Thursday 6 October 2011

PROSPERITY AND MIRACLES ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN


PROSPERITY  AND MIRACLES ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN

The Church: A miraculous people
The Church is a group of miraculous people because we take birth into the Kingdom of God by miracle. Christ himself said that
The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”John 3:8
We receive life from God which is a miraculous life. In this way, we are a miraculous people born by miracles. Therefore, miracles are our rights. We begin by miracles and we continue our life in miracles.
But our problem is that sometimes, like Paul addresses the Galatians, we too begin by the Spirit and then, try to end by the flesh. But we can sustain life in the Kingdom only through miracles.
Adam: His miraculous environment
4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.
 5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth[a] and no plant had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams[b] came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the LORD God formed a man[c] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
 8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
 10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin[d] and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush.[e] 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
 15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
Gen 2:4-15
When the first man was created, it was by miracle. It was only possible miraculously. He was created (indicating miracle) and made (indicating skill). God made Man using his skill but the breath of life that was breathed into him was by miracle. As for us, we are born again by miracle.
God made gems and gold and placed it in the land of Havilah (v.11-12). Thus, God had kept elements of prosperity / abundance prepared by miracle. There he placed man. Man didn’t deserve it, nor was he qualified to gain it. But God created Man by miracles and hence, he placed him there miraculously. And therefore, prosperity works as a miracle for us.
Jesus: The miraculous restorer
Jesus came on earth to take us back to Eden. He came as a restorer. His work was to give this revelation to the people of why they were created. Jesus came so that he could help people see their purpose and therefore, then reach it.
Adam only knew that God had created him and he was God. Everything around him was miraculous. It was his natural environment. And it is the same with the Church. When we are born again, the Holy Spirit comes and opens our eyes. The Wind comes and we come to know that we are in the dark and we go to the wonderful light according to the direction given by the Wind (2 Pet 2:10).
We were in a Dark Age. But, God’s Wind blew over us and reached us. Without our knowledge, he came and gave us directions. He invited us to the Wonderful Light.
Hence being born again is not just about a single day of decision but also that the Holy Spirit draws us to the marvelous Light of the Lord. God uses situations, words, people etc. and does it miraculously.
Adam never asked or wondered about the abundance around him because the natural environment around him was that of miracles. Indeed, miracles come naturally to us, we don’t need to make back-breaking efforts to witness them.
Adam didn’t recognize the abundance around him because he didn’t know his history. All he knew was that he was here as a result of a miracle. Similarly, the people of God continually live life in miracles. Miracles don’t come after a lot of efforts. They simply come. It may be related to anything.
Jesus said in Mark 16:17, that signs shall follow a believer. This means they will come after believers, after us. Adam was born into a miraculous world and that is exactly our heritage also. We call on faith and it comes. God is our father and hence we ask with confidence as children who have the right to ask. We are not slaves. We live as heirs. This is where we think differently from other faiths that encourage self-deprivations and self-efforts.
Kingdom life: Life of Abundance / miracles
God’s entry into a life brings renewal and hence, there is no condemnation. We begin miraculously and miracles will always follow us, therefore we become miraculous people.
God’s will is to see us at his desired position. He makes adequate and readily available provision for it also. He is our miraculous father and hence, he wants us to function in that dimension. When the people of God begin to function in this way, the world will not be able to understand this miraculous life.
When God created Adam, the greenery, water, fruitfulness around him; all of it was miraculous. Then, he was given a throne and asked to rule. Similarly, God has created the miraculous environment of the Coming Kingdom in this Age for his people. Only this miraculous people will be able to sit on the miraculous throne to rule the world.
Jesus came to show this abundant life in the Kingdom. This life would be one in which the beginning, sustenance and the culmination would be function through miracles. And hence, Kingdom people would be people for whom money and miracles would be two sides of the same coin.
Indeed, true prosperity is from God. Miracles are from God. Establishment is from God. Indeed, all this is the inheritance of the people of God. Once we begin to see the light of this revelation, we begin to live the Kingdom life that the world gapes at but doesn’t understand.

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