I was guilty of what I’m about to say. . .but not anymore.
I used to speak about what I had to have to meet this or that need. I, unwittingly, developed a need mentality. . .which was reinforced by the words of my mouth.
I can remember totaling up bills and praying for God to meet a need of this amount or that amount by a specific date planting seed when I learned that concept.
When the need was met. . .I breathed a sigh of relief and, of course, gave God the glory.
However, a moment of pure revelation came to my fine wife Bev and I. . .the day we realized that we should stop thinking and speaking in terms of need. . and begin thinking and speaking surplus.
The simple fact is when you live in surplus. . .you’ll never have to ask God to meet another need. . .ever again.
It’s time to go on a little journey with us. . .through three verses of scripture. . .where we will find seven reasons to stop thinking need and begin speaking surplus.
Deuteronomy 28:10-12 in the Amplified Bible says:
10 And all people of the earth shall see that you are called by the name [and in the presence of] the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you.
11 And the Lord shall make you have a surplus of prosperity, through the fruit of your body, of your livestock, and of your ground, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you.
12 The Lord shall open to you His good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.
Here are seven keys to leaving your needs behind. . .and moving into surplus.
1. All the people of the earth shall see.
All people...not just your family...not just the folks at church...not just the people in your neighborhood...not just the folks on your job...all people and that includes people you don't even know...in places you've never been.
Now let me tell you something sweet...that includes the people who never believed in you...who put you down and criticized you.
Exodus 19:5 says:
"Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine."
The key to the entire world seeing what the Word describes in Verse 10. . .is your obedience to His divine direction.
Deuteronomy 7:13-15 says:
13 And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
The first eleven words of verse 13 contain three powerful promises.
God will love you.
God will bless you.
God will multiply you in every area of your life.
That my friends. . .is spiritually sweet.
Deuteronomy 7:14 says:
“Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.”
Not only is God going to bless you. . .but it will be above ALL PEOPLE.
Deuteronomy 7:15 says:
“And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee."
There’s that powerful three-letter word again. . .ALL.
Understand that God didn’t need to use the word ALL. He could have said… Most of the time… or If you do everything right … but that isn’t what He said.
We have to understand that God is not the one holding us back. If you look in any mirror, you will see the only one holding you back.
Psalm 96:3 says:
"Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people."
2. You are called by the name [and in the presence of] the Lord.
Too many people view God as some ominous mystical universal presence that you “Ooh and Aah” over. Don’t get me wrong. . .He’s that. . .but He’s so much more.
Your Heavenly Father is not only approachable . . . He wants us to seek His presence. He wants to be with us … think about that!
Psalm 27:8 in the Amplified Bible says:
“You have said, Seek My face [inquire for and require My presence as your vital need]. My heart says to You, Your face (Your presence), Lord, will I seek, inquire for, and require [of necessity and on the authority of Your Word].”
When you enter into God’s presence. . .He will show you things you never knew.
Jeremiah 33:3 in the Amplified Bible says:
“Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, fenced in and hidden, which you do not know (do not distinguish and recognize, have knowledge of and understand).”
What He shows you in His presence. . .will make you amazed beyond description.
Psalm 16:11 in the Amplified Bible says:
“You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.”
In His presence. . .He empowers us.
Psalm 138:3 in the New Living Translation says:
“As soon as I pray, you answer me; you encourage me by giving me strength.”
When you leave His that inner sanctuary . . .He’s still thinking about you. . .during every moment of the day.
Jeremiah 29:11-13 in The Living Bible says:
“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. You will find me when you seek me, if you look for me in earnest.”
Yes, you can have the absolute confidence in knowing that He’s thinking about you. . .at this very moment.
Psalm 40:17 in The Living Bible says:
“I am poor and weak, yet the Lord is thinking about me right now!”
Numerous times, I’ve referenced this powerful verse during a Rich Thoughts For Breakfast phone call. It’s an incredibly encouraging verse.
“. . .the Lord is thinking about me right now.”
Personalize it.
“. . .the Lord is thinking about (put your name in here) right now.”
Take a moment to do this several times. There is a dynamic loosed when you hear what God is thinking about YOU!
Not only is God thinking about you but. . .He will send you on your way. . . with joy.
Acts 2:28 in the New Living Translation says:
“You have shown me the way of life, and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.”
