God Will Cause Your Gift To Prosper You

Proverbs 17:8
8A present is a precious stone in the eyes of its possessor; wherever he turns, he prospers.

When we see something mouldy, we throw it away. But when Alexander Fleming saw his culture dishes contaminated with mould, he discovered penicillin. You see, he had a gift which prospered him.

Joseph, a Hebrew slave in Egypt, had nothing except his gift of interpreting dreams. But look at what the gift did for him! It prospered him, making him the most powerful man in Egypt after Pharaoh. (Genesis 41)

“But, Pastor Prince, what if I don’t have any gift?”

My friend, don’t let anyone tell you that you don’t have any gift. God has given each person a gift that can bring them tremendous blessings, open doors of opportunities and bring in great financial blessings.

Now, perhaps you may not be aware that you have a gift inside you, or perhaps it has profited you nothing thus far as you have not found out how to use it. You need to take your gift and ask God for wisdom to cultivate it until it becomes such a powerful tool or “precious stone” that wherever you turn, you prosper.

This was the case with a church brother who was tremendously gifted in the creative arts. For a long time, he lacked the confidence and boldness to leave the security of his police job and step out on his own. But when he began to seek God’s wisdom for his situation, God dispensed wisdom to him which gave him boldness to leave his job and go back to school to pursue the creative arts. In school, he prospered, becoming one of its top students and impressing the principal so much with his creative gift that he was offered a teaching position in the school even before he graduated.

Now, please don’t go and leave your job after reading this. Instead, what you should do is ask God for wisdom regarding your gift. For when the wisdom of God is added to your gift, that gift or present “is a precious stone in the eyes of its possessor; wherever he turns, he prospers”.

God Sees Glorious Things In You!

1 Samuel 16:7
7… For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

Picture David when he was a shepherd boy. Many who knew young David in his pre-Goliath days would very likely have seen just an ordinary youth — one who lived at home with his parents and siblings, enjoyed the outdoors and loved music. But where others saw a typical teenager, God saw a king in young David. He saw David’s name being uttered in honour forever, for even the Lord Jesus is called the Son of David!

Picture Moses after he had settled down comfortably in the desert with a beautiful wife, lovely children and loving in-laws. He might have seen himself happily retiring in the near future. But God had bigger plans for Moses. God had big dreams for him. God saw the Red Sea opening before him and an entire Egyptian army being wiped out in his presence. God saw in him the deliverer of His people.

Now, step back a little less far in time with me. See a little boy standing alone during play time. Nobody wants him on their team because he is scrawny and seen as a weakling. As he grows into his teens, he suffers from an inferiority complex. He stammers and stutters so much that all his friends laugh at him. But today, he is the senior pastor of New Creation Church. Several times each week, he stands in front of a crowd of more than 16,000 people to preach. And he receives invitations worldwide to speak in churches and pastors’ conferences. There was no way I could have ever conceived in my mind what God saw in me in those early years and the dreams that He had for me.

Beloved, God does not see as man sees. He saw in fearful Gideon a mighty man of valour and called him so even when he was hiding from his enemies in fear. (Judges 6:12) He saw in young David a king and anointed him as one. (1 Samuel 16:10–13) He saw in meek Moses a deliverer and drew him from obscurity. (Exodus 3) Today, God looks beyond what man sees and says about you, and He has dreams for you that are bigger than you can imagine!

God Makes Everything Work Together For Good

Romans 8:28
28And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

In this verse, “all things” is literally all things — the good, the bad and the ugly! Now, it does not mean that all things are from God. Some things, such as accidents, sicknesses, broken relationships and divorces are not from God. They are from the devil or just part of the fallen world that we live in. What this verse does tell us is that “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose”. That is our inheritance as God’s beloved children.

Do the people of the world have this inheritance? No. When bad things happen to them, they are what they are — bad things. But when bad things happen to the children of God, it does not end there. God can make those bad things work together for good. In other words, the devil may throw lemons at you, but God can take those lemons and make refreshing lemonade for you!

For example, if you have been retrenched, believe that God, who makes all things work together for good, has a better job for you. Indeed, we have received testimonies from church members who have ended up with better jobs and higher salaries after they were retrenched.

It is important that you remember that God is not behind anything that is bad and ugly. But when those things happen, know that He is able to make all things work together for good. And don’t let anyone tell you that all things will work together for good only if you love God and are called according to His purpose. These two things are not conditions but descriptions of believers. Believers are those who love God because they know that God first loved them. (1 John 4:19) And they are called according to His purpose for they have been born again.

And because you have been born again, all things in your life will work together for good. This is your inheritance as a beloved child of God!

God Knows You Intimately

Matthew 10:30
30“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”

As much as I love my wife and daughter, I have never bothered to count the number of hairs on their heads. I don’t have the time to do so and I doubt I will ever want to.

Every day, your hair drops. Yet, God knows how many hairs are left on your head. And He also knows how many are growing back! He knows because He bothers to count them again. When