Beyond The Way of Blessing

We start now a new series which was the foundation of this ministry called The Way of Blessing. I preached this some 24 years ago and it still has power in it. But the Lord has been showing me some new principles that can be added to the Way of Blessing.

So as we go through this powerful teaching series now I will be adding some new stuff. When I first taught this series we were in Mexico, a foreign land, and no guaranteed income. And we needed to hear these principles ourselves to build our faith.

So we always considered this our flagship teaching. And we lived by its principles for 17 years in Mexico, living by faith. Then the Lord brought us back to our homeland and we returned with only our suitcases. We had to learn to build a new life all over again.

And the principles still worked. But as we continued and this ministry continued to reach out to the nations, we came to a place where we realized that we needed a lot more.

Our financial income has always been just enough to get by. And somehow the principles of the Way of Blessing did not seem enough to take us to the next higher level.

How God Provides

I found that I could put out my faith for provision and the Lord would begin to speak to people to give in to the ministry to provide our needs. But we were still dependent on people.

I discovered that God always follows an order when you put your faith out for provision. He begins by speaking to those who are closest to you and invites them to bless you and pour into you. This is because the Lord always rewards the act of giving.

He promises us 100 fold return on what we sow into other believers and His work on the earth. So He wants to give the first opportunity for a blessing to those we love and who are close to us. But He never imposes or commands anyone to give. He invites believers to give.

At one stage, when we were really low financially, my own family, like my parents, began to pour into us. At first, I felt that this was not really very miraculous because they knew our needs. And I complained to the Lord and asked why He was not using others.

He told me that He always offers the first opportunity to those who are close so that they can get blessed first. But if they fail to respond, He will not coerce them, but he will move on to others who are not so close.

Of course, this takes time, because He waits to see who will respond to His call to be a blessing. Then He begins to speak to others who are not so close. We need to keep our faith in the field while all of this happens, because the angels are at work, putting ideas into the minds of people who know us.

You may find that after a time, suddenly you hear from someone whom you have not spoken to in a year. And they will say,

"I was just thinking about you recently and wondered how you are doing?”

So these are still people who know us or know of us, but they are not close. Now the Lord offers them a chance to be blessed. And those who did not heed His call lost that opportunity.

If none of this outer group responds either, then ultimately God has to move outside of the body of Christ and begin to work with unbelievers. And ultimately He may provide your needs through the world system. This could happen by you getting an income tax refund or something of that nature.

Now I want you to understand this principle very clearly because then you will understand what I am going to share with you next.

God Always Uses Man

We pray and expect God to perform a miracle for us. But whatever God does in the earth He always does through the agency of a human being. I used to complain to the Lord and ask Him why I needed to depend on other people.

Could He not just wave His hands and create a miracle? Why did I have to wait until someone else obeyed His call to give? And this is where I began to realize that we need more than prayer or faith to get the things we desire in this life.

You see, when God first began His creation of this world he did it in stages, described as the days of creation. And He only created for six days and then stopped. On the seventh day, God rested and stopped creating. He had now created a being who held similar power and authority to Him.

Humans Are Blessed

As a member of the human race, you are blessed.

This blessing came from God, who is the author of all blessings. God blessed mankind as follows:

1. He created a world that He pronounced as good.

2. He put mankind in control of this good world.

Adam had the power to take what God had created and modify it according to his desires. This power was put into him by God breathing into him some of His own life. When God created man He breathed spiritual life into him. Man now had something the animals did not have - a spirit that had a similar nature to God.

When Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil they added something that was not there before. Now the good creation also became evil. The earth was cursed and was no longer good only.

The original power that man had in his spirit remained - he could still use that power to create the life he chose. But now there was an evil principle in him. And when he tried to use that power to make something good, he automatically also made something that was evil.

Now Satan took control of the power in man and produced lots of evil in the earth. Eventually, God decided to wipe out everything and start again. He destroyed the earth with a flood, saving only Noah and his family.

But the fruit of sin was still in them and soon manifested again. The only way this could be dealt with was to provide a new influence for mankind. That is why God had to come down and become a man.

What Calvary Brought

As a man, God first came to show man what he was supposed to be. Jesus was a perfect model of what Adam was meant to be before he sinned. Then Jesus paid the price for Adam’s sin and restored man to fellowship with God.

God now made a way to overcome the evil tendency that led to sin and brought a curse. After Calvary God came to take up residence in man by His Spirit when someone invited Him in as Savior.