3. They shall be afraid of you.
Deuteronomy 28:10-13 in the Amplified Bible says:
“10 And all people of the earth shall see that you are called by the name [and in the presence of] the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you.
All the people of the earth. . .not just those in your family, neighborhood or even your local church. All. . .means everybody you come into contact you. . .shall know that you are called by My Name.
That means they would be afraid to not treat you with respect because of Whose presence you represent.
Now let’s go a little further.
Exodus 3:20 in the Contemporary English Version says:
“So I will use my mighty power to perform all kinds of miracles and strike down the Egyptians. Then the king will send you away.”
When you’re in God’s presence. . .signs, wonders and miracles will be a frequent occurrence. These miracle manifestations will create an awe among the lost people around you and very possibly among some of the saved as well.
Exodus 3:21 in the Contemporary English Version says:
“After I punish the Egyptians, they will be so afraid of you that they will give you anything you want. You are my people, and I will let you take many things with you when you leave the land of Egypt.”
As His power is manifested in and through our lives. . .an economic shift begins to take place.
Exodus 3:22 in the Contemporary English Version says:
“Every Israelite woman will go to her Egyptian neighbors or to any Egyptian woman living in her house. She will ask them for gold and silver jewelry and for their finest clothes. The Egyptians will give them to you, and you will put these fine things on your sons and daughters. You will carry all this away when you leave Egypt.”
When people recognize the authority you operate under and the miracles following you. . .the end-time wealth transfer begins to take place in your life.
4. The Lord shall make you have a surplus of prosperity, through the fruit of your body, of your livestock, and of your ground, in the land.
Let’s look at Deuteronomy 28:11 in the Amplified Bible again.
“And the Lord shall make you have a surplus of prosperity, through the fruit of your body, of your livestock, and of your ground, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you.
Let’s personalize the first eleven words of this verse.
“And the Lord shall make (put your name here) have a surplus of prosperity. . .”
The Lord will make you have a surplus of prosperity. . .not a government stimulus package not even an inheritance from a rich relative. Notice the scripture doesn’t say He will give you a surplus of poverty.
No, He will give you a surplus of prosperity.
Your surplus of prosperity is not based on you . . . though your obedience to God’s Word will determine whether or not you receive what God has in store for you.
Your actions and reactions will either positively or negatively determine your destiny.
There is a law of cause and effect. When you do what God says in His Word, then you will reap a harvest of blessings.
Not only will you reap the harvest of blessings but the Word says “…the Lord shall make you have a surplus of prosperity.”
Note that you will not just be prosperous but you will have a surplus of prosperity.
Luke 12:32 says:
“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
Here’s a question. . .if it’s God’s will to give us the kingdom, then why are so many people struggling? Here are at least five hindrances to your surplus.
Fear. . .of the unknown. Fear of failure.
Doubt. . .that God will do what He says He will do in His word.
Anxiety. . .over the current economic and political landscape.
Hesitation. . .to give what God says to give because of our perceived limitations and lack. Maybe we should say ‘preconceived’ limitations from what you experienced in the past.
Disbelief. . .over whether everything promised in the Bible applies to “me.”
Child of God, the word is clear. . .it’s your Heavenly Father’s pleasure to give you the kingdom. . .a surplus of prosperity.
“Surplus is Good.”
In fact, let’s personalize that. . .
“Surplus is good for the (put your last name here) family.
5. Which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you.
Have you ever wondered why God wants to bless you in so many ways?
It’s simple actually. . .He will always keep His word. God is not a man that He should lie. Numbers 23:19
Exodus 13:5 in the Amplified Bible says:
“And when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which He promised and swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey [a land of plenty], you shall keep this service in this month.”
God will go before you and defeat all the “ites: in your life.
The Canaanite Spirit wants to keep you mentally depressed, financially busted and without hope.
The Hittite Spirit is one of dread and fear to take you off track.
The Ammonite Spirit is a false voice. . one that is accusing and speaking against you.
The Hivite Spirit is one of wickedness and deception.
The Jebusite Spirit is one of heaviness, negativity, of being trampled down. Debt is a Jebusite spirit.
God is going to help you defeat everything that’s trying to hold you back. . .and keep you from receiving what God promised to your forefathers.
Deuteronomy 7:13 in the Amplified Bible says:
“And He will love you, bless you, and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your land, your grain, your new wine, and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the young of your flock in the land which He swore to your fathers to give you.”
