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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 eighth article in our series on the Laws
of Biblical Prosperity. We hope the previous
issues have been a blessing but if you missed any
please request free e-mail copies from the home
office at: [email protected]. Thanks for
reading Prosperous Life Newsletter. May you
be blessed and edified today by the Truth from God’s
Word!
The Bible says that without faith it is impossible to
please God and that He rewards those who seek Him
(Hebrews 11:6). It also says that whatever is not of
faith is sin (Romans 14:23), that Believers must live
by faith (Romans 1:17 and Habakkuk 2:4) and that
we should walk by faith and not by sight (2
Corinthians 5:7). In sum it is apparent that the Lord
doesn’t do anything outside an environment of faith
which means that His principles of conduct, including
the laws of biblical prosperity, have to also work
through faith. Therefore, biblical prosperity is for
Believers who live by faith; He will
reward those who seek Him in faith.
We tend to limit our concept of faith to mere belief.
In other words, we think of faith as just believing in
something. But in our last issue we presented for
your consideration several additional defining aspects
of faith that show it to be much more profound than
mere belief. Following is a brief description of those
considerations; please refer to the previous
newsletter for more details:
- Faith is the act of trusting in God instead of
what we see in the natural.
- Faith is the confidence that God will bring
to pass what we are hoping for.
- Faith involves taking ownership over the
things we are hoping for before we actually
- Faith requires that we take action on what
we believe before it actually manifests.
- Faith is a force that is strong
enough to overcome the world.
In the previous newsletter we reached the
conclusion that faith is a requirement for
experiencing the manifestation of biblical prosperity in
our lives and we stated the related Law as
follows: In order to experience the manifestation
of biblical prosperity, you must walk in faith. If
you suspect that weakness of faith could be holding
you back from all that God has, the purpose of
today’s article is to help you understand where your
faith comes from so you can use that knowledge to
make yourself eligible for His
prosperity.
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Understanding How We Acquire Faith |
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Faith doesn’t come from reasoning. Nor does it come
from striving or by our own strength or from our
flesh. It’s not something we can work up. In fact, if
it weren’t for God we wouldn’t even have any faith.
The Bible says that “God has dealt to every man
the measure of faith” (Romans 12:3). In other
words, you are not the source of your own faith;
“it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). God
Himself is the author of your faith (Hebrews 12:2)
and “the measure” is given to each of us at
the moment of salvation so that we will be able to
believe and be saved (Ephesians 2:8). We don’t do
anything to earn it; we don’t do anything to deserve
it. He gives it to us freely as a loving gift. And at
that moment our spirit is reborn, we come back into
fellowship with Him and we regain the ability to
please Him by living a life of faith.
From the moment Christians are born again, we all
start at the same place with the same measure of
faith and begin a process under the supervision of
the Holy Spirit that will conform us into the image of
Christ (Romans 8:29). But we each progress at
different rates and in different ways. Some Believers
build rapidly on their measure of faith and they soon
come to live a life of victory as they steadily grow
spiritually towards the image of Christ. Others don’t
grow much beyond where they started, struggling in
their own strength, defeated and dejected most of
the time, striving by the flesh to obtain the victory
that Christ has already won and is holding out to
them for the taking in the spirit by faith. Why is
there such a difference?
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Understanding How We Develop Stronger Faith |
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The truth is we are ourselves responsible for
developing the faith we are given at salvation so it
will grow in strength and effectiveness. Faith is
supposed to be the victory that overcomes the
World for us (1 John 5:4) so that we can keep on the
path of living by the spirit. But faith is like an
undeveloped muscle in that it starts out small and
relatively weak. It’s big enough for us to believe God
for salvation but it needs to be “exercised” in order
to strengthen and develop into the force that
produces a victorious and overcoming life. Now your
question should be: “how do I exercise and
strengthen my faith?”
The Bible says that faith comes from hearing the
Word of God (Romans 10:17) and there are several
ways you can hear it. You can hear someone preach
and/or teach it. You can hear it read aloud or
expressed in music. You can listen to tapes. And you
can also study the Word so intently
and deeply that it becomes internalized to such a
degree you hear it by the Spirit directing you through
life. The Word has become “written on your heart.”
When the written Word becomes God’s spoken Word
to you personally (rhema), your faith will then
grow and develop. And then your faith will become
strong enough to overcome the World and produce
victory in every area of life so that you have nothing
missing and nothing broken.
In sum, the key to developing strong faith is
acquiring knowledge of the Word of God. A very good
scripture for this thought can be found in Proverbs
4:20-22:
“My son, give attention to my words; incline your
ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your
sight; keep them in the midst of your heart. For they
are life to those who find them and health to all their
body.”
The Word of God brings life and good health to the
Believer that pursues it because it also brings strong
faith. Strong faith does not come from trials
and tribulations as tradition has tried to teach us.
Rather, trials are designed to be the proof that you
already have strong faith as evidenced by the fact
that you praise and glorify God in the face of
everything that happens (1 Peter 1:7). The truth is
strong faith comes from hearing the Word of God.
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Conclusions |
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Friend, the reality is none of us can come to know
the power of God’s provision and prosperity without
strong faith and we won’t have strong faith if we
don’t have knowledge of the Word of God. When
Jesus was confronted by Satan in the wilderness, He
easily defeated him with the Word (Matthew 4:1-11).
Any of us can begin to develop that same kind of
power once we make the decision to pursue an
understanding of the Scripture.
But most of us are lazy because the flesh is lazy
especially where the things of God are concerned.
We think we’ll have more fun doing something else so
we don’t invest the time in the Word that we know
we should. If your conscience is telling you today
that you could be studying the Word more, that’s
most likely the Holy Spirit speaking quietly to you,
encouraging you to study so your faith can grow and
you will be able to enjoy all the things Jesus won for
you.
There’s just no other way to come to strong faith
except by the Word. The truth is the lack of strong
faith produced by ignorance of the Word is why so
many of us are stuck at the Cross instead of
participating in the Resurrection Victory that Christ
won for us. If you are in that picture today, you can
change it yourself by simply asking God to help you
develop a hunger for the Word. Whenever you ask
Him for something important, He will provide the
answer and then you will start to develop strong
faith that can overcome the World. God bless you
and thanks for reading Prosperous Life Newsletter
today.
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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 advising your
decision so we can rejoice with you in our prayers. If
you’re unable to find a church, give us a call and
we’ll try to help you find a good one.
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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 on the donation tab for other payment
options. May God bless you with His abundant
harvest from sowing your precious seed into this
Ministry.
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