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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!
Biblical prosperity is the state of total well being where God
is meeting all your needs: spirit, soul and body.
This is our third successive newsletter on the subject of God's
increase. In the previous articles we discussed that according to
scripture God clearly wants you to increase financially. It was
true under the Old Covenant and it's still true under the New
Covenant which the Word describes as having better promises
(Hebrews 8:6) than the old one. A long time ago God gave His
people the power to obtain wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18) and no
where in scripture can we find that He ever cancelled that
power when we moved under the New Covenant. On the
contrary Jesus Himself said that He had come to give us
abundance in every area of life (John 10:10). Abundance
means to have more than enough, an overflowing increase,
and this has always been God's plan.
But most Christians have trouble believing that God really
wants them to have financial increase in their present lives.
They doubt it because of the obvious physical evidence that
only a few of us are actually living that way. So they have
concluded that traditional religious teaching must be correct
and that God is withholding His abundance even though this
directly contradicts the Word of God. Did Jesus become poor so
you could be rich (2 Corinthians 8:9)? Did Jesus die on the
Cross so you could be redeemed from the curse (Galatians
3:13)? Has God given you the power to obtain wealth
(Deuteronomy 8:18)? Did Jesus say He had come to give you
abundant life (John 10:10)? If your answer to these questions
is "Yes, God truly DID those things," then it's not God who's
withholding your abundance, which leaves us with an
additional question: what are the REAL reasons many of us are
not living the abundant life?
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Understanding How the Curse Works |
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The opposite of abundance is INSUFFICIENCY which as a part
of the Curse became possible only after the fall of Adam and
Eve. Please refer to Genesis 3:14-24 and Deuteronomy 28:15-
68 to see all the various forms the Curse comes in. Certainly it's
true that Jesus went to the Cross of Calvary and rose from the
dead to establish a New Covenant under which Believers are
absolutely redeemed from that Curse (Galatians 3:13). The
Greek word for "redeemed" in this scripture means "to be
rescued by way of paying a ransom." In other words, Jesus
has "rescued" all Believers from the control of Satan and his
Curse by paying the required "ransom." But most Believers go
right ahead after they are born again allowing themselves to
be controlled by the World's systems and ways of doing things
instead of putting themselves under the control of the New
Covenant and the Kingdom of God. Because of this,
insufficiency continues to manifest instead of abundance.
The fact is the New Covenant is a binding Contract between
God and Believers with terms and conditions that are written
down as the Word of God to guide the parties to the
Agreement. This Contract contains all the BETTER promises
we've been given because of Jesus plus all the original
promises from the Old Covenant that haven't been specifically
cancelled or replaced. Now, the Lord will never violate His own
Blood Covenant but Believers are likely to violate it at any
moment. Whenever we violate any of the terms and conditions
of the Contract, whenever we take action counter to the Word
of God whether willfully or from ignorance, we have committed
sin. The wages of sin in all its forms is ALWAYS death (Romans
6:23). In other words, our sins always have consequences
because they open the door to the Curse and to the enemy
that uses it to steal, kill and destroy.
In Part Twenty-Nine of this series, we outlined a list of basic
reasons why Believers largely fail to walk in abundance. All of
the reasons are forms of sin. We invite you to request a FREE
emailed or post-paid copy of that previous newsletter for a
more extensive discussion of the following sins that are most
responsible for causing God's increase to be obstructed:
- Insufficient faith
- Defective love walk
- Poor stewardship
- Reluctant, disgruntled or inadequate giving
- Unrighteous motivations
- Disobedience
- Failure to forgive
- Loving the World
- Failure to take authority over the devil
Fortunately for all of us, the New Covenant also says that if
we'll CONFESS our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). This
means that when you acknowledge your sin and ask God for
forgiveness, He is quick to forgive and forget and by doing this
you close the door to further attack from the enemy in relation
to the particular sin you're confessing. Many precious Christians
today are walking through life in trial and tribulation because
they've forgotten, overlooked or refused to confess their sins
and to reassert their authority over Satan in the name of Jesus.
Consequently the door to adversity is ALWAYS OPEN.
Friend, if you want to RECEIVE the increase God has for you,
be quick to confess your sins and then try to walk the best you
can in accordance with the terms and conditions of the
Contract. As we've said, Believers who are victorious have
decided at some point in their lives that they'll try to live in
agreement with whatever the Word says. The more you work at
it, the fewer open doors Satan finds to come into your life
through. The Lord is NOT asking you to be perfect in order to
receive your increase; certainly it's impossible for you to be
perfect anyway; but He IS asking you to respect His Word, to
study it and to do your best to actually do what it says. Ask the
Holy Spirit to help you and to bring to your attention and
remembrance when there are confessions to be made. Then
release your faith that you can have what you ask for (Mark
11:24).
