Author: Joshua Maynard

People often say that grace encourages people to go out and sin.
That is a lie.
People never needed grace as an excuse to go out and sin.
But they sure need grace to constrain them from sinning.
You see, the freedom to sin without the fear of God’s wrath is freedom from the sting of sin, which is death.
Your sins are not an issue with God, but they do have consequences.
I am free to sin, but is it a good idea to sin just because I can?
If sin was an issue with God, none of us would ever be clean enough to approach Him as our Father, and none of us could have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.
The only people that fear judgment and wrath are those that are still trying to obtain righteousness through works and not faith.
When you apply law and judgment to your actions, you strengthen the hold of sin in your life.
– Bishop Joshua Maynard
Jesus always pointed to the Father.
Our relationship is with the Father because of the Son.
Jesus is the door, not just the destination.
Am I minimizing what our Savior did for us?
No. Jesus is Lord and He clearly pointed us to the Father and not to Himself.
The Holy Spirit also points us to the Father.
The Trinity does not mean that one replaces the other. Each has their own role.
– Bishop Joshua Maynard

Tithing 101:

giving out of manipulation

Malachi 3:7-12 KJV
[7] Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them . Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? [8] Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. [9] Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. [10] Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it . [11] And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. [12] And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.
Tithing as many Christians know it today is in part or in whole based around a few scriptures in the book of Malachi.
Let’s look first at the context by reading the first verse of Malachi.
Malachi 1:1 KJV
[1] The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.
This was the word of the Lord to Israel, not to you.
Let’s narrow down the context even more with
Malachi 2:1 KJV
[1] And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.
In Malachi 2:1, the context of what comes after it is directly addressed to the priests, not even the common people of Israel. (You are neither.)
Chapter 3 is a continuation of the grievances that are addressed to the priests in Chapter 2.
Let me take a moment to review. Malachi wasn’t directed to you because you are not part of post-exile Israel, and second, you also aren’t part of the Levitical priesthood.
This word of the Lord in Malachi was meant to show God’s disapproval of the religious and social behavior of Israel and the priesthood at the time. It has also been interpreted that Malachi prophecy’s the coming of Christ.
Prophecies that were fulfilled in both John the Baptist and Christ. If then they are fulfilled, why are believers today trying to apply these scriptures as a requirement to live by?
I want to note here that several scriptures of Malachi are referenced in New Testament books of the Bible, and yet none of these references are pertaining to “tithing”.
Malachi 3:7-12 was written concerning the lack of “tithing” support for the priests who worked in the temple.
With that in mind, what does Malachi say about the “tithe”?
“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be MEAT in mine house…”
The Levite priests were supported by “tithes” consisting of FOOD. They could not work a full-time job, because their full-time job was to work in the temple.
Pastors and church planters that teach tithing will have you to believe that they are the modern-day priests working full-time in the temple, and therefore deserving of your tithing to support them.
Malachi goes on to say that if the people will tithe this MEAT; this FOOD that they are commanded to give, God will rebuke the “devourer”.
The tithe was corn, wine, oil and livestock.
“And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.”
Christians call the “devourer”, Satan.
Scripturally, the “devourer” is not Satan.
The “devourer” is locusts, or fire or disease.
Notice that God is not rebuking the devourer from finances.
He is rebuking the devourer from “fruits of the ground and vines that are ripening before their time”
Did you know that fruit which ripens too early may not survive to make it to market before spoiling?
Those living in the time of Malachi didn’t have the convenience of modern refrigeration or high-speed transport. Early ripening of fruit could spell life or death disaster for those depending on their crops for both food and trade.
I’ll bet you thought that if you tithed that God would rebuke Satan off your finances.
After all, Satan must be singlehandedly responsible for your bad spending habits, right?
What if you are your own enemy?
What if you have a shopping addiction?
What if you just can’t stop spending?
Do you believe your money troubles are going to miraculously disappear if you don’t change your own bad spending habits?
Could God ever change the flow of enough money in your direction to fix your own self-destructive financial issues?
I’m going to let you in a truth that could change your life.
You are blessed whether you tithe or not.
God honors your faith, not your checkbook.
God honors your faith, not your dollars.
God honors your faith, not your credit cards.
Let’s get back to Malachi, and what happens if you don’t tithe MEAT into the storehouse.
“Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. [9] Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.”
It says that by not tithing, you are “cursed with a curse.”
You don’t need to worry about being cursed with ANY curses.
