Great opportunities are set before you RIGHT NOW!

Great ability will be yours! Great blessings will be available! What do you need to do to walk through this open door and receive all God has to give you?

Identifying Your Heritage

The blessing God gave to Adam and Eve charged them to be fruitful, to multiply and to replenish the earth. The blessing gave them dominion, prosperity and production in every way. Later, God gave the Israelites a heritage of blessing if they would diligently obey Him (see Deuteronomy 28). The Israelites, however, strayed from God’s path, adopting worldly policies in an effort to make themselves strong. They also made friends with the Egyptians and other strangers. As a result of not looking to God, they lost their heritage:

O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders. And thou, even thy­self, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever. Jeremiah 17:3-4

In Jeremiah chapter 17, we see what happens when one man walked in the curse and one man walked in the blessing. Both men knew the Lord. Both men had God’s goodness available to them. God’s glory–His weighty, shin­ing glory–was manifest. Both had opportunities to prosper. However, one saw the good and received it, but the other one received that which was not good. One put his trust in God as his source, and the other one did not.

Operating in the Curse

Jeremiah 17:5 tells us something about the man who trusts in the arm of the flesh: “Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.” The man who operated in the curse displayed three attributes:

He trusted in man. He put his confidence in his education. He put his confidence in his employer and his job. He put his confidence in his network of friends and col­leagues. He put his confidence in the policies of government. He put his confidence in how he could work out situations by his own intelligence.

He made flesh his arm. In other words, he thought his force, help and strength would come from what man could do.

His heart departed from the Lord. Since he kept looking to the world’s system, in time the world’s way got into his heart and dis­placed his full and complete trust in the living God.

As a consequence, this man became naked, poor and destitute. More importantly, there was no supernatural way of provision. If all you receive is what man can give you, you will always be short. You are going to need supernatural provision in the future, and if you are operating in the blessing, that provision will be there for you.

As a result, this man wasn’t able to see when good cometh (v. 6). The better, the bountiful, the prosper­ous or the wealth was all around him and others were receiving it, but he remained in the arid desert. The blessing always moves you forward, but the curse causes you to be stalled.

Walking in the Blessing

Let’s keep reading. Jeremiah 17:7-8 says, “Blessed is the man that trust­eth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a 6 Live Your Faith Winter 2012

tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” The man who operated in the blessing also displayed three attributes:

He trusted in God. He was confident, sure and bold. He didn’t have a care. Anybody can cry in church, “I trust God!” However, the blessed man, in the midst of sin­ners, says, “You watch and see how the Lord provides for me.”

His refuge, security and assur­ance was in God alone. He felt totally safe. He knew that God was his sole source of provision.

He remained strong and vigor­ous. In other words, he didn’t feel any damage brought on by drought. He had deep, well-established roots that ran to the river, keeping him fruitful. He had constant opportunities–one after another after another.

Looking for God

God’s goodness and provision are available to you in abundance, also! Who you look to and what you look for determines what you receive. Let’s look at several examples of this truth in the New Testament.

Joseph and Mary presented Jesus in the Temple on the eighth day. Simeon was holding the baby and thanking God that he had been allowed to see the Messiah when the prophetess Anna came in, thanked God and “spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38). These people in the Temple were looking for the Messiah, and they received what they were anticipating. There were many people in Jerusalem who were not looking for redemption, and as a result, they didn’t see Jesus.

The story of Jesus feeding the five thousand plus men and women also illustrates this principle. When Jesus saw the hungry people, He commanded His disciples to feed them, but the disciples declared that they didn’t have enough food to feed that many people.

In Matthew 14:19, Jesus told the multitude to sit down. He took the five loaves and two fishes, “and looking up to heaven,” blessed the provision and gave it to His disciples to distribute.

The disciples weren’t looking at heaven. They were looking at all these people and the meager provision. They thought God had asked them to do something impossible. If you are only going to look at what’s before you, you won’t receive what you need. You have to look upward! Your help comes from the Lord!

When some people asked Jesus about the end of days, notice how He responded: “Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken” (Luke 21:26). If you are looking at what is happening on the earth instead of looking toward heaven or looking in the Word, you will live in fear. The only people who are going in the rap­ture are those who are looking for it (see Hebrews 9:28). Look upward, rejoice and walk in the blessing. The choice is up to you.

Receiving Your Return The Parable of the Sower in Mark chapter four is the most important parable in the Bible, unlocking every other parable. Verse 20 reflects the man under the blessing. “And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, And bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.” Why do some people get 30, some people get 60 and some get 100? Your return is not in God’s hands; it is in yours. If you act thirtyfold, you will receive thirty­fold. God has already ordered your steps. He already has a plan, and it is up to you to walk in it.

If you are going to look at what’s before you, you won’t receive what you need. You have to look upward! Your help comes from the Lord!

If you have been waiting for a chance and waiting to break out, your time is here! Recognize the opportunities that the blessing has brought your way and act on them. Obey the Father who has given you all things to enjoy. There is no area where opportunity is not available for you. There is no barrier that you cannot cross, and no barrier so strong that God can’t knock it down.

If you know Jesus and if you know His grace, you are rich! That is what the last group in the Parable of the Sower believed and understood. Act on your blessing, and receive your return!

Speak good things about this na­tion. The United   States of America is not going under. Her future is bright, because prayer changes things. Have no fear about the fail­ure of the other nations. Get ready, because it is a time of great wealth for God’s people, faith people and love people who keep their eyes on God’s Word of promise and not on the troubled world.