You will not be afraid of the terror by night, or of the arrow that flies by day; of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or of the destruction that lays waste at noon. A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not approach you. Psalm 91:5-7.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
A deception of the devil that people who make conclusions based on outward circumstances only rather than seeking to know the reasons underlying what is happening agree with is this: “Bad things happen to good people.” And essentially they have adopted the same reasoning that the devil deceived the Israelites with at the time of My prophet Malachi. And this lie is so devastating to the morale of My people that after that no one stepped up to be a prophet until John the Baptist. Malachi 4:5-6. A period of over four hundred years.
“Your words have been arrogant against Me,” says the LORD. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept His charge, and that we have walked in mourning before the LORD of hosts? So now we call the insolent and presumptuous blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness prospering and are built up but they also test God and escape.’” Malachi 3:14-15.
They said it was vanity and useless to serve Me, that is, to tithe, give offerings, turn away from idols, read My Word and meditate on it day and night, and walk in the path of the righteous. They were saying, “Bad things happen to good people, while evil people prosper and get away with it, so why serve God? Why not just do evil and prosper free from any restraint?”
But they erred, I had already instructed Moses and Joshua in the way to live days of Heaven on earth, for I send My Word to heal you and deliver you from all destructions. And what was My answer to these arrogant scoffers?
Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who honor the LORD and who esteem His name. “They will be Mine,” says the LORD of hosts, “on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.” So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.” Malachi 3:16-18.
I am listening to you and looking for those who are listening to Me, those who do not arrogantly scoff but seize My Words with joy, as one seizes rich spoil. It is such people of faith that for then I can protect you, direct you, prosper you, heal you, and perfect you. I can keep you. If you are willing and obey you shall eat the good of the land, but if you rebel and scoff the sword shall consume you.
At the time of My prophet Malachi, what began with disrespect for the sacrificial offerings in My temple, Malachi 1:6-14, mistreating and being unfaithful to one another, Malachi 2:13-17, and robbing Me in tithes and offerings, Malachi 3:8-12, led the way to an all out apostasy of major proportions, but when John the Baptist came on the scene and Jesus stepped out from the shadows and from behind the veil, the sun of righteousness with healing in hands had arisen and had come to rescue you from darkness to light, to seek out a save the lost. He is the Light of the world and no follower of His will ever walk in darkness but will have the light of life.
So why do bad things happen to good people? This result is contrary to the promises in My Word of perfect protection, long satisfying life, healing, peace, and joy, for the righteous, so what is going on? What can you as a believer expect?
You can expect and have good things, even in the midst of a famine, an earthquake, a storm, and with ten thousand people falling into destruction around you. You can still have the hundredfold and just look on at the destruction of the wicked.
How? Let us go back to the question of why bad things can happen to good people. Because “good” people, and indeed all people that have things contrary to My Word manifesting in their lives, make bad decisions. And they make these for many reasons, such as, they do not hear or they quench My Spirit warning them of things to come and leading them in the way they should go, they are worshipping idols or maintaining there is no god, they are ignorant of My Word and how it works, they are not aware of the devil and his tactics, and they do not know and believe in My love for them. You problem, if you are a born again believer, is not the devil, but because you have not renewed your mind in My Word.
Good people make wrong decisions because of wrong thinking. Wrong thinking leads to wrong believing, wrong believing leads to wrong speaking, and wrong speaking leads to wrongdoing. And wrongdoing puts you out of My Will and in the wrong place at the wrong time and open to the evil one. He can catch you off guard and take you down. Like a wandering sheep that is off the path from the flock and out of the shepherd’s jurisdiction.
Know this, there is not one person, not even one, that has fallen into a tragedy, an accident, or an evil situation that I have not warned ahead of time NOT to be there, not to go there, not to do that, or not to receive that, either by My Spirit witnessing with their spirit, by My written Word, or by sending a prophet (which can be on a TV or internet broadcast, or a godly friend or relative). Bind evil things the moment you hear of their approach, such as storms, hurricanes, earthquakes, plagues, and the like, and loose the good things you want to see such a calm beautiful weather, provision and prosperity, rain in drought, healing, peace, and light.
Be transformed from darkness into light, from continual tragedies to days of Heaven upon the earth by simply renewing your mind. It will transform (metamorphosis) you.
Renewing your mind is taking on My thoughts as your own. In other words, think like Me and if any contrary thought hits or surfaces in your mind, reject it immediately. And the only way you can think like Me is knowing how I think, that is, knowing My thoughts, which are revealed to you by My Spirit in My written word that you call the Bible and in My Spirit testifying and witnessing to your spirit.
