The David Principle

Tonight, I want to share with you a principle that I am just uncovering, but I believe that this principle is one of the most important to Christians today. Jesse Duplantis calls it, “The David Principle”. Call me biased, or whatever, but I like the name. So, the David Principle is something very simple, but it was what allowed David to live his whole life blessed, and prosper in everything that he did.

This principle is laid out for us in 2 Samuel 24:22-24. Now, some background here, David had sinned, and was going to buy an altar from Araunah the Jebusite, so he could make a sacrifice to God. Verse 22, “Now Araunah said to David, ‘Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever seems good to him. Look, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen for wood. 23 All these, O king, Araunah has given to the king.’ And Araunah said to the king, ‘May the LORD your God accept you.’”

Stop right there. Most of you are thinking that this is a pretty sweet deal for David. I know I did. Most Christians wouldn’t think twice of taking this and offering it to God. But look, David wasn’t like that. He responded immediately, meaning he didn’t have to think about what his response was going to be, because he had purposed this in his heart. Verse 24, “Then the king said to Araunah, ‘No, but I will surely buy it from you FOR A PRICE; NOR WILL I OFFER BURNT OFFERINGS TO THE LORD MY GOD WITH THAT WHICH COSTS ME NOTHING.’ So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.” (Emphasis mine.)

So, you see, David makes it very clear what he thought. He said that he would not offer anything to God which costs him nothing. You see, that is where we miss it today. We are so busy, that we give God the extra. The leftovers. I’m talking everything here, not just money. That isn’t God’s way. Look at Jesus. You don’t think it cost God something to send His Son to the earth, watch Him live a sinless life, and then become sin on the cross, so that you and I could have eternal life? That was the most precious gift ever given. And look at the return He got on that gift. Sowing and reaping. God sowed Christ, and He reaped Christians.

Look at Cain and Abel in Genesis 4. God wasn’t pleased with Cain’s offering, but he was with Abel’s. Now some people have preached it was because Cain didn’t bring an animal to be sacrificed, and I am going to tell you that it isn’t true. Hebrews 11:4 tells us that Abel brought a more excellent sacrifice to God by faith. You see, Abel gave God something that cost him. He brought the firstborn of his flocks. Those were widely considered to be the best animals of the flocks. He brought God the first, and believed God for the rest. Cain, on the other hand, just brought some of his harvest in. He didn’t bring his first fruits, or his best offering, in faith, otherwise, God would have received it!

So then, the reason that this principle is so important to the body of Christ, is that this David Principle will allow us to walk out our God given destiny. The widow woman we see in Mark 12:41-44 is a perfect example of this. You see, she threw in all of what she had. You think that cost her something? I am willing to bet you this, (and I don’t have chapter and verse on this, but it very clearly follows biblical principles regarding prosperity), but I believe this woman became exceedingly wealthy. Why do I believe that? She followed the David Principle. What she gave cost her something. And it worked so well for David, that he was able to stockpile enough goods for Solomon to build the one of the most glorious, man-made objects created. That is, the Temple. God is not a respecter of persons, the Bible says. What He will do for someone else, He will do for you. She followed this principle, and gave something to God that most definitely cost her everything she had. There is no doubt in my mind that she was exceedingly rich after this.

So, as I close, let’s see how the David Principle is applicable in our lives today. Look at Philippians 4:15-19. To sum it up, Paul thanked the church at Philippi for sharing with him in giving and receiving, or becoming partnered to his ministry. Because of that, verse 19 stands out. It says, “And my God shall supply all you need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” So then, we see that by giving of ourselves, it causes God to liberally supply, the Amplified says, our every need, according to His riches in glory. You think it cost these people to send Paul aid once and again while he was in Thessalonica? Think of how slow news traveled back then. They must have sent him a whole bunch of money, over a long period of time, and it came back to them and blessed them.

