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

 

All this year, for six full months now, we've been delving into the idea that in the Kingdom of God there's a close relationship between THANKSGIVING and our ability to connect to God's EMPOWERMENT. Said in other ways: there's a positive EMPOWERMENT that is always released through the act of being grateful to God; or, EMPOWERMENT is the inevitable result of our genuine GRATITUDE to God for what He does in our lives. In sum, it is God's desire that we become EMPOWERED to succeed and bear fruit in His Kingdom and He desires that simply because He loves us. That's why there are so many THANKSGIVING scriptures in the New Testament: so that we can be EMPOWERED; and here are just a few of them:

 

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.

 

Not so long ago a dear friend of ours told us that she doesn't see any New Testament POWER these days in the Body of Christ: no miracles, no supernatural moves of the Holy Spirit, no healings, etc. That's a sad commentary considering that only a couple of decades ago those manifestations were routine in some circles. But the lack of POWER now is certainly more accurate than it should be particularly here in North America and in Western Europe where folks have become so cynical about God and the Church and FAITH. Even if her point is mostly true though, it's not God's plan that it be that way and that the Bride of Christ should be stumbling through these times without POWER, weak and defeated, full of faithlessness and doubt and unbelief AND SIN. No, the Body of Christ is the sum of its parts and it's the parts, the BELIEVERS in Christ who are LACKING power even though you can still find some selected churches and ministries where the POWER of God continues to manifest.

 

But even if you haven't been able to find one of those POWER churches, you can certainly have supernatural VICTORY in your own life. We need to stop concerning ourselves so much with the Body of Christ and what God is doing or not doing there and focus on bringing about supernatural VICTORY individually in our own lives. When we have enough Believers who're walking in VICTORY individually, the Body of Christ will take care of itself. Along those lines, I can tell you with all the sincerity I can muster tonight that during the last two and one half years or so, on a personal level we have seen more miracles, more of God's favor, more blessings and more supernatural POWER than at any time in our lives. It has truly been an awesome time and it happened because, on purpose we've PURSUED God's POWER with all we know to do and the Lord's been faithful to REWARD us for our FAITH just as He promised (Hebrews 11:6).

 

The Problem of Unbelief

 

The SIMPLE Truth is: it all starts with FAITH because VICTORY IN CHRIST comes by FAITH. There's no other way to achieve it because it's FAITH (and only faith) that changes circumstances for the better WITHOUT sorrow. When people got healed under the personal ministry of Jesus, He usually told them it had been their FAITH that healed (Mark 10:52 for example). When the disciples couldn't heal the young boy from demonic affliction, Jesus told them that their failure was because of their (the disciples') unbelief (Matthew 17:20). When Jesus healed the nobleman's son, it was because the nobleman BELIEVED the Word (John 4:50-53). When the disciples saw that the fig tree Jesus cursed the previous day had withered, He told them that FAITH had done it (Mark 11:22). Yes, according to Scripture, according to what the Bible actually says, our FAITH can move mountains (Mark 11:22-24) which is to say quite SIMPLY that FAITH has the POWER to change our circumstances for the better.

 

Another SIMPLE truth is that FAITH comes by hearing the Word with understanding (Romans 10:17). If your FAITH is weak tonight, if your mind is bogged down in UNBELIEF, the likely problem is you need more Word in you. In order to be victorious in life, each Believer has to individually PURSUE an increasing understanding of the Word of God on his/her own as often as possible keeping in mind that every time you hear/see something there that you want to use to change your life, the enemy will come to try to steal it from you (Matthew 13:18-23). We have to protect the Word we receive by RESISTING the enemy with the POWER and authority and weapons we've been given in the Name of Jesus and by persistence in pursuing His Word. If we do all those things, our FAITH will grow stronger and our circumstances will begin to change. I know this because the Word of God says so and because it's working this way in my personal life when I'm not lazy, and I'm attentive and open to receive.

