Seeds and Secrets

by Peter Wade

Copyright 2012 Peter Wade

All rights reserved

Published by Positive Word Ministries Inc.

Web site: http://www.PeterWade.com/

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Table of Contents

Title Page

First Words

God's Seeds of Greatness

1 The Power of a Seed

2 The Imperishable Seed in You

3 The Seed of Self-esteem

4 The Seed of Lordship

5 The Seed of Desire

6 The Seed of Decision

7 The Fruit of the Seed

The Grasshopper Philosophy

8 The Grasshopper Philosophy

God's Secrets of Success

9 Join the Family

10 Feed Your Faith

11 Acknowledge your Good

12 Meditate for Profit

13 Pray and Produce

14 Give and Receive

15 Think God's Thoughts

16 Set Right Goals

Victors, Not Victims

17 I Am Not A Victim

18 I Am Responsible

19 I Am INdependent

20 I Use My Abilities

21 I Use My Freedom of Choice

See That You Excel

22 See That You Excel

Last Words

Positive Books by Peter Wade

First Words

There has never been a greater need in Christian circles than at this time to comprehend the Bible truth about God's plan for His family. Many fine Christians have been left with a negative and mediocre expression of Christianity (the religion), and have little understanding of Christianity as the way of a Father with His family.

This book commences by introducing the wealth of truth in the Bible concerning the greatness God has planned for all His children. The first section takes as its foundation the record of Adam in the first three chapters of Genesis. If it can be demonstrated that God's will for Adam was greatness, then His will for believers today must be for them also to enjoy the seeds of greatness. Four seeds are discussed in detail and the potential fruit of their growth in your life is described.

God has also shared how to apply these seeds—what I call His secrets of success. These are the only secrets that really have guaranteed results. Certainly there is help in the magnitude of success books, magazines, videos, and audio teachings that are now available, but let us not forget that God had laid down these principles first. In the third section of this book I use God's command to Joshua as a foundation for eight secrets of success. As you apply these eternal principles, "then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success" (Joshua 1:8).

As an example of the importance of the mental principles we need to apply, chapter 7 goes to the book of Numbers and share the "grasshopper philosophy". The record of the 12 spies unnecessary journey into the Promised Land has valuable lessons for Christians today. The fourth section of the book also encourages you to evict those attitudes and concepts that make it possible for others, including Satan, to take advantage of you, so you can cease being a victim and become a victor. You will learn that you are IN-dependent when you have Christ within, and are not dependent or co-dependent on others. You do have abilities to use and freedom of choice. You can be in reality all that God has planned for you to be.

God's Seeds of Greatness

1

The Power of a Seed

God has planted seeds of greatness in every person, and His plan for your life is for those seeds to sprout and grow and produce in you a life of health, wealth and happiness.

From the creation it was God's plan for humanity to enjoy life. Man was the ultimate, the highest pinnacle of creation. Man was created in the image of God; he was the reason for the material creation. God did not plan for His man to be sick, to be poor, to be in bondage; He planned for man to be on top of the world, to have the best in life.

For Adam to achieve God's planned greatness, there needed to be a cooperative effort. This is a vital point. We often think of Adam as being a perfect creature, and he was. Yet God created him with the potential to grow and develop and Adam had a distinct part to play. God said to Adam, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it" (Genesis 1:28 ESV). Adam helped to mold the creation to the Creator's will. God placed the man He had created in the Garden of Eden, and instructed him to "work it... and to keep it" (Genesis 2:15). As Adam did this, he was developing God's seeds of greatness in his life. God's desire for humanity is the same as His desire for Adam. God wanted Adam to take what had been given to him in the creation, and make it grow and develop.

The New Testament verse that is the key to these truths is II Corinthians 9:10, "He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness."

God supplies the seed, you give those seeds the warmth and water they need, and God will germinate, make productive, enable those seeds to grow to full splendor and produce fruit which contains more seed. God has supplied to you His seeds of greatness; they are detailed in His Word. If you will do your part to help them germinate and grow, then you will enjoy the results that God has promised.

The implication of seed

The word "seed" implies potential, productivity, and propagation, for within every seed is life, and cells that determines its growth. Take an acorn, for example. Everything necessary for an oak tree to grow, except the warmth and water, is held within the acorn. I have taught the Word of God many times in the magnificent redwood area of northern California. Redwood trees grow to an incredible height and live for centuries. It is claimed that some trees still standing in that area were alive in the time of Christ, nearly 2,000 years ago. I have seen the seed of the redwood tree; it is very small, only a millimeter or so in length. Yet within that seed are cells that determines the shape, structure and color of those magnificent trees, and the initial nourishment for the tree.

A seed has within it the potential necessary for the development of a plant for mankind to enjoy and utilize. God uses the illustration of a seed to teach us that within every believer is the nourishment and cells necessary for us to grow and develop and maximize our potential.

There is one difference between natural seed and God's seeds of greatness, and that is that God's seeds are permanent. In I John 3:9 God says that His seed will remain within the believer; it is permanent. "... God's seed abides in him..." There is therefore no question as to whether you do or do not have God's seeds in your life. God shows no favoritism (Romans 2:11), and if only one believer can be shown to be enjoying health, wealth and happiness, then it is available for every believer. We all have the seed, but what are we doing with it?

Another aspect of growing seed is that the type of soil in which seeds are planted can make all the difference. We need to provide God's seeds with good soil, like that in the parable of the sower (Luke 8:5-15). The farmers in Bible times took a handful of seed and threw it from left to right in front of them as they walked across the plowed field. Some seed fell on the paths, others on rocks, some among thorns, and others on the good soil (Luke 8:5-8).

In this parable "the seed is the word of God" (verse 11). All of God's seeds of greatness revolve around the Word of God; they are principles that we can help to germinate and grow in our lives and produce a good result. The seed that fell on good ground is likened to those who "hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience" (verse 15). The development of the seed is determined by the quality of the ground in which it is placed. When we become Christians, we hear and act upon "the word of faith" (Romans 10:8), and then we find we have a desire to read more of God's Word and we start building up a reservoir of the Word in our consciousness.

The soil is an important component of the growth process, and the parable gives four soil types and the resultant growth or otherwise of the seed. Please read the whole passage. Decide today to provide the soil of positive faith and affirmation and you can enjoy the fruits of God's seeds of greatness in your life.

The example of Abraham

One of the great examples of the cultivation of the seeds of greatness in a person's life is seen in the Bible record concerning Abraham. When he first appears on the Old Testament scene, Abram (his former name) receives a command from God, "Go from your country... to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:1-3).

God had planted a seed of greatness in Abram. He then had to make a choice: to reject the concept that God had clearly defined for his life, or to provide the water and warmth of his positive attitude and action to make that seed grow. "So Abram went, as the Lord had told him..." (verse 4).

The record is clear that Abram's faith in God's seeds of greatness brought great results. "Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold" (Genesis 13:2). He was the world's first millionaire! "Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years [140]. And the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things" (Genesis 24:1). Everything did not always go smoothly for him. Those challenges we can do without we cannot do without, for they are stepping stones to maturity, to greatness. Abraham rose to the opportunities of life, and when he died at 175 years of age he left to his family not only great possessions but also a great faith to follow. The Bible says "Abraham believed God and he was called ... a friend of God" (James 2:23), and that and more is God's desire for all who put their faith in Him.

Faith and God's seed

There are many seeds of greatness, but they all revolve around one great requirement: faith! Abraham believed God "...who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist... no distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God" (Romans 4:17,20).

Is Abraham of interest to us today? "That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all" (Romans 4:16), that is, "of us all" who believe in God. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law "so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles... you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise" (Galatians 3:13-15, 29). We are to "walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had" (Romans 4:12).

I believe God has sown the same seeds of greatness in everyone who becomes a member of His family. For us God has taken the future tense and turned it into the past tense. I believe God is saying to us today, "I have made you... I have blessed you... you are a blessing..." He says to us, "You are more than conquerors" (Romans 8:37); "You are blessed in Christ... with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 1:3); "You are an overcomer, because I am in you" (I John 4:4); "As I am, so are you in this world" (I John 4:17); "Your faith in Me has won the victory" (I John 5:4); "I hear what you have asked, and its yours!" (I John 5:15). "My seed remains in you, so the power and penalty of sin has no dominion over you" (I John 3:9; Romans 6:14).

The seed to succeed in life is powerful, productive, and present in you! Do you believe it?

2

The Imperishable Seed in You

The miracle of the new birth has been called "the greatest miracle in the world." I am sure this is true. I am equally sure that most believers do not know just how great it is. That the God who created heaven and earth should want me to be part of His family is extraordinary enough, but that He would place into that spiritual "gift package" all that I need for everything that I will ever run across is generosity and grace indeed. And to discover that His gift to me is perfect and permanent brings joy beyond words.

When it comes to studying that glorious event known to many as conversion, we do not have to read far into the New Testament to find that the primary illustration employed is that of the birth of a child. God is termed a father and the believers sons and daughters. Conversion is described as a new birth, produced by seed. As a child, the believer is a partaker of the Father's nature and will always bear a resemblance to the Father. The new birth, being born from above, is described by many terms, but I wish to emphasize the Biblical terminology of the birth.

Born again of seed

A key verse on this subject is found in I Peter 1:23, "You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God." There is surely no doubt that this verse refers to the new birth. What we have here is an accurate description of how God accomplished this miracle. We believed what the Word said, how God raised Jesus from the dead, and we confessed with our mouth Jesus as Lord (Romans 10:9-10), and the miracle happened—we were "born again."

The human family, nearly all the animal kingdom, and a large part of the vegetable kingdom, use seed as the means of propagation. This seed is "perishable," it is capable of decay. However, the seed that is placed in the believer is declared to be "imperishable"; it will never decay.

Let us next note that the believer is said to be born again "of" imperishable seed, "through" or "by" the Word of God. The text does not read, "... which is the Word of God"; yet so many read this into the verse. They do this since they are acquainted with the parable of the sower in the gospel records of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, where the seed is stated to represent the Word of God. But this does not prove that every time we read the word "seed" in the Bible it refers to the Word of God. In the parable of the tares in Matthew 13, the seed is clearly stated to be "the sons of the kingdom" (verse 38). In I Peter 1:23, God uses prepositions with great care to show that the seed is not the Word of God. Vincent's Word Studies gives this note, "Of (ek) seed by (dia) the word. Note the difference in the prepositions; the former denoting the origin or source of life, the latter the medium through which it imparts itself to the nature". We are born again of "imperishable" seed, through [by means of] "the word of God". That is the clear teaching from I Peter 1:23.

God's Word has a distinct part to play. "How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?... So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ" (Romans 10:14, 17). No one can experience the new birth unless they have read in the Word of God that it is available and the part they must play in its reception. That part is to believe what God's Word declares, and when Romans 10:9-10 is acted upon, then the Father places His imperishable seed within the person and they become a child of God.

The word "seed"

Before I go any further into this great subject, I would like to share some scriptures that demonstrate the usage of the word "seed" as applied to spiritual children. (The word is used a number of times in reference to children of earthly parents, and these you can discover for yourself with a concordance.) Let us first note this comment in a passage regarding the promise to Abraham, "That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring [seed]—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all" (Romans 4:16). In verse 11, Abraham is called "the father of all who believe." This is a beautiful figure of speech, teaching that our heritage in believing goes back a long way. It has to be a figure, for other scriptures plainly state that God is our Father—the father is always the one who has contributed the seed.

A similar passage is found in Galatians 3:28, 29, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring [seed], heirs according to promise." The context is similar to that of Romans 4, that is, law versus believing.

I John 3:9 declares this outstanding truth, "No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him...". Vine's Expository Dictionary states, "The seed signifies the principle of spiritual life as imparted to the believer, which abides in him without possibility of removal or extinction". We are born again of imperishable seed from God, and that seed remains in the believer.

The answer of Jesus to Nicodemus in the Gospel of John, chapter 3, will help us understand the nature of the seed. "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again [or, from above] he cannot see the kingdom of God... Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'" (John 3:3, 5-7). Verse 6 makes the truth so plain. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh ..." It cannot be improved; it will always remain flesh. In fact, there is no process known or available in this age that can change flesh into spirit. However, flesh can receive a gift of spirit. This does not change the flesh but it does add a spiritual dimension to the person, for now they are a child of God; "...that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." The gift of spirit does not need improvement; it will always remain spirit. Religion tries to improve the flesh; Christianity is the way of a Father with His family. The one is human; the other is divine. The one is for the earth walk only; the other is eternal.

Christ in you

A Christian has been described as a person having "Christ in," and there is great truth in that statement. "You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him" (Romans 8:9) [Note: the NIV incorrectly paraphrases the word "flesh" to "sinful nature." The Greek text is clearly "flesh."] The Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ refer to the same gift. They are terms of character (the genitive case is used) and draw attention to the nature or character of the one spirit that dwells in every believer. The "Spirit of God" indicates origin; the "Spirit of Christ" indicates union with Him. Any person who does not have this one spirit within is not born again and is not a child of God.

"The mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:26-27). The secret is out—it is "Christ in you"; not the resurrected Christ who sits at the right hand of the Father in the heavenlies (Ephesians 1:20), but the Christ-life which is the seed of the Father in all believers. Now perhaps we can better understand Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Christ is still at the right hand of the Father, but that Christ-life with all the love of Christ, and all the power of Christ, and all the authority of Christ dwells in me. That is a thrilling truth! The birth of a child of God

Let me share a few more verses about this wonderful event—the birth of a child of God. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is [or there is] a new creation..." (II Corinthians 5:17). That "new creation" is the impartation of spirit, the imperishable seed from the Father. "Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God" (I Corinthians 2:12). What a tremendous verse! The spirit which every believer has received is the spirit which is from God. This spirit is God's gift to us, since it is "by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

"And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (Romans 5:5). Do you have that Holy Spirit? Yes, every child of God has been given the gift, the seed. Since you are a "partaker of the divine nature" (II Peter 1:4), then God gave you that which He is—holy, eternal, perfect, powerful, unchangeable spirit. What a spiritual "gift package" the Father has given to us!

"And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!' So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God" (Galatians 4:6-7). Praise God; that thrills me. The Christ-life contains the family image and the right to the family wealth. Only the children share the family fortune (at least, in God's kingdom). Now we are to take our position as sons and daughters. "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are" (I John 3:1). Some people are still shocked when I declare that I am a son of God with power. But anything less is a denial of God's provision through the death of Christ. I am no longer a servant, but a son.

"And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us... By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit" (I John 3:24; 4:13). Again and again, in the epistles addressed to the churches and in other epistles, the truth is boldly proclaimed, plainly stated, and never doubted, that every believer has been given God's gift of spirit. "For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit" (I Corinthians 12:13). We are one body, and our oneness comes from the fact that all believers were made to drink of one Spirit, and thus have received the one gift of spirit.

Perhaps you feel I am laboring this point, but I would remind you that countless Christians have been taught otherwise, unfortunately lessening the power and effectiveness of the new birth. Some teach that conversion is simply the moment when you make Jesus the Lord of your life, and that you need a second crisis experience to receive the gift or baptism of the Holy Spirit, as they term it. On the other hand, some teach that every person has this "spark of divinity" in them and the new birth is simply the moment when you become aware of this. I believe both viewpoints are a "put down" of the work of Christ, and the very common former teaching forces believers into a works-conscious religion that inhibits the God-given potential for the more abundant life. I trust I have opened your mind to the possibility of what I find is a simpler, God-glorifying understanding of the new birth or conversion.

The basic truth that you should seriously consider is that the seed, the spirit in you, is perfect, permanent, and with potential. It is God's gift that enables everyone who believes to become a child of God. "The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

The Christ-life now

The experience known as the new birth has to be something more than just a ticket to the sky. Certainly one of the great aspects of becoming a child of God is the assurance that you will live eternally with the Father. But what about the life here on earth in the now? Has God simply put His seed in us, the Christ-life, and then left us to scrape through as best we can? Surely the Christ-life must include something in addition to the "ticket". Perhaps some of the greatness of the new birth can be seen in this statement in Ephesians 1:3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places." Then are you blessed? Yes! And to what degree are you blessed? With "every spiritual blessing". Do you need any more than this?

I admit that this is one of my favorite verses in the New Testament and I have been known to teach on it at length. I certainly do not believe in basing a doctrine on one verse, but this verse does stand out above many others on this subject. You are blessed with every spiritual blessing. If we can believe God's Word in Romans 10:9-10, then why not believe His Word in Ephesians 1:3? When some well-meaning Christian tells me I need to receive "the gift of the Holy Spirit" or "the baptism of the Holy Spirit" or "the double portion" or "the second blessing", I simply tell them I already have it! Either I am blessed... "with every spiritual blessing" or I am not blessed. And if I have it all, according to God's Word, why should I waste my time and the Lord's time asking for something I already have? It seems far simpler and more satisfying to believe what God has said.

So I boldly declare: "I am blessed with heaven's best." The careful reader will observe that there is no modifier of the word "every" ("all" KJV) in this verse, and it can then be considered as "all without exception". There are no spiritual blessings that are now available that I do not have. I have "the gift of righteousness" (Romans 5:17), I have "peace with God" (Romans 5:1), I have "God's love" (Romans 5:5), I have the "abundance of grace" (Romans 5:17), I have "the gift of... eternal life" (Romans 6:23), I have the "freedom... of the children of God" (Romans 8:21).

Filled with the fullness of God

The first chapter of Ephesians continues by listing many parts of the "every spiritual blessing" that we received at the new birth. This subject continues in chapters two and three, and you can have a mountain-top experience as you read this section in the light of what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. The great truth reaches a climax in Ephesians 3:19 where it is stated "that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." Can your mind take that in? It must be in the realm of possibility, for we are dealing with God's Word and He cannot lie.

"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!" (I Kings 8:27). This is Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple. Now, in the grace administration, God declares that because of our redemption we are "filled with all the fullness of God". (The tense demands the rendering "that ye may be..." but the impact of the context and elsewhere is "you are filled...".)

Let us go now to the book of Colossians, and as is so often the case, we find Colossians giving added emphasis to the teaching of Ephesians. In the second chapter we read these staggering words, "For in him [Christ, verse 8] the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily" (Colossians 2:9). The epistle has already declared earlier that "... in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell" (Colossians 1:19)—the entire complement of God, not the state of being full but the necessary things which make fullness. Vincent's Word Studies makes this comment on Colossians 1:19, "the fullness denotes the sum-total of the divine powers and attributes." The same word is used in Colossians 2:9. The "heaven and the highest heaven" cannot contain God, but the sum-total of the divine powers and attributes dwelt permanently in Christ.

Now let me read Colossians 2:10, "And you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority," "you are complete in Him..." (KJV). Wait a minute, Paul. Surely you do not mean that as Christ had all the fullness of God, so do I? But what does the Word say? "And you are complete in Him...". Well, perhaps the translation is wrong. Let us check some recent translations: "And in him ye are made full" (ASV); "and you are complete through your union with Christ" (NLT); "and in Him you have been made complete" (NAS). "When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too" (Message). Well, are you ready to believe the Word of God now? "You are complete in Him." The word "complete" is closely associated with the word "full". The Greek text does not say, "you are made full in Him"; rather, "you are in Him, made full." Verse 9 taught us that in Him dwells the fullness, and since you are in Him and He in you, you are full. And so I boldly declare, "I am complete in Him." And if I am complete in Him, then you are too, and so is every believer.

How complete are you? I often say, "I am completely complete." If the cellphone or laptop battery is fully charged, then it is full; it cannot take any more. In the same way, since the believer is blessed with all spiritual blessing, filled with all the fullness of God, and complete in Him, there cannot be room for any more. I do not have room for the "second blessing" or the "double portion" even if there were such things available. Since the Word says I am blessed, then I am blessed. Since the Word says I am full, then I am full. Since the Word says I am complete, then I am complete. I did not receive the gift of eternal life, only to find that I needed yet to be "filled with the Holy Spirit", and then to discover that there were another nine "gifts" of the spirit to follow! Is it not simpler and more satisfying to believe what God has said?

Our sufficiency

"Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter [the Law] but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (II Corinthians 3:5-6). How thankful I am that the Word does not say, "Our lack is from God." It is very clear, "our sufficiency is from God..."; "our competency", "our ability" as some recent translations render the word.

God has made us sufficient or competent for every situation that we will ever run across. His sufficiency is our efficiency. Since we are blessed with every spiritual blessing, then we are surely competent to meet all of life's situations with confidence and boldness. "But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession..." (II Corinthians 2:14). Not somehow— but triumphantly.

He "has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant..." A person might be an "able" (KJV) minister in carrying out the duties of his religion, but here God tells us that He has "made us competent ministers of a new covenant." Every believer is a "competent minister" as they manifest the indwelling power of God to meet the needs of those around them. This is possible, not because of their training or tradition, but because their "competence [sufficiency] is from God"—they are blessed, and full, and complete.

II Corinthians 8:9 is another statement and it is so well known that perhaps we have missed part of its great impact. "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich." Since you have accepted the result of Christ's work upon the cross, the Christ-life, then God describes you as being rich. And we have just started to see how very rich is the gift of God. Blessed, full, complete, sufficient, triumphant—how rich indeed is every believer, every child of God!

All things are yours

God is not poor, and He does not want you, His child, to be poverty stricken. The Father has provided the best for you. "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work... You will be enriched in every way for all your generosity, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God" (II Corinthians 9:8, 11). "All sufficiency in all things at all times" is the Father's promise to you. Again, there is no modifier of the word "all" and so it is in the sense of "all without exception"—not one part of your life is missed. No wonder this great truth "will produce thanksgiving to God". Can you open your mind to the great possibilities of dynamic Christian living that the Father is revealing in all these verses? This is God's idea of a "normal Christian life".

"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32). There are those two marvelous words again, "all things." Is anything missed? "And with this gift how can he fail to lavish upon us all he has to give" (New English Bible). Notice also the words "with him"; the "all things" have been received and are always held and enjoyed in union with Christ. We have the gift of spirit, of eternal life, the Christ-life, and along with that gift He has given us "all things". It is no wonder that believers can declare, "In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us" (Romans 8:37).

Here is another powerful scripture concerning the "all things", "For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's" (I Corinthians 3:21b-23). Twice in this passage the truth is stated in terms you cannot misunderstand—everything belongs to you, because you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

And yet another passage with those embracing words, "all things"— "As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything [all things] to enjoy" (I Timothy 6:17). God wants you to have enjoyment or benefit from the "all things" He has provided. Here are some recent translations of the last phrase, "who gives us in full measure all things for our use" (Bible in Basic English); "who richly furnishes us with everything to enjoy", "who generously gives us everything" (RSV). When the Father blessed us with all spiritual blessing, it was so that we could use it and thus enjoy it.

You are who God says you are

To those who feel I am painting too rosy a picture of a Christian, I can only quote this, "For we are his [God's] workmanship..." (Ephesians 2:10). Since He made me His child by placing His seed within me, then I am going to believe what the Maker says about His product. "His workmanship are we..." is a better translation. All around I see Christian believers living below par, and I am convinced that one of the great reasons is that nobody has pointed out to them what God says they are.

I bought a gospel record some years ago, and one of the numbers starts with these words, "I'm only human..." What a "put down" for the atoning work of Christ! In some churches the members repeat every Sunday, "Lord, have mercy on us, miserable offenders..." How rare it is to hear the preacher announce as his text, "In him [Christ] we might become the righteousness of God" (II Corinthians 5:21 KJV). Too often it is a text such as Psalm 51:7, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow" and then as a final hymn the believers stand and with loud voice proclaim, "O that my load of sin were gone, O that I could at last submit...". With that kind of diet, it is no wonder that weak and sickly Christians abound, and so few want to join them!

We have a glorious Savior, Who provided a glorious salvation to all who will to believe. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the One who created heaven and earth, has put His seed within us and loaded us with every spiritual blessing. Every Christian has everything they will ever need—and so much more that the mind can scarcely take it in, let alone comprehend it. Read these truths again and discover afresh the thrill and excitement of being a child of God. Bed these truths firmly in your mind, hold fast to the faithful Word of God, and learn how to benefit from the Christ-life dwelling within.

3

The Seed of Self-esteem

What is self-esteem? The definition I like best is that given by Robert Schuller senior, "Self-esteem is the human hunger for the divine dignity that God intended to be our emotional birthright as children created in His image." Similar terms used by different writers are self-worth, self-dignity, self-value, a positive self-image, and human dignity.

A survey was taken by the Gallup people as to what were the attributes of people who had positive self-esteem. They discovered that these people had a high sensitivity to the needs of others, a strong sense of family, success in interpersonal relationships, greater productivity in their jobs, not bound by a desire for material possessions, a low incidence of chemical addiction, involvement socially and politically, and generous givers to charities. Add to this a strong faith in God, and you have a picture of a true positive Christian. We need more Christians who will express a healthy self-image such as that described.

In God's eyes, everybody is a somebody! There are no nobodys as far as God is concerned. The truth of God's Word is that the seed, which has the potential to produce, is available to everybody. It is your choice to change your thinking from just being one person living on planet Earth to seeing yourself as a somebody—a person with real value, real self-esteem. You are valuable because God said you are valuable. You can be productive, because God said, "So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it" (Isaiah 55:11). You have value in God's eyes. No one else but you can fulfill His plan for your life. God thinks so much of you that He sent His Son to die on the cross for you, and He raised Him from the dead so that you might have real life.

People are God's idea

God created people to achieve greatness. God gave people a very high place in the order of things. "Yet you have made him [man] a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor" (Psalm 8:5). That is great, but the Hebrew text is even stronger, as given in the margin of many translations, "You have made him a shade lower than God." Is there a basis for human dignity? Yes! For a positive self-esteem? Yes! For a positive self-image? Yes! "You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet" (Psalm 8:6). That is God's original plan for humanity, and God's plan has not changed! God wants you to see yourself as being just a shade lower than Himself.

I love it when I get to New Testament truth, and in Ephesians 2:6 I read that I am seated together with Christ at God's right hand in the heavenlies! In the Eastern culture (the Bible is an Eastern book), to be seated on the right hand indicates the place of blessing. All the clean tasks are done with the right hand, the hand of blessing, and all the dirty jobs are done with the left hand, the hand of cursing. Ephesians also tells me that I am His workmanship (2:10), and God does not need a quality-control department, for all His works are perfect.

People are made in God's image, "So God created man in his own image..." (Genesis 1:27). "When God created man, He made him in the likeness of God" (Genesis 5:1). "When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth" (Genesis 5:3). The offspring take the image of the parents. "God is spirit" (John 4:24), and humans are intended to have a spirit likeness to God.

God's spirit within us is to have dominance in our life and affairs. Too often humans work from a body-soul-spirit consciousness instead of a spirit-soul-body consciousness. The body was never meant to be predominant; God wanted man to be predominantly a spirit being, "in His own image." Now, through the work of Christ, humanity can become containers of God's spirit and germinate God's seeds of greatness.

Accept God's value

Your responsibility is to accept the value God has placed on you. All too readily you accept the value placed on you by your family, your neighbors, your workmates. God encourages you to accept the value He has placed on you—a true, positive self-esteem.

Self-esteem will rid you of jealousy, for you will never want to be anyone else. You will be satisfied being the great person God intended you to be. How many people spend all their time and money on trying to be a clone of someone else, when they could be happy being themselves! How many white people want to get a tan and how many black people want to be white! God made you to be you! Enjoy it! God has a contribution for you to make which nobody else can do. Accept the value God has placed on you and rid your life of jealousy and resentment of others.

Self-esteem will wipe out inferiority, for you are in God's class of being—you are made in the likeness of God. Now that you are a believer, Christ lives in you (Galatians 2:20). You now have the potential to be productive, to take dominion over your world.