And by immersing yourself in My Word and praying in tongues you will learn how to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. This is how you prosper your soul. And as your soul (mind, will, and emotions) prospers it will work out what is happening within until you have a life of perfect peace, goodness, and love in the Holy Spirit. Righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, which gives days of Heaven upon the earth.
You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your sons may be multiplied on the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as days of Heaven upon the earth. Deuteronomy 11:18-21.
An unrenewed mind is one that has not shut the door to thoughts contrary to Mine. The evil one cannot touch you when you are in the hedge of My love, when you are in the hand of your good Shepherd, My Son Jesus, and when you are in His hand you are in My hand for we are One. And when you receive My Son as Lord you become one in us with My Spirit in you. You can and should be hearing from Me and getting constant input that will keep you from all evil.
I have compassed you about if you will just stay in the strong tower of My Name, I am your refuge and your fortress.
For the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. Isaiah 52:12.
Since Adam acted treacherously against Me and submitted himself to the devil as his master, he released what should have been bound and opened the earth to the dominion of Satan so that what once was perfect peace, goodness, and safety became a place of storms, evil, peril and terror. And in order to live in the safe place of grace you must confess My Son as Lord, believe in your heart I raised Him from the dead with all your sins gone, and renew your mind to be established in righteousness and to receive every good thing given and every perfect gift from Me.
You must receive My implanted Word and grow it for it can save your souls.
I desire above all things that you prosper and be in good health, even as your soul prospers and your soul prospers when you are walking in the truth. Why? Because as you continue in My Word you will truly be My disciple and then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.
If you are walking in the truth, you are thinking, speaking, and doing My Word from your innermost being and making it your own. And what is filling your mind will fill your mouth as well. If you are walking in the truth, your life will be a proof that My Word is working in your life today and My Word will bring good things to you as you continue to walk the Way in the light of My Word. And the more you fill yourself with My Word the closer you will draw to Me and I to you and I have more and more authority to pour My life into you without hindrance so that you will prosper and increase and as you get more and more light you will be more and more aware of My presence and of resurrection power within you and you will begin to release that into the world, bringing the benefits of the Kingdom into the earth. And is then that the evil one cannot touch you.
I explained to My people that the more willing they were to hear My Word and obey it, the more My blessings would chase them down and overwhelm them. Not bad things but good things like great harvests, healthy children, full barns, rain when needed, and abundant life filled with joy and peace. They would not be the borrowers but the lenders, they would not be the beggars but the benefactors, they and all they held dear would be healthy, strong, and wise. Deuteronomy 28:1-14. This is not bad things happening to good people. And I guaranteed this promise to them, I swore it by oath to Abraham that I would increase him and his descendants in every way and prosper them in every way and that they would take down the gates of their enemies. But if they found My Words tiresome and turned to other gods and other words, which are lies because only My Word is the truth that will set you free. My Word is truth, it is not just true, it defines all truth. If something does not line up with My Word spit it out of you mouth and shut it out of your mind with a simple word of command.
If you are abiding with Me in the secret place of My Word and declaring Me your refuge and fortress, your God in whom you trust, I guarantee you that no plague, harm, or terror will come near your body or home. You are kept by My power through faith. My Son was always looking for and commenting on people’s faith. And He is the same yesterday, today and forever.
I told you to pray that you not be put to the test. Do you? I told you to say to Me that I am your refuge and your fortress, your God in whom you trust. Do you? I told you to enlarge your heart and renew your mind by meditating upon and speaking My Word at all times, do you? I told you to follow Jesus as your good Shepherd and great High Priest and keep yourself in My love by building up your most holy faith by singing and speaking in the spirit (tongues) and with your understanding. Do you even give this ten minutes every day? And I tell you to pray without ceasing, making constant melody to Me in your heart as you remain in My Word and it remains in you. Have you ever taken this seriously? If you do what I tell you, you will have the result I promise you.
Job was a good and prosperous man and yet a lot of bad things happened to him. Why? I let you know quite clearly that he had put himself in the hand of the devil and let the hedge with which I had kept him down. And he tells you himself how he did this. He opened his heart to the spirit of fear and what he feared came upon him and he was not at ease or at rest, in fact, more and more disquiet and fear came upon him as he did not reject it but meditated on it rather than My Word. He feared his children were sinning by having many parties at which they drank and were partying rather than working. But he did not reprimand them or do anything about it. In this respect he honored them more than Me, like Eli the High Priest did with his sinful sons and because he did not stop them but permitted it to continue they both died, and Job’s children did so as well. Be careful about not disciplining or advising your children when they are sinning, even if you want to keep them from rejecting you. If they are living immoral, perverted lifestyles you must not condone them just to keep them happy with you, thinking that is loving them. You are murdering them as far as I am concerned and I will hold you accountable. If you know the truth I hold you at a higher level of responsibility when you fear telling people they must stop what they are doing to be free from Satan.