It is not possible for us to rob God of anything today.
The curse Malachi is talking about is not a particular curse, but the curse that was upon anyone that did not follow the ordinances of the law that God has commanded.
We are not under the law and are not bound to the law because the grace of God through Christ has freed us from having to meet the requirements of the law.
Galatians 3:13 KJV
[13] Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
I didn’t hang on a tree. Did you?
Christ hung on a tree and became sin for us.
It may seem that your finances improve when you tithe. That can be attributed to your faith in God to bless and provide for your needs, but not because of the tithe itself.
It is your faith that God honors.
It may seem that your money vanishes when you don’t tithe, but that is called “LIFE” and sometimes it’s because of our own choices.
You are not under a curse for failing to tithe.
Christ redeemed us from THE curse, EVERY curse.
Let us not go around saying that His work was incomplete, unfinished and simply not good enough to cover our lack of tithing to our local church.
Another reason that Christians believe in tithing is because Abraham tithed to Melchisedec.
Hebrews 7:1-10 indicates that not only did Abraham tithe to Melchisedec, but that in doing so, it was as if Levi had also tithed to Melchisedec.
Supporters of tithing theology under Malachi will claim that because of what the book of Hebrews says about tithing, that we should also tithe. They claim that if the Levitical priesthood tithed to Melchisedec through Abraham, then we also should tithe to Christ.
I don’t know about you, but the people of Israel tithing to Levi who tithed to Melchisedec through Abraham who was really tithing to Jesus makes my head and my pocketbook hurt.
However, these scriptures in Hebrews are not really about tithing. They are about the priesthood changing and explaining how Jesus is the greatest high priest after the order of Melchisedec
I should also mention that Abraham tithed to Melchisedec before the commandment to tithe was given to Israel. This was before Moses and before the Ten Commandments were given.
Yet tithing because Abraham tithed does not make for a sound theological foundation.
Abraham only tithed once as far as we know.
ONCE. One time. Uno.
He didn’t tithe from his personal finances, nor from his own possessions.
Abraham tithed of the spoils of war.
While some may consider their jobs to be a daily battlefield, I don’t think they can call their paycheck “the spoils of war”.
Abraham gave 10% of the spoils of war to Melchisedec. Then he gave the other 90% to the king of Sodom, keeping an unspecified amount of the plunder for his men.
Genesis 14:23 KJV
[23] That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:
Abraham didn’t want anyone to say that he had been made rich by the spoils of war or the kings he took it from, so he gave it all away.
This is contrary to what the church teaches: If you tithe, God will indeed bless your finances more.
Hebrews 7:1 KJV
[1] For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;
If you are going to follow in Abaham’s footsteps on this one, you’d have to go kill you some kings, steal their stuff and then give ALL of it away.
Let us not forget to mention that while we are taught to tithe so that we will be blessed and not under a curse, Abraham wasn’t justified by his works. He was justified by believing God.
Galatians 3:6-11 KJV
[6] Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. [7] Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. [8] And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying , In thee shall all nations be blessed. [9] So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. [10] For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. [11] But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
If we cannot be justified by the works of the law, then following the methods of Abraham and of the Levitical priesthood in tithing does not profit us through Abraham.
We are sons of Abraham by faith, not by works.
If you tithe because you believe God will bless your finances, you are boasting in your ability to keep one commandment of the law, while ignoring the rest if the law.
If you tithe because you believe God commands you to tithe, you are putting yourself under Old Covenant Law and are actually placing yourself under a curse.
You can’t perfectly fulfill all the requirements of the law, so trying to keep Levitical tithing isn’t going to earn you any blessing from it.
The tithe was always FOOD.
Nehemiah 13:5 KJV
[5] And he had prepared for him a great chamber, where aforetime they laid the meat offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the corn, the new wine, and the oil, which was commanded to be given to the Levites, and the singers, and the porters; and the offerings of the priests.
When you try and tithe money, you aren’t tithing the way that God commanded Israel to tithe.
It is often taught that the tithe should be based on the Gross Income that is pre-tax and not the Net Income.
Did you know that this is manipulatively designed to increase the amount of money received by the church and keep less money in your pockets?
If you receive $1200 Gross Income, the church will have you tithe $120. But after taxes and benefits, you might only have a Net Income of $700. Instead of asking you to tithe $70, the church asks you to tithe $120, effectively doubling the tax rate on your income and leaving you in the poorhouse.
