There are accounts in the Bible where people often missed out on the blessings of the LORD, simply because they failed to believe.  Remember how the Israelites were told to go and take the Promised Land, but they didn’t, because they feared the people of the land?  In fact, ten of the twelve spies sent to spy out the Promised Land came back and said there were giants in the land, and they were as grasshoppers in the sight of the giants.  Only two, Joshua and Caleb said, Let us go up immediately and take the land.  Later in life, Joshua and Caleb were the only two of that generation who had actually held their faith and took their promised land.
   What about the others?  They missed out on the blessings God had intended for them, not because they were unable to take the land, but because they believed not the Word of God.  I hear and read of failure after failure of people not receiving the blessings of God, and some get bitter and blame God.  I had the chance to do the same thing, after having been diagnosed with liver cancer and melanomas in 1993.  But the Word of God said I was healed by the stripes of Jesus.  At this point I had two choices: either to succumb to cancer and die, or to believe God and live.  Did the devil challenge my faith?  Yes.  Was overcoming the lies of the devil and all the horrible symptoms of cancer with no treatments easy to do?  Absolutely not.  What got me through it all?  I held onto the promises of God.  I didn’t know much at that time in my life, but only this one thing: that it is impossible for God to lie.  There were times the pain and doubts were severe, and every time I looked in the mirror I saw a dying man, but I would look at the man in the mirror and call him blessed and healed of the LORD.  What happened?  What else COULD happen?  The Word of God never returns to Him void, so I got what I said.  And I haven’t ever been sick again since 1993.  Did the devil win?  No!  And he won’t ever win in your life if you will simply believe the report of the LORD.
   Some people think you can just tell the devil you’re healed, and the battle is over.  That’s another one of the devil’s lies.  No, if anything the battle was ON once I made my declaration.  When you were a kid, did you ever have a staring contest with someone to see who would blink first?  Well, that’s what it’s like.  The devil will try to convince you that God is lying to you, and to back that up, he will hit you with everything in the book to try to get you to doubt the integrity of the Word of God.  When you say, I am healed by the stripes of Jesus, the devil will say, Think so, huh?, he will hit you with even worse stuff to see if you will blink.  I know, I’ve been there, done that.  Let me give you a tip here:  don’t blink.  Hold your ground and don’t give an inch.  God is not the liar, the devil is.  But if you give in and give up, you’re going to lose, I guarantee you.  It doesn’t matter how wonderful the promises of the Bible are, until they are YOUR promises, they are only words on a page.  Until you learn to use YOUR faith, nothing is going to ever change in your life.  If you look at a map of the world, you will find there are many mountains.  The devil will see to it that you will have many of them blocking your walk of faith.

   Sure, I can come along side you and use MY faith to help you, but in the end, you will have to use YOUR faith to keep whatever ground you have gained, for the devil will always come back to claim his territory back, and you’d better be ready to defend it if you don’t want to lose it.  I’ve seen people healed perfectly, only to lose it later when the devil came back with a counterattack, and they were not absolutely grounded and were unprepared when the attack came.  Let me tell you, preparing a defense in the midst of an attack is hard to do.  Imagine soldiers trying to build a fort in the midst of an attack.  Can’t do it, can you?  No.
   You see, until you are absolutely, unconditionally convinced God cannot lie, you will fall every time an attack comes your way.  Attacks will come, don’t let anyone tell you that once you claim Christ Jesus as your Lord and Savior, that everything will just be wonderful, because it won’t be.  Time and time again the devil will come trying to steal the Word of God out of your life, so he can make your life miserable.  He knows if you won’t budge or bend or turn loose of God’s Word, there isn’t much he can do to stop you in any area of your life.  So he will come very subtly at first, just like he did with Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Remember what he said to Eve in Genesis 3? 
Gen 3:1  Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Gen 3:2  And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
Gen 3:3  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Gen 3:4  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Gen 3:5  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Gen 3:6  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Pay close attention to verse one:  the devil came AGREEING with Eve at first, saying Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?  He was trying her to see if she was gullible.  Yep, she was.  Then he told her an outright lie in verse four, Ye shall not surely die:  Now, get this:  you who have come to Christ Jesus for salvation who were sick, the Word of God says Jesus bore ALL your sicknesses and diseases.  The devil will say, Yea, except…, and that’s your cue to fill in the blank:  cancer, diabetes, arthritis, heart disease, etc.  No, the Bible didn’t say ye are healed from every disease by the stripes of Jesus EXCEPT…it says ye ARE healed (1 Peter 2:24 says you WERE healed), not going to be, hopefully, some day, in the sweet by and by.  So why are YOU staggering at the promise?  God didn’t stutter, He meant what He said and He said what He meant, in no uncertain terms.  So, when are the promises YOURS?  When you believe, and not a moment before.

   When you are attacked, the first thing you do is to get into the Word of God to find what He said about that particular thing. Then you do it.  You don’t waver, doubt, or hesitate.  Let’s look at this passage in Hebrews:
Heb 10:32  But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions;
Heb 10:33  Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used.
Heb 10:34  For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.
Heb 10:35  Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.
Heb 10:36  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
Heb 10:37  For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
Heb 10:38  Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
Heb 10:39  But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.
    Have any of you drawn back your confidence in God’s Word?  Yes, some of you have, and right now, you are paying dearly for drawing back.  Some of you have let your faith slip, allowing the devil to attack you, and now you are doubting the integrity of the Word of God.  Maybe you’ve even become disappointed and bitter, accusing God of not making His promises good to you.  But all is not lost, for we have an advocate, Christ Jesus of Nazareth, who endured every type of temptation, yet he sinned not.  He is the One who died for your sins, who took all your diseases upon Himself, so you would not have to have them.  He knows the Word of God is good, for He sent it forth to you. 
    So, if you have let the devil deceive you into thinking God will not keep His promises, you are not alone.  Many have fallen for the lies of the devil, and many have died for it.  But you don’t have to be one of them, for God is giving you space to repent and get it right.  Don’t waste another second of your life doubting God.  Ask God to forgive you for doubting His Word, and set your heart once and for all, RIGHT NOW to never do that again. Get your faith online and working for you.  Face it, the devil will always challenge your faith, trying to steal it so he can destroy you.  One of you is going to blink first.  Make sure it’s HIM, not you!  The report of the LORD is ALWAYS true.