In this current series we've been discussing that developing a LIFESTYLE OF LOVE is the principal way to the achievement of VICTORY in life which by our definition includes VICTORY in the area of our finances. Over our 14-year history this publication has tended to focus on financial issues and it's always been our intention to be a Bible-based financial newsletter. Indeed, the subject in the Bible that's mentioned the most often is the subject of finances and there're more than 2,000 scriptural references to it which is almost triple the number of the next most popular topic. Jesus talked about finances and material stewardship extensively and fully two-thirds of His Parables are about money, property or financial stewardship in one form or another.

In a little more than two weeks we'll be celebrating RESURRECTION DAY. There's a lot to celebrate because Jesus re-established and secured for eternity a basis for a close and personal relationship between the Creator God of the Universe and His people. The Bible says that God is LOVE (1 John 4:16) which means that EVERYTHING He does flows out of this basic nature. Everything He does is for the cause of LOVE. In the Old Testament it might seem like He was occasionally angry or jealous or forceful but you can be assured that at the base of those emotions there was always LOVE because that's who God is.

Thankfully for the New Testament  that we now live under, arrangements were made by our same LOVING God for ALL the sins of ALL mankind (1 John 2:2), past, present and future (Hebrews 9:12) to be paid for so we wouldn't have to. Jesus has already been judged for all those sins. The truth is the work of Jesus at the Cross of Calvary which culminated in the RESURRECTION was so thorough, so complete that God has been able to FORGET all our sins (Hebrews 8:12, 10:17) and by His GRACE through our FAITH He now allows Believers to enter into His REST with Him and Jesus (Hebrews 10:11). Friend, RESTING with God is where the PEACE is that the whole world's been looking for!

The Availability of the Rest

Notice that we enter into REST by FAITH. You can have a lot of head knowledge about the WORD but until you unite it with FAITH, that knowledge won't be "profitable" for you (Hebrews 4:2). If you want VICTORY in life, the only way to get there is through FAITH. In short, you just can't get there from here without FAITH. That's the way the New Testament works; FAITH has to be involved in order for us to be able to enter into the REST that God made available on that original RESURRECTION DAY. People had been waiting for 4,000 years for that invitation and Jesus made it all possible on RESURRECTION DAY. And by the way, He did what He did out of profound LOVE for the Father and for ALL people. Jesus laid down His life for His friends because He loved us with all His heart, because He was willing to obey the Father and because He had unwavering FAITH that He would be raised up on the third day. He SAID He would be raised up because by FAITH He knew He would be.

One thing we need to keep in mind is that our FAITH works by LOVE (1 Corinthians 13:2 and Galatians 5:6). In other words, our FAITH won't work for us as well as it's designed to and produce the benefits coming out of the RESURRECTION if we're not walking in LOVE. That's why the Holy Spirit is working with us all the time to help us UNDERSTAND the WORD as it directs and EMPOWERS us to adopt a lifestyle of LOVING God and our fellow man. Jesus COMMANDED us to LOVE this way (Matthew 22: 37-40) and He wouldn't have COMMANDED us to do something we aren't able to fulfill. Therefore even though it's difficult, all Believers has within themselves the ability to LOVE the way God LOVES which generates effectual FAITH with POWER, and not just any POWER but pure RESURRECTION POWER that has the ability to produce victory in every area of life: spirit, soul and body. And so, with complete confidence that God has provided through His GRACE all the empowerment we need for total VICTORY in life, we can enter into His REST any time we want to. Another way to say it is that in that place of REST, in that place of total PEACE is where VICTORY in life can be experienced and if it weren't for the RESURRECTION we wouldn't have access to it.

Resurrection Power and Our Finances

The RESURRECTION of Christ was the greatest display of POWER the world has ever experienced. It was greater even than the POWER OF CREATION because when God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1-31), He wasn't opposed. There wasn't any Satan yet trying to hinder and block everything God wanted to do. But on RESURRECTION DAY Satan by then was the "god of this world" (2 Corinthians 4:4) with a multitude of demonic beings under his command, and you can bet that the whole multitude of them was present somewhere near the tomb that day to try to keep Jesus in the grave. Of course as already mentioned, Jesus had prophesied in perfect FAITH that He would be raised up on the third day (Matthew 16:21, Mark 9:9 and John 2:19) and whatever Jesus said came to pass even though the devil obstructed Him every step of the way.

