SETTING YOURSELF UP FOR GOD’S DIVINE PROVISION

Deut 11:10-11

“For the land you are about to enter and take over is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you planted your seed and made irrigation ditches with your foot as in a vegetable garden. Rather, the land you will soon take over is a land of hills and valleys with plenty of rain – a land that the Lord your God cares for. He watches over it through each season of the year!”

This is about my experience during the two carless days. MY car broke down and my mechanic was having a hard time fixing it. It was an adventure I will never forget.

Lesson: Problems are bound to happen. God allows them in our lives to position us FOR the BLESSING He has planned for us.

I realize that when the devil says you’re a loser, it’s actually a declaration that you’re not a loser but a winner! Why? Because the devil is a liar.

The same is true in our finances. When the enemy comes to you and says that you are in lack, the opposite is the truth. Why? Because in Genesis 1:28 it says we’re blessed already in order to position us for fruitfulness and multiplication.

God delights in the prosperity of Hid children!

So the question in our minds right now is this: Why am I not experiencing the manifestation of the financial blessing in my life? Instead, What I am experiencing is the LACK of finance. Why?

If you are experiencing Lack, this message is for you. I want you to know that God is a God of abundance. And like Him, we shall also be. He is not the God of just-enough. He is the God of More than enough. Amen?

If you are in that place in your finances, I want to encourage you today. God will set you free. He will change the way you think. He will download to you Kingdom principles to position you for the blessing.  The enemy wants us to believe what we see with our natural eyes. But I ask you the question this morning: What do you really see? Lack or abundance? I believe God wants us to align ourselves with His Word and as we do that, we declare and decree with our mouth what we see in His Word for us.

My Past Prevented Me

For quite a long time, I’ve shy away from talking about finances. But I know in my heart that God has called me into this area of Kingdom finance. The voice of the enemy has silenced my passion in this area and I saw my dream slowly disappearing from my view. Sometimes we go through a process of pruning and God allows us to make mistakes because we insist on what we want. But God expects us to stand up every time we stumble and move on with God. What I like with the Lord is that He doesn’t look at our failures but He sees our potential, he sees a finished product. When the Lord spoke to me, I realized that I’ve fallen prey to the voice of the enemy. I listened to the devil and that caused me to stop believing God in the area of finances. Mind you, I was still declaring the provision of God but in my heart there were doubts. But now, no more! No more of those lies. God is my source and provider. He is the God of provision and he supplies all my needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

I am living in the miracles of God. But I believe that is not where God wants me to be. He wants me to take possession of the PROMISE LAND, A LAND OF HILLS AND VALLEYS AND PLENTY OF RAIN, and WHICH HE HIMSELF IS CARING FOR ME.

KISS Cart Experience

The Lord gave us a business when I retired. We franchised a food business called KISS. The seven (7) years we did that, really blessed us. We were able to use it to  bless many who are in need. We expanded it from one cart to 3 carts. Our vision was to have 10 carts, And We were thinking of giving each of our pastors a cart, whose income will bless them.

Every night Maritess and I were counting cash and coins. It was fun counting money every day. After so many years of doing that, I told the Lord: I am not complaining, but God, I want to count not just coins and thousands, but I want to count MILLIONS.

 The Lord answered our prayer. He caused the business to experience difficulty and the MMDA gave us a problem. Suddenly we didn’t have the joy we had when we first started. Finally, one morning, the MMDA dis a clearing in our area and that was the last I saw my cart. My business closed. How about that?

UNO Experience

The next thing I know, God took me out of CRC. He  brought me to UNO Overseas Placement, where my dear friends, Ramon and Elvira made me a partner in 2008. My job was to manage it in parallel with Interskills, a sending organization under TESDA. Little did we know that God will use UNO to replace Interskills. Because in 2010, the government scrapped the program from TESDA and transferred it to POEA. The JITCO program went into confusion. Many of those in TESDA were caught by surprise and were not prepared for the transition. We were blessed, because UNO was there to catch and continue the program under POEA.

God knows what’s in the future, isn’t it?

The Small Mindset

But you know what? While I was there, my mind was at CRC. I was dreaming of going back to my full time job in CRC.  I was screaming at God to bring me back to CRC. That caused me to be dissatisfied with my job. I want my ministry back.

But God has another plan. I was functioning in what I call the “SMALL MINDSET” mentality. I was thinking like an “Employee” rather that the owner of the business, which God gave me.  God, my Father, is the real owner of the business. I am His son! The Lord dealt with me concerning this. I am working for the King! We are all working for the Father.

