I know that by now, some readers are still wondering, how can I be prospering in my life right now, while going through ________? I want to make the life of faith in Christ very clear. The Christian life is not about our total comfort and convenience. In fact, those things may be the biggest enemies to the Christian church. The majority of believers are unwilling to become uncomfortable and endure inconveniences in order to go to the next level of faith with God.
Throughout the Old and New Testaments, we see pictures of the life of faith. Joseph shows us how we can prosper in every situation- from the trenches, to the prison, to servanthood, to the palace. Daniel shows us that prosperity is not necessarily the absence of trials, but it is a heart posture within. Daniel knew God personally and intimately, thus fear could not come into his heart even when stuck in a dark, musty den of ravenous lions. This Old Testament story points us to the New, where Peter admonishes us to always be alert and aware with our minds stayed on the WORD because the devil lurks just like a lion, waiting for a moment of weakness to devour us. But if we can remain steadfast in the faith, then we can be surrounded by lions just like Daniel, while still prospering in the presence of the LORD. His gaze wasn't set upon the trial before him, but was set upon God in trust and devotion.
It is written:
we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
Acts 14:22
I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”
John 16:33
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
2 Timothy 3:12
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.
Matthew 5:10-12
And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him.
Romans 8:17
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed at the revelation of His glory.
1 Peter 4:12-13
Scripture in fact promises us trials and tribulation, persecution and suffering. However, the key to living a life of biblical prosperity is that you see beyond the hardships. You look beyond yourself, and your focus is on the LORD. You can see beyond the discomfort and the inconvenience, and your gaze is upon Christ and His goodness, His blessing, His love, His power to overcome all. Is your heart set on the suffering, the persecution, the trials, the hardships, & the lack? Is your focus on the power of the enemy and the fallen world, or is it on the LORD and His infinite ability and power? Let's take another look at those scriptures with the focus not upon the suffering, but upon the victory:
we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
Acts 14:22
We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. The definition for tribulation is "distress or suffering resulting from oppression or persecution; also : a trying experience." In biblical prosperity we can know that every time we experience distress or suffering, every time we are oppressed or persecuted for our faith, every time we are enduring trials- we have entered into the kingdom of God. It's as if the dirt, the marks, & the bent papers within our "heavenly passports" are the proof of our citizenship in God's kingdom, and our ambassadorship serving Him in the earth. Every trial is a journey that we know we will overcome, and will become a testimony of the goodness of our God. The tribulation is not our focus, the kingdom is.
"I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”
John 16:33
Jesus said, "I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”
Jesus told us the truth- that we would go through distress and we would be tried. But He told us this so that we could have peace through it all. He told us that we would endure hardships, but He also told us that we can be courageous and be at peace no matter what we endure because Jesus has already overcome the entire world! We can focus on the tribulation in this world, or we can rejoice that our LORD has already overcome all of it. The tribulation of this world does not overcome us, because Jesus has already overcome the world.
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
2 Timothy 3:12
All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Persecution is going to come. When you live your life according to the WORD of God, the god of this world- the devil- is going to come against you; the antichrist spirit is going to rise up in persecution toward you because it is anti- all things Christ. But you are living godly. In Acts chapter 5, the apostles of Jesus Christ were performing many signs and wonders and healing many, causing the church to grow rapidly. The high priest of the Sadducees came along with his associates and began to persecute the apostles, forbidding them to teach in the Name of Jesus, and put them in jail. In the middle of the night, an angel came and freed them and told the apostles to go proclaim the good news of new life in Christ in the temple courts. So the apostles went and did exactly what the angel of the LORD told them to do at dawn the next day. When the high priest showed up along with other religious teachers & associates, they were perplexed as to how the apostles got out of jail. They wanted to sentence the apostles to death, but they ended up flogging them instead. They ordered the apostles to stop preaching Jesus (which they didn't stop) and then released them to go. Did the apostles walk away weeping over their wounds? Did they leave with fear in their hearts, wishing they had never preached the New Birth in Jesus Christ? No. They rejoiced.
The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Every day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.
