Living in the Fullness of the Blessing Page 6

  What is your vision today?

  . . . And the Lord said unto Abram after that Lot was separated, lift up now thine eyes and look from the place where thou art northward and southward and eastward and westward. For all the land which thou seeth to thee will I giveth and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: So if a man can number the dust of the earth then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, and walk through the land and the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it.

  – Genesis 13:14-17 (ASV)

  Notice the phrase lift up thine eyes and look. What was God doing? What was He telling Abraham?

  God is saying to him, “I want you to look at something, and if you will look at what I am telling you to look at, it’s going to create a permanent vision on the inside of you for what I want you to have” (author’s paraphrase). God is endeavoring to teach Abraham how to develop a vision. God wants Abraham to catch the vision of increase. He wants him to catch the vision of living in the fullness of the blessing that God had in store for him.

  God wants Abraham to get to the point where when he looks at himself, he no longer sees one man but he sees a nation. Every time Abraham looks at the sand, God wants him to not just see sand but see descendants. At one point, He even told him to go out and look at all the stars and that if he could count the number of stars in the sky, then that’s how many his seed would be.

  What was God endeavoring to do? Create a vision on the inside of Abraham. God wants Abraham to catch the vision that He has for his life. And He wants you to do the same thing. He wants you to catch the vision He has for your life. And what is God’s vision for your life? Living in the fullness of the blessing. He wants you increasing in every area of your life. That’s His vision for you. Increase.

  IT ALL BEGINS WITH A VISION

  When Carolyn and I first started learning about this, we didn’t have any monetary seed to sow. Like I have said earlier, we were broke. But God changed all of that. Right now our biggest household “expense” is our giving. Why did it change? Because we began to get a vision of increase. We began to understand our covenant rights, and we began to understand that the blessing was on us. Once we saw in the Word that living in the fullness of the blessing was our covenant right, then we began developing a vision for it.

  One of the verses that really helped me in those early days was: Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your own seed . . . (2 Corinthians 9:10).

  It was the Amplified Version of that verse that really helped perfect my vision. It says, And [God] Who provides seed for the sower and bread for eating will also provide and multiply your resources for sowing...

  Notice that last phrase. He will provide and multiply you’re resources for sowing. Let’s just say for instance that you are a tither. That means you are giving 10% of your income, but then you are also a giver of offerings over and above your tithe. So, let’s say that you give another 10% in offerings. Now you are giving 20% of your income into tithes and into offerings. Notice that it says that He will multiply your resources for sowing. If He is multiplying your resources for sowing, then He is also multiplying your resources for living. Right?

  If you have more to sow that means you also have more to live on. So that helped perfect God’s vision for my life over 39 years ago. When I saw that God promised that He would multiply my resources for sowing. I started saying by faith, when I had very little to sow, that God was multiplying my resources for sowing. That is exactly what He has done over the years. He has multiplied my resources for sowing.

  The principle here is that you cannot out give God. You will never be able to out give Him, no matter how much you give. Once again, if you are able to sow more, then obviously you are in a position to receive more. Right?

  What did God tell Abraham? Look and see, look and see. Let me ask you again: What do you see today? Do you see increase coming your way? Do you see financial breakthroughs coming your way? Do you see yourself getting out of debt? Do you see yourself being able to pay cash for your next automobile? Do you see yourself, perhaps for the first time in your life, paying the mortgage off and it not taking thirty years? Can you see that?

  Lift up thine eyes and see. Catching God’s vision for your life is what it takes in order for living in the fullness of the blessing to become a reality in your life. You have to be able to see yourself living that way on the inside in order for it to become a reality in your life.

  PERFECTED VISION

  It all begins with a vision, and the only way that that vision can come and be developed and perfected is quality time in the Word. In 2 Corinthians 3:18 it says, But we, all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory, to glory even as by the spirit of the Lord. The Amplified says it this way, And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continue to behold [in the word of God] as in a mirror . . .

  Notice that the Word of God is compared to a mirror. And God says as you continue to look in the mirror of His Word, you are constantly being transfigured and changed into His very own image and ever-increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another. The more time you spend in the Word of God, then the more you are going to be changed into the image of Jesus.

  You could say it this way: The more you look into God’s Word as a mirror, then you will see a clearer image of yourself in God’s eyes. Why? Because the Word doesn’t reveal what you look like in the world’s eyes, it is the way you look to God.