Self-esteem will eliminate the fear of failure and defeat, for you and God are working together—you are God's living enterprise and God cannot fail. God does not sponsor flops! If you will accept the value God has placed upon you, your positive self-esteem, you can stand tall and rise to the level of importance for which God has created you. This seed will germinate in your life when you believe and act as if it is so. Accept what God says about you.

Who are you?

Christian, who are you? The Bible says, "Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared" (I John 3:2). Say what God's Word says about yourself. A person said to me that after listening to this positive teaching for five years, they had just started realizing the truth that poor people cannot help poor people, sick people cannot help sick people, down people cannot help down people. Yet positive people can help others become positive. Positive Christians can change their world.

Having acted upon Romans 10:9, you are now a child of God, you are in His family, you are bearing the family image, you have His powerful spirit within. You are God's starting point—be the great person God has created you to be. No longer should you use the phrase, "I'm only human, you know!" That is not the way God intended you should view yourself. God sees you as a real somebody, as being just a shade lower than Himself.

You are not only a child of God, but you are also a container of God. "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world... we know that we abide in Him and he in us" (I John 4:4b,13). That is exciting! God saw so much value in you that He is living in you, He is resident in you. The God Who is in you is good and does good (Psalm 119:68). The God Who is in you is great and does great things for you (Psalm 77:13; 126:3). Recognize this good and great God within you, accept His valuation of you. You have a divine origin and a divine destiny. You are vital to God's plan. Your heritage is to have God's best.

Accept this seed of truth from God's Word. Believe it! Affirm it! Everybody is a somebody with our great, big, wonderful God.

4

The Seed of Lordship

A fable is told by Paul White, the author of the Jungle Doctor book series, of a goat who wanted to become a lion. The goat thought that he was such a handsome creature that he deserved a better position in life than that of a goat. As he considered this, he decided he would become a lion, the king of beasts. However, he did not know how to bring about this change, so he went to some of his animal friends and asked them for their ideas. The monkey, who was most observant and knew the ways of the jungle, told him that in order to become a lion he must go where lions go, do what lions do, say what lions say, and eat what lions eat.

The goat considered that sound advice, and so he went out to conquer the jungle. He had gone only a short distance down the trail when he met the giraffe. He said to the giraffe, "Mr. Giraffe, I am a lion. I am going to eat you all up." The giraffe convulsed in fits of laughter, and the goat was taken back by this response. So he made his way back to the monkey, and told him about the giraffe's laughter.

The monkey said, "Of course, we've forgotten one important matter." So he went over to the trunk of a paperbark tree and ripped off a piece of bark. He picked up some charcoal from the fire and wrote the letters "LION" on the bark. He stuck the piece of bark over the horns of the goat, and said to him, "Now there is no doubt. Everybody will know that you are a lion." The goat went off again up the jungle trail and this time met the hyena, who also burst into howls of laughter when he saw the goat. Though dismayed, the goat went on until he came to the river, and along the bank were a number of caves which looked about right for lion territory. The goat let out his best imitation roar, and the echo came back of this great lion's roar.

So he did it again, and heard the terrifying echo. But then the echo was followed by another roar, so the lion roars were not echoes. Then came the sound of pounding feet, and before he knew it, the goat became a lion—or rather, a lion's dinner!

Now the moral is that the goat had an identity problem. There is no shortage of people with the same identity problem who think they are someone they are not. In the chapter on the seed of self-esteem, we learned that when you know who you are, you no longer want to become someone else. Rather, you become satisfied and content with the high value God has placed on you. However, we need to know not only who we are, but where we fit into God's scheme of things. That, too, was a problem for the goat. He had a part to play, a very necessary part in the life of the jungle, but he failed to see where it fitted into God's great plan. The seed of lordship will enable you to discover where you fit into God's great plan.

Adam had responsibilities

Let's go back again to Adam in the Garden of Eden. With the territory came responsibility. "And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed" (Genesis 2:8). The Garden of Eden was a special garden, not just some lovely valley that was part of the general creation. God went out of his way to develop the best place for man to live and thrive. "And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food" (Genesis 2:9). God wanted His man to enjoy nature. The trees were "pleasant to the sight," for God wanted His man to enjoy the sights nature has to offer. In addition, some trees were pleasant to the taste, "good for food." God has made a beautiful and bountiful provision for man, the pinnacle of His creative work.

"The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 'You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die'" (Genesis 2:15-17). God appointed Adam as His under-ruler; He planted within him the seed of lordship. Man was never created to be number one; God always planned for man to be number two. However, as number two, he was told to "subdue" and "have dominion over" every living thing on the earth (Genesis 1:28), including "the beasts of the earth" and "livestock" (verse 25). Psalm 8:6, speaking of the relation of God to man, states, "You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet."

God's under-ruler

Two things were necessary for this arrangement to work: Adam had to take some action, he had to "work it [the garden] and keep it"; and Adam had to obey God's verbal request, "Everything is yours, except..." That was God's job description for the position of under-ruler—simple yet clearly defined guidelines for the good life.

"Work" is not the dirty word some people make it out to be; Adam lived in Paradise and he needed to work to keep it as Paradise and enjoy it. To obey is to have confidence in what God says—and that is all God expects of us today! There were no flaming swords around the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It was a handsome tree and its fruit looked delicious. All that stood between Adam and Eve and the tree was a verbal rule from a loving Father. However, if that one rule was broken, they alone would be responsible for the certain consequence.

I think you know the events that followed quite well. Eve and then Adam ate of the forbidden fruit. Their lack of trust in God's integrity, their lack of obedience, was later called "sin". We so often think of sin as murder or rape or some other crime against humanity. The Biblical viewpoint of sin is a lack of trust in God's Word. "For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin" (Romans 14:23). The Greek word for "sin" means to miss the mark, and aiming without faith will do just that. This first sacking from a middle-management position is recorded in Genesis 3, and it started with a remark by Satan to Eve, "Did God actually say...?" (verse 1). All of Eve's problems, and humanity's problems, started when Eve gave thought to the questioning of God's Word. Whenever you start questioning God's Word you are on a downward path. Consider, yes, but question, never!

Eve replied by quoting God, but she omitted the word "surely" or "free" (2:16), "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden" (verse 2). If you are going to quote God, then quote Him accurately! Whenever you deliberately omit words or phrases from God's Word, then you are on dangerous ground. Eve then added some words to God's verbal rule, "but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die'" (verse 2b). God had said nothing about touching the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, only of eating the fruit. Omitting a word and adding words to what God has said will not leave you with God's Word, only with what man thought God was trying to say—and we cannot stake our lives on man's opinion of what he thinks God said.

However, Eve is not finished yet, for she then changes God's Word, "... lest you die" (verse 3). "Lest" means "perhaps". God had said, "... you shall surely die" (2:17)—there was no "perhaps" about it! Changing God's Word to suit your desires or lifestyle will again leave you with a watered-down version of what God said. Questioning, omitting, adding, changing -- all this prepared Eve to accept Satan's absolute contradiction of what God had said, "You will not surely die" (verse 4). "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate" (verse 6).

Life after Paradise

Abandoning their confidence in God's Word, Adam and Eve were left without a guide to a successful life. This lack of trust in God's Word left God with no option but to dismiss His under-ruler and drive him and his wife from the garden. "Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—" in the state of "knowing good and evil" (verses 22,5). God's plan for the good life was simple, but now Adam and Eve had to give that up and live only on the basis of a knowledge of good and evil. They lost the connection with God that meant greatness and self-esteem to them. There was no way back into the Garden, for "at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life" (Genesis 3:24).

God had given them the right to come into His presence at any time and talk about anything. Adam had righteousness, the ability to stand in God's presence at any time without any sense of fear or guilt. God had brought all the animal kingdom to Adam and asked him to give names to every creature (Genesis 2:19-20). In the cool of the evening they would sit and talk and have a wonderful time. However, Adam and Eve's lack of trust in God's Word substituted this productive relationship with knowing only what is right and wrong. Without confidence in God's Word, man still does not know how to live the good life, the abundant life.

It was never God's intention that humans should know only what is right and what is wrong. This is worldly knowledge. Perhaps you noticed that when you became a Christian, and others found out about it, they quickly told you what you should or should not do. What we need is a knowledge of God's righteousness, our right standing with Him, which enables us to enjoy the life of God. We need to accept the seed of lordship.

Adam and Eve's lack of trust in the integrity of God's Word resulted in Adam being sacked from his position as God's under-ruler on earth. The result of the dismissal meant that Adam had no job, no accommodation, no free meals! He had no relationship with God. The evening walks were finished. The good life had ended. "Sin" entered the human race—and that was the great tragedy.

Lack of trust is widespread

"Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned" (Romans 5:12). Adam was still alive, but what died in him was his connection to God; his originally perfect body kept going for another 900 plus years. The stench of spiritual death is still evident in the world today. Before long, man was acting as if he were number one, for he no longer had the seed of lordship.

This lack of trust, sin, is the root cause of all human problems. When you do not trust God, you do not trust yourself—and the seed of self-esteem withers and dies. And when you do not trust yourself, you do not trust anyone else either. The end result of this lack of trust in God produces death, "for the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23); not "shall be" death but "is death" right now. It is death to the potential in every human being, it is death to the good life, it is death to being the kind of person you were intended to become.

If all that were not bad enough, the human race changed family heads and had to give allegiance to Satan. Jesus said, "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires" (John 8:44). Jesus recognized that humans had become containers of a different kind of seed. A substitute seed is now resident in the human race, and its source is the devil, the enemy of God. Every human starts life with a lack of trust in God's Word. We start life in the wrong family, but in spite of all this, God's plan for man did not change. God still loved the human race. Adam and Eve committed the sin of high treason, but God's plan did not change. He loved Adam and Eve just as He did before. He wanted the best for them as He had already shown. What could God do about it? He had a "love plan" worked out!

"But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). God's Son was perfect, untainted by this inherent lack of trust. He "has been tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). He took our sin, our sickness, our insecurity, our loneliness, so that we do not have to put up with them any longer. He became our substitute. He paid a debt He did not owe; we owed a debt we could not pay!

Back to the good life

Now human beings can be restored into a good relationship with a loving God, and the way to do it is simple—trust in the integrity of what God is saying! He has done all the work, both legal and vital, to restore the seed of lordship to humans. "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9). To believe in your heart means that you have a trust or confidence in what God had said.

This is the way back to the position of under-ruler on earth. Adam accepted the lordship of God and became His under-ruler; now we can accept the lordship of God's Son, Christ Jesus, and because we have this seed we are "more than conquerors" (Romans 8:37). It is our faith—our trust in God—that is "the victory that has overcome the world" (I John 5:4). We are to "reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:17), as God's under-rulers. All the blessings that Adam had at the beginning, we now have in Christ. Christ is the link between God and us. Christ is the link between success and us. Christ is the link between greatness and us. When you tap into God's wisdom, you have to work very hard not to make a success out of life.

As we accept His lordship, we become "a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come!" (II Corinthians 5:17). The "old" things were the life of limitation, of bondage, of sickness, of sin—the nature of Satan within us. "For all things are yours... and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's" (I Corinthians 3:21-23). The good life has returned! "We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1)—and we can now have peace with ourselves, and peace with others. The Word is full of statements as to what happened at that moment when we accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour.

Humanity has been reinstated, but on an individual level. It is now up to you and to me to accept God's "love plan" for us personally. We must accept His seed of lordship, take dominion, subdue the earth, accept God's health, wealth, and happiness, and maximize our potential as a child of God. Remember that you are valuable; He sent His Son to die on the cross to remove all doubt about that. However, a lack of trust in God's Word is still the basic human problem, and this results in death—death to your future, your potential, to everything that is good in life.

However, God loved you too much to leave you like you were. The good news is that Jesus came to be your substitute. He now makes just one verbal rule: believe it! Accept His seed of lordship and enjoy the greatness God has provided for you.

5

The Seed of Desire

Your "yearning" power is more important than your "earning" power. This may be difficult to believe in this materialistic culture but it is true! The third seed that God planted within Adam was the seed of desire. "And God blessed them. And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish... and over the birds.. and over every living thing that moves....'" (Genesis 1:28). Adam had the world as his oyster, so long as he desired to bring to pass what God had said. God planted the seed of desire in His under-ruler to enable him to rule, reproduce, and prosper in the material world. "And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good" (verse 31).

However, Eve was led astray by Satan to ignore God's only restriction to the good life: not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate" (Genesis 3:6). This is sense-knowledge desire. She "saw" that it looked good as food, she "saw" that it was pleasing to the eyes. The more she desired with the senses, the less she desired to obey God and not eat that fruit.

There are two kinds of desires. There is the good desire that God has placed within us to make something useful out of our lives, and there are evil desires where we know, because of the teaching of God's Word or because our conscience tells us, that something is not good, is not right for us. Let me illustrate this by asking you to think about the last time you went on a diet. The joy of being on a diet is to sneak that odd goodie when no-one is looking. You know full well that the goodie is not going to do you any good, but just one cream bun won't hurt, surely? The evil desire to eat that cream bun was based on sense knowledge. You looked at it longingly, you started salivating at the thought of how good that cream would taste and feel as it went down. You finally "pigged out", and a day later wondered why your diet was not working! To desire that which God says is not good for you only brings defeat, discouragement and distress. Many people, stubbornly going their own way, have proved that to their own hurt throughout human history.

God wants us to desire the best in life—health, wealth, and happiness. One of the unique things about humans, as compared to all of God's creation, is that we have the capacity to dream. He wants us to dream beyond what is currently possible for us, desire what we dream about, and drive for our desires, as T.L. Osborn puts it. On the other hand, religion has emphasized surrender, humility, submission, suffering and poverty, but has neglected positivism, productivity, prosperity, accomplishment and success. Let's get back to God's positive Word and get full value out of the seed of desire that our Father has planted within us.

Your desire for good

Your desire for good is God's desire for good being expressed in and through you. One writer has said that desire is God knocking on the door of your heart to let you know what is available. You are created in God's image, you have the divine nature resident within (II Peter 1:4), you are joined to the Lord as one spirit (I Corinthians 6:17), and you have Christ living within you right now (Galatians 2:20). Your desire for good is God's desire being expressed through you!

Since the nature of God is goodness (Psalm 119:68), then a desire for good is first a desire for God. David expressed his desire in this way, "O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water" (Psalm 63:1). That is desire! Another psalmist said, "My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God" (Psalm 84:2). An intense desire to know God is a desire for good. James 1:17 tells us that "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father." A desire for good in all its myriad forms is a desire for God.

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4). Make a special note of the order: Delight in the Deity produces a Demonstration of Desires! Get to know your God better. Verse 9 says, "For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land." Now that is a good inheritance; I think I could live off of that. However, I must follow the Lord's way. "Wait for the Lord and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land" (verse 34). "The desire of the righteous ends only in good" (Proverbs 11:23). Being righteous means that you have a right standing with God, and having God as your Father means that a desire for good is a desire God has planted in you. Our desire for good is God's desire being expressed in and through us.

In Proverbs 4:10 God says, "Hear, my son, and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many." That sounds good to me. The NLT translates it, "You will have a long, good life." I've met people who wanted to die early, but as for me, I'm after all that God has planted within me, a desire to live a long, good life. I want to be the person in the Wade family who is going to break the record! It had been said that the Wade's die young, but my father broke the record, living to 88 years. "Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life" (Proverbs 4:13). The desire God places within you is always based on His wisdom, that is why it is good.

It is right, spiritually and biblically, to desire the best, the good. Peace with God is good! Physical health is good! Material prosperity is good! Whatever would make your life better right now is good! "Whatever you ask [desire] in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours" (Mark 11:24). "Whatever" includes that one thing that you need right now. There is no condition placed on the "whatever". If you desire that woman as a wife or that man as a husband, watch out! "Whatever you ask [desire] in prayer... it will be yours." You should be sure you have His wisdom on the subject first before you ask! God has planted within you the seed of desire. Dare to desire the best in life!

Desiring less than the good

There is another side to desire. When we desire God and good, we are on the right path. When we desire our own way or evil, then we are on a dangerous course. A lack of trust in the integrity of God's Word produces an evil desire, just like it did in Eve's life. "But sin [lack of trust], seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness" (Romans 7:8). Evil desire is produced by a lack of trust in God. This may be as subtle as starting to think of ways in which we can solve the problem, instead of saying "Father, I want you and I to work together on this situation." Let's delight ourselves in the Lord and allow Him to give us the desires of our hearts. "But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death" (James 1:14, 15). A lack of trust produces an evil desire. When we allow that desire to grow by thinking about it, by developing it in our imagination, then we are drawn away by it and are enticed to do something which is counterproductive for our good. It is death to potential in our lives.

Ephesians pictures the previous life of the believer in this way, "Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind" (Ephesians 2:3). The problem was obviously our nature; we "were by nature children of wrath". The way to change the desires is to change the nature!

The Bible teaches that the old Satanic nature is replaced with God's nature when we confess Jesus as Lord of our lives. Now we are encouraged to walk on the basis of the new nature resident within. No longer should we give in to the memory of the old nature (the nature is gone but the memory of it remains), but we must change our thinking to the new nature within.

So why do Christians still have evil desires? Because they have failed to renew their minds (Romans 12:2) to the good life that God has made available for them. As members of God's family, let's desire the best, the good. Desiring the good life

The good life is God's idea, and your fire of desire will bring the good life into reality for you. One of my favourite verses is I Timothy 6:17, "As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy." That's the good life!

Belief is desire turned Godward. "A desire fulfilled is a tree of life" (Proverbs 13:12); it will be productive in life. "The desire of the righteous will be granted" (Proverbs 10:24). Could it be any clearer or powerful? If your desire is for health, God says it will be granted. If your desire is for wealth, God says it will be granted. If your desire is for happiness, God says it will be granted. "He fulfills the desires of those who fear him..." (Psalm 145:19). The psalmist also says of God, "You open your hand; you satisfy the desires of every living thing" (Psalm 145:16).

A New Testament example of desire is the record in John chapter 5, where Jesus walked by the pool of Bethesda. This was a place where a great number of disabled people gathered because of a tradition that from time to time an angel stirred the water and the first one in after the water was stirred was healed. Jesus saw a man there who had been a cripple for thirty-eight years, and He said to the man, "Do you want to be healed?" (John 5:6). "Do you want to become well?" (Amplified Bible). It was not a stupid question but important to ascertain whether the man had the fire of desire to be healed. The cripple had to deeply, desperately want healing. He blamed other people, but the real problem was that of the intensity of his desire.

The same truth is evident in the incident with blind Bartimaeus. He was sitting by the roadside begging, and a large crowd swirled around him, following Jesus and His disciples as they approached Jericho. He cried out loudly for mercy, and when he was told to be quiet he just shouted all the more. Jesus heard the commotion and called him over. "Jesus said to him, 'What do you [really] want me to do for you?'" (Mark 10:51). It was obvious the man was blind, but it was not a stupid question. Jesus was again checking to see if there was a fire of desire in Bartimaeus. "And the blind man said to him, 'Rabbi, let me recover my sight.' And Jesus said to him, 'Go your way; your faith has made you well.' And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way" (Mark 10:51b-52).

Since Jesus made the effort to discover whether these people had the fire of desire, you can now see its great importance to you and to me. Until you give the seed of desire the warmth and water it needs to grow, you will not receive anything worthwhile or lasting in life. Your desire for good is God's desire for good being expressed through you. Make a quality commitment today to desire all that God desires for you.

6

The Seed of Decision

Soon after David is first mentioned in the Old Testament, an incident occurs which graphically illustrates God's fourth seed of greatness. David was a teenager, bringing food from home to his brothers who were serving in King Saul's army. As he approached the camp he heard the taunts of Goliath, the Philistine giant. For forty days, morning and evening, he had challenged the Israelites to pick out a man for a one-on-one contest to determine the outcome of the war. David was surprised that no-one wanted to take on Goliath. When he asked what was going to be done about the situation, he only got a lecture from his elder brother. David's voice was the only positive note heard in the camp, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?" (I Samuel 17:26b). His comments were eventually relayed to the king, and he was brought in before Saul.

When David met the king, he said, "Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine" (I Samuel 17:32). David had made a decision! No-one else wanted to make a decision; they were content to sit it out and see what developed. After being fitted with Saul's armor, he refused and took it off, picked up his slingshot and went down to the brook and "chose five smooth stones" (verse 40)—another decision. The implication is that he made a deliberate and careful choice of each stone, discarding those he did not want and keeping those which were just the right weight and shape. Perhaps he wanted five stones so that he could take care of Goliath's four brothers while he was about it. When Goliath scorned David because of his youth, David quickly told him who he represented and what Goliath's fate was going to be. "David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead" (I Samuel 17:49). The giant fell face down on the ground, "stone dead"! Victory was won by a teenager who knew how to make decisions!

The power of decision

"For it is God Himself Whose power creates within you both the desire and the power to execute His gracious will" (Philippians 2:13 Weymouth). Your desire for good is God's desire for your good being expressed through you, and your power is the ability to decide "to execute His gracious will" in your life. His will for you is health, wealth, and happiness, and you must decide for it to become a reality in your life and circumstances. When you recognize God as your partner, you have a combination that cannot fail. God is the "ideas" person; you are the decision-making person.

Your key to power for greatness is your ability to decide, your right of choice. All of life is made up of decisions. You can decide how much of the good life you will express. You can choose your career, you can choose your marriage partner, you can choose whether to drink tea or coffee. Life is made up of an endless series of decisions. The only exception to this is a committee! Many committees want to talk about a problem but because they do not want to make a decision, they refer the matter to a sub-committee, whose task is to keep the matter away from the committee for a time, and so the roundabout continues. The difference between a good businessman and a bad businessman is that the former is not afraid to make a decision. He may not always be right, but more often than not he is. The difference between one Christian and another is that one has made decisions, quality commitments, about his walk of faith, and the other is still asking God to do it for him.

How do you make a decision? It is really very simple—you say "Yes" or you say "No", two of the shortest words in the English language. Now most people seem to say "Yes" quite easily, but perhaps we need a special course in the art of saying "No". These two little words are the secret of making decisions. "Let your 'yes' be yes and your 'no' be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation" (James 5:12). We need to use these two words carefully, yet most importantly we need to use them! A successful businessman and manager is not a person who is right all the time, but one who makes decisions. To rephrase the old saying, "A man who never made a decision, never made anything." This is also a good principle in parenting. When your child asks you for something, how often do you say, "I'll think about it" or "perhaps tomorrow". After a while the children get smart and know that you mean "No". "Let your 'Yes' be yes, and your 'No' be no."

James also tells us of the peril of indecision, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways" (James 1:5-8). The road to failure is filled with "double-minded" people who do not want to make decisions, or who do not make them quick enough. So many managers want all the facts before they make a decision, but rarely are all the facts ever available. The staff cry out for a decision, but management hesitates and the opportunity passes. The Bible never says we have to have all the facts; rather, we need to have the truth and make our decisions on that basis.

The truth is that our lives are the sum total of our decisions. If you don't like what you are seeing in your life right now, make a decision to change to the good life, the Christ-life, and express it through you. The way to make a decision is to use one of two short words: "Yes" or "No". "Say 'Yes' to God's success!" is excellent advice. Say "Yes" to success in your life.

"To decide is half done"

Make a decision now. When you do, ideas will start flowing, opportunities will start appearing, you will discover people who can help you, and your fears and doubts vanish. "To begin is half done", someone has said; "To decide is half done" is truth also. Make a decision now to enjoy all that God has made available to you!

The Bible is full of examples of people who made decisions. David said, "The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple" (Psalm 119:130). Whenever a decision needs to be made, we first must have God's light on the situation. The second step is to say with David, "I have chosen the way of faithfulness" (Psalm 119:30); what a great choice! Faithfulness to the truth is the way for you, the expression of Christ Jesus. Ignore the thrills and apparent benefits of error and choose truth every time.

God laid it out quite clearly to the nation of Israel, "I have set before you life and death, blessings and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live" (Deuteronomy 30:19). They had freedom of will; they had the right to choose as much of the good life as they wanted. Their lives were the sum total of their decisions. Read the Old Testament and observe their decisions—it is written for our learning, for us to decide if that is the road on which we ought to travel.

Joshua later gave the Israelites the same ultimatum, "... choose this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15). Everyone had the right of choice, and Joshua made it clear that he had already chosen to serve God.

Later Elijah had to again challenge the nation, "How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him" (I Kings 18:21). The odds were 850 to 1, and Elijah, the only prophet representing God, demanded that the nation made a decision. And every man, woman, boy and girl has the same right of choice today, and must make a decision. Like the nation of Israel, a decision to sit on the fence is a decision against God's will for your life, against the good life.

One final example must suffice us. "By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin" (Hebrews 11:2425). Moses had to make a decision. He had all the family rights and privileges as an adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter, but he decided to follow God's will for His life and lead the Israelites out of slavery and into the promised land. Decide to change your world. Decide to turn possibilities into realities. Jesus said, "All things are possible for one who believes" (Mark 9:23). Yes, faith turns life's possibilities into realities. Believe it, act as if it is so, and your seed of desire will produce a reality as you germinate and cultivate the seed of decision in your life.

The truth is that you have all you need. "The kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21 NKJV). It is therefore not a question of strain and stress to get what you need to make a success out of life. God's nature, wealth, power, abundance, life, health, love and ability is within you. What more do you need? You can "reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:17); you are God's under-ruler.

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God..." (Galatians 2:20). You are the expression of the Christ living within, and Christ cannot fail! With Christ living in you, you can turn possibilities into realities. "For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world" (I John 4:4). And not only does Christ live in you, but "it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). Christ living and God working within is a winning formula to me!

When life gets tough, when you find yourself in a tight corner, say, "I could have peace instead of this... I could have prosperity instead of this... I could have health instead of this..." Choose the truth, the desire that fills your need. Recognize that God is at work in you. Believe that you and God can do anything. Affirm constantly what you are expecting. Make the decision to have nothing but the best in your life. Go for it! God wants you to bloom where you are planted. You alone can accomplish what God has for you to do in this life. Annie Flint put it this way in a famous poem, "Christ has no hands but our hands, To do His work today." Make the decision today to live out to the full the Christ-life within you.

A recent study analyzed 25,000 cases of business failure, and the principal cause of defeat in every case was a lack of decision. Four out of five university graduates surveyed recently had not yet decided what they want to do with their lives. Indecision always spells failure and defeat.

The seed of decision is yours. Your key to power is your right of choice as to how much of the good life you want to enjoy today. Either you will manage your seed of decision, or it will be manipulated by the whims, opinions and negative influences of other people. That's right—either manage it or it will be manipulated by others.

Someone has said, "The only person who can limit me is the one who makes my decisions." The choice is yours—"I have set before you life and death.... Therefore choose life."

7

The Fruit of the Seed

God has planted seeds of greatness in every person, and His plan for your life is for those seeds to sprout and grow and produce in you the fruits of health, wealth, and happiness. "He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God" (II Corinthians 9:10-11).

I have shared with you the four basic seeds of greatness that God has planted within every person who believes in Him. The first is the seed of self-esteem, then the seed of lordship. The seed of desire is the third seed of greatness, and then follows the seed of decision.

A farmer plants his seed in the ground in the expectation of receiving a harvest. "He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him" (Psalm 126:6). "The plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop" (I Corinthians 9:10). "See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it" (James 5:7). In the same way, God has planted in us His seeds of greatness in the expectation that we would produce fruit for His glory. I want to now share three basic fruits we can produce in our lives: health, wealth, and happiness.

The Fruit of Health

Everybody wants to be well. We spend millions of dollars each year on "health aids"—from vitamin pills to alternative medicine to elective surgery. In recent years we have seen the trend to engage in physical exercise, a direct result of this motivation for health, and another new industry has been created. The reason for this is because the human consciousness at its deepest level knows that we are intended to be healthy. So why are so many sick and in need of help?

