Today we continue our series entitled, “Pursuing Grace-Based Success!”
Here are our foundational scriptures:
(Ephesians 2:8-10 ERV)
8 I mean that you have been saved by grace because you believed. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God.
9 You are not saved by the things you have done, so there is nothing to boast about.
10 God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things he had already planned for us to do.
(1 Corinthians 1:30,31 NLT)
30 God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.
31 Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”
(2 Timothy 1:9 NKJV)
Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.
For the last few days we have also been looking at this verse:
(3 John 2, AMP)
“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and [that your body] may keep well, even as [I know] your soul keeps well and prospers.”
Yesterday I taught you about Mephibosheth. I believe his story to be one of the greatest stories of redemption in the Bible. In Mephibosheth, you have a man who was born royalty, who lost his regal connection through a series of unfortunate events, and who had it all restored by an act of grace. David did not do what he did for Mephibosheth because Mephibosheth did anything to earn or deserve it. David did what he did because of his blood covenant with Mephibosheth’s father, Jonathan. Everything was restored to Mephibosheth through a covenant that was established with his bloodline. Mephibosheth lived beneath his means while he was ignorant of the covenant. However, once he was made aware of the covenant, he received complete restoration to a place of position, prominence, and prosperity.
In a way, the same holds true for us. We are all born ignorant of the covenants established in the Word of God, and we have no way of maximizing the benefits of those covenants until we are made aware of them.
Allow me to discuss a few:
— God made a covenant with Abraham and promised to make of him a great nation (Gen 12:2,3) and that the covenant would transfer to his seed (Gen 17:6,7).
— God blessed Abraham and made him very rich; everything he did was successful (Gen 24:1).
— God then extended and offered that same blessing to his descendants if they would hear His voice and obey His Word (Deut 28:1).
— This obedience would mean that their businesses and farms would be successful (Deut 28:3), they would have many children and would harvest large crops (v.4), they would have plenty of bread to eat and experience success in their daily work (vv.:5,6); they would overcome their enemies (v.7), their harvests would be so large that their storehouses would be full (v.8), they would have plenty of money to lend to other nations and would have no need to borrow any themselves (v.12), they would be leaders among the nations and not followers; and they would be wealthy and powerful, not poor and weak (v.13).
— Paul told us that every Born-Again believer has been baptized into Christ and has put on Christ. In Christ, there is no distinction between Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female. We are all one in Christ Jesus. Our connection to Christ makes us Abraham’s seed and spiritual heirs to the promises established for Abraham’s descendants (Gal 2:27-29).
— Furthermore, the writer of Hebrews tells us that the covenant we have with Christ is a better covenant with better promises (Heb 8:6).
— In this New Covenant, God has promised to be merciful to our unrighteousness and to not even remember our sins and iniquities (Heb 8:12).
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. Your heart must be OPEN to RECEIVE what God wants to RELEASE in your life!
For Mephibosheth to receive the blessing David wanted to give him, his mindset needed to be changed. I will explain.
You are a product of your environment, your experiences, and the credible authority figures you have in your life. When you combine all of that in the life of Mephibosheth, you can see why his mindset was framed the way that it was. Think of the environment he was exposed to in Lo-Debar. That was terrible. Then think of the experiences he had when he lost his inheritance and his ability to walk, all in one day. Then add to that the fact that his parents and grandfather were also killed, so he lost the credible authority figures he had.
When you consider all of this, it is easy to see why Mephibosheth saw himself on the level of a dead dog. When he looked in the mirror, he didn’t see a child of God. When he look in the mirror, he saw someone who was worthless.
With that type of mindset, not only is it difficult to move forward, it’s even difficult to receive help. Here you have a man who was in a position to help, David (the King), but Mephibosheth rejected the help because he couldn’t see himself as worthy of receiving it.
— When you don’t have the right mindset, not only is it difficult to move forward, but it’s even challenging to be open to the assistance God can provide you to change your circumstances.
— If it is true that your thoughts control your life, and it is true, then you can see that when you find yourself in the situation, like Mephibosheth, and you see yourself as not worthy of anything, not only are you in a terrible situation for your NOW, You are not even open to what God has for you NEXT!
— This is why I want you to develop a prosperous soul. When you have a prosperous soul, you believe you can overcome anything you’re facing NOW, and you keep your heart open to what God has for you NEXT!
Say this, “I have a prosperous soul! I am ready for my NOW! And I am open to my NEXT!“
2. Jesus connected you to a better covenant with better promises (Hebrews 8:6). But you must believe this covenant applies to you!
Mephibosheth’s life was changed when he was made aware of the covenant attached to his bloodline. His knowledge of the covenant opened him up to the possibility of receiving the benefits of the covenant. The same can be said for you.
— God has established a covenant of blessings in His Word for you. Your knowledge of the covenant opens you to the possibility of receiving its benefits. For it to change your life, however, you must believe that you are part of the bloodline and, therefore, heir to a better covenant with better promises.
— When you understand the covenant God ratified with the blood of His own Son, and you know the covenant applies to you, it changes the way you see yourself and your future.
3. Jesus is not just your key to eternal life. He is your key to prospering in THIS LIFE!
— Paul teaches us that if God did not spare His own Son and He freely offered Jesus for our sin, then along with Jesus, God will also freely give us all other things (Rom 8:32). Everything we need to be successful in life (which is connected to our purpose) is freely made available to us by God’s amazing grace.
— When you know you have Jesus and that God will also, along with Jesus, freely give you everything you need to be successful in life, you quickly develop a prosperous soul. This soul is OPEN to receive the grace of God in its fulness. That’s how you get to become the man/woman God called you to be. And that is how you will leave a mark in this world that will not easily be erased. It’s not about you. IT’S ALL ABOUT HIM!
— Seeing yourself and your future the way God sees it is critical to walking in your divine purpose. Once again, not because you have earned it, but only because of God’s grace.
— The grace of God is about you understanding the New Covenant and about knowing how to rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
— Under the New Covenant, the spotlight is NOT on YOU or what you do. The spotlight is on GOD and what He has ALREADY DONE for you! That’s the covenant of GRACE! When you open your heart to this covenant, you get to live #TheGraceLife.
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for teaching me about grace-based success.
You are teaching me about the covenant You ratified with the Blood of Your Son, Jesus the Christ.
Mephibosheth’s life changed when he was made aware of the covenant established for him. While ignorant of the covenant, he could not benefit from it. But once he was made aware of it, his life changed forever.
Like Mephibosheth, I was once ignorant of the covenant You established for me, and I lived beneath You best for my life. I did not know my purpose, nor could I access your grace. However, You went to great lengths to make me aware of what You did for me through Christ Jesus.
I have accepted Jesus as my Lord. Since I am in Christ, I am Abraham’s seed and an heir according to the promise. The Blessing of Abraham is mine! Not only that, but the New Covenant blessing of Jesus is mine as well.
In this New Covenant, You have promised to be merciful to my unrighteousness. My sins and iniquities, You will remember no more.
You have given me Your own Son, and along with Jesus, You freely give me all other things. This is how I know GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
