Joshua 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
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When the Holy Spirit causes our attention to be drawn to a verse of scripture and we think on that verse and on that which we are told to do, and we begin to do what it says, we enter into God's righteousness and HIS way of prosperity and we find good success.
Sometimes we will do that same verse daily for weeks, or months, or years.
This was the case for me when I saw the promise of God in the following scripture and began doing the instruction daily, continually.
James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
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I was very aware of the great wisdom God had given Solomon.
Also I saw in Proverbs many scriptures about God's wisdom.
Now I have seen a promise that if we ask God for wisdom HE will give it to us!
I really wanted to do this all the time.
So as a new Christian in 1975, I set out daily to get wisdom from God.
I took my Bible and wrote the following on the top of each book in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. I didn't want to forget to do this before reading daily!
"ASK GOD FOR WISDOM"
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God explained to me many things from the Bible.
Jesus said: Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
At the end-time, before Jesus returns for the church, many would come saying, "Jesus is Lord," and because they say "Jesus is Lord", they would be in a position to deceive many.
When I first read this scripture, I thought they were coming saying they are the Christ. But if they did that we would not listen to them.
If they come to the church saying, "Jesus is Lord," they could work their way in among us and could deceive us.
Jesus was warning us this would happen in the end.
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The apostle Paul says:
II Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first,
I saw the "falling away" was the church group would "fall away" from scripture, allowing strange doctrines to take the place of the Bible, opening the door for antichrist, the man of lawlessness, to move into the church.
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God showed me many things about how HE leads us today as HIS people in the NT church.
Jesus said:
John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, HE shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
John 16:13 Howbeit when HE, the Spirit of truth, is come, HE will guide you into all truth: for HE shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever HE shall hear (from God), that shall HE speak: and HE will shew you things to come.
We see by these two scriptures, the Holy Spirit, who lives in each believer, does the following for the child of God.
- HE teaches us all things
- HE reminds us of the WORD
- HE guides us into all truth
- HE shows us things to come
The Holy Spirit does all this by bringing thoughts to our minds. These thoughts show us the way to go and show us the will of God for us in that exact issue with which we are currently dealing.
The thoughts HE brings can be concepts, both secular and spiritual ... or HE reminds us of scripture which we need to consider at the moment.
God watches over each of us constantly. God leads us in the way of righteousness and leads us into positions which cause us to prosper and have good success in everything we do.
God does this through HIS Spirit, by showing us what to do by bringing thoughts into our minds to show us.
When we go forward in that shown us by the Spirit, following the concept or scripture given by the Spirit, we go in the will of God for the Spirit of God knows the heart of God and shows us what God thinks about our current situation and what we should do. I Corinthians 2
There is a problem however. Sometimes our own desire can overrule the concept shown us by the Spirit and in such cases we end up following what we want and resisting that which is shown us by the Spirit.
Other times the devil enters in by bringing us a way that would end up destroying us.
So we must know how to tell if the thought is from God, or if the thought is from our own desire, or if the thought is from devil.
Then we deliberately choose that shown us by God.
It sounds like we would always choose that shown us by God, but sometimes God will show us to go in a way we do not want to go. Then we have to make a decision whether or not we will follow that way which is shown us by God.
I've been tested a great many times. Here is an example.
The Holy Spirit called to my attention the following scripture:
Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
I thought on the instruction given in this scripture and began trying to do what it said. I kept this scripture before me day and night to allow the scripture to grow in me and cause me to do what it says.
During this time, I was visiting with my neighbors at their house. It was during the USA presidential elections. I am non political but two candidates that year were of interest to me and apparently this interest had grown in my heart for I very much wanted to say, "And what do you think of the election?"
But the Holy Spirit brought to my mind the scripture in Ephesians 4:29 ... Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
- If I speak about the election, will people be edified in the ways of God?
- Will my words stir up good or evil?
But amazingly I wanted so very much to speak of this election.
I chose not to speak of this and instead I chose to follow that which the Holy Spirit brought to my mind and I left my neighbor's house without speaking of the election.
But I was really surprised in how strongly my flesh was trying to get me to do what it wanted.
If we feed our flesh it will get stronger. I suspect I had been watching news reports more than usual and it fed my flesh on this matter.
It is also amazing how little this election affected us in USA. This happened about 20 years ago and I can't see that my life was affected at all by the outcome of that election.
But my life is very much affected by whether I choose that which the Holy Spirit shows me.
If we are going to move into righteousness, prosperity, and good success ... we are going to have to choose to follow that brought to our minds by the Holy Spirit.
Often that way causes us to "suffer in the flesh" for our flesh wants to go according to its desire and when we choose to go the way shown us by Holy Spirit, our flesh cannot rule over us and it suffers as a result.
It is easy to see this when we recall how much we wanted to go in ways of the flesh, ways of fornication or adultery or drunkenness or hatred when we were younger.
Did we follow the flesh and do those things or did we follow the Spirit and refuse to do those things?
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Another example:
As a new Christian, in 1975, I owned a business in American Indian Arts.
During that time, many fake articles were brought into Dallas by itinerate merchants who rented motel rooms and sold these items at less 50-70 percent.
The Dallas Morning News asked me to write an article giving people advice concerning the purchase of Indian articles.
