Perhaps jumping off the deep end comes
when folks take the solid Biblical preaching and truths
and make of them . . . a magic formula regardless of other factors.
Also, God is sovereign.
Kenneth Hagin once had a dear sister . . . widow of an evangelist, I think . . . was dying of cancer or heart trouble, I forget. Hagin went and prayed for her several times.
He KNEW she believed AND PRACTICED faith to the utmost—as well as he did.
And she died.
He queried God about her. God emphatically and sternly told him it was none of his business and to NEVER ask about it any more.
Hagin’s disciples tend to avoid mentioning that case.
GOD IS PUSHING AND PULLING US THROUGH THIS BOOTCAMP TO RULE AND REIGN WITH CHRIST ETERNALLY.
Everything is fodder here to prepare us for then—THAT WE MIGHT BEAR THE GREATEST WEIGHT OF GLORY POSSIBLE.
AND, the first shall be last and the last shall be first.
Those truths seem to get lost in the dust of such discussions.
I’m convinced that all fiery furnace life paths are engineered for maximum glory eternally. AND that some folks—perhaps in consult with The Father before birth . . . somehow choose them or Father chooses them in His Wisdom.
That may be Hagin heresy and I wouldn’t want to have to defend it utterly by Scripture. I can argue against it more easily from Scripture.
It just seems inescapable that some very righteous people still end up on the short end of the stick in terms of worldly comforts, resources and options. Have they consciously chosen to claim spiritual treasures in Heaven above and beyond what would otherwise be available to them?
NEVERTHELESS, GOD SAID AND SAYS:
GOD WOULD THAT WE PROSPER AND BE IN HEALTH, *EVEN* AS OUR SOUL PROSPERS. GOD SAID THAT. GOD MEANT THAT. THAT IS A GOD PRIORITY. NOT JOEL’S, GOD’S.
THERE IS NO WEASELING AROUND IT. THAT’S PLAIN SCRIPTURE.
Most folks have too hard a time insuring that GOD IS THE PARAGON FOCUS OF EVERY ASPECT OF THEIR/OUR LIVES.
That’s the crux of it.
Easier to blame folks who are calling us to a higher standard of living . . . in any respects.