Living in the Fullness of the Blessing Read online

  BE FREE

  Instead of speaking words that keep you bound, learn to speak words that set you free. When Paul said that we should not let any corrupt communication proceed from our mouth (Ephesians 4:29), he was talking about words that destroy, words that ruin, words that bring decay into our lives. Don’t speak words that are going to make your situation worse. Speak words that will bring life and freedom.

  For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

  – Matthew 12:37

  Justified means to be deemed right. In other words, when you line up your words with God’s Word, then He will honor your obedience and you will be blessed.

  Condemned means you have pronounced a verdict on yourself. When you are talking things contrary to God’s Word then you have pronounced your own sentence. Solomon said it this way:

  Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.

  – Proverbs 6:2

  The word snared means trapped. When you are talking contrary to the Word of God then you are setting a trap for yourself. One of the Greek words that has been trans- lated into the English word “snare” is noose. Like a hangman’s noose. In other words, you can hang yourself with your words.

  A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.

  – Matthew 12:35

  Your words are going to come to pass. Your tongue holds the power of life and death in it. You have to choose which it will be. Will it be life or will it be death? Will it be living in the fullness of the blessing or will it be continuing on the same path?

  You can’t live in the fullness of the blessing the way God wants you to if you are constantly speaking words that are contrary to His Word.

  The Bible tells us that Jesus, according to Hebrews 3:1, is “the Apostle and High Priest of our profession . . . . W.E. Vines translates this word profession into the word confession. Jesus is the Apostle and High Priest of our confession. When we are speaking God’s words then Jesus can get in agreement with us and watch over them to perform them. He cannot be the high priest of your words, or your confession, if they don’t line up with God’s Word. He can only come into agreement with you when you choose to speak His Words.

  WORDS IN MOTION

  When you speak God’s Word, it also releases the angels to work in your behalf. Speaking about angels, the author of the book of Hebrews wrote in Hebrews 1:14 - Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? The author of Hebrews is telling us that the angels are sent forth to minister for you and me. We are the heirs of salvation. When you made Jesus the Lord of your life then you became an heir of salvation. Now the angels work for you, but you have to give them something to work with.

  Psalm 103:20 says, Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. Notice what the angels have been commanded by God to do: hearken to His Word. They are to listen for His Word. And once they hear His Word, they are to cause it to come to pass.

  How do they hear God’s Word? They hear it one of three ways:

  1) When God speaks it

  2) When Jesus speaks it

  3) When you and I speak it

  When you are speaking the Word, all of the angels stand at attention. They recognize the language you are speaking. They say, “He is talking our language. He is speaking the Word.” What does the Bible say they do when they hear His Word? They excel in strength, hearkening unto the voice of God’s Word to do it.

  When you are speaking the Word over your circumstances, over your feelings, over your symptoms, then you have gotten the attention of the angels. Their job is to go make the Word come to pass! They only hearken to God’s Word. They don’t hearken to doubt and unbelief. They don’t hearken to words that are contrary to God’s Word. It is only when we speak God’s Word that we can expect the angels to move in our behalf. When they hear the Word out of your mouth, they begin to busy themselves in endeavoring to bring the Word to pass in your life.

  CHAPTER 6

  Keep Your Life Pure

  At Jerry Savelle Ministries, at the beginning of every new year, we have a staff meeting. This is when I share with my staff what I believe God wants us to do for that year, our vision, our goals, and so forth. The last thing my staff hears every year is that I pledge and I promise to them that I will keep my life pure, that I will not disappoint them by being a bad example and a bad representative of Jesus Christ. I do that not just for them but also out of gratitude to God for the blessing that is on my life.

  And the same should be true for you. If you are deeply grateful for this blessing that God has given you, then you will show it by keeping your life pure.

  Another key to living in the fullness of the blessing of God is this: Show God how much you appreciate the blessing by keeping your life pure.

  You might be thinking, “Wait a minute, Jerry, what about saying thank you?”

  Well, saying thank you to God is wonderful, and you should thank God for the blessing, but I believe the greatest expression of your thankfulness of the blessing is keeping your life pure.

  This is what Paul was talking about in Colossians 1:10:

  That you may walk (live and conduct yourselves) in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him and desiring to please Him in all things . . . (Amplified).

  So once again, the greatest expression of your gratitude for God placing this blessing on your life is through keeping your life pure.

  One of the greatest examples of this in the Bible is that of

  a man named Joseph. The blessing of God was on this man’s life. It was on his life in such a powerful way that it showed up everywhere he went no matter what his circumstances were.