6. The Lord shall open to you His good treasury to bless all the work of your hands.
We’ve established that God wants you to have a surplus of prosperity.
I think it’s important to understand what the word surplus means. According to the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary it’s defined as:
“the amount that remains when use or need is satisfied.”
I like the way that sounds . . .the amount that remains. . .that’s a good word surplus.
It reminded me of Proverbs 3:10 in The Amplified Bible which describes what happens when you honor the Lord with your first fruits:
“So shall your storage places be filled with plenty….”
Storage places are used for surplus.
Over the years, I’ve walked into seven different bank vaults that I can remember. Wachovia Bank and Trust, Southern Bank and Trust, First Union Bank and Trust, North Carolina National Bank and Trust, Bank of America, SouthTrust Bank and Wells Fargo.
I’m sure these bank vaults all contained millions and millions of dollars. . .but none of them can compare with the Bank of Heaven. . .which our Heavenly Father wants to open up to us.
He will bless the work of our hands. However, He can’t bless what we aren’t doing.
Deuteronomy 2:7 says:
“The LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast desert. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.”
When God looks at your hands, He sees unlimited potential for blessings, miracles, and prosperity. We have that authority as believers!
John 3:35 says:
“The Father loved the son and placed everything in his hands.”
When the soldiers came to take Jesus captive in the Garden of Gethsemane, the first thing they did was to bind His hands. Why?
. . .those hands had made mud, placed it on the eyes of a blind man that allowed him to instantly see.
. . .those hands took the five loaves and two fishes from a young lad and fed a multitude of people.
. . .those hands had been a point of contact for a great host of people who found His healing touch brought instant relief to their sick and suffering bodies.
. . .those hands had resurrection power – AND so do yours.
John 14:12 says:
“He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”
God very specifically listed in His Word how we are to use our hands to save the lost, heal the sick, deliver the oppressed and finance the end-time harvest.
When we are obedient to God. . .He will bless all the work of our hands with every benefit bestowed upon us by the Son.
Deuteronomy 16:15 says:
“The Lord. . .shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands”
Have you noticed that “works of thine hands” appears in most of these scriptures? It’s the works of the hand. . .the power. . .that God releases into your hands.
7. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.
Deuteronomy 15:5-6 in the Amplified Bible says:
“If only you carefully listen to the voice of the Lord your God, to do watchfully all these commandments which I command you this day. When the Lord your God blesses you as He promised you, then you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you.”
The scripture says “you shall not borrow.” That statement is pretty clear to me. Do not borrow.
There are some who talk about debt as being good and bad. Let’s take a look at the various kinds of debt. . .and see what’s good or bad.
There are five kinds of debt. . .business, consumer, credit card, investment and mortgage.
Consumer and credit card debt should be avoided at all costs.
Consumer and credit card debt are the result of the flesh wanting something. . . to make a person feel better about himself or better than somebody else. I won’t say this is an absolute fact. . .but pretty close to it. Many people buy stuff just to impress their friends and family or make themselves feel better.
James 1:13 says:
“But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.”
James 4:3 says:
“Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”
Do you find it interesting that James 4:3 uses the word consume?
There was a time when people wanted to keep up with the Jones’. However, that’s not necessary anymore because the Jones’ have already declared Chapter 13 bankruptcy.
The kind of wants or lusts that birth consumer and credit card debt includes: vacations, big-ticket items such as electronics and appliances; clothes, entertainment; furniture; aesthetic home improvement; and the list could go on and on. They are wants, not needs, and people will go into debt to have them.
There is an amazing parallel to the rise of advertising in this country and the upward spiral of debt. The media and its advertisers create a false impression and concept of what the good life really is.
The Pied Pipers of wants and lusts play a hypnotic message that has caused millions and millions of consumers to swallow the bait of wants . . . hook, line and sinker.
I have read all 800,000 words in the 66 chapters of the Bible from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21.
In fact, I’ve read the Bible through a number of times but I have never once seen where the Bible says that debt is good. It’s just not in the book.
Finally, let’s look at Deuteronomy 28:12-13 in the Message Bible:
“God will throw open the doors of his sky vaults and pour rain on your land on schedule and bless the work you take in hand. You will lend to many nations but you yourself won't have to take out a loan. God will make you the head, not the tail; you'll always be the top dog, never the bottom dog, as you obediently listen to and diligently keep the commands of God, your God, that I am commanding you today.”
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