Dear Mike, Thank you and your team for all that you do.  It is indeed a laborious task and I appreciate your diligence. When I read “After the Counsel of His Own Will” I was relieved! A giant weight was lifted from my shoulder.  But,  questions immediately formed a line in my mind; “is this a cop- out?”, “are you just tired of feeling responsible for everyone and everything?”, and on and on.  I proceeded to do some research into this theory of free will and determined that it was illusive at best.  Free will is devoid of scientific or biblical support. I began to understand the wonderful spiritual implications of being “controlled” by the Great Controller, God. It became easy to forgive others and myself “for they know not what they do”. The stress of decision making was removed and replaced with prayer; “thank- you Father that you direct our path”.  For the first time in my life I actually felt free and unencumbered.  That was joy! I can’t say I remained in the above state without slipping and doubting from time to time.  But I can say that God reaffirmed this truth to me over and over.  No matter how many times I ask for confirmation, He is always faithful to answer.  Now I just watch my life and see Him working.  Sometimes I wonder what He will do and become a little anxious.  But He reminds me that “His plan is for good and not for evil, to give me a future and a hope”. Thank you again for being the “messenger”. I do have a question; many so- called Christians talk to me about Karma.  They believe it is represented in the bible as “whatsoever a man sows therefore shall he also reap”.  I don’t see the correlation.  Since God is in control, we are not responsible for our acts.   My understanding is that all  that happens is part of His plan; for a purpose that we may or may not understand.  I see good and bad as arising from the same root, so, “And God saw every thing He had made and, behold it very good, and the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”  [Gen 1:31 ]. God made man on the sixth day, and  from a human perspective, we are anything but very good!  But from God’s vantage point, ALL is “after the counsel of His Own Will”, very good. So I don’t understand karma in the bible.  If you can correct or verify I would appreciate your help. In love, E____

Hi E____,
Thank you for your gratitude for what the IWWB team is doing. It really is the efforts of a team that wants only to “freely give” to any who will receive it, what God has freely given to us.
The peace of mind of which you speak is not the least of those freely given gifts. What a wonderful blessing to know that all we need to do is to “wait upon the Lord.” By “all we need to do” I am not insinuating that there is not very much to do. What I mean is that we need not “take any anxious thought for tomorrow.” God really is working for our good and not for our evil. Yes, we will always have trials, but He will always see us through those trials, and we will rejoice when He gives us the eyes to see what He is doing in us. He truly is preparing His elect to become a nation of kings and priests. It takes a lifetime of training and proving to ready us for our election.

Eph 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Eph 1:19  And what [ is] the exceeding greatness of his power to us- ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

You ask  if karma is a Biblical principle? While the word ‘karma’ is not in scripture, the principle of karma certainly is a Biblical principle. You refer to the verse that bears this out:

Gal 6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

We often are taught to believe that since Christ died for our sins that there is therefore no need for judgment. Yet you just admitted to me that you yourself are still being tried.
“I can’t say I remained in the above state without slipping and doubting from time to time… Sometimes I wonder what He will do and become a little anxious.”
Our trials and our tests of this life are our time of being judged. We are all at this time being judged if indeed God is working in our lives to prepare us for the position of being a ruler in His coming “kingdom of this world.” The forgivness of our sins does not mean that we are not still in need of judgment and reaping what we have sown. Paul is speaking to God’s people when He tells them “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” That is what the Hindus call ‘karma.’ It may not be a Biblical phrase, but it is a Biblical principle.
Here is the rule which guides all judgment:

Luk 12:47  And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
Luk 12:48  But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

When we first learn of God’s sovereignty we all tend to say ‘Well God is working everything after the counsel of His own will, so why does He tell me that if I know His will and do not prepare myself, then I will be beaten with many stripes? The answer it that in God’s sovereignty He has decreed that He is doing His work “through the foolishness of preaching.” He has decreed that we will be sent teachers and preachers who will declare to us His plan and purpose, and we are warned up front that His plan and purpose will be a fiery experience to humble the vaunted flesh He has given us. Just look at the very next verse.

Luk 12:49  I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?

The ‘fire’ Christ came to send on the earth is His Word, and the ‘earth’ is you and me. We will “reap what we sow,” and if much has been given to us, much will be required of us. We will not say that Christ died for us so we can continue in our sins. He died for us to deliver us from our sins. But that deliverance has been predestined to be a fiery trial for our flesh.
I have a brother in the Concordant conferences who has written a book entitled, How To Get To Heaven While Smoking A Cigarette. I will be the first to admit that smoking a cigarette is not the worst sin in the world. But I will be the last to say that if you know that smoking is a sin and you “prepare not yourself”, you will be beaten with many stripes”, and you will “reap what you have sown.” It is just as true for overeating or abusing anything that is physical. We are going to give account to God for “every idle word,” and what needs to be burned out will be burned out. It will either be done now in this vessel of clay, or it will be done later in a lake of spiritual fire, but it will be burned out.

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

Are these verses saying we can avoid God’s chastening grace? No, we “live every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God,” not just the good words.

Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

But what a blessing to be judged at this time “that we should not be condemned with the world.”
I hope this has answered you question about karma. Whom the Lord loves He chastens, we do reap what we have sown, and we are chastened in accordance with how we prepare ourselves after knowing our Lord’s will. It is all within God’s sovereignty and was all written in His book before the days ordained for us ever were.”

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them .

Your brother in Christ,
Mike