So, we as believers need to purpose that we will follow the David Principle. Vow to God that you will never give Him something that costs you nothing. Follow this principle, and you will live outside of financial hardships. When crises come at you, like this “recession” everyone is afraid of, you just stand on the Word. You have a covenant. If you follow the David Principle, and refuse to give God something that cost you nothing, even if that is the easy thing to do, you will live above this recession. Case in point. A few weeks ago, I was believing God for more work. I was working one job, 20 hours a week, but I was faithful to the job, and with my money. I tithed, I gave. A week after that job ended, I was hired at CVS. Four days after that, Wal-Mart hired me. Home Depot wanted me too, but I had to go to school as well. Now, I am working more than could imagine, but I am not toiling!

So, what I am saying is this. Follow the David Principle. Give God your best, in everything. Give Him the first fruits of your time, money, etc. You do your part, and God will do His!

Redeemed From Toil!

The Bible tells us that, “The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.” (Proverbs 10:22) First of all, we must define what rich is. People want to put a number amount on it, and say, “Well, a million dollars is rich. People shouldn’t have that much.” Well, it isn’t enough if you’re two million dollars in debt. So then, we must define what rich is. Not according to our definitions, but according to God’s. The first thing to do when we define rich, is realize that “rich” isn’t a dirty four letter word. No, the word rich is a Bible word. It says that, “Abraham became exceedingly rich, in silver, livestock, and in gold.” Those are material things. Isaac was the same way. So was Job. Jesus tells us that He came so that we could have life abundantly. In the Amplified Bible, it actually defines the word abundant as, to the full, till it overflows. Jesus didn’t limit it to just spiritual abundance. No, He came that we might abound in every area of life. He wasn’t specifying, so don’t go adding words to the Bible to make it fit in your religious, Babylonian mindset, cause that way of thinking is wrong. So then, we are to abound in all of our life.

So, looking at the Bible, we see that God defines rich in many ways. There is financial riches, but if you are sick, you are still poor. If you have bad relationships, you are still poor. You can have money in the bank, and a sick body, and all you are is a sick, poor man who’s got some money. You can have money in the bank, a healed body, and bad relationships, and all you are is a healthy, poor man, with money in the bank and bad relationships. So, God wants us to be rich in all areas of life. You need to change what the word “Rich” means in your mind. You need to equate rich with whole. So, every time I say rich, you say whole. Every time I say whole, you say rich, until you see those two terms as synonymous.

So then, back to Proverbs. The tenth chapter, and twenty-second verse, in the Amplified Bible, we see something very interesting. “The blessing of the Lord--it makes [truly] rich, and He adds no sorrow with it [neither does toiling increase it].” Toiling does not increase the blessing. One translation reads he adds no sorrow, sweat, toil, or hard labor to it. That’s powerful right there. You see, you’re job is to be His vehicle on the earth, to bless others. You’re job is to follow the plan established by God in the Garden of Eden. That is, to dress and keep what the LORD has given you. (if you want some background on this, look at my blog on “The Blessing”) Now, not only is our job to take care of it, or dress and keep what He has given us, our job is to expand the Garden of Eden around us. Now, one of the things that we must overcome is this world’s mentality on how to survive in life. Their idea is that you have to beat your brains out, toiling, working by the sweat of your brow, trying to make ends meet without God. Let me help you understand something about toil.

It doesn’t work.

Toil is a part of the curse that happened when Adam sold out and committed high treason against the Almighty God. We have been redeemed from that curse, according to Galatians 3:13-14. Praise God! We are free from toil! Hallelujah!

Now, that doesn’t mean you aren’t gonna have to work. You are gonna be working harder than you ever have before. However, you aren’t working for a living. You are working for a giving, to be a blessing to those around you, producing the Garden of Eden everywhere you go. You let the Blessing do it’s work, and you live by faith. You trust God to meet and supply all your needs. You aren’t trying to make ends meet, or trying to prosper yourself, you know God has that taken care of. That way, you can wake up ever day say, “Father, I love you. You are so amazing. Thank you for taking care of me, and blessing me beyond anything I could ever hope or dream. Now Father, here I am. Who am I to bless today? What business do you need me to do here on the earth? I live to do Your will, and be a blessing to others. I thank you for showing it to me. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.” That simple prayer, just thanking God blesses the Father so much. He loves when His kids just say, “Thank you.” Now, if you stay thankful, and ask what you are to do with what He has given you, and how you are to bless others, you are truly doing the Father’s work.

