Greetings in the Name of Jesus and welcome to the PLN Sunday Night Bible Fellowship!

 

Tonight's message is about using the POWER of THANKSGIVING to come to the place in your Christian walk where you can actually SEE what the Father is doing and saying just like Jesus did. Remember Jesus said He never did or said anything until He had already SEEN the Father do it (John 5:19). And if we are to ever do better works than Jesus (John 14:12), won't we have to be like Him and SEE what the Father is doing?

 

Last week we began discussing the importance of learning to stay close to God. Indeed, Scripture says "the nearness of God is my good" (Psalm 73:28) so we should want to always stay near Him. Indeed, if we're going to SEE what He's doing, it stands to reason that we'll have to stay close to Him. Unfortunately though most of us spend a lot of our time wandering around in the wilderness somewhere seemingly separated from the Lord and wondering where He's gone off to. The truth is He didn't GO anywhere and if we're having trouble finding Him, guess who actually DID go off somewhere and wound up lost in the wrong place again?

 

The Bible says God will NEVER leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5) but WE can go off on our own for a while trying our own things, seeking our own solutions, etc. and that will usually create a sense of separation. But the Holy Spirit is always where He's supposed to be waiting for us to PERCEIVE where that is so we can come there and receive His instruction (John 14:26) and disclosure (John 16:13). He's not hiding or playing games. In fact, He's real serious. Even when we're wandering around He's working to draw us back to where we're supposed to be so we can feel close again, receive His ministry and follow Him out of the wilderness. He's not going to chase us around; we have to come to Him willing to do things His way. We have to want to receive what He has for us that will REPLACE everything we've been trying to do on our own.

 

We ARE sons of God and we're supposed to be Spirit-led (Romans 8:14). In other words, the Holy Spirit is available to lead and guide and teach and disclose the Kingdom of God to Believers on a continuous basis and we PERCEIVE His presence by the reborn and redeemed spirit part of us. The problem that arises is that a lot of us are pretty much dedicated to trying to find our own way by the Flesh. A person who spends a lot of time in the Flesh is someone who relies primarily on the five physical senses to get through life instead of walking by FAITH in the Spirit.  So, if we're DEPENDING on our physical senses to get things done it's not going to be possible for us to be near enough to hear what He's trying to tell us.

 

In sum, it's impossible to stay CLOSE to God if we're determined to live out of the Flesh. Invariably we go off in the wrong direction and wind up in the wrong place. So, if we want God's best in our lives we need to figure out how to walk in the spirit so we can stay close to Him. The problem is that at first it doesn't seem so easy to actually DO that. In fact, for a lot of my own Christian life I've struggled with how to actually walk in the spirit and I'm guessing that a lot of other folks have too. I always wanted to be in the Spirit because I could see the benefits of it, but somehow I always wound up in the Flesh worrying about my trials instead of trusting in the Lord.   

 

Remembering the Principle of Refocusing

 

What I finally learned and have tried to point out in previous articles is that a major issue in Christian life is our tendency to focus on the wrong things. We focus on all our trials and problems and worry about how we're going to escape them when the Word says to focus on Him and give Him our concerns so He can EXALT us (out of our problems) at the proper time (1 Peter 5:6-7, 10). We've not been equipped to successfully carry the burden of our own problems nor have we been equipped to figure out our own escape routes. No, we're supposed to exchange our burdens (trials, problems, concerns, anxieties, etc.) for GRACE through FAITH. That GRACE is the empowerment we need to overcome the burdens in the supernatural by being Spirit-led through FAITH instead of trying to do it in the natural by the FLESH. The way in the supernatural is ALWAYS successful; the other one in the natural is NEVER successful.

 

The challenge is to refocus. I need to come into agreement with the Word and focus on the Lord and what He's doing instead of focusing on my trials. According to the Word of God I actually have a responsibility when the devil confronts me with fear and worry to RESIST Him and send all that worry and wrong focus over to the Lord. If instead I passively allow the fear to stay with me like a lot of Believers do then I'm out of agreement with the Word. Jesus has ALREADY paid for my problems, they belong to Him, they're His property and I need to let Him have them. Why should I allow the devil to influence me to worry about problems that belong to Jesus? He knows what to do with them and I don't.

 

When it comes to the Kingdom of God, what at first seems so hard to do is actually way more simple than we usually think. The Word tells us what to do so we have to find the relevant instructions for ourselves and then be willing to come into agreement with them. If the Word says to do something like casting my anxieties on Christ, then I want to do that as fast as I can. And I have to accept by FAITH that I am fully able to do it because the Word of God says to do it. So then I go into the Word looking for the GRACE (the empowerments) that God has left there for me to use. The Word would not tell me to do something and then fail to provide me with the means to accomplish it.

 

Many Christians have been trying their whole lives to cast their worries on the Lord with little success. They never have PEACE in their lives and have lost many hours of sleep because they worry all the time and they accept it as a condition of life. But in this series I'm trying to make the point that GIVING THANKS is one of the main ways God has given us to shift our focus off our problems and over to Him. If we start THANKING the Lord for everything we can think of that He's already done for us and has promised to do for in the future, the focus we used to have on our problems will shift over to Him so He can exalt us out of our problems. With a little practice, the refocus WILL happen and the PEACE that passes all understanding Philippians 4:7) will also come.

 

SEE What the Father's Doing      

 

Jesus had advanced this focusing principle to the point, as already mentioned, that He didn't DO anything until He'd first SEEN the Father do it (John 5:19). How could He SEE the Father doing anything? Our first reaction might be to say, "Jesus must have had some supernatural way to SEE the Father that we don't have access to." But keep in mind that Jesus was FULLY human even as He was fully God. The only way we regular people could do such a thing is by FAITH. Well, Jesus who was also fully human, the same as we are, worked by FAITH too. How do you think He cursed the fig tree and caused it to wither and die (Mark 11:13-14, 20-23) except by the power of His FAITH? In fact, Jesus gave credit for ALL His supernatural works to the act of SEEING His Father do them. He SAW them by FAITH and then He did them. Jesus who was RIGHTEOUS worked by FAITH: indeed, FAITH and RIGHTEOUSNESS have always gone together throughout the Scripture starting with Abel (Hebrews 11:4). FAITH is the ONLY thing that pleases God (Hebrews 11:6) and Jesus knew how to please His Father.

 

In sum, Jesus' way of being Spirit-led 2000 years ago was to SEE what the Father was doing and then He knew exactly what to do in His own life. Today, I have the Spirit of Christ within me and so do you. I have His FAITH in me and I have His spiritual eyesight in me as well. The ability and power to do everything Jesus did and even greater works than those lie within each Believer BECAUSE the Holy Spirit makes it possible (John 14:12). By focusing on His works and being GRATEFUL for everything He's doing instead of grumbling and complaining all the time, we can learn to use our FAITH to watch Him working. You can even WATCH as He works on your problem, as He fashions your way out into a NEW place, as He gives you more GRACE and as He perfects, establishes, strengthens and settles you (1 Peter 5:10). And as you SEE Him working you can be witnessing and speaking and agreeing with what He's doing by FAITH instead of focusing on your problems. And as you watch what He's doing, before you know it you won't even notice your problems anymore.

 

Thanks for stopping by tonight. We'll be looking for you again NEXT Sunday night on May 11. In the meantime may the Lord bless you with every spiritual blessing, compelling 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 

 

About Prosperous Life Newsletter

 

PLN is an outreach ministry of Make A Way Ministries domiciled in Miami, Florida. It is in its 17th year of distribution and has been published continuously 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 MINISTRY 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 to the list.

 

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