Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.  Luke 5:4

God wants to bless you beyond your wildest dreams in your relationships, family, health, career, and yes, even finances.  He is calling you to step out of our comfort zone and do something you have never done before to receive those blessings though.  Often, we are afraid to “launch out into the deep”, as instructed in today’s Scripture because we fear that we may obey God and come up with nothing.  What if it doesn’t work?  We must be willing to do something we have never done before in order to receive something we have never had before though.  The thing we must do that we have never done before is to trust God wholeheartedly and without reservation.  We must be willing to trust Him without questioning in our heart or mind.  

That is what the disciples of Jesus did in today’s Scripture.  They were master fisherman but were unable to get the job done.  Jesus told them to launch out into the deep for a draught (or huge load of fish).  Simon Peter responded, “Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net” (Luke 5:5).  Notice that Peter responded to Jesus that his fisherman had “toiled” (or worked) all night and caught no fish.  Doing things in your own strength or in your own way will never secure the huge blessing (or draught) that God wants to give you.  In fact, it may cause you to get nothing just like the disciples did not get anything until Jesus came on the scene and gave them very specific instructions. 

As previously stated, often we are afraid to launch out into the deep because we fear that we may listen to God, put ourselves out there, get our hopes up, and end up totally crushed because what God promised us and instructed us to do does not work.  The Bible is emphatic that “God is not a man, that he should lie” though (Numbers 23:19).  We must remember that if God gives us instructions to do something that there is a huge blessing on the other side of obeying those instructions.  If He says there is a draught (huge blessing), then there is one.  In Mark 4:35, He told his disciples “let us pass over unto the other side” despite the fact that He knew a storm was coming.  In essence, God already knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10) and is not discouraged but the seemingly hopeless circumstances.  He always tells us what the outcome will be but we must trust Him.  Like Peter, we must respond to God’s Word.  God knew the disciples had toiled all night fishing and came up short which is the reason he showed up on the scene.  God’s grace was able to accomplish what they could never accomplish on their own.  

Peter did not allow negative thoughts of getting his hopes up concerning what Jesus promised and being disappointed deter him from launching out into the deep as Jesus instructed.  Instead Peter responded appropriately by stating because you have said it, I will do it.  He made a decision to trust God’s Word and take God at His Word and was blessed!  God’s Word is a solid foundation that we can stand on and trust our lives with.  God’s Word is incorruptible seed (1 Peter 1:23) which means it will always produce a harvest in our lives and bring to pass what it promises!  Step out and trust what God is telling you to do on today!  There is a huge reward on the other side of your obedience!

I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. 
John 10:10  

God is a God of abundance!  You might be thinking, “I already know that.”  Often we know this truth intellectually but have not allowed it to sink deep down and take root in our hearts.  Think about this for a moment, planetary scientists state that there are currently around 7 billion people residing on the planet earth.  Believe it or not, God has provisions for each one of these people living on the earth.  There is not a provision problem but a faith problem.  You might also be thinking right now, “But Jesus said the poor you will have with you always.”  While it is true that Jesus did say in Mark 26:11 that “for ye have the poor always with you” that statement was made out of divine foreknowledge and not out of divine will.  In essence, in His foreknowledge, God knew that there would always be people that experienced lack because they either do not have knowledge of Him, do not know how to operate in faith to receive the promises of God, or simply will not operate in faith to receive the abundance and abundant life He promised.  Nonetheless, He never said that lack of provisions was His will.  On the contrary, the Bible states that I have not “seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread” (Psalms 37:5).  It also states that as Believers, we are “joint-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17).  If we are joint-heirs with Christ it means that everything He has belongs to us as well.  Even in the natural, everything a parent has (for the most part) belongs to their child as well.  The child is given the benefit of residing in the parent’s home, riding in their car, eating their food, and many more things.  God is the same way with us.  God’s abundance is also shown in His original plan for mankind.  Man was never supposed to die but death came into the human race after Adam and Eve’s transgression in the Garden of Eden.  Think about that for a moment.  If man was never supposed to die and there are currently around 7 billion people on the planet earth, today there would be trillions upon innumerable trillions had Adam never sinned and every man born lived forever!  And just like the original Garden was bountiful and beautiful, somehow God would have provisions for each and every one of those trillions upon trillions of people living today.  God is only limited by our thinking and lack of faith.  Don’t limit God in your thinking concerning abundant financial provisions, prosperity in your relationships, increase in your job/business, prosperity in your body, or fullness in your walk with Him.  We serve a God of abundance that reigns in a heaven with precious stones, streets paved of gold, and all types of overflow.  Whatever you are in need of today, remember that God is a God of abundance!

