Personal Development God's Way

There is much confusion and controversy in some parts of Christendom concerning what is often referred to as the “Prosperity Gospel” and today let’s face this head on!

First of all, let me clarify one thing.
There is no such thing as a “Prosperity Gospel” – there is only ONE Gospel and that is summed up in John 3:16.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whosoever should believe in HIM will not perish but have everlasting life.

Before continuing, let us check out that word “believe”. This is not a passive verb, but an active one. The devils also believe (passively) in God but they are trembling and perishing. So passive belief is not enough.

The word “believe” found in John 3:16, carries the meaning of “to entrust to, to commit” in the original Greek language. We could sum it up saying that it means to actively commit your life to Christ and trusting Him with it.

Jesus promises abundance:
Now in the 10th Chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus Himself made a declaration which can only be interpreted in one way.

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If you have ever wondered whether Christians can have a negative mindset, the truth is that you can have anything you want.

When you surrendered your life to Christ you did not cease to have a free will. God created you to become His child, not a puppet.

Throughout the Bible you will find God referring to His people as “His children”. Remember the Gospel of John 1:12 …

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

When you have a free will it means you are free to choose:

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However, to all who received him, to those believing in his name, he gave authority (power, right) to become God’s (adult, mature, fully developed) children, John 1:12.

Just this morning I was reading a message from Dr Mike Murdock about the Lion. The Lion is BY NATURE a the king of the jungle. Yet they are not born with the developed skills to operate as the king of the jungle.

They have to LEARN these skills. They have to WORK at it and it takes them at least 2 years to fully develop as the king of the jungle they were born to be.

When you accepted Christ into your life, you were given the right (authority and power) to become an adult son (or daughter) of God with ALL of the rights. (Look at the verse John 1:12 quoted at the beginning of this article).

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Chapter 6: The Vision Grows

Have you ever been at a place in your life where you just knew you were meant to be in a certain place? After the first several months in Cuernavaca it was time to return to New Zealand to visit my family and friends. I had been away for 2 yrs already.

During my stay in New Zealand, Anna Lee’s husband died (Anna Lee Carlton is the founder of the magazine, Bread For Children, that I was working with) and this created a need for help at the head office in Florida. I was asked to return to Florida for a time, rather than to Cuernavaca. However I had received a very strong impression during my time at home, that was to go to McAllen Texas.

Florida
I returned to Florida where Anna Lee assured me that as soon as it was possible, she would release me to go to McAllen where I could also be supportive to the work of the magazine since McAllen is a city on the border of Mexico.

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Chapter 2: The Beginning
If you have not read the first chapter of this series you might want to look it over before continuing here: A Dream Comes True

As I mentioned in the first chapter, one of the things I noticed during my first months in Mexico was the lack of Christian literature available for children (this was in 1977). At the time I was helping oversee a dormitory in a boy’s orphanage near Monterrey.

At Christmas we went into the city to look for some books to give the boys for Christmas and were horrified to find there was so little to choose from.

I always had the publishing side of missionary work on my heart.

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