  That’s the reason you can’t find in the Word where God sees you sick or broke and barely getting by. No. God sees you as an overcomer and more than a conqueror. God sees you living in the fullness of the blessing He has pro-nounced on your life. The more you look into the Word of God, then the more you are going to see yourself the way God sees you, and you will catch His vision for your life. God wants you to see yourself the way He sees you. How do you do that? By spending time in the Word.

  DON’T PERISH

  Where there is no vision, the people perish . . .

  – Proverbs 29:18

  If people can’t see what God is doing, then they stum- ble . . . But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed.

  – Proverbs 29:18 (Message translation)

  If you don’t have God’s vision in your heart, then when you

  die, you will have never taped into God’s best for your life.

  If you can’t see on the inside what God wants for you, then it will never manifest on the outside. My challenge to you is to lift up your eyes and look. Look beyond your circumstances. Stop looking at what you can see in the natural. Start looking through the eye of faith and start seeing yourself living in the fullness of the blessing.

  When you get to the place that you can see what God sees, then you will be “most blessed.” That sounds to me like living in the fullness of the blessing. How about you?

  WHAT VISION WILL DO IN YOUR LIFE

  I have found four things over the last 39 years that vision will do in your life.

  1) Vision will enable you to see life the way God wants

  you to live it.

  2) Vision will ignite your desire for the kind of life that

  God wants you to live.

  3) Vision will enable you to stay focused on God’s plan

  for your life.

  4) Vision produces the perseverance that you will need

  while you are waiting for your vision to come to pass.

  VISION ENABLES YOU TO SEE THE LIFE THE WAY GOD WANTS YOU TO LIVE IT

  As I have already said, you have to be able to see yourself living in the fullness of the blessing in your heart before you will ever see it happening on the outside. I didn’t start prospering until after I saw myself prosperous and that was when I had nothing in the natural.

  When I got into the Word and found out God wanted me to prosper (But I wish above all things that thou mayest pr
osper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 3 John 2) I began to see myself prosperous. Even though I still had debts and even though I still had bills up to my eyeballs, even when it looked like there was no way I could pay everything off, something had changed on the inside of me. I saw what God saw. God saw me as prosperous and so did I. That’s what vision is. It is the ability to see what God sees.

  The dictionary defines vision as a mental image. It is the ability to see something that has not yet manifested in the natural realm.

  By faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed, and he went out, not knowing wither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

  – Hebrews 11:8-10

  What was driving Abraham? He was looking for something that he could not see in the natural realm.

  By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God’s call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left, he had no idea where he was going. By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same . . . living under the same promise. Abraham did it by keeping an eye on an unseen city. Message translation

  Abraham did it by keeping his eyes on an unseen city. Why was Abraham was able to do this? Because he had a vision. What God had said to him created a vision on the inside of him. Notice that something was “driving him” so to speak. It was his vision. He saw something that other people couldn’t see and it got him up in the morning. It put him to bed at night. And even though he spent some time living in tents, he didn’t get discouraged.

  Sometimes you have to live in a tent before you get to the palace; but don’t get discouraged while you are in the tent. Keep your eyes on the palace. Don’t get discouraged while you are driving that old worn out car. Keep your eyes on what’s coming. Keep your eyes on living in the fullness of the blessing.

  Abraham saw what God saw and it motivated him. It kept him moving forward. It would not allow him to give up when it looked as though it would never come to pass. Once again, Abraham saw what God saw. That’s what vision is - the ability to see what God sees. If you can’t see what God sees, then you will never have all that God wants you to have.

  Allow what God sees to become what you see. Allow His vision for your life to become your vision for your life. If you continue to see yourself as always living from paycheck to paycheck, then that is what is going to happen. If you continue to see yourself barely getting by, then that is how you will always live your life. But, if you will see yourself living in the fullness of the blessing, then that’s what will happen, and eventually, you will get there.

  VISION IGNITES YOUR DESIRE FOR THE KIND OF LIFE GOD WANTS YOU TO LIVE

  The dictionary defines desire as something longed for or something craved for. Everybody understands desire. The word crave is defined as intense desire.