The presence of the Holy Spirit brought to man all the blessings of the spiritual realm that God lives in.

Ephesians 1: 3 Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who blessed us with every spiritual blessing in [the] heavenly [realm] in Christ: [GBMV]

This verse is the foundation for the Way of Blessing Series.

When we are born again we are not only restored to all that Adam had, but we are given even more. We now have in us two different spirits that enable us to live a life of blessing and abundance.

In Adam, we have received the power and authority to be blessed in temporal or physical things. In Christ, we have received the power and authority to tap into the spiritual realm and add the influence of the Holy Spirit to our lives.

This then gives us the power and authority to overcome the root of evil that is in us. The Bible calls this the flesh. The indwelling Holy Spirit now gives us the ability to overcome the flesh and to live a life of good. Because of this we also have the power to overcome the curse that Satan brought into the earth.

Satan Uses The Power in Mankind

Satan continues to produce more evil by tapping into the power that is built into all mankind. This is because demons have no power of their own. They have to use the power that God put into the spirit of man.

Demons teach unbelievers how to use the power in their spirits to produce evil in the earth. That is why the earth is filled with so much evil and bad things.

God placed this power into all of mankind, and unless men and women use that power for good, it will always produce evil. Even when they try to produce something good, they end up producing evil.

We cry out to God to bring changes in the world and to take away the evil. But God has placed that right into the hands of humanity. And unless men and women use that power to produce good, there will always be evil.

The only way things will change in this world is when men and women embrace the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome evil. Then they embrace the power that was built into their spirits to produce good.

Some Have Believed a Lie

This is the main role that the Body of Christ should be carrying out in this world. But we have made the mistake of thinking that we are not allowed to take things into our own hands. We are not meant to selfishly create the things we desire.

Some have even gone so far as to renounce all prosperity as sinful and embrace poverty as something that glorifies God. This is religious thinking and not the way God made us to be.

We are taught that it is selfish to want things for yourself. It is selfish to want to rise up in the world and become famous.

Some even think that God allows us to be sick for a purpose. But the very fact that we desire to become well and do all we can to overcome sickness is already proof that God is not the author of sickness.

So here is where most of us go wrong. We cry out to God in prayer and ask Him to change things in our lives. Then we wait for Him to do something. And when nothing improves we begin to form our own false theology.

Knowing God's Will

Probably the biggest false teaching in the Body of Christ is that we need to first find out if it is the will of God for us to have this. Let’s go back to Adam in the Garden of Eden.

God had told him to take control over the earth and every living creature. Then Adam met with God each morning for a time of fellowship. Now can you imagine Adam saying to God,

“Lord I want to change some things in the garden and move some of the animals around. But before I do that Lord, I would like to know - is this your will and should I do it?”

What did you suppose God would have said to Adam? I think I know what God would have said and it would have gone something like this:

“Adam I already told you to take control of the earth and the animals. Did you not hear My words? Did you not believe Me when I told you that?”

Adam took the authority and power that God put into his human spirit and he ran the world using that power. His contacts with God were never to ask God to do something on the earth. It was more to enjoy fellowship with God or to ask him for wisdom on how to carry out the task he had been given.

You see God had in a sense made Adam the god of this world and the creator of his own lifestyle. And God has never removed from the descendants of Adam that ability.

That is why even unbelievers today are building lives of prosperity and abundance. But believers are not doing this, because they are expecting God to do it all.

We Cannot Just Leave it to God to Do

Now I want to return to what I shared with you at the beginning about asking God to provide. I have used this principle of trusting God to speak to people to bless us, especially since our job is doing His work. And each time I have put my faith out like this, the Lord has provided.

If I you were to ask me if I asked in faith, I could honestly say, “Yes I had faith that God would provide.”

I have taught in the Way of Blessing how to go about this in some detail. And it really does work.

But there is always a waiting period before the manifestation comes. And most of the time, the wait depends on how quickly people respond to what God asks them to do. The angels are at work all the time to create circumstances to bring the answer to our faith.

Sometimes they have to influence relationships and move people into place or out of the way. But inevitably there is a delay and we have to wait for the answer to come.

How To Speed Things Up

Now what if you wanted to speed things up a bit? I found through experience that when I put my faith out, God would always answer. But sometimes I was impatient and did not want to wait.

I had such a strong passion and desire for the thing I had asked for that I felt I needed more than just praying and waiting. And I have proved over time that a strong desire is more powerful than a strong faith. So every time I got really excited about something I got it much sooner.