Acts 5:41-42
This is biblical prosperity. Rejoicing in tribulation and persecution, never giving up but enduring with joy as good soldiers of Jesus Christ (2 Tim. 2:3) until we pass over to Heaven. We have the supernatural ability to step into this prosperity because we are supernatural beings: one-third of us is wall-to-wall Holy Spirit, the entire Spirit of God, and we can let His Spirit lead our response to life & our emotions at all times. Biblical prosperity is to consider Jesus above ourselves and thus walk with our heart and mind on the Spirit, not on our flesh. If the apostles would've been walking in the flesh, they wouldn't have rejoiced in their suffering. Their focus would have been upon the pain of their wounds, the rejection and persecution of man, and the fear of losing their own lives for Christ. When we walk in the Spirit, our joy cannot be stolen from us nor can our peace be taken from us because our lives are completely hidden with Christ in God, and we draw life from Him, not from our own comfort and convenience. (Colossians 3:3). This is biblical prosperity in the midst of physical persecution.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.
Matthew 5:10-12
"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." When people persecute us, insult us, and falsely say evil things against us because of our faith in Jesus, Jesus doesn't ask us to try and be happy about it. He commands us- Rejoice and be glad. Jesus would not tell us to do something that could not be done in Him. He tells us to rejoice and be happy about persecution! Persecution for our faith is a sign that the kingdom of heaven belongs to us, and the rewards we shall receive in heaven for enduring are great! This is biblical prosperity. It is a life lived for Christ, not for the self. Our happiness is not dependent upon how the world treats us, but upon knowing who we are in Christ, and who God has made us to be: we are sons and daughters in the kingdom of heaven and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ, and we have great rewards from our Father!
And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him.
Romans 8:17
We are heirs of God and co-heirs with Jesus. This means that everything that God has given to Jesus, is also given to us... and this is even post-resurrection! It is written that Jesus is now seated at the right hand of the Father, and that we are now seated with Jesus in heavenly places (Col. 3:1, Eph. 2:6). It is written that as Jesus is right now, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17). When we walk in true biblical prosperity, we endure the same suffering and persecution that Jesus did and all the prophets before Him, but we are also glorified with Him. This means that no matter what we go through, we can prosper. We must understand that the cross was the most prosperous thing Jesus ever did, and yet it was the most uncomfortable and inconvenient thing that Jesus endured. It was not fun, it did not feel good.
But because of the cross, we can now walk in the prosperity of God.
Because of the cross, we have been born from on high.
Because of the cross, we overcome and conquer.
Because of the most painful experience Jesus had, we can now walk in victory.
This is biblical prosperity. Jesus set His mind on the will of God, not upon the comfort of His flesh. And since we are now raised with Christ and seated with Him in spiritual authority & identity, we too can set our minds and our hearts on things above. And when we do this, we prosper in all that we do.
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed at the revelation of His glory.
1 Peter 4:12-13
Peter tells us to not even be surprised when fiery trials come upon us. He tells us it's not strange, and it shouldn't be strange or uncommon to us as believers! Peter is also the one who tells us to:
Be sober, watchful, alert, and vigilant, because your adversary the devil prowls around as a roaring lion looking for whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8)
Prepare your minds for action and keep sober in your spirit, and set your hope fully on the grace of the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:13).
Be of sound judgement (sober-minded) and of a sober spirit (disciplined and self-controlled) in prayer, because the end of all things is near (1 Peter 4:7).
Peter understood that life in Christ was a life of victory, hope, faith, truth, and grace... as well as a life of standing firm against the schemes of the enemy. He tells us to rejoice when we share in the sufferings of Christ, because in experiencing such suffering we will have a revelation of His glory! Every time we face persecution from man because of our faith in God, we can rejoice knowing that we are experiencing the same thing that the WORD made flesh experienced! Every time we face lack but choose to trust in our Father's care for us and stand on the WORD of God, we can rejoice because we are undergoing the same experiences Jesus had when He walked the earth. And if we continue to stand in faith, and keep our hearts and minds fixed on how good and how big our God is- not on how big our lack is- then we shall see God's glory come through for us, just like Jesus did.
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