You Can't Always Get What You Want

By Rev. Johnny Lee Clary

Phil. 4:13 says God will supply all of your needs according to His riches and glory in Heaven. Notice it says "needs" and not "wants" As a follower of Christ, you can't always get what you want but you get what you need. It is a false teaching to teach that God wants everyone to have everything they want. The Bible does not say that.

I remember when I was a young Christian, I prayed for things and claimed things in Christ's name that I had no business praying for or claiming but I was caught up in that type of teaching because I was listening to the wrong people. For example I was told as long as you give a certain amount you can name what you want and claim it. The problem is when you name it and claim it, it could be violating someone else's will or God's will. Also if I would have gotten certain things I claimed from God back in those days, I would have screwed it up because I would not have known how to handle it.

It is sort of like someone with an addiction to gambling who becomes a new Christian. They then listen to a teaching that as long as you give a certain amount of money, God is going to give you what you want and a hundred-fold return on your money. The new Christian then puts a huge amount of money in the offering and gets back a hundred-fold return which is taught by some misguided teachers. The gambling addict would now be tempted to use that money to feed their addiction which they have not been delivered long enough from; meaning they still struggle with the desire to gamble. That would cause more harm to the person than good. Why would God do that? Well, I can answer that. He wouldn't. So the teaching that you will receive a hundred-fold return every time you give is false.

Yes the Bible does talk about a hundred fold return, but no where does it say you are going to get that each time you give money to a church or a preacher. Mark 10: 28-30: "Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's,But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life."

Jesus taught that people who forsook home, family, and land meaning everything that they had, would receive a hundred-fold return. First rule is one must forsake ALL to follow Him. In order to receive a hundred-fold return. A hundred-fold means a hundred times as much. This is not to be understood literally, but that he will give what will be worth 100 times as much in the peace, and joy, and rewards of being His follower. It is also literally true that no man's temporal interest is injured by the love of God.Mark adds, "with persecutions." These are not promised as a part of the reward; but amid their trials and persecutions they should find reward and peace.

To teach that God favors those who give more money is wrong. As I grew over the years and got more mature in God, I discovered that God does not work that way. God never shows favoritism among His people. Acts 10:34 says exactly that. You may think that you will be a better Christian and it will increase your faith if God gave you everything you want. The truth is that often the things we want can distract us from from focusing on God. God is our Father. He knows what we need and according to His word He will supply those needs, but His word never says He will also supply your wants. God is your Father and your manufacturer. He knows what is best because He made you. He knows what you can handle and what you can not handle. He is looking out for you. It is time for Christians to start giving out of their love for Christ and not their desire for riches or to get what they want.

To those who teach that God is all about making you rich, I leave you with these scriptures:

1 Timothy 6:9-11

"But people who want to get rich keep falling into temptation. They are trapped by many stupid and harmful desires which drown them in destruction and ruin. Certainly, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people who have set their hearts on getting rich have wandered away from the Christian faith and have caused themselves a lot of grief. But you, man of God, must avoid these things."

Getting God's Best

By Rev. Elder Johnny Lee Clary



Do you know that God wants His absolute best for you and that includes dating! God does not want you to settle for second best or anything below His best. God wants your dating relationships to be HOLY! That means only date people who honor God! Anything less is not only dishonoring yourself but God as well.

When I was a single man, I used to hear people in church say ridiculous things like, “Don’t date; just pray for your mate!” Hogwash! You just can’t sit around and wait for God to act like a Genii in a lamp and say “Poof! There’s your mate!” It is unrealistic not to date in order to find the right person, but when you date, treat your date the way Christ would treat that person. Wait until marriage to be sexually active and be completely honest with what you say and do. Be yourself and let the date see your true self. You’ll save yourself a lot of trouble and heartache that way. If you lie to the date and put on false pretences you will eventually be found out when you grow tired of putting on a façade and the other person will more than likely dump you faster than a supermodel would dump a fat man!

Deuteronomy 14:2 says “You are people who are holy to the LORD your God. Out of all the people who live on earth, the LORD has chosen you to be his own special possession.” Therefore you need to exemplify holiness. Now if you do that then you should expect to attract the same type of person. Sometimes you end up attracting the opposite. I remember going out on a date once with a girl I met in church. She was a foxy mama. I also thought she was holy, that is until she lit up a cigarette in my car and said the F-word! That was the end of that. A person should not just look at the outside either. For example there was a girl I was so attracted to that looked just like Madonna that I met in a Tulsa church. I thought she was holy because she praised God in church and sang in the choir; that is until she dropped by my house one day to go swimming in my pool and suggested we get naked and get in the shower together! Get thee behind me Jezebel! That was the end of that date!

So many think it is OK to date non-Christians in hope that they can convert them. You are playing with fire there. Christians almost always get drug down into the pigpen instead of pulling the pig up out of the mud. Then they end up either in the pastor’s office crying their heart out asking for prayer or in the confession booth talking to the priest, or backsliding all together.