So then, we see that toil is under the curse. But, how does operating in this toil affect us? Let’s look at Luke 5. Now, some background for you. Jesus was preaching, and there were so many people, that He asked Simon (Peter) if He could get in the boat, and they launched out, and He preached. Now, He probably preached for a while, and Peter overheard it while he was most likely cleaning the nets. After He was done preaching, He told Peter to launch the boat and set down their nets, so they could receive a catch. You see, Peter sowed his boat, and God was giving Him a harvest of fish. Let’s pick up in verse 5. “But Simon answered and said to Him, ‘Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing, nevertheless at Your word, I will let down the net.’” There are a few points I want you to see here. The first is that the word translated “Master” should actually have been translated “Rabbi”. As far as I know, it is translated that way throughout the rest of the Bible. Peter’s though was, “Preacher, we’ve been working all night, and now you want to go fishing? It’s the middle of the day.” You see, Jesus wasn’t his master yet, but Jesus was a rabbi. He only called Jesus “Rabbi” out of respect for the title. Peter was tired and wanted to go home. The second point is that he was toiling. That is, he was laboring hard, trying to meet his own needs without God. He should have been living in the Blessing, like a child of Abraham, but he wasn’t. That was why he toiled all night, and had caught nothing. The third point is the final phrase. “I will let down THE NET.” Notice that. One net. Now, if you take the religious glasses off, you will see this. Peter didn’t want to go fishing in the middle of the day. He wanted to go home, eat, and go to bed. So, when the preacher wanted to go fishing, and the preacher said to let down the NETS, plural, Peter said he would let down the NET, singular. That net was a rotten net. He had cleaned all the other ones, and this was the one that was all old, and beat up. He wouldn’t have to clean it after they used it, He could just throw it out.

So, they went out, and let down this rotten old net, and the net started to break. You see, that was a half hearted sacrifice to God. (My next post will deal with that. Never give something that costs you nothing.) People have taught for years that the net broke because there were so many fish. Really? Why didn’t their partner’s net break then? It had to have been a rotten, worn out, no good net. That’s why in verse 8, Peter falls to Jesus’ knees (he would have fallen to His feet, but they were probably knee deep in fish) and repented of what he had done. You see, Peter was thinking like many Christians do today. He gave a piece of trash as an offering, and he was toiling, trying to meet his needs without God. So then, we see that toil drives away our provision, but the Blessing draws it in to us. How else would they have caught all those fish in the middle of the day? Everyone knows that you don’t go fishing in the middle of the day and expect to catch anything. It must have been the Blessing, because Jesus did nothing outside of the Blessing. “I thought He never sinned?” Well, that is true, because He was walking in the Blessing, keeping the covenant.

So then, we have been redeemed from toil. We are redeemed from meeting our own needs without God. We are living in the Blessing, and that is God providing for us. My job is to believe Him, tithe and give, and bless other people. I am supposed to be the Jesus in my workplace, in my school, wherever I go, people should see that Blessing flowing out of me, creating the Garden of Eden. I don’t have to toil to make ends meet. I don’t live on “just enough”, I serve the God of more than enough. He is El Shaddai, not El Cheapo. El Shaddai means, the God of more than enough, and carries with it the idea that if what is needed is not there, God will create it for you.

So, I will try to close with this. Don’t toil. You are responsible to bring God His money, that is the tithe, and sow. You refuse to violate the Love Command, and you look for ways to be a blessing to people all day long. God will take care of your harvest. He says, “As long as the earth remains, seed time and harvest...will also remain.” So, your harvest is coming. A farmer doesn’t plant, and go out the next day, and get discouraged if he doesn’t see anything. No, he keeps watering, and taking care of the ground, and, then lets the seed spring up. Likewise, your heart is the ground. You water it by the word. You keep it weed free by refusing to violate the Love Command. You see, if you violate that command, and become offended, you choke out the seed that was being produce. Your harvest is coming, you just don’t have to toil to get it! You do your part, and let God do His!

What is the Job of a Believer in a Recession?

