Industrious work is essential to self-esteem and dignity. Several years ago we were ministering in Brazzaville, Congo, preparing for a national leadership conference and crusade. At that time the unemployment rate was 95 percent. The Congo had just experienced ten years of civil war and no building was untouched by mortar fire. No family was untouched by bullet or tragedy. They were in total need.

We laid out our strategy for the upcoming meetings and told them that they would partner in this event. They would pay for it. At first they resisted such an idea. No evangelist had ever said that before! No one in the country had ever paid for a foreigner’s event, especially a preacher from rich America. With gentle persuasion we challenged them to take this responsibility, encouraging them that they were able.

At the end of the crusade, after experiencing crowds reaching over fifty thousand, the leaders came to us saying, “Thank you so much for pushing us to sponsor this event! You have given us back our dignity. Now we know we can do it! We don’t have to wait for foreigners to finance our work!”

“Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).

Diligence in life means that we are working with all our heart, with total commitment. How do you put your whole heart into your work, school or your home? Recognize that what you are doing is unto the Lord and not unto man.

A halfhearted effort receives halfhearted results. That’s not prosperity! To prosper we need to work with a diligent attitude! There are some deceptive attitudes in Christian circles that are often disguised by religious terminology:

• “Whatever happens is God’s will so my input doesn’t matter.”
• “I don’t like my job.”
• “My ungodly boss doesn’t deserve my best.”
• “My job is only temporary so I’m not going to give it my all.”
• “I’m not one of the lucky ones who are gifted so I’ll just slide by.”
• “I tried the Bible way and it didn’t work for me.” 

The Blessing comes as you work. You will never escape poverty’s hold without good, old fashioned hard work. The river-life of continuous blessing comes through your hands, your mind, and your effort.

Blessing is God’s business. Finding what He can bless is your business!

In Jesus’ parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30, the servant who hid his talent had a wrong perception of his Master. He said “I knew you were a hard man.” The ruler only asked for a minimum increase. In other words, just do something with what I give you. He was not making it hard. He was making it fair. A wrong perception of God causes fear, and fear causes wrong actions that result in destruction.

God is for you! He understands the fallen environment you live in and has given you gifts to overcome in this environment:

He gave you the gift of eternal life so you would have peace of mind about your future.

He breathed into you part of Himself so you would have awareness of His presence.

He gave you the name of Jesus so you would have authority over all evil spirits.

He gave you His promises for every area of your life so you would know His best for you.

He is not hard, He is benevolent! Right thinking will bring right increase!

Where is the place you can go to obtain “maximum increase” in your life? God designed church so that the maximum number of people could gain benefit with a minimum amount of effort.

God directs a man or woman to prepare a message and preach it with anointing, so people can sit and listen and their lives will be increased and inspired. The result is a burden-free life with God’s ideas filling your mind and faith filling your heart to do the impossible.

This is the rich soil for increase that God designed for people, but many see it as an intrusion into their lifestyle. Only when famine comes do they run to the pastor for a quick fix, a drink of water for their parched ground.

When I was in Moscow one winter, record setting freezing temperatures froze the pipes of the heater units and caused a real flood, as well as a dangerous freeze inside. Our director had the good idea of an old iron gas heater in the center of the main room to warm up the house until we could replace the whole system. The heater had to be turned off at night, and the first thought in the morning was how to get the heater going again. A little spark was all it took, and everyone would gather round until the warmth began to spread.

Friends, don’t start your day without a spark. Yesterday’s spark won’t do! The fire has to be rekindled every morning. What is that spark to you? You probably know how to find that java jolt for your body, but it might take a little more time to spark the divine impulse within you that will lift you to a place of expectation and peace as you deal with the day’s issues. When you are warm then everybody around you will benefit.

“Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:6).

 “Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior…” (2 Peter 3:11).

We live in Florida where bugs thrive in the moist, humid, hot weather. If you don’t place some kind of protection in and around your house, soon you’ll be sleeping with the fleas and stepping on the cockroaches.

The devil is utterly defeated and powerless, but he is an opponent looking for entrance into your home. Like the roaches, he flees when you turn on the light. Our light is the truth of God’s Word. The devil cannot exist in truth, because he is the father of lies.