In fact, the word “tithe” is defined as “a tax collected by the church or a religious sect”.
Pastors will argue that if no one tithed, the church doors could not stay open. The tithes pay for the utilities, fund the church’s operations, pay the property taxes and the salaries of those who work in the church both full and part-time.
Without tithing, the church would cease to operate.
That is a valid argument coming from a business.
Indeed, people do need to give in order for a church to operate.
Yet the church does not present tithing in this way.
Tithing is presented as a requirement of both God and scripture and one that brings along blessings to those that obey and curses to those who do not.
Some say that Jesus supported tithing.
Jesus recognized that the coinage of the time belonged to Caesar, not to God.
The only time Jesus mentions tithing, He also refers to it is FOOD and not Finances.
There is a part of tithing that mentions money in the Bible, but church pastors will rarely mention it to you.
Deuteronomy 14:24-26 KJV
[24] And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the Lord thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the Lord thy God hath blessed thee: [25] Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose: [26] And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,
This is saying that if you couldn’t travel to the place where tithes of food are to be offered, you can sell the livestock or the food and turn it into money. Then you can use that money to buy whatever you want and rejoice in the Lord, including alcohol.
Even if mentioned by a pastor, he would argue that your place of giving tithes (the church you frequent), is not too far to travel to.
Pastors that want to manipulate you into tithing will find many unsupportable reasonings to excuse their fleecing of the flock.
Tithes do support the work of churches, but they don’t always support the work of the Gospel.
Many churches are content to keep their paying members close and spend little or no effort training then up as disciples of Christ to go out and share the Gospel.
People are content to pay tithes for years in a church organization that feeds them spiritual baby food, while the church is taking their hard-earned grocery money.
How then are pastors and churches to survive without tithes?
2 Corinthians 9:7 KJV
[7] Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give ; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
If pastors and churches would just teach their people to give according to New Covenant giving, they wouldn’t have to lie and manipulate.
We should give out of the abundance of our love, but not out of manipulation or compulsion.
You can’t be a “cheerful giver” when you give out of fear and manipulation.
When you tithe money that you can’t afford to tithe and then your bills don’t get paid, it will actually lead you into anger against your pastor, your church and ultimately God.
I would present to you that tithing, just like Old Covenant Law, leads to sin.
I hope this teaching has blessed you, and I hope it has convinced you that God doesn’t want you to tithe, He wants you to give.
God doesn’t need you to give your money in order to bless you.
God honors your faith, not merely your finances.
– Bishop Joshua Maynard
All scripture is profitable, but scripture belongs to no one. You can’t claim “words” or promises that weren’t given to you by God.
Trying to claim promises given to Israel or given by the prophets is to try and claim their birthright as your own.
Your birthright is in Christ and Christ alone. Every promise was fulfilled in Him, not you.
If you try and take someone else’s birthright, you are only lying to yourself, and labeling that lie with God’s name.
Let us study the Bible with sobriety and common sense and stop claiming scriptures that don’t belong to us.
We can learn from them, but claim them all? No.
God’s Word to you is what the Holy Spirit speaks to you, not merely the scriptures themselves.
BY: Bishop Joshua Maynard
The son looked at his father with tears in his eyes.
This was his first real Christmas to get a lot of toys.
But these weren’t tears of joy in his eyes.
His father told him that if he didn’t give him10% of his toys back that he would take them away and destroy them.
The child winced as his father ripped the arms and legs off his action figures.
He sobbed as his father crushed his fire truck under his foot.
He wept as his father gathered up all the pieces of his toys, called him “ungrateful” and “disobedient” and threw them in the garbage.
What horrible father would do this to his children, and yet this is what the church tells us about God.
They tell us that if we don’t tithe at least 10% of our gross income that God will take away His blessing and curse us by allowing the “devourer” to take away what we have.
Some say that “he takes his 10% in doctor bills by causing us sickness and injury.”
How horrible a lie this is.
How horrible our Heavenly Father would be to do this to us.
He blessed us so that we can bless others and to bless them from our abundant increase; not to take away our grocery money and give it to the church.
You can’t rob God. Everything you have is His already.
Let him guide your heart to give.
Give out of your abundance and if you don’t have abundance, don’t fear the Father.
He loves you with an everlasting love.
BY: Bishop Joshua Maynard
If your Strawberry ice cream melts to nothing under hot water, you can be fairly certain of one thing: It probably had no Strawberries in it.
