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GOD'S PROMISES: Prosperity
Taking Possession of God's Promises
In the same way God spoke in the past He is speaking to us today through His Word. In fact, He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:8) and His Word is living and active (Heb. 4:12). God's promises belong to us due to the fact that we are heirs of God. "Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ..."(Rom. 8:17). "Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring - not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all" (Rom4:16). The promises which belong to us had their beginning four thousand years ago when God called Abraham. That is recorded in Genesis 12. Here's what it says: "'Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.' I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed thorugh you." In chapter 13:2 it says, "Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold." In chapter 17 God confirmed His covenant with Abraham, "When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, 'I am God Almigthy; walk before me and be blameless. I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.' Abram fell face down, and God said to him, 'As for me, this is my covenant with you: you will be the father of many nations. No longer you will be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful, I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and YOUR DESCENDANTS after you for the GENERATIONS TO COME, TO BE YOUR GOD AND THE GOD OF YOUR DESCENDANTS AFTER YOU." (Gen. 17:1-7) God also confirmed His promises to Isaac, Jacob, and to His people through Moses. He promised to bless them with prosperity, protection and health. After giving them the commandments (Deut. 5), God spoke to His people through Moses saying, "If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all His commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God: you will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock - the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land He is giving you. The Lord will establish you as His holy people, as He promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you. The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity - in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground - in the land
He swore to your forefathers to give you. The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of His bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them." (Deut. 28:1-14) The same promises apply to us today. We understand that they are conditional, but they are available and applicable for today. We also understand that those promises were made under the first covenant(law) and in order to benefit from them the condition was to fully obey God's commands (Deut. 5) We are no longer under the first covenant, we are under the new covenant, and "Christ is the mediator of this new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance - now that He has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins commited under the first covenant" (Heb. 9:15). But in order to receive the promises we also must meet God's condition which is to confess Jesus Christ as our personal savior, making Him Lord of our lives (Rom 10:9-10), and obey the command Jesaus Himself gave us: "A new command I give you: love one another as I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35). In John 14:23-24, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the father who sent me." Now I want to point some Scriptures that guarantee to us eternal blessings, which include prosperity, protection and health. Galatians 3 compares both the first covenant(law) and the new covenant(faith) by stating, "Consider Abraham: 'He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.' Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: 'All nations will be blessed through you.' So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith... Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed... What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise. You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave or free, male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise...Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, 'Abba, Father.' So you are no longer slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir"(Gal 3:6-9,15-18,26-29;4:6-7) Dear friend, understand that all the promises God made to His people in Israel also belong yo us. Fill your heart with them. Cultivate desire for prosperity, health, protection, abundant life, and remember: "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desirtes of your heart."
(Ps. 37:4) Excerpt from "The Creative and Transforming Power of Desire" by Carlos A. Oliveira (Copyright 1998)
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Last Updated: June 24, 1999 |
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