True Prosperity Is 60:1 ¶ Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. 2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. 3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. 4 Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. 5 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. Heb 8:11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. 3Jo 1:2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. As many of you know, I am a prosperity preacher. Eating at food bank these days, having lost almost everything when I laid down the companies, but yet, I still preach prosperity, and I pursue it, God’s way. Guess my testimony might read, ‘From Rags to riches, to rags, to….” 2Th 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. I believe that prosperity is in the Bible, and that God wants you and I well off financially. Yet, I am also convinced that it is money with a mission, and that as God multiplies my money this go around, I need to do some things differently. Job 36:11 If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures. Pr 1:32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. In my prosperity, I was a fool. Let me tell you why. 3Jo 1:2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, ‘even as thy soul prospereth.’ I believed a foolish lie. That prosperity was in my bank account. In truth, true Biblical prosperity, is in a person’s soul first, then in our bank account, and as we grow financially, we need to grow soulically. Let’s look at this from today’s reading: First, you must understand the gospel: God has no plan ‘B’ for the salvation of humanity. Jesus is the only way to heaven, and God is determined to get the gospel into the earth, around the world, whatever it takes. The gospel, the good news, that Jesus is God the Son, that He came as a helpless babe at Christmas, that He lived a sinless life doing miracles and showing us how to live, in fulfillment of the law, that He died upon the cross, taking the full weight of punishment for the sin of humanity. He was buried, and on the third day He rose from the dead, and ascended to heaven, where He sits as Lord and King, right now. That ‘to as many as received him, he gave the right to become the sons of God!’ Our job, is to present the way of salvation, to make it easy for people to receive Him! This is the message God will bless, His invitation to all of humanity that people, even those of us that were not privileged to be born Jewish, could come into covenant with God, and know Him personally. This is where money comes into it: De 8:18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. Money received righteously and honestly, is to be used, to establish God’s covenant in the earth. Building churches, drilling water wells, feeding the hungry, establishing missions of love, raising up Bible schools, building works of redemption in the earth. This power to get wealth, is none other than the Holy Spirit, the power of God in the earth! Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. The Holy Spirit gives power to be witnesses, and witnesses tell about Jesus, so that others can receive Him, and come into covenant with God. The power to get wealth known in the Old Testament, is the Holy Spirit described in the New. Now unto today’s text: Is 60:5 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. In these verses, we see people arising in the light of God, and as they do, others see, and want what they have, a personal relationship with God, that shows. People are drawn to them. Many of us prosperity preachers speak about the wealth that will come to us, as we serve Jesus: Isaiah 60:5 Amplified Bible (AMP) 5 Then you shall see and be radiant, and your heart shall thrill and tremble with joy [at the glorious deliverance] and be enlarged; because the abundant wealth of the [Dead] [a]Sea shall be turned to you, unto you shall the nations come with their treasures. Nations, come with their treasures… If you are a businessman, intent on making money, this is a pretty big promise to get rich. Yet, let’s look a little deeper, do you see it yet? God’s idea of prosperity is soul prosperity first. In my mind, the currencies of leadership are trust and responsibility. If we are to walk responsibly in leadership, we must not be a respecter of persons. In my industry, that means that I must treat clients, employees, sub-contractors, suppliers, all with integrity. In business, even if someone involved with the company is a family member, I must operate according to honesty, governing responsibly, wisely, by principal, no matter what pressure I face. As the company or ministry grows, I must set in place administrative processes to ensure integrity and flow of service, without compromise. A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent. —Douglas MacArthur When our company was simply Tom and I working out of our wives vans, we were simply: ‘two chucks and a truck’, so to speak (without even a truck!). When the company grew, and we set in place leaders, with different levels of responsibility, now, I had to quickly learn how to mentor and lead, leaders, in order to manage the growth. Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others. —Jack Welch 3Jo 1:2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, ‘even as thy soul prospereth.’ As we grew, I neglected several personal disciplines that almost cost me my life. In leadership, we must remember: Not the cry, but the flight of a wild duck, leads the flock to fly and follow. —Chinese Proverb 1. I let go of proper diet, rest and an exercise program. The result of this, is that I found myself 40 lbs overweight, experiencing a mini-stroke from the pressure. Blood pressure reading 200/150, and I needed to make some life changes, immediately, or die prematurely. (I blacked out at the wheel of my truck, on the highway driving home. By the grace of God, I came to, on the grassy median in the center of the highway, alive!) 2. I needed to grow spiritually. While I was faithful to early morning prayer, still seeking first the kingdom of God, I was not keeping a disciplined diet of good teaching materials into my life. We cannot live on yesterday’s manna, we need to eat every day. We cannot live on 5-6 hours sleep, working 12-16hour days for years, without a break, or something will break: generally, us. 3. I needed to learn how to rest. To take a day/week for rest, family, sleep. 4. I needed to grow soulically. What I didn’t know almost killed me, and it surely killed our company. Like the Peter principal in business, I had grown to my maximum level of incompetence. In John Maxwell’s ‘The Law of the Lid’, I was the lid on our companies, and I was not deliberately growing in my gift and calling, so that we hit a ‘stick’ point in growth, and it was my fault. So, here’s the whole point of this daily meditation: We will only prosper, God’s way, as our soul prospers! Notice this thought repeated in the two verses I chose today: 3Jo 1:2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, ‘even as thy soul prospereth.’ Is 60:5 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, ‘and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged;’ ‘ because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. An enlarged heart, is a prospered soul, is a heart that has grown in love, truth, and wisdom, to be able to handle the increased responsibility that prosperity brings to our lives. It is absurd that a man should rule others, who cannot rule himself. —Latin Proverb How much money and resource do you want to manage for God? There is no limit to what you can attain, from heaven’s perspective! The only limit is on us. How much are we willing to grow, to learn, to develop, to practice and put in place what we are learning? Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal. —Vince Lombardi Can we remain humble and teachable? If we can, I believe there are no limits to what we can accomplish, by putting the Word of God, first place in our lives, companies, ministries, and families. The Word of God is alive! Hebrews 4:12 Amplified Bible (AMP) 12 For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the [a]breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart. Living things, grow, if you water them, feed them, and give them adequate space, air, and light. Sure, you need to keep the enemies defeated around them, leadership is not for the faint of heart! When you build your family, your ministry, and your career upon the Word of God, you must increase! Ac 12:24 But the word of God grew and multiplied. The living active Word of God, operating in your heart, life, family, ministry and business, will produce growth, all by itself! Ps 67:6 Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us. Ps 85:12 Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase. Ps 115:14 The LORD shall increase you more and more, you and your children. As you increase, soulically and spiritually, everything you are involved in, will supernaturally increase, as God builds you strong, spirit, soul, and body. Sure, you can have a measure of riches and wealth by neglecting your development, but you will be a shallow, empty success, with a life lived with little or no eternal impact. If you have thought that one through, you will see that money, without Jesus, has no eternal worth. In reading the testimony of Stanley Tam, a man who gave his companies to God, and who went back to work, as an employee, devoting the entire profits of the companies back to Jesus, for the propagation of the gospel. Matthew 6:19-21 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV) You Cannot Serve Two Masters 19 “Don’t save treasures for yourselves here on earth. Moths and rust will destroy them. And thieves can break into your house and steal them. 20 Instead, save your treasures in heaven, where they cannot be destroyed by moths or rust and where thieves cannot break in and steal them. 21 Your heart will be where your treasure is. We cannot take our wealth with us, but we can send it on ahead… Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better. —Harry S. Truman Hear God, get a vision, and get to work, running the race set before you… The benefits are out of this world! Let’s pray: ‘Father, place Your rein upon my life. Bring Your strength and discipline to my physical body, and help me to eat right, exercise, and get enough sleep. Bring Your power to my will, that I might seek You first, every day, in every way, establishing the morning watch, in prayer. Grow me Father, and bring into my life not only good teaching and instructional materials, but the grace and discipline to remain teachable, to grow in wisdom and understanding, that I might prosper in my soul. Enlarge my heart Father, that I might be all that You have called me to be, without compromise. I trust You to do it, and I trust you to pastor and Shepherd me through this Lord Jesus by the presence and person of the Holy Spirit, Amen’
Posted on: Fri, 13 Sep 2013 13:50:38 +0000