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Preparing to Take Possession |
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Once you've made the irrevocable, no turning back, decision to
live in agreement with the Word, you can then take steps to
RECEIVE your inherited increase and there are two key
questions you'll need to have the answers to: 1) What exactly
has God promised to give you, and 2) How do you actually go
about taking possession of the things He has promised? The
answers to both these questions can only be found in the
Contract within the terms and conditions of the Covenant. But
unfortunately the majority of Believers don't know what the
Word says about it so they don't know HOW to receive their
increase. Many are waiting for the increase to just manifest for
them but it isn't going to happen that way. The faith that
pleases God requires that we ACT on the Word. Faith without
related action (works) is dead (James 2:14) and dead faith is
impotent, unable to achieve any results. Therefore we have to
step out and actually use our faith in order to receive our
inheritance.
The process starts like this: God has given us an inheritance but
we have to ask for it specifically based on the terms and
conditions of the Covenant. We can find out what the terms
and conditions are by reading and studying the Agreement.
The terms and conditions contain the promises of God as well
as the procedures we have to follow to obtain them. When you
understand the terms and conditions, then you believe you
have the promises BEFORE you actually receive them in the
natural (Mark 11:22-24). Faith is believing you've already
received something before you can see it (2 Corinthians 5:7).
In other words, faith is trusting that the promises of God are
already yours well before they have manifested in your natural
life. So far then, receiving your increase starts with studying the
Word of God, asking Him specifically for what you find there
and then releasing your faith to believe that those things
ALREADY belong to you.
The next step is to start taking physical possession of the
promises included in your inheritance. The truth is you already
possess them in the supernatural because redemption has
given ALL of them to you. Now by faith you need to move your
possession from the supernatural dimension to the natural.
Taking possession involves action and intent on your part. It's
not supposed to be a passive place in life where you wait and
hope for your inheritance to fall on you. Obtaining your
inheritance can only be accomplished by active faith in the
Truth of the Word of God.
When God was instructing the Israelites about going into the
Promised Land, He told them to "go in and POSSESS the
land" (Deuteronomy 1:8) and He's saying the same thing to
Believers in the New Covenant about possessing our
inheritance. To possess means to "take" something, to acquire
ownership and control of it, to establish dominion over it. We
are to take possession of what God has promised (Deuteronomy
1:21). It may seem like the task is too great or even impossible
but God will be with you if your faith is strong and you'll be
able to possess your inheritance (Numbers 14:8-9). And as you
already know, faith comes by hearing the Word of God
(Romans 10:17). If you want strong faith, read and study the
Word by immersion, listen to tapes, listen to sermons and
teachings on line and try not to miss a church service for any
reason.
Now, the enemy wants to stop you from receiving, from taking
possession of, your inheritance. He will do everything he can to
disrupt you, to discourage you, to convince you that the Word
doesn't work, to attack your faith and to prod you into agreeing
with what the World says instead of what the terms and
conditions of the Covenant say. In the case of the Israelites, the
enemy was successful in bringing fear into their midst with the
result that they were delayed for almost 40 years from taking
possession of the Promised Land. The enemy is trying to do
the same thing to you and up to now he has been successful
with most Believers. We are being destroyed for a lack of
knowledge (Hosea 4:6) that has led to a lack of aggressiveness,
a lack of diligence and determination, for taking possession of
our inheritance. Following are some of the more subtle ways
the enemy tries to work against us:
- He works to create doubt so you'll question whether or not
your inheritance is for now.
- He works to create sin consciousness so you'll question your
worthiness to receive your inheritance.
- He works to create false humility so you'll feel guilty about
wanting to receive your inheritance.
- He works to convince you that he's not a threat and that
there's no need to exert your authority.
- He works to create an attitude of self sufficiency so you'll
disregard your inheritance.
What God really wants us to do is TAKE OUR INHERITANCE
BY FORCE. In other words, He wants us to use the power and
authority we already have through the name of Jesus to
overcome the enemy's obstruction and take possession
forcefully of all the things Jesus won for us at the Cross of
Calvary. To see this principle operating in the Word, read the
following scripture Matthew 11:12 (NIV translation) that
describes how Jesus regarded the people who were then
coming into the Kingdom of God in response to His preaching
of the Gospel:
"From the days of John the Baptist - the Kingdom of
Heaven
has been forcefully (violently) advancing, and forceful (violent)
men lay hold of it (take it by force)."
What Jesus was saying is that the Kingdom of God is
INCREASING because determined people had begun to take
hold of the Gospel and to act on it in faith. Friend, God wants
us to enter into the Promised Land just as the Israelites did but
this time under the New Covenant and as we do we'll advance
and be victorious. Another view of this principle can be found
in Luke 16:16 (NIV translation):
"Since (John the Baptist), the good news of the Kingdom of
God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into
it."