He said, it is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.  John 19:30

It has been said that Jesus started His earthly ministry with three powerful words “it is written” and concluded it with three even more powerful words “it is finished!”  When Jesus uttered the words “it is finished” on the cross though, things in the natural looked contrary to what He said.  Initially, the cross looked like utter defeat.  It did not look like God’s plan of salvation, restoration, and reconciliation was finished.  The One who was thought to be the Messiah by His disciples and followers looked like a failure.  The One who it was believed would restore an earthly kingdom to Israel and overthrow the oppressive Roman government looked to have not fulfilled His promises to bring about God’s Kingdom on the earth.  We don’t live by what it “looks” like as followers of Christ though.  How many times in your life has it “looked like” you had failed at something only to learn later that God had a greater plan in store and you had not failed at all?  When Christ uttered the words “it is finished” He meant what He said!  It meant in each of our lives, separation from God is finished, sickness is finished, poverty is finished, emotional distress is finished, and every other bondage the enemy could possibly try to bring before us is finished!  Hebrews 1:3 states that God is “upholding all things by the word of his power.”  The words that God speaks are filled with integrity including the phrase “it is finished”!  All things are upheld by the Word of God.  The universe and everything in it is sustained by the words God has spoken.  Essentially, this means that if one of God’s promises in His Word ever failed, the whole universe would self-destruct because everything is held in tact by the integrity of what God has spoken.  God is true to His Word and will ALWAYS honor what He says.  That means that when God says something we can trust what He says.  It is finished.  Know that Jesus not only took your sins when He hung on the cross, but sickness, disease, poverty, lack, defeat, lack of peace and failure.  Negative circumstances are always subject to change.  Don’t look at what is temporal (subject to change) but look to the one who is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18).  Defeat is finished in your life too regardless of what it looks like today!      

Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him…Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, until seven times: but, until seventy times seven.  Matthew 18:21-22

As Believers, we must walk in unconditional forgiveness period!  Regardless of how deeply someone may have hurt us, or how many times they may have done so, we must forgive them and totally forget the offense.  After Joseph had been a slave for years due to his brothers selling him into slavery, he told them you meant it for evil but God meant it for good (Genesis 50:20).  Truth be told, regardless of how much we have been hurt, none of us has had to forgive someone else as much as God has had to forgive us.  Remember sins are not only the wrong actions that we have taken against others (or ultimately against God), but also the actions God has instructed us to take and we have not taken (or things we have omitted/neglected to do).  Sins are also the innumerable evil things we have thought about throughout our lives.  Doing the wrong things, neglecting other things, and thinking the wrong things are detestable to a pure, untainted, and Holy God but He forgives us and even adopts us into His own family.  God has forgiven us much more than we will ever have to forgive other people.  Jeremiah 31:34 states, “I will remember their sin no more.”  We must not only forgive people, but forget that the offense ever took place.  This helps us and the person who has offended us.  It helps us because when we forget, we are not constantly injecting our soul (mind, will, and emotions) with venom by rehearsing the offense over and over in our minds.  Unforgiveness can lead to stress and physical ailments.  It also helps the other person because we are not constantly reminding them of everything they did wrong to us and loading them down with guilt and condemnation.  Remember that Romans 8:1 says that “there is therefore now no condemnation.”  We must take all this a step further and love the person who has wronged us!  Consider the story of the Prodigal Son who left his father’s house, lived in sin, and squandered the inheritance his Father gave him on worthless things, his Father lovingly accepted him home when he decided to return to his Father’s house.  When he returned he said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son” (Luke 15:21).  The Father totally ignored that statement and instead of lecturing the son and getting revenge He put a fine robe on his son, put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet, and killed a calf for him to feast on (Luke 15:22-23).  He did not rub the son’s sins in his face but lovingly forgave him and forgot the offense.  Make a commitment to forgive today.  I forgive you!

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you…Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.  John 14:27

As a Believer, you have the peace of God within you.  I do not mean you have “a peace” you have “the very peace of God” within you.  You have the same peace that God draws from in order to not be moved by any negative situation or circumstance.  God has not given us a lower form of peace but His very own peace.  God is not in heaven disturbed or bothered by anything!  He is at peace.  We have that same peace.  In fact, He is so much at peace that He is seated in heaven.  To be seated is a position of rest.  Ephesians 2:6 states that we are seated with Him in heavenly places.  God is seated and we are seated with Him which means we can tap into the spiritual fruit of the Spirit, such as peace, here and now on earth.  Isaiah 26:3 states that He “wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee:  because he trusteth in thee.”  We tap into this peace by faith and by keeping our mind stayed on Him because He is the personification of peace.  We must trust God to give us His peace.  Don’t be troubled or afraid of anything.  Receive the peace of God today!