This confused me at first, because the Scriptures clearly teach that God is moved by faith not desire.

But I thought of my son when he was very young how we would get excited about a new toy. He would nag and remind me and so move my heart that I would try to find the money to buy it for him.

I figured the Lord must be the same and when we get really excited about what we want, He will move more on our behalf. But that would mean the lord loves some more than others and is moved more by some than others, just because of their desire.

I could not really find a Scriptural reason for my greater success than when I was not totally excited about it.

Suppose you come to the Lord with all your pressing financial needs? And you cry out to him in pain throwing yourself fully on His love and care.

“Please Lord, you see how we are suffering. Please reach out and help us”

But there is no quicker answer when you do that. God is moved by faith, not needs. And tell me this, when is the last time you got really excited about paying your bills?

The Power of Desire

But now suppose I see something that I really want - maybe a new device like a computer or a new piece of clothing. I talk about it to everyone I meet. I lie asleep at night thinking about getting it. I wake up in the morning with it on my mind, wishing today could be the day when I get it.

Well, let me tell you what happens when you have that kind of desire. You present it in prayer to the Lord asking Him to provide. There are some rules to doing this, like not telling Him how to provide.

It could be provided through you getting the money or through someone giving it to you. You never know how it will come, but wait in anticipation and hope.

But then, because you are so excited about it, you add something beyond prayer. You begin to dig deep inside yourself to find another way to get this. You might even go so far as to give up some of your needs to get what you desire.

Perhaps we could stop going out for meals and eat cheaper food. I could cancel some subscriptions that are not that important. Maybe I could take on a sideline job to make extra money. You will be amazed at some of the creative ideas that can come to your mind as you dig deep inside.

You Start Tapping What is Inside

What is happening here? You are starting to tap into the power and ability that is already built into your human spirit. Here is where the true power of creation lies and it does not depend on other people.

You will be amazed at how soon you will hold in your hands the thing you desire. But we don’t do that, do we? We leave that as a last resort. Instead, we cry out to the Lord or to other people to help or provide for us.

Yet this power has been in you all along because God created you to have it in you. But when things are going ok and the stress is not too bad, we coast along accepting what life offers us.

Who Created The Life You Are Living?

Now before I end I want you to look at your life right now and everything that is in it. And I want to ask you a simple question. How did you come to have the life you are living?

Well, I can answer that for you very easily. You created it yourself using the power that was in your spirit from birth. And before you can change your life or improve it you may need two things that will help you break free.

The first is an experience known as The Day That Turns Your Life Around. This is where you literally hit the wall and come to the end of yourself. And you say something like this,

“I am tired of living this kind of life. I have had enough. I want a different life.”

This is where you make a decision to do something to change your life and stop waiting for someone else or even the Lord to do it. This is where you finally start digging deeper into what is inside of you.

FindingYour Creative Power

There is a creative power lying there that you can use to build the life of your dreams. But the chances are that you stopped dreaming and just allowed your boat to drift with the current or the tide.

You may be paddling hard to keep going or to resist the current but it just keeps you afloat. Until you discover that your little boat actually has an engine attached that has not run in ages. You discover that there is a button that will cause that engine to start up.

And when you press that button, it kicks into life and suddenly you are moving quickly ahead. The engine has been there all along and so has the start button but you never noticed it before. You could kick yourself for not knowing it.

Well, what I am trying to do in these lessons is to help you identify that engine in you that is waiting to get going. I want to show you where to find the start button so that you can press it and get going. And if you learn to do this, then poverty and lack will be a thing of the past in your life.

But you must realize that God has already put all of this into you and you were born with it. All you need to do is understand what it can do and how to use it correctly. And you can change your life for the better.

IF YOU REALLY WANT TO

IF YOU ARE PREPARED TO FOLLOW THE NECESSARY STEPS.

We will be looking at this in some detail in the time that lies ahead as we do a new lesson each week. So watch this space and do not miss any of these powerful lessons if possible.

Practical Project

I am going to give you a project to do to help you get going. I want you to sit down and make a list of everything that you desire that you do not have in your life right now. Write down everything, do not hold back no matter how big or small it is.

Then when your list is complete, I want you to put them down in order of priority. So top of your list should be your greatest desire right now. Please do not get all spiritual and list spiritual goals, like knowing the lord better or being close to Him.

Write down the temporal things that are in your life, including things, happiness, acceptance and recognition and being appreciated or loved, etc. Then next time I will show you how to use these desires to activate the power that lies within you.

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