TEEN TREE OF LIFE
THE DOCTRINE OF PROSPERITY
Part 3
November 25, 2018

Before you begin, ask yourself a very important question: Do you believe that Jesus Christ died on The Cross for all of your sins? If you answered yes, you will need to be sure that you are filled with The Holy Spirit. How do you do this? You name your sins to God The Father in His Son’s Name. This is called rebound. As a Christian, you must rebound any time you sin. This is taught in 1JOHN 1:9: If we confess our sins [directly to God], He [God] is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now, if you have never believed that Jesus Christ died on The Cross for all of your sins, all you have to do is say to yourself that you believe in Him and you are saved! The Bible verse which teaches us this is ACTS 16:31: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”

As we have learned, there is absolutely nothing wrong with prosperity, provided you’re in God’s Pre-Designed Plan for your life. When your focus is on doing God’s Will, He will provide everything you need. This doesn’t mean that you won’t have any needs. But you have to learn to be content with whatever God provides. Being content with what He provides is true prosperity.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. (2CO 8:9) This verse doesn’t tell us that Jesus was financially poor throughout His earthly ministry. We clearly established that last week. He had, however, given up all of His earthly possessions by the time He went to The Cross. When He died for us, He didn’t own one thing! In spite of the many depictions you may have seen to the contrary, The Lord Jesus Christ was completely naked when He died on The Cross. He could not have been poorer.

There’s a second, more important part to 2CO 8:9. Our Lord and Savior became poor, when He made the supreme sacrifice of becoming a man. He voluntarily laid aside the glory that was rightfully His in heaven. He made His dwelling place here on earth in order to purchase our Salvation.

Jesus had the most genuine faith that will ever be seen on this earth and as a result, He was able to accomplish all that was required in every circumstance He faced. He relied totally on His Father’s Word and His faith, based on His confident trust in the Authority and Veracity of God, Jehovah Elohim, the Lord God!

There are several pieces of Scripture which teach us about Jesus’ faith in God. One is MAT 17:24-27 (The Message Bible): When they arrived at Capernaum, the tax men came to Peter and asked, “Does your teacher pay taxes?” Peter said, “Of course.” But as soon as they were in the house, Jesus confronted him. “Simon, what do you think? When a king levies taxes, who pays—his children or his subjects?” He answered, “His subjects.” Jesus said, “Then the children get off free, right? But so we don’t upset them needlessly, go down to the lake, cast a hook, and pull in the first fish that bites. Open its mouth and you’ll find a coin. Take it and give it to the tax men. It will be enough for both of us.” Again, bear in mind: He DID NOT USE His Godly abilities to do this. He simply trusted His Father.

Another piece of Scripture is MAR 8:13-21: He then left them, got back in the boat, and headed for the other side. But the disciples forgot to pack a lunch. Except for a single loaf of bread, there wasn’t a crumb in the boat. Jesus warned, “Be very careful. Keep a sharp eye out for the contaminating yeast of Pharisees and the followers of Herod.” Meanwhile, the disciples were finding fault with each other because they had forgotten to bring bread. Jesus overheard and said, “Why are you fussing because you forgot bread? Don’t you see the point of all this? Don’t you get it at all? Remember the five loaves I broke for the five thousand? How many baskets of leftovers did you pick up?” They said, “Twelve.” “And the seven loaves for the four thousand—how many bags full of leftovers did you get?” “Seven.” He said, “Do you still not get it?” Our Lord and Savior ended this verse with a question you should ask yourself: “Do you still not get it?”

When Jesus needed a colt (the Cadillac of transportation in those days) to ride into Jerusalem, He didn’t have to buy one. He just told two of His disciples where to find one: And when they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them, and bring them to Me. And if anyone says something to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” (MAT 21:1-3) He knew His Father would provide!

On the night He was betrayed, He needed a room in which to observe the Passover so He told the disciples what to do: On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?” And He sent two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him; and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ And he himself will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; prepare for us there.” The disciples went out and came to the city and found it just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover. (MAR 14:12-16) Some people stupidly think that Jesus was able to do all of this because He was The Son of God. They’re wrong. It was His faith in His Father. The same people will tell you that you can’t do what He did. Well, that’s a lie from the one who told lies from the beginning: Satan. Satan spends all of his time spinning lies and promoting human viewpoint in his attempt to rob blessings and prosperity from mankind. JOH 14:12-14 tells us that we can enjoy the same prosperity as Jesus did during our lives here on earth: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” Mind you, these words are Our Savior’s Words.

Prosperity is not automatic just because you are a Christian. You have to follow the guidelines and instructions found in God’s Word. If you do, God will not withhold prosperity from you. This is taught in PSA 84:11: No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

Make God number one in your life. Make His Word your first priority. This should become your mantra. This MUST become your daily goal. Millions of Christians are not prospering because they fail to give Him top priority in their lives. When we love God and put Him ahead of everything else, we’ll receive all of the riches and honor that we’ll ever need or want. Whatever you need in any area of your life, He will provide; but only if you put Him first.

So, here’s a vitally important question: how do you keep God first? Let’s start with a few more questions! Do you place your school commitments ahead of God? Think before you answer this. Studying, homework and getting good grades are extremely important. An education is extremely important. Putting God first – ahead of your school commitments – is as simple as doing what you’re doing now. Reading this Teen Tree is equal to putting God first!

Is seeking financial prosperity and success more important to you than seeking God? Even as a teenager, money comes in handy. There’s nothing wrong with getting a job and working to have some money of your own. But if you become so involved with working and earning that you don’t take time for God, you’re not seeking God. You’re failing in your Christian walk.

Do you spend more time entertaining yourself with television, computers, games, hobbies and your social life than you spend seeking God? Only you can honestly answer this. God isn’t asking for hours each day. Five minutes is more than the majority of Christians are giving Him. How much time will you give Him?

The Bible teaches that if you’re going to be a winner in the spiritual life, you have to overcome distractions. Distractions come in many different forms. For example, there will be times when your friends will distract you from studying God’s Word. Beware! One of Satan’s tactics is to distract believers from Bible doctrine. His goal is to hinder our spiritual growth by drawing us away from the Pre-Designed Plan of God. There’s nothing wrong with having friends but don’t be fooled into thinking that they won’t distract you. Any person in your life – including your family members – can take you away from God. Of course, He knows you love your family very much. He knows that you are concerned about them and He doesn’t want you to stop being concerned. What He does want is to be first in your life.

Our Lord and Savior said it perfectly in MAT 10:34-39 (The Message Bible): “Don’t think I’ve come to make life cozy. I’ve come to cut—make a sharp knife-cut between son and father, daughter and mother, bride and mother-in-law—cut through these cozy domestic arrangements and free you for God. Well-meaning family members can be your worst enemies. If you prefer father or mother over me, you don’t deserve me. If you prefer son or daughter over me, you don’t deserve me. If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.”
{to be continued}