Your Divine Prosperity is Connected to Your Divine Purpose

(Read Matthew 16:13-20)

This morning we continue our series, “Grace that is Simply Amazing” by continuing our mini-series entitled, “Grace Based Success (Prosperity)”.  For the last few days we have been looking at a passage in Matthew 16 where the Lord revealed to Simon the Fisherman that Jesus was the Messiah.  Based upon this revelation Jesus changed his name from Simon, which means “unstable”, to Peter, which means “rock”.  Jesus said, “I tell you, you are Peter.   And I will build my church on this rock.  The power of death will not be able to defeat my church.  I will give you the keys to God’s kingdom.”  Then Jesus told His disciples not to tell anyone he was the Messiah.

When Simon found Jesus he found himself, he found his purpose.  When he found his purpose, he found the key that unlocked the door to prosperity in his life.  Now, when I prosperity, please don’t be quick to jump to think about “money”.  To say that prosperity includes money is not incorrect, but a picture of prosperity that is solely based on money is woefully incomplete.  Divine prosperity involves becoming the person God called you to be and completing your divine assignment before you die..

So what does this mean to you today?  A few things.

1.  Peter.  Peter was a fisherman before he found Jesus and his purpose.  Once he found his purpose and he started walking in it, he did things I am sure he never imagined he would during his ‘fisherman’ years.  Peter walked on water.  God used Peter to heal the sick.  On the Day of Pentecost, Peter preached the first sermon after Jesus’ resurrection and 3,000 people came to Jesus that day, effectively birthing the New Testament church, and it happened through Peter’s ministry.  Peter became a prosperous man.  His prosperity could not be measured in money, but it could surely be measured in divine purpose!

2.  David.  David was a shepherd boy that spent more time with his father’s animals than with the rest of his family.  He was the 8th and youngest son of Jesse and he was somewhat of an outcast in his own home.  But while David was tending to sheep, he was spending time with God.  God had a purpose for David and it was much bigger than anything he could imagine.  The lord sent His prophet to visit Jesse’s house one day and the man of God anointed David to be the next king of Israel.  It took years and it would cost him lots of pain, but David eventually became Israel’s king.  David found his purpose.  David walked in his purpose.  David was a prosperous man.  And although David was rich, his prosperity could not be measured in money.  David’s prosperity was clearly measured in divine purpose.

3.  Joseph.  Joseph was 17 years old when the Lord gave him a dream.  The dream became the defining factor of Joseph’s life.  It came with its share of challenges, but it led to Joseph’s success/prosperity nonetheless.  Joseph embraced the dream and it was this dream that kept him hopeful during the pit, Potiphar and prison phases of his life.  In the end, the dream came to pass and he was promoted from prisoner to Prime Minister overnight.  Joseph became a prosperous man, because he found, followed and finished his divine purpose.

4.  Paul.  The Apostle Paul was the church’s #1 enemy and he wound up becoming its leader.  How?  By grace.  Why?  Because it was his divine assignment.  Paul may have thought he was prospering when he had the backing of the Jewish leaders to persecute Christians.  He may have thought he was prosperous when he was quickly moving up the ranks of the Jewish religious elite.  But Paul did not find true prosperity until he found Jesus, and subsequently his purpose.  Paul’s success and prosperity in life were connected to his divine purpose.  This had nothing to do with how much money he had or where he lived.  Paul endured countless challenges.  He spent years in prison.  But Paul was a prosperous man because he found, followed and finished his divine purpose.

5.  You also have a divine purpose.  David said the following and it applies to all of us: “Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day” (Psalm 139:16).  Paul said the following and it also applies to all of us: “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).  You are not a mistake.  You were born for God’s divine purpose and your success/prosperity in life is connected to that purpose.  You will never experience divine prosperity until you find your divine purpose.

Closing Confession:   Father, I thank You for teaching me about Your grace and my purpose.  You made plans for me before the world began.  I am not a mistake.  I was born for a reason and that reason is Your assignment for my life.  I have made more mistakes than I want to remember.  The devil often reminds me of my mistakes and I sometimes feel unworthy and inadequate.  However, this teaching on Your grace is helping me accept my assignment by keeping my eyes on Jesus.  In my own right, I could never be righteous or good enough.  But Jesus was righteous and good enough for me.  You made me righteous by Your grace and I accept Your righteousness, and my assignment, by faith.  My prosperity is connected to my purpose and I accept my assignment with my whole heart.  I don’t fight against what I was born to do, and I don’t waste time pursuing something else.  I accept my assignment, I embrace the grace to fulfill it, and I live by faith in pursuit of it.  Living this way will lead to divine success and prosperity.  I am excited about my future, because I know it will be lived on purpose!  I declare this by faith.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.
This is Today’s Word!  Apply it and Prosper.