To understand this we must once again go back to Adam. We have noted that when God created Adam, He created him as a perfect being, just a shade lower than God (Psalm 8:5). Adam was made in the likeness of His Creator—God is not sick and His offspring were not intended to be sick either. However, you will recall that in God's verbal rule to Adam for obedience was a statement concerning the result of a lack of trust. "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Genesis 2:17).

The record is clear that Adam did not die physically the moment or "in the day" that he ate of the fruit of that tree. In fact, Adam did not die physically until 930 years had past. This fact has caused Bible students to go back to this verse and note that the Hebrew text literally translated is "in dying you shall die," indicating two deaths, not one. Adam's spirit was first affected, and this led to a gradual deterioration of his perfect physical body, culminating 930 years later in death. If death is first spiritual then physical, it follows that healing, the reverse of illness, also will be first spiritual then physical.

The spread of disease

The first recorded disease was barrenness, "Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children" (Genesis 16:1). Rebekah was also barren (Genesis 25:21). The second recorded disease was blindness, "When Isaac was old... his eyes were dim so that he could not see..." (Genesis 27:1). By the end of Genesis, a span of 2,300 years from the Fall, we read of "physicians" (Genesis 50:2). Barnes' Notes on the Bible says, "There were special physicians for each disease; and the embalmers formed a class by themselves." By the time Deuteronomy was written there was a long and comprehensive list of diseases (Deuteronomy 28:22-29,59-62). Humans had gone a long way downhill from the original perfect body of Adam. God the Healer

While the nation of Israel was wandering in the desert, prior to entering the promised land of Israel, God revealed Himself as a healing God, "If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God... for I am the Lord, your healer" (Exodus 15:26). Later God repeated this revelation when He said, "You shall serve the Lord your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you" (Exodus 23:25). Notice in both of these references that healing is related to obedience to God's commands.

When the people were bitten by poisonous snakes, God instructed Moses to make an image of the snake, set it up on a pole, and all who looked at it would live (Numbers 21:8-9). In this incident it is again obvious that healing is first spiritual then physical. God's original method of healing was not herbs or minerals or surgery, but a spiritual work within the sick person.

As the Bible revelation continued, further information on the cause of sickness was revealed. When Jesus healed the woman who was bent over for eighteen years and could not raise herself up, He called her infirmity a "bondage" of Satan (Luke 13:16). And in the verse giving a summary of Christ's healing ministry, it is stated that sickness is being "oppressed by the devil" (Acts 10:38). We are therefore left in no doubt as to the root cause of sickness—it is Satan, the enemy of God and the enemy of all who are in God's family. Sickness comes from Satan; health comes from God. Sickness is first spiritual then physical. Healing and health is first spiritual then physical.

Health and healing are from God

When the Psalmist encouraged the people of Israel to praise and worship God, he said, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases" (Psalm 103:2,3). Sin and sickness are linked together here, and forgiveness and healing are benefits given by a loving God. Likewise in Isaiah 53:4 we read concerning the death of the coming Messiah: "Surely he has borne our griefs [infirmities] and carried our sorrows [pains]." When Matthew quoted this verse as fulfillment by Jesus in the healing of "all who were sick", he wrote, "He took our illnesses and bore our diseases" (Matthew 8:16b, 17). So when Jesus died on the cross for our sin, he also died for our sickness. Sin and sickness were linked together in the atonement.

The key verse for Christians on the matter of healing is Romans 8:11, "If [since] the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you." Mortal bodies are bodies subject to death, not dead bodies. John Calvin, a superb Greek scholar, said, "The quickening of the mortal body here cannot refer to the resurrection of the saints, but must mean a giving of life to their bodies, while here upon earth, through the Spirit." Health and healing are first spiritual then physical—in the Old Testament, in the Gospel period, in the Church Epistles. The fruit of health grows from the spiritual seeds of greatness planted in you by a loving Father.

While it is good to believe in divine healing, it is better to believe in the divine health that is resident within you. The first step is obviously to recognize that you have the seeds of greatness, and then to co-operate with God in the growth of these seeds to produce the expected harvest of health in the physical body.

Let's accept the truth that we were healed 2,000 years ago by the work of Jesus on the cross. Let's demonstrate health in our mortal bodies, and get on with making the success of our life that the Father has planned for us. "Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily" (Isaiah 58:8).

The Fruit of Wealth

If we asked the man in the street to define wealth he would probably say it is a rich man's assets, it is what a rich man is worth in dollar terms. But this is a wrong concept. John Ruskin, a British critic of the 19th century, wrote, "What right have you to take the word 'wealth', which originally meant 'well-being', and degrade and narrow it by confining it to certain sorts of material objects measured by money?" Eric Butterworth, a 20th-century teacher, writes, "Prosperity is a way of living and thinking, not just money or things." Wealth is first spiritual, then material, and it is this concept which so many Christian believers find hard to accept.

Our key verse on God's seeds of greatness states that God "will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness" (II Corinthians 9:10). Then in verse 11 He shows one way in which the fruit of the seed will be evident, "You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way." The fruit of wealth is just one of many ways in which God will "increase the harvest."

Let's again go back to the beginning. God provided abundance for Adam and Eve by placing them in an environment in which their every need was supplied. "For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!)" (Isaiah 45:18). God stored up treasures of all kinds of wealth for His man, for He knew man's needs. He filled earth's bosom with deposits of uncounted varieties of metals and chemicals. He covered the earth with manifold beauty and vegetation. Man is the only creature who can enjoy the beauty of this world. This planet of abundance was made for man.

"And God said, 'Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food'" (Genesis 1:29). In return for working the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15), Adam and Eve enjoyed abundance. Psalm 8 also shows how Adam had the right to everything he needed. "Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings [margin, than God] and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea" (Psalm 8:5-8). That is abundance!

The second Adam, Jesus, said, "Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew 6:31-33). Wealth is first spiritual, then material. Once you join the family of God and discover that the kingdom of God is within you and that you have God's righteousness, then it follows that abundance is yours. You have met the conditions of the promise and you will have to work hard to stop "all these things" being "added to you" as well!

In John 10:10 Jesus said, "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly" and in III John 2 we read, "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers" (NKJV). "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness" (II Peter 1:3); "... everything you need for living a truly good life: he even shares his own glory and his own goodness with us!" (Living Bible). Yes, the seed to produce the fruit of wealth is in you!

Where does wealth come from?

I believe that wealth comes from a loving God, our Father. The first clear statement in the Word on this subject concerns Joseph. He had been taken into Egypt as a slave and was purchased by the captain of the guard. "The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man... his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands" (Genesis 39:2-3). Joseph's success rubbed off on others, for "The Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field" (verse 5). Joseph's material success, his ability to produce profit for his master, is specifically attributed to God's blessing on his life and affairs. Joseph was applying the seeds of greatness and enjoying the fruit of wealth.

When Moses recounted the blessings of God to the nation of Israel, he told them that if they ever felt tempted to say, "'My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth' [then] remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day" (Deuteronomy 8:17, 18). God has not changed; He has given every believer the seed to produce the fruit of wealth, in order that He can keep His promises! True wealth—total well-being—is God's will for you!

Centuries later, David, Israel's first king, asked the people to bring gifts so that he could build a temple for God. They gave willingly vast amounts of everything needed, and in his prayer of thanksgiving, David said of God, "Both riches and honor come from you" (I Chronicles 29:12). When Solomon became king, God's promise to him was this: "Wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like" (II Chronicles 1:12). The wealth of Solomon became a legend in his own day and remains so to this day.

The truth remained the same throughout Old Testament history: wealth and prosperity is first spiritual then material. The psalmist exclaimed, "Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits..." (Psalm 68:19 NKJV). "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord... wealth and riches are in his house..." (Psalm 112:1,3).

You have a part to play

In almost all these quotations there is an indication that the person concerned had a part to play in order to enjoy the fruit of wealth. This is clearly stated in Proverbs 3:9-10, "Honor the Lord with your wealth, and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine." The firstfruits refer to the first tenth, the tithe, of their crop, which belonged to God. "Tithe and thrive" is the teaching of this passage and history is crowded with accounts of people who have proved the principle of proportionate giving. The New Testament counterpart is given in the example of the Philippian church, "No church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only... And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:15,19). This marvellous promise was given to those Christians who were financially supporting Paul's teaching ministry out of their God-given wealth. So throughout both Old and New Testaments it is taught that wealth is first spiritual and then material.

How to manifest wealth

First, we must get a wealth consciousness. Wealth is God's idea, profit is God's will for you. Go over the Bible verses quoted in this chapter. Using your concordance, search your Bible for other verses related to wealth—I could only quote a few in the space available. Write them out on cards, memorize them, meditate on them. Remember, accept the value God has placed on you (self-esteem) and accept His lordship over your life; then your desire for wealth is God's desire for good being expressed in you. Build up your desire and your faith by getting God's Word into your consciousness. Speak out positive affirmations based on the Word, such as "God is my instant, constant and abundant source of supply." The wealth of this earth was created by God; it is good, not bad. It was not intended for the monopoly of unbelievers but for the use of those with faith in Christ. "The sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous" (Proverbs 13:22). There is plenty of whatever you need for you. It is your right to enjoy life's best!

Second, make a decision, take an action. You can read and meditate for the rest of your life on wealth and prosperity, but you will not enjoy the fruit until you do your part in its cultivation—give and you will receive! Giving keeps you in the flow of God's wealth. Give because you believe the principle, not because you want the profit. "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (II Corinthians 9:7). Giving must be persistent and proportionate; that is, continually, weekly, not just when you have a need—and in proportion to the wealth you have produced or received. I believe and practice the principle of giving a proportion, a tenth, because it simplifies my giving. Every time I receive money I take a tenth off the top and give it to God's work—and in this way I keep the fruit of wealth growing.

Eric Butterworth tells the story of a rich man who one night had a terrible dream. He saw himself as down-and-out, sleeping on a park bench, feeling cold, and hungry, and dirty, and unloved. The dream was so real he was shivering and depressed and frightened. The question is: What must he do to become a rich man again? The answer is simple: wake up! "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you" (Ephesians 5:14). Wake up to the truth that wealth is spiritual then material. Wake up to the truth that it is God's will for you to prosper. Wake up to Satan's tricks in discouraging you from giving. Wake up! You are rich! "The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and He adds no sorrow with it" (Proverbs 10:22).

Get into the flow of God's wealth this week, today! Find something of value that you can give away. Take the "Top Tenth" off this week's income and give it to God. Give of your time, your talent, your treasure. The fruit of wealth will be yours as you supply the warmth and water the seeds of greatness within you so they sprout and grow and produce a harvest!

The Fruit of Happiness

Happiness means different things to different people. As a teenager I can remember one young man getting up in church at testimony time and declaring that he was "saved, single, and satisfied"! Happiness to a mother of children is to get a full night of sleep. Happiness to a computer programmer is to get their latest program to work. What is happiness to you?

Part of the problem we have with happiness is found in the root meaning of the English word. The Oxford Dictionary defines happiness as "Lucky, fortunate, contented with one's lot; glad or pleased (to help another)" and goes on to state that it is based on the Medieval English root word "hap", meaning luck or chance. Too many people think that happiness happens haphazardly! Right there is the problem—"If only..." I had married the right person, "If only..." I had the cash at the time, "If only..." I could have gone to university. However, the Bible kind of happiness does not happen by luck or chance.

God is not a God of chance; God does not have a capricious will. God is a God of principle, of law, and chance and luck have no place in His plan for your life and mine. Christian happiness is not dependent on outer circumstances but on an inner awareness of who you are and of what Christ has given you.

Was Adam happy?

Let's take one final look at Adam, and simply ask the question: Was Adam happy in the Garden of Eden? Obviously he was, until he ate the apple. He had everything he needed, the climate was right, food was readily available, and his God was giving 100 per cent personal care and attention to his case. I am convinced Adam was happy in the Garden. God was happy with His creation. "God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good" (Genesis 1:31). God was happy, Adam was happy, and the Christ of Calvary made sure you and I could be happy too.

In the Bible we have various words which could be translated "happy". One of the major words is often translated "blessed". David said, "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed [happy] is the man who takes refuge in him!" (Psalm 34:8); "who trusts in him" (NKJV). Our happiness is related to our trust in God so that we see Him as the refuge from all of life's storms. So long as Adam trusted in God, he was happy and things went well. When he developed a lack of trust by eating the fruit of the forbidden tree, he lost that happiness. We can get to the place where we can say with the psalmist, "I delight [am happy] to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart" (Psalm 40:8). Such a happiness flows from a total trust in our loving Father.

"May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars cut for the structure of a palace; may our granaries be full, providing all kinds of produce... Blessed [happy] are the people to whom such blessings fall! Blessed [happy] are the people whose God is the Lord!" (Psalm 144:12-15). Notice the start of this psalm, "my rock, my steadfast love, my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield" (verses 1-2). God's seeds of greatness were within the psalmist, and God was giving them all the warmth and water they needed to produce such a bountiful crop of blessings. "Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed [happy] is he who trusts in the Lord" (Proverbs 16:20).

New Testament happiness

The Greek word "makarion" is used 49 times in the New Testament and is translated in the KJV "blessed" (43 times) and "happy" (6 times). It means a "joyousness springing from within". The fruit of happiness is the product of God's seeds of greatness placed within the believer, "springing from within." Perhaps there is no better passage to examine its usage than the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. Look at the different ways the Amplified Bible expands its meaning. In verse 3 we read: "Blessed [happy, to be envied, and spiritually prosperous—with life-joy and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions]." Verse 4, "Blessed and enviably happy [with a happiness produced by experience of God's favor and especially conditioned by the revelation of His matchless grace]." Verse 5, "Blessed—happy, blithesome, joyous, spiritually prosperous." Verse 6, "Blessed and fortunate and happy and spiritually prosperous [in that state in which the born-again child of God enjoys His favor and salvation]." Biblical happiness is produced not by outward conditions but by an inner change as one becomes a Christian and starts a life-long experience of enjoying God's favor.

When Jesus appeared to the disciples after His resurrection, and Thomas wanted proof that this was He, Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed [happy] are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (John 20:29). Happiness belongs to those who believe in Christ, to those who have faith in an invisible God.

Happiness also belongs to those who give, "Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 'It is more blessed [happy] to give than to receive'" (Acts 20:35). As children, we were happy to receive presents, but God wants us to reverse that trend. When you are as happy in giving as you are when you receive a longed-for present at Christmas, then you have tapped the principle of giving and receiving. Perhaps this is why God has said, "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful [hilarious] giver" (II Corinthians 9:7). There is much greater happiness in giving than in receiving.

One final example is from the epistle to the Romans. "Just as David also speaks of the blessing [happiness] of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: 'Blessed [happy] are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed [happy] is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.' Is this blessing [happiness] then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised?" (Romans 4:6-9a). The person who has a right standing with God, who is a member of God's forever family, has every right to be happy.

Happiness is a fruit of the seeds of greatness God has planted within you. Use your concordance to discover all the Bible has to say about this fruit. Check out the words "happy", "happiness", "blessed", "joy", "rejoice" and others. Believe what you read. See yourself as the happiest person on earth!

In conclusion

Perhaps by now you are amazed at the potential and power of God's seeds of greatness. Your new understanding of who you are and what you can do brings with it a responsibility to act. Unless God's seeds of greatness are given the warmth and water they need, you will never see the harvest God planned for you. Make a decision today to do your part. Go forth boldly and enjoy to the full the abundant Christian life.

The Grasshopper Philosophy

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The Grasshopper Philosophy

Self-image psychology has become popularized in recent years under a variety of names. A simplification of the principle might go like this: "You are what you think you are." It is not at all surprising to find that God's Word gives much more information concerning what we really are and what we think we are. One aspect of this truth is brought to life in an incident recorded in the Book of Numbers. It concerns the ever-present problem of people who will always speak and think less of themselves than they really are. There is a term for the condition: self-denigration. This means to blacken your own reputation. In the light of the record I want to share with you, I will use the more expressive term, the Grasshopper Philosophy.

The record in Numbers chapters 13 and 14 concerns the nation of Israel immediately after their deliverance from Egypt. There are some matters in the record that are not applicable today in the Church age, but many things apply to every age or administration. I want you to keep your eyes open to the principles demonstrated, and to especially notice the consequences of the attitudes held by the various people.

"The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.' So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the people of Israel" (Numbers 13:1-3). Why did God give Moses permission to send out men to search Canaan? God's original command as declared by Moses was this: "See, the Lord your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not fear or be dismayed" (Deuteronomy 1:21). But the leaders of the people, the heads of the families, came to Moses and suggested that he should send some men ahead and find out what the country and its inhabitants were like. Then the whole nation could go into Canaan.

This did not agree with the concept Moses had of God's provision for the nation, and so he sought God's guidance regarding this request. God gave Moses permission to carry out the leader's suggestion. However, let us note that the sending of the spies into the promised land was actually a manifestation of the unbelief of the Israelites in the Word of God. This is the first of ten occasions they queried God's Word, from the time they left Egypt to when they turned back into the desert again.

"Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, 'Go up into the Negeb [Negev, the dry south] and go up into the hill country, and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds, and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land.' Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes [about July]" (Numbers 13:17-20).

None of the items listed for checking were really of any importance, since God had declared they should go up and possess the land. Did it make any difference to God whether the people were strong or weak? Did it worry God if the people were few or many, if the crops were good or bad, if the people lived in tents or in fortified towns? Of course not. Then the desire of the leaders of the people to check out the land in this way was nothing less than unbelief. God has already provided for the nation in their journey from Egypt. They had been fed by the biggest quail hunt in history and by manna [bread] from heaven. The people had no problems, there was no sickness in their midst, and yet, in the face of abundance, they wanted to check out first if what God had said was a certainty. We cannot experiment with God's Word, but we should accept His gracious invitation to experience and enjoy all that He makes available to His children.

"So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath... And they came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs... At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land" (Numbers 13:21, 23, 25). Forty days of unbelief, searching to see if God's Word was true. There is surely a parallel in modern times, for some of us have taken far longer than forty days to discover that God's Word is true.

The report of the spies

"And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, 'We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit...'" (Numbers 13:26-27). Here we have the only statement on which the twelve spies could agree: it was a land that flowed with milk and honey, and hanging from the staff was proof in the form of a huge bunch of grapes. Then they continued with the report: "However [But]..." Have you noticed how often people are inclined to first say something good about a person or situation, yet before long they come out with a negative statement that cancels out the good? "Yes, he's a good man, but..." "Sure, he's alright but I don't like the way he combs his hair (or something)." Remember Naaman the leper? "Naaman... was a great man... but he was a leper" (II Kings 5:1). The fruit is marvelous... but you should see the people!

"However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there" (Numbers 13:28). Certainly the people might have been strong, but how strong is God? And the cities may have been fortified, but did that make any difference at Jericho? And the descendants of Anak may have been considered giants in relation to their own height, but height was no problem when David overcame Goliath! Yet that is not all. In verse 29, "The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan." Oh yes, the neighbors. Whenever there is a choice between believing God's Word or following the dictates of sense knowledge, a barrage of little "-ites" will surround us with negative ideas. What will my family think, what will my friends think, what will the neighbors think? Yet what did God promise? He promised them the land, He said that wherever the soles of their feet were placed it would be theirs (Deuteronomy 11:24), yet they were concerned because there happened to be a few people around.

Although all twelve spies had covered the same ground and seen the same sights, two of them did not share the negativism of the majority. When it is a matter of truth, the majority is not always right. "But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, 'Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it'" (Numbers 13:30). Isn't that beautiful? At last we have a positive statement that aligns itself with God's Word about the situation. Now we have two denominations: on the one hand the cold First Church of the Refrigerator with its majority proclaiming a negative viewpoint, and on the other hand the Church of the Activators with a positive message in spite of its minority. Yes, it does take courage and conviction to stand against any majority and proclaim what you consider to be right. Perhaps the greatest need today is for believers to take a stand for the truth, the integrity of God's Word.

However, the ten negative spies pressed their majority to have the final word: "Then the men who had gone up with him said, 'We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are'" (Numbers 13:31). There is nothing unusual about unbelievers being stronger than negative Christians, for Satan has delighted in staging this situation throughout Church history and even to this present day. Yet the people of Canaan were not stronger than God. A positive and believing nation of Israel would have run all over the Canaanites. "So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, 'The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height'" (Numbers 13:32). Did you notice how the negative attitude ofverse 28 has now grown until all the people are now viewed as giants? Doubt and worry breed unbelief, and unbelief snowballs until it dominates the person. "All the people... are of great height..." This is the figure of hyperbole, exaggeration; and here we see it taken to the fullest measure. Unbelief always exaggerates; belief always stand on the truth.

"And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them" (Numbers 13:33). There is the Grasshopper Philosophy! Self-denigration, low self-esteem, an inferiority complex! It did not matter what they were in the sight of the Nephilim, the Canaanites, the Amalekites, the Hittites, the Jebusites, or the Amorites. And it is still the same today. It does not matter what my neighbors think of me, what the people I work with think of me—all of this has very little to do with my making a success of life. The one thing that does count is what God thinks of me and whether I believe it or not.

The spread of negatives

What started as a low attitude regarding their abilities and resources has now spread like a forest fire at the height of summer. "Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night" (Numbers 14:1). It was a night of howling, frustration, and depression. And guess who got the blame! Not their own unbelief but the leaders, the men of God. "And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, 'Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?' And they said to one another, 'Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt'" (verses 2-5). It must surely be the depth of unbelief to want to die rather than follow the guidance of God's Word! God did not bring them to the border of the land in order for the inhabitants to stomp on them like they would on grasshoppers. His desire for His people was that they might enjoy the rich and fertile land, and have a prosperous and happy life. However, if they consider themselves to be grasshoppers, they will soon start acting like grasshoppers, and will experience the results of their unbelief. Believers are not to react to circumstances, but to act upon God's Word regardless of limiting circumstances.

We now have a third denomination: the Back to Bondage Church. "Let's elect a new leader who is in step with the times. We didn't realize how well off we were back in Egypt. Oh, if only we could have the 'good old days' again—the fish, the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic" (see Numbers 11:5). Unbelief drags people down, lowers their sights, destroys their initiative. The people now thought that bondage in Egypt was good and that milk and honey in Canaan would spell disaster! They were by now so accustomed to hearing negative statements that they thought positive statements were false. I have even had this reaction from believers today when I have dare to suggest that God has provided for them a successful, abundant life, that they are blessed with heaven's best, that they are complete in Him. In fact, some cannot even take the truth that they are sons of God with power. Humans do not seem to have changed much since the days of Moses!

When the positive spies once again attempted to give their viewpoint, they got into trouble. "'The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.' Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel" (Numbers 14:7-10). The people's reaction was not good, but unbelief seems to go to almost any length to ridicule and fight a positive word of truth. What a difference in the two viewpoints! On the one hand "we were like grasshoppers to them" and on the other hand "we will swallow them up; their protection is gone". The two positive spies, Joshua and Caleb, are saying that the inhabitants are just like the manna they picked up every morning, without shade (the Hebrew word for "protection" in verse 9) they will turn bad and melt away. Above all, they said, "The Lord is with us. We have the guarantee of God's presence and God's power, provided you do not rebel against the Lord." And for this positive advice they were to be stoned!

Before the people had time to carry out their threat against the two positive spies, "... the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel" (Numbers 14:10b). God does not guarantee to display His power every time His people have a disagreement, but on this occasion a phenomenon was necessary to catch the people's attention and remind them that God was still in business. "And the Lord said to Moses, 'How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they'" (Numbers 14:11-12). However, Moses interceded with God on their behalf, and he reminded God the effect such an action would have upon the thinking of the Egyptians and the Canaanites. "'Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.' Then the Lord said, 'I have pardoned, according to your word'" (Numbers 14:19-20).

Just prior to the final march into the promised land forty years later, Moses was guided to remind the nation of past events. After describing the journey of the spies and the varying reports they brought, Moses declared, "Then I said to you, 'Do not be in dread or afraid of them. The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place'" (Deuteronomy 1:29-31). One piece of additional information is given to us in this record. Not only did the two positive spies press for an immediate possession of the land, but Moses also spoke on their behalf and encouraged the people to rise up and possess all that God had promised them.

The principle of believing

The principle of believing can be simply stated: whatever you believe, you receive. Positive believing will produce positive results; negative believing will produce negative results. If you believe you are a grasshopper, then you will approach life from a grasshopper's viewpoint. If you believe what God says you are, you will approach life from His viewpoint. What a difference that will be!

The nation of Israel received the results of their believing... and Joshua and Caleb received the results of their believing also. God made this quite clear, as Moses recounted, "'Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the Lord!' Even with me [Moses] the Lord was angry on your account and said, 'You also shall not go in there. Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it'" (Deuteronomy 1:35-38).

God had allowed the nation to send spies into the land to check on His Word. Three times the positive report had been given by Caleb and Joshua, with Moses defending their statements, and yet the people wanted to stone them. They had made up their minds, and now they must endure the results of their negative believing. For forty years—one year for each day the spies were in the land (Numbers 14:33-34)—the Israelites went around in circles on a desert merry-go-round until the whole generation of unbelieving adults had died out. Forty years on the roundabout of unbelief! "There's no relief in unbelief!" Positive believing had declared, when only a few days away from abundance and prosperity, "Let us go up at once and occupy it." A few days or weeks compared to forty long years in the desert! Such is the power of negative believing! Forty-five years later, when the promised land had been occupied and the twelve tribes were being assigned their portion, Caleb came to Joshua, now leader of the nation. "And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day..." (Joshua 14:10-12).

"Give me this mountain..." (KJV). What a testimony to the power of positive believing! What possibilities it suggests to us who claim to be believers! "Give me this mountain. When I was forty I said we could lick them, giants and all. Now I am eighty-five and my believing and strength have not changed. Give me this mountain... and all the giants who live there!" I suppose that today there would be someone who would advise Caleb, "Come on, Caleb, you're an old man now. Why don't you settle for some of that rich earth down by the river, where it is nice and flat." But Caleb was made of different stuff. His philosophy was: God said it, that settles it!

Perhaps you can now see the futility of the Grasshopper Philosophy. Unbelief will have you running around in circles; positive believing will have you climbing mountains! Unbelief will say you cannot do it; positive believing will say you can do all things through the Christ in you. Unbelief will say you are a failure; positive believing says you are God's living enterprise and God cannot fail! Throw out the Grasshopper Philosophy and say what God's Word says about you!

God's Secrets of Success

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Join the Family

The first secret of success I have chosen to share with you from the Bible is simply this: God says to you, "Join the Family." You might wonder why I start there, but really it is quite simple. God's promises of success are made only to those people who belong to His family. To those outside of His family He has only one thing to say, "Join the Family!"

There are many advantages in belonging to a family. So often our young people leave home to experience the freedom of living on their own. Yet before too long many want to come home and live with the family once again. They must feel there are advantages in doing this. There is probably a financial advantage to start with, because the parents seem to be the ones who pay the bills. Then there is the advantage of a feeling of real companionship. plus food and clothing and shelter. There is advice to be given, even though it is often rejected or ignored. There is also the feeling that there is a place where you belong; we call it "home" in the English language. It is a great concept, even though we may not fully comprehend it.

There is also something great about the concept that when I decided to become a Christian, I became part of God's family and I feel at home with God. In the Bible there are many references to God's children, to God as a Father, and to the family of God. In the Gospel of John, the Bible says, "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12). When Jesus Christ was on earth, His task was to encourage people to become children of God, to join the family of God. He taught that it was possible to do this by simply believing in His name. He wanted all people to enjoy all of God's blessings, and to do this they had to be in the family.

Now I know when I introduce this subject some will say, "But there are a lot of successful people who do not belong to God's family, what about them?" Well, let's take a Bible example, because there is always someone in the Bible just like you, and you can learn from their failures and you can learn from their successes. The example I want to look at is of a man who became the greatest salesman in the world, Paul. In many respects you could well say that the apostle Paul had it made, that he was a success. We could say today that Paul had everything going for him—he was on top of the heap, he had the background necessary to be a success in life.