 

The Problem of Wrong Focus

 

Now when our FAITH is weak and unless we know better, we'll tend to focus on the wrong things in life. We're living in hard times and there's plenty of negative stuff around these days to worry about. But the Word says that if we want to enjoy the PEACE that passes all understanding we can come to it by THANKSGIVING (Philippians 4:6-7). That's how the Apostle Paul could tell us with a straight face not to be anxious for anything: THANKSGIVING has a uniqueness about it that brings PEACE AND VICTORY no matter what our circumstances are. And these are not just some words the Apostle wrote to make folks feel better. No, his words were inspired by the Holy Spirit which makes them scripture which makes it the truth and the TRUTH is something we can release our FAITH over: PEACE COMES BY THANKSGIVING THROUGH FAITH.

 

This is a SIMPLE concept that most people want to make complicated and here's how it works. When we start THANKING God for all His blessings, we are forced to CONSIDER what He's been doing in our lives instead of worrying about what He hasn't been doing. In other words, we have to look for all the good things He's brought about in our lives which shifts our focus from the world and all its problems and circumstances over to the Kingdom of God where there're NO problems or trials or tribulations or circumstances. We're going to soon find out that there're a lot more good things from God to find than there are bad things from the world and that the bad things don't have any power over us anyway unless we permit it. The more GRATEFUL and THANKFUL we become, the more we have to shift our focus, and the more we successfully shift our focus the more GRATEFUL we become. And the SIMPLE truth is God HONORS our sacrifice of Thanksgiving:

 

Psalm 50:23 = "He who offers a sacrifice of THANKSGIVING, honors Me"

1 Samuel 2:30 = "Those who honor Me I will honor..."

 

The Simplicity of Victory in Christ

 

The New Testament encourages us in many scriptures to be THANKFUL people. Lazy Christians who don't study the Word will have weak FAITH, which will lead them to focus on the wrong things, which will cause them to lose their PEACE, which will cause them to be UN-grateful. But Christians who want to manifest the victory of Christ will make the effort to cause their FAITH to grow stronger and be THANKFUL so they can attract the GRACE and the EMPOWERMENT and the FAVOR that God has ready for us to receive, that Jesus won for us at the Cross of Calvary. God honors those who honor Him.

 

Friend, this is NOT complicated stuff but it does require effort, it does require growing your FAITH by an increasing understanding and personal revelation of the Word. Effort and complexity are not the same. The enemy wants us to think that these things are complicated but the Apostle Paul said that there's a SIMPLICITY in the gospel that we need to hold onto (2 Corinthians 11:3-4). His fear was that with the enemy's encouragement we would try to complicate something that's meant to be relatively SIMPLE. In short, there's POWER for the Believer to apprehend and use through the process of becoming GRATEFUL which is not all that complicated to understand. All you have to do is just start THANKING God for everything you can find in your life that's good and do it every day and as often as you think about it and things will start to change, circumstances will start to diminish in importance and VICTORY IN CHRIST will start to manifest. The PEACE that passes all understanding will start to rise up and take over your life no matter what your circumstances are.

 

God has made it simple for us so why not try it and see what happens. Just agree with the Word and step out in FAITH expecting God to meet you just as He has promised. The empowerment and favor and GRACE of God have ALREADY been provided; they're ALREADY available. Jesus paid for them and made them available for anyone who's bold enough to take them up by FAITH. There's nothing to hold us back except our own doubt and unbelief and our predisposition to make this more complicated than it really is. Get yourself into the Word, protect what you hear there by understanding it, release your faith over it, give THANKS for what the Word promises, connect to the POWER (grace) by FAITH, and walk in PEACE AND VICTORY. It's simple so just do it!

 

Thanks for stopping by tonight. We'll be looking for you again NEXT Sunday night on July 6. In the meantime may the Lord bless you with every spiritual blessing, compelling you to PROSPER in every area of life! Have a special 4th.

 

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.

 

© Make A Way Ministries, Inc.

204 Turner Circle

Granbury, Texas 76048