As we continue this new series please keep in mind that the reason we're calling it Prosperity School 101 is to emphasize that many Believers need to go back to SCHOOL and renew their minds about finances in the Kingdom of God. For whatever reason, a whole bunch of us have some ideas about this subject that disagree with what the Word says and when that happens it's usually because we haven't studied our Bibles enough to find out what It really says about it. If we rely on other people to tell us what the Truth is instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to help us uncover it for ourselves, we stand a good chance of becoming misinformed.

Here are just a few popular beliefs about money and finances that Scripture doesn't support:

It is virtuous to be poor.

It is better to be poor than rich.

It is impossible for rich people to be committed Christians.

Good stewardship means we aspire to live life as cheaply as possible.

God uses money to teach us things.

God withholds money from us to teach us things.

God is responsible for financial lack and shortage.

The Bible does NOT teach that we're to be PROSPEROUS.

The PROSPERITY MESSAGE is always bad.

I just need to wait for God's PROSPERITY to happen to me without having to actually do anything.

God Wants Believers to Prosper

The Truth is God really DOES want Believers to PROSPER. In fact, Jesus shed His blood on a Cross so that among other things we would be able to connect to His PROSPERITY by GRACE through FAITH. That's the way the Kingdom of God works under the New Covenant. Indeed, even under the Old Covenant God gave His people the power to obtain wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18). So why do so many of us now believe that He withholds that power under the New Covenant when the Word says it's a BETTER Covenant with better promises (Hebrews 8:6)? And that's an especially pertinent question in the light of the following New Testament scripture:

"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" (2 Corinthians 8:9).

As I've written before about this verse, so many Christians read it and think it must be talking about the riches of something really, really spiritual, anything but money. In fact, many of us have been taught in our local churches that it's absolutely NOT about lowly money as a way of explaining why so many of us experience chronic financial lack and insufficiency. But the Apostle Paul was taking up an offering when he wrote this verse and the Greek word behind it is clearly talking about financial riches. It doesn't say that every Believer is going to be rich. It simply says that it's available by GRACE and as hopefully you already know by now, the only way to connect to the GRACE of God is through FAITH.

We Participate in Obtaining the Wealth

Let's expand on this idea: most Believers in the Body of Christ these days are either languishing in the seeming inevitability of their poverty or they're just sitting around confessing that they're PROSPEROUS while they wait passively for God to drop some money in their laps. They're not going after their PROSPERITY and they don't even realize they've already been given the power/ability to obtain it. But there's a consistent financial principle that runs throughout the Bible from the Garden to Revelation: God equips Believers with the ability to obtain wealth but there's almost ALWAYS something we have to do to make it manifest in our lives. He's usually NOT going to do our work for us. No, He equips us and He helps us as we're faithful to apply by FAITH what we've been given.

One thing to consider is that every Believer on the face of the earth has the Holy Spirit residing within him/her, co-joined to our human spirit-man that's been totally born again and REGENERATED by GRACE through FAITH. The Holy Spirit knows everything there is to know including how each of us can take possession of our PROSPERITY, and a major part of His job is to TEACH us how to do it. God wants you to be PROSPEROUS and has EVEN sent His Holy Spirit to help you get it! So what you have to do is aggressively pursue a close relationship with the Holy Spirit so you can HEAR and SEE directly from Him exactly what you need to do to go about releasing your FAITH to receive AND USE your abundance.  

Unfortunately MOST Believers do NOT really believe that God wants them to be PROSPEROUS. In fact, they MEDITATE on their insufficiency to the point that it becomes their reality instead of what the Word of God says. They're so accustomed to being poor they're afraid to SEE themselves as PROSPEROUS. Instead of releasing their FAITH for PROSPERITY they focus on their lack and then use those circumstances to explain their financial limitations.

But as I said last week, this subject of PROSPERITY is not about you and me. No, it's about the Kingdom. God needs for Believers to stop being lazy and selfish and realize that His purpose for our PROSPERITY is to establish His Covenant on the earth. We do that by making it possible for every non-believer on the earth to at least hear that there's some Good News to make a decision about so that finally Jesus can return and begin His physical reign on the earth. In short, the Kingdom of God needs for Believers to receive their end-time harvest of finances not to consume on themselves but to pay for the end time harvest of souls.

If you're not believing for PROSPERITY, if you're not studying the Word of God so you can become a better and more PROSPEROUS steward, then you're selfishly ducking your responsibilities. You've allowed the enemy to keep you involved in the World and focused on the wrong things in life to make you believe you're not ever supposed to be PROSPEROUS. Read it for yourself instead of letting someone tell you that it's okay to be poor.

In conclusion, God has provided all around us an endless array of opportunities to become PROSPEROUS but you have to look for them and then SEE them by FAITH. If we focus all the time on our negative circumstances, we won't be able to SEE the opportunities. We ALREADY have the ability to convert those opportunities into PROSPERITY and we have the Holy Spirit available to help us learn how to do it. So now what needs to happen is that we stop settling in life for anything less than the PROSPERITY God wants us to have. Yes, we DO have to do something to help make it happen and it's not just going to just drop on us one day without some effort. But it's not very hard to do once we accept and believe that God really DOES love us and wants us to be PROSPEROUS. Amen.

Thanks for stopping by tonight. We'll be looking for you again next Sunday night on October 28. In the meantime may the Lord bless you with every spiritual blessing and cause you to PROSPER in every area of life.

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 acknowledge that my sins have been forgiven 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've done by saying this prayer today and believing what you said:

Romans 10:9

2 Corinthians 5:17

Ephesians 2:8

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. Agree with us for God to answer your petition.

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

Donations

If you've been edified by Prosperous Life Newsletter, you may want to 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'll be eligible to reap a harvest and the rest is up to you as the 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

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