Greetings in the Name of Jesus and welcome to the PLN Sunday Night Bible Fellowship:
We're so glad you joined us tonight as we continue our study on the bible word PROSPERITY. As discussed previously a lot of folks have a wrong idea about this word because in the past it's been incorrectly used and connected to some unbalanced teaching. But as pointed out last week the Holy Spirit is the One who came up with this word and caused it to be mentioned in Scripture more than 90 times almost always in a positive context. Therefore it's not something we should lightly throw out because there's a special anointing on that particular word that has special purpose for God's people. Indeed, there's nothing God ever does that's without purpose; and since PROSPERITY is His word, there's special purpose attached to it that we should be trying to understand instead of throwing it out.
In sum, PROSPERITY is something God wants us to have and possess and enjoy according to His purposes which we can find in His Word along with the instructions for how to find it. A lot of people think PROSPERITY is all about financial success but that's only part of the story because true biblical PROSPERITY is about coming into a state of complete PEACE and well-being in one's life where there's nothing missing or broken in any area of life: spirit, soul or body. It's made available to us supernaturally by GRACE which we connect to through FAITH (Romans 4:16) and not by works and that makes it an undeserved benefit. So we don't come into PROSPERITY because of any good deeds we've performed but because of what Jesus did which makes it a matter of Covenant between God and His people in Christ. Accordingly what we have to do is learn how to make use of the GRACE; we do that by spiritual PERCEPTION and then appropriate the PROSPERITY by FAITH.
Now the devil is doing his best to try to separate us from our PROSPERITY and over the past twenty centuries he's been pretty successful at it. God made it available by GRACE two thousand years ago but the devil's become an expert at setting up all kinds of obstacles to keep us from connecting to it. In addition, we allow our unredeemed Flesh nature to be commandeered by this adversary and used against our best interests, and we wind up going out in our own strength INTO THE WORLD looking for our PROSPERITY. We'll never find true PROSPERITY in the World because it's only available in the Kingdom of God when we're abiding in Christ (John 15:7) so He can do the heavy lifting. We're not equipped to do heavy lifting which is why the Flesh ALWAYS fails. Indeed, the result of all the devil's efforts all these years has been that far fewer Christians than it ought to be make it into the fullness of their PROSPERITY while they're here on this earth.
The Requirement of Abiding in Christ
And so, one of the basic keys we need to learn about for connecting to PROSPERITY is abiding in Christ. Our Flesh doesn't want to abide there and is only too eager to listen to some suggestions from the enemy to get out of it because abiding in Christ requires FAITH. So how do we reach the point where we can actually abide IN Him? The answer to this question is at the end of the same verse, John 15:7: we can/will abide in Him IF His WORDS abide in us. And how will His WORDS come to abide in us? Friend, the principal way for that to happen is by studying, meditating on and eventually UNDERSTANDING the Word of God. In other words, the WORDS of Christ who is the Word (John 1:1) come to reside in us because we have FOCUSED on His WORD as a high priority in life. In short, abiding in Christ REQUIRES that His words abide in us, and that requires that we FOCUS on His WORD.
Indeed, God's plan for Believers is that after we're born again, we begin studying the Word and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to us by FAITH what we need to know in order to grow and succeed in the Kingdom of God. FAITH increases/grows by hearing the Word with understanding (Romans 10:17) and there's an important principle about FAITH that we need to CONSIDER: it requires that we look at things that can't be seen in the natural. If you can see something with your physical eyes, FAITH isn't required to perceive it and the Bible says that those things are temporal. Therefore, the Word of God clearly instructs us to keep FOCUSED on the eternal things of the Kingdom of God that can't be seen in the natural (2 Corinthians 4:18, 5:7).
If we neglect FOCUSING on the Word we won't grow and what little of it we do initially hear with our physical ears will be stolen by the enemy before we can understand and SEE it (Matthew 13:19). The result is an inability to perceive spiritual things which is called in Scripture "hardness of heart" (Matthew 13:15). As we discussed last week, If our hearts (inner thinking) are hardened our spiritual perception will be limited and if our spiritual perception is limited, how are we going to be able to SEE with our spiritual eyes the empowerment (GRACE) that God has released all around us to help us overcome our trials and tribulations? How are we going to be able to HEAR the voice of the Holy Spirit when He's warning us to avoid some trap of the enemy up ahead that will lead us into some major trial? How many of the trials we're now experiencing, which many folks are blaming God for, came about because we weren't able to HEAR the voice of warning or PERCEIVE the enemy's trap when it first contended with us? And if our spiritual perception is limited, how are we going to be able to ABIDE in Christ? And if we can't ABIDE in Christ, how are we ever going to be able to connect to His PROSPERITY?