Col. 3:23 “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.”

God will not move us further until you realize that you’re working for Him.

He said, in Egypt, we were working so hard but earning little. This is the mindset of “small amount but lot of work” person. God doesn’t want us to plant seed and irrigate ditches with our foot as in a vegetable garden. HE IS NOT GIVING US A VEGETABLE GARDEN; HE IS GIVING US A LAND OF HILLS AND VALLEYS WITH PLENTY OF RAIN! He wants us to enjoy what He has prepared for us. He wants us to take over the land! Let your mind grasp this word. Think BIG, that’s what he’s saying to us. Don’t think you’re an employee ONLY. No, you are working for the FATHER, who owns that company, you are His son/daughter, take over the land! He himself prepared it for you.

Our Father owns everything. He created all things.

Ps. 50:10, 12 “he owns the cattle on a thousand hills…For all the world is mine and everything in it.”

God gave me a revelation of this. Last week my car broke. For two (2) days, I didn’t have a car. So, I was dreaming and hoping I can use a car. But, I ended up using the public transport. I enjoyed it mind you.

Here’s the revelation: Our office has 4 cars. That week I was looking at the glass door of our office staring at these cars. They were just there but I couldn’t use one of them for my personal use. Suddenly, Christine, the daughter of my partners came and took the key of one of the cars and used it (of course she asked permission). How come I couldn’t do what she did? I was not a their child. It hit me. Through this experience, I now understand what SONSHIP means. This privilege we are ignorant of because we don’t understand that He is our Father and that we are His children.

I said, I could also come to my Father and get the keys to my car and drive it because I am his son. He owns everything! All I have to do is ask him!!! Hallelujah!

This is called positioning ourselves and getting into the divine order of God.

God wants to bless us to be a blessing to the world. God wants to use us to be the lender and not the borrower. God wants you to start believing in Him and accessing the spiritual dimension (we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places) as a child of the living God. How? By what you declare with your mouth.

Set yourself up for the divine provision. Get into the divine order of God.

There are two things we can do when lack comes to us: Seek God about it or complain and murmur.

When my car broke down, even my children were surprised, I wasn’t murmuring and I wasn’t angry. I think the daily declarations and decree of God’s promises to me have helped me a lot in this. I would wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning. I started looking to God, got myself into worship and praise, offering Him the sacrifice of praise, just thanking God and getting into His Word.

As I was doing this, I got another revelation from the Lord. Many of us believe God for finances, right? But we usually do a LIP service to God. We tell God about our need and we think we believe but we don’t. Why? Because, the car I want replaced is still working well. Everything is JUST-ENOUGH. OK LANG if God will not answer right away. If He does, praise the Lord! But, I can still use my car anyway. I wasn’t desperate!

But when I realized that the car NEEDS TO BE REPLACED SOON, IF NOT AM I TROUBLE, I began to ask God questions. My mind became alert. I asked God: How can I have a new car? How? I know the why. Now I need to know the How? That kept me looking to God and believing God for answers: He will send someone to give me a car, He will tell me where to get it, or he will send someone to give me the car. My imaginations began to work according to what I see in His word!

But, the first thing God told me was to give. I realized I have not been generous. I visited a friend in the hospital and gave them money to help in their expenses. Then I gave a tip of 50 pesos to the taxi driver who brought me to my office. He was dumbfounded.  He was blessed and full of thanksgiving. I bought French fries at Mc Donalds to have my money changed for my jeepney fare going to Exalta. This young girl came to me begging for money. So touched, I gave her the French fries. She run like crazy with joy! It’s good to be GENEROUS. YOU FEEL BETTER! GIVING POSITIONS YOU FOR MULTIPLICATION AND FRUITFULNESS.

Every time we are generous, we are like our Father. You’re lining up into the divine order!

When we give, we are functioning they way God made us. It is our divine nature. Satan withholds, steals, hoards. God gives! He gave the best. He gave His only begotten Son to save us from our sins and to give us the gift of eternal life through Jesus, our Lord. Amen!

God wants to position you for a great blessing. God want you to enter the PROMISE LAND. But He brings us to the WILDERNESS in order to prune us, to test us and prepare us. Thank God for the PROBLEMS. We rejoice, (count it all joy) when we fall into various trials – the Bible says. Amen, Hallelujah!