  His brothers sold him into slavery, and he eventually became the property of Potipher, an Egyptian captain. But even as a slave, the Bible says in Genesis 39:2, and the Lord was with Joseph. That’s just another way of saying the blessing was upon his life. Even as a slave, the blessing was upon Joseph.

  If you read the story, it doesn’t matter where you put this guy, the blessing would show up. If you put him in good and favorable circumstances, the blessing would show up or if you put him in slavery and in prison, the blessing would still show up. The blessing would manifest everywhere he went. If you read Genesis 39, it says that God prospered Joseph. He was a prosperous man.

  IT’S NOT LUCK – IT’S THE BLESSING

  It’s one thing when you know the blessing of God is on your life, but it’s something else when other people know it. They may not be able to tell you exactly what it is, but they know there is something on you that makes you different from most people.

  I can’t tell you the number of times over the last 39 years that I have had people say to me, “You’re the luckiest guy I have ever met. I’ve never seen a guy with more luck than you.” It’s not luck. I don’t operate in luck. Luck has nothing to do with my life. It’s the blessing. And God is no respecter of persons. He doesn’t love me (or Joseph) any more than He loves you. He loves you just as much. He wants people to notice that there is something different about you too.

  The blessing made Joseph a prosperous man, and even

  Potipher noticed it. The Bible says in Genesis 39:3, And his master (speaking of Potipher) saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper . . . Not only did the blessing cause Joseph to prosper, but the Bible also says, And Joseph . . . was well favoured. (Genesis 39:6)

  Joseph was so appreciative of the blessing that was on his life that when Potipher’s wife tried to seduce him, he would not yield. Why? Because he knew that it would not be pleasing to God.

  . . . how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?

  – Genesis 39:9

  What is he saying? Joseph was saying that he was a
ppreciative of the blessing of God that was on his life and he was going to show God how appreciative he was by keeping his life pure.

  This is a vital key to living in the fullness of the blessing. We don’t hear a lot of teaching on this, particularly in our faith circles. We want to sweep some things under the rug sometimes. But how you conduct your life has everything to do with how much of the fullness of the blessing you will walk in.

  Even though Potipher’s wife lied to her husband about Joseph and it caused Joseph to be thrown into prison, he would not compromise his stand. He made up his mind that it didn’t matter what they did to him or where they put him. He knew there was something that God had put on his life that would cause him to be prosperous whatever they did with him.

  Joseph knew that if they put him in the lowest pit, it didn’t matter because God would bless him in that pit. And that’s exactly what God did. Why? Because he showed God how appreciative he was of the blessing that was on his life by keeping his life pure.

  . . . The Lord was with him, and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper.

  – Genesis 39:23

  Eventually Joseph, a slave, thrown into prison for something he did not do, became the Prime Minister of Egypt. God promoted him. God exalted him. Why? Because he was appreciative of the blessing that was on his life, and he showed it by keeping his life pure.

  NO COMPROMISE

  The Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 2:15 that you and I live in a crooked and perverse world. The world we live in today has gone absolutely nuts. Who would have ever dreamed 30 years ago of the kind of sin that is just blatant and right out in front in America today? Sodom and Gomorrah had nothing on today’s society. You can be just as perverse, perverted as you want to be and the government will probably give you the right to be that way.

  Isaiah saw this in the spirit and prophesied that when the world is full of darkness and the minds of men are in total darkness that is when the glory of the Lord is going to be seen upon us.

  As the world gets darker and darker, then the church will get brighter and brighter. But that means that you and I have a responsibility. We live in a perverse and crooked world. We live in a world that is constantly trying to get us to compromise our stand. Satan wants you to yield to this perversion so that he can prevent you from walking in the fullness of the blessing.

  BE HOLY

  Are you living a godly lifestyle or have you accepted the world’s standards for moral conduct?

  . . . and ye shall be holy; for I am holy . . .

  – Leviticus 11:44

  Many people don’t like that verse. It’s not in their confes-sion packet. Why not? Because “be ye” requires some-thing. It speaks of responsibility. So you have to ask yourself: What about my lifestyle?

  Have you noticed how hard it is to find a television program that is not promoting the world’s low standard of moral conduct? I don’t use foul language. I don’t cuss, but it is becoming more and more difficult to find a television broadcast that doesn’t have foul language in it. I mean there are words that used to never be spoken in public, and you sure didn’t speak them at all if you were a Christian, and now they have just become everyday, acceptable language. The same thing with using the Lord’s name in vain. How many times have you heard “Jesus Christ” said in vain? That grieves the Holy Spirit.