The example of Paul

In Acts 21:39 Paul describes his background, "I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city." He was proud of his home town. He did not have to be embarrassed when he said, "I come from Tarsus." I never look embarrassed when I am overseas, and I am asked, "Where are you from?" I reply, "I'm from Adelaide, on top of the world." I'm proud of Adelaide; I believe it is a beautiful city. Tarsus was "no obscure city," which is a way of saying it was a prosperous city, an important city, a place where people enjoyed living, where people enjoyed working, where you could have a good lifestyle.

Paul also said, "I am a Jew." He was not ashamed of his nationality. He was a Jew, but he was born in the city of Tarsus. Now this is important, because it made him a Roman citizen. He had his citizenship papers; he came from the right side of the tracks. His family were Jewish and he was proud of it, and said so many times. You would think that with that kind of background he would have really enjoyed life and would have remained proud of who he was.

In Acts 22:3 he tells how he had the right education, "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city [Jerusalem], educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day." He had the right education. Gamaliel was the president of the Sanhedrin, a group of seventy statesmen who governed the judicial life of the nation of Israel. In many respects the members of the Sanhedrin were the university professors of their day. Not only was Paul educated at a university, but he was taught by the chancellor of the university, a man chosen on account of his eminence in worth and wisdom. Paul had the right education, he came from the right school. In England you would say he came from Oxford or from Cambridge. In America you would say he came from one of the Ivy League schools. The implication is that he was a prize student. He was the valedictorian of his class, he was the dux of the school, and he had many honors bestowed upon him. Today we would probably call him Doctor Paul, a doctor of philosophy or a doctor of letters or literature. We would give him the pieces of parchment to prove that Paul had made it, that he was at the top of the heap, as far as education is concerned.

Paul also believed that he had the right religion. In Philippians 3:4-6, Paul says, "Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more..." He is saying that he has a better religious background than most other people. "Circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless." So not only did he have the right citizenship and the right education, but he believed he had the right religion too, and he also believed he fulfilled his religion to the very letter. Concerning "the law, blameless!" That's quite a statement, isn't it? No one could lay a finger on Paul concerning matters of religion.

In Acts 26:4-6 we find another statement concerning his religious background. Paul says, "My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee. And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers." Everybody knew who Paul was—they knew he was a learned man, they knew he was a Pharisee, and they knew that what he said was true. So he had the right citizenship, he had the right education, he had the right religion and he fulfilled it to the letter. In Acts 7:58 we find that he had the right reputation, because when a particularly difficult task had to be performed, they called for Paul. When the Jews were stoning Stephen to death, it says they "cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul." Saul (Paul's first name) was there, and he was responsible for what happened. In Acts 8:la it says, "And Saul approved of his execution." He wanted Stephen to die because of his Christian belief.

"And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison" (Acts 8:lb-3). So when the Jewish leaders wanted to squash Christianity in its infancy, upon whom did they call? They called the man who had the reputation, they called the man who had the education, they called the man who knew their religion inside out. They said to him, "Saul, this group is blaspheming the God that we worship. Everybody is following after them, and we must stop this thing. Saul, you are the man to do it."

However, something happened to that man, and if you have read the book of Acts you will know that on the road to Damascus he had a visitation from God (Acts 9:1-22). In his letter to the Philippians, Paul tells what he thought about his background after this experience. "But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith" (Philippians 3:7-9). What is Paul saying? "When I came into the family of God, my citizenship, my education, my religion, my reputation meant nothing to me." He had found something greater, something better. He had found that there was an advantage in belonging to God's forever family, and this man, who could have gone to almost any height in the world of his time, said, "These things I do count but dung" (KJV). Don't you just love that old English expression? That's the bottom of the heap, isn't it? That's putting your citizenship, your education, your religion, your reputation in its place in relation to God. I am not against good citizenship, I'm not against education, but I am teaching that belonging to the family of God is far greater than anything else the world has to offer.

A child of God

God's first secret of success is simply this: Join the Family. So many are trying to make a success of their lives because they were born on the right side of the tracks, or because of where they were educated, or because they belong to a certain denomination. This is very true in Western nations today, and the United States is probably a great example, where surveys show that 30-40% of the population are in church once a week. Why are they there? In a lot of cases it is good for business. Going to church is part of the background they think is needed to look successful and prosperous in order to get business from the community. Many base their success on their religion and on their reputation. God says that if you want to be a success, you must base your life on the fact that you belong to His family.

In Galatians 4:4-7 we read, "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons [that we might become children of God]. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!' So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God." Galatians is written to you as a Christian believer, and it is teaching you your place in the family of God. You are a child of God, and because of this you are an heir of God—your name is written in the will. Isn't that exciting!

In this context I want to also quote Romans 8:15-17. "For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons [sonship], by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!' The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ..."

One more quotation will have to suffice our quest. "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is" (I John 3:1-2). When are we the children of God? The Bible says, "Now". Becoming a Christian puts you in the position of sonship, it makes you a child of God, and now you can tap into all the benefits of the family.

God's secrets of success are available only to His family members. Many of the secrets of success that God has in the Bible are copied by other people and they get some benefit from them, but the difference in belonging to the family is that you are guaranteed the results. If you will follow what God says, you will get what He promises. There are no ands, ifs, buts, or maybes about it. When you belong to the family you have the right to get all the benefits that the family has to offer. If you desire to travel the road of success in your life, check up and make sure you have joined the family. It's very simple to join. You need to say, "I believe in my heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, and I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord" (see Romans 10:9, 10). When you do this, the Bible says you are saved, you become part of the family. It's a simple process that takes so little time, but it guarantees you all the rights and privileges of belonging to the family of God. Join the Family now, and tap into God's first secret of success.

10

Feed Your Faith

It has been said, "Feed your faith and your doubts will starve to death." F.F. Bosworth, a great faith preacher in the first half of the 1900s, said that most Christians feed their bodies three hot meals a day, their spirits one cold snack a week, and then wonder why they are so weak in faith!

Success is not a one-sided deal, as if God would lead you to a tree that has dollar notes hanging from it, or as if God would tip a bucket of blessing out upon you. Success is a divine-human reciprocity, which means that both God and you have a part to play. God's part is guaranteed when you do your part, and one of the secrets you must apply is to Feed your Faith, and starve your doubts!

Romans chapter 10 tells us that we needed faith to get into the family. Verses 8 and 9 declare, "But what does it say? 'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart' (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Natural man cannot become a child of God unless he exercises faith. It follows that faith must be available to everybody.

I believe that faith is an action of the mind, and because God wants everybody to come into His family and enjoy the benefits of the family, then the key that turns the lock has to be available to everybody. All humans have the ability to believe. We board the plane because we believe the pilot knows what he is doing, and we believe he knows where the airport to which he is going is located. If you didn't believe that, would you get on the plane? Everyday life is based on believing, on faith. It takes believing to get into God's family. It takes believing with the mind that God raised Jesus from the dead and confessing with our mouth that Jesus is Lord of our life.

Faith is also necessary to enjoy the benefits of the family. In Hebrews 11:6 is a powerful statement: "And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." That is a tremendous verse of scripture—put a circle around it, memorize it. Faith is a very necessary ingredient to enjoying God's success. By success I mean the successful accomplishment of a goal. If your need is healing, then success is enjoying full health. If your need is finance, then it is enjoying the full supply of your requirements. And if you are going to reach success in any field, you must exercise faith. We "must believe that He exists" in the first place, and secondly, "that He rewards those who seek Him." Since God has said that about faith, then it must be one of the important keys of success.

In II Corinthians 5:7 we are told that "we walk by faith, not by sight." How do we conduct ourselves in the Christian life? How do we make a success out of life? We walk by faith, and not by sight. Sight refers to the things you see around you: the circumstances, the pile of bills, the depressed economy. Our walk is not based on or motivated by those things. The circumstances do not control us—we should be controlling the circumstances. Paul said, "For I, however I am placed, have learnt to be independent of circumstances" (Philippians 4:11, 20th Century NT). If our walk is to be by faith, then we will need to spend time feeding that faith. Feed your faith and your doubts will starve to death, for we walk by faith, not by sight.

There is another verse we should consider, Galatians 5:6. "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love." One of the rituals of the Jewish religion is circumcision, an act which the Gentile believers rejected. Paul is talking in this passage about the religious significance of circumcision. In Christ Jesus religion means nothing. Religion is made up of regulations, restrictions, and ritual. None of those things count with God. Perhaps this will surprise some people who go through the ritual every Sunday, who adhere to the restrictions, who straighten up their lives in line with the regulations. Yet the Bible states that these things count for nothing!

What does count? "Faith working through love." "Faith activated and energized and expressed and working through love", as the Amplified Bible renders it. The outward things of religion do not count in making my life a success—it is how I exercise my faith in God that makes the difference. Christianity is the way of a Father with His children. It is not a religion. Christianity works when faith is exercised by love.

There is yet one more verse I would like to share concerning the need for faith in enjoying the benefits of God's family. I John 5:4 declares, "And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith." We are going to overcome the circumstances in which we find ourselves, not by religion, not by education, but by exercising our faith in God. Put a circle around that verse and memorize it, "This is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith."

How to feed your faith

Now, how do we Feed our Faith and starve our doubts to death? We saw in Romans chapter l0 that we needed faith to get into the family. Now let us consider verse 17, "So faith comes from hearing... through the word of Christ." You will not feed your faith by reading Reader's Digest, Napoleon Hill, or the weekend paper, nor even by watching TV. The truth about Christ is the only food for your faith. "Faith comes out of the word of Christ," to literally quote the Greek text [most translations use "Christ" as only a few Greek texts have "God" (KJV)]. Faith comes "through a declaration of [concerning] Christ," that is, hearing about Christ to the end of understanding what the Word is saying to you. This verse does not imply that you will only get faith if you hear the word of God read out aloud. Certainly it does help. This verse goes beyond that stage, however, and speaks of taking notice of what God's Word is saying. "Faith comes from hearing... through the word of Christ." Now since that is true, and since I want to make a success out of my life, I need to spend time reading the Bible; I need to concentrate on what God is saying to me. But you say, "I don't know where to start." Start somewhere like the book of Ephesians in the epistles to the churches. Start in the book of Acts, perhaps, and read some of the faith adventures of the early church, or start reading the Gospels and discover how Jesus revealed what God is really like. The Bible is full of passages that you can read and from which you can profit. Even if you can only read one verse a day, do it! I often say, a verse a day keeps the devil away!

You need to Feed your Faith and a good way is to start with some program of daily reading of the Word of God. In many of the success books we are told to rub shoulders with those who are positive and prosperous. We are told not to spend our time reading about the world's failures, but to read about the world's great successes. In the same way, we must spend time "rubbing shoulders" with God by reading His positive Word, because only God has guaranteed the secrets of success.

Use your faith

In Luke 17:5 the disciples said to Jesus, "Increase our faith!" They obviously felt a need. The interesting thing to me about this verse is that Jesus did not tell them how to increase their faith. What did He say? "If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you" (verse 6). Does that tell them how to increase their faith? No. Just because the disciples asked the Lord to increase their faith, does not mean that faith can be increased. Every person, the Bible says, has received a measure of faith (Romans 12:3). And since God is no respecter of persons, then we all have the same amount of faith. Billy Graham, Oral Roberts, all have the same amount of faith that you have. What is the difference between you and them? Exactly what Jesus says here, if you used just a little bit of faith, like the very small mustard seed, you could say to that whole tree, "Get up out of there and go and be planted somewhere else," and it would do it! In a similar passage in Mark chapter 11, the illustration of a mountain is used. "Whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him" (verse 23). But what do most Christians want? They want faith the size of a mountain before they will tackle a mustard-seed challenge!

When Jesus answered the disciples' request in Luke 17, He did not say to them, "This is how you can have more faith and accomplish what you want to do." He said in effect, "Use the faith that you already have. If you would only use a little faith, you could do marvelous, miraculous things." And then He continued in verse 7, "Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and recline at table'? Will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink'? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?" (verses 7-9). And the answer is, "I think not!" (KJV). What is Jesus saying here? Faith is to be our servant, and the reason a person has a servant is that they need someone to serve. A servant is not just for decoration; a servant is there to serve! Since you have faith, you should employ it, keep it busy, like you do a servant. It is there to serve you, whenever you command it to serve. Do not get over-excited because it works, for that is what it is there to do. Do not think a miracle has happened just because you have seen your faith work. God programmed it to work. It would be a miracle if your faith did not work!

Not only do we need to Feed our Faith, we must use it. In that respect, it is very much like a muscle in the human body. Strap your arm up in a sling, leave it there for a month, and see how much use you have left in that arm. It is not going to be strong enough to carry very much. You probably would have some movement there, but it will be weak. Exercise your faith in God—it will work. Jesus said, "Get out there, and use your faith. Even if it is only just a little faith the size of a mustard seed, it can start moving some of those mountains out of your life, it can start moving some of those trees that are blocking your path." A servant must serve and faith is your best servant, and it will help you to make a success out of life.

No wonder God said to Joshua that he should meditate in the Word of God day and night; and observe to do all that is written concerning his life. Only then could Joshua make his way prosperous, and only then would he have good success. Make it a daily habit to Feed your Faith, and enjoy the success God has planned for your life.

11

Acknowledge your Good

We will take a step further in our quest for God's secrets of success and I direct your attention to the book of Philemon. There are only twenty-five verses, but hidden within this little book is a tremendous, powerful verse of scripture which I will use as a key verse for God's third secret of success.

Philemon verse 6 reads, "That the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus" (NKJV) That has been a favorite verse of mine for years. It is a powerful verse, pregnant with meaning. The word "effective" is related to the word "effect," meaning the result or consequence of an action. Every Christian wants their faith to be effective, to work. And God is saying, "If you want your faith to work, then this is how you do it: acknowledge every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus." To acknowledge something is to come to an awareness, a recognition, a discernment that a condition exists; for example, to come to an awareness that the road to the right will take you where you want to go.

Your faith will work when you become aware of every good thing. And where is every good thing? Some would say, "Oh, it's in heaven! Doesn't the song say, 'When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be'?" So many Christians put if off until then, but this verse says quite plainly and simply that every good thing "is in you in Christ Jesus." It has to be in Christ Jesus, for He is the One who made it available, and since Christ is in you then every good thing is in you. Colossians 2:9, 10 states that "in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him..." (NKJV). So since He is in you, then you are complete because He is complete—there is no separation. Yes, every good thing is in you! It is not up there somewhere waiting for you to strive after it. It is not out there somewhere; it is in you. As the poet Robert Browning wrote in 1835, we need to open "out a way, whence the imprisoned splendour may escape". Every Christian has every good thing within them, all that they need to make a total success out of life.

God says to you, "If you want your faith to work, acknowledge that every good thing is in you in Christ Jesus." You need to Acknowledge your Good. Now that is where the problem starts. I believe that Australia is one of the great countries of the world, yet our national pastime seems to be finding fault with each other and ourselves. (And as I travel around the world to teach I find that it is not a problem peculiar to us, but I suspect we are the experts in the field!) If you live in Queensland, the people you knock are the Southerners, they are the ones that come north and ruin Queensland. If you live in Perth, like I did for a number of years, the problem is the Easterners—if only the Easterners would stay in the East and mind their business, then the Sandgropers could get on with making a state of excitement out of Western Australia. If you live in Tasmania, it is the Mainlanders who are the problem—the islanders are good folk. Needless to say, between Adelaide and Melbourne there is often this attitude of knocking, because when all is said and done the only good thing to come out of Melbourne is the road to Adelaide—we all know that! And then there is the constant niggles that goes on between Sydney and Melbourne, and not to mention between Australia and England.

We take this tradition over into business and if someone makes it to the top, makes a success out of life in Australia, we say, "Don't tell me he's not crooked to get to the top!" Or we say, "I wonder how many people he trod on as he clambered to the top." We endeavor to find fault immediately, simply because the person is a success!

Yet the greatest problem is that we have an inbuilt motivation to knock ourselves. We see ourselves as no good. We see ourselves as just poor, struggling people. We have the system against us, the establishment against us, the government against us—we are never going to make it! This attitude is the real problem; it is the total reverse of what God is saying to us in Philemon verse 6. We say we are no good. God is saying, "Start acknowledging that there is every good thing in you in Christ Jesus." Let us start by saying, "Yes, I do have some worth."

The "in" word in religious circles is "self-esteem," and it is a valid expression. We need to help people see that they are human beings, they are people who should have self-esteem. They are unique! However, the prevailing attitude of self-denigration is not new. Even in Jesus' day, they said, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" (John 1:46). I mean to say, Nazareth, hardly even a little town up there in the hill country, just a bunch of country bumpkins. "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" But something good did come out of Nazareth!

God's third secret of success is to Acknowledge your Good, and your good is already within you. God has placed within you all that you need to make a total success out of life. The emphasis of my ministry is to teach people within God's forever family what they already have. I'm sharing with you, on the basis of God's Word, that you have every good thing within you. You are "loaded" with goodness, and all God is asking you to do is to acknowledge it, to become aware of it. Soak in the truth of this quotation from Psalm 34:10, "The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing." This statement was made in Old Testament times when good was not resident within, but it was available. One more verse, this time Psalm 84:11, "For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly." Since God is not withholding good, then who is stopping the flow of blessing? Who is treading on the hose? It can only be you and me! One of the main reasons we tread on the hose is because we fail to acknowledge every good thing which is in us in Christ Jesus.

The parable of the lost sons

As I was considering which Biblical record contained a good example of a person who needed to Acknowledge their Good, I could not get my mind off the record in Luke 15. It is often known as the story of the "Prodigal Son." It was interesting to see that the heading the ESV and NKJV give to it is "The Parable of the Lost Son," and that is a better title. Charles Dickens called this "the greatest short story in the world," and he was no mean writer.

"A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.' So he divided to them his livelihood [or possessions]" (verses 11,12). Under the law of the time, the first son always inherited twice as much as any other children in the family. So here we have a three-way split: two-thirds reserved for the elder son, and one-third going to the younger son.

The younger son decided he wanted to leave home, and I suppose there is nothing wrong with that. From the parents' point of view, sometimes that is a good thing! There always comes a time when the children should move out and make their own way in life. However, this young man wanted to leave home for the wrong reason. He saw his good as being solely in material things; he saw his good as being outside himself. I think that before he went and made the request to his father, he had considered that if only he had possessions worth "x" amount of dollars, he could make a success out of life. The father had no choice under the law but to go along with the request, yet already the younger son is lost! He is starting out on the wrong foot, for his goodness is within him and not in his pockets.

"And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living" (verse 13). There is something about prodigal or riotous living that goes with want and lack. He wasted his inheritance. He did not invest it, he did not employ it, he wasted it. One paraphrased version says, "He wasted all his money on parties and prostitutes" (Living Bible, 1971). That is pretty far down the line, isn't it?

"And when he had spent everything..." (verse 14)—there is the problem in a nutshell. He thought that his good was wrapped up in "x" amount of dollars, and if you keep spending "x" amount of dollars, sooner or later you come to the point of having "spent everything." There is a bottom in the barrel of material things. Unfortunately for this young man, when he had spent all inflation was running wild, for "a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country..." (verses 14b,15). Some translations of the word "hired" are much stronger in impact: he "imposed himself upon," "attached himself to." He did not simply say, "Can I have a job?" He said, "Look, I'm desperate, you've got to take me on." He imposed himself upon "one citizen of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs" (verse 15). There is a book with the title, What's a Good Jewish Boy Doing in a Place Like This?, and that question is very true of this Jewish boy. You might remember that the Jewish people have an intense dislike of pork and swine. God had told them they were not to eat it—hence one of my regular sayings that some people are as popular as a pork chop in a synagogue! So our young spendthrift finds himself in the most despised position for a Jewish person.

"And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself [when he became aware of the error of thinking that had led him to his present position, when he mentally figured that this was the wrong spot to be in], he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father... '" (verses 16-18). The first step out of the pig-pen was to change his attitude, to realize his error. He now understood that getting hold of his inheritance did not guarantee success. History is filled with examples of people who have inherited enormous fortunes, only to lose it within one or rarely two generations. Getting money and having material possessions are not the answer by themselves. Belonging to God's forever family is the first requirement, followed by feeding your faith and Acknowledging your Good.

When he became aware that his good resided in a relationship with his father, that his good was in an attitude and not in an amount, then he made the decision to return home to his father. "And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him [greeted him]" (verse 20). If we want to apply the symbolism that the father is God and the lost son is humanity, then God is figuratively running towards you the moment you get to that point of self-awareness that your good is not resident outside of you. It is not a matter of crying, begging, and pleading for God to supply your need. Get the awareness that every good thing is in you in Christ Jesus, and visualize the Father running towards you to greet you. That is a beautiful picture.

The son launched into his prepared speech, but he only managed to get halfway through when the father interrupted and said, "'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him... For this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' And they began to celebrate" (verses 22,24). There was great rejoicing in the household. However, the story does not finish there, and this is why it is one of the greatest short stories in the world.

"Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.' But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, 'Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!' And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours'" (verses 25-31).

Obviously, the elder son was just as lost as the younger son. One was lost geographically; both were lost mentally, for both felt that they were not really part of the family. One slaved his heart out knowing that eventually he would get one-third of all the estate, but he forgot that everything that the father had right there and then was his if he would just change his mental attitude. What was the problem? Both considered there was a separation between themselves and the father. The way back was to acknowledge that every good thing was in them, that they were truly part of the family, that they could have whatever they wanted. The father said to the older son, "Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours" (verse 31 KJV). And that is what God is saying to you and to me, "You are always with me, and all I have is yours." Since we are complete in Him, since we have been blessed with all spiritual blessing in heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3), since every good thing is in us in Christ Jesus, then it is true that God is always with us and all that He has is ours!

There are many truths that we can learn from this story, but in this chapter I am looking at it from the angle of Acknowledging your Good. If you do not acknowledge the good that is in you, you are acknowledging that there appears to be a separation between you and God, that God is "up there" with all the good things and you are "down here" struggling and needing them more desperately than He is! Unfortunately, I meet a lot of Christians who exist with that kind of attitude. They think all the good things are "up there" and that their task is to hang on and scrape through to the end, and when they get to heaven all their problems will be solved.

The Bible teaches that God's plan and program for us is to enjoy life here on earth. Let us enjoy Christianity, not endure it! We are to trust "in God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy" (I Timothy 6:17). When does God make these things available? In this life, "in this present age," right here and now! God's secret of success for you today is to start acknowledging the good that is already within you. Do not be concerned with your background, your past, your previous failures, but be thrilled with the truth that today you are loaded with good.

God wants you to Acknowledge your Good, and you do that by not only becoming aware of it and declaring it, but also by acting as if it is so. Remember that one of the keys of faith is to call "into existence the things that do not exist" (Romans 4:17). Acknowledge that every good thing is in you, start acting on the truth, and you will find situations will start to change, and you will be on the road to success.

12

Meditate for Profit

Our key verse in this quest for God's secrets of success also contains the fourth secret. "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success" (Joshua 1:8). Our fourth secret is that we should Meditate for Profit.

God told Joshua to meditate day and night. That certainly means something more than Sunday morning in church. God says that if you will meditate in His Word day and night, "then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success".

Researchers tell us that ten thousand thoughts come into our minds every day. We do not stop to consider all of them; some go "clean, clear through", as you have probably observed. Now it is this activity that we must control if we are to make a success out of life. If the research is true (and I guess that figure is as good as any other), then it is true of everybody. Every person in the world has "x" number of thoughts going through their mind every day. But the secret, God's secret of success, is concerned with what you are thinking about. And meditation is the process of thinking about something.

In Christian circles today many are hesitant about the word "meditation." They think we are going to sit cross-legged in the lotus position contemplating a flower or a bug! However, I want to remind you that the Bible had meditation first. In fact, when you study the subject of prayer you discover an interesting fact. Jesus actually combined the Eastern philosophy of prayer with the Western philosophy of prayer. In the East, all they want to do is sit down, get quiet, and contemplate, meditate. God said we should do that. In the West, what we want to do is get answers, we want action—ask (in the sense of demand) and you will receive. And Jesus taught we should do that. Both philosophies are combined in the concept of Christian prayer.

Since most of us are well acquainted with the Western approach of "praying up a storm" or "praying clear through," I want to first consider the Eastern concept. Our key verse plainly states that if you will spend time meditating in the Word of God, you will make your way prosperous, you will have good success. Young's Concordance gives the meaning of the word translated "meditate" as "to mutter." Now I'm not suggesting that you go around muttering everyday—other folk may misunderstand you! However, it is a reasonable definition of the word. It means to audibly muse, to think about something so strongly that you start talking to yourself about it. It is not sitting cross-legged in the lotus position, but it is thinking about the Word of God; it is exercising the mind.

Before we proceed further, let me show you the New Testament equivalent of Joshua 1:8. "Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all" (I Timothy 4:15 NKJV). When you meditate you will progress, and that means more than just knowing what a verse is talking about, for there will be progress that everybody can see. You will not be able to hide your success! "Meditate on these things..." What things is God talking about? Verse 13 states, "Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine [teaching]" (NKJV). That is what we need to meditate upon: reading, exhortation, teaching. These come from the Word of God. So basically Timothy is teaching the same truth as is recorded in Joshua.

Now the interesting thing in I Timothy 4:15 is that this is the only place in the New Testament where the word translated "meditate" is used. (In a few manuscripts it does appear in two other places.) It is therefore a special word that God has employed for "meditate." It means to exercise the mind, and in fact, in the Greek version of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, this same word is used in Joshua 1:8. So there is a definite relationship between these two verses.

Another interesting point in I Timothy 4:15 is that the phrase "give yourself entirely to them" is only employed here in the New Testament. So God is using a special phrase and a special word to draw attention to the point. "Give yourself entirely to them" literally means, "Be in these things." So we are to meditate on them so much that we are figuratively inside of them, that we have an "insight" into them. That's total acquaintance! "Meditate on these things, give yourself entirely to them", and what will happen? "Your progress may be evident to all," or as it is expressed in Joshua 1:8, "... then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." So both Old and New Testaments are saying the same thing—if you want to make a success out of life, meditate, mutter, audibly muse upon the Word of God.

The material to meditate on

Let us now notice that God was very specific about the material on which Joshua should meditate. I would guess that most of us spend much of our time thinking about our challenges and opportunities, which is a positive person's way of saying problems. We think about how we can get another 100 people to attend our church, or how we can get another 10 people into our networking business this month, or how we can go 10 per cent over our sales budget. Now there is nothing wrong with those things, but the Bible says to fill your mind with the Word of God and then you will be prosperous—then you will go 10 per cent over your budget, then you will get the extra 10 people in your business, then you will get the 100 new people in your church.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." What things? Food, clothing, the necessities of life are in the context (verse 31). He did not say to seek food, or to seek clothing, even though we need those things. Of far greater importance is to be in the kingdom of God. What do we need more than the 10 per cent over budget, or the 10 extra people in the business, or the 100 new people in church? We need to be meditating in the Word of God, for then we will discover the ways in which all those other things will become reality.

I once had a sign up over my desk. The president of that organization saw it one day and it made him mad, and that was good, because it made him think. I do not know where I picked up the one-liner but it is a good one: "Work smarter, not harder." The president did not like that one little bit. He had a workaholic attitude common to many people, and he could not comprehend that saying. Nevertheless, this is what God is saying to you. If you will meditate in His Word, you will be working smarter, not harder, and you will get prosperous results.