For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.  Romans 5:17

One of the most crucial truths we are to carry in our hearts as Believers concerns our standing with God.  Righteousness is really one of the most important, if not the most important principle of our faith.  In order to receive anything from God, you must believe with all of your heart that you have a right to it.  You need to know that you have a right to receive healing, prosperity, and soundness of mind.  Condemnation or sin consciousness steals and kills.  It steals God’s blessings from you and can be deadly to your physical body.  People who are sin conscious do not believe that they have a right to receive the blessing of God.  People who are in condemnation have constant thoughts about all their past mistakes and everything that they have done wrong.  These negative thoughts zap your strength, zeal for life, and pursuit of the purpose for which God created you.  Additionally, condemnation often results in sickness in the body and/or even mental disorders.  Righteousness is this tool that guarantees that you are in right standing with God and have the right to receive divine health, financial prosperity, soundness in your relationships, and peace of mind.  The word for “righteousness” in the Greek means purity, just, innocent, free, and correctness of thinking, feeling, and acting.  You must think, feel, and act “correctly” or in line with what God has said about you in terms of your purity before Him.  God has given you the gift of righteousness according to today’s Scripture.  This righteousness has nothing to do with your performance.  This righteousness is solely the byproduct of the death of Jesus on the cross.  Just like when you were born, you were born a sinner through no fault of your own but through Adam’s sin in the Garden, when you are born again you are made righteous through no actions of your own but because of the death of Jesus on the cross.  Regardless of what you have done or do wrong, you are still righteous.   Second Corinthians 5:21 states that we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.  This verse does not say you are the righteousness of God only when you do “right things” it suggests that you are the righteousness of God all the time.  Similarly, Isaiah 54:14 says that “in righteousness shalt thou be established.”  When you know that you are righteous, you will be established in God’s love for you and eagerly expect to receive from Him regardless of what you have done wrong.  Being conscious of righteousness does not make people want to sin but to act on and walk in that righteousness.  Romans 5:21 takes it a step further and explains that being conscious of your righteousness will cause you to tap into God’s unlimited supply through grace.  In essence, you will be able to access everything God has supplied for you in His grace because you know that you are righteous and in right standing with God.  Don’t let this precious gift of righteousness that God has purchased and paid a high price for through His own Son’s blood go to waste.  Receive it regardless of what you have done or do and tap into every blessing that God desires to give you!     

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Romans 6:23

Have you ever given someone a gift and they did not seem to appreciate it?  If so, it probably upset you a bit.  The reason it may have upset you is because not only did you spend time to pick out the perfect gift, but you also had to spend money to get it for them.  When they are not grateful for it, it seems like a slap in the face given all of the time and money you put into getting it for them.  Well, God has given us the wonderful gift of eternal life and righteousness.  We will discuss righteousness more tomorrow.  The gift of eternal life not only includes spending eternity with God in heaven, but also having a personal relationship with God here on earth.  John 17:3 states that “this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”  All too often though, we reject this gift of eternal life (or having a personal relationship with Christ) that God has paid the ultimate price to give us.  Sometimes after our salvation experience, we are satisfied with the fact that we will go to heaven.  Often, we do not take advantage of cultivating that intimate daily relationship with God that Christ died to give us (purchased for us).  God wants us to be in constant communication and communion with Him throughout the day and seek His leading and guiding every second of every day.  Proverbs 3:5-6 instructs us to trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not unto our own understanding but in all our ways to acknowledge Him and He will direct our paths.  What father or parent would go a day without speaking to their child that lived in their home?  Well after salvation, God lives in us (Colossians 1:27) and wants to enjoy fellowship with us.  That is what He created us for.  In the Old Testament before Christ, God’s people did not have access to this type of relationship due to spiritual separation from Him as a result of Adam’s sin.  They did not have the benefit of being able to come before God and communicate with Him throughout the day.  For that matter, that could not come before God at all.  The priest could only come before God on the Day of Atonement for the sins of God’s people (Numbers 15:25).  Even then, his atonement for the people was only good for one year and the sacrifices of bulls and goats could only cover the sins of the people and not take them away.  Praise God once we accept Jesus though, His sacrifice totally eradicates sin in our lives (Revelations 1:5) and we are able to come before God and cultivate a personal relationship with Him!  Let us not take for granted the gift of eternal life in which God has invested so much for us to receive.  Receive the gift of eternal life and enjoy a deep, personal, and satisfying relationship with our Lord today!      