  

WILDERNESS EXPERIENCE and MIRACLES

In the wilderness, God provide His children with manna. Miracles happen in the wilderness. Oh, we love miracles don’t we? But this is not the goal.

Do you know that even with God’s manna, we can settle for less?

In the wilderness, we can pay our bills, our car mortgage (if any), we can survive! We can pay house rents. We can all do that, BUT God wants us to have our own HOME paid in cash! God wants us to have a better car! Fully paid!

God is the God of MORE THAN ENOUGH. He is not the God of JUST-ENOUGH. Pera mo ba KASYA lang o KASIYA-SIYA?

“Hope for miracles, but don't rely on one.” Yiddish (Jewish) Proverb

THE PROMISE LAND

This is the Goal. God said to the children of Israel: Go in to posses the land!

Don’t settle for less. You will soon enter the promise land, a land of hills and valleys with plenty of rain, a land that the Lord cares for. He watches over it through each season of the year!  WALANG GUTOM, WALANG KULANG SA PROMISE LAND! There is abundance in the promise land.

If you have a vegetable garden mindset, struggling to have both ends meet, God is saying to you, get out of that mentality, get out of Egypt and prepare yourself to enter the land the Lord your God prepared for you. You are a candidate for the blessing.  ALIGN YOURSELF, POSITION YOURSELF, PREPARE YOURSELF TO ENTER THE DIVINE ORDER OF GOD.

He delights in the prosperity of His children. I want God to delight in my prosperity.

WAYS WE CAN POSITION OURSELVES FOR THE DIVINE PROVISION

1.    GET SYNC WITH GOD. Get in tune with God, listening to His voice daily. It will change the way you think. You begin to get into His presence; you get a download from heaven every day. Faith will begin to rise within you and you can start believing God for BIG things. He will change your “vegetable garden mindset” to take-over the “land mindset”. Stop listening to bad news it will not help you. Faith comes from hearing God’s word. The opposite of faith is fear. Fear comes from hearing bad news. God will give you divine ability to produce in order to establish His covenant. He gives us the Power to make wealth. That word power is Koas- wealth, substance, power, strength (Is 40:29). God wants these to come into our lives, to become a conduit of his blessings to the world. The key: in V31- They that wait upon the Lord… When we do that, we are changed, altered to be producers not consumers. Altered/renewed supernaturally to access wealth.

2.   REPENT OF FOOLISH SPENDING. God wants us to have things as long as these things don’t have us. If you have been spending without consulting God, repent. He called you to be good stewards of HIS RESOURCES and not spenders. Here's what people do: they cut back on giving their tithes and offerings BUT in the same breath don’t cut back on dining out, events, etc. We must know our priorities in God. We must learn to save money during prosperous times so that in time of famine we have money to buy. Be like Joseph. God wants to position you to buy foreclose properties and make money in time of famine.

3.    REPENT FOR THE TIME YOU STOLE FROM GOD. Withholding your tithes and offerings. Be honest to God. Ours should be a lifestyle of giving and saving on a regular basis. Honor the Lord with your best, the tithes and offering. Be a blessing to others, specially to the man of God.

4.    START ENVISIONING. When I first learned how to sign a check, it started with envisioning. In my mind I saw how my signature will look like, then I got my pen and started practicing it until I began to like it. Do the same with what you see in the spirit. Have you ever wrote a check for P1M? Try it, envision it. God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all you could ask or imagine!

5.    GOD WANTS TO BLESS YOUR FINANCES. Give more this year, in fact now, than before. Give in an increasing manner. This is an exercise I do with my offerings. I add to my previous offering every time I give. I see that God also gives back to me in an increasing manner. You OUTGIVE YOURSELF IN GIVING. Don’t have that stagnant mentality in giving. Try Him.

6.    BE INVOLVED IN KINGDOM PROJECTS. This is like a spiritual venture projects. Ask God to download unto you ideas. REMEMBER MONEY IS ONLY AN “IDEA”. When there is an idea from God, be involve in it. Be ready to finance it. Be ready to support it in prayer and in finance. God wants you not your money. If He can get your heart he knows you can handle His money, He will download to you His riches in glory.

Really, Life is an Adventure.

Jimmy

Photo credits:

http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/girl-waters-vegetable-patch-royalty-free-image/9411529

http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/elderly-man-lying-under-a-car-person-standing-royalty-free-image/dv1325045
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/potato-field-against-blue-sky-royalty-free-image/108267696