Religion is the same way.
It claims to have fruit, looks like it has fruit, but often has no fruit in it.
Real fruit doesn’t melt.
BY: Bishop Joshua Maynard
Step #1 – There is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
Step #2 – Read #1 until you no longer need to move on to Step #2.
There is nothing to add to this truth.
If you are in Christ Jesus, you are not condemned, EVER, PERIOD.
BY: Bishop Joshua Maynard
If you can be convinced of sin, your faith will crumble.
Who can convince you of sin against God?
Anyone?
Is your faith in what Christ did for you so weak that it can’t stand against lies?
Don’t let anyone convince you of sin.
Not strangers, not friends, not family, not clergy, not Satan and especially not yourself.
BY: Bishop Joshua Maynard
Jesus wished no harm on those that rejected Him.
How does that sit with the theology of a literal Hell?
How does that add up compared with the way that Christians today tend to treat unbelievers?
Think about it.
BY: Bishop Joshua Maynard
Many Christians have no issues following a God that puts sickness on people to teach them humility, gives temptations to test faith and kills us out of compassion and some greater purpose.
Show those same people the example of Christ which completely debunks such beliefs about God and you won’t find many that will agree with you.
It is more likely that you will be shown scripture after scripture to rebut your viewpoint, and they will happily give you the “left foot of fellowship.”
Such are those people that prefer to stay a slave to religion.
They do not recognize that they have already been made free in Christ to be sons of God.
Pray for those people to get a revelation of God’s love and grace, for it is those truths that set people free.
BY: Bishop Joshua Maynard
Jesus chose and trained disciples to share the same good news (Gospel) that He Himself shared, for He was the Gospel personified.
He sent them out and when they found someone doing the work of the Gospel that wasn’t part of their “discipleship program”, they rebuked that person.
Jesus told them not to forbid someone from doing those things because if they aren’t against us, they are for us.
I could teach a while on this, but here is the short version.
If you believe in the power of God to save, heal and deliver, God is faithful to honor your faith.
Even if you don’t subscribe to what the majority believes; even if you don’t have every doctrine accurate, Jesus said “only believe”.
God honors those who believe, not just those who are in a discipleship program or Bible school.
BY: Bishop Joshua Maynard
Friends, we may ask someone to change their habits
We may encourage someone to change their doctrine.
We may implore someone to leave the bondage of religion behind.
But we must endeavor to never require that they change their faith.
When I say “faith”, I’m not talking about their religion.
I’m talking about the faith that they have; the faith that they actively use to connect with God. The very same faith that we all share in Christ which they choose to express differently.
Why is this so important?
Because God honors their faith!
When they are free in Christ, He honors their faith.
When they are oppressed of the Devil, He honors their faith.
When they are torn, worn and forlorn, God honors their faith!
Hear me saints!
Hear me Bishops, teachers, preachers and apostles!
He honors their faith!
When they are wrong, He still honors their faith.
When you and I are wrong, and we’ve got Him misunderstood and we’ve got His Word twisted and warped in our own heads, guess what?
He honors our faith too!
So don’t tell them that they need to change one thing about their faith, unless you seek to destroy it.
You can encourage, you can implore and you can try and present a better way, but God forbid if you present it in such a fashion that you pull the rug of faith out from under them.
It is the only thing that keeps their feet planted on solid ground.
BY: Bishop Joshua Maynard

It seems almost natural for us to believe that the decisions which other people make are not merely between them and God, but between us and them and God; Even the decisions they make in the privacy of their home which have no effect on us.
It is not natural for most of us to let people make decisions that we believe are harmful to them without trying to put our nose into their business.
Yet God never asked us to fix other people’s issues, or to expose their sin.
In fact, the Gospel has nothing to do with exposing sin, and everything to do with exposing a loving God to others.
It has everything to do with exposing Life, not death.

BY: Bishop Joshua Maynard

The Bible says, “the letter kills”.
Some might say that such a scripture only refers to the Old Testament.
I don’t know about you, but the New Testament in my Bible is full of “letters” too.
The letter kills no matter which Testament you find it in.
Follow Christ, be led by the Spirit and you may live long enough to see God do some amazing things in your life.
BY: Bishop Joshua Maynard
God IS love.
We are representatives of the Father.
Ambassadors of Christ.
Representatives of Love.
Let everything we do and say reflect this truth.
