Empowered to Prosper and Succeed

God has good things for you - He wants you to be blessed. But what does that really mean? Have you ever thought about it? You've probably never heard people saying things like, "Count your blessings," or "I received a wonderful blessing today." But God's desire to bless you goes much deeper than that. The word "blessed" really means to be empowered to prosper and to succeed.

Deu 28:2 NIV - All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God: Deu 28:3 NIV - You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. Deu 28:4 NIV - 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. Deu 28:5 NIV - Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. Deu 28:6 NIV - You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. Deu 28:7 NIV - 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. Deu 28:8 NIV - 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. Deu 28:9 NIV - 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. Deu 28:10 NIV - Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you. Deu 28:11 NIV - 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. Deu 28:12 NIV - 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. Deu 28:13 NIV - 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.

I consider John 10:10 to be the mission statement of Jesus' ministry on earth. He said, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." The Amplified version of the Bible reads: "... I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)."

God's Order

The principle of First Fruits is known in Hebrew as Yom HaBikkurim, the Festival of First Fruits celebrates and recognizes God's hand of blessing and provision over his people. The First Fruits offering is seen as early as the times of Cain and Abel and is the only fees to mention nearly as many times as Passover in the Bible. First Fruits, or the principle of first things, has to do with the giving of the whole of the first, not just a part, as with the tithe.

Deu 8:17 NIV - You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." Deu 8:18 NIV - But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

Too often we lose sight of the fact that it is not our abilities that gives us the ability to prosper and succeed, but it is God who blesses, God who empowers.

Revelation Brings Action

As I began to study and to dedicate more and more time to seeking God's heart on this principle, I asked, "Lord, why don't we see it? We're speaking at the mountains are not moving." Have you ever felt that way? It is all right to be honest with God and ask questions.

What he showed me was that people are speaking, but speaking alone is not the president God has set. It is not the pattern of God. You want a roof on a house before having the foundations firmly in place. So let's go back to the beginning. In Genesis chapter 1, we see were God created the heavens and the earth. But notice verse two, "and the earth was without warm, and avoid; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."

Though it is what it says: the Spirit of God moves in darkness. The Spirit of God moves in the waste lands. The Spirit of God moves when there is a void. Do you have an area in your life right now that is void, without form and dark? Is there an area that is not in alignment or matching up with what God has said in his word?

Versus 3 and 4 will go on to say, "And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good..." So if we are speaking -- expecting to see results -- without moving, then we cannot expect to see the fulfillment of promises. Simply put: you cannot claim the promises of God while violating the principles of God.

God is Magnified

In Psalms 35:27, we learned that God takes pleasure in our prosperity. Why? When the psalmist spoke of God being magnified or enlarged, he was speaking of God fulfilling his covenant. Notice also in Deuteronomy 28:9: "The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath..." that oath is his covenant, His unfailing, unchanging covenant. Moses goes on to say, "Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you"

So, right in the middle of God listing the blessings that it is people will enjoy and they are obedient and walk in his ways, He tells them that all the nations of the earth will "see that you are called by the name of the Lord." When God's blessings are manifested in our lives, when we are operating with the power he gives us to prosper and succeed, people notice. In fact, it causes God to be magnified, swelled up, enlarged in their eyes. He is our source and our provider, and when our lives reflect the evidence of His blessings, people see that God is indeed good! Whether you are aware of it or not, people are watching your lives. You are a living testimony to the saved and the unsaved, declaring what you have seen and heard God do for you. Your life is proof of God's goodness and mercy.

Covenant Prosperity

One thing we need to do is get a better understanding about the real meaning of prosperity. You see, prosperity is a wholeness word. Though it includes finances, it in Deuteronomy 20 and throughout the word, we see that it means so much more. God's prosperity it is really about everything in your life functioning and operating correctly.

In Psalm 115:14 it says the Lord shall increase you more and more, you and your children. In Psalm 5:12 says the Lord will bless the righteous with favor. Do you know what favor is? Favor is undeserved access. God's favor takes you places you could never go on your own. Favor will raise you up out of obscurity into notoriety. Favor will pulled you out of the pit and put you into a palace. Favor will turn your famine into a feast. Favor will promote you. It will give you access to places that have been closed off to you. It will do for you what your resume cannot do for you. What money, a man, or a ministry cannot do for you.

But notice this -- with that favor, God will also protect you as with a shield. In Proverbs 10:22 it says, "The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it." Not only will you be blessed, you will be protected. Your works and abilities cannot make you blessed. Only the Lord gives you the ability to get wealth -- the power to prosper and to succeed.

Take Off the Limitations

My God is an awesome God. My God is an immutable God. My God is the same God who showed up as the forth man in the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He's the same God who closed the lion's mouth in Daniel's den. He is the same God who drowned Pharaoh's army in the Red Sea after he departed the waters and ushered his people across upon dry ground. He is the same God who showed up at the widow woman's house during a severe famine and caused her barrel of oil able to never fail and her meal to never run out. He is the same God who raised Shunamite woman up as a great woman and gave her a promise. He is the same God who is the Prince of Peace, and He is the same God who rebuilds the walls of life.

Why are God's people are still living with lack -- that is, tolerating sickness and disease, living with stress and torment -- instead of experiencing what God has declared for them? We clearly cannot blame God. Obviously the problem is not on his end. So what is it that we might be doing wrong? What is holding us back from living in the abundant life Jesus talked about? Why can't we move into the realm that God has already established over our lives?

Continue reading as I am going to reveal to you a covenant truth, a pattern of prohibition that God instituted from the beginning -- even before the tithe. I believe what I am about to share with you will cause revelation to hit your spirit -- and your life is going to be transformed!