Greetings in the Name of Jesus!

As we discussed last week THANKSGIVING was specially designed by our loving Creator God to help the New Testament Church connect to His prosperity, success and victory. We've pretty much overlooked its potential to make a difference in our lives because we've seen THANKSGIVING as a religious responsibility that we have for the purpose of honoring God. And while it's never wrong to honor Him, to put Him first in our lives, we've missed one of His main purposes for it which is to bless us with EMPOWERMENT and GRACE.

Let's start once again by reviewing the main scriptures from the New Testament that speak so specifically about this special subject:

1 Corinthians 15:57 - Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Christ.

2 Corinthians 2:14 - Thanks be to God who always causes us to triumph in Christ.

Ephesians 5:20 - Give thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Colossians 1:12 - Give thanks to the Father for the inheritance we have received.

Colossians 2:7 - We are to be firmly rooted in Christ, established in our faith and overflowing with thanksgiving.

Colossians 3:17 - In all that we do we are to do it in the name of Jesus giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

Colossians 4:2 - We are to devote ourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 - It is God's WILL for us who are in Christ that we give thanks for everything.

1 Timothy 4:4 - Everything created by God is good and should be received with thanksgiving.

Hebrews 13:15 - Let us continually give thanks to the name of Jesus.

Now you'll note that being THANKFUL to God is appropriate to do without regard for what's going on in our lives. The Bible doesn't say to be THANKFUL only when everything's going great. No, we must come to be genuinely THANKFUL no matter what's happening, even in the midst of a storm or a tribulation or a tragedy, even when everything seems to be going against us. And, when you think about it we're either THANKFUL or we're UN-thankful; there's no in-between those two alternatives. When we're not being THANKFUL then we are by default UN-thankful; and if we're UN-thankful we open the door to our enemy the Destroyer (1 Corinthians 10:10). So friend this is something we need to start taking note of. Our THANKSGIVING can be a source of POWER, but UNGRATEFULNESS connects us to weakness and defeat.

The Work of the Destroyer

The Bible says that the enemy comes ONLY to steal and kill and destroy (John 10:10). He doesn't ever do anything else outside of those three main areas and up to a point he's pretty much an expert at it. Indeed only by our FAITH in the NAME of Jesus are we able to cope with it, but by TRUSTING in that NAME we can overcome whatever this enemy tries to throw at us. That's the way the New Covenant is set up: WE ALWAYS WIN EVERY TRIAL (1 Corinthians 15:57 and 2 Corinthians 2:14). But there's a challenge to deal with which is that the devil is also an expert at lying and deceiving. Indeed, he uses that expertise to try to trick us into believing we're losing a particular battle even though those two scriptures say we ALWAYS win. If we eventually come to BELIEVE we're losing despite what the Word of God clearly says, the cause of it will be that our FAITH is wavering and whenever there's wavering FAITH, there will always be FEAR.

Surely the time we're living through right now is the most pronounced time of FEAR the world has ever seen. Most people including a lot of Christians are closely focused on a whole list of things to be afraid of including wars and conflicts, the weather, global warming, earthquakes, tornados, tsunamis, hard economic times, the stock market, falling real estate prices, sickness and disease, insurrection, terrorism, etc. And in case we fall behind in the up-to-the-moment status of all these situations, all we have to do is turn on the TV news or go to the Internet to get the latest updates so we can revitalize our FEAR. The TRUTH is Jesus already told us that in these end times all this would be happening so it shouldn't come as any particular surprise if we've been paying as much attention to the Word as we have the TV news:

"There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world..." (Luke 21:26).

The work of the Destroyer is to get us to exchange our FAITH for his FEAR even though the Bible clearly says we're supposed to live by FAITH (Romans 1:17). But, are we not surrounded by all these huge storms everywhere we look? The answer to that question is: it depends on what we're looking at. To illustrate this, one day Jesus and His disciples went into a ship to go over to the other side of the lake and as they were sailing there Jesus fell asleep. After a while a wind storm came up and the boat started filling with water but Jesus continued to sleep. That's when the disciples in FEAR came and woke Him so He would know they were all about to die. Jesus rebuked the wind, the storm calmed and He asked them a question which still applies today in the midst of the storms that are all around us: "where is your faith?" (Luke 8:22-25). The disciples had been focused on the storm but in desperation when they moved their focus over to Jesus, the storm ceased. You see, it's impossible to keep your eyes on Jesus by FAITH and be in FEAR at the same time. If you're not paying any attention to the storms, you won't be in FEAR.

Overcoming FEAR

If you're experiencing FEAR in your life, keep in mind that the Bible tells us repeatedly not to be fearful. So we have a responsibility to RESIST it when it tries to come on us. FEAR is a spirit, a really bad spirit, and it NEVER comes from God (2 Timothy 1:7) which is why we have to RESIST it. God wouldn't tell us to do something we aren't able to do, so we've been given all the authority and power we need to successfully RESIST and OVERCOME it. Here's a short list of how we do it:

1.  First, we confess our FEAR to the Lord and ask for His enlightenment.

2.  Then we confront the FEAR to confirm which storm it came from.

3. Third we speak to that storm in the NAME of Jesus and command it to cease its influence in our

     lives.

4.  Fourth we put our eyes back on Jesus by putting them in the Word.

5.  Then we pursue a closer relationship with the Lord through spending time together.

6.  And finally we close the door to the Destroyer by resuming our THANKSGIVING to God.

You see, giving THANKS to God in the midst of the storm is an act of FAITH. As we re-establish our FAITH, the FEAR has to flee. And it works this way because FAITH strengthens our personal relationship with the Father. To TRUST Him for His victory is to become closer to Him which is what He was wanting all the time. The Truth that's so hard for most of us to admit is that we've not been created to function successfully separated from God and the FEAR has been sent by the enemy to separate us from the Lord. But by TRUSTING and drawing close to Him we admit our helplessness, our inability to deal with all the storms in our own strength and our willingness to live in dependence on Him.

Friend, God LOVES every person on the earth and every person who has ever been or will be on the earth. What He asks is that we LOVE Him back (Matthew 22:37). By our ever-maturing LOVE for Him, FEAR is cast down (1 John 4:18) and it has to depart from us because the Word says so. And by our matured LOVE, our FAITH is strengthened (1 Corinthians 13:2) so we can live lives of abundance and victory. Genuine, sincere THANKSGIVING to God will make it possible of you to overcome FEAR. Instead of looking at the storms, focus on all the things God has done for you and you WILL soon be overflowing with THANKSGIVING (Colossians 2:7).         

Thanks for dropping by tonight. We'll be looking for you again next Sunday night, February 12and we hope you'll join us each week as we continue to study for a while the subject of THANKSGIVING. May God bless you and your family with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3).

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.

And, when you get a chance have someone help you look up the following scriptures because they confirm what you have done today by saying this prayer and believing what you said:

Romans 10:9

2 Corinthians 5:17

Ephesians 2:8

Donations

If you've been edified by Prosperous Life Newsletter, would you consider making a SEED FAITH offering to support the Ministry (Galatians 6:6-7)? God has instructed us to simply provide folks with an opportunity to sow seed into good ground so in due season you can reap a harvest and the rest is up to you as the Holy Spirit leads. For your information PLN is a nonprofit gift to the Body of Christ so your financial offerings will usually be tax deductible (consult your tax advisor). Just go to the secure Shopping Cart on the Cornerstone web site by connecting through the following link. We appreciate your support and generosity.

http://www.creditcounseling.net/shop/item.aspx?itemid=1

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