Let us not condemn ourselves when we fail to love, but give thanks to God and ask for more opportunities to show His love to others.
BY: Bishop Joshua Maynard
You are special.
You are one of a kind.
You have something to contribute that no one else does.
You may not love yourself.
You may not like yourself.
But God loves you no matter what you do.
As you start to believe God’s love for you, watch as it transforms your attitude.
BY: Bishop Joshua Maynard
The only doors that God closes are those where the Devil is waiting.
Every other door to what is pure and good for you is open wide!
Who dares to accuse God of keeping you from doors of prosperity, blessing and provision?
Who reasons with ignorant reasoning that God doesn’t think your ready or worthy enough for His best?
Who dares to speak over you that God has closed a door because you didn’t tithe enough or pray enough or go to church enough?
Who dares to speak over you that God has kept you from a better job because you have to love the Hell of a job you are in NOW, before you can be released into the job that He has for you NOW?
Who dares to accuse God of withholding the best from you?
If the people in your life that you call friends and family are telling you that God is withholding from you, don’t listen!
The devil is a liar!
If your pastor is telling you that God can’t bless you or won’t bless you because of something you’ve done, don’t listen to him!
The devil is a liar!
These people might be the most well-meaning Spirit-filled friends you know, but their words are killing your faith.
The Devil uses people you trust to tear down your faith!
Who are you going to choose to believe?
Matthew 16:22-23 KJV
[22] Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. [23] But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
BY: Bishop Joshua Maynard

Zacharias – A Lesson to learn from

Luke 1:10-13,15-20 KJV
[10] And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. [11] And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. [12] And when Zacharias saw him , he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. [13] But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. [15] For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. [16] And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. [17] And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. [18] And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. [19] And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. [20] And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

Contrary to popular belief, the New Testament story of Jesus doesn’t begin with the angel and Mary.
Before Mary was visited by the angel; before the Savior’s birth in a stable, there was the story of Zacharias.
Zacharias was a priest, and on the day which Gabriel the angel appeared to him, it was allotted to Zacharias to keep the alter of incense in temple.
The angel Gabriel starts by saying to Zacharias that “his prayer has been heard.”
There seems to be no distinction here between the prayer being “heard” and being “answered”.
The prayer that God “hears”, is the prayer that God “answers”.
Zacharias was upright before God, but there were obviously those in the Old Testament whose prayers were not heard by God because of their sin.
Many Christians today, would not agree that God answers every prayer of the believer, but that is contrary to what the Bible teaches us.
After all, sometimes people die despite our prayers, and sometimes those that pray for a child are left barren.
Does this mean that God doesn’t hear their prayers, or see their tears?
No.
I believe that God hears every prayer, and that God always wants the best for us. I also believe in healing and miracles. When we don’t see a healing or a miracle, it doesn’t mean that God didn’t do His part.
God has given everything to us through Jesus.
We must believe, and when faith seems to fail, we should still bless the Lord.
God is not responsible for our issues.
Zacharias had prayed for a child, but in his old age, he did not believe that his prayer would be answered.
If Zacharias had simply said that he was too old, perhaps that could be understood as merely a lack of faith, but Zacharias wasn’t humble and proceded to not only refute the glad tidings from God but to also blame his wife for their inability to have children.
Does that sound familiar?
Zacharias was not unlike Adam in the garden of Eden, who fearfully blamed his wife when answering to God.
Gabriel knew that Zacharias had prayed for a child; something that could only be divinely known, and still Zacharias didn’t believe.
Zacharias is a priest who is extolled in the scriptures as walking blameless before God, following all the commandments and ordinances, and yet this priest did not believe an angel of the Lord.
You would expect a priest to believe whatever the angel said with a perfect faith, but we must remember that in those days, faith was hard to find in Israel.
Zacharias responds to this “answer” of his prayer with an attitude of unbelief and a demand for proof that it will happen.
Religious ordinances and rituals had replaced faith, love and mercy, and Zacharias must have been profoundly religious, following all the laws, traditions and rituals to the letter of the law, while completely missing the faith, love and mercy that God intended for him to have.
Today, many Christians go about doing “good works”, trying to meet every requirement, tradition and ritual that their religion demands, while completely missing the Gospel truth of God’s love, grace and power.
Scholars believe that Zacharias was punished by God for his unbelief and made mute to teach him humility.
I don’t believe that is true. I believe that God had a very specific reason for making Zacharias mute until John the Baptist had been born.
