'Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it.' [Psalm 37:4,5]
This is a wonderful scripture, full of blessing, hope and joy. Unfortunately, we have heard too many sermons about how it doesn't really mean what it says, it really means something else...
Fortunately, God reveals His character consistently in His Word! He LOVES us and created us to live in an abundant, natural world. Consider these:
'...the desire of the righteous will be granted.' [Proverbs 10:24]'He will fulfill the desire of all who fear [revere, reverence, to stand in awe of, honor, respect] Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them.' [Psalm 145:19]'May He grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your counsel! [Psalm 20:4]'You have given him his heart's desire, and you have not withheld the request of his lips.' [Psalm 21:2]'You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.' [Psalm 145:16]'What the wicked fears will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.' [Proverbs 10:24]'Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life.' [Proverbs 13:12]'Desire realized is sweet to the soul, but it is an abomination to fools to turn away from evil.' [Proverbs 13:19]
Hebrews 11:6 says 'And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.'
Redeemed From The Curse
We know that Jesus bore the penalty of the curse for us. Galatians 3:13,14 says 'Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE"—in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.'
In reading some of the curse as outlined in Deuteronomy, I found this amazing passage:
"So all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the LORD your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. They shall become a sign and a wonder on you and your descendants forever. Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and a glad heart, FOR THE ABUNDANCE OF ALL THINGS..." [Deuteronomy 28:45-47]
I haven't heard too many sermons on that...
What about 1 Timothy 6:17? 'Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on GOD, WHO RICHLY SUPPLIES US WITH ALL THINGS TO ENJOY.'
Jesus said "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen GLADLY to give you the kingdom." [Luke 12:32]
Then there's 3 John 2: 'BELOVED, I pray that in ALL RESPECTS you may PROSPER and be in GOOD HEALTH, just as your soul prospers.'
He loves to love us! He loves to bless us! How it must hurt His heart when we blame Him for 'taking' our children, or giving us cancer, or withholding our hearts' desires! 'He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him FREELY GIVE US ALL THINGS?' [Romans 8:32]
Why Did Jesus Come?
Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil.
'The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.' [1 John 3:8]
John 10:10 tells us plainly "The thief comes ONLY to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." The center reference in my NASB Bible says '...or have abundance.'
The Greek word for abundance in this verse is perissos—exceeding abundantly, supremely, over and above, more than is necessary, much more than all, extraordinary, surpassing, more excellent! Hallelujah!
Read on...
'And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written [Isaiah 61] ,"THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD."And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."' [Luke 4:16-21]
Of course, my favorite part of that passage is "TODAY this Scripture has BEEN FULFILLED IN YOUR HEARING."
It's already a done deal! He fulfilled all of the Old Covenant! But we know from Hebrews 11 that faith is the MO of the universe—it is how things really work, the method of bringing things from the spiritual realm into the earth.
So we must access these wonderful, already accomplished works by faith! Yes, they belong to us already, but we bring them into physical reality by faith! Pray, like Jesus did, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth AS IT IS IN HEAVEN." [Matthew 6:10] Believe in your heart and speak with your mouth!
What is His will? 'FOREVER, O LORD, YOUR WORD IS SETTLED IN HEAVEN.' [Psalm 119:89]
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!!! [Getting too happy to type...]
Remember...
So remember these things the next time some well-meaning brother or sister tries to explain away how much your Father loves you. Or the next time a pastor tells you it's not right to believe for too many material blessings. Or the next time some on-air heathen reproaches a blessed believer or a 'prosperity preacher.'
Remember these things the next time satan whispers accusingly into your ear that you don't deserve the blessings of the Lord, that He doesn't really want you to prosper...that there's no way you'll ever get the desires of your heart.
Remember this: 'Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it.' [Psalm 37:4,5]
Remember this: 'It is the blessing of the LORD that makes rich [Heb. ashar—rich, wealthy, to gain riches], And He adds no sorrow to it.' [Proverbs 10:22]
Remember that we've been made the righteousness of God in Christ [Romans 3:22, 2 Corinthians 5:21] and then remember this:
'Praise the LORD! How blessed is the man who fears the LORD, Who greatly delights in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth; the generation of the upright will be blessed.'Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.'Light arises in the darkness for the upright; He is gracious and compassionate and righteous. It is well with the man who is gracious and lends; He will maintain his cause in judgment.'For he will NEVER be shaken; the righteous will be remembered forever.'HE WILL NOT FEAR EVIL TIDINGS; HIS HEART IS STEADFAST, TRUSTING IN THE LORD.'His heart is upheld, HE WILL NOT FEAR, UNTIL HE LOOKS WITH SATISFACTION ON HIS ADVERSARIES.'He has given freely to the poor, His righteousness endures forever; His horn will beexalted in honor.'The wicked will see it and be vexed, He will gnash his teeth and melt away; The desire of the wicked will perish.' [Psalm 112]
Finally, when you're really feeling up against it, when you're fighting discouragement because you don't yet see the wonderful blessings of God in the natural, do what Jesus did when Satan came to lie to Him about God.
He responded to every lie with "IT IS WRITTEN..." and then quoted the promises of God.
Write them down, memorize them, carry them around in your pocket or purse. Do whatever you have to do to be able to respond to every whispered lie of the enemy "IT IS WRITTEN..."
Decree a thing and it will be established for you. [Job 22:28] Speak the blessings of God into your life today. It is not His will for your heart to be sick—He wants to give you the desires of your heart!
