After so many centuries of believing that God is the cause of our financial troubles, many of us need to develop a new vision for our lives, a vision based on increase and prosperity instead of decrease and lack, a vision based on the uncompromised Word of God instead of on traditional religious teaching. In other words we need to replace a manmade vision that leads to defeat with the original God-made, Word- grounded vision of victory. We need to SEE that God is actually trying to get abundance to the Church that can be used to establish His Kingdom and to bless people in every area of life: spirit, soul and body. Once we SEE it, we can take steps to BELIEVE it. When we BELIEVE it we can take ownership of it by FAITH and then expect the abundance we've been promised to show up.

A vision can be defined as a mental picture of the future and Scripture clearly shows us, if we'll read it as it's written, that God wants His people to live according to His vision. For example, as God showed the Man (later called Adam) around the Garden, He SAW that all He had made was very good (Genesis 1:31) and communicated to the Man who then SAW it the same way. Later on God said to Abram "lift up your eyes and LOOK for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever" (Genesis 13:14). Still later He gave Joseph two VISIONS (dreams) in Genesis 37:5 and 37:9 which Joseph carried with him into Egypt to confirm his destiny. God is a visionary. And there are other examples in scripture we could cite to confirm the point that the Lord wants you to have a mental picture of His future for you. The future that Jesus bought for us at Calvary is a vision of overflowing abundance in every area of life and we need to follow after His vision instead of the counterfeit we have thought was true for so long.

The Bible says that the people of God perish when there is no vision (Proverbs 29:18). The Hebrew word for "vision" in this verse also means "revelation" and it's speaking about the revealed Truth of God. So we can say from this that when there's no revelation of God's redemptive work, when people don't know about it or misunderstand it, the result will be spiritual death. Friends, many in the Church have misunderstood biblical prosperity and have substituted a manmade vision that's causing spiritual death in the area of our finances. Why are so many Christians experiencing financial lack in a multi-trillion dollar economy? It's because we have believed the manmade counterfeit that poverty is virtuous and because we have failed to take responsibility for our own failure to take possession of our inheritance. At the same time we have allowed ourselves to remain illiterate concerning the Word of God and our prosperity is perishing for the related lack of revelation knowledge.

If you want to truly experience biblical prosperity, you will need to be able to SEE God's vision operating in YOUR life. As discussed in our previous newsletter, the Lord has always had a vision of increase for His people. In the Garden the very first words the Man heard were: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it" (Genesis 1:28). Tradition has taught us that the word "multiply" in this verse is talking about childbirth and increasing the population. But the real meaning of the Hebrew word in this scripture is "to increase (in order) to bring in abundance." In other words, God was telling the Man to go forth and increase: increase the Garden, increase the Kingdom, increase dominion, increase his possessions and increase his authority. Multiplying the population was just one of many facets of the increase God had in mind because He was actually speaking in this verse about creating abundance in every area of existence.

Abundance means to have more than enough, an overflowing provision. Experiencing increase until abundance develops has always been God's way. Genesis 2:11-12 describes the Garden of Eden as having an abundance of precious metals and stone. Malachi 3:10 challenges Believers to test God by tithing to see if He will not open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing until it overflows. Jesus reconfirmed God's intention to continue providing abundant life in John 10:10 and He told us in Luke 6:38 that when we give we can expect it to be given back, a good measure-pressed down, shaken together, and running over (overflowing). The Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 9:7-8 that in response to your cheerful giving, God will provide an abundance from which you will be able to do every good work and bless others.

In sum, God has always had a vision of increase that eventually produces overflowing abundance. And, by the blessing of God we have been empowered to INCREASE. But many of us don't SEE this vision for ourselves because we have been taught that the pursuit of increase is not virtuous. To be sure we must pursue increase for the right reasons: to build the Kingdom of God and to bless others. But if we can establish the right priorities and hold on to them, if we can learn and obey His Word, God WILL provide the increase and there WILL be overflowing abundance in every area of life.

Most folks don't really understand that people turn out to be very similar to what they think of themselves. This is a principle grounded in scripture because the Bible says that as a man thinks within himself, so is he (Proverbs 23:7). Therefore, if we think it will please God for us to be poor and humble, if that's what we see for our lives, if that's what we confess with our mouths all the time, then that's exactly where our lives will take us. Even though God has a vision for us that features increase and abundance, we can choose to depart from it by following a self-determined vision that's in conflict with the Word and with His vision.

Therefore, we need to move toward converting our vision of ourselves from the traditions of men to God's Word which is GUARANTEED to be a life-changing process. Following are just a few of the ways you will be helped in this process of change:

1. God's vision will enable you to see your life the way He sees it.

• Hebrews: 8-10 Abraham obeyed God's vision and kept his eye on the unseen city.
• Joshua 6:2 God told Joshua to see Him delivering Jericho into his hand.

2. God's vision will ignite your desire to live life the way He wants you to live it.

• Joshua 1:8 Meditate on the Word day and night for success in achieving His increase.
• Habakkuk 2:2 You will want to write the vision God is giving you and make it clear.

3. God's vision will enable you to stay focused on His plan for your life.

• Nehemiah 4:1-6 The returning exiles stayed focused on rebuilding the wall despite many distractions
• James 1:6-8 Becoming double-minded is the result of losing focus.

4. God's vision will produce the perseverance you need while waiting for His plan to be completed.

• Acts 20:20-24 None of the problems of life will move you off your vision for increase.
• Hebrews 11:8 You pursue your inheritance of increase not knowing how God will fulfill your destiny.

5. God's vision will remind you to maintain your position of authority over the enemy (Ephesians 2:6).

• Mark 4:15 Satan will come to steal your vision.
• Mark 4:19 Satan tries to get the Word to become unfruitful.

The way to change your vision from man's tradition to the Word of God is to begin to confess the true vision over your life. Put yourself in the new vision by your confessions and then release your faith that the Word will be released in your life to produce the increase and abundance God has promised for your life. Of course this means you will have to begin to study the Word so that you have a valid basis for your faith. Don't forget that God's people are also DESTROYED for a lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6) and the subject of increase is a prime example of something that's been destroyed across the Body of Christ because we haven't known what the Word really says about it.

Friend, God has a vision of increase and abundance for your life. To see that vision realized we need to take responsibility for our own part in failing to receive it and repent for blaming the Lord for a problem He sent Jesus to take care of a long time ago. The bottom line is this: if you want to see increase and biblical prosperity actually manifested in your life, you will need to reject unbiblical tradition, release your faith for a lifestyle that agrees with the Word of God and then begin to see yourself with the same vision God has. Jesus went to the Cross and became a curse so you could be set free from THE Curse.

So, begin to enjoy your increase! When things in your life don't go the way you think they should, don't blame God. Instead, examine your own life and look for the cause of your shortfall in yourself. When you seek the Lord on it, He will show you your problem and then help you correct it so you can get back into the vision of increase that will eventually produce abundance in every area of life just as Jesus promised (John 10:10).

Thanks for reading Prosperous Life Newsletter today. May the Word of God continually grow in its influence over your life. We'll be looking for you again in three weeks on October 5. The Lord bless you and your family!

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The publishers of Prosperous Life Newsletter wish to thank Jerry Savelle Ministries International for the inspiration behind this article. May God continue to bless, increase and prosper their ministry around the world.

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