You see, God’s Word created the Heavens and the Earth. His Word being spoken by prophets over many many years is what brought about the birth of Christ. Christ was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, but God required that men would prophecy Christ into being! It was by our rejection of God’s Word that we fell from grace in the garden of Eden, and God required that it be our faith in speaking forth God’s Word to bring about the Savior of mankind.
Zacharias specifically was made mute so that he would be unable to utter any more words of unbelief. It may be hard to believe that mankind could play such a pivotal role in God’s plan, but this should come as no surprise! God has always accomplished His will through men.
Zacharias displayed such overwhelming unbelief in the middle of overwhelming truth that his unbelief surely would have cancelled and made of no effect the miracle that was about to become manifest.
Zacharias could have poisoned this miracle with his unbelief!
The alter of incense was in the Holy place, and only priests would have been allowed inside.
Despite the appearance of Gabriel (obviously not a priest) by the alter, and the nearly too-good-to-be-true news that Gabriel provided, Zacharias could only see in the flesh. His response was “From who/where does this knowledge come from?”
Here was a man that was completely dedicated to God, and the work of God, who completely missed God when God revealed Himself.
When we ask God for direction, God hears and God answers.
He never withholds His will for us when we ask.
Like Zacharias, we can find ourselves so out-of-tune with faith, love and mercy. We become self-absorbed and focused on our problems that we are unable to hear God’s directions, even when they appear so clearly in front of us.
Jesus found faith in Israel. He found it amongst the hurting; the sick; the outcasts; the unbelievers.
It was often among the religious; the zealots; even His own disciples that He could find no faith.
Let us remember that our words are powerful, and we can either speak life or death.
God wants to bless us and lead us all the time. Our words can either speak positively about God’s best for our lives or speak negativity and foolishness that can prevent us from receiving every good thing that God has for us.
I used to ask God to forgive me. I asked Him to forgive me out of guilt, fear and sorrow.
I also asked forgiveness because I had been taught that if you don’t ask, you aren’t forgiven, since you aren’t truly repentant.
I no longer pray and ask God to forgive me.
I have a revelation of God’s love for me and His forgiveness.
I also have a revelation of the finished work of Christ on my behalf.
I’m not trying to earn my salvation.
You can call me arrogant, irreverent, or any other label you like, but I’ll just call you “traditional”, “religiously oppressed” and “deceived”.
Asking forgiveness for our sins denies the finished work of the cross, and the fact that God already forgave us before we ever sinned.
Not only did He forgive us, but He chose to forget our sins and call us righteous in Christ Jesus.
One might argue that asking forgiveness shows humbleness before God and concern about the gravity of our transgressions, but those arguments are a lie.
If you are a believer on Christ, it is not humble to ask God to forgive you, it is unbelief.
You don’t need to have concern about the gravity of your transgressions, because you ARE FORGIVEN!
Instead of asking forgiveness, just thank God for already forgiving you and keep on moving forward.
BY: Bishop Joshua Maynard
Did you know that if you know to do good, and fail to do good that it is sin? (James 4:17)
Did you know that God is only good, and in Him there is no sin? (James 3:5)
Does God put sickness on people?
You might say, “No, but He allows sickness for a reason or to perfect our faith.”
Did God cause the storm that took all of those lives and destroyed so much property?
You might say, “Of course not, but He allowed Satan to bring the storm and used the storm to bring people to salvation for His glory.”
Did you know that when we say that God “allowed” something bad to happen or “allowed” evil to manifest itself that we are saying that God is committing sin by knowing to do good, and refusing to do it?
Think about it: If God knows to do good, and does it not, to Him it is also sin, and it is impossible for God to sin because in Him there is no sin!
So, before you start saying “God allowed” or “God used” evil for His purpose, you should be aware that you are ascribing sin to God.
God doesn’t allow evil!
Evil prospers because of man and Satan alone.
God warns; God blesses; God leads; God guides; God comforts; God heals; God saves.
God is good all the time!
By: Bishop Joshua Maynard
Jesus said, “Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.” John 5:14
Jesus never said, “Sin no more, lest I take away your healing!”
Jesus never said, “Sin no more, lest I put a disease on you that is even worse!”
Jesus never said, “Sin no more, lest I revoke your salvation and cast you into Hell!”
Let’s be clear about what Jesus said and did and stop ascribing things to God that are better ascribed to ourselves or Satan.
By: Bishop Joshua Maynard