So there is the secret. Meditate in the Word of God for profit. Now we need to meditate day and night, according to Joshua 1:8. But you say, "How can I do that?" Easy, for you are thinking about something day and night, so why not think about the Word of God? But you say, "I've got too many important things to think about." Well, develop some crutches that will help you. Decide for yourself that every time the phone rings, for example, you are going to think about a verse in the Word of God. Or every time you get into the car, you are going to think about the Word of God. Start training yourself in this way. How much of the Word are you going to think about? Why not just take one verse a day? "A verse a day keeps the devil away." Take Joshua 1:8. Think about what God is saying. Say to yourself, "So this is really the way to success, this is one of God's secrets of success." Meditate on the Word, think about what God said to Joshua. Now that is easy to do. If ten thousand thoughts go through your mind every day, you should at least be able to get ten thoughts through on the Word of God!

One Christian teacher has emphasized the initials "HWLW". He put these up in his bedroom to remind himself that "His Word" is the "Last Word". Whenever he went to bed, the last thing he would do would be to read a verse from the Bible. He did this because psychologists have found that the last thing you think about is retained by the subconscious mind, which considers it all night. When I worked in an office situation, everybody who had watched that great blockbuster movie on TV the night before came into the office talking about it. That was the last thing they saw, the last thing they thought about before they went to bed. Let's make "His Word, the Last Word". Meditate in the Word of God, that "your progress may be evident to all".

Meditation in the Psalms

I have chosen a few verses from the Psalms that speak about meditation to further illustrate this secret of success. Psalm 1:2 is the first mention of meditation in the Psalms. "But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night." This verse is talking about the righteous man, and the Psalm continues: "He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers." The righteous man is applying this secret of success, meditating in God's law day and night, and enjoying the results.

The very next Psalm also speaks of meditation. Psalm 2:1, "Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot in vain?" The word "plot" is the same Hebrew word for "meditate." Why do the people meditate on a useless thing when they could meditate on the Word of God and make their way prosperous? One of the problems of self-perpetuating poverty is that people are meditating on their poverty. They are thinking about their lack, they are thinking about why they did not get this break or that break in life, they are thinking about what would happen if they get sick. They are meditating on their problems, and this keeps them on a downward spiral.

Here is another verse from the Psalms: "When I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night" (Psalm 63:6). A bed is a great place on which to meditate—at night! Do you ever wake up at night thinking about various things? Have you ever gone to bed but cannot get to sleep because you are thinking about that day and what might happen on the morrow? The solution? Meditate on the Word of God, think about what God has said. What a great time to think about the Word of God, to think about His peace. There are some beautiful verses in the Bible about sleep. God wants His people to sleep—not in church but in bed! If you ever have trouble sleeping, look up a verse on sleep and meditate on the Word of God. Here is one from Proverbs, "If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet" (Proverbs 3:24).

The psalmist in Psalm 104 declares: "I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord" (verses 33,34). Here we see that our meditation can please God; it is good thinking, it is sweet thinking. There is no mention of the psalmist's challenges or his opportunities. The emphasis is on how good God is and what He has done for the writer.

Psalm 119 is noted for being the longest chapter in the Bible, yet it should be noted as the chapter having more to say about the Word of God than any other. Because of this, we find several mentions of meditation. Verse 15 says, "I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways." And the writer says the same thing in verse 78, "Let the insolent be put to shame, because they have wronged me with falsehood; as for me, I will meditate on your precepts." In verse 97 he shows his attitude to God's Word, "Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day." And in verse 99 we see the results, "I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation." And the writer has a healthy attitude to waking up at night, "My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise" (verse 148). 1 get the impression that this man spent some time meditating. He is doing what God said Joshua should do—meditate in God's Word day and night.

One final verse I would like to share is Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Throughout the Bible God has really been saying the same thing: Meditate for Profit, meditate and grow prosperous, meditate and be successful. Meditation is an important key to maximizing your potential as a child of God. In fact, meditation is a part of prayer, but I wanted to treat meditation as a separate secret of success because of the thought processes that are involved. What are you going to be thinking about this week? If ten thousand thoughts a day go through your mind, start on a program of putting some of God's thoughts into that flow. Meditate for Profit, and "... then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success" (Joshua 1:8b).

13

Pray and Produce

The story is told of a violent storm at sea, and an ocean liner was making its way with great difficulty. A matronly socialite lady came up to the captain and said, "Captain, tell me honestly, are we going to get through?" And the captain said, "Well, if you want me to be honest, there is only one thing that is going to save us, and that's prayer." And the lady said, "Oh, has it come to that?"

That is how a lot of people look at prayer, "Has it come to that?" Prayer to many is the last resort. When we are dying is the time to pray. When we are being chased by a bull is the time to pray. When we are head first down the well is the time to pray. And because of this false attitude, people are missing out on one of God's secrets of success.

So far we have seen that God's first secret is to Join the Family. God's secrets are not available to outsiders. Then we have seen that the next logical secret is to Feed your Faith, and your doubts will starve to death. Faith feeds on the Word of God. The affirmation of your faith is to Acknowledge your Good. We are to acknowledge "every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus." And in our last chapter we started in on the subject of prayer, and particularly that aspect called meditation. We need to Meditate for Profit on God's Word, on the nature of God, and on the great things He has done for us and made available to us.

Now let us take a step further and discuss this fifth secret of success, Pray and Produce. In James 5:16b we read, "The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working" or "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" (NKJV). Yes, prayer works! And to show us how it works, James gives us an illustration. "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit" (verses 17,18). Prayer does produce! Elijah, a man like us, got results when he prayed.

If we are not getting results from our prayers, or are not praying at all, perhaps the problem is in how we think about prayer. As little children, we were taught that prayer was something you said just before you slipped into bed. "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. And should I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take." I remember that prayer even today, so I must have said it a few times when I was a child. A lot of people still have that attitude to prayer. It is a signature that you put at the end of the day, a "Now I lay me down to sleep" kind of prayer.

Those of us who have been involved in religion down through the years, all know the prayer, "Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name..." It is usually said in a monotone, for to religionists prayer is something that is all too often said by rote. At the right time in the ritual it says, "Pray here," and so this is what you do. A few decades ago there was a great emphasis from the Eastern religions that prayer is really only meditation, and we heard about such movements as the Hari Krishna's, whose devotees repeat the name of their god, and Transcendental Meditation (TM), whose exponents repeat their mantras. To other groups with an Eastern philosophy, prayer is just a quiet time, perhaps sitting down under a tree and focusing on a bug or a leaf and quietly thinking about their god.

Often prayer for the average person is seen as a kind of emergency, the first-aid kind of prayer. This is the kind of prayer to use when you are only just hanging on to a branch over the edge of a cliff, to use that old story. The man prayed, "Lord, help me." And a voice said, "Let go." The man thought for a few seconds, and then said, "Is there anyone else up there?" To many people, prayer is just that—something you do when things get really desperate. And there are many Christians who pray regularly and with great intensity and fervency, and to some of them prayer is like a visit to a spiritual supermarket. On the shelves are all the things that they need, and they pray to God, "Give me this, give me that, give me the other." It is just like a visit to the supermarket, getting your weekly issue of "spiritual" groceries. However, when I speak of prayer as one of God's secrets of success, I'm talking about the kind of prayer Elijah prayed that produced results. If you want to make a success out of life, then you will be missing one of the great secrets if you do not pray.

When I worked in a publishing office, people would come up to me and say, "Will you help me? I don't know what to do about this." And I always came out with the one-liner, "Have you tried prayer?" I got a lot of smiles, and some strange responses, but the truth is, you can Pray and Produce!

Prayer can be defined as a conversation between two people who love each other. Now think back to that attractive student in high school, or to just before you were married, and you will know the kind of conversation I am talking about. You may have forgotten about this in recent days. After the wedding comes the marriage, and some lose the beauty of their love. Prayer is a conversation between two people who love each other. I love God, God loves me, and we are on talking terms because of our mutual love.

The example of Elijah's two prayers

I recognize that there are "all manner of prayers" (Ephesians 6:18, Amplified Bible), but I would like to look at this great example, the only one James mentions, and, discover how Elijah handled prayer and got results. "Now Elijah... said to Ahab [the king of Israel], 'As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.' And the word of the Lord came to him: 'Depart from here...'" (I Kings 17:1-2).

The record in the epistle of James says that Elijah "prayed fervently" (5:17). Notice how he prayed. Did he spend half a night in prayer? No, it just records that he made a positive affirmation to Ahab that "there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word." It seems to me just too simple an answer to contend that Elijah must have prayed but it is not recorded. If this incident is the great example of prayer according to James, then surely we do not need to read into it something that is not there. God has left no record of Elijah getting on his knees and going through the kind of prayer that tradition, religion, and art has propounded as the example to follow. Elijah simply said, "There shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word." He did not tell them how long those years were going to be. In fact, it was three and a half years before he gave the word for it to rain!

I was brought up in the church, and I remember hearing the old-timers pray. They would pray right around the world, and it would take them twenty minutes. Many of us young people thought, "I could never pray like that." However, God is not impressed with long prayers. It only takes thirty seconds to pray the Lord's Prayer; some of the prayers in the Bible only take a second or two. "God be merciful to me, a sinner!" is one example (Luke 18:13). That did not take long, yet it got results! Prayer is not something that has to be ritualized. It is not necessary to kneel down or close your eyes, nor even verbalize your desires. Prayer is a force that works when you work it.

Elijah prayed, and it did not rain for three and a half years. All he said was that "there shall be neither dew nor rain". He made an affirmation, a positive statement. "There will be no rain or dew. Good afternoon, King. I'm out of here!" Lots of things happened in those three and a half years. Perhaps he was not believed at first, but before long the king sent messengers throughout the country, "Find me Elijah, 1 want him." He even sent messages into the neighboring kingdoms. Elijah was the most wanted man in the land of Israel at the time. However, God had taken care of Elijah. He had sent him down to the Brook Cherith, where ravens fed him. Later he was instructed to go to a certain town, where a widow fed him. You can read about these three and a half years in I Kings chapter 17.

Then God said to Elijah, "Go, show yourself to Ahab..." (I Kings 18:1). As he went, he ran across a fellow believer named Obadiah, whom Ahab had sent out to look for Elijah. Obadiah reluctantly went back to Ahab and told him that Elijah wanted to see him that day (verses 7-16). Elijah talked to the king and had him set up a test to prove who was the true God. When Elijah's God was established as the true God and the false prophets had been killed, then it was time to take care of the much-needed rain. "And Elijah said to Ahab, 'Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain'" (I Kings 18:41). Elijah was saying, "Have the meal prepared for you at the top of the mountain, and have a drink, then get back to town before the roads get bogged, because its really going to rain." Though the sky was still blue and clear, Ahab is now a believer, so he did what he had been told.

"And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees" (verse 42b). Is that the posture in which we should pray? Not necessarily—it is just one way to pray. "And he said to his servant, 'Go up now, look toward the sea.' So he went up and looked, and said, 'There is nothing.' And he said, 'Go again' seven times'" (verse 43). What was Elijah doing all this time? He had his face between his knees! He was not looking at the outward circumstances. It is not recorded that Elijah prayed anything aloud. What was he doing? He was fixing his mind on God. The golden key to prayer is to stop thinking about the difficulty and think about God instead. That is what I believe Elijah was doing. He put his face between his knees. He did not keep looking to see if the clouds were coming. He sent his servant to look, "You tell me when the clouds are coming. I'm keeping my mind on God."

"And at the seventh time he said, 'Behold, a little cloud like a man's hand is rising from the sea.'" That is not a very big cloud, is it? Just a little cloud, the size of a man's hand. "And he [Elijah] said, "Go up, say to Ahab, 'Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rains stop you.' And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel. And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he gathered up his garment and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel" (verses 44-46). With God's help, Elijah was a great distance runner!

To summarize the record, Elijah "prayed again" (James 5:16) and it rained, and there was such an abundance of rain that they had to hurry back to town. Yes, prayer works! Now that is the example given to us in the book of James, that "the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" (James 5:16 NKJV). How did Elijah pray? First he prayed an affirmative prayer by saying what was going to happen, and then he prayed by saying nothing!

I have read that there are 221 prayers recorded in the Bible. So if we wanted to take the time, we have 221 examples of how prayer works: 176 in the Old Testament and 45 in the New. If you want to check on some of the examples, just read your Bible! One of God's important secrets of success is to Pray and Produce.

Jesus taught about prayer

Jesus gave some teaching about prayer in Matthew chapter 6, part of the Sermon on the Mount. "And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him" (verses 7,8). If we put that statement up in prayer rooms of every church in the nation, it would change the way people pray. God is not impressed with many words and much repetition. And God knows what you need before you ask Him. Does that change what you will say to God? Yes! You will not need to go begging, for God knows you need it. You will not need to present a long, elaborate case to prove your situation. You will not need to go through the details—God knows them! He knows what you need before you ask him.

Then you say, "Why bother asking?" That is a good question. How do you ask the sun for sunlight? You go out in the sun! When I lived in America and suffered those cold, Ohio winters, at times I had to get on a plane to go teach somewhere. After my first trip in winter, I learned a lesson. Even in the depths of winter, you have to take your sunglasses with you! The moment you get above the clouds, there is brilliant sunshine. I needed my sunglasses to look out and enjoy the view, for I had not seen the sun for so long. How do you ask the sun for sunlight? You get out in the sunshine! How do you ask God for the supply of your every need? You get your mind centered on God—you get out into God, if you want to use the same figure. He is there, He is always there. He knows what you need before you ask Him.

Even the word "ask" is interesting when applied to prayer. How do you ask? The basic meaning of the Greek word is to claim. When you go to the teller at the bank with your check made out, and there are sufficient funds to cover it, you say, "Would you cash this check, please?" I want to tell you something, there would be quite a scene if the teller said, "No!". You are not really asking, are you? You are claiming that which is rightfully yours. You have worked hard and long to put that money in the bank to cover this particular transaction. When you go to the teller and ask, you do not get down and beg and plead to get that money out of the bank. You might have to do that for a loan, but not when you take out your money! You go and claim it. "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him" (verse 8).

The claiming of it, according to Mark 11:24, is very simple, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." The claiming of it is to believe you have it! Do you have to believe when you go to the teller's counter to cash the check? Not really. You go there standing on your rights. And that is the implication here as well, because it says "...when you pray, believe that you have already received it, and it will be yours." So when Elijah went up to Ahab and said, "It will not rain until I say so," Elijah believed that he already had that statement. He believed that there would not be any rain over Israel—and there was no rain. How do you claim? By believing. "Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you [have already] received it, and it will [really] be yours." And a good way to express your believing is to thank God for the supply of all your needs.

Here is another verse that will help show that claiming is believing and claiming is also boldness. "And this is the confidence that we have toward [in] him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask [demand], we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him" (I John 5:14-15). The word "confidence" is translated elsewhere in the New Testament as "boldness." "This is the boldness that we have in Him...", the same kind of boldness that you have when you take that check up to the teller. I have room for just one more verse on prayer. "Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving" (Colossians 4:2). I have included that verse particularly because I believe prayer for a Christian believer is a prayer of thanksgiving. God already knows what I need, God has already said He will supply all my need, so all I have to do is to believe it by thanking Him. "Thank you, God, for all my bills are covered. Thank you, God, for health in all my body. Thank you, God, for my good relationship with that person." Prayer is thanksgiving. Continue in prayer, "be [both] alert and intent in [your praying] with thanksgiving" (Amplified). Since prayer has a great success rate, I encourage you to tap into God's secret of success, and Pray and Produce!

14

Give and Receive

We are now ready to take God's secrets of success one step further. I wonder if you enjoy birthdays? If it is yours, you do! You enjoy birthdays because you receive gifts. When you were a child gifts were the major reason for enjoyment, and I do not think we change very much when we become adults. As a teenager and then as an adult, you realize how the system works, and so you toss hints around. Yes, the reason we like birthdays is because it is a time of receiving. Someone has said that when you enjoy giving as much as you enjoy receiving, then you have tapped into this powerful principle—Give and Receive!

Society has taught that we should expect to have things given to us. "The world owes us a living" is a saying that does the rounds. Actually, the world does not owe us anything. The universe might owe us because we are part of it, but the world system does not owe us anything! We think it does, because we have been brought up with a grasping nature. Our parents gave us everything in the first years of our lives. Sometime later on we touched Dad or Mum for something or other. The attitude is to get, get, get. God's secret of success is the reverse. God says to give. Grasping or giving—that is the choice!

Two complementary words

I have written a book on this subject, The Dynamics of Giving and Receiving, as well as having shared many audio teachings. Rather than duplicate that material, I will commence our discussion with four separate scriptures. I would like you to mark these verses somehow in your Bible. First, Matthew 10:8b, "Freely you have received, freely give" (KJV). Then Luke 6:38, "Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you" (ESV). Now in Acts 20:35b, "And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive'." And finally Philippians 4:15, "And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only."

All four verses have one thing in common—they associate giving with receiving. God has aligned the two actions together, and we need to come to the consciousness that there is no receiving without giving and there is no giving without receiving. These two actions are interwoven, and that is why I have called this secret of success, Give and Receive.

Let us look at Luke 6:38 for a moment. It says, "Give, and it will be given to you." Elsewhere Jesus said, "Ask, and it will be given to you" (Luke 11:9). And in a very real sense, giving is perhaps the highest form of asking. When you give, you are saying, "I know the principle works, and I know that when I work the principle the result is mine!" When Jesus said to ask, the word is to demand or claim that which is rightfully yours. And the way in which we are to claim this secret of success is to "Give, and it will be given to you." There are no ands, ifs, buts, or maybes about the statement. It does not say that you have to be a member of any particular church. It does not say that it only works for those who take holy communion at least once a month. It does not say that it applies only to those who go to the mid-week prayer meeting. It is a principle with only one condition: Give!

What should you give? You can only give "out of what you have" (II Corinthians 8:11). I think of the story of Jesus feeding five thousand men plus women and children (Luke 9:10-17). What did He have to work with? Five loaves and two small fishes, and the loaves were more like what we would call scones or biscuits today. To Jesus they were a symbol of abundance and prosperity, of enough food to take care of what is estimated to be at least fifteen thousand people. Jesus looked at the loaves and fishes and knew He had something to work on. The disciples looked at them and said, "But what are they for so many?" (John 6:9b). To the disciples they were a symbol of lack. To Jesus they were a symbol of abundance. That is the difference between positive and negative Christianity.

The same is true of what you have. You may, at one end of the scale, be unemployed. You may only have one dollar to give. It is how you look at that one dollar that is going to make the difference. Do you look at it as a symbol of lack? Then you are going to lack. But if you look at it as God looks at it, as a symbol of abundance, then give and the harvest is sure. "Give, and it will be given to you." The little boy gave his lunch to Jesus. Jesus took that lunch and "said a blessing over them"; in John 6:11 it says He gave thanks to God for it. For what was He thanking God? For the symbol of the supply of enough food to feed fifteen thousand people. I do not know how He did it; Bible scholars still disagree. But when it was all over, and all were filled, "what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces" (Luke 9:17). What did Jesus start with? Five loaves and two small fishes. And yet twelve baskets were filled with left-overs because Jesus saw it as a symbol of prosperity and not as a symbol of lack.

Let me give you another Bible account, that of the widow in II Kings 4. "And Elisha said to her, 'What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?' And she said, 'Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil'" (verse 2). What was the oil to her? A symbol of lack, the bottom of the barrel. What was it to Elisha? It was a symbol of abundance and prosperity. So Elisha said to her, "Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few" (verse 3). Then she was instructed to fill those vessels with the oil she had in the jar. She poured the oil into the first vessel and it filled, and into the second vessel and it filled, and she kept pouring and pouring until her son could not find any more vessels. When the woman obeyed the words of the man of God, that which was at first to her a symbol of lack became the reality of abundance.

So Jesus said, "Give, and it will be given to you" (Luke 6:38). Did He mean that you will get back only what you have given? Look at the description He gave of the return. He said it is going to be "Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over." Now that is an overflowing abundance! The verse continues, "... will be put into your lap." This refers to the long robes they wore, and it was the custom to lift up the robe a little by the hem and make a container with it, and the professional measurers would pour the grain or whatever into the fold of the robe. When "shall men give" (KJV) to you? When you have given. And how much are men going to give to you? Over and above that which you have given. That is why Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35), for it is more productive.

Yet what do we do? My son wants to buy a car. He says, "I've got to save," and that will not hurt him. But God says, "Give," and he must do that! It is different, isn't it? But it is true! It is more productive. You will have either a grasping attitude or a giving attitude—and it is your attitude that will tip the scales. "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (II Corinthians 9:7). One with a grasping attitude can still give, but reluctantly! They have much to learn about the joy and peace of giving.

Philippians was written probably some twenty years after Jesus had made the statement to "give, and it will be given to you", or to Give and Receive. After many years on the road, there was only one church that had sent money to support Paul in his missionary journeys. In commending them for their action, Paul explained that "no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only" (Philippians 4:15). It seems that only one church, out of the many in existence, were operating the principle of giving and receiving. This principle is totally contrary to the normal thinking of humanity. And that is why it is all the more important to see that this is one of God's secrets of success. We all like to receive gifts. We all seem to hold on to things. God is saying, "Change your attitude. Be known as one who gives of time, of talent, and of treasure. Give, give, give, and it will be given to you in return." Some of you have read the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great American essayist. He wrote a powerful essay entitled "Compensation," published in 1841. In it he speaks of the Law of Compensation—another way of describing the principle of giving and receiving. Emerson speaks of getting equal value for what you give out. But God says that you will get more than equal value, for our God is a God of abundance. Jesus also said in Luke 6:38b, "For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you." God will use the same measure that you use. Give nothing and you will get nothing. Give much and you will get much. Use a teaspoon as a measure, and God will give it back to you in teaspoons. Use a bucket, and God will give it back to you in buckets. You decide how much you want to give—you decide how much you want to receive. The decision is yours!

The five verbs

A well-known passage from the last book in the Old Testament will shed some further light on this secret of Give and Receive. "Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, 'How have we robbed you?' In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need [there will not be room enough to receive it, KJV]. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts" (Malachi 3:8-11). That is God's promise to Israel in the Old Testament. And I believe that anything God did for Old Testament people, He does better and greater for New Testament believers. The book of Hebrews teaches us this. God has for us better promises, better covenants, better results. So whatever God promised in Malachi, He is not going to give me anything less than that, for the Word declares that His intentions towards us are far greater.

"You are robbing me," God said to them. That is Old Testament terminology. The nation of Israel were robbing God because they had not given Him their tithes and offerings. In New Testament terminology, the emphasis is not on robbing God when you fail to give. In actual fact, you are robbing yourself, because you have failed to sow a seed, you have failed to make an investment in your own future. Some people get uptight when the preacher starts talking about money. And the reason is usually that their attitude towards money is wrong. The true preacher is encouraging you to get a greater benefit out of your life. I want you to do something positive with your life. And God's way to do it is to sow a seed, to "give, and it will be given to you."

There are some other things in Malachi I would like to show you. Do you have a pencil? Underline the verbs, and we will see their impact. In verse 10 it says "Bring." That's a verb, a word of action. Then further into the verse you have the word "Test" or "Prove" (KJV). These are the two things we must do—"Bring" and "Prove". Then God says, "I will open." He says, "I will pour." And in verse 11 he says, "I will rebuke." Underline those three verbs—"Open", "Pour", "Rebuke"—all three are God's part. Those five words you have underlined will give you the key to God's secret of success: Bring, Prove, Open, Pour, Rebuke.

Let us look at the first two words, the actions that you and I have to do. "Bring the full tithe into the storehouse." The Jewish people were told that they should give the first 10 per cent of everything they received, whether it be animals, produce, or whatever, to the priest in the synagogue. In addition to that, they were given the privilege of bringing offerings over and above the tithe. The minimum was 10 per cent. In New Testament terminology, Jesus says, "Give, and it will be given to you." The amount you give can be proportionate to your income if you wish, but attitude is more important than amount. Paul taught that people should give to the church where they were getting fed. He told the Corinthians that he did not want a collection when he came, but every Sunday, every first day of the week, they should "put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper" (I Corinthians 16:2). So Christians were encouraged to give on the first day of the week, and we also practice that principle. The verb "to bring" demands an action on our part.

The next word is "Prove," and this is incredible. God says, "Prove me now, put me to the test." Some scholars say it is the only place in the Bible where God invites us to put Him to the test. How do you test God out? By sowing the seed, by applying the principle. Do you want to see how the principle of gravity works? Stand up on a chair and take a step forward, and see if you hit the ground or not. If gravity is working, you will hit the ground, won't you? If gravity is not working you might hit the ceiling! Yet we know that the principle of gravity always works, and we apply the principle all the time. "Prove me now," God says. That is a great challenge to humanity. We want to receive. God is saying, "Start giving and watch it work!" Let's apply God's principle, let's sow the seed.

Now God says He will do three things. First, He says, "I will... open the windows of heaven for you"—the lattices of heaven. What does this mean? The expression was first used in Genesis 7:11, in the time of Noah and the flood. Some believe that this was the first time that it rained on the earth. When it rained the ground got wet, and then it could not soak up the water and there was a flood. And the flood was so great that the ark finished up on Mount Ararat. That was quite a flood to produce so much water! Now that is the same term that God is using in Malachi. He says, "Prove Me now... if I will not open for you the windows of heaven." You had better watch out. When you give there is going to be a flood.

The next verb that God uses is "Pour." Lamsa's translation has it, "I will... pour out blessings for you until you will say, 'It is enough'." Oral Roberts has said it will be not a trickle, not a stream, not a river, but a flood! A flood happens when so much rain has been given that the earth can no longer absorb it. That is what God is talking about when He says that "there will not be room enough to receive it" (KJV) or "until there is no more need" (ESV). You only have to give, and God said He will pour out to you so much that you will not be able to contain it. It certainly implies health, wealth, and happiness to me! "I will... pour down for you a blessing..." Your need is not just money. There are other things in your life that you need, such as better relationships, improved health, peace of mind, to name a few. God will pour out for you such a blessing.

The third verb God uses to describe His part of the agreement is "Rebuke." He says, "I will rebuke the devourer for you." He will rebuke those limiting circumstances that are dragging you down. The devourer I take to be the enemy of God. Satan always wants to drag you down. Satan wants you to have poverty, Satan wants you to have sickness. God will rebuke the devourer and everything you touch will grow and produce the fruit that you are expecting. I'm glad that I'm on God's side!

These Old Testament verses from Malachi are a powerful way to illustrate God's secret of success, Give and Receive. If He did so much for Jewish people under Jewish law, who were bound to a works-based consciousness of their relationship to God, what will He do to New Testament Christians who belong to the family of God? We are brothers and sisters in God's family, and we are operating under a grace-based relationship with God. We do not have to work at it, for it is freely available to us. God requires us to do one thing, and that is to apply the principle and give! If you want the kind of blessing that causes you to say, "Lord, hold off a little, I can't contain all I have right now", then Give and Receive.

15

Think God's Thoughts

One of the most widely distributed books in the world is the Bible. It is reputably the world's number one bestseller (more than 6 billion), although millions of Bibles are given away each year. However, the second most widely distributed books in the world was first published in 1964, and I think it would be fair to say that probably one-quarter of the people on Planet Earth read one of the 900 million copies of this book. Now that is quite a publishing achievement!

It is only a small book, with a red cover, and its title is, Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong or as it became known, "The Little Red Book." Just think of the incredible number of people who read that book because they wanted, or were forced, to adjust their way of thinking to the thoughts of Chairman Mao, in order that China could grow and develop. The communists believe that to effect change you must work on people's thinking, that the battle is for the minds of men and women. The weapons they employ in this battle are the printed page, radio, television, and every known media.

I want to tell you that they are right! The battle is for people's minds. God knew this from the start and that is why He has said so much about your mind and about your thoughts. One of the great secrets of success given in God's Word is the encouragement to Think God's Thoughts. What you think can change your world. Everybody can think—it might surprise you to know this, with so many apparent examples to the contrary around us. Yes, everybody can think, but the secret is, what are you thinking about? One of the secrets of success is to Think God's Thoughts about you and your success, and this will help you fulfill God's goals for you.

