John 1:16-17 (Amplified) says, "For out of His fullness (abundance), we have all received, all had a share and were all supplied with, one Grace after another, and Spiritual Blessing upon Spiritual Blessing and even favor upon favor, and Gift heaped upon Gift. For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth came through Jesus Christ."
Many feel like they're "taking advantage of God," by receiving these favors, Graces, Spiritual Blessings and Gifts we've been given through Jesus. For years, we've been taught that "we're only here to struggle and suffer, so we can earn a rewarded place in Heaven.
We've been taught that we're supposed to have very little here on earth and then we'll be rewarded in Heaven. We need to remember that it was the Father's plan and will that we have these Blessings, favors, Gifts, and Graces through our union with Jesus. The Father gave these things, because He thought we'd need these things in order to accomplish the works He sent us here to do. God gave these Gifts, Blessings, favors and Graces, so we would have an advantage over the enemy and could do what God has called us to do as more than just mere men, in the world run by satan. These advantages make us an elite group of people, who are above the weapons and strategies of the enemy.
We've missed the Truth of Jesus' prayer on our behalf, in John 17:16-18 (Amplified) saying, "They are not of the world (worldly, belonging to the world), just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them, purify, consecrate, separate them for Yourself, Make them holy by the Truth (Your Word is Truth) Just as You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world."
When the Father sent Jesus into the world, He supplied Jesus with the fullness of one Grace after another, Spiritual Blessing upon Spiritual Blessing, favor upon favor, and Gift heaped upon Gift. God didn't do this just "because He was Jesus," but because Jesus had a mission to accomplish. The Father equipped Jesus with everything needed to overcome the world and the enemy. If Jesus needed all these favors, then do you really think we don't need to appropriate them in our lives so we can overcome?
Satan (the liar) has sold us a "Bill of Goods," that we're being carnal and selfish when we desire these Spiritual Blessings and favors from God. There might be some who desire these Gifts, because of selfish or wrong motives. That doesn't mean though, that the rest of us should disregard these inheritances from the Father. Without Grace, favor, and Spiritual Blessings, we cannot accomplish our mission.
We've been successful in getting people born-again, but we leave them subjected to defeat and failure and issues that confront us in this world. The very things that afflict the world, afflict the Church. We seem to lack the favors, Spiritual Blessings, and Grace needed to overcome the world. We're not setting the captives free and have become captives ourselves.
We've witnessed many men and women who've been given an assignment from God, encounter conflict and destruction from satan, in order to stop their fulfilling their mission. None of these persons retreated in the face of opposition, but held fast to the Truth of their mission and completed the Race. Joseph received a vision from God in Genesis 37:5-10 about being made a ruler and being lifted up above his father and brothers. God showed Joseph that his brothers would bow before him, but when he retold this vision to them, Joseph's brothers rebuked him and put him into a pit to die. They envied Joseph's Spiritual Blessing. Many today, have become discouraged and stopped trying to fulfill the vision God gave us. In Genesis 39:1-2, 21-23 (Amplified), Potiphar purchases Joseph as his slave, but in Verse 2 (the very next verse), we read these Words, "But the Lord was with Joseph, and he, though he was a slave, was a successful and prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian."
Joseph is thrown into prison, because he wouldn't go back on his integrity and calling (vision) he received from God in Verses 21-23 which say, "But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy and Loving-Kindness and gave him favor in the sight of the warden of the prison. And the warden of the prison committed to Joseph's care all the prisoners who were in the prison, and whatsoever was done there, he was in charge of it. The prison warden paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge, for the Lord was with him and made whatever he did to prosper."
Genesis 41:1,46 (Amplified) continues saying, "After two full years, Pharaoh dreamed that he stood by the River Nile." Pharaoh had a dream that no one could decipher, but God gave Joseph the meaning of the dream. Pharaoh promoted Joseph to Prime Minister over all of Egypt in Verse 46 which says, "Joseph, who had been in Egypt thirteen years, was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh King of Egypt, and went about his duties through all the Land of Egypt."
Joseph was beset by many afflictions for thirteen years, but he never back away from the vision God gave him and it came to pass, just like God had stated. Joseph was a "prosperous man," even in prison, because God was with him. When God gives us a revelation or vision today, do we quit when afflictions and persecutions arise? Do we say, "It must not be God's will for us" or "God is trying us," when it's really satan who is trying us?
When we fail to receive the things from Jesus in John 1:16-17, we have no more to function in, than the world does. Without God's involvement, we don't have strength to continue and stop in our calling as Ambassadors for Christ. It might take awhile for the vision to come to pass, but if we hold fast to what God has called us to, then it will come to pass. God doesn't change His mind every time a problem arises, like we seemingly believe. When we get discouraged, detoured or influenced by someone else, then we exchange what God has called us to do, for what everyone else is doing.
Many in today's Church have substituted what the Father had for them, for what they wanted to do. God may have called and anointed you for one thing, but you wanted to do something different. We can choose to do this and still be saved and be His child, but it can be costly when we don't do what God has called us to do. I'm not talking about sin, but obedience to the Father. We're defenseless when we don't accept the things given through Jesus in John 1:16-17. We're mere men and women in this world, without these things. If God wants you to have these things, then they must be important and needful for what He's called us to do Our success will depend on our having them.
Remember when you get discouraged, Joseph was a prosperous man even in prison, while he waited on the vision God gave him. Joseph didn't blame God or quit. He was prosperous, because God was with him. Don't settle for what the world thinks, but stand fast in your calling from God. Don't be side-tracked by what others seem to have settled for.
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