Apologies for waiting so long to post. God has been showing me a few things, and I had to talk with Him about it before I posted some of these things. This may be a little long, but stick with it, and be ready for a few posts in the next few days. Without further pause, let us begin.

Turn to Genesis 26:1. It starts by saying, “There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar. 2 Then the LORD appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land which I shall tell you. 3 Dwell in this land and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.” So, Isaac’s job in the famine was stay where he was and get blessed. I personally believe that was what Abraham was supposed to do as well, instead of going to Egypt. He was God’s minister of the Blessing! Let’s skip down now to verse 12. “Then Isaac sowed in the land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold, and the LORD blessed him.” Look at that. In a famine-their version of the recession, he sowed and reaped a hundredfold! That was the Blessing of the Lord in action! Verse 13, “The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous.” Now, some people want to say, “Well, he was spiritually prosperous. He didn’t have wealth.” Read the book, and let the elevator go to the top. The very next verse says, “for he had possessions of flocks, possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him.” So, he got more and mores prosperous as the famine continued, and he had so much stuff, in the middle of this recession, that the Philistines envied him. This even gets better. Let’s look at what happened next.

Verse 15 “Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we” 17 Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. 18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them. 19 And Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of running water there. 20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the Esek, because they quarreled with him.” So, let me explain what happened here. Isaac was told to leave to Philistines, basically because he was making Abimelech look bad. That’s what it comes down to. Isaac had much more than Abimelech, even during the famine, or recession. So, Isaac moves around the area, and opens up all the wells that the Philistines closed up. Then he digs another one, and finds an underground river. The Philistines are arguing with him, so he just moves, and digs another well. He keeps digging these wells, and moving around, until he digs the last one. The Philistines finally come to Isaac and tell him that they have seen that Jehovah is with him. They make a peace agreement, and then Isaac found even more water.

So, let's fully understand this here. They saw the Blessing of the Lord at work on Isaac’s life. Why do I say that? Isaac went around digging up these wells, they forced him to move, he dug another one, and it kept going. That is what stopped the famine. His actions stopped the famine, and that was the Blessing at work in his life, and it called attention to God. They told him that they saw the LORD was with him. We should have people saying that about us, because we are helping turn this recession around, just like Isaac did!

So, as believers, we are here in this recession that is surrounding us, in this world’s system. However, we don’t let it touch us. I like what Jesse Duplantis said about the recession. Someone asked what he thought about it, and his response was, “We’re not participating.” We don’t have to participate in it. We can be a blessing to the people around us, and turn this recession around. That is what Isaac did. He was a blessing to those that were around him, and it stopped the famine in it’s tracks.

So do not be scared by this economy. Remember, you don’t have to participate in this recession. Psalm 91 says, “A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you.” This recession ain’t touching me. I have increased throughout this time, because I keep sowing and reaping. That is on top of my tithe.

Oh, man, it’s flowing out of me now. You see, when you tithe, God opens up the windows of heaven and rebukes the devourer for your sake! You can’t afford not to tithe. Otherwise, he will not rebuke Satan in this area of your life, because you are a thief, you have robbed God. It says that in Malachi 3. When you tithe, it’s not like you are losing money. God always spends your tithe on your spiritual development. Jesus receives this tithe like Melchizedek received Abram’s tithe. He received it, and then he blessed Abram. Jesus takes your tithe, and blesses you. The word blessed means “empowered to prosper”. So, when you bring in the tithe, Jesus’ job is to empower you to prosper. Did you notice after Abram was blessed by Melchizedek, that he became very rich?

