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"Owe no man
anything..."
-Romans 13:8
"...the borrower becomes the lender's
slave."
-Proverbs 22:7
"...the
righteous man shall live by faith."
-Romans 1:17
"...without
faith it is impossible to please Him."
-Hebrews 11:6
"No one can
serve two masters..."
-Matthew 6:24
"The Lord
will make you abound in prosperity..."
-Deuteronomy 25:11
"...God
loves a cheerful giver."
-2 Corinthians 9:7
"...the
Lord... is giving you power to make
wealth..."
-Deuteronomy 8:18
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Greetings in the name of Christ Jesus!
This is the third article in our new series on the
Laws of Biblical Prosperity. We hope you were
blessed by the first two but if you missed either of
them please request a copy from the home office at:
cfc@creditcounseling.net. Thank you for reading
Prosperous Life Newsletter. May you be
blessed and edified today by the Truth from God’s
Word!
As we continue to develop this subject, keep in mind
that the fullness of biblical prosperity
isn’t limited to just financial issues although finances
are an important and required part. But God’s
prosperity, according to His Word, contemplates that
all of a Believer’s needs are being met
spirit, soul and body. Nothing is missing or broken
anywhere in life because by virtue of our relationship
with Christ, we are complete (Colossians 2:10). In
short, biblical prosperity is a state of well being that
is reserved for those who love God (see Isaiah 53:5).
Today we want to emphasize that by faith the
Christian Believer really can attain the fullness of
God’s prosperity, just as described in the preceding
paragraph. Otherwise He would not have brought it
up in His Word. In fact, God has made it relatively
easy for us to achieve biblical prosperity by setting
up “procedures” (or Laws) that
always produce the desired results when the
appropriate actions are taken. The only thing
Believers have to do is initiate the appropriate
actions and then God will provide the covenantal
responses. Therefore, biblical prosperity is the
inevitable manifested result of living one’s
life in
accordance with God’s Word.
Unfortunately though, the reality of life today is that
most Believers do not live in biblical
prosperity. In fact, they fall far short of it and, as
you might expect, the main reason is that they don’t
live their lives according to the Word. Therefore, the
first action we must take toward biblical prosperity is
to decide to live according to the Word of God.
Otherwise, what point is there to learning what It
has to say? Once we’ve made that basic decision,
then we set out to learn about the Laws of
biblical
prosperity and begin to apply them in our lives.
The Bible is full of “procedures” on how we are to
conduct ourselves to obtain God’s prosperity. In fact,
there are so many that to cover them all would
surpass the ability of this Newsletter. But we do
intend to focus on enough of them to provide basic
direction that you can use to begin manifesting
biblical prosperity. So far we have submitted two
basic Laws for your consideration:
• In order to be biblically prosperous, you
have to first believe that God wants you to be
prosperous.
Many Believers find it hard to accept that God really
wants us to prosper. The truth is because God is
love (1 John 4:8) it is the desire of His heart that
you enjoy the fullness of His prosperity. It is
not His desire to withhold any good thing
from those He loves (Psalm 84:11). Jesus said that
He came to give us abundant life (John 10:10).
Friend, this is what the Word of God really says (see
also Part One of this series). Will you live your life
based on what the Word says or on traditional
church teachings that glorify poverty and contrived
humility? The Believer needs to accept and receive
God’s prosperity by faith just as salvation was
accepted and received by faith. Only then,
after
faith has been released, will the predictable response
of prosperity be manifested.
• In order to be biblically prosperous, you
have to pursue an understanding of the Word of God
and submit to Its authority.
Many Believers try every way imaginable to get
around this Law of Conduct. Certainly, it
takes a lot of work to study and learn what the Word
really says about prosperity so we tend to want to
rely on what somebody else will tell us. Then, even
after we discover and understand a particular Law
we may not want to submit to it. The flesh doesn’t
like to relinquish authority and power because it
always prefers self reliance. God though requires
dependence on Him coupled with faith and you won’t
see the fullness of His prosperity manifested any
other way. If you will set out to pursue the Word,
His prosperity is a predictable result.
Please refer to Part Two of this series for more
information.
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| In order to be biblically prosperous, you must insist that your provision come from God |
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We are now ready to propose a third basic
Law of biblical prosperity. Indeed, one of the
main obstacles to prosperity is the desire of the flesh
to be our provider instead of God. The flesh always
feels it can do a better job and it’s easier for us to
put our trust in what we ourselves can accomplish in
the natural than it is to trust an invisible God that
operates in the Spirit realm beyond the
comprehension of our five physical senses. The result
is that much of what we try to accomplish in life is
by the flesh, i.e., by our own strength, instead of
waiting for God to provide according to His plans and
purposes.