God's point of view

I want to first bring to your attention Peter, my namesake, in Matthew 16. Peter was a great character who was not afraid to get out there and make things happen on occasions, such as when he stepped out of the boat and left the others sitting there with mouth's wide open while he walked on water. In Matthew 16, verse 21 onwards, Jesus explains to His disciples that He was going to die and would be raised to life again. Peter couldn't handle this. There were large crowds coming along to the meetings, for Jesus had a good following. Now the leader of this teaching ministry, riding on a wave of success, is saying that He is going to be killed shortly but would rise again in three days. "Then Peter took him to one side and starting to remonstrate with him over this. 'God bless you, Master! Nothing like this must happen to you'" (verse 22, Phillips). "Then Jesus turned round and said to Peter, 'Out of my way, Satan!... you stand right in my path, Peter, when you look at things from man's point of view and not from God's'" (verse 23, Phillips).

There is a great truth there. How are we going to make a success out of our lives? We must look at things from His point of view, not man's. Man's point of view is so often that you have to do the other fellow before he does you—the golden rule in reverse. Many people think the road to success is paved with the heads of those you have trodden upon on the way up. Many books on success seem to teach just that—manipulate people, look after number one (yourself) and you will get there. That is not God's way. It is looking at things from man's point of view and not from God's.

In Colossians 1:9, Phillips again uses that expression, "We are asking God that you may see things, as it were, from his point of view by being given spiritual insight and understanding." What is God's point of view for your life? What are God's thoughts about you? God's thoughts are available. How do you know what God is thinking about? How do you know what I am thinking about? I have to tell you, for there is no other way of you knowing. We know what God is thinking about us, for He has told us in His Word. Now the reason we need to Think God's Thoughts is given to us in Isaiah 55:8,9. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." God makes a distinction here—what He is thinking about is not necessarily what we are thinking about. One of our problems is that so often we think that what we are thinking about is what God wants us to think about, and we ask God to bless what we are thinking about. Yet we have it all wrong. God wants us to think about what He is thinking about!

The next four verses give an illustration of the effect of thinking God's thoughts. "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off" (Isaiah 55:10-13).

God has promised you great results if you will think His thoughts. As you do so, you will start acting in His ways, for ways develop out of thoughts. This truth is clearly stated in Isaiah 14:24, "The Lord of hosts has sworn: 'As I have planned [thought, KJV], so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand'." God is saying that what He thinks will happen, and what He decides to do will come to pass. What does God think about you? "For I know the plans [thoughts, KJV) I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare [peace] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope" (Jeremiah 29:11). God says that His thoughts—of our present peace, of our future—are going to come to pass. We have a future and a hope. I like that! In III John 2 it says, "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers" (NKJV) That is what God thinks about you. He wants you to prosper, to be in health. His thoughts concerning you will come to pass, as you fulfill the condition, "...as your soul prospers." The soul is composed of the mind, the emotions, and the will. These parts of the human make-up are designed to prosper, to grow. God has thought it through, He has done everything necessary, now He says, "Come on, get your soul prospering and the rest will be taken care of." In the book of Ephesians God says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 1:3). He has blessed us! That is what God thinks about you. He thinks you are blessed. And not only are you blessed, but you are blessed with heaven's best! "Surely, as I have planned [thought], so shall it be."

In Matthew 6:32, after talking of our need for food, drink, and clothing, Jesus said, "Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all." What God knows about you are His thoughts concerning you. He knows that you have these needs, yet what did He say to do about them? Slave night and day, or go down to the opportunity shop and pick up some things? No! He is saying that He knows you need these things, and this is what you should do about it, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Our part is to seek; His part is to supply the goods. "Surely, as I have planned [thought], so shall it be." Now that you are in His family and have been given His righteousness, God's thoughts about you are that He wants you to enjoy health, wealth, and happiness.

Perhaps we can now understand why the Psalmist became so enthused when he wrote, "How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you" (Psalm 139:17, 18). He rejoiced in thinking about the thoughts of God. They are to us thoughts of blessing, thoughts of success, thoughts that help us maximize the potential that is within every one of us.

Applying God's thoughts

Now let me make this secret of success practical. In Proverbs 23:7 we read, "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he" (NKJV) This is God's principle. God engineered this incredible computer-like control center that we have in our brain. He said that what you think about is what you are. So what should you be thinking about? Health, not sickness, for a start. It is very easy to think about the pain. "I went for a run yesterday, and did my muscles hurt!" What does God say to think about? Health, not pain. So many of us make this mistake. We get a symptom of this or a symptom of that, and we immediately think of the end result, and the more we think about it the worse we become. Think God's Thoughts! God says, "Your healing [health] shall spring up speedily" (Isaiah 58:8). Health is already within us, divine health. "As he thinks... so is he."

What about finances? We saw in our last chapter that the disciples came to Jesus and pointed out that the crowd of more than fifteen thousand people had not eaten all day. Jesus said in effect, "Go, and see what you can find" (Luke 9:10-17). They came back with a little boy who had five loaves and two small fishes. To the disciples they were a symbol of lack: to Jesus they were a symbol of abundance. The difference was in the way of thinking. Think God's Thoughts! When you see some cash coming in but it does not seem enough to pay the bills, what are you going to think about? Think God's Thoughts! Do not think lack. Lack is an illusion to a child of God, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want [lack]" (Psalm 23:1). Lack does not exist unless we allow it to exist in our minds. Let's Think God's Thoughts! Let's fill our minds with God's statements, such as "My God shall supply all your need..." (Philippians 4:19).

You can take any situation in life and there will always be two ways to look at it. There is man's point of view and there is God's point of view. One preacher asked, "How would Jesus have handled inflation?" And the simple answer is that He would have ignored it, because God supplied all His needs. It does not matter if inflation is running at 10 per cent or if it is low, God still promises to supply all your needs. And it does not matter if taxes go up to 40 per cent or drop to 20 per cent, God says He will still supply all your needs. Think God's Thoughts, not man's thoughts.

"Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans [thoughts] will be established" (Proverbs 16:3). That is a beautiful statement. The word "commit" means to roll your works upon God. Allow God to be your partner; let Him share your burden. Let Him carry the other end. In fact, He wants to carry both ends. "Roll your works upon the Lord." And what will happen? "Your thoughts will be established." Instead of your mind tossing to and fro, like the waves of the sea, you will have an established thought. An established thought is one of knowing where you are going and how you are going to get there, of knowing that you will make it. To get to this position in life, commit your works to God, invite Him into the situation.

I will conclude this chapter with some verses from the New Testament. If you would like to delve deeper into this subject, I refer you to my book, God's Principles and Your Potential. In II Corinthians 10:3-5, Paul instructs us further on how to Think God's Thoughts. "For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh [the five senses] but have divine power to destroy strongholds..." What are these strongholds? "We tear down arguments..." (NET Bible). Phillips' translation renders it as a "deceptive fantasy"; the King James Version is "imaginations." We imagine we are sick. We imagine we have a lack. We imagine that we do not get on with other people. We imagine that our business is going downhill. These are strongholds of Satan by which he attempts to block our progress.

"We destroy arguments [imaginations] and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ" (verse 5). God has said that when He thinks of a matter, it will come to pass (Isaiah 14:24). Destroying imaginations, and then doing what? Taking "every thought captive to obey Christ." I like the translation by Arthur S. Way, "I can make every rebel purpose my prisoner-of-war." Line the thought up with what God says, line it up with God's thoughts. And if that thought does not agree with God's thoughts, replace it—change what you are thinking about. If you don't like the results you are getting, change your thinking. Take those rebel thoughts captive; take control of them.

If it is true that we receive ten thousand messages a day into our minds, then we must start taking control. The greatest unexplored territory in the world is in our minds, and it really is the only territory over which we have total control. We are commanded by God to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. When we have a thought that disagrees with God's thoughts about His health, wealth and happiness for us, we must throw it out. What are we going to put in its place? Use a verse of scripture, use an affirmation. Replace the thought that is contrary to God's thoughts with one that agrees with what God is thinking about you.

J. Paul Getty, in his popular book How to be Rich, says that to be successful you should rub shoulders with successful people. That is true. Rub shoulders with negative folk for too long, and some of the stain will wear off on to you. I want to rub shoulders with successful people, and I know of no one more successful than God. I want to have fellowship and rub shoulders with Him at every opportunity. I want His thoughts permeating my conscious mind. Apply this great secret of success. to Think God's Thoughts, and be prosperous and have good success.

16

Set Right Goals

Joshua had a goal, and this God-given goal was to lead the 1.5-million nation of Israel across the Jordan River and settle them in the land of Canaan. That was no small task! Yet he had God's Word to encourage him and by applying its principles he made his way prosperous and he had good success (Joshua 1:8).

It seems to me that when people have been Christians for a long while, or have a church background, and then they hear that they can be a success in life, that God has only the best for them—health, wealth, and happiness, they often have a dilemma, for they cannot relate these exciting truths to what they have been taught from the Bible. Other people have a battle because they already know they are meant to be a success, and they know that nothing but good is their right and portion, yet when they go to church they hear a different emphasis taught which seems to be in opposition to a philosophy of success.

The first group says, "Why should I set goals for my life? Jesus Himself said in the Bible. "Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What you shall eat or What you shall drink or What shall we wear." And the person who already believes in success finds that this same Bible said, "I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content" (Phillipians 4:11). They say, "That does not sound like the kind of success I've been looking for!" Both groups have a real challenge on their hands.

Jesus and Paul taught about goals

I believe that God has made it very clear that it is right and profitable for you and me to have goals for our lives. Let us look at the words of Jesus. He made it quite clear that He approved of people knowing where they are going, of setting their goals. Jesus said, "For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace" (Luke 14:28-32).

If I need a building, I must first sit down and decide what kind of building I need. I will draw up plans in the light of how I visualize the building meeting my needs. What is that but having a goal? My goal is to construct that building and to use it effectively. And the same is true about the king. His goal is to win the battle. The Bible says to "fight the good fight of the faith" (I Timothy 6:12). A good fight is one that you win! So the king's thinking is correct. He wants victory, not at any cost, but at the smallest cost possible. The king sits down and figures out whether his ten thousand soldiers are better than the twenty thousand coming against him. Jesus is teaching that we need to determine our goals first, and then put all our effort into making them realities.

The apostle Paul also penned words on the necessity on having goals. "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it" (I Corinthians 9:24). There is a saying in the sporting world that there are no prizes for coming second. This verse is probably the foundation for that saying, for there is only a mention of a first prize. The runner's goal is to run in such a way that he or she may get first place. The goal is to win. "Winners never quit, and quitters never win." "Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly..." (verses 25, 26a). That means I run with a definite determination.

I was involved in track and field athletics and distance running for many years, both as a competitor and also president of the athletic club. Often our club members would come along to the competitions, and I would ask some, "How are you going to perform today?" And they would reply, "Oh, its just a training run today." They are saying that they are not going to win! They will just run around the course and if they get a reasonable time they will be satisfied with the training run. Of course they needed to train, but not during the race! Paul is encouraging us to run life's race with the determination that we are winners. With a goal to gain, you expend the energy necessary to win. With a see-how-I-feel, hope-so attitude, you will lose. It is the goal that makes the difference!

Another important statement by Paul is found in Philippians 3:13-14. "Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Paul had a goal, one overwhelming goal: to reach the finishing line as a winner! Phillips translates it, "I go straight for the goal." There is nothing wrong with having goals. What is wrong is if you do not have the right goals, and that seems to be our challenge.

Contentment

Now I am well aware that there are some sincere Christians who disagree with this concept of setting goals. They will quote to me a verse such as Philippians 4:11, "Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content." They explain that Paul is content. He did not want to have a bigger house, a better car. He was content. Is that true? Can a man with goals be content? Let me show you another verse. "Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment" (I Timothy 6:6). The same people tell me just to be content with what I have and am. If you are a factory worker, enjoy being a factory worker; do not aspire to become a foreman or a supervisor. Is that what these verses are saying? Here is another verse, "Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have..." (Hebrews 13:5). So you do not need more business this month; just be content!

The question is, What is meant by contentment? If we have these verses saying that we should be content, and we have other verses saying that we should set goals, then we must examine the word "contentment." Perhaps we are reading into that word something that is not there. There are two ways that a Christian can look at contentment. One is that your desires for life should be limited to what you have already attained. "Enjoy what you have, for that is all you are going to get." The other way to look at contentment is that your desires should be limited only by what God says you can have. I firmly believe in the second definition. Your goal should be to maximize, to enjoy to the full your potential in Christ.

Contentment does not mean to stay at the level at which you happen to find yourself in society. To me that means laziness, compared to the contentment of knowing that my desires are only limited or stretched to what God wants me to have; that is recognizing His lordship over my life. There is a lot of difference between laziness and lordship. To take the attitude that my desires are going to be limited to what I already have or where I am, is nothing but paralyzing mediocrity. It is bondage to the status quo. It is doing nothing with your life. In fact, it is just existing, and I do not believe that is what God wants us to do. God wants us to get the full potential out of our lives, and in order to do that we must Set Right Goals.

There is nothing wrong in having goals, but your goals must line up with what God says in His Word, and then we will have success. Here is a tremendous verse that tells us how to stretch our dreams, "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us" (Ephesians 3:20). God is able to do more than we ask or even think. I would suspect that in most cases our goals and dreams are much less than God has for us. Carl Bates said, "There came a time in my life when I earnestly prayed, 'God, I want your power.' Time wore on and the power did not come. One day, the burden was more than I could bear. 'God, why haven't you answered that prayer?' And God seemed to whisper back His simple reply, 'With plans no bigger than yours, you don't need my power'." His theology was not the best, but you can see the point! Since our God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or even think, let us set some great goals.

A right goal

There are short-range goals and there are long-range goals—all of these must be lined up with the Word of God. As far as a long-range goal is concerned, what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount is quite applicable. He said, "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew 6:33). Food, clothing, shelter, material things (verses 30-32) are in the context. You know, some people get so spiritual when you start talking about material things. They get twitchy because they do not believe that God is concerned about "things." Check out in your concordance how many times the word "things" appears in the Bible, especially in the teaching of Jesus. God is concerned about the things that relate to our lives. God is interested in our food, our clothing, our shelter. Jesus said that if you Set Right Goals, all these things will be added to you.

A right goal is one in which you put God in first place. There is nothing wrong with the goals that many people have. It is quite acceptable to say that I want my business to double in the next two years, or I want to expand my house and put a family room on the back, or I want to do this or I want to do that. There is nothing wrong, spiritually or scripturally, with any of these things. What is usually wrong is the order of priorities. Some put those goals ahead of their own spiritual development, ahead of God. That is when I start getting twitchy! You can drive your Volvo or your Mercedes Benz, and have all those things, but when you get your priorities wrong, then you will have only a sand-based success. "God first" is guaranteed; "things first" is building on sand. Get your priorities right, and get your goals right. An old Christian hymn says, "My goal is God Himself..." (Frederick Brook), and that says it all. Not blessing, not health, not finance—my goal is to find out all I can about God and to follow His principles for right living. When you do that, everything starts falling into place.

How do we Set Right Goals for our lives? This subject really warrants a whole book, not just one chapter, but it is one of God's secrets of success. Joshua got his goals right, and he led a whole nation to the promised land. When things went wrong, he went back to God as his source. Set Right Goals and you will be a success.

Here's one verse from the Psalms that will help our quest. God says, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you" (Psalm 32:8). Who needs any more help than that? God's instruction, God's teaching, God's guidance is available to you. This means that you simply need to tap into it, rely upon it. When you sit down to write out your goals, say, "Father, what do you think about this?" So often we write down a list of goals and then pray our hearts out asking God's blessing on the list we have written, as if the Maker of heaven and earth is going to bless what we have decided we are going to do! God says that it works the other way around. He says, "I will instruct you, will teach you, will counsel you." Let us say, "Lord, you know my needs. I need this or that. My business needs this or that. Lord, let's work on this together." This is what I call a reciprocity, a mutual, complementary agreement between two people. When one person acts, the other agrees that he will also act. Get your partner in on the discussion—that is how you will Set Right Goals. "I will instruct you, teach you, counsel you."

The New Testament also sheds light on how our goals are to be set. "The spiritual person judges [discerns, appraises] all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 'For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?' But we have the mind of Christ" (I Corinthians 2:15,16). The Old Testament says that God will instruct you, will teach you, will counsel you. The New Testament says you have the mind of Christ. You have within you the capacity to think the same thoughts as Christ thinks. In some circles, people would say that this is being impertinent, yet the Bible says you have the mind of Christ. Does it mean what it says? How would Christ handle your business? Perhaps you have read the book In His Steps by Charles Sheldon, one of the great Christian classics. The preacher and many people in the town decided that for one year they would always ask themselves a question before they did anything, "What would Jesus do?" How would He run your business? How would he handle inflation? God still takes care of His family. We have the mind of Christ, so start thinking as Christ thinks!

One final verse must suffice. "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him" (James 1:5). Do you lack wisdom? Do you wonder about your goals, whether they are right or not? Ask God. He gives wisdom liberally. He does not say, "Why did you ask a stupid question like that?" He gives without reproach. He will tell you what you need to know. All the guidance you need is available, if only you will tap into it.

God's secret of success is to Set Right Goals, and as a corollary to that, get your goals in the right order, have the right priorities. And like Joshua, "you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success" (Joshua 1:8).

Victors, Not Victims

17

I Am Not A Victim

"I am not a victim of the world I see." Of course there are events that happen over which we have no control, like earthquakes and plane crashes, but in the main we are today the result of choices that we have made. If you find that hard to understand, then read on to discover that you have some responsibility for what happens to you, and are fully responsible for how you react to life's events.

I believe the Bible teaches that we are responsible for what happens to us. On recognizing that responsibility, we can then change the situation for the better. If we think that change will only occur if we go to church regularly or if we read our Bibles often or if we give certain amounts, then we are bound in a performance-based consciousness and are living in Old Testament times. However, if we have grasped the position, power, and potential of the New Creation, then we can change our world and can maintain that change regardless of our outer circumstances.

Let me first share with you a Bible example. In Acts 21:14 it says, "So when he [Paul] would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done" (NKJV); "And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, 'Let the will of the Lord be done.'" (ESV). Most Christians look at Paul as a tremendous example of the Christian faith. This man was converted as an adult after excelling in a university education of the day. He was recognized as a scholar and a leader, and then he became a Christian and eventually wrote three-quarters of the New Testament. So many assume that everything that happened to Paul was the will of God for him. If this is true, then when Paul was beaten in Jerusalem, when he was thrown in gaol in Caesarea for two years, when he was shipped to Rome and was shipwrecked, all of this was the will of God for Paul and he just had to endure it. Yet the statement at the beginning of this chapter, "I am not a victim of the world I see," is a contradiction of this. If all this was the will of God for Paul, then he was a victim of the prejudice of his day, of the government of his day, of the traveling conditions of his day.

We need to look at the background to the record in Acts 21:14. Paul had made a decision, first mentioned in Acts 19:21, and his life was a result of the choices he had made. "Paul resolved in the Spirit" or more correctly, "Paul resolved in [his] spirit" (an idiom). "The entire idiom means 'to resolve' or 'decide' (Bauer's Greek-English Lexicon). "The meaning is that he was firmly resolved" (Companion Bible). It is also recorded in Acts 20:16, "For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost." Paul wanted to get back to Jerusalem in time for this special feast day when Jews from around the known world would be gathered. The day of Pentecost was also the birthday of the Church, the day when the apostles first spoke in tongues, and I'm sure he wanted also to celebrate that occasion with the believers in Jerusalem.

Was it God's will?

Now perhaps there was nothing wrong with Paul's desire to be in Jerusalem for these events. The question that needs to be answered is: Was it God's will for Paul to be there? In Acts 16:9 Paul had seen a vision of a man from Macedonia in Greece saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us," and Paul acknowledged that as God's guidance and went to Macedonia to share the good news. Paul was not unacquainted with following God's will for his life. Yet now we read that "Paul had decided" to get to Jerusalem by the day of Pentecost. Let's follow his journey.

"And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit [in my spirit], not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me" (Acts 20:22-23). Paul is saying he felt bound in his spirit, and this feeling had been reinforced in every city he visited, for in some way or another God had spoken to him and told him that he was heading for trouble.

We do not know how God spoke to Paul. Perhaps after a meeting someone called him aside and said, "Paul, I feel strongly that you should not go to Jerusalem." This could have happened many times, yet Paul's comment about these occurrences was this: "But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I have received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God" (verse 24 NKJV).

Now that sounds very spiritual, and suggests that this man has really come to grips with who he is and where he is going. It does not matter what happens to him physically because he is on his way to heaven anyhow. "None of these things move me..." However, the reality was that he was moving outside of the will of God for his life.

In chapter 21 Paul embarked on a ship and sailed to Tyre. "And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem" (verse 4). The statement is very clear: it is not the will of God for Paul to go to Jerusalem. He was now only some 100 miles (160 kilometres) from his destination, and God in His great love is still trying to get the message through to Paul.

Yet did Paul take any notice of this statement? Obviously not, for verse 5 says, "When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey." A few days later they "came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. He had four unmarried daughters, who prophesied" (verses 8-9). Now we are not told the subject of their prophecy, but since we already know that in every city which Paul had visited God had tried to get a message across to him, it is quite possible that Paul was the subject of the daughters' prophecies. "While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, 'Thus says the Holy Spirit, "This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles".'" (verses 10-11). The message is clear and graphic: "Paul, do not go to Jerusalem." Notice that God is now sending people from other places to stop Paul in his tracks, but to little avail. "When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem" (verse 12).

Yet what did Paul want to do? Paul made it quite clear that he was going to Jerusalem and he was not about to miss the feast of the day of Pentecost. "Then Paul answered, 'What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.'" (verse 13). Yes, it still sounds so spiritual but he is still out of the will of God for his life. Paul may have been a wonderful Christian who really did put Christianity on the world map, but he was also a human just like you and me, and he was also stubborn just like you and me. Paul had made his decision, and his decision will determine what is going to happen to him.

God wants to help us

Now we have seen that even though he made the wrong decision, and even though physically he had set his life in the direction of doing what he wanted to do, God still got the message to Paul not to go to Jerusalem. God is constantly giving us guidance. God is at all times giving us direction. God is always pointing out our wrong attitudes, beliefs and concepts. The truth is God wants only the best for our lives, but we must accept His will for the best to become a reality. God wanted the best for Paul's life also, but Paul was determined to go to Jerusalem.

So what can we do about verse 14? Can we allow this great example of practical Christianity to appear as if he is going against God's will? Of course not, so the translators endeavor to get Paul off the hook by adding just one comma. That's right, just one comma changes the impact of verse 14 from the statement of the original text to one that makes it appear that Paul's actions were now fully in the will of God. In most translations we read a statement similar to the King James Version: "And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done."

There is something wrong if the verses I have quoted already state that Paul was not to go to Jerusalem, and now this verse seems to imply that his companions said to Paul, "OK, Paul, you go ahead and do the will of the Lord and go to Jerusalem." This is what is called an apparent contradiction, and there are only two areas to check: is the problem in my understanding of what is written or is the problem one of translation. Now since we have the wealth of factual statements in the previous context about God's will in this situation, it would be logical to consider that the problem is one of translation.

We know that in the original text of the New Testament there was no punctuation. The text was written in uncial ("inch-high") letters, without any breaks between words or sentences. Now, in our English versions, we require word breaks and punctuation and some capital letters, but remember that such mechanical devices are not part of God's Word but merely aids to our understanding. On this occasion, they are aids to our mis-understanding! Let's take out the comma after the word "ceased" and by so doing we remove the apparent contradiction. "And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased saying, The will of the Lord be done" (KJV). In modern terms, his companions quit trying to convince him to do the will of the Lord, and said that they would no longer say to him, "Paul, do God's will." I have not added to or taken away from the Word of God, for the commas were not there in the first place. I have simply adjusted our English translation to agree with its own context; I have adjusted the unclear statement in the light of the many clear statements.

The effect of Paul's decision

I trust that you now have corrected the notion that the apostle Paul could do no wrong. He was human like the rest of us, and on this occasion he went against the will of God, much like the rest of us do on occasion also. The circumstances that Paul became involved in as a direct result of his stubbornness was not God's will for him at all. If you read on in the Book of Acts you will find Paul became the catalyst for a riot in Jerusalem and Roman soldiers had to rescue him from the violent religious crowd. He was placed in jail, but rumors of a plot to kill him in prison reached the authorities so they moved him to Caesarea. He spent two years there in jail before appealing to Caesar and being sent to Rome.

The tragedy was that Paul was taken out of the scene of action for many years. During this time he founded no churches, though he did lead some people to the Lord. He almost persuaded Agrippa to become a Christian (Acts 26:28), and that seems to be the closest Paul got to fulfilling God's commission during this period. In addition, he was not able to give the early church the leadership it required except through letters. Previously he had done so much and Christianity flourished over all Asia Minor, but now he was effectively silenced—by his own choice, by his own stubbornness. Did Paul learn the lesson? Possibly, for he wrote from a prison in Rome, "Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is" (Ephesians 5:17).

Our choices make us

You and I are the result of our choices. Our decisions affect us, and we are responsible for what we are and where we are today. Let me share this verse from I John chapter 5. "For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith" (verse 4). It is faith in God that gives us the victory over the world around us. "I am not a victim of the world I see," for it is my faith in God my Father that enables me to overcome the pressures of this age.

"Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world" (I John 4:4). When you became a Christian, Christ came to live in you. While God is everywhere, He is in you in a very special way, for you are His child. Satan and all his hosts of evil spirits are no problem for the God that is in you. So can we whip the world? Yes, we do not need to be pawns on the chessboard of life. We do need to make right decisions, based on God's will for our lives.

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us" (Romans 8:37). What things? "Tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword" (verse 35), all things of this world. Yes, more than conquerors! To put it another way, we are all-conquering conquerors! A conqueror is in total control of the world he sees—not a victim of it. This is our position "through him that loved us," that is, Christ (verse 35).

If Paul had made the right choice, what could have happened to the spread of Christianity? Up to that point it was moving like wildfire through the society of the known world, and perhaps the course of history could have been changed even further. We only know that Paul's decision took him out of the scene and he was to play no further part in its practical outreach for many years.

Paul is only one example from the Word of God that echoes the statement that "I am not a victim of the world I see." I have often said that a believer does not react, a believer acts! Reacting is to respond to a set of circumstances. Acting for a believer is to stand firm on his faith in God and to act positively on the basis of God's Word regardless of the circumstances.

Christian, you are not a victim of the world you see—do not be a victim of your own stubbornness! Be a victor!

18

I Am Responsible

I am responsible for what happens to me. "I choose the feelings I experience and decide upon the good I would achieve and everything that seems to happen to me I ask for and receive as I have asked", as Gerald Jampolski has put it. This theme is an important principle, and is in fact the crux of the truth for which I stand. It is the difference between a passive religion and an active religion.

I have made this distinction down through the years and will keep on making it, because so long as Christians are passive, absolutely anything can happen to them—and will. People will manipulate you, you will be stomped on by circumstances, and will be depressed if you allow these things to happen. But on the other hand, if you become active, if you start walking on God's Word and make things happen, then you will enjoy all the blessings that God has for you in the Word. I believe this is a tremendous principle, one of the foundational principles of the Christian life. I am responsible for what happens to me. I must accept responsibility.