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  Romans 10:10

You believe out of your heart/spirit.  There is a difference between head faith versus the faith that comes out of the spirit.  The person with head faith knows about the things of God, but is not fully persuaded of them down in his/her heart.  In order to receive from God, you must be fully persuaded about what He has promised you and what you are believing for.  Romans 4:21 puts it this way, “And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.”  The only way you can be fully persuaded and operate in true faith is out of your spirit.  Hebrews 11:6 admonishes us that without faith it is impossible to please God.  You also cannot receive from God without faith.  Faith comes out of the spirit.  The way we communicate with God is out of our spirit not our mind or flesh.  The Bible states that “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).  Head faith comes out of the flesh and will not produce the promises of God in your life.  The spirit and the flesh are mutually exclusive and never in contact.  God speaks to our spirits and we must renew our minds to receive what he has spoken and watch our lives become transformed (Romans 12:2).  Spirit faith brings things from out of the unseen realm into the seen realm.  The enemy knows the difference between head faith and spirit faith.  For example, if you are believing for healing and say “by His stripes we were healed” simply from head faith no power is produced.  On the other hand, if you say this Scripture with spirit faith, it produces a power in the spirit (unseen) realm in which the promise must come to pass in your life and the enemy must release you from whatever sickness had you bound.  What has God promised you and what are you believing for today?  Perhaps you have seen a promise of God for healing or prosperity in His Word or even had Him speak a promise to do something for you personally into your spirit.  Whatever you are believing for today, meditate on the truth of His Word and allow that truth to get deep down into your heart/spirit.  Then speak the Word of God concerning that promise and see the promises of God manifested in your life!

Your life is hid with Christ in God.  Colossians 3:3

You have not even begun to unlock your full potential!  The defeat you have been experiencing is not your true life.  The glorious life God has for you has not been fully unveiled but is hid in Him.  While it is true that you may have experienced a level of past success, it is nothing compared to what God wants to do and will do if you simply trust Him.  So often, we think that the best days we have experienced are behind us.  We may have had some good days and a level of success so we reason that that is as good as it will get.  God wants to do much more with your future than you have ever experienced in your past.  God is a progressive God who is always moving forward taking us to deeper levels of revelation, prosperity, and success.  2 Corinthians 3:18 states that “we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”  God is taking us from glory to glory or higher levels in Him, which results in increase and prosperity (wholeness in your mind, relationships, health, and finances) in this life.  The word used for “glory” is the Greek word “doxa” which according to the Strong’s Concordance means “a most glorious condition, most exalted stated.”  The word “most” in the preceding sentence implies the “highest.”  Highest in human vernacular means that there is nothing above something.  Essentially, we go from glory to glory or from one “highest exalted stated” to another “highest exalted state.”  How is this possible?  It is possible because there are always higher levels even above the highest in God.  Remember with Him all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).  Your level of past success is nothing compared to your future and your life hid in Christ!  As a Believer, meditate on this truth and get excited about it today!  

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. Romans 12:2

We are presented with so many things that seek to capture our attention on a daily basis.  We are also presented with things that seek to gain a foothold in our mind to determine the way we think and make decisions.  Most of these things come from the world, the world's system, and the world's way of doing things.  All of the input from the world that seeks to get our attention, define the way we think, and determine the way we make decisions are based on our five physical senses (what we can see, hear, smell, touch, and taste).  God does not want us operating on this level though because it is a lower level.  We are created in the image and likeness of God and He wants us operating as He operates.  We are called to operate in the spirit realm.  After all, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24).  Similarly, Galatians 5:16 instructs, "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."  The only way we can Walk in the Spirit or operate in the spirit realm is by hearing God's instructions to us or hearing the voice of God.  We hear the voice of God through studying His Word, prayer, daily fellowship with Him, and simply by being still and listening for His still small voice (1 Kings 19:12).  We must renew our minds by studying the Word of God so that we can be transformed into the likeness of Christ and experience transformation in our lives (abundance, sound relationships, divine health, etc).  As we study His Word, we will be able to hear the Spirit speaking to us and go down the appropriate path that leads to an abundant life because we will be able to "prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God" for us (Romans 12:2).  Will you be transformed or conformed today?  Choose to be transformed by the Word of God!