In other words we're to be aggressive in taking possession of our
inheritance. Most of the Body of Christ is passive about this
subject waiting on God to manifest His inheritance when the
reality is He's already made it available for the ones who will
approach Him boldly and forcefully and take possession. It's
already yours but you have to go after it and receive or take it.
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The Process of Taking Possession |
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This doesn't mean we're to take possession by the flesh. We'll
never be able to accomplish anything in our own strength. But
the Bible DOES promise that by FAITH in the name of Jesus
and in the integrity of His Word, we WILL be able to take
possession of our inheritance. Our inheritance WILL manifest to
us in the natural if we don't resort to the ways of the World. Not
by our strength but by His strength says the Lord of hosts. And
so, following are the steps that will bring you into possession of
your Promised Land:
� Walk in love - The Bible says that all the laws
and principles of life in the Kingdom of God are dependent
upon the fulfillment of two commandments: to love God with
all your heart, mind, soul and strength and to love your
neighbor (Matthew 22:40). Therefore, without love it's
impossible to lay hold of the entire portion of the Promised
Land that God has set aside for you.
� Immerse yourself in the Word of God - This
means that you shut out all the communications from the
World (TV, Newspapers, etc.) and you begin to study the Word,
listen to tapes, read helps books, etc. to the point that you are
constantly meditating on the Word. The Word of God that is in
you will be what manifests your inheritance.
� Make your faith to become a force - The Bible
says that faith comes by hearing the Word (Romans 10:17).
The more you are into the Word, the stronger your faith
becomes. Your inheritance manifests in your life in direct
relation to the strength of your faith.
� Make your confessions agree with the Word - You
have the power of life and death in your tongue (Proverbs
18:21). If you always speak in agreement with the Word no
matter what your circumstances look like you'll bring life to your
inheritance.
� Maintain your authority over the enemy and
stand guard against him - The enemy comes to steal, kill and
destroy your inheritance (John 10:10). But by the complete
work of Redemption at the Cross, you have received total
authority by the name of Jesus over any work of the devil. To
exercise that authority effectively, you must resist him (James
4:7) on a regular basis by confessing your sins and by
commanding the enemy to stay away from your inheritance. If
you don't do this your enemy will successfully obstruct the
manifestation of your inheritance.
� Rest in the assurance of the Truth of the Word -
Resting means to abstain from anxiety, worry and impatience.
It means waiting in faith, not in hope. Faith says the
manifestation of your inheritance is on the way; hope is not
sure. Be certain God watches over His Word to insure it
performs exactly as He has promised (Jeremiah 1:12).
Success in the Kingdom of God is based largely on this
process. Most Christians try to try to find an easier way. Most
Christians keep one foot in the World instead of selling out to
the Word. But you will never find real success any other way.
Seek first the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33) and you will find
your inheritance.
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Some Final Thoughts |
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In sum, the reason so many Believers are not walking in
increase and prosperity these days is that we are failing to
RECEIVE what God has already provided. We are guilty of
slothfulness both in learning what the Word actually says and
in applying the principles God has laid out for us to use in
aggressively pursuing our inheritance. But by being more
spiritually aggressive, by forcefully and "violently" pursuing
what Jesus has already won for us at the Cross of Calvary, we
will soon find ourselves enjoying the Promised Land.
Friend, God longs for you to possess your inheritance. It's the
desire of His heart. You are supposed to be prosperous in every
area of life. He sent Jesus to die on the Cross of Calvary to
redeem you from the Curse and restore you to the Blessing of
Abraham. God has provided everything you need. You have
authority and power and Satan has been defeated. So, if you
want to see biblical prosperity fully manifested in your life, you
going to have to step out aggressively in faith, knowing what
you're doing and forcefully take possession of what God wants
you to have. He won't do it for you. You have to do it yourself
using His power working through your faith.
Thanks for reading Prosperous Life Newsletter today. We
pray that this publication has been a blessing. God bless you
and we'll be looking for you again in three weeks on October
26.
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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 that God raised you from the
dead. 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, God has already come into
your life and you are a new creation. Now ask the Lord to lead
you to a good faith based bible teaching church where you can
be developed to fulfill your potential in the Kingdom of God. If
you're unable to find a church, give us a call and we'll help
you find a good one.
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Prayer Requests |
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Please e-mail your prayer requests to:
[email protected]. We'll be honored to bring them
before the Lord each Tuesday morning at 10:00 AM, Eastern
Time.
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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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Questions and Suggestions |
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It would bless us to have an opportunity to answer your
questions concerning any of the areas covered by the ministry
of PLN. 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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