KEYS TO LIVE A VICTORIOUS LIFE
by Revivalist Todd Bentley
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PART 1 of 2
I firmly believe that God wants us to prosper in all things and be in good health, just as our soul prospers, exactly as 3 John Chapter 1 states: "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers" (v. 2). His desire is to possess you, empower you and prosper you. In fact, everything He does for you and in your life is for your good. As you trust and follow Him, you will see God's faithfulness to you as He blesses your life with good things-"For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly" (Ps. 84:11).
So, today, I will share three keys, and two more will follow next week, that will help you unlock some doors in your life. I've also included some exciting testimonies of God's faithfulness in the lives of a few of my friends. They believed God and then took the principles He imparted to them to heart, and as they put those principles to work, they became prosperous.
1. WATCH WHAT YOU SAY
You will eat the fruit of your mouth
"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap" (Gal. 6:7).
"Then the LORD said to me, 'You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word'" (Jer.1:12 ).
God is He who raises the dead, brings into existence and removes from existence, controls all creation, and is the Creator of all things in heaven, earth and below the earth. God spoke all things into existence with His word. Because man is created in His image, we, too have the ability to speak things into existence. That's why we must sow good seeds by speaking good words. To be blessed in our own lives, we must sow words of blessings over our nation, our children, our neighbors, our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ-"You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you; so light will shine on your ways" (Job 22:28).
We must believe and profess words of life over all things because God is always listening, and He desires to bless, enrich and empower His children according to the words they speak. So it is important to decree the blessing over yourself, over your circumstances, over your finances and over your family according to the word of God. You will see it come to pass in your life. If you decree "blessing" several times a day, it will become a habit and the results will be tremendous.
So, in order to experience God's full blessing, we need to have a deep hunger and desire to see change come to pass in our lives. As well, we need to be fully prepared to focus on that change. I have heard it said, "Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity."
"Say to them, 'As I live,' says the LORD, 'just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you'" (Num. 14:28).
Negative Conversation: Speaking words of negativity limits what God can do
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue..." (Prov. 18:21a).
"Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers" (Eph. 4:29).
When we speak negative words, we are agreeing with the enemy whom the Bible says is the father of lies.
For example, if a gardener doesn't pull the weeds in a flower bed, the flowers won't flourish and remain beautiful. Their life will be choked out! Just the same, there are things in our own lives that we must remove in order to for us to grow. To guarantee maturity and a winning life, you must eliminate all of the weeds of negativity from your life.
When we speak God's word, His power is present to perform His word in our lives. A great man of God in Korea made mention of how he carries a tape recorder in his pocket every day so that he can record his conversations. Every night he listens to it to see how many positive and negative words come out of his mouth during each conversation. He uses this technique so that he can minimize negative words and conversely, increase positive speech each day.
- GOD-CONSCIOUSNESS
In his book, Practicing His Presence, Brother Lawrence wrote about a question that challenged him: "Could a man keep his mind focused and centered on the Lord at all times?" In his quest for a truthful answer, his life actually modeled the answer! He lived a successful life and got to a place of a sacrificially surrendered lifestyle.
Like Brother Lawrence, we are all called to work from the resting place of God, a state without any striving. This is done by setting our eyes on the Lord-the Author and Perfecter of our faith, ruling and reigning from that place of rest-where we are seated with Christ in heavenly places.
So keep God in your thoughts at all times. By continuously centering your thoughts on God and scriptural truth, wrong thinking will be crowded out, you'll be empowered during temptation, and you'll develop wisdom for important decisions.
Equally, you need to meditate on God's word; this is the daily bread for your life that will cause you to thrive. In the book of Luke, Jesus overcame the enemy who tempted Him in the wilderness by knowing the word of God. Likewise, it is important to know who you are in Christ and who He is in you.
For those who may struggle in this area, I suggest finding a meeting place, an upper room in your house where you can encounter God daily. Since Hosea 4:6 says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge," I would suggest a good start would be with three chapters a day in your Bible. After all, knowledge and faith go hand in hand.
There are times I have felt that I do not have enough faith. This is when I turn to my Bible and begin to read out loud. As I am calling out His promises, I suddenly feel strengthened and ready to preach the gospel to bring hope to the hopeless. Faith is released when you know what the word says about you.
Romans 8:26, 27 says, "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God."
So, a way of being conscious of God is to pray in tongues, the heavenly language of God, as often as we can. We can do this while driving, typing an e-mail, doing dishes or even walking. Why should we choose to pray this way? Because this is when the Holy Spirit prays the right kind of prayer through us with groaning and words that we, of ourselves, cannot utter.
Praise and Worship
Daily lifting Jesus higher in our lives is another way we can be God-conscious. We achieve this by praising and worshiping Him as our Creator and Source, and being thankful to our Maker, who is in control of all things. He likes to hear our praise and worship, and it blesses His heart no matter how it sounds!
By pulling the heavenly realm down through worship, two great benefits come to pass-we're rejuvenated and the atmosphere around us changes. Even medical doctors witness the difference between those sick patients who praise and worship, and those who don't.
Praise and worship shifts things in the spirit realm. It acts like a key that unlocks some of the doors in our lives. Just look at what happened to Paul and Silas when they were imprisoned. As hopelessness permeated the atmosphere around them, they began to sing praises to God and to pull the glory down from heaven. As a result, by divine intervention, they were released from their chains, and this supernatural feat caused the jailer and his household to be saved (Acts 16).
No wonder it is wise to have praise and worship music flowing throughout our homes all the time! This keeps the atmosphere clean and sends evil away. I believe as the praises go up, so does God's delight in us; and then His blessings come down in return. You can never out-give God!
- GODLY FRIENDSHIPS
"He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed" (Prov. 13:20).
This world is noted for its self-sufficiency, yet thousands of people are suffering because they don't have the right mentors in their lives. I have heard a saying, "You show me your friends and I'll tell you your future."
Use wisdom and be selective in choosing your friendships-those whom you associate with-as well as the voices that "feed" you. Friends will add or take away from your life. Why? Because wrong relationships will confuse both your mind and your spirit. When building relationships, ask yourself: "Will this friendship bring me closer to Jesus? Or will it soil the beauty of what God has begun?" Stay away from anything that will bring you down. Do not entangle yourself nor continue to stay in relationships that are stagnant or pulling you downhill.
When no one is around, good books make good mentors. I read books by men and women such as Smith Wigglesworth, Kathryn Khulman, George Mueller, Mahesh Chavda, and Kingsley Fletcher, to name just a few. I also take time to watch documentaries and healing/preaching DVD's of Judy Jacobs and other precious saints. I spend time watching and learning how others got to the place where they are now, so I can press on to reach that higher place as well. Also, of course, I reach for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, our Comforter and Friend. We can confidently ask Him our questions and expect an answer because Jesus promised us that the Spirit of truth will be in us and with us (Jn. 14:17). He has not left us as orphans.
Todd Bentley
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