Job did not trust in My goodness, only in My power to raise up but also to cast down, which he felt had unjustly been turned against him because he was self-righteous in his personal goodness in not openly violating My laws. But he attributed to Me that which I clearly show you in the book of Job was the devil’s activity in his life and not Mine. And the devil unleashed and not bound by him caused total havoc and tragedy in a period of about nine months. But once he saw Me, heard My voice, and learned of My great love for him, he put his hand over his mouth and retracted what he had said. And nothing bad ever happened to the good person Job again. I restored what he lost but make it better quality and greater quantity.
I restored Job to right thinking by sending him Elihu and then when his heart was ready, I came Myself to communicate with him.
Elihu let Job know that no matter how close to death or giving up your trial has made you, you can turn it around by repenting, that is, changing the way you think to match My thoughts which are above your but I make available to you by sending them down by My Holy Spirit and inspiring the writers of scripture to write them down for you.
Elihu explains to Job that I wish to justify him but he must listen to Me for that to happen.
“Why do you complain against Him that He does not give an account of all His doings? Indeed God speaks once, or twice, yet no one notices it. In a dream, a vision of the night, when sound sleep falls on men, while they slumber in their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction, that He may turn man aside from his conduct, and keep man from pride; He keeps back his soul from the pit, and his life from passing over into Sheol. Job 33:13-18.
But people do not listen and get themselves into sin and draw near the pit but, Elihu goes on:
“Then his soul draws near to the pit, and his life to those who bring death. If there is a messenger as mediator for him, one out of a thousand, to remind a man what is right for him, then let Him be gracious to him, and say, ‘Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom’ (that is Jesus who gave His life as a ransom for all); let his flesh become fresher than in youth, let him return to the days of his youthful vigor! Then he will pray to God, and He will accept him, that he may see His face with joy, and He may restore His righteousness to man. He will sing to men and say, ‘I have sinned and perverted what is right, and it is not proper for me. He has redeemed my soul from going to the pit, and my life shall see the light.’ Behold, God does all these oftentimes with men, to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of life. Job 33:22-30.
And what was Elihu telling Job about? Jesus. Your mediator, your ransom, your advocate before Me, your healer, your righteousness and the light of life. You can only have a perfect life in Jesus.
From the books of Job and Malachi, there are many answers to why bad things happen to “good” people. When the destroyer has access to people’s lives, the first question should be, “Have they received Jesus as their Lord and been born again?” If not, the devil has access to their lives. Second, looking at the book of Malachi, “Did they faithfully tithe and give offerings?” Because if you do I promised certain rights to you including that I will rebuke the destroyer in your life and you should be enforcing that.
The third question is “do they take communion and honor the Body of Christ?” Many are sick and die because they do not honor the sacrifice as holy and sacred, as the Body that was given for them for healing. 1 Corinthians 11:29-30.
And the fourth question is, “Do they pray in the Spirit and listen to My warnings and act on them?” Then, like Elisha, you should know what the enemy’s plans are to take you down and stay away from those places.
There are other reasons too but never assume I randomly do bad things to good people, if something bad happens it is not random for a curse does not alight without a cause, it is the work of the enemy and it means you gave him an entrance. Be certain of this: if it is bad, I did not do it. Only good things come down from Me and every perfect gift for there is no darkness in Me, I am Light and I am love. James 1:17. Everything else is foreign to Me and does not enter Me. And it should not enter you either. If you play with evil and entertain fear and other unclean spirits that I did not give you, they will turn back to bite you.
“If anyone fiercely assails you it will not be from Me. Whoever assails you will fall because of you.” Isaiah 54:15.
If you are seeing bad things happening in your life it is time to analyze why and what you need to do to put an end to what the devil is getting away with. And look again at My Words to the people, who were believers, in the days of Malachi:
“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you! Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the LORD of hosts. “All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land,” says the LORD of hosts. Malachi 3:8-12.
Tithing and offering is very important. Today when you tithe though you are doing it on earth it is going up as a fragrant offering to Me through Jesus as your great High Priest. Communion proclaims the death of Jesus that heals and redeems you and washes away your sins but tithing and offering proclaims that Jesus lives as your great High Priest forever, ever willing to make intercession for you. Hebrews 7:8.
I love you. See your life as I do—in the light of My love and treat it with honor and respect. Let Me shield you and keep you in perfect protection so that you do not stumble on a stone. Pray Psalm 91 and Psalm 34 and keep yourself in My secret place where no harm can come near you.