  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.

  – Titus 2: 12

  Abstain from evil [Shrink from it and keep aloof from it] in whatever form or whatever kind it may be.

  – I Thessalonians 5:22 (Amplified)

  Our disregard for God’s standards for moral behavior has everything to do with not experiencing the fullness of the blessing like God intended. You simply cannot compromise God’s standards and expect to live in the fullness of the blessing.

  DON’T MISS THE MARK

  The word “sin” in the Greek literally means to miss the mark. It is also described as falling short.

  I don’t want to fall short of God’s best. How about you?

  Look at it like this. What if you lived your whole life just barely getting by, living from paycheck to paycheck and just about the time you were about to die, you found out that you had a rich uncle that had left you an inheritance and you didn’t know about it until the day you were dying. Wouldn’t that make you a little perturbed? To know that your whole life you had been living paycheck to paycheck only to find out that an inheritance was waiting for you all along and you didn’t know about it.

  That’s what sin does. It causes you to miss the mark. It causes you to fall short. That’s what Paul was talking about in Romans 3:23, All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. What’s the glory of God? The manifested presence of God. I don’t want to fall short of that. I want God’s best.

  My attitude is that I have traveled too many miles, preached too many sermons, slept in too many hotels, flown on too many airlines, stayed in too many other countries, and prayed too many prayers to blow it all now. Not me. I am not going to do that.

  Sometimes I go to meetings and get started talking about things like this, and they say I am old fashioned. Well, if that’s what you want to call it, then fine. But the blessing is increasing in my life. Why? Because I keep my life pure. And if you don’t keep your life pure, then you limit how much of God’s best you can enjoy.

  DEAL WITH IT

  Now, if you’ve blown it, if you’ve missed the mark, if you’ve fallen short, then confess it to Him. We have an advocate with the Father, even the righteous Jesus Christ. He says that if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us and give us a fresh start. Not only that, He said He will remember our iniquities no more.

  So if you’ve been involved in something that was a mistake, don’t condemn yourself. But don’t just sweep it under the rug either. Deal with it. Deal with it scripturally. Ask God to forgive you, and then work on correcting it and don’t be so easily tempted the next time. That’s what resisting the devil is all about.

  The Bible tells us to resist the devil and he will flee from you. You have to resist every opportunity that he presents to you that is designed to get you to compromise.

  When I first went into the ministry, I was amazed at the opportunities that came to compromise. I remember my first trip with Kenneth Copeland. A woman called me and propositioned me. She began to describe in detail what she was willing to do. I slammed the phone down. It scared me. I started praying in tongues. I didn’t know people talked to preachers like she talked to me. I thought, “Dear God, some crazy woman’s lusting after me out there.”

  And she didn’t stop. She kept calling me. She would call me all day. She would call me into the night. I remember thinking that I couldn’t tell Kenneth Copeland because I thought he would cast the devils out of me and then fire me. I was shook up over this whole deal. I didn’t know what to do.

  Then one day, I told him what happened. I told him exactly what this woman had said. He started laughing.

  Now, I didn’t see the humor in this at all. I said, “What are you laughing at?”

  He reached out and shook my hand and said, “Welcome to the ministry. Now you know you’re a precious life, and now you know you’re a threat to the devil, and now you know that the anointing of God is on you to and Satan is trying to trip you up before you can even get started good.”

  Well, it’s been almost 40 years now and I am still here and I am living in the blessing more than ever before. Why? Because I think too highly of the blessing to do anything to jeopardize it. I think too highly of what God has done in my life through the blessing. And I’m going to demonstrate my attitude not just by saying “thank you” every once in a while but by living my life pure everyday.

  Once again, I know this is not a topic that is discussed very much. But it is vital. If you want to live in the fullness of the blessing, then show God how appreciative and how gr
ateful you are for the blessing by keeping your life pure.

  CHAPTER 7

  Look For Every Opportunity To Give

  To acquire something you want, then you must be willing to sow something you already have.

  I was in a city one time preaching for a Pastor friend of mine. It was a Sunday morning service, and so after the service was over, he took me to a cafeteria to eat. We went down the line getting our food, and then we came to the person at the register who adds up your bill. The man commented on the tie that I was wearing.

  He said, “Mister, that is the most beautiful tie I’ve ever seen.”

  I said, “Well, thank you.”

  He said, “I’ve never seen a tie like that. Did you buy that here in town?”