Excellent Benefits

Everyday is a new day. Fresh opportunity is mine for the taking.

There have been plenty of times in my life when I didn’t feel that optimistic. There have been times when I felt so discouraged that I didn’t feel like I had the strength to meet life’s challenges one more day. Paul explained it like this:

“For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:” (2 Cor. 1:8).

Paul endured hardship and heartache. He experienced mental over-load and physical beatings. He was ship wrecked, snake bit, imprisoned, and left for dead. He felt like quitting. He felt like giving up and dying. But Paul never allowed his feelings to lead him or direct the outcome. Each time Paul made the decision to persevere.
“But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;” (2 Cor. 1:9-10).

Paul chose to trust God.

When things get rough, when it looks like we’re not going to make it and it’d be easier just to give up and quit, it’s decision time.

There are times when I have to remind myself of who I am. Times when I ask myself if I’m going to let something as fickle as how I feel rob me of God’s promises.

Jesus paid a hefty price for us to live in peace and enjoy an abundant life. It cost Him every drop of Blood in His body so that we might be restored into fellowship with Father God and live as children of the King.

Might denotes the possibility of something. Maybe it won’t, but then again, it just might. What it means is that Everything Jesus Died To Give Us won’t just fall into our laps. If it did we’d see the entire body of Christ enjoying all the benefits. It’s just like salvation. Jesus died so we could have it. But until we’re aware of it and become willing to receive it nothing changes.

Like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we have an enemy. He comes to steal from us and prevent us from having the abundant life our Father wants us to have. One of his techniques is deception. He used it against Eve. When Jesus was in the wilderness the devil tried to entice Him with fame and fortune. And food.

Fame and fortune is okay if it’s obtained the right way. The wrong way is compromising our standards and bowing our knee to riches and unjust gain.

God promised Abraham that He would make his name famous. He promised that if Abraham followed Him and did things His way he would not only bless him but that Abraham would be a blessing to others (see Genesis 12).

The Bible tells us that Abraham was the wealthiest guy around. It also tells us that if we belong to God the promise and blessing of Abraham belongs to us, (see Galatians 3).

The enemy likes to tell us we can’t have an abundance of money and blessing. He’s a liar. He often uses people who are wrong in their understanding to deceive others.

You see, if someone understands something wrong, their understanding of it is wrong. No matter how well meaning they seem or how often they’re in church, they still understand it wrong.
There are a lot of people who fall into this category. I’m sad to say that includes some pastors, and deacons, intercessory prayers and our relatives.

We have to read the Bible for ourselves. We have to rightly divide the Word of God and take anything we don’t understand to Him. We have a role in receiving Everything Jesus Died To Give Us. We can’t let another’s wrong understanding steal His promises from us.

“According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye MIGHT be partakers of the divine nature . . .” (2 Peter 1:3,4 emphasis mine).

There was a time in my life when I didn’t know that God had promises for me. I didn’t know I had an enemy working against me to ensure that I might never know about God’s promises. The enemy’s goal is to stop God’s promises from ever becoming a reality in any of our lives. Because I lacked this knowledge I wasn’t enjoying any of the benefits Jesus Died To Give Us.

Not knowing about these promises isn’t any different than knowing and understanding wrong. We only make them real in our lives by believing.

Are you in a place in your life where you may be wondering if this is all there is? Does it, or can it get any better? If God is real and He has promises of abundance, good health and victory, why aren’t they real in my life? Maybe you’re like I was and you’ve never heard that God promised you anything at all or that He wants to have a relationship with you. Don’t let His promises pass you by.
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