We have already seen that the apostle Paul determined to go to Jerusalem, knowing that he would get into trouble. I suggested that it was his stubbornness that made him do it, and this was a result of tradition, for he wanted to get there for the feast of Pentecost. Now what about the case of Job in the Old Testament? Poor old Job! We often talk about having the problems of Job, and he did have problems. However, I do not think any of us really have problems like Job had. Some people look at the incident in the light that God and Satan decided that they would have a game one day, and poor old Job just happened to be handy so they played around with his life just to prove a point. There are one or two verses that might cause people to think that, but I want to show you that Job was responsible for what happened to him.

A man named Job

The record starts in Job chapter 1: "There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job." Incidentally, some commentators believe Job to be the oldest book penned in the Bible, and that Job was possibly a cousin of Abraham. If this is so, then historically the book of Job fits around the middle chapters of the book of Genesis. However, because of its contents it seemed to belong with the wisdom literature of Psalms to Song of Solomon, and that is where it is found in our English Bibles today.

"Job... was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. There were born to him seven sons and three daughters" (verses 1b-2). He had a great family; in fact, a good combination—seven sons to till the land and to look after the animals, and three daughters to provide that touch of beauty and gentleness in the family. "He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east" (verse 3). He was obviously a successful businessman and well respected in his community.

Then the record gives an insight into Job's family life. "His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, 'It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.' Thus Job did continually" (verses 4-5).

Now we have some indication as to Job's problem. Job was very concerned that his sons, the party animals of their day, might have stepped out of line and sinned. He was trying to live their lives for them, and anyone who is a parent knows that it is not only impossible to do so but it also produces depression and ulcers and everything else. Job was so concerned about this that he made special offerings to God just in case they may have sinned, because he obviously thought they were likely to do so. Let's watch and see how it develops.

The hedge around Job

"Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, 'From where have you come?' Satan answered the Lord and said, 'From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it'" (verses 6-7). So Satan's place is on earth, and he obviously spends his time looking for opportunities to hassle people.

"And the Lord said to Satan, 'Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?' Then Satan answered the Lord and said, 'Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.' And the Lord said to Satan, 'Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.' So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord" (verses 8-12).

Like everyone who has faith in God, there was a "hedge" of protection around Job. In the Old Testament administration, this protection was dependent on the believer abiding "in the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalm 91:1). Those who obeyed God's laws and consciously exercised their faith were promised that they would have no need to "fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked" (Psalm 91:5-8). It certainly makes sense to have faith in God and to acknowledge His protection. Satan's request to God was for Him to take away the hedge and withdraw His blessing. Then Satan believed that Job would curse God, because he felt that in the depths of his heart he was motivated by materialism. I must point out that while the Bible faithfully records what Satan said, the recording of his words do not make them true. God's lack of correction should not be taken as indicating His approval of what His enemy said. In addition, there is no indication that God did in fact stretch out his hand and strike everything that Job had. In fact, the final verse of chapter 1 makes it quite clear that "In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong" (verse 22).

We read in verses 13-19 that Job's oxen and donkeys were carried off by a raiding party, severe storms killed his sheep and servants, the camels were carried off by another raiding party, and a wind storm wrecked the house in which his sons and daughters were having a feast and they were all killed. However, through all this Job did not curse God but instead worshiped Him (verse 20). The question we have to ask is: Who made the hole in the hedge?

In chapter 2 Satan again has a conversation with God, and God commends Job for maintaining his integrity, "He still holds fast his integrity, although you [Satan] incited me against him to destroy him without reason" (verse 3). While God may have been incited to do evil to Job, neither God nor Job state that He complied with Satan's request.

However, Satan is not satisfied and asks God to strike the flesh and bones of Job, "and he will curse you to your face" (verse 5). Again, there is no record that God made Job sick; in fact, verse 7 is quite clear in its statement that "Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores [burning sores] from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head."

Under pressure from his wife to renounce God, Job rebukes her and says, "Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" (verse 10). God can only do what He is, which is good—"You are good and do good" (Psalm 119:68). The real question is: Why did all these things happen? And as is always the case in the Bible record, there must be a statement, a clue in the record itself.

Why Job had problems

The key to the record comes in chapter 3, and shows us why Job had these problems. "For the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me" (verse 25). The marginal King James version rendering is, "I feared a fear, and it came to me." What an incredible statement! To whom is Job attributing his problems? To God? To Satan? No, to himself, to his fear! This is such an important verse, I looked it up in other translations that I have and picked out two that had significant differences in them from the King James Version.

The first is from the Jerusalem Bible, from the Roman Catholic viewpoint, and it states, "Whatever I fear comes true. Whatever I dread befalls me." There is the principle! "Whatever I fear comes true." Rotherham's Emphasized Bible, first published in 1906, translates it this way, "For a dread I dreaded and it hath come upon me. And that which I shrank from hath overtaken me." Job also confesses in verse 26, "I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, but trouble comes."

Now Job's problem was no ordinary, everyday anxiety. All of us, if we were honest, would acknowledge that often there are situations in life which produce some degree of anxiety in us. However, Job allowed the anxiety to grow and develop and fester in his mind until it became a fear. Every time there was a party he would sacrifice an offering—"this Job did continually" (Job 1:5). His fear of his sons sinning against God became an integral part of his daily life. Job placed himself in a position where Satan could take advantage of him.

There is a principle here. Satan could not harm Job unless Job allowed him to do it. Satan cannot cause poverty to come upon you, unless you allow him to make you poor. Satan cannot make you sick, unless you allow him to put sickness upon you. Often people say, "I feel like I am coming down with something." What is happening is that they are accepting that "something" and inviting it to afflict them. Satan cannot touch you if you do not open the door for him to do so.

Job's problem was that he feared. Fear is a powerful emotion. It has been said that fear is faith in reverse—the same powerful force in reverse gear. In the same way as what you believe you will get, which Jesus taught quite clearly, what you fear you will also get. It is a principle. Fear and faith are similar but they have different objects. Faith is faith in God. Fear is faith in Satan. Both are very powerful forces; both produce results. Job got into the trouble he did because he had a fear of problems greater than he had faith in God.

Having faith in fear

On one of my journeys to the United States I had an interesting experience that illustrates this truth. When traveling alone, before I get on the plane I wonder about the person who will be seated next to me. On such a long journey I have something like 15 hours to enjoy this charming individual that the airline has allocated to sit beside me. On this occasion, when I got on the plane and sat down in my allocated seat on the aisle, beside me were a couple from Melbourne, Australia. We just chatted with trivia before the flight commenced. The lady confessed to me the fact that she had a fear of flying, so I said, "Oh, don't worry about it, as long as I am on the plane everything will be all right." I tried to encourage her, for she had many other flights to enjoy on a grand tour of America for 28 days, yet she was fearful before she had even left Australia!

I was on my way to teach at a camp, so after the flight got under way I started reading a modern translation of the Bible and this caused comment from the couple. They said, "Oh, we see that you are interested in the Bible." "Yes", I replied. They said, "Oh, so are we." So I told them I was a minister, on my way to teach at a family camp. They said, "We are Jehovah's Witnesses." I thought to myself, "God bless the airline! Here I am with 15 hours' of flying time ahead of me and sitting next to me are two Jehovah's Witnesses!" I decided to be a little bold, and I said to her, "I am surprised to find that you believe in the Bible, because it seems that you have more faith in this plane going down than you have faith in God." I made a mental note that the Jehovah's Witnesses do not teach their people how to handle fear. We talked along that line for a while and I was able to get her to see that her faith in God was quite adequate in that situation, and that she could sit back and enjoy everything that the airline had to offer. She could have had a miserable trip because of her fear of flying. Fear is a powerful force, and it is faith in reverse; it is faith in the wrong thing.

We can learn something from Job's experience, and that is you are responsible for what happens to you. If something bad has happened, then consciously you have done something or expressed an attitude that brought that circumstance into your life. You are responsible for what you experience, you choose the feelings you have. Job said, "The thing I fear comes upon me." Or as the Jerusalem Bible has it, "Whatever I fear comes true." Therefore, if your fear made the thing come true, then it is in your power, in co-operation with God, to do something about making it untrue, of taking the reality out of the fear. If you are responsible for getting into that circumstance, then your responsibility can help you get out, and that is the truth of active Christianity, as compared to passive Christianity where you are just a pawn on the chessboard of life. Fear has also been described as False Evidence Appearing Real. When you fear [believe] your fear, you turn the false evidence into reality for you. The key is to remain positive and exchange the fear thought with a faith thought.

Why Peter got wet

Let me share another example with you, this time from the Gospel of Matthew. It is the record of Peter walking on the water. I want to ask the question: "Why did Peter get wet?" Peter is my namesake, and I have been known to stand up for him, but he did get wet! Jesus had told his disciples to get into the boat and go over to the other side, and he would join them later. Strong winds arose during the night, "And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, 'It is a ghost!' and they cried out in fear" (Matthew 14:25-26). Well, I think we would have had a similar reaction, wouldn't we? No-one had ever seen a person walking on water prior to this point.

"But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid'" (verse 27). Then impetuous Peter had his say! "And Peter answered him, 'Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.' He said, 'Come'" (verses 28-29a). Now the word of the Son of God is that Peter can walk on the water. Peter said, "Can I do that?" and Jesus said, "Sure. Come." So what did Peter do? He went to the railing of the boat; he put one leg over the side and then the other leg, and then he let go of the railing and started walking on the water. He took action. "So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus" (verse 29b). Now I would rather give my support to Peter than to the other disciples who were sitting in the boat. Peter was willing to believe God and do the impossible. He was "standing on the promises." The others were willing to sit and watch him. They were just "sitting on the premises," pew warmers, expressing a passive Christianity.

"But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink cried out, 'Lord, save me'" (verse 30). Now he did take some steps on the water, and because of this we have a bird named the petrel—a bird of the southern oceans, who in the action of their flight are so low on the water and touch it so often, that it appears they are walking on water. The early sailors called them petrels, based on the word "Peter" because he walked on the water. Peter did take some steps, but because he suddenly thought, "What's a fisherman like me doing in a place like this?", he began to sink. He saw the waves, he saw the circumstances, "he saw the wind" was boisterous. His five senses took over. He had been a fisherman for many years of his life, and suddenly in his mind there is this thought, "The waves are high and the wind is strong, so what am I doing out here on the water trying to float on my feet?" He believed the thought and became afraid, and so began to sink.

"Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, 'O you of little faith, why did you doubt?' And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, 'Truly you are the Son of God'" (verses 31-33). "Why did you doubt?", Jesus said, and the Concordant Literal Version renders it this way, "Why did you hesitate?" The Greek word is distadzo ("two-stand"), and it means to stand in two places mentally, to be of an uncertain mind, to duplicate. (The word is also used in Matthew 28:17.) "Why did you hesitate?" Why did Peter get wet? Because he hesitated. He got wet because he took his eyes off Jesus and put them on the circumstances. He got wet because he wondered what he was doing there, and when he hesitated, then he began to sink.

Peter is a little further along the road than the other people I have used as illustrations, because Peter was in the process of applying the Word of God. He was actively acting it out, if you wish. Yet suddenly he begins to doubt and wonder what he is doing. Perhaps we can learn from that too. So often Christians say, "I am going to believe God for prosperity," and so they give some money, whether it is one dollar, $100 or $1,000, the principle is the same. Having given, they sit back and wait for the dollars to grow on trees or for showers from heaven or a sudden increase in business. When they do not quickly see the results, they start doubting. They have obeyed the promise of God, but they are doubting. They are hesitating, and so they are going to sink. God has not let them down, but they have let themselves sink, just like Peter did.

"For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised" (Hebrews 10:36). There is often a gap between the moment of believing God, as demonstrated by taking a positive action on the Word of God, to the moment when you obtain the result that you are expecting. In my book Giving and Receiving, I describe that gap as the time of cultivation. You sow the seed, but then you must cultivate it. Part of that cultivation is to keep thanking God for the result. You must keep your mind on the fact that though the seed is invisible, it really is growing. You do not dig it up to see if anything is happening. You must hold the thought, "It's there. I have taken my hands off of it. It is in God's hands and I keep thanking God for the harvest. It is guaranteed." You need perseverance, so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive the promise. The incident with Peter clearly illustrates this, but I shared the example to show who was responsible for Peter getting wet. And the answer has to be, "It was Peter; he got himself wet."

There are many other Bible illustrations that I could give. Why did Saul lose his kingdom? Why did Samson lose his strength? These people got into difficulty because they were responsible for what happened to them. You and I are responsible for what happens to us. Yet let us remember that "in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us" (Romans 8:37). We are victors over circumstances if we will hold fast to God's positive Word.

19

I Am INdependent

We all understand what dependence means. Many feel that they are dependent on some situation or some person. People who are receiving social security payments feel that they are dependent on the government for their life and existence. Many young people growing up in our country are facing the distinct possibility that they will live their whole lives dependent on the government. This is already happening in many Western countries, where large percentages of the population have no immediate prospect of work, and books are now appearing on how to live a productive life while on social security. Many people only have that outlook; that is the power of dependence.

The challenge is that when people get into this situation it brings with it a feeling of insecurity. These people are dependent on a government, and an economy that can rise and fall quickly. There is also a real feeling of guilt, often expressed by the cry, "What's wrong with me? Why can't I get employment?" As the human mind runs through these facts, chronic anxiety and illness develop, all a result of being dependent on an outside source. This is one of the real problems we face in society today.

There is also a dependence on other people, often termed "co-dependence". This too is a real problem, for it destroys creativity in our lives. Many of the best "artists" in the world of fine art, that is, with the ability to wield a paintbrush and get that right stroke and combination of color, are the people who forge paintings. They do not believe they have any creativity within themselves to visualize a piece of art that would be attractive. Someone comes along and offers them thousands of dollars if they will produce a forgery of the Mona Lisa or another famous painting, and they often produce as good a work as the original artist. So good, in fact, that many of the leading experts are tricked into believing it is an original. What happens is that the forger loses creativity and becomes dependent on copying others.

Not dependent on the outer

Now the Christian message is not one which teaches you to be dependent on outer circumstances, whether they be the government or other people or situations. We as Christians are no longer dependent on the outer. Let us look at some Bible statements that will clarify this life-changing truth for you.

Genesis 1:26-27 states, "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness...' So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." From the beginning, God's plan for humans was that they were to have an image, a likeness of Himself. Humans were to be an expression of God. Now that does not mean to say that God is to be viewed as the same as any person walking the earth today, for "God is spirit" (John 4:24) and is not confined to a body in any particular place. This image and likeness is not in the physical features we have. We are all different physically, yet each one of us was created to be the image and likeness of God. It therefore must be that God is talking about a likeness within us.

Now let us jump ahead 4,000 years into the New Testament and see some statements made about people who were Christians. Adam lost his contact with God, and until Jesus came and made the way possible for us to become members of God's family, all humanity remained in the condition of being out of touch with that image, that likeness of the Creator. However, when we became Christians, certain things happened in our lives.

I Corinthians 3:16 asks, "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" That is a powerful statement! "You are God's temple..." and not only that, but "God's Spirit dwells in you." In the Old Testament the Spirit of God dwelt in the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle, and later in the Temple that Solomon built. Now God is saying that every Christian is God's temple and every Christian has the Spirit of God resident within. Put aside for the moment whether you are a Charismatic or a Calvinist, an Anglican or an Arminian, and you must agree that this scripture says that at the very least you and I are extraordinary people with tremendous potential. We have the Spirit of God dwelling within us, and that puts us ahead in handling life's situations. When things go wrong, when things do not move the way we would like them to move, we can look within and tap into that extraordinary source within us—the Spirit of God—that assists us through those situations.

We are children of God

Another statement that will help us is Romans 8:16-17, "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ..." I am a child of God because I have within me the Spirit of God. In the same way that I have within me the seed of William George Wade that made me a member of the Wade family, I have the seed of God within me and that makes me a member of God's family. Since I am in the family of God, I am an heir to all that God is and has. Therefore I am an extraordinary person. I may look ordinary as I walk down the street, but within I am loaded with God's gift.

In case you are not convinced yet, let me share Luke 17:20-21, "Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, 'The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, "Look, here it is!" or "There!" for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you [within you, many translations]'." The Pharisees were looking in the wrong place! We are not to look for the kingdom of God in the material world but rather in the interior world of our beings. To believers Jesus said, "And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me" (Luke 22:29 NKJV). Everyone who is a disciple of Christ can say, "I have the kingdom of God within me, bestowed on me by Jesus Christ." Yes, as children of God, we are extraordinary people. The powerful Christ is in us

When Paul later revealed the greatness of what God had done for us, he wrote in Colossians 1:26-27 about a secret, "the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope [or expectation] of glory." Believe it! Christ is in you.

We read that Jesus "went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him." (Acts 10:38). That same Christ is in you! Jesus raised the dead—the only funerals He attended He broke up by raising the dead. That same Christ is in you! Jesus helped meet people's needs—He fed the five thousand, He taught people how to love one another, He stopped the stoning of the woman caught in adultery. Jesus was always there to lift humanity to a higher plane. That same Christ is in you! Isn't that wonderful? You and I are extraordinary persons. We have something in us that the world does not have.

In Galatians 2:20 we read, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." Yes, Christ lives in me! It is not just a Christ principle within me but a living personality living out His life in me. "And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." That makes me an extraordinary person. We read in II Corinthians 4:7, "But we have this treasure in jars of clay..." This treasure is Christ in me, this treasure is the kingdom of God within me, this treasure is the Spirit of God in me. "We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us." God is declaring that He has made us a container of Christ. He has not promised to change our outward appearance on this earth, but He has placed within us a tremendous power, the living Christ, and our joy is to show forth Christ in every aspect of our lives.

The passage goes on to say (verses 8 and 9), "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair." Yes, we will have many of the same problems that other people have, but we can handle them. "Persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed." "We may be knocked down", as J.B. Phillips translates it, "but we are never knocked out," for we have a power within us helping us to handle all of life's situations. Emerson, the great American essayist, made this statement, "Every man is a divinity in disguise, a god playing a fool." Let's change the statement slightly. "Every believer is a divinity in disguise, and it is time we stopped playing a fool!" It is time we started acting what we are. We have divinity within, we have Christ within us, we have the Spirit of God within us, we have a treasure within us, we have the kingdom of God within us. Let's stop playing a fool and show forth the Christ within.

Apple trees are apple trees

An apple seed has within it a program put there by God. When that seed is given the right conditions, it will produce a tree which we call an apple tree. On that tree will appear flowers and then fruit, which we call apples.

When I visited my son one time, he was cutting down an apple tree in his backyard. It has been allowed to grow unchecked for a number of years and now was so untidy that it needed to be cut down. It was loaded with apples, and I enjoyed eating some of its bountiful harvest.

That same week I had visited my father, and he had an apple tree growing on wires along a fence. It is trained to grow this way and it too produces beautiful apples. It does not look anything like the tree in my son's backyard, but nevertheless both are apple trees. I can think back to another garden my father owned in England, and there he had a whole row of apple trees grown by the espalier method, where large poles are set at an angle in a straight row and the trees grow up the poles. Now these trees did not look anything like the other two examples, yet they too were apple trees.

Each one of the trees I mentioned are a unique expression of the concept of an apple tree, yet they were still apple trees. And the truth is similar concerning Christians. We have God's seed within us and each one of us is unique; there is nobody else like you anywhere in the world! Each one of us has Christ within, yet the way we express what is within and show it forth is quite different.

Depending on INdependence

Let us start using our power of our INdependence. You will notice the first two characters have been deliberately set in capital letters, for I want you to see the concept of IN-dependence. We will make a success of our lives to the extent that we depend on what is in us and not on what is around us. This is a most important truth. If you are going to depend on what is around you, you are in for a long session of frustration and stress and strain. If you will start depending on that which is within you, on the Christ within, on the kingdom of God within, then you can handle all outward circumstances and make them work for your good. As Robert Schuller senior said, when you come to a mountain, you have a decision to make. Should you climb over it, should you go around it, should you tunnel through it, or should you stop and make a gold mine out of it? When you depend on the power within you, you can make that kind of decision. You do not allow the mountain to control you, you control the mountain. That is the power of INdependence!

Now the moment you make a decision to commit yourself to depend on the power within you, a mental battle will develop. Everybody and everything around you will suggest that this is not the smart way to go. Romans 12:2 says, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." When the government says it is going to change this or that, and you react to this outer circumstance, then the battle is on.

The question is: What motivates you? For many people it is fear. Much of today's advertising attempts to motivate us on the basis of fear. Other people are motivated by materialism. A "carrot" is dangled in front of people's noses to motivate them. For example, some businesses offer their staff all sorts of prizes for extra sales. Many other people are motivated by the media. What you read in the paper has to be true! What you see on television has to be right! And of course, that is not necessarily correct. The best motivation is that which comes from within, knowing the potential you have as a unique, individual expression of Christ.

Did Paul act or react?

In Philippians 4:11 the apostle Paul makes this statement, "I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content." How could he be content in some of the situations he found himself in? He was relying on the power of INdependence. One translation renders that verse by saying, "For I... have learnt to be independent of circumstances" (Twentieth Century NT). When you rely on the power within, you will be independent of outward circumstances. Instead of reacting, you will act.

Look at yourself tomorrow and watch what happens in your job or situation. Note how many times you react to something. Most people react 90 per cent of the time to what is happening around them. Perhaps the boss comes up to them and says, "You certainly did a good job last week!", and they react pleased and satisfied. Next week he comes up and says, "You certainly made a mess of that deal, didn't you? I cannot believe that someone with your intelligence could have handled it in such an idiotic way!", and immediately they react with anger. The Christian way is not to react to outward stimuli, but to act on the basis of your INdependence.

When Christians allow their lives to be controlled by outward circumstances, they are only living a half-life. There is an inner sense of incompleteness, of emptiness, and too often people try to fill the gap with alcohol, drugs and illicit relationships. Living on the basis of Christ within means you are living a full life, rich and satisfying and productive.

I have a body, but I am not my body. I have emotions and desires, but I am more than my emotions and desires. I have thoughts, but I am not my thoughts. What am I? I am a container of Christ. I am an extraordinary person, the ever-renewing, ever-unfolding expression of Christ within.

20

I Use My Abilities

Jesus was a master teacher, a great communicator. He made his message plain by illustrating truth with common items at hand. He used illustrations from nature, from the workplace, from the everyday life of people to emphasize the truth He was teaching. Many of the stories He told are called parables, word pictures from life that help us understand truth. Not everything in a parable relates to the point of truth, but there is always one major emphasis in the story.

In Matthew 25:14-30 is the record of the Parable of the Talents, a fascinating story that will help us learn a most important truth. "For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.

"Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.'

"He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth'."

The major thrust of the parable is obvious. Two of the three servants used the talents they had and received abundance as a result of it. The third failed to use the talent that he had, and because of that he not only missed the opportunity to prosper but his end turned out to be far from pleasant. Jesus was teaching the people to use the talents they have.

When we think of talent we so often have in mind the person who can play the piano, or can write a computer program or can sell a million dollars of insurance in one year. However, let us note to whom Jesus was teaching this truth. You will have to go back to Matthew 24:1-3 and there you will discover that Jesus was talking to His disciples. They were common people—fishermen, farmers, laborers; ordinary people just like you and me. He was not talking to geniuses but to common folk; "The common people heard him gladly..." (Mark 12:37 NKJV). Jesus was talking to a group of common people who believed in Him, who had faith in God, His Father. He was telling these folk that they had been given extraordinary abilities and could make their mark on the world. He knew that these ordinary people had great potential to change society. And the same is true today; if we will only grasp the truth that this parable teaches, we too can change our world for the better, we too can succeed in life.

Talent Number One

The question is, What are the talents that you and I possess? I want to suggest to you that we have at least five extraordinary talents or abilities that we can activate to succeed in life. The first talent that God has given to you and me is the ability to think. Now that may not sound so extraordinary to you, for everybody has that ability. Yes, that is true, we all have the ability to think.

In Proverbs 23:7 a principle of life is stated in this way: "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he." What you think, you are! Everybody has the potential to think. "The thoughts of the righteous are right, But the counsels of the wicked are deceitful" (Proverbs 12:5). You can think positive, constructive, inspiring thoughts or you can think negative, defeatist, depressing thoughts. We all have the talent to think but it is how we use the talent that will determine whether we make it to the top or not. If you decide to take the talent and bury it and let other people do your thinking for you—your wife or husband, the government, the media—you will never bring out the potential that God has for your life. However, the thoughts "of the pure are pleasant" (Proverbs 15:26). The secret to the talent of thinking is to think positive, constructive, loving thoughts.

When my wife has been out shopping in the car and is late coming home, it is amazing how my mind starts thinking of the worst things that can happen. Has the car broken down, has she been in an accident? I find myself thinking the worse-case scenario. Perhaps you can remember the days when the telegram boy would knock on the door and everyone's heart would jump and immediately wonder what had gone wrong! It is time to control what we are thinking about. Your positive, constructive thoughts will help you develop and maximize your potential for the glory of God.

Talent Number Two

The second talent that everyone has is the ability to believe. You might recall the record of when Jesus healed a sick girl, the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue. "While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue's house who said, 'Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?' As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, 'Do not be afraid; only believe'" (Mark 5:35,36). "Fear not; only believe!" (KJV). To fear is a form of believing. It is believing in a negative result; it is believing that the worst will happen. To fear is to believe in failure, in sickness, in depression. To believe positively is to believe in God, to believe in the good. The truth is that we are always believing something every moment of our lives.

The secret of the talent of believing is to believe you can accomplish your goals, to believe you are well, to believe you will meet your bills. You must believe you can do it, you must have confidence that you are on the right road. The secret is to believe in the good and not to believe in failure. "Fear not; only believe!"

Later Jesus healed a boy who was under the control of an evil spirit. The father said to Jesus, "'But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.' Jesus said to him, 'If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes'" (Mark 9:22b,23). Everyone can believe, but we must make the deliberate choice to believe in the good.

What you believe is what you are. If you believe that everyone else is getting the opportunities except you, you will never get the opportunity. If you believe you will always fill that lowly position and never be upgraded, then you will be what you believe. If you believe you will never make a success out of life so long as you are married to that woman or man, or because you live in that area, or because you failed at high school, you will never get what you want in life.

However, if you believe in yourself, if you believe in the power of God resident within you, then the world is your oyster. "All things are possible to him who believes!" You can bring to pass everything you desire if you will use your ability to believe.

"And these signs will follow those who believe..." (Mark 16:17). When you believe, things happen. The trouble with many Christians is that they believe in signs following (KJV)—usually several years or several miles behind them! The modern translations correctly render the verse with the word "accompany," right there with the believer. Whenever you believe you get the results of your believing. If you believe negatively, you will get negative results and things will get worse.

The problem with poverty is that poverty is self-perpetuating. People who are poor believe they are poor and keep producing poverty in their lives. The good news for poor people (Luke 4:18) is that they do not have to be poor. They can break the cycle of poverty by believing in God's plan for their lives. If you say, "The facts may indicate that I might be poor right now, but I believe I can be in a better situation than this," then you have broken the cycle of poverty. What you believe you are!

Talent Number Three

Similar to our second talent, the third talent that everyone has is the ability to imagine. Imagination has been described as the scissors of the mind. Imagination takes raw material and produces something worthwhile. One day I went into the lounge room and discovered my wife down on the floor working on some material with pieces of paper pinned to it. I asked her what it was, and she replied, "This is a dress." It did not look like a dress, but her scissors and her sewing machine turned that material into a dress. Imagination is the scissors of the mind.

The electricity coming into my house is unspecialized. There is not one wire whose function is to give light and another wire to make music, and yet another wire to boil the kettle. No, it is unspecialized electricity coming into the house and it depends on what we do with it as to what it will produce.