So then, keep tithing. You can’t afford not to tithe. Keep giving, because that is you sowing seed. 2 Corinthians 9 tells us, “ He who sows sparing will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Let each man give as he purposes in his own heart, not grudgingly nor of necessity, for God loves a cheerful, joyous, prompt to do it giver, whose heart is in his giving. And God is able, to make all grace abound toward you, so that you, having ALL sufficiency, in ALL THINGS, may abound to for every good work. As it is written, “He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor, His righteousness endures forever.” Now may He who ministers seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness.” I paraphrased a little, but you get the point. God is taking care of multiplying your seed. Notice, He gives you the seed! All you got to do is sow it! Bless God, I can be a distributor, and it’s not even my job to get the seed, it’s His ministry! And then, not only does He give me the seed which I am to sow, He causes it to multiply! You better be shouting, this is good stuff right here. All you have to do, is follow God’s commands about the seed He has given to you, and He will take care of the rest, so that you can disperse abroad and give to the poor. What does that do? That stops the recession in it’s tracks, and halts it’s progress. So get yourself in your prayer closet, and talk to God about sowing seed. If you haven’t been tithing, ask forgiveness, and bring that tithe before God, and put it in the church. Then, you start looking for places to sow, where you can be a blessing to people, and turn this recession around. God will show you where the good ground is for your seed. Refuse to let this recession get a grip on you. Do not participate in it. Be like Isaac. You sow in the year of famine, and reap a hundredfold. I don’t tell you that in my own personal life, I have seen an increase of what I can so into various ministries and good works in the past year. It works. It may seem tough at first, but be faithful to what God says, and help turn this recession around!

I hope I didn’t get to long for you guys, and I hope you read it all. I’ll sum it up for you in a sentence or two. In this recession, we as believers should be increasing, and use that increase to turn this recession around. We are to be a blessing to people, especially when times get tough, and point them to God through our blessing them.

Faith in Action!

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is...” Notice that. Faith is an action. Faith is not just a belief. It is a present condition. Faith is now! But, what is faith now? Faith is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” So then, faith calls things that be not as though they were. Faith provides us with the evidence that the things which we believe for have come to pass. Too many times, we try to brush faith off as a mental thing. However, faith is the ability given by God to invoke change on the earth! Praise God!

Now, to prove that to you, look at Mark 11:12-14. “Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. 13 And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His disciples heard it.” So, Jesus went to this fig tree looking to eat. There was no fruit on it, so He spoke to the tree. (There should have been fruit on this particular tree, because of it having leaves, according to Bible scholars.) So, Jesus told the fig tree that no one would ever eat from it again. Then, He walked away. Jump down to verse 20. “Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21 And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.” So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God.” I’m gonna pause here for a second. What a peculiar way for Jesus to answer him. Have faith in God. It seems like Jesus is telling Peter that the reason He could tell the fig tree that no one could eat from it ever again was because He had faith. So, speaking words in faith can change our circumstances! If this is true, then the next few verses should confirm what I said. Verse 23 “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”

So then, Jesus just told us that faith was what allowed Him to speak to the fig tree and cause a result to happen. He also told us that we can do that in our own lives. Now, what is very interesting here, and the LORD has only shown this to me recently, is that there is a key phrase here. Whoever can have whatsoever, but, that depends upon not doubting in your heart. How did Jesus get to that point? He said that He only spoke what He heard His Father speak. God speaks words of faith. That is how He does things. It is His Method of Operation if you will. Since Jesus only said what He heard His Father say, no doubt or unbelief ever came out of His mouth. The Bible tells us that saltwater and freshwater cannot flow out of the same stream. In other words, the doubt or unbelief you speak will contaminate your faith. So, we need to check our mouths. What are we saying? “Well I’m just dying to go there!” Really? I hope not. “I don’t think that could ever happen to me.” It won’t now. You see, the words that you spoke contaminated your faith. If we want to get results like Jesus got results here on the earth, we need to learn to do things His way. He only spoke what He heard His Father say. So, the words we speak should be what He speaks to us. Those are words of blessing, not cursing, life and not death. In Deuteronomy 30:19 it says, “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” God gave us the choice. We choose by the words that we say. So, you choose for yourself. Do you want to speak words of cursing, and death, and reap the same, and not see any results with your faith? Or do you want to speak words of life, and blessing, reap the same, and go from faith to faith and glory to glory? I chose faith and glory, Bless God! I want to produce results with my faith. If I don’t produce results, I am just like that fig tree. I am not producing fruit, and can be of no use to Master, and that is no place I want to be. If I speak words of faith, and get results by them, I can accomplish mighty acts (through the Holy Spirit) for the Kingdom! What a wonderful life that is, to be a blessing to others, and to point them to Jesus, our Savior, Messiah, Redeemer, and Friend! So then, purpose today what words you will speak. Make a quality decision to grow closer to God. Don’t beat yourself up when you make a mistake, just get it under the Blood right away, and get right back on course, fighting the good fight of faith! For our weapons are not carnal, bless God, but mighty for the pulling down of strongholds! AMEN!

