Greetings in the Name of Jesus and welcome to the PLN Sunday Night Bible Fellowship
The New Year is almost on us and hopefully you are already planning for NEW things you want to try to do in the NEW YEAR. You want to try NEW things because if you're planning to do the same old things and hope for better results in 2015, you're probably going to be disappointed again. The Lord most likely wants you to try some NEW things next year and if you're like most people, your financial matters are at the top of your list. So I want to end the year talking about bible-based PROSPERITY and how you might want to pursue it in the New Year.
Most of the time when we think about increasing our PROSPERITY we're considering how to do more business or start a new business or sell things for more than their cost or find a way to reduce operating costs, or similar kinds of business operating things. But the Bible says that acquiring God's kind of PROSPERITY requires that we focus on a whole bunch of other priorities you may want to think about as you prepare for the great things He has for you to do in 2015. Indeed, business by THE Book is quite a bit different than what all those folks are doing in the World and Believers are going to want to focus on the right things so they receive God's kind of PROSPERITY instead of pursuing the World's MATERIALISM.
Seven Things to do in 2015
So, I would like to submit for your consideration a short list of things you might not have thought of yet that according to the Bible will help you connect to PROSPERITY in 2015. It's certainly not an exhaustive list but it IS a list of some of the most critical scriptural requirements. See if any of these are for you as you get ready for the New Year:
1. Purpose to spend more time in the Word. Did you know that if you read just three chapters per day you can read the entire Bible in less than one year? And how many of us have been spending almost NO time in the Word even though our Bible says that PROSPERITY comes by meditating on the it day and night (Joshua 1:8)? Also, FAITH comes by hearing the Word with UNDERSTANDING (Romans 10:17) and you need strong FAITH in order to PROSPER. Ignoring the Word of God is a prescription for financial disaster! And in line with the current series, I want to assure you that the WORD of God has the POWER within itself to bring life to your finances and bring God's PROSPERITY to your home. You need to focus on UNDERSTANDING what you read in the Word so that you can take ownership of what it says and make it yours. No one can do this for you and there's NO other way to apprehend the POWER you need to accomplish what God wants you to have. So read it, UNDERSTAND it, take possession of it for yourself and use it.
2. Purpose to consult with the Holy Spirit before making any decision or taking any action in the area of finances. The sons of God are led by the Spirit of God (Romans 8:14) and it's He who teaches us ALL things (John 14:26). The Holy Spirit who knows all things wants to teach us how to be PROSPEROUS. We need desperately to stop ignoring Him as we go through life. Before you take any financial step consult the Holy Spirit and wait until you sense an inner PEACE about it.
3. Purpose to be a GRATEFUL person, grateful to the Lord for all the good things in your life. To accomplish this you have to develop a lifestyle of THANKSGIVING where you're continuously THANKING God for what He's doing in your life instead of focusing on the bad things you have to deal with because of the devil, the World and your own conduct. Learn to stop focusing on the bad things by focusing on the good things. You cannot focus on two kinds of things at the same time so decide to focus on good things. And in that process, stop COMPLAINING about everything because COMPLAINING only attracts more ugly things for you to COMPLAIN about.
4. Purpose to RESIST the devil by using the Word and the Name of Jesus to exclude him from your life and in particular from your financial affairs. The devil wants to disrupt and interfere in your PROSPERITY but if you RESIST him he must FLEE (James 4:7). Persistence is a requirement until he finally departs and the best example of how to do this can be found in Matthew 4:1-11. If you fail to RESIST him, he WILL steal your PROSPERITY (John 10:10).
5. Purpose to release your FAITH over your giving. Don't just give out of tradition or habit or out of compulsion or fear. Release your FAITH over each gift by praying over it and believing that God will respond to your bountiful gifts with a bountiful harvest. Give because you love God and you know that He wants you to give for your own good but give in FAITH. Every gift you give in FAITH is a precious offering to the Lord.
6. Purpose to correct your SPEAKING in the New Year. Most Christians have no idea that they're destined to receive and possess what they SAY. Either we will have life or death, blessing or curse; such is the POWER (authority) of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21 and Deuteronomy 30:19). If your speech agrees with the Word of God, then you WILL produce life and PROSPERITY for your finances. Negative speech that disagrees produces INSUFFICIENCY. Speaking your agreement with the World produces failure and death and poverty. Someone once said that your financial condition today is the net sum of all your speech up to this point in your life.
7. Purpose to REFUSE to live major parts of your life in FEAR. The medical treatment of FEAR (anxiety) in today's society has become a multi-billion dollar industry because it has become a chronic affliction for so many people. But FEAR displaces FAITH; and the Believer must live by FAITH (Romans 1:17) because it's FAITH that connects us to the GRACE that contains God's PROSPERITY. Whenever FEAR tries to get into your mind, rebuke it and send it away in the Name of Jesus. It's wrong for Believers to just let it hang out with them and rob their PEACE. So once you've commanded it to depart from you, then begin to focus on all the promises of God and the good things He's ALREADY done for you in the past. FEAR WILL soon depart if you RESIST it.
Now this is a list of only seven major areas that can radically affect bible-based PROSPERITY either positively or negatively and they have nothing to do with focusing on the business of making income. God's PROSPERITY doesn't come from traditional ways of looking at things because most of them have come out of the World. There is a certain businesslike activity that has to be performed in life, but PROSPERITY doesn't come from that. We have to work and work hard, but we shouldn't work with the emphasis on making a living. God's PROSPERITY that comes WITHOUT sorrow (Proverbs 10:22) comes from spiritual sources that connect us to His GRACE, not from business operations. Focus on these few areas next year and the business part of your life will take care of itself.
Some Final Thoughts
In closing out the year, I can't overemphasize the need that Christians have for focusing their attention on the Word of God. The more I study about it the more convinced I become that most of our failure in the Body of Christ is about WORD STARVATION. The SOUL part of us where our MINDS reside is starving for the WORD. If it doesn't get the WORD, then by default it receives a study diet of garbage from the World and from our still unredeemed Flesh nature. It's like eating the wrong foods: we feel satiated for a few minutes but our bodies haven't received real nourishment and they begin to break down.
We can do something about it: we can decide to READ the Word and UNDERSTAND what we're reading. Focus on that. Make it your first priority BECAUSE the Word of God is your real SOURCE OF POWER. If you want to succeed in the Kingdom of God, that SUCCESS will come ONLY from the Word, not from your efforts and not from your good works. In short, stop focusing on the usual worldly things and focus on the one thing that actually will make a difference: the Word of God. Make it your first priority and see what happens!
Next year we'll have a lot more articles to study together on this subject. I hope you will be with us and make this newsletter part of your priority to UNDERSTAND the Word. I can't provide the understanding through these articles but I CAN tell you what you need to do, where you need to look, what you need to focus on, etc. I can help you connect to your POWER SOURCE so it can do something. After that the rest is up to you.
Thanks for stopping by tonight. We'll be looking for you again NEXT Sunday night on January 4. In the meantime may the Lord bless you with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3), 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 and has been published continuously since January 1998. It's an e-publication about life 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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