Good Afternoon Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I trust you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I certainly did. The highlight of my Thanksgiving was coming together with my family and celebrating the blessings of the Lord, my five-year old grandson, Benjamin, praying over the meal, the wonderful talk I had with my youngest daughter about her deepening walk with Christ, the good food, and the sounds of my grandchildren as they enjoyed each other’s company. Although it could be very noisy at times, I was reminded in the spirit of the blessing it truly is to my wife and me. Thank you, Father!
Last week we started a series on prosperity. The intent is to show exactly what God has to say about it. Prosperity has been terribly maligned, although it is a foundational principle in the doctrine of our Father. When I teach about The Blessing of the Lord, prosperity, or such things related to prosperity, I immediately see years of errant indoctrination spring to the minds of many in the class or church service. Growing up a Baptist, there was a funny cliche, still in effect today, that was said about the preacher (you may have called him pastor), “Lord, You keep him humble, and we’ll keep him poor.” On the surface, it’s funny. Underneath, it represents the insidious campaign of Satan, through the years, to deceive and rob Believers of their heritage, their inheritance. Many will say to me, “we receive our inheritance when we reach Heaven.” My reply is, “you are half right and half wrong.” The Truth, according to God’s Word, is we receive our “inheritance” at the time of salvation. Eternal “life” starts for Believers the moment of salvation. We are “joint-heirs” with Christ, the moment of salvation. Not when we reach Heaven. And, salvation is MORE than your sins, past, present, and future, being forgiven and when you die, you go to Heaven. In the meantime, while you are on earth, love Christ with all your heart, do the best you can to serve Him, and hang on till you reach Heaven. Please forgive my abrasiveness – this is total hogwash, a lie from Satan, and erroneous doctrine. This explains why the Body of Christ, on earth, is so weak, ineffective, run over by the world, the government, and anyone that feels like running over us. This is NOT God’s will, not God’s plan, and not what God has called us to do. We have been called to DOMINATE this earth operating in the Kingdom of God and bringing the will of God to pass on earth as in Heaven.
Genesis 12:2-3
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
The above verses were spoken by God to Abraham (Abram at the time) as a promise, part of the blood covenant God made with Abraham. Notice in verse two, “and I will bless thee, and make thy name great….” The Blessing, and each of the blessings that comprise The Blessing, given to Abraham is found in Deuteronomy 28:1-14. I’m not going into depth on The Blessing. You can read it yourself. This Blessing belongs to each, and every, Believer, today, and in the future.
Galatians 3:13-14, 29
13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
The Blessing God gave to Abraham is given to us, upon salvation. You can plainly read this in Galatians 3:14. In Galatians 3:29 you can see it is further emphasized we are the heirs of the promise given to Abraham through Jesus Christ, The Seed. And, if this is not enough, let’s look at Romans 8:17:
Romans 8:17
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.
Romans 8:17 makes it clear we are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. We receive EVERY SINGLE THING Jesus Christ has received from His Father. This includes The Blessing given to Abraham, our spiritual father of faith.
I know for many of you, this is such a foreign concept; in fact, it is almost sacrilegious to you. I know, I once believed as you. How could anyone think they could be a joint-heir with Christ Jesus and receive everything Jesus received? I’ve done nothing worthy of receiving anything like this; especially anything Jesus received. This is what religion has taught us. However, it is NOT God’s Truth. But Larry, “joint-heirs” means we’ll receive everything when we get to Heaven. Beloved, please understand everything Jesus purchased for us is available to us RIGHT NOW.
I John 4:17
Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world.
This verse settles the debate. I John 4:17 says, we, the Believer, this very minute, on this earth, are just as Jesus is in Heaven at the right hand of Almighty God. “Herein is our love made perfect..” “Herein what?” In Christ is our love made perfect. Why is our love made perfect in Christ? So that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. Judgment speaks of two things here: one is the Bema Seat where our works for Christ are judged and we receive rewards, and the second is any trials we face on earth. Why can we have boldness? “Because as Jesus is, so are we in this world.” Without going into the Greek tenses, “as Jesus is” is a present and ongoing state. My question to you is, “how is Jesus at this very minute, and all minutes to come?” No need to guess, the Scriptures tell us exactly how He is at this very minute and all minutes to come.
Revelation 5:12
Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.
Jesus is seated at the right hand of God, the position of power and authority. By His position at the right hand of God, He has been given all authority and power in Heaven, in the earth, and under the earth and is “powerful, rich, wise, strong, honored, glorified, and blessed.”
Let’s look back at I John 4:17. “Because as He is, so are we in this world.” This is so simple you must have a theologian to help you mess this up. We’re joint heirs with Jesus. We became joint heirs upon our acceptance and confession of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives. At that very moment, we became, in this world, just as Jesus is in Heaven. “But Larry, I don’t feel powerful, rich, wise, strong, honored, gloried, or blessed.” I understand. I felt the same way when I first learned this from the Holy Spirit. Ask yourself, “is God a liar?” If you believe God is a liar, then don’t read any further. It will be a waste of your time. Man is a liar, but God can only speak Truth (Titus 1:2, Romans 3:4). In your mind, it won’t make sense. Just like when you made Jesus Christ Lord of your life. It didn’t make any sense to your mind. You believed with your heart even though your mind said you were crazy. This is the same way you must accept and believe God’s Word. It is Spiritual, not natural. It won’t make sense in the natural, but in the Spiritual, it makes perfect sense. Notice in Romans 10:9, below, you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart, your spiritual heart. It doesn’t say anything about the mind. Your mind can’t handle it. It’s foolishness to your mind (II Corinthians 2:14).
Romans 10:9
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
The bottom line, your Father and your elder Brother love you SO MUCH. They’ve given, freely, unto you ALL spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3). You don’t have to work for it, you must confess and believe for it. Jesus has already done all the work. “Well Larry, I just have a hard time believing….” Brother or Sister, this is your problem. You’re willing to believe the world over your Father’s Word. You’re willing to believe your denomination over your Father’s Word. You’re willing to believe your opinions over your Father’s Word. You’re willing to believe physical facts over your Father’s Spiritual Truth. Our Father is a gentleman. He will not force you, twist your arm, or berate you. You will choose your destiny on this earth with your believing and confessing. If you believe and confess physical facts over Spiritual Truth, you will reap the physical outcome. This is NOT God’s will for your life. Or, you can choose to believe and confess Spiritual Truth and reap the Spiritual outcome.
In closing, remember this – “if it makes sense, it’s not faith. And if it’s faith, it won’t make sense.” Quit living in Satan’s dominion, the natural, and rise to the Spiritual level. Yes, you will walk in this earth operating just as Jesus did while He was on earth.
In the next email, we’ll examine “why” God wants a Believer to be prosperous. I’ll give you a hint. It’s not so you can horde it and use it selfishly.
Have an awesome week in the Lord!
Larry