Prospering in God's Word // It's Time to Take the Promised Land, Part 7

When you hear the word “prosperity” it conjures up all sorts of images doesn’t it, not all of them positive. And yet, it’s a word that God uses rather a lot. The question is – what does He mean by it and how do you lay hold of it?

I don't think that there’s a person on this earth that doesn't want to be prosperous. The question is, exactly what does that mean? What is prosperity? When I put on a few pounds in weight and my aunty sees me, she says in her thick European accent, "My you're looking prosperous." Hmm, I don't think that’s what it means. When we think of prosperity we think of wealth and money and a nice house and a car and all that stuff, but when God thinks of prosperity He's thinking about so much more.

He's thinking about what’s going on in our hearts and He's thinking about success in doing the things He's called us to do and achieving the things He's called us to achieve. Despite all the battles we're going through, despite all the opposition. In fact it's interesting to look at what God says to Israel’s leader Joshua, about prosperity and success just before he leads Israel over the Jordan to cross into the Promised Land.

There is Israel, they've spent the last forty years wandering around the desert in the exodus and before that centuries in slavery in Egypt and they're about to cross over into a land that God promised to Abraham centuries before, that's why it's called the Promised Land and God is expecting some stiff opposition for Joshua and his people when they cross over the Jordan to take that Promised Land. How do we know that? Because when God talks to Joshua just before he crosses over, He says this:

Be strong and courageous because you will lead these people to take the land that I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous...

And then later He says:

Be strong and courageous. Don't be terrified; don't be discouraged for I am with you where ever you go.

You know I always think it's a worry when God says to me, "Well Berni, you know you need to be strong and courageous. Don't be terrified, don't be discouraged." You think, "Oh, oh, this is not going to be pleasant." And that’s often the way you know, as we decide to lay hold of the promises of God in our hearts, things so often get a whole bunch worse before they get better.
You know Jesus says, "Peace. My peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you." And we think, "Yeah man, that’s what I want. There's a promise from God that I want. I want God’s peace in my life." You know, Jesus promised that to His disciples just before He was about to be crucified. It was a dangerous and fearful and terrible time, a time of pain and loss and fear for the disciples even fear for their own lives. So He explains what He's on about, He says this:

My peace I leave with you and my peace I give to you. I don't give these things to you the way the world does, don't let your hearts be troubled and do not let them be afraid.

You see we often have to deal with obstacles and fears to lay a hold of the promises of God in our lives. I do, you do, in fact we all do. And those times are the times when we grow. When we understand that this is the reality and the promises of God stand in that reality, it doesn't matter what obstacles there are, it doesn't matter how many battles there are ahead. You see Israel, when they crossed into the Promised Land had to fight battle after battle after battle with the people that were already there.

So what's our part in all of this? God makes a promise, how do we respond to that promise? Well God said to Joshua:

Be careful to obey all the law that my servant Moses gave you. Don't turn from it from the right or the left so that you will be successful where ever you go. Meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything that's written in it. Then, then you'll be prosperous and successful.

The picture here is that God has spoken, He's spoken through the Word of God, through the Bible, through His Son Jesus and there's this beautiful picture of meditating on what God’s saying day and night so that it becomes a part of us. So that we start living our lives God’s way, then God says, "You’ll be prosperous and successful."

Now I don't think that all means we're going to be millionaires or billionaires, I don't think that at all, some people will be others won't be. Prosperous and successful in what God has called us to. You see He was talking to Joshua; He had called Joshua to lead Israel, God’s chosen people into the Promised Land. That's what Joshua was getting prosperous and successful at doing.

Now I know so many people who believe in God, who believe in Jesus, they own a Bible, "Well I think it's somewhere, it's up in the cupboard or it's in the bedside table or it's somewhere gathering dust." I want to tell you something about the word of God; I would be a nervous wreck by now if I didn't spend time in God’s word every day.

I mean, what I do is I'm in the front line of ministry, my job is leading people into the Promised Land through these programs, through doing what I'm doing right now. Helping people to take a hold of God’s promise in their lives. And I have to tell you something, the devil is not happy about that, the world is not always happy about that, even other Christians don't always understand that call.

As God’s grown this ministry over these last five years, you know we started recording these programs five years ago and there wasn't a single radio station that had committed to airing them, nothing, just a call from God, just a promise from Him written on my heart by His spirit.

And today these programs go to air on over 700 stations in 80 countries and they're listened to by millions of people each week and you think, "Wow, that's fantastic, that's great!" And it is but do you have any idea how many trials and battles and oppositions and lack of funds and do you have any idea how hard that was along the way and some days still continues to be?

We all have to go through this stuff in our lives and whatever God’s called us to. God’s called you to something entirely different to me, that’s because we're different and when we're going through that stuff there’s a temptation to do it our way or in our strength or to make compromises or pull over and to stop.

The promise of God to Joshua was, "Get my Word into you, meditate on it day and night. Soak it in, drink it in, feed on it, let it never depart from you and that's where your prosperity and success will be." In His word God reminds us of His promises; His spirit comes and writes them on our hearts.

What soldier would walk out onto a battle field without a weapon? The apostle Paul, when he was talking about the 'armour of God' in Ephesians chapter 6 in the New Testament talks about "The sword of the Spirit which is the word of God." And there are so many people who believe in God, who believe Jesus, who walk out onto that spiritual battle field every day and leave God’s word in the cupboard to gather dust and wonder why they suffer defeat after defeat - ah der! That's nuts!

When God makes a promise, as He did through Jesus to give us an abundant wonderful life that promise is a done deal. People, things, circumstances will come against us but if we lay a hold of the promises of God in our hearts, just in a simple imperfect faith, they won't be able to stand against us and God will never leave us or forsake us and when we let His word reign in our hearts, His success and His prosperity will chase us down.