Miller Thou Shalt Not Lack!

Understanding God's Provision for You
1. Auflage 2013
ISBN: 978-0-9846918-3-8
Verlag: Miller Ministries
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 138 Seiten

In his book, Thou Shalt Not Lack, Jeff Miller presents reasons that Christians suffer lack, and what they can do to release the blessings of God in their lives. The same covenant that provides us with forgiveness and healing also provides us redemption from the curse of lack. As you apply the Biblical principles contained in this book you will begin to experience the goodness of God in a fresh way and will move out of the land of lack into God's full supply.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Miller, Jeff

Leseproben

CHAPTER 1
God’s View of Prosperity
The topic of prosperity is very controversial in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ and has been labeled many things by critics. It has been called “the faith message,” “the prosperity gospel,” “the name it and claim it gospel,” “the blab it and grab it gospel,” “the health and wealth gospel,” and “the hyper-faith movement.” This subject gets more people riled up than almost anything. Even many who embrace the message of healing have difficulty believing that God wants His people prosperous. There are so many false doctrines in the church world and plenty of excesses that would lend themselves to criticism. But much of the criticism of prosperity is the result of an unrenewed mind—a mind that has not seen the clear picture of what the Bible teaches about this subject. Scripture plainly teaches that Jesus came to save the lost. It also clearly declares that healing and prosperity are included in His substitutionary work. The Word of God says, JOHN 10:10 10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more ABUNDANTLY. This is one of the scriptures that many Christians like to allocate as meaning only “spiritual” abundance. But the full meaning of this verse is having abundance in all areas of one’s life. Many other scriptures confirm this, such as this one in 3 John: 3 JOHN 2 (NKJV) 2 Beloved, I pray that you may PROSPER in all things and be in health, just as your soul PROSPERS. Other translations use the words “desire” and “wish above all else” in place of the word “pray.” Clearly, this is not just a passing greeting. This is the prayer of the beloved apostle of Jesus Christ, John. Remember, John wrote this by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, so prospering in all things is the desire of the Lord Himself. Three Key Verses to Know
God wants His church to come into agreement with what His Word says, not with what the world says! Therefore, we must rightly divide (accurately handle) His Word on the subject of prosperity. Here are three passages worth taking note of regarding this subject: PSALM 1:1-3 1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. JOSHUA 1:8 8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. ISAIAH 1:19 19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. All of these verses teach us how to prosper: by reading and meditating on the Word of God daily and obeying it. If God didn’t want us to prosper, if He didn’t want us to have good success, and if He didn’t want us to eat the good of the land, why would He tell us how to do just that? God wants His church to agree with what His Word says, not with what the world says! Job Was Abundantly Blessed
In order to get a good idea of God’s view of prosperity, let’s take a look at the life of Job. Can anything good come out of Job? Yes, I believe it can! The book of Job was written before the book of Genesis and is believed to be the oldest book in the Bible. It reveals the plan of God from very early on in the history of man. It says, JOB 1:1-3 (NKJV) 1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil. 2 And seven sons and three daughters were born to him. 3 Also, his possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large household, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East. In Job’s day, livestock and land were a large part of the people’s wealth. Job had 7,000 sheep! I have one dog and an acre of land. I cannot imagine owning 7,000 sheep. One thing is for sure, an acre of land is not enough to handle 7,000 sheep! One source cites that, on average, one acre of land is needed for every ten sheep. That would mean 700 acres of land would be needed to care for Job’s sheep. That’s not factoring in the camels, oxen, and donkeys! Job had 3,000 camels! Research indicates that roughly two acres are needed per camel to care for them properly. Therefore, 3,000 camels require about 6,000 acres of land. Job also had 500 yoke of oxen. A yoke is a pair, so that means he had 1,000 oxen. It takes about 5.75 acres of land to sustain one ox. Therefore, 500 yoke of oxen require 5,750 acres of land. Let’s not forget, Job also had 500 female donkeys. Generally, it takes 1 acre of land to sustain one horse or donkey. So he would have needed an additional 500 acres of land to care for 500 donkeys. When you add up all the land Job needed to care for his 12,500 animals, it comes to a total of 12,950 acres. Wow! Can you imagine all the manure that many animals produced? Now if Job had 500 yoke of oxen, he must have also had extra land for farming. To handle these 500 yoke of oxen, he would have needed about 500 servants. Two or three hired hands just wouldn’t have been enough to get the job done. The Scripture confirms that Job had “a very large household.” Not only did he have a wife and ten children, he undoubtedly had multitudes of servants to take care of his possessions. Indeed, Job was the greatest man of all the people of the East. Now some might say, “Who needs all those animals and all those acres of land? Isn’t that a little wasteful? Isn’t that a little extravagant? Wouldn’t a flock of 100 be prosperous enough? Why would Job need 7,000 sheep?” Should we assume that Job was a sinner since he was so blessed with material possessions? No, absolutely not! We just read that Job was “blameless and upright, one who feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1). After the Test, Job Was Doubly Blessed
We know from Scripture what happened to Job. Satan smote him and he lost everything he had except his wife. Many people who are going through difficult times compare themselves to “good old Job.” The next time someone tells you, “I’m just like good old Job,” you should respond by saying, “Praise the Lord!” That is likely to shock them, but the truth is Job’s end was far greater than his beginning. The Scripture says, JOB 42:10 (NKJV) 10 And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Notice it doesn’t say the devil restored Job’s losses, nor does it say that Job’s friends restored his losses or that Job did it himself. It says “The Lord restored Job’s losses.” This means that God didn’t mind him having all that wealth! Two verses later we read, JOB 42:12 (NKJV) 12 Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. In the end, Job had a total of 23,000 farm animals. These required twice as much land as he had originally. Do the math and you’ll discover he needed 25,900 acres of land just to care for his animals. The Lord restored Job’s losses. Obviously, God didn’t think Job’s wealth was excessive. What else did God bless him with? JOB 42:13 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters. How did Job finish his life? JOB 42:17 17 So Job died, being old and full of days. Bible scholars agree that Job’s difficulty lasted only nine to twelve months. He was clearly under attack from the devil. But God turned it around and gave him twice as much as he had before! God Doesn’t Think the Way We Think
I’m sure there were plenty of people in Job’s day who didn’t have one acre of land or even one farm animal. Did Job need all of those possessions when there were people in the land who had nothing? Why did one man who had ten children need 23,000 farm animals? If each of his children had ten animals, that would be 100 animals. Wouldn’t that be enough? Worldly thinking says, “Spread those animals around! Give some to those who don’t have any!” Even some believers might question, “Are you sure this isn’t excessive, God?” Obviously God didn’t think it was excessive! There are plenty of people today who think that abundance, especially in the life of a preacher or a Christian, is excessive. But God’s view is different than man’s view. He says, ISAIAH 55:8-9 8 For my...