Living Abundantly
According to God's Word
Keys to Receiving from God's Word
Read Time: 12 Minutes
Knowing what is available, how to receive it and what to do with it after you've
got it in the natural realm is simple. We are taught that from an early
age. When we wanted to eat we just asked for it. When we wanted to fix dinner we
went to the store and bought the food or obtained it from our gardens and
brought it in and prepared it; however, many of us do not know what is available spiritually, let alone
how to receive it or what to do with it after we've received it. Receiving
spiritual things is just as easy as receiving things in the natural realm when
we know how.
How To Receive It
After we learn what is available in God's Word we need to know how to receive
it and desire it. Receiving God's promises are just as simple as receiving
things in the natural realm. We have learned that an abundant
life is available, so how do we receive it? It does me very little good to know
that an abundant life is available if I don't know how to receive it and what to do with it
after I've got it.
Matthew 6
:31 Therefore take no thought, saying,
What shall we eat?
or, What shall we drink?
or, Wherewithal shall we be
clothed?
:32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:)
for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all
these things.
:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God,
and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you.
How am I to get all my needs met? Seek God first, believe His Word. Don't fret about where our
next meal is to come from or where the clothes we are to wear comes from; God will provide it
all.
Luke 6
:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you;
good measure,
pressed down,
and shaken together,
and running over,
shall men
give into your bosom.
For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be
measured to you again.
Here is another key to living the more than abundant life. This is more than
just having your needs met. Give and God shall fill up your cup with an
excellent amount
(not just enough to get by, good measure), pressing it down, shaking it together
to settle it and get the air out, and having more put in so that it runs
over. That's our God!!
These are just a few of the principles that we need to know, believe and do in order to tap
the resources of the more-than-abundant life that God has provided for us. God
tells us in Ephesians 6 how to combat the wiles of the devil and
has given us the tools to do so and what to do with the tools. God
instructs us in Romans 8 on how to renew our minds and pray so that we can walk
with our Father and live a lively life not consumed by the carnal things of this world.
We can be told that we should pray, we can be told that we should give, and we can be told that we should renew our minds but that will never do us any good unless
we are told how to receive and have the desire. This is what we need to know is how to
receive the abundance in God's Word.
What To Do With It After You've Got It
We also need to know what to do with it after we've got it. What good is it,
or what is the profit, if I receive things from God but I don't know how to use
them? In the natural realm, if you knew a garden hoe was available and you obtained one
but you used it as a shovel it wouldn't work very well would it? This is the same
principle in the spiritual realm. You can receive the gift of God which is
holy spirit and if you don't know what to do with it after you've got it you
couldn't use it to its fullest potential. We must find out what to do with the things of God after we
have received them. This will allow us to tap the resources of the more-than-abundant life.
Here is a great example of what is available, how to receive it what to do
with it after you've got it all rolled into one.
I Corinthians 12
:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
What is available: The manifestations of the spirit of God
How to receive it: It is given to us when we were made whole/born again
(Romans 10:9, 10)
What to do with it: To use to profit withal--to be all together profitable
The uses:
:8 For to one [profit] is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom;
to another [profit] the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
:9 To another [profit] faith by the same Spirit;
to another [profit] the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
:10 To another [profit] the working of miracles;
to another [profit] prophecy;
to another [profit] discerning of spirits;
to another [profit] divers kinds of tongues;
to another [profit] the interpretation of tongues:
:11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit,
dividing to every man severally [his own] as he [the man]
will. [has the desire to]
In order to tap the resources of the more than abundant life we need the
tools to do so. The nine manifestations of the holy spirit are the tools that
the we use to live that more than abundant life that God has promised us.
Ephesians 2
:10 For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that
we should walk in them.
When we are born again of God's spirit we are his workmanship created in
Christ Jesus unto good works. This is what you do with it after you've
got it.
II Timothy 3
:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof,
for correction,
for [which is] instruction in
righteousness:
:17 That the man of God may be perfect,
throughly furnished unto all good
works.
God has given us His Word directly from Him so that we can have the doctrine,
reproof and correction which is instruction in right living so that we may be
perfect--complete, lacking nothing--throughly furnished unto all good works. The
good works do not come first. God has given us His Word and holy spirit so that
we may have the ability to do the good works.
How are we going to find out what is available from God, how to receive it
and what to do with it after we've got it? We have to go to God's Word which is
His will and let it speak for itself. People may tell us many things from the
Word or what God does or does not do, but we need to see it from the Word. Jesus
Christ said, "It is written. . ." We need to get to the place where we
can also say, "It is written." We need to know from God's Word what
His will is, how to receive His promises and what to do with them after we've
got them. The only way we are going to know God's Will is to go to God's Word. Dr.
