We're so glad you joined us tonight as we continue our discussion on the subject of biblical PROSPERITY. As you probably know by now PROSPERITY is not a bad word because it's a bible word and it's mentioned there more than 90 times in a positive context as something special that God has for Believers. The simple definition of it is SUCCESS: God wants you and me to be SUCCESSFUL in every area of life: spirit, soul and body because He loves us and because PROSPERITY equips us to be able to help Him carry out the work of His Kingdom. Unless otherwise noted both in the Bible and in this Newsletter, the word PROSPERITY includes the idea of financial success.
Now we've made the point before that some folks are nervous about using the word PROSPERITY and that happens for several reasons even though it's a GIFT from God. One of them is that we often confuse this Bible word with MATERIALISM and they're not the same. Jesus warned us not to get into MATERIALISM which has worldly priorities and connections. But PROSPERITY is from God and has Kingdom priorities and connections. Indeed, God wants us to understand the difference so we can choose PROSPERITY and pursue that instead of MATERIALISM.
A second thing that makes people nervous is that back a few decades ago there was some shaky teaching going on around the Body of Christ that prominently focused on the word PROSPERITY. I've already shared with you in previous articles some of the experiences we had with Christian radio stations that had quietly banned the use of this great Bible word on their local programming. But shaky teaching doesn't change the Truth and shouldn't change our perspective of bible-based principles. We should throw out the bad teaching and keep the bible principles. PROSPERITY will continue to be a Bible Word and we should be AGREEING with the Word instead of trying to find ways to DISAGREE.
And still a third concern is that most of the Bible uses of the word PROSPERITY are found in the Old Testament. In fact there's an established theology around that PROSPERITY was only for the old covenant folks and that it was replaced under the New Covenant with the virtues of poverty, humility and suffering that lead to the spiritual prosperity of eternal life with Christ. The problem with that is there're no scriptures to support such a transition of God's priorities and that's especially true where our finances are concerned. Think about it for a moment:
Since God is specifically the One who gave people the ability to obtain wealth in the Old Covenant (Deuteronomy 8:18), does it make sense for us to say now under a better covenant (Hebrews 8:6) that He who never changes (Hebrews 13:8) abruptly changed His thinking after the Cross of Calvary and without telling us about it in Scripture went back to the curse of INSUFFICIENCY (Deuteronomy 28:48) even though Jesus had just given His life to RESCUE us from that ENTIRE Curse (Galatians 3:13)?
It's Not About Us
One of the reasons we have so many unscriptural traditions and beliefs about this subject is that a bunch of us don't fully comprehend that the PROSPERITY God wants us to have is not for us to consume on ourselves according to our own agendas. In other words even though God loves us, we aren't the center of attention where PROSPERITY is concerned. Indeed, from the old covenants with Adam, Noah, Abraham and Moses until now, God's main purpose for wealth and PROSPERITY has been to increase His Kingdom on the earth. It's not about giving us lives of personal accumulation and luxury even though some of that may actually happen to us just because we subordinate our personal priorities to His. The yielding of ourselves works to connect us to His GRACE and it's by GRACE through FAITH that ALL things get done in both the Kingdom of God and in our personal lives as well. In short, that's the way the Kingdom is set up: ALL things work through GRACE by FAITH.
When we demonstrate our willingness to seek the Kingdom of God as our first priority (Matthew 6:33), we'll find that we're increasingly able to connect to His GRACE through FAITH. Both GRACE and FAITH are required to receive PROSPERITY, and as we've discussed in previous articles GRACE is the empowerment we need to accomplish His purposes for the Kingdom while FAITH is the act of trusting in God's promises. He's ALREADY released ALL the GRACE we need to overcome any of life's hindrances and to make available ALL the PROSPERITY we need, and then we have to empower our FAITH by hearing the Word with understanding (Romans 10:17). God's PROSPERITY does NOT come to people with weak FAITH even though the GRACE for it was ALREADY released 2000 years ago. When we get our priorities right we WILL spend time in the Word because we love God and we want to please Him with our increasing FAITH (Hebrews 11:6) and as we do that we become increasingly able to connect to His GRACE so we can receive our PROSPERITY to be used in the Kingdom according to His priorities.
God Is Not Holding Out
If you're having trouble tonight connecting to your PROSPERITY, it's not God who's making things difficult. No, God has ALREADY released ALL His GRACE which includes our PROSPERITY, SUCCESS and ABUNDANCE and all we have to do is connect to it through FAITH. If you're a Believer you no longer have to look for the Promised Land because the Promised Land has come to you! The following scripture when you think about it for awhile should make it abundantly clear once and for all that God wants you to have it:
"He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him FREELY give us all things?" (Romans 8:32).
Whatever you're seeking from God tonight He's ALREADY released it for you and He's encouraging you by the Holy Spirit to go for it and TAKE it through FAITH. The GRACE is ALREADY there but we have to pursue it and then connect to it through FAITH. How do we do that? By first making our FAITH strong enough to make the connection. How do we make our FAITH strong? By seeking a closer relationship with Christ through His Word. It is through Christ that God FREELY gives all things. How well do you know Jesus tonight because if you're in Him you can FREELY receive all things? FREELY means "without reservation or a second thought and without restriction." FREELY means He hasn't put any limits on it. And the truth is all things have ALREADY been given; it's all us Believers who've been slow on the RECEIVING end of this issue.
Take a moment to reflect on the observation that according to this scripture God sent His own Son to the Cross. Yes, you could say that God "allowed" it to happen because He didn't actually do the work of putting Jesus on the Cross and He could have stopped it if He'd wanted to. But this translation (NAS) says that He "delivered Him over" to those who actually did the physical work of the crucifixion which makes God actively involved in the process. He did that for you and me and if He would do that then the point here is how can Believers doubt that God wants us to have and use and enjoy anything we've got the FAITH to receive. He hasn't held back anything; indeed, He has FREELY given ALL things. All we have to do is go for it!
Thanks for stopping by tonight. We'll be looking for you again NEXT Sunday night March 24, 2013. In the meantime RECEIVE every spiritual blessing causing you to PROSPER not only in finances but 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 Savior and Lord. 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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