So many things happened that day because of the RESURRECTION including, just to name a few, the re-installation of the Kingdom of God on the earth (Matthew 3:2), REDEMPTION from the curse of the Law (Galatians 3:13), and the installation of a NEW COVENANT in which mankind was reconciled to a LOVING God (Colossians 2:20). But narrowing all that down to the topic of our finances, open your Bibles and take a look with me at 2 Corinthians 8:9

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich."

Now contrary to traditional religious teaching which goes on to this day, Jesus was NOT poor and He never taught that poverty was/is a virtue while He was pursuing His ministry on the earth. No, it can be easily shown in scripture that Jesus had money in His ministry, that He had valuable personal possessions and that He was a property owner. Also, if you check back in the Old Testament in the Chapter 28 of the Book of Deuteronomy you'll find that poverty was part of the CURSE of the Law and according to scripture Jesus has REDEEMED us from the CURSE of the Law (Galatians 3:13). To teach that Jesus embraced something from the CURSE that men experienced because of the sin of disobeying God disrespects Jesus and cheapens what He accomplished. No friend, He's REDEEMED us from the CURSE so we don't have to be poor and neither was He.

Another traditional religious teaching is that the above scripture 2 Corinthians 8:9 is talking about being rich in the next life. But the truth is in Chapters 8 and 9 the Apostle Paul was talking about taking up an offering. The context is about accumulating money in the present for the benefit of other Christians. Read it for yourself. He wasn't talking about some ethereal future time in heaven when we won't even need money; he was talking about the present when we DO need money and he was talking about our ability to obtain wealth by grace through faith because of what Jesus accomplished at Calvary.

So then if He had funds in His ministry, when did Jesus   become poor like it says in 2 Corinthians 8:9? Friend, He became poor when He was hanging on the Cross shedding His blood and giving up His life for you and me. Did He not give up everything? And because of His RESURRECTION we who believe have now been set free from the CURSE of poverty and insufficiency and lack, and there're no limits on what we can accomplish except those we put on ourselves and the ones we allow the devil to put on us. Manmade Religion is wrong: Jesus became poor so that we can be FINANCIALLY rich now in this life and that's true because the Word of God says it.

But are we to become rich so we can accumulate a lot of possessions? NO and again NO: that's false teaching on the other side of the topic because the Bible says that the purpose of our wealth is to participate in the expansion of the Kingdom of God on the earth and to BLESS OTHERS (Deuteronomy 8:18 with 2 Corinthians 9:8). If you've learned to pursue a LOVING lifestyle, you'll also use your wealth to benefit the Kingdom of God and others instead of using it on yourself. The more your LOVE has been perfected, the more God can trust you with His riches. He wants you to be rich more than you want it but it has to be for the right reasons, it has to be on His terms. The RESURRECTION made it possible; now we have to learn how to receive our inheritance.   

Thanks for dropping by today and we hope this article has blessed you in a special way. We'll be looking for you again in three weeks on April 29. In the meantime ask the Lord to help you with your ongoing pursuit of a LOVING LIFESTYLE.

Sinners' Prayer

If you've never invited Jesus to be the Lord of your life, you need to and you can do it today just by saying out loud the following simple prayer:

Jesus I declare today with all my heart that I believe in you and that God raised you from the dead. I receive forgiveness for my sins and I ask you to come into my life today and be my Lord and Savior. Thank you for salvation and eternal life.

If you were sincere as you prayed this prayer, God has already come into your life and you are a new creation, a totally new species recreated in His image. Now ask the Lord to lead you to a good faith-based, bible-teaching church where you can be equipped to fulfill your potential in the Kingdom of God.

Prayer Requests

If you have a Prayer Request, please connect to the Link below and follow the promptings. The PLN staff members pray over Prayer Requests every Tuesday morning at 10:00 AM eastern time. God bless you.

http://www.creditcounseling.net/prayer-request.aspx

About Prosperous Life Newsletter

PLN is an outreach ministry of Make A Way Ministries located in Miami, Florida. It is in its 14th continuous year of publication and has been published faithfully every third Friday since January 1998. It's an e-publication primarily about finances in the Kingdom of God and is sent ONLY to our email list of members. If you're reading this and aren't yet on our growing email list, please let us know and we'll be so very happy to add you.