Shortly after the warning appeared, one of the itinerate merchants came to Dallas and saw my article and filed a law suit against me and against others claiming we were trying to keep him from doing business in Dallas.
As a new Christian, in 1975, I owned a business in American Indian Arts.
During that time, many fake articles were brought into Dallas by itinerate merchants who rented motel rooms and sold these items at less 50-70 percent.
The Dallas Morning News asked me to write an article giving people advice concerning the purchase of Indian articles.
Shortly after the warning appeared, one of the itinerate merchants came to Dallas and saw my article and filed a law suit against me and against others claiming we were trying to keep him from doing business in Dallas.
It
was difficult for me to take this seriously and I just tossed the legal
papers aside ... but then I realized if I failed to respond to the
courts, I could lose my business and all my merchandise.
I hired a lawyer to represent me.
God had taught me to get out of debt and to stay out of debt. (which I had done)
But when the legal fees began coming in regularly, I saw very
quickly I was going to be back in debt if I continued going this way.
The Holy Spirit called to my memory the following scripture:
Isaiah 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord.
Isaiah 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord.
If this scripture is true, the "weapon" formed against me by that lawsuit could not prosper.
As
I thought upon this scripture that was brought to my mind by the Holy
Spirit, I realized God was showing me the way to go concerning this
lawsuit.
I would dismiss my
attorney and go to court without human legal counsel, stopping all the
legal fees that were also coming against me.
When I told my plan to my pastor, he said: "Joan, I perceive that you have faith to do this this way."
My lawyer greatly objected when I told him my plan.
Lawyer said: "Joan, you can't do this! You have no idea how evil these courts can be."
My response to lawyer:
"Gordon
... I am a Christian. The Bible says no weapon formed against me will
prosper since I am servant of God ... This lawsuit will not prosper ..."
I
dismissed attorney and proceeded with the plan to go to court without
human legal counsel. God brought to my mind several scriptures to give
me courage to do this as I planned. I recorded these scripture on
cassette tape and played the tape when I went to bed to get those
scripture into me so I would have faith, strength and courage.
About a week after I dismissed the lawyers, Gordon came into my shop.
He
had told me the lawsuit would cost me about $10,000 more to try the
case. But now he told me the law firm had decided to try the case for
free and there would be no more cost to me.
But what does God want me to do?
I told Gordon I would have to let him know.
I prayed: What do YOU want me to do about this?"
Immediately God, by the Holy Spirit, brought to my memory the following scripture:
Genesis 14:22-23 Abraham said to king of Sodom ... I
have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor
of heaven and earth, That I will not take from a thread even to a
shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou
shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:
By this, I knew God was telling me not to take the "free" legal service.
I continued with the plan to go to court without human counsel.
God brought to my mind many scriptures which strengthened me in doing this as I thought on those scriptures.
Six days before the trial was scheduled in US District Court, the man dropped all charges against everyone.
The weapon formed against me did not prosper, just as God promised in the Bible.
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Now consider Joseph:
Genesis 39 (Joseph's brothers sold Joseph into slavery and Joseph was taken into Egypt)
And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.
And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
(Even when Joseph was a slave, God made it possible for Joseph to prosper. Joseph was a righteous man.)
And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand.
And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.
And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.
And
he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not ought he had,
save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and
well favoured.
And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.
But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand; There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within.
And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.
But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand; There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within.
And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.
In times of such temptations, we, who want to go in the way of God, can get great help from God by calling on God in prayer ... asking God to help us and to please stop us from going in way of evil.
I have called on God many times when the temptation was great and God always stopped me when I wanted to be stopped.
Often God, by the Holy Spirit, would remind me of a scripture which gave me strength not to speak or do that which my flesh wanted to speak or do.
Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
We who are born again do much harm to ourselves when we walk in the ways of the flesh.
When we follow the Spirit of God we go in the way of righteousness which turns into prosperity and good success for us in the days to come just as the Bible tells us it will do. Joshua 1 & Psalms 1
We who love God follow the Word of God brought to us by the Spirit of God even unto the death of our own flesh.
At the time it hurts our flesh to follow what the Spirit spoke, but in the end we rejoiced greatly, for we then saw how deadly that which the flesh wanted would have been to us! We thank God that we did not go in the thinking of our flesh.
The Holy Spirit always shows us God's way.
Jesus says:
Matthew 7:13-14
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
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In times of such temptations, we, who want to go in the way of God, can get great help from God by calling on God in prayer ... asking God to help us and to please stop us from going in way of evil.
I have called on God many times when the temptation was great and God always stopped me when I wanted to be stopped.
Often God, by the Holy Spirit, would remind me of a scripture which gave me strength not to speak or do that which my flesh wanted to speak or do.
Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
We who are born again do much harm to ourselves when we walk in the ways of the flesh.
When we follow the Spirit of God we go in the way of righteousness which turns into prosperity and good success for us in the days to come just as the Bible tells us it will do. Joshua 1 & Psalms 1
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We who love God follow the Word of God brought to us by the Spirit of God even unto the death of our own flesh.
At the time it hurts our flesh to follow what the Spirit spoke, but in the end we rejoiced greatly, for we then saw how deadly that which the flesh wanted would have been to us! We thank God that we did not go in the thinking of our flesh.
The Holy Spirit always shows us God's way.
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Jesus says:
Matthew 7:13-14
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
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