The Example of the Disciples
The initial twelve disciples of Christ all had their own problems with "hardness of heart" and they consequently suffered from an inability to PERCEIVE spiritual things. For example just after Jesus fed the 5,000 men (Mark 6:44), which was probably more like 15,000 people including women and children, with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish the disciples were "astonished" to see Him later that same evening walking on the water to get to their boat. The Bible says they were "astonished" because they hadn't gained any insight from the incident of the loaves and their hearts were hardened (Mark 6:52). In other words, having just seen a humongous miracle performed that fed all those people, how was it possible that they were so "astonished" to see Him merely walking on some water only a few hours later? The Greek equivalent in the WORD is that the disciples hadn't CONSIDERED the spiritual aspects of the "miracle of the loaves." Another word for CONSIDERED in this verse would be FOCUSED: the disciples had not FOCUSED on what had happened that day, they had not CONSIDERED that God had performed a great miracle that could only be understood on a spiritual level by FAITH that was beyond their ability to understand in the natural. They saw what happened with their natural eyes but they didn't PERCEIVE the greater thing that happened by the Spirit.
And another example can be found in Mark 8:1-21 after Jesus had performed another miracle by feeding the 4,000 with 7 loaves and a few small fish. After having seen the second feeding miracle, the disciples just a few hours later were discussing among themselves their concern that they had no bread to eat for their own dinner. Jesus overhearing their discussion asked them why they would be discussing such a thing after what they had just seen with their own eyes, and then He asked them the following key questions: "Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart?" Let's just say that Jesus was a tad peeved with His disciples. He had been working closely with them for a period of time and they had listened to Him speak every day. And every word that came out of Jesus' mouth was the WORD of God with the power to change lives and to bring miracles and life. They had already seen a previous feeding miracle and now a second one but the disciples could still not trust God for a miracle of provision for their own bread. In frustration Jesus went on to say,
"Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember...do you not yet understand" (Mark 8:18, 21)?
All of the disciples had PERCEPTION problems but eventually eleven of the original twelve went on to be the Apostles of the first century Church that turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). They went from disciples who couldn't PERCEIVE spiritual things to the Apostles whom God used to perform great signs and wonders and oversee the installation of a New Covenant. How did such a change occur? We need to understand this because it bears directly on our own need to overcome hardness of heart so God can use us to change the world we're facing. What were the changes that the disciples experienced to become Apostles?
1. Jesus departed physically from them after the Crucifixion so their continuing relationship with Him was converted from the natural to the unseen supernatural. They had to start living by FAITH and relating to Christ on a Spirit to spirit level.
2. The Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost and the disciples individually received His empowerment through GRACE by FAITH and became Apostles.
3. The Apostles listened to the Holy Spirit and lovingly obeyed His instructions. There were no doubts; there was only trust and FAITH.
4. The Apostles presented themselves as living sacrifices, acceptable to God and ready to serve Him however He needed them to be.
5. The Apostles came out of the World system and became dedicated to a new system in the Kingdom of God. They were transformed as the Holy Spirit spoke the Word of God to them so they could be renewed.
The requirements for overcoming hardness of heart are still about the same. We need to FOCUS on these same things the disciples had to focus on so we can improve our own spiritual PERCEPTION just like they did and achieve the purposes God has for us in His Kingdom. As we do that we will connect to His PROSPERITY because PROSPERITY in life is essentially the full empowerment to ACCOMPLISH everything in life God has called and purposed for us to do. As I've said repeatedly, PROSPERITY is not just about finances but finances are included. We can't establish His covenant without finances. We can't bless other people who're less fortunate unless we're blessed financially. But biblical PROSPERITY transcends our finances and incorporates whatever is necessary to serve God sacrificially as He requires.
So, what have you been FOCUSING on lately? Have God and His Word had your full attention or have you been too wrapped up in the concerns of the World? Are you listening for the still, quiet voice of the Holy Spirit or have you ignored Him until after you had gotten yourself into some kind of trouble? Have you been FOCUSING on your problems and circumstances or upon Jesus and His Kingdom? It's all about your FOCUS. It's all about what you're CONSIDERING, what you're MEDITATING on and where you're priorities are. The good news tonight is that all you have to do is FOCUS on the right things and you will PERCEIVE and you will APPROPRIATE all the wonderful PROSPERITY God has for you.
Thanks for dropping by tonight. We'll be looking for you again next Sunday evening, May 5 and we hope you'll join us each week as we continue studying the subject of bible-based PROSPERITY. Until then may God bless you and your family with the total PROSPERITY of Christ!
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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