So then, Our faith is meant to produce a result. We need to make sure that only freshwater is flowing out of our spring. What do I mean by this? Well, in Proverbs it tells us that out of a man’s heart flow the issues, or wellspring, of life. Jesus tells us in Matthew that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. So, out of our spring will flow the waters that are in us. If my spring has some saltwater and some freshwater, then the water that flows out will be all salty. In other words, you can’t contain the salt. Just like with doubt. You can’t speak doubt in one situation, and expect it not to affect the rest of your life. So, we must weed the doubt out. Like Jesse Duplantis says, “Doubt is a cancer growth in the spirit. It must be cut out by the scalpel of faith.” How do we get the doubt out? By using the sword of the spirit. It is sharper than any two-edged sword. We could say that that metaphor is used because one side of this sword cuts the devil, the other side cuts us, performing surgery, to get the doubt, and the unGodly things out of us.

You may think I got off track here, but I'm working on something, hear me out now.

Our faith is meant to produce a manifestation in our lives. The Bible tells us that. Our faith is used to produce Kingdom results in our lives. However, our faith cannot work if there is doubt mixed in. A little bit of doubt will contaminate the whole thing, much like a little bit of salt will contaminate the water, or a little yeast will leaven the whole loaf of bread. Doubt is dangerous, but the Word of God, which is alive and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, is there to cut the unGodly things out of our lives. Doubt included. When we allow the Word, or the scalpel of faith, to perform spiritual surgery, we cut the doubt out, and remove it, like you would a tumor. It is gone, not to return again. Then, our faith can produce results. I can be a producer for God in His system. I can use my faith to invoke change, and watch this faith change my situations from bad, to good. Bless God. We need to develop our faith, and watch Supernatural things come to pass. We use our faith to call things which be not as though they were. It is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen! When you are standing for something, be it your healing, prosperity or just money to pay your bills. Whatever it is that you are believing God for, when the devil comes at you and tries to attack you, and he says, “You haven’t seen anything. You have been standing for a long time. If it was going to happen, you would have seen it already.” That is when you jump up, grab your Bible, turn to Hebrews 11:1, and tell the devil, “NO way Mr. devil! I have the evidence right here! My faith is the substance what I am hoping for! It is the evidence of what I cannot see! It is the title deed! (AMP) I have it, praise God, and you aren’t gonna convince me otherwise! Now, I’m just gonna start praising God for giving me my ... (whatever it is you need or are believing for).” Then you begin praising God, magnifying Him, and telling Him how awesome He is! You thank Him! That is faith in action! Hallelujah!

The Gates of Hell shall Not Prevail!

Matthew 16:18, “And I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades (hell) shall not prevail against it.”

Now notice, the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The gates of hell shall not prevail against the church. Too many times we read this as the gates attacking us. When was the last time you heard of gates attacking someone? In fact, they would bombard the gates in Medieval times. Gates get attacked, and Jesus said the gates of hell shall not prevail against the onslaught of the church! Praise God! This gets even better.

Look at Psalm 107:16. “For He has broken the gates of bronze, and cut the bars of iron in two.” Isaiah 45:2, following this same thought, God tells us, “I will go before you, And make the crooked place straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze And cut the bars of iron.” God repeats for us almost the same exact phrase here. Stick with me now, I’m building something. Look at this, Isaiah 42:6-7, this prophecy here is concerning the Christ. Now to fully grasp this, you have to understand that Christ was not Jesus' last name. Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word for Messiah. Now, The word Christ means, “The Anointed one and His Anointing.” Now, since Christ has delegated to us, the body, (Him being the head) the authority, for us to walk out the great commission and to do the same works that He did (John 14:12, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.”) this is also talking to us. You don’t talk to someone's head, and ignore their body, do you? Now then, Isaiah 42:6-7 says, I, the LORD, have called You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles, 7 to open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.”

