Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. – 3 John 2

You may have read this passage in John many times, but today, make an effort to really focus on what prospering means to you. Make it personal. Think about as you read these words, what prosperity, true prosperity, looks like or would like in your life. Get a mental picture of this and hold onto it. Don’t wait, do it right now. If you are truly prosperous, how to you act, who is around you, what do you have, where do you live, and most importantly why are you prosperous.

It’s Okay to Prosper

If you had a difficult time imagining prosperity in your life, you may need to renew your mind to what God has really said about prospering you. The best way to do this is to consider passages from the Bible. As Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Now, don’t let the scripture you are about to read just sink into your intellect, take hold of it and let it be absorbed into your heart. Then, as soon as you possibly can, act on the Word that you read.

Even though 3 John 2 clearly says it’s God’s will to prosper you, you may still be stuck on a familiar saying, which is “money is the root of all evil”. This is from the Bible but it is missing three critical words. Read the scripture directly from the Bible from 1 Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” Notice, that it says, the love of money. It doesn’t matter how much money you have, you can fall into the trap of loving it.

Quick Tip: Start thinking of money as a tool. If you use a tool in the right way, you can do amazing things. For example, if you use a hammer appropriately, you can build a house. However, there are many people who have used a hammer very inappropriate ways, even to commit murder.

God’s desire is for you to prosper. See, how the Psalmist states it in Psalm 35:27, “Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.” Think about that for a second, God gets pleasure when His servant prospers. You can make God happy by doing well. That is so awesome!

Prosperity Is More Than Money

When you envisioned what your life would look like if you were truly prosperous, did you see more than things money can buy? Did you see happiness and love? If you did, that is very good because prosperity includes every area of your life. You should experience prosperity in your relationships, in your emotional well-being, in your spiritual development, in your knowledge and wisdom, in your finances, and every other area of your life.

You have no doubt seen or know someone with lots of money who is miserable. If this is the case, then, you know that just having money is not really experiencing prosperity. In fact, with the exception of money, some of those people are experiencing lack in one or more of the other areas in their life. What good is money if you don’t have people around you who love you? What good is money if you are too sick to enjoy it? What good is money if it causes you so much stress that you have no joy in your life?

Use Your Prosperity to Bless Others

Instead of being a reservoir, which collects water, consider becoming a river, which channels water. When we are prospered, it is not only for us to enjoy the fruits, but it is also to share and help others.

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written:

“He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.”

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.- 2 Corinthians 9:6-11

We are called to help those in need as Galatians 6:2 says, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” When you live in prosperity, which God wants you to do, then you will have the means necessary to help others. What a wonderful place that is to be.

Happy New Year! I was thinking of you and wanted to give you something to meditate on as we entered 2010. As always, I’m so excited about what lies ahead. And why not be excited, God has already told me what’s going to happen. He plans to prosper you and not to harm you. He’s given you hope and a wonderful future (based on Jeremiah 29:11). Did you know that God has already blessed this year? When I started collecting scriptures for this article, I was lead to Genesis and Revelation (and some points in between)—I saw blessing from beginning to end. Please enjoy reading what the Holy Spirit gave me for you.

You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.
—Psalm 65:11 NIV

Don’t look at what the world is experiencing. The Lord has already crowned this year with bounty! Remember He is the Ancient of Days. He knows all things and holds time in His hand. Everything He created was called good. In order to experience the Blessing all year long, we need to remind ourselves daily of Psalm 118:24 which says, “This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it!” That’s 365 blessed days and it equals a year crowned with bounty!

In the beginning God created. What did He create—time, days and seasons for people to enjoy. And, He said it was all good. Genesis 1:31 recounts, “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” So regardless of what the media, politicians or your co workers are saying, THIS YEAR IS GOOD AND WILL BE GOOD BECAUSE GOD CREATED IT. Furthermore, His reason for making it good was and still is for His children to enjoy.

A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.
—Deuteronomy 11:12

His eyes are upon you if you are in covenant with Him. This is included in our Blessing. The LORD is good to all; He has compassion on all he has made (Psalm 145:6). And we have biblical proof that anything God makes is bountiful, blessed and flowing with abundance. This should be our experience no matter what year it is or the economic status of our country. As a matter of fact, I believe when the world has lean times, it is a better opportunity for God to show off in our lives. People will want to know why and how our days and years continue to prosper.

Finally I’d also like you to meditate on God ending things the same way He began. Creating. Revelation gives us a glimpse. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” So he took me in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone—like jasper as clear as crystal (Revelation 21:1-2, 10-11). This sounds like bounty to me! If none of the other verses convinced you, just focus on these. They will remind you of how the Lord is living and His expectations for you this year and every year until His return. He created it, crowned it and blessed it and He expects you to have a blessed year from beginning to end.

Be blessed friends and have the perfect day everyday!
Psalm 138:8
—Shontta

I have seen the Lord. I’ve touched His face and held His hand. His aroma was as fragrant as a spring day. He is gentle and powerful; through His eyes I saw the beauty of creation. The moment I realized Him, I was more in awe of His blessings and of His love toward us. I looked in the eyes of my daughter, and I saw the Lord. I felt His strength in the arms of my husband and heard Him laugh through the voice of my son. And, I beheld His face as I gazed at my own face in the mirror. We have been made in His image and blessed with all the power and authority that His image possesses.

