God, and to love Him and to maintain a relationship with Him. They even may have faith to appropriate His joy and peace. They do have faith.

Yet, if they are taught that other blessings are not guaranteed then they can have no faith for them. They will only have faith and appropriate what they know and have been taught what is guaranteed for them to receive from God. Therfore, when someone who opposes me asks, "Sister So and So was a

wonderful Christian and she loved the Lord but she died of cancer. Are you saying she has no faith."

Heavens NO! If she loved God she had enough faith to do that. She received God's best in THAT area of her life. I do not criticize and minimize the experience of such precious saints, yet neither do I use their experiences as an excuse to deny that blessings of healing and prosperity are guaranteed for God's people today.

What has happened is, though Sister So and So had a wonderful relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, she was taught some other things that kept her from appropriating in all that was available to her through the gospel because faith comes by hearing and hearing by God's Word. God will only meet you at the level of your faith (Matt. 8:13; 9:29).

It's not His fault because He has provided us the Bible which gives us the information for each area that we need to know His will in. If we base our faith on how others interpret that will then we will either receive faith for that area or we will have none for it.

By dealing with some of the teachings in the church using the light of God's Word, I believe that many of God's people will unlearn some things and gain new understanding concerning God's goodness and all that He desires to do for His own.

I do not write these as a basis for argument. I already know that some who believe some of these errors will disagree with me and try to prove me wrong no matter what I say. I have found throughout my few years of ministry that when people make up their mind to believe a certain way, there is no convincing them otherwise.

I write this book as a faith builder to those who desire to leave the bondage of tradition, religion, and error. I write to those who know in their hearts that some of the things that they have been taught were wrong but need to know from the Bible how to prove it to themselves, this way they can have faith to receive God's goodness.

May God stir up your faith as you read this book and may He set you free to appropriate all of the blessings He has to offer you as a result of His goodness.

E-mail: victoryword@yahoo.com

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