Make sure you conduct yourself in a way that pleases God and don’t settle for anything less than someone who does the same. I used to know a girl from church that dated guys and she wore miniskirts, low cut tops that exposed the cleavage and flaunted that body like a hooker at a downtown club on a Saturday night. Then she complained about guys trying to take advantage of her. However girls that I knew that dressed appropriately didn’t seem to have that problem. It is also the way someone acts that can cause problems too. I remember working for a boss of a siding company back in the 1980’s that bore an amazing resemblance to the comedian Rodney Dangerfield, named Mr. “B”. There was this girl I knew named Brenda who worked there that was a backslidden daughter of a Southern Baptist preacher. Her father pastured a small church and worked for Mr. “B” selling siding on weekdays in Oklahoma City and got Brenda a job there. Brenda dressed nice but not provocative. However she didn’t need to dress that way because she was so pretty that she could have worn a potato sack and still been a stone fox. Brenda knew how to flirt and make the guys all jump to look at her. She went into Mr. B’s office and flirted with him one day and according to Brenda, the old codger who was old enough to be her grandpa chased her around the desk about 20 times before she was finally able to get out the door. She threw a fit but she had no one to blame but herself. Remember that what you throw out as an advertisement will attract that same thing.

The Bible says to be Holy because your Father in Heaven is Holy. (Leviticus 19:2) If you conduct yourself like a godly person, you will end up with God’s best.


©Johnny Lee Clary Ministries
www.johnnyleeclary.com
All Rights Reserved

Rev. Johnny Lee Clary is one of the leading advocates for racial unity in the United States and has appeared on countless television and radio shows such as The Billy Graham Radio show, Fox News, Morris Cerullo, Oprah, Morton Downey Jr., Rolanda Watts, Geraldo, Sally Jesse Raphael, Jerry Springer, Ricki Lake, Queen Latifah, Montel Williams, Phil Donahue, A&E Investigative Reports, ABC World News Tonight, Bertrice Berry, Sunrise Today,
The Today Show, A Current Affair, The 700 Club, and Kenneth Copeland's TV show. He has also been a regular guest on TBN's Praise The Lord show and has been featured in America's top newspapers and magazines, including a seven page feature story in Charisma magazine in April 1999, Moody Magazine, Guidepost Magazine (Sept. 1998), Kenneth Copeland's Believer's Voice of Victory magazine, as well as appearances on TV programs in Australia, England, Holland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, and Wales.

Is God Jealous?

By Rev. Johnny Lee Clary



Back when I was single I had a girlfriend once that I thought was hot, beautiful, and a stone fox. Problem is other guys thought so too. I found out she cheated on me and we broke up and then she had the nerve to show up at the bar with the guy she was cheating on me with and the fight was on baby! Tables,, beer bottles, chairs, all sailed across the honkytonk and as Roy D. Mercer would say, “Git yo’re fists a- flying” seemed to be the barroom motto that night. Why did all this happen? I was jealous that’s why.

How would you like it if you saw the person you were dating out on a date with someone else? The jealousy you might feel might just be similar to the jealousy God has for His people. You mean God is jealous? Yes He is because He says so in Exodus 20:4-6, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.”

God wants exclusive rights to your affection and He will not tolerate anybody or anything that try to take His place. When you marry someone you both take an oath to love, honor and be true to each other, forsaking all others. You would not tolerate your spouse breaking that vow and likewise God doesn’t tolerate people sharing him with false ‘gods’ either. Some twisted preachers teach that universalism is OK and there are different paths to heaven besides Jesus. HOGWASH! Other ‘gods’ will land you in Hell, plain and simple because Jesus said “No man comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

It is not just bowing down like to the false ‘god’ of Islam or some other cult, but placing anything like your job, boyfriend, girlfriend, spouse, child, or hobbies above God, is idolatry. Read this in Hosea 13:1-6:

“When the tribe of Ephraim spoke, people trembled. The people of Ephraim were important in Israel. Then they became guilty of worshiping Baal, so they must die.2 They keep on sinning more and more. They make idols from silver for themselves. These idols are skillfully made. All of them are the work of craftsmen. People say this about the Israelites: "They offer human sacrifices and kiss calf-shaped idols." 3 That is why they will be like fog in the morning and like morning dew that disappears quickly. They will be like straw blown away from threshing floors. They will be like smoke rising from chimneys. 4"I am the LORD your God. I brought you out of Egypt. You have known no god besides me. There is no savior except me. 5 I took care of you in the desert, in a dry land. 6 When I fed you, you were full. When you were full, you became arrogant. That is why you forgot me.”

Take a look at your life and see if you are letting anyone or anything get in the way of your relationship with the one who gave you eternal life. If there is, then make some readjustments now before God does it for you!

© Johnny Lee Clary International Ministries

Rev. Johnny Lee Clary is an ordained elder minister in the Church Of God In Christ, the largest African American denomination in the USA. He is one of the leading advocates for racial unity in the United States and has appeared on countless television and radio shows such as The Billy Graham show, Fox News, Morris Cerullo, Oprah, Morton Downey Jr., Rolanda Watts, Geraldo, Sally Jesse Raphael, Jerry Springer, Ricki Lake, Queen Latifah, Montel Williams, Phil Donahue, A&E Investigative Reports, ABC World News Tonight, Bertrice Berry, The Today Show, A Current Affair, The 700 Club, and Kenneth Copeland's TV show. He has also been a regular guest on TBN's Praise The Lord show and has been featured in America's top newspapers and magazines, including a seven page feature story in Charisma magazine in Feb. 2010, April 1999, Moody Magazine, Guidepost Magazine (Sept. 1998), Kenneth Copeland's Believer's Voice of Victory magazine, as well as appearances on TV programs in Australia, England, Holland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, and Wales. He holds the record for the largest crowd ever at Hillsong Brisbane, Australia.