Imagination takes unspecialized power and produces something concrete in our lives and affairs. It is like Play-Doh(R) or Lego(R)—you can make almost anything from those products if you have imagination. The slogan on the Play-Doh website is "Imagination taking shape!" The word "imagination" has been developed from the root word "image" and could be defined as an "image that is". Nothing has been built in this world that was not first just an image in somebody's mind. "Where there is no vision, the people perish" (Proverbs 29:18 KJV). Where there is no imagination, people will perish, for there will be little to live for, to work for. "Do they not go astray who devise [imagine] evil? Those who devise [imagine] good meet steadfast love and faithfulness" (Proverbs 14:22). With imagination, as with thinking and believing, it is what you do with this ability that will determine whether you enjoy the more than abundant life.

One writer made this statement: "What thou seest, man, become thou must, God if thou seest God, dust if thou seest dust" (attributed to Brother Angelus). What you see in your imagination is what you will produce in your world.

Talent Number Four

Everyone has the talent, the ability, to praise, and this is our fourth talent. The Bible is very clear in teaching that we should praise God in all of life's situations. In Ephesians 5:20 we are encouraged to be "giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ," and in I Thessalonians 5:18 to "give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." Everybody is encouraged to praise, everybody has the ability to praise. In the worst situation in which we can find ourselves in life, we can always say, "Praise God. I believe He is taking care of this." Praise is powerful.

We also have the talent, the ability to praise people. We say we are in a people business, but they are just words unless we go to people and compliment them on the good job they have done, or simply tell them they are appreciated. I've worked in many offices and in one company where I worked for twelve years I can only remember one occasion when the boss said I did a good job—and that was when he was retiring! Too often managers tend to ignore their staff or take them for granted, instead of praising them. Let's learn to praise people as well as to praise God.

In fact, we can take it one step further. Let's learn to praise things too! I watch myself and my family and other people, and I observe often how we talk to inanimate objects such as electrical appliances and cars. "You stupid thing, why don't you work?" Have you ever done that? Let's start praising things, instead of complaining about them. It will not change the material thing with which you are working, but it will certainly change your attitude to it. Praise is a talent, an ability we all have—let's use it and get benefit from it.

Talent Number Five

Another talent we all have is the ability to give. I have met some people who have told me they have nothing to give, but the reality is otherwise. There is always something we can give—of our treasure, our time, our talent.

Jesus trained his disciples by pointing out to them examples of human behavior. On one occasion they were at the temple. "And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, 'Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on'." (Mark 12:41-44). She "couldn't afford to give"—but she did! The truth was she couldn't afford not to give. I would love to know the rest of the story, but I am convinced that she broke the cycle of poverty and enjoyed the supply of her every need. She is one person I want to meet in Heaven!

Another widow features in the plan of God to supply Elijah's needs. In I Kings 17 he is sent to King Ahab to prophesy of a drought in the land, and then to hide in the wilderness and later to visit a widow in Zarephath who would supply him with food. When he arrives, he finds the widow gathering some sticks for a fire in order to cook a last meal for her and her son.

"And Elijah said to her, 'Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, "The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth".'" (verses 13-14). She learned that she had the ability to give, and when she gave some of her last meal to the man of God, "she and he and her household ate for many days" (verse 15).

So we all have five extraordinary talents or abilities that can change our world. If we will use these talents, the Bible teaches we will have abundance in every area of our lives. If we bury the talents that God has given us then we will surely head downhill. Make a quality decision today to use your God-given abilities and maximize your potential and in this way bring glory to God.

21

I Use My Freedom of Choice

All of life is a choice. Every day we choose between tea and coffee, we choose whether to get up or stay in bed, we choose whether to read the newspaper or watch television. In our democratic countries we even get to choose our elected representatives in government. We constantly make choices. We should be thankful that we have this incredible freedom of choice.

The positive Word of God has much to say about our ability to choose, and I want to share in this chapter the tremendous power available to us specifically to make choices relative to our lives. We have the freedom as an individual to determine where our life is going and how we can make it productive for God's glory. I am going to share seven major scripture verses to give you a foundation of truth on this subject.

Choosing by faith

The first scripture is Hebrews 11:24-25: "By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin." First let us observe that it was "by faith" Moses made his choice. Many choices involve the element of faith. Sometimes we make choices when we are not totally sure where they are going to lead us or just what the end result is going to be. So often the element of faith is present in exercising our freedom of choice. "By faith Moses... chose". The decision that Moses had to make was whether to be true to the God he worshiped, or whether to enjoy the "good life" in a heathen atmosphere. Perhaps the choices we have to make have some similarity with that made by Moses.

It is my experience that frequently we have to make a choice whether to follow the principles of the God we worship or whether to follow the principles of the world. We, too, have to make the choice "by faith", for it often looks fine to "drift along on the stream of this world's ideas of living" (Ephesians 2:2 Phillips), but we must walk by faith and not by sight. We may not yet see the end result of following God's principles, but by faith we know they can only produce good for us.

Moses made his choice, for "He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt" (Hebrews 11:26a). Moses made the choice to have God's blessing on his life rather than all the materialism that Egypt had to offer. He made a choice by faith, and we too can choose.

Choose life

In the very last days of Moses' life we have the second scripture on which I wish to focus. In Deuteronomy 30:15,19 Moses is making a speech to the nation of Israel. He is now 120 years of age, and will shortly die. He said, "See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil... I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live."

Moses, the spokesman for God, is giving the nation a clear and distinct choice. There is always a choice available. In verse 15 the choice is between a prosperous life or death. In verse 19 he amplifies the choices to say that life means blessing and all that is good, and death means a cursing, an absence of good.

The obvious choice is clearly stated by Moses: "Choose life..." Very few people want to die, so perhaps you may think that the choice was too obvious. The key is to determine from the context what is meant by "life". Does it merely mean existence or is there some deeper meaning. In verse 20 Moses said, "Choose life... loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days..." To choose life was therefore to choose God and His principles of living. We too have to make the same choice. Is it going to be God's way or our way?

I was watching a church service on television, and heard to my surprise the minister in his prayer asking God to "bless us sinners in these, the days of our death". They appeared to be Christians; at least they were in church worshiping, yet these people were described by their minister as "sinners." Perhaps he knew more about them than I did! And if that wasn't bad enough, he described them as living in death! Now I believe the Bible teaches that these are not the days of our death but the days of our life. This is the time to maximize our potential, to enjoy everything that God has provided. If my viewpoint of this earth walk is that of a period of death, then I will be "of all men most miserable" (I Corinthians 15:19). Unfortunately, there are a lot of Christian people who are comfortable with the concept of a dreadful life, who see themselves as miserable sinners worthy of God's wrath, rather than knowing they are children of a loving heavenly Father Who wants only the best for them. My daily walk is life, not death. Let's choose life and enjoy it for the glory of God.

Choose for yourselves

Joshua took over as leader of Israel after the death of Moses, and in the closing days of his life he too spoke to the nation. In Joshua 24:14-15 we read, "Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

There is always a choice. The people are again strongly reminded that a choice has to be made between the true God or the multitude of false gods surrounding them and even in their community. "Choose... whom you will serve"; it is an individual matter. The man of God again makes it abundantly clear the choice he has made: "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

A basic distinctive of the Christian message is that individuals are not robots in the hands of an omnipotent Dictator; we are not pawns upon the chessboard of life. We always have the freedom of choice. Even in Old Testament times, He reminds His special people, for whom He has already done so much, that they still had a choice. The theological term for this is "free will." Every person has free will; God has to encourage us to exercise our will to follow His will for us. Perhaps you have seen those signs in the boss' office, "Be reasonable—do it my way!" That is what God is saying. The nation was being asked to think logically of the end result of choosing either a dead god and worshiping an image of some kind, or choosing the care, love and attention of a living God.

You always have a choice

Another Old Testament example is the contest between the man of God and the false prophets of Baal and Asherah. In actual fact the odds were 850 to 1. Elijah had proclaimed a long drought in the land of Israel, and that is what happened for three years. Towards the end of the drought, Elijah finally presents himself before the king and suggests a contest to decide the real issue: who was the true God. He wanted the 850 prophets to do their thing, wave their incense and shout or do whatever their religion required in order to call down fire out of heaven and burn up the offering. When they had been given a fair go, Elijah would likewise call down fire out of heaven. The one who produced the result would be recognized as the true prophet of the true God.

"And Elijah came near to all the people and said, 'How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.' And the people did not answer him a word" (I Kings 18:21). A choice has to be made between two opinions. Yet the people did not want to make a decision. You might think that you can run your life that way too, "Whatever will be, will be!" But the truth is you always have a choice and you always make a decision. The Bible teaches that if you do not decide for God then you have already decided for the other side. Jesus said that if His hearers did not believe in Him then they were already condemned.

The people saw that the ritual of the 850 prophets had absolutely no effect on the offering, but they still did not verbalize their decision. In reality they had chosen Baal. It was not until they saw the fire come down from heaven that they decided for God.

God helps us to choose

In Proverbs is a verse that is often seen on illuminated plaques in the homes of Christians. "In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths" (Proverbs 3:6). Your part is to acknowledge Him; His part is to give direction. The Septuagint version of the Old Testament, the Greek translation, renders it this way, "rightly divide your paths." The word picture is that of a traveler coming to an unknown fork in the road, and he has to make a choice.

When you acknowledge the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ as your God "in all your ways," then He will tell you which fork to take, either to the left or the right. It is again a question of choice, but here we have the promise of God's specific direction for our lives. If you will look to God first in your thinking, if you will consult Him before you consult your bank manager or your stockbroker or your lawyer, He will direct your path, telling you which fork of the road you should take.

Choose the good

A prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 concerns the Lord Jesus Christ. "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel [God with us]. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good" (verses 14-15). These verses are quoted in Matthew 1:23 as referring to Christ. "To refuse the evil" is a denial; "to choose the good" is an affirmation. The denial is to say, "I'm not going to go that way, I'm not going to do that." To affirm is to say, "I am going to go God's way. I am going to follow the path that will help me but will not hurt anyone else." There are a lot of people going around refusing or rejecting the evil, but that is as far as they go. Once I attended a convention where our ministry was one of many displaying our books at their Christian Expo. It was interesting to walk around and discover how many of the stands had books and products about things that people ought not to do or should not be involved with. Many of those same stands did not appear to have any alternative suggestions. They were against something, but it was not obvious that they were for anything. They were correct in refusing the evil, which we as Christians have the responsibility to do. However, we must also offer humanity a good alternative.

The good news is always relevant; the positive Word of God is always up-to-date to the needs of the hour. There is always a better way to get the message across. Let us balance refusing the evil with showing the good. It is rare for me to teach against anything; I prefer to declare "that the goodness of God leads to repentance" (Romans 2:4 KJV). When I teach about the good life, the bad will drop off. This was the same principle that Jesus employed in His teaching ministry. If a denial is necessary, then immediately follow it up with an affirmation. "Refuse the evil... choose the good."

Choose God, not gold

"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money" (Matthew 6:24). "Mammon" in the King James Version simply means the money-god. "You cannot serve God and Money." Which of the two will be the master? The choice is yours.

This verse is not saying that you cannot be a Christian and have money. It is stating the impossibility of serving both at the one time. Which one is first in your life? Do you put God first or do you put your money first? Do you put God first or do you put your business first? Do you put God first or do you put your family first? It is a matter of choice, a matter of commitment. There has to be one exclusive choice. The context from verse 19 onwards talks about laying up treasure on earth, where there is so much uncertainty, and laying up treasures in heaven, where there is a watertight guarantee. The choice is yours. Yes, you can have God and have money, but God needs to be in first place. What is your choice?

There is always a choice. The freedom of choice is a tremendous power. In all of life's situations I can make a choice. Dr. Gerald Jampolsky asks, "Do I choose to experience peace of mind, or do I choose to experience conflict? Do I choose to experience love or fear? Do I choose to be a love-finder or a fault-finder? Do I choose to be a love-giver or a love-taker?" We always have a choice. When life gets difficult, say to yourself, "I could choose peace instead of this."

Even if you think the whole world is crashing down on you, and everybody is against you, you still have a freedom of choice. Be a positive Bible believer, and "refuse the evil, and choose the good".

See That You Excel

22

See That You Excel

Required reading for businessmen since the 1980s has been a book called In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies by Thomas Peters and Roger Waterman (Harper & Row, 1982). And business writers tell us that if a business is going to survive these difficult times, it had better make excellence its number one goal.

I believe that God's church is just the same. There is no shortage of churches, but there is a shortage of people willing to make the commitment and effort to excel in their Christian faith.

In I Corinthians 14:12 we read, "So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church." Then in II Corinthians 8:7, "But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace [giving] also." Those are powerful verses! And both use the key word "excel."

These verses were written to a charismatic church. Look at I Corinthians chapters 8-14 where the charismatic experience is mentioned constantly. Yet just over one year later, when II Corinthians was written, there is no mention of the manifestations of speaking in tongues, interpretation, prophecy, word of knowledge, word of wisdom, discerning of spirits, faith, gifts of healing and working of miracles. The emphasis in II Corinthians, just one year later, was on excellence "in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness... in our love for you... in this act of grace also."

What is excellence?

The word "excel" is translated as "abound" or even "super-abundance" in some translations. It is from the same root word used for having life abundantly in John 10:10, "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." It is also used in the story of the prodigal son, "But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!'" (Luke 15:17). "More than enough" is the translation of this same Greek word, meaning to excel, to abound, to go above and beyond.

I was watching men's gymnastics on television and particularly the vault exercise. There is a long runway, and at the other end is a large wooden horse with padding on the top. I watched a gymnast charge up the runway, do a somersault, hit the high part of the take-off board perfectly, go up in the air, stand on his hands on the horse, then do a double somersault and twist, and come down to a perfect landing, with no step, no movement at all, facing in the direction from which he came. The judges gave him 10 marks out of 10, and he deserved it. That was excellence! Just think about what that gymnast did to achieve excellence. In a similar way, hand a trumpet to James Morrison or Phil Driscoll, and you will hear excellence. Excellence is available to everyone who will supply the commitment and effort.

I do not want to spend time on excellence in spiritual things, which in the context of I Corinthians 14:12 refers to the charismatic manifestations, because since the first major expression in modern times at Azusa Street, Los Angeles in 1906, we have had over 100 years of excellence in the operation of these spiritual manifestations. I believe in them, and they should be in use within the church. But it seems to me that since they do not receive a mention in II Corinthians, it is obvious that such manifestations are not the be-all and end-all of the Christian faith. The omission of these manifestations is saying to us that while this special equipment is given to the church that it might grow and develop, there are other parts of the Christian life that must be addressed.

Excellence in faith

The first item in II Corinthians 8:7 is excellence in faith, and that is a good place to start. The old spiritual says, "Everybody talking about heaven ain't going there." And not everybody talking about faith necessarily excels in faith. Yet this verse states that Christians can excel in faith.

In Romans 12:3 we read about "the measure of faith that God has assigned." Everyone has faith. I have faith when I put the key in the ignition of my car and turn it. I have faith when I come into a building and sit down on a chair—faith that the chair will hold me up. Faith is a gift that everyone has. God wants us to excel, to be superabundant, to have more than enough and spare, to be over and above in the operation of our faith for His glory.

Then the Bible encourages us in Hebrews 12:2 to be "looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." The impact of the words "looking to Jesus" is to look away from all else unto Jesus. It is having tunnel vision on Jesus. "Turn your eyes upon Jesus..." Why? Because, as Moffatt translates it, He is "the pioneer and perfection of faith."

Since Jesus has pioneered and perfected how faith works (and I'm glad he did), then we can follow in His steps. We have the record of many actions that Jesus took. Enough has been recorded in the Gospels for us to see how faith works. We also have the book of Acts, recording how the apostles made faith work. Then we have the church epistles, teaching us about faith and how it operates. Since Jesus is the pioneer and perfection of faith, we can follow in His footsteps. I think we can all agree that Jesus excelled in the operation of faith. And if He excelled, we can excel too.

Galatians 2:20 takes this matter a step further, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." We can excel in faith because Jesus pioneered it and perfected it, and now Christ is living in us, the life we are living is on the basis of that kind of faith. Faith is defined in Hebrews 11:1 in this way, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." "Now faith is an assumption" (Concordant) is my preferred translation. When I travel by plane I make an assumption that there is a pilot up the front of the plane. I rarely see one, but I assume that there is at least one in the cockpit. That is faith, because if there was any doubt about whether that plane has a pilot, I would not get on. I make the assumption, and I get on the plane. Faith is an assumption, and faith makes an affirmation. Faith declares, "I'm going to get on this plane, and I'm going to get to my destination." Faith is an assumption, makes an affirmation, and takes an action. I must get out of my house, get in the car, drive to the airport, show my ticket at the counter, and walk up the ramp on to the plane. There has to be action.

Let's excel in faith. And how do we do that? The same way as the gymnast excelled in his vaulting. We practise faith. We use it every day, every moment of the day. We do it the same way as James Morrison became a leading trumpet player. He picked up his trumpet and blew into the mouthpiece every day. He fiddled with it, he had fun with it, he tried out this, he tried out that, but he used it day in and day out. Excel in faith—the believers at Corinth did, and we can too!

Excellence in speech

The second encouragement is to excellence "in speech". Now I know that most folk are good at this. I do not have to encourage you to speak every day in the same way as to use faith every day. Almost everyone is good at talking, and some people are excellent at it.

There are three major areas we should consider in our speech (see my book God's Principles and Our Potential, Part 3). We should first be excelling in our speech as we talk to God. That is our first line of communication. "And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart" (Luke 18:1). "And not faint" or "not give up", as some translations have it.

If you are having trouble with prayer, the best advice I ever read was to talk to God about it. That is what prayer is all about: talking to God. We need to develop and excel in our talking to our Father. The Christian life is a love relationship between a Father and His children. Talking to God is as easy as talking to someone you love. I know how to talk to my wife in kind tones, because I love her. And prayer to God should be no different from that—having a conversation with the one we love. We talk about things in which we have a common interest.

Another area in which we need to excel in our speech is as we talk to others. People are not going to come to faith in God unless you speak to them. Remember the man out of whom Jesus cast a demon? He said in effect, "Let me stay with you, Lord. Let me join the party and travel with you." The record states that Jesus "did not permit him but said to him, 'Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you'" (Mark 5:19). God has planted us where we are so that we can reach our relatives, our street, our workplace with the good news about God. Excel in speech to others!

The third area in which I suggest we excel in speech is to talk to ourselves. Only a few decades ago, people would have said that you were mad if they caught you talking to yourself. If they had found out that a golfer sat in his hotel room and talked to himself about his game, and visualized that little white ball dropping into the hole, they would have classed that man as weird. But now it is an accepted psychological fact that you can benefit by talking to yourself.

Note this truth from Hebrews 13:5 and 6: "Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' So we can confidently say, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?'" We must excel in our speech by saying what the Word says. The Greek word for "confess" is homologeo—saying the same word. We must excel in saying the same as the Word says.

"For he has said... so we can confidently say." We should be saying, "I am more than a conqueror in him that loved me." We should be saying, "I am blessed with heaven's best." We should be saying, "God is my instant, constant, and abundant source of supply." I am a strong believer in affirmations. I say them not to make things happen, but because they are the truth. I say what God says about me.

"Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, 'I am a warrior'" (Joel 3:10). "I am strong" (many translations). Say what the Word says. People often tell me they cannot say they are well when they have a cold. They say it is telling a lie. No, it's not. It's saying what God says about the situation. Let's start talking God language. Let's excel in talking to God, in talking to others, and talking to ourselves.

Excellence in knowledge

We are to excel in knowledge. Thirty years ago experts were talking about a knowledge explosion in the world. They really had no idea of just how quickly knowledge would increase. There is so much knowledge around now that we are almost drowning in a sea of knowledge! "Information overload" has become an accepted phrase in our vocabulary. Is this what God is talking about? Well, not specifically. Jesus said we should be as wise as serpents (Matthew 10:16), so there is no premium on ignorance.

I believe II Corinthians 8:7 is talking, first of all, about a knowledge of God. The Christian's greatest need is to know God. Not to know about Him, although we certainly should do that as we study His Word, but to know Him on a personal, experiential level. Our greatest need is to excel in our knowledge of God. What is God like? What does He think about us?

We must stop seeing God as the big policeman in the sky, ready to hit us over the head when we step out of line. God loves us. God has only the best for us. In fact, I teach that God has nothing better to do all day than to look after us. You say, "That's a bit selfish, isn't it?" No, it is what the Word says. Psalm 91:7 states that "A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you." Is that selfish? No, that is what God says. That is how God looks after His children. Burn this one thought into your mind: God has nothing better to do than to take care of me. That's true! So let's excel in our personal knowledge of God.

Of course, we also need a knowledge of the Word of God. I am a teacher of the Word. I have nothing to say apart from the Word. To me it's always the Word, the whole Word, nothing but the Word. We all need a daily dose of God's positive Word. As we do, we will excel in knowledge. "A verse a day keeps the devil away" is a slogan I picked up somewhere. Meditate on just one verse a day—that is 365 verses a year!

We should also excel in our knowledge about ourselves. Psalm 139:14 says, "I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well." We should increase our knowledge about our physical bodies. We should also increase our knowledge about how God wants us to see ourselves. When you look in the mirror every morning, say to yourself, "I am God's workmanship, His masterpiece, and God doesn't produce any flops!"

Excellence in all earnestness

"All eagerness, earnestness, or diligence" is how some translations render the phrase in II Corinthians 8:7. The Christian church needs committed people. We need people who excel in "all earnestness" about living the Christian life Monday through Sunday, people with all earnestness about putting their weight behind the life of your fellowship. Nothing but complete earnestness fits the Biblical pattern.

I'll give you an example of all earnestness. I was staying with a minister friend one time who is completely earnest about a certain football team who wear brown and yellow uniforms. He and his son and some friends left home at 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning, drove over four hours to see the football match, and arrived home about 11 p.m. that night. That is complete earnestness. Are we willing to demonstrate that same earnestness for the Lord? Are we willing to do that to come to fellowship? We need to excel in diligence and all earnestness in our Christian life.

Excellence in your love for teachers

The next area in which we can excel is in our love for those who teach us God's positive Word. The text says to excel "in our love for you," "the love from us that is in you" (NET Bible), that is, to consider Paul's love to you and be inspired to exceed it in return. Paul was the one who was teaching them the Word of God. We, as believers, need to find ways to excel in love for our teachers. It can be a very lonely life to be the teacher, the leader of a fellowship. Let's love our teachers to life! They are human and they are in the same family as we are. Let's excel in our love for them.

Excellence in the grace of giving

Finally it says in II Corinthians 8:7, "...see that you excel in this act of grace also [giving]." The context of the chapter has to do with giving to those who are teaching the believers. I find it very interesting that having gone through excelling in spiritual matters in I Corinthians 14:12, and excelling in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, in your love for your teacher, there was still one area where the Corinthians very much needed to exercise excellence—the area of giving. You are not a well-rounded Christian until you have learned to give.

Giving is not an optional extra. I believe the principle of giving and receiving is perhaps the foundational principle on which the whole universe is based. Nature gives to us, God gives to us, the Son gives to us. And what do we do? Grasp, grasp, grasp. There are two choices—we either give or we grasp. "One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want" (Proverbs 11:24).

The context of the key verse is II Corinthians chapter 8. In verse 2 it speaks about the churches in Macedonia, "for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part." From poverty to plenty. Why? Because they gave. From rags to riches, extreme poverty to rich generosity. They excelled in the grace of giving. Notice the basis on which they gave. "And this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us" (II Corinthians 8:5).

Then verse 9, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich." Poverty to plenty yet again, this time provided for us by the work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.

Paul goes on in the rest of chapter 8 and then chapter 9 to tell the believers how much he appreciated the gift they had sent him last year. So they had already given! Now Paul was saying to them that they needed to excel in the grace of giving. It was not and is not a case of giving one gift, no matter how large it might be.

Some people just give for a specific need but they have not yet excelled in the grace of giving. Some delight in making a large gift to some special project, but other folk, who give week in and week out, out-give the folk who give the large gift. The grace of giving is to give consistently and proportionately. Then, when a need does come, we have already made our deposits in the Bank of Heaven, and we can call upon them whenever we have a need. Make a quality commitment to excel in the grace of giving also.

In conclusion

Let's return to I Corinthians 14:12, "So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church." Why do we want the church built up? Not so that we can go to the next church growth conference and talk about how many people are attending. Not because we want a mega-church, but because we want God's kingdom to be built up, not just in church growth but in church health.

We want it to be a healthy church, a church without spot or blemish. We want it to be a place where people's needs are met—where we can rub shoulders with brothers and sisters who are likeminded, who can encourage us when we are feeling down. We want it to be a place where we can hear the positive Word of God, where we can learn about faith and other positive truths. That is why we are to excel, because we want to build up God's church for God's glory.

Last Words

You have read the book. Perhaps you are amazed at the power and potential of God's seeds of greatness within you. You now know God's "secrets"—they are no longer a secret to you. It could be that for the first time you have seen that you are responsible for being a victor or a victim. You now see that with God as your partner and His principles of success as your blueprint, you can achieve your goals, you can enjoy God-given health, wealth, and happiness. You now know that God wants you to take charge, and He has provided everything that you need for success.

What are you going to do with the truth you now know? Truth brings with it a responsibility to act. Make a quality commitment today to do your part. Share these positive truths with your family and friends. Their growth and success will bring blessing to you also.

Let me know if you have been helped by this book. I will be glad to hear from you. The easiest way is to use the Contact link on my home page, http://www.PeterWade.com/ . Write today while you feel the excitement that God's Word has generated in you.

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Celebrating 50 Years of Ministry

Cover Design by Guy Vieira

Copyright 2012 Peter Wade. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by international copyright laws.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV). Copyright © 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

My thanks to:

Vivien Wade, who has shared in my ministry for over 50 years; Guy Vieira, who lovingly designed this bookover many, many hours; And supporters of this positive ministry, both in Australia and the United States, who have made this book possible.

The material in this book first appeared in: God's Seeds of Greatness (1989), The Grasshopper Philosophy (1989), God's Secrets of Success (1985), and I Am Not a Victim (1989). Completely revised by the author (2008).

http://www.PeterWade.com

Positive Word Ministries Inc., P.O. Box 115, Seaford SA 5169, Australia

See web site for US contact

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Positive Books by Peter Wade

You can purchase paperback copies of this book, Seeds and Secrets, at online booksellers or direct from our bookstore at http://www.PeterWade.com/resources/ . Contact us through the website for discounts (5 or more copies).

Titles by Peter & Vivien Wade:

By Peter Wade:

Exciting Ephesians

Exploring God’s Amazing Word

Four Keys to Prosperity

God’s Principles and Your Potential

I’m Excited About Colossians

In Christ Treasures

In Christ: A New Creation

In Christ: The Classics

Outdo, Outwit & Outperform

Seeds & Secrets

By Vivien Wade:

Bunches of Blessings (poems)

In Spanish:

En Cristo: Una Nueva Creación

La Dinámica del Vivir Positivo

Me Entusiasma Colosenses

Principios de Dios y Tu Potencial

Semillas y Secretos

Positive Word Ministries Inc.,

P.O. Box 115, Seaford S.A. 5169, Australia.

See website for US contact.

Web site: http://www.PeterWade.com/

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Table of Contents

Title Page

First Words

God's Seeds of Greatness

1 The Power of a Seed

2 The Imperishable Seed in You

3 The Seed of Self-esteem

4 The Seed of Lordship

5 The Seed of Desire

6 The Seed of Decision

7 The Fruit of the Seed

The Grasshopper Philosophy

8 The Grasshopper Philosophy

God's Secrets of Success

9 Join the Family

10 Feed Your Faith

11 Acknowledge your Good

12 Meditate for Profit

13 Pray and Produce

14 Give and Receive

15 Think God's Thoughts

16 Set Right Goals

Victors, Not Victims

17 I Am Not A Victim

18 I Am Responsible

19 I Am INdependent

20 I Use My Abilities

21 I Use My Freedom of Choice

See That You Excel

22 See That You Excel

Last Words

Positive Books by Peter Wade