Sometimes we insist on believing that if the outcome
of our self-reliance is a “righteous” result, the fact
that we achieved it in the flesh can be overlooked.
In other words, the end justifies the means. Most
Christians work this way and even a significant
amount of Christian ministry today is carried out in
the flesh self-justified because it produces
a “righteous” result. The truth is though, if your work
isn’t done by the Spirit, if it isn’t achieved by faith
through your dependence on God, the result is not
righteous. Even though the result you achieved in
your own strength may be the one God wanted for
you, if you achieved it without faith and dependence
on Him, it will never produce the fullness of His
prosperity in your life that would have been available
if you had waited for Him to provide.
In sum, the way to biblical prosperity is through God
and His Word. If He provides, if you wait and depend
upon Him for your provision and it flows from Him
instead of through your self-effort, you will be
rewarded with true prosperity. The action you must
take is to wait on Him while you work to make your
life line up with His Word. When you find yourself out
ahead of God, slow down and wait. When you find
yourself working in your own strength having
forgotten to speak to Him before you embarked on
some project, stop and turn it over to Him. Ask Him
what He wants to do and where He wants to go with
what you are working on. Be ready to make
appropriate adjustments to prove you are serious. No
matter what you are able to accomplish in your own
strength, His way will always be better even
if it takes longer to achieve the results you are
hoping for. If you take these actions and release
your faith, God is bound by His covenant with
Believers to manifest His prosperity in your life.
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| Conclusions |
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Friend, you will never attain the fullness of biblical
prosperity by circumventing God’s Laws of
Conduct. God does not compromise and this is
hard for many Christians to come to grips with. Our
society has conditioned us to be self-reliant, to work
long and hard physically, to avoid trusting anyone
except ourselves, to move as rapidly as possible to
achieve our objectives, etc. But the values of the
world don’t work in the Kingdom of God. In fact, the
Holy Spirit is working diligently with each of us so
that we learn to prefer and live by the values of the
Kingdom instead of what we find in the world.
Certainly, we are not to be lazy or passive in life and
we are to work with excellence. But when we insist
on God being our Provider, we work for Him and put
the Kingdom of God first instead of our own interests.
We get to the point where our effort is for Him
instead of for the generation of our provision. We
work for Him trusting that the Provision will come by
whatever means He chooses.
A word of caution for Believers who have already
prospered financially: be sure your prosperity has
come from God and not from your own strength. We
tend to judge success and the presence of God’s
favor by the condition of our finances but, as we
have already emphasized, God’s prosperity is more
than finances. Be open to receive the
fullness of His prosperity. If you are
financially wealthy but you have no joy or peace in
your life, or your health is bad, you need to go back
and seek the fullness of the prosperity God has for
you. Don’t be satisfied with just a part of all that God
has for you; insist on pursuing all of it!
May God bless you today with His abundant life (John
10:10) as you pursue His provision for you and your
family.
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| Sinners’ Prayer |
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If you have never invited Jesus to become the Lord
of your life, you can do so today by saying the
following simple prayer: Jesus I believe in you
and I receive you as my Lord and Savior. Please
forgive me for my sins and come into my life
today.
If you were sincere as you prayed this prayer, God
has already come into your life and you are a new
creation. Congratulations! Now ask the Lord to lead
you to a bible teaching church where you can be
developed to fulfill your potential in the Kingdom of
God. And please send us an e-mail announcing your
decision so we can rejoice with the angels. God bless
you.
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| Questions and Suggestions |
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It would bless us to have an opportunity to answer
your questions concerning any of the financial areas
covered by this ministry. We would also be happy to
consider your comments and suggestions. Please feel
free to e-mail them to us or give us a call anytime
during normal business hours at our toll free number
1-800-357-4223.
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| Donations |
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If you have been blessed and edified by
Prosperous Life Newsletter, please pray about
making a Spirit-led love offering to support the work
of the Ministry (Galatians 6:6-7). PLN is a non
profit [501(c)(3)] gift to the Body of Christ so your
financial gifts are tax deductible (please consult your
tax advisor). You may mail your check or money
order payable to Cornerstone Consulting Ministries to
10621 N. Kendall Drive, Suite 113, Miami, Florida
33176 or click the donation tab at the bottom for
other payment options. May God bless you with His
abundant harvest from sowing your precious seeds
into this
Ministry.
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