  That means you are no longer wishing. You don’t get anything by wishing for it. Jesus said, What things soever ye desire . . . Mark 11:24. He didn’t say, “Whatsoever things ye wish for.” Wishing has nothing to do with what we are talking about. We are talking about desire.

  The word intense means expressing strong emotion and being firmly fixed on having something.

  Having vision also ignites intense desire for your vision. But, if you don’t truly desire your vision, you won’t pursue it. The things that you currently possess in your life right now more than likely started with a desire. If you are living in your dream house, you had to desire it first. Right? If you are married to that man or woman of your dreams, you had to desire him or her first. Do you understand what I am saying?

  If you desire something intensely, you will go after it with everything you have got. You will go after it with all your heart.

  If living in the fullness of the blessing is not a vision yet, then your desire, which is a spiritual force, will not be ignited. Your vision ignites your desire. It will set it on fire. You will begin to desire it so much that you are determined to have it. You will become firmly fixed on living your vision. You will become intense about it and refuse to give up until it manifests in your life.

  This is what Paul was referring to when he said in Philippians 3:14, I press toward the mark . . . The Message translation says . . . I’m off and running and I’m not turning back.

  Once again, vision ignites your desire to have all that God says is rightfully yours. So make it your intense desire to live in the fullness of the blessing. Become firmly fixed on seeing it come to pass and refuse to give up. If you won’t give up, you will eventually get there.

  VISION ENABLES YOU TO STAY FOCUSED ON GOD’S PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE

  When you have a vision on the inside of you, it is going to help you stay focused.

  But why is it so necessary that you stay focused? Why doesn’t God just do this stuff and make it so that we don’t have to do anything. Well, that might be nice if it happened that way, but if it did, it would never develop the character of Jesus in you. If God answered all your prayers instantly, it would never develop patience in you. It would never develop long suffering in you. It would never develop the fruit of the spirit in you.

  Not only that, it is necessary to stay focused because distractions are one of Satan’s primary weapons which he uses against us in an attempt to keep us from having what God says belongs to us.

  A distraction is anything that attempts to divert your attention. You could say it this way: Distractions are “focus thieves.” That’s why Solomon said in Proverbs 4:25, Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

  Why do you need to look right on? Because if you don’t, Satan will distract you.

  Have you noticed that when you are believing for healing Satan will try to distract you by creating some other symptom in your body? Or, if you are believing for finances, Satan will try to distract you by something else breaking or not working. I call that symptoms of lack. I know what that’s like. I have experienced it before.

  Just about the time I found out God wanted me blessed and prosperous, the mailman showed up with another bill that I couldn’t pay. Do you know what I am talking about?

  Proverbs 4 in the Message translation says . . . Keep your eyes straight ahead; and ignore all sideshow distrac-

  tions . . .

  The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan comes immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have not root in themselves and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth up for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended. And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, and the cares of this world; and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.

  – Mark 4:14-19

  That’s what Satan is after. He wants you to be unfruitful. He wants the Word to be unfruitful, non-productive, and producing no results in your life. That is what distractions are all about.

  Distractions are designed by Satan to cause you to be unfruitful. That means that you won’t get any results in your life and then you start blaming the Word or God for it when it had nothing at all to do with God and nothing at all to do with the Word. It was Satan using one of his best weapons against you. He got you distracted.

  The book of James also tells us that distractions are designed by the devil to get you to become double-minded. What happens when a person becomes double-minded?

  When a person becomes double-minded that simply means that they are no longer focused, and usually it is because
of a distraction.

  For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

  – James 1:7-8

  So a double-minded man can’t expect to receive anything from God. Why? Because he is unstable in all his ways. A double-minded man is a man who has lost his focus. This man has allowed distractions to come into his life, and those distractions have become focus thieves.

  What do you do when you are faced with distractions? You stay focused on your vision. Smith Wigglesworth said, “I’m not moved by what I see. I’m not moved by what I feel. I’m not moved by what I hear. I’m moved only by what I believe, and I believe the Word of the Living God.”

  That needs to become your attitude when you are faced with distractions.

  Satan is not going to just roll over and play dead because you have gotten a vision for living in the fullness of the blessing. No. He’s not going to do that. Believe me. The fight will be on. He doesn’t want you living the life that God has planned for you, but you have to determine to stay focused on your vision and not get distracted.

  WRITE IT DOWN