Throughout the Bible human beings were always fascinated with the experience of seeing God. This may have been one of the reasons for manmade gods. I suppose that the people who made these idols wanted to be able to see and touch the beings they worshiped. When all along, God Almighty had given man a picture of Himself—man was the image of God. All that needed to be done to see God was to see a human being. In Genesis 1:26 God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” Despite this fact being rehearsed through generations, Jesus disciples still wanted to see the Lord.

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.

—John 14:6-11

OK, so how can you not love this passage of Scripture! Focus on the way Jesus spoke. The surety of His words is so powerful. He had no doubt about who He was or what He was saying. We are supposed to behave the same way. The first blessing God ever gave us was to create us in His image! Why? So we could do the same works and greater! I am excited as I write this—it’s a true revelation. Jesus told the disciples that by seeing Him they had seen the Father. And as a part of the Acts generation, not only are we made in the image of God, we also have the Christ in us! Are you feeling me?! This is why I can say that everyday I see the Lord. Jesus lives in me and my physical body is in the likeness of the Father.

This is another reason why we cannot focus on what we see on the outside of people. No matter what they may be doing with their bodies, they were not originally created for or by evil. Psalm 100:3 tells us, “Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” And in Psalm 139:13-16 David continues, “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.”

People were created by God. So whenever we look at someone, we should be looking through the eyes of God. By giving you and me His image, He was able to give us His power. The Blessing can flow through us because we’ve been made the righteousness of God in Christ. We were made a little lower than Elohim! You have to get this. Let’s close with Hebrews.

“You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet.” In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.

—Hebrews 2:7-11 NIV

You look just like your Father. You have His eyes and you possess His power. You’ve been blessed in His image. Don’t go around wishing you could see God or touch Him. As you read His word and pray, you will see more of Him in you and all around you. You will be just as confident as Jesus was when He told the disciples that they had seen the Father by seeing Him. When you witness and work for the Lord you will be able to tell others, “When you look at me, you are looking at the Lord.”

Be blessed friends, and have the perfect day everyday!

Psalm 138:8

—Shontta

Vocational and financial inflexibility can cause mental and emotional distress. Romans 12:2 in the Amplified reads:

Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].

The world is external and superficial and we are told here not to conform to it. You may be inflexible emotionally because circumstances have you down. You may not have been taught that you can take authority by speaking and acting on the Word. I encourage you to be flexible and be transformed in your mind and emotions. Don’t allow religious dogma (or any mental negativity) to stifle your growth and pending flexibility. Be willing to change your thoughts by feeding on the Word. Take the old, impure and negative thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:2) — do it verbally. Under emotional pressure, call on God. Be flexible by speaking the Word instead of having a meltdown. Whatever your usual derogatory action, intentionally deflect it with the Word. And remember, all you need is one Word! Know that God has exalted above all things His name and His word (Psalm 138:2; Philippians 2:9-10).

Select one or two scriptures that cover your situation and commit them to memory. Faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17).

These actions will relinquish the control of your flesh from your emotions to your spirit. Once you create spiritual flexibility, you are on a collision course with success in life. For it is the Spirit, that guides us into the Truth (John 16:13-15). And if your mind and emotions are not in flex, how can your spirit lead you? Luke 8:18 AMP says that to him who has spiritual knowledge will more be given. Once again, flexibility begets flexibility. Feed your spirit and it will feed you. I trust you were enriched and encouraged by this series of articles. I welcome your feedback.

Be blessed friends and have the perfect day everyday!

Psalm 138:8

— Shontta

Financial flexibility gives you options and ability. Will you be vacationing this year? Are your children in private school? When was your last dinner out (not by way of the drive thru!)? Or worse, is the electricity on? Surrounding us is constant pressure to panic. Don’t be pressured and don’t panic. God is not fearful or nervous. He’s not in the throneroom pacing the floor and biting his nails (Isaiah 40:28-31).

Proverbs 10:22 says that the Blessing of the Lord makes us rich and adds no sorrow to it. When we allow God into our finances He will give us all things in due season. This is why we must obey His word on financial discipline. We must be flexible in order to become financially flexible. First and foremost if you don’t tithe, start today! That’s what the Covenant Blessing is all about.

If you’ve never saved in your life, you have to include savings in your budget. Proverbs 13:11 tells us that gathering money little by little makes it grow. You will grow and become financially flexible when you obey and apply God’s word to your assets. You must have something in the barn for Him to bless and you must put your hand to it (Deuteronomy 28:1-14). No matter what the economy is doing, you will be able to go on vacation, put your children in private school, go out to dinner and keep the lights on!

Remember, Isaac sowed in an year of famine and reaped one hundred fold (Genesis 26:12). And his grandson Joseph saved during the seven years of plenty in order to have grain in famine (Genesis 41:48-49). In fact, the savings grew so large that they stopped keeping record of it! Forgive me for the exclamations, but I get so excited recounting these blessings of obedience and provision. I encourage you to study the lives of these two patriarchs and emulate their actions. They both heard God and were flexible enough to fully obey His commands. In so doing, the Blessing was fully manifested in their lives.

Be blessed friends and have the perfect day everyday!
Psalm 138:8

— Shontta