Do you understand what I'm saying? People are held in bondage by gates in a prison. Those are the gates that we are to be assaulting, through the anointing! They shall not prevail against us! So, people can be set free! We were talking about this Thursday night, April 9, 2009, and while we were discussing this, the Word of the LORD came to me, and I was led to write this.

“Gates hold prisoners captive. The gates of hell shall NOT prevail against the Church. Christ tore down the gates, and set the captives free. But, people often do not realize they are free, and are trapped, either by their own choosing or a lack of knowledge, by a powerless gate, built from a weak substance like straw or paper, easily destroyed. It is OUR job, as the Church of Christ (the Anointed One and His Anointing) to RISE UP, and set the captives free! The gates of hell cannot prevail against the church. We must step out in the authority given to us by Christ. So, you GO! Set the captives free! Let them know their bonds are broken in Jesus Name!”

Praise God, I get excited just reading that! Hallelujah! So then, we MUST GO. We must set the prisoners free. It is our responsibility, as the Body of Christ to let people know what He did for them on the cross, when He died and took our sins and sicknesses on His back, descended into the pit of hell, and three days later, He rose victorious, with the keys in His hand. He took the power of principalities, and the powers, and made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it! Praise God! The match is fixed! Our enemy is already beaten! Amen!

A Place Called Jehovah-Jireh

Many times as Christians, we stand on God’s promises for prosperity. We see Philippians 4:19 which says, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” What an awesome verse. We also see Psalm 23:1, which says, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Notice that. Shall not want. Later in that chapter, it tells us that the Lord prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies. Our cup runs over. In fact, Jesus Himself said that He came so that we might have life more abundantly. What an amazing thought. He came so we can have abundant life. Galatians 3:13-14 expands on that, saying that the reason Christ died was so the blessing of Abraham (read my last post, The Blessing is Working in Me to understand what that blessing is, or read Deuteronomy 28:1-15, or do both) might come upon the gentiles. It was already on the Jews. God wanted it to come on all the rest of us. So then, why is it that so many Christians do not experience God’s Blessing to the fullest extent? I am convinced that it is a lack of understanding.

One of God’s covenant names is “Jehovah-Jireh” which literally means, “The Lord Will Provide”. God wants to provide for you. However, this is only one side of this truth. Let’s read where this is revealed to Abraham. Over in Genesis 22, Abraham is told to sacrifice his son, his only son whom he loves. They take a three day trip to Mount Moriah, and Abraham is supposed to sacrifice his son as a burnt offering. (In the New Testament we read that Abraham believed that God would raise Isaac from the dead if he was killed, he had such strong faith in God keeping his promises.) So they get there, and Abraham is about to kill Isaac, and the angel of the Lord stops him, because God has now seen that there is nothing before Him in Abraham’s eyes, including his own son. Picking up in verse 13, “Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide, (your footnote should read YHWH Yireh, or Jehovah-Jireh) as it is said to this day, ‘In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.’” Did you catch that? Not only was God revealed as Jehovah-Jireh, but that was what the place was called where Abraham was sent. That’s where his provision was! You see, Abraham could have gone to any mountain when he was told to sacrifice his son. He found where he was told to go and he went there.

Why don’t we do that as Christians? So many times we want God to provide for us, which He promised to do, but we don’t do it His way. We don’t find where He wants us to be. So, in order to prosper, not only do you need to follow God’s laws for prosperity, which include tithing, giving, walking in love, etc., but you need to find where you are supposed to be. You need to find where Jehovah-Jireh is for you. Where is your Jehovah-Jireh? Ask God, meditate on the Word (or think about it) and He will show you where Jehovah-Jireh is. The key is knowing His voice. That is how Abraham knew where to go. He knew the voice of his Lord. You need to find this place. God needs you in this place so you can be blessed. Not just to get things, which in and of themselves are not wrong to have, but, more importantly, so that you can bless other people. If you are not in that place where God is providing for you, it will be all you can do to make it. So, find where God needs you to be. He needs you there so that you can bless the people there through your prosperity. The question, then, is very simple.

Where is your place called Jehovah-Jireh?