V.P. Wierwille said frequently that, "the Bible is the revealed Word of
God; this Word of God means what it says and says what it means, and God has a
purpose for everything He says, where He says it, why He says it, how
He says it, when He says it, and to whom He says it." (Power
For Abundant Living, 19)*
Needs and Wants Parallel
Another key that is vitally important to tapping the resources of the more-than-abundant life is having your needs and wants parallel. If your wants are
great and your needs are small you are not lined up properly with God's Word.
You will get answers to prayer if your needs and wants are parallel to each
other and with the
Word.
I John 5
:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him,
that, if we ask any thing according to his will,
he heareth us:
:15 And if we know that he hear us,
whatsoever we ask,
we know that we have the petitions that we desired of
him.
We must ask according to His Word. We must put forth effort to know His Word.
Matthew 18
:19 Again I say unto you,
That if two of you shall agree on
earth as touching any thing that they shall ask,
it shall be done for them of my
Father which is in heaven.
The word 'agree' is the Greek word sumphoneo; to agree harmoniously or
to symphonize. When two people agree together they are in harmony with their
needs and wants parallel.
John 14
:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name,
that will I do,
that [the reason being] the Father may be glorified in the
Son.
:14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name,
I will do it.
When you ask in the name of Jesus Christ you are to ask according to God's
Word so that you may glorify Him. You are to have your needs and wants parallel
and in line with the Word of God. We
must know the Word of God so that we know the Will of God. When we know God's
Will we can pray with effectiveness and see signs, miracles and wonders like God
has intended for us to see.
God's Ability Equals His Willingness
One more essential truth that we must believe is that God's ability equals
His willingness. If we recognize that God has the ability (after all he created
the heavens and earth) but do not believe that He is willing, our unbelief will defeat the
promises of God in our lives. We must believe that what God says He is willing
to do and He is able to do. The converse is also true; we must believe that what
God says he is able to do He is willing to do. Anytime any one tells you that
God can or cannot do something we must look to His Word to know the truth.
Men will exhibit unwillingness but not God. Men may see another have a need
but be unwilling to help. Men may also be willing to help but lack the resources to
help. If I needed to dig a ditch and you had a backhoe you could come to me and
say, "I can help you with your ditch but I don't want to." You have
the ability but not the willingness. If you don't have a backhoe or shovel and
come to me willing to help but do not have the resources you cannot help. God is
not this way. What God says is available from His Word He is able to do and He
is also willing to do it. We are His masterpiece created in Christ Jesus. We are
His children called before the foundations of the World. Why would he not take
care of us?
Abraham was given a promise from God and he believed God was able and willing
to perform it. God told Abraham that he was going to be the father of many
nations when he was 75 years old (Genesis 12). God says of Abraham:
Romans 4
:19 And being not weak in faith, [believing]
he [Abraham] considered not his own
body now dead,
when he was about an hundred years
old,
neither yet the deadness of Sara’s
womb:
:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief;
but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
:21 And being fully persuaded that,
what he had promised,
he was able also to perform.
God told Abraham when he was 75 that he was going to be a father of many
nations. When He was about a hundred Isaac was born. He didn't look at the
circumstances. He didn't consider that he was old and that Sarah was barren. He
held fast to God's Word and was fully persuaded that what God had promised God
was able to perform. God was willing and able to perform His promise.
Abraham wasn't the only one who had to believe God's promise and be confident
that God would perform it.
Hebrews 11
:11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed,
and was delivered of a child when she was past age,
because she judged him faithful who had promised.
Sarah believed that God was able and willing to perform the promise
that He gave to Abraham.
We must also realize that God is not a man that He should lie. What God says
He means:
Numbers 23
:19 God is not a man, that he should lie;
neither the son of man, that he
should repent:
hath he said, and shall he not do it?
or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
What God gives He doesn't retract either.
Romans 11
:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
We can be confident in the gifts and calling of God. What He promises He will
perform and what He gives He doesn't take away. He honors those that believe and
perform His Word.
The Word of God, which is God's Will, contains the resources for us to live a
life that is more than abundant. We must obtain the keys to receiving the
promises of God.
We must find out:
- What's available
- How to receive it
- What to do with it after we've got it
- We must have our needs and want parallel with the Word
- We must recognize that God's ability equals His willingness
We will then be on the road to living a life that is more than abundant.
___________________
*Wierwille, Victor Paul. Power For Abundant Living. American Christian
Press, New Knoxville, OH, 1979.
Printable
Version
