Request A Prosperous Life

In the middle of a very long list of genealogies, recorded in the book of 1 Chronicles, there are a few short verses about a man named Jabez who was a descendant of Judah. We never read about him again, but it appears Jabez was included in this list because of his bold request…and God’s gracious response.
1 Chronicles 4:10
“Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that You would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let Your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.’ And God granted his request.”
Passages on asking and receiving can be difficult to teach. For example: “How much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:11). These passages are full of truth, but those who preach a message of assured prosperity for Christians have abused the scriptures to say God wants everyone to be financially rich and all we must do is ask or repeat a special prayer. Although this type of prosperity teaching receives a wide following, it is far from God’s truth.
But God DOES want us to prosper: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (Jeremiah 29:11). And, He wants us to ask! “You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives” (James 4:2-3). God has a plan to prosper us, but we often do not receive His blessings because we are asking to satisfy our own selfish desires or cover worldly fears.
We also fail to prosper because we don’t understand God’s definition of prosperity. A Godly prosperity has little to do with finances or possessions, and a great deal to do with peace and contentment. A prosperous life is also one which bears much fruit and completes the work God has asked us to accomplish; “I have brought You glory on earth by completing the work You gave Me to do” (John 17:4). How petty (small thinking) to believe that God’s prosperity only involves the riches of this world which rust and fade away.
A truly prosperous life begins by drawing and remaining near to the presence of God. Without first abiding in His presence, we won’t even know what will allow us to prosper; “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). As we draw near to God, He places the desires on our heart which lead to true prosperity – then we must ask. It’s in the asking, in the expectation of the answer, and in the process of waiting, that we exercise our faith and prove it to be real.
Let’s ask God to increase our territory – to increase our realm of influence in His Kingdom. Let’s ask Him to keep us in His protective arms, give us His abundance of peace, and accomplish great things in and through our life. Let’s draw near to God and boldly request a prosperous life.

 

CONTACT US :

For more information, Prayers and counseling you can contact,

Rev. Adbhuta Rao. Garnepudi

Millinium Baptist Church

Nambur, Guntur (Dist), A.P, S.India.

VISIT US : http://www.sites.google.com/site/wordmini/home

MAIL US : wordministries.india@gmail.com

CALL US : (+91)9848150491, 9908054910

His Consuming Fire

Ice will turn to water at a temperature just above zero degrees centigrade. We might consider the water to be consumed as it turns to steam at one hundred degrees centigrade. Wood must be heated to a much higher temperature before it’s consumed, and metal must be heated even more. I wonder how much heat is required to finally consume the works of my flesh and burn away my selfishness and pride.
Hebrews 12:28-29
“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”
When we begin to understand the Kingdom we’ve inherited through Christ, we dare not enter His sanctuary with anything but pure praise and worship. Whatever else we attempt to bring is born in our flesh with a spirit of pride. If we say, “Look at what I’ve brought You, my Lord!” He will simply burn it to ash. We might protest, “But God, look at all I’ve done for You!” but the heat will be turned up until all we hold is consumed.
Is our greatest ambition to impact the world for Christ? Is our motivation to be significant in the eyes of God or become a major player in the advancement of His Kingdom? Beware! Though these sound good and have the appearance of being pleasing to God, they are conceived in pride and will be consumed.
We truly can bring Him NOTHING of worth except a pure heart; “All our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). Our greatest desire (our ONLY desire) must be to praise and worship the King through all we think, say, and do. All our striving to be obedient and produce good works – all of our “Godly” motivation and ambition – must flow simply as a direct outpouring of our worship.
If we are still trying to conquer something for Christ, we have not yet fully submitted to His leading nor found complete rest in His strength. Jesus came with all knowledge and power, and yet He walked with absolute surrender and submission; “the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what My Father has commanded Me” (John 14:31).
This is a daily challenge, one of the more subtle battles between the Spirit and the flesh. While we must strive, we must also remember that God does not need anything we produce. True fruit which pleases our Heavenly Father comes only as we “remain in the vine” (John 15:4), and love Him with all our heart.
The same fire that will one day burn all our righteous acts can be used today to cleanse our heart. Let’s come into His presence and worship with pure reverence and awe. Let’s allow every selfish desire and every fiber of pride to be burned away in His consuming fire.

CONTACT US :

For more information, Prayers and counseling you can contact,

Rev. Adbhuta Rao. Garnepudi

Millinium Baptist Church

Nambur, Guntur (Dist), A.P, S.India.

VISIT US : http://www.sites.google.com/site/wordmini/home

MAIL US : wordministries.india@gmail.com

CALL US : (+91)9848150491, 9908054910

Receive His Perfect Gift

We are often encouraged to share the wonders of God’s love through the uncompromising truth of His Word. There are so many all around us who are in great need! We live in a lost and dying world full of people who desperately need to know God’s plan of forgiveness and restoration. But as we share the truth and minister to others, let’s also remember to make the time to personally receive ALL our Father has to offer.
When Jesus asked the Samaritan woman for a drink of water, she thought the request was quite odd since Jesus was clearly a Jew, and Jews did not associate with Samaritans; “How can you ask me for a drink?” (John 4:9). Rather than explain His radical views on social interaction, Jesus took the opportunity to introduce the woman to the gift of God.
John 4:10
“Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.’”
If we only knew! I often imagine a loving Father who has given the greatest gift the world has ever known. We approach and examine the gift. We ask questions and study the gift. We even shake the gift and then proudly display it on our shelf, but we never actually open the gift and receive what’s inside. If we only knew! “Every good and perfect gift is from above” (James 1:7). His gifts are perfect; and if we only knew, we would open and receive them with abounding joy!
His gift of living water is still available today. This gift refers to our Salvation by the spiritual transformation of our heart, but it also refers to His on-going gift of a victorious life of peace and contentment; “Everyone who drinks this water [from the well] will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst” (John 4:13-14). His gift of Salvation is free through faith in Jesus Christ, and peace is assured through a humble submission to His will. But we continually rebel and pump from the wells of this world – we drink polluted lies and continually thirst for more.
Approximately 650 years earlier, God gave the same message to the people of Jerusalem: “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken Me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water” (Jeremiah 2:13). If we only knew! We sit beside a Spring overflowing with the best tasting water imaginable, but we turn away and pump sludge into our broken pots.
God has great plans for each of us – and His plans are much bigger and brighter than anything we can accomplish through our own effort. Let’s rediscover the gift of living water and put an end to our thirst! Let’s return to the Spring and continue our journey in obedience. Let’s drink freely and daily receive His perfect gift.

 

CONTACT US :

For more information, Prayers and counseling you can contact,

Rev. Adbhuta Rao. Garnepudi

Millinium Baptist Church

Nambur, Guntur (Dist), A.P, S.India.

VISIT US : http://www.sites.google.com/site/wordmini/home

MAIL US : wordministries.india@gmail.com

CALL US : (+91)9848150491, 9908054910