For Abraham, it was Mount Moriah. For you, it could be anywhere. Find that place. Talk to God, and ask Him where He needs you. Ask Him where your place is that you can call Jehovah-Jireh.

The Blessing is Working in Me!

The Blessing is Working in Me!

Man, that just feels good to say. “The Blessing is working in me!” Now, to fully grasp the depth of that statement, we need to understand what The Blessing is. Now, someone may say, “Man, that car was such a blessing.” Well, the car is a result of The Blessing, but it isn’t The Blessing. To understand this, let’s go back to Genesis 1:26-28.

“26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” (Emphasis Mine)

So, we see that God Blessed Adam and Eve. So then, this Blessing should be the ultimate blessing. God tells them to be fruitful-always producing, multiply-always increase, replenish-always fill and refill, and to subdue-always control your environment or your environment will control you. So, this Blessing that God pronounced on Adam and Eve represents His perfect will for all men for all time. How do I know that? Well, God’s first words to man represented His will for the entire species. This Blessing was designed to turn wherever Adam went into the Garden of Eden. How do I know that? Well, the Bible gives us the dimensions of the Garden, it is located in the country we now know as Iraq. So, the rest of the earth didn’t have anything happening, it was not the Garden. Adams job was to take that Blessing, and turn the earth into the Garden of Eden! Hallelujah!

Unfortunately, Adam was stupid, and sinned his Blessing rights away, and turned the earth over to the Devil (the Bible calls Satan “the god of this world”). The rest of the Bible is God trying to get the Blessing back in the earth. He tries with Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Now, Ham and Japheth did the same thing Adam did, and sinned it away, but Shem, he kept the covenant of the Blessing. In fact, Hebrew history tells us that Shem was Melchizedek, the king, or Lord-Mayor of Jerusalem, and head of the school of the prophets. Melchizedek was the one who blessed Abram, and kept the Blessing going on the earth! We see the promises of this blessing covenant written out in Deuteronomy 28, as well as the curses for disobedience. But, the obedient are promised to be blessed in the city, and blessed in the field. The head and not the tail. Above only, and never beneath. Able to be a lender, not a borrower.

So, this is the Blessing that the Israelites were supposed to operate in. When Jesus came to the earth, He came to bring the Blessing to all the rest of us! You don’t believe me? Look at Galatians 3:13-14. “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.” So, this why Christ came, and hung on the cross! So that the Blessing of Abraham (which we have established was the same blessing pronounced upon Adam) could come on everyone else in the earth, so that we could enter into a blood covenant with the Almighty God, and become family. You may be thinking, “I thought Jesus died so I could be saved.” He did, it’s part of the Blessing. The Blessing is based on that blood covenant with God, by which, Jesus brought us into right standing with the Father.

So, the question now is, what does The Blessing mean in my life and in your life? To put it simply, quite a lot. This means that you can live your life free from sickness and disease, for it is a part of the curse, which you have been redeemed from. You can live your life free from financial lack, because that too, is under the curse, and you have been redeemed from the curse. God wants you to live your life to the fullest, to be blessed, and to prosper. How can I be a blessing to the people around me if I am not blessed? If someone can’t make their mortgage payment, and will lose their house, a hug won’t do much good. But, if I am prosperous and blessed, I can write them a check, and tell them not to even worry about paying me back. (To do so would be to hurt a poor man, and that doesn’t sit well with God.)
I guess the point I am trying to make is that I need to learn to walk in The Blessing (as do you) so that we can be a blessing to the people around us. How much of a blessing would it be to pay someone’s car off for them, when they have been struggling to pay it off? And then, when they ask them how I was able to do that, in the recession that is going on, tell them that it is the God I serve, and He has blessed me more that I could ever hope or dream. That would pull people into the kingdom: people seeing a powerful God who is on their side, who want them to succeed, so they can also be a blessing!

Wow, I didn’t expect to get into all that. In all honesty, I was expecting a quick post, and then heading off to bed. But I just preached myself happy! Amen! Remember, the Blessing is working in you! The Blessing is working in me! The Blessing is an enablement of God’s ability on my life to supernaturally succeed, and be able to bless other people! Hallelujah! The Blessing is working in me!