We observe this truth overseas quite often. Many times we present the Gospel to people groups that have lived in false religions or atheism for a thousand years, and suddenly in a moment, they completely change when they hear truth!

The only weapon the devil has is deception, and his only entrance into a born-again believer is the mind. He is looking for you to grab hold of a lie so he can have a foothold in your life. Allow God’s Word to wash your thoughts and steer your thinking into right paths, and you won’t be tripped up by the devil!

Scripture tells us in Isaiah 53:4 that in fact Jesus has borne our griefs and has taken our sorrows and our pains, yet we ignorantly thought that He was stricken and struck down by God.

Many years ago I was traveling across Russia in a sweltering hot train with no air moving and no way to open a window. The flu was going around everywhere and I was coughing from a deep burning pain that was attacking my chest. I remember as I lay back on the bed I picked up my Bible, and as I was experiencing these symptoms of flu or bronchitis this scripture in Isaiah leapt out at me.

I said to the Lord, “I have not considered what you did on the cross for me and I have yielded to this sickness that is trying to take over my body. Lord, I know who You are, I know You paid the price so I don’t have to suffer this sickness because God put it on You.”  I remember at that moment with great confidence I said, “Lord, I will no longer consider you ignorantly, and right now in the name of Jesus I receive what you did for me 2,000 years ago and command these symptoms to go from my body!” I fell asleep right at that moment and woke up a few hours later without one sign or symptom of cough or a fever…not one symptom in my body at any level!

I encourage you today to take an aggressive stance against every form of sickness and disease trying to come against your body!

Our own personal experience can be a formidable hindrance to walking in the abundance Jesus Christ made available to us. You might say, “I love God and I’ve never had any money. I’ve never been rich and God still loves me. If prosperity really is God’s will for me, then He would have given it to me a long time ago.” These objections are real, but that doesn’t make them legitimate! Just because we haven’t experienced something doesn’t mean it isn’t the will of God for us.

We lived in sin and experienced emptiness, separation and spiritual blindness before discovering salvation in Jesus. Does that mean it was God’s will for us to live in that dark world? No! We just hadn’t heard and responded to God’s Word on the subject. Our decision to act on God’s idea, His Word, and His substitutionary sacrifice for our sins opened a whole new world to us.

I believe we can change our personal experience in the financial realm as well. Armed with truth, you can go into the arena of need and come out a winner!

I believe the greatest necessity for having a changed life is seeing the end result. Christians who are not seeing much change in their life are probably not seeing the transformation that has already occurred in them. Paul said:

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain” Galatians 2:20-21 (NKJV)

He didn’t add Christ onto His life, he began a new life! Paul valued the new and let go of the old.

For example, when your car gets old you have a choice to make. If you’re in Russia you get out the duct tape and wire to keep it going. That’s not very exciting. You could go to the mechanic and get a few new parts added to what you’ve got. Not very exciting. You go out and buy a used car. A little better, but still, not very exciting. But, if you go out and buy a brand new car…now that will get you excited!

If you’re not excited about your faith, you’re probably working with an “add-on,” instead of the brand-new you that God has made you!

Most people, as they reach their 60’s and 70’s, have a certain amount of regret over things they didn’t do, or see, or have that they wanted in life. They reflect on the limitations they allowed to stop them.

When we see the life of Jesus we don’t see any limitations that He experienced, except the unbelief of those around Him. One day we all will see Jesus face to face in a place of unimaginable glory and abundance. When He was on earth He carried Himself like He had access to all of heaven. When Jesus walked on the earth He spoke, acted, and experienced life at a level that brought a marvel to those around Him. They said: “What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!” Matthew 8:27

Jesus was God, but He put off His God-rights and did nothing on earth that a human could not do. He clothed Himself in humanity to be our model. He became the standard for the New Restored man that would be made right with God by His substitutionary death.

This limitless life is what He is encouraging you and me to experience now. He says: “All things are possible to him that believeth.” He encourages us to pray our desires and expect them to happen. “Listen to me! You can pray for anything, and if you believe, you will have it.” Mark 11:23″ NL bible

Before you die, dare to think limitless in some area of your life. Understand that there is more to you than meets the eye. Jesus saw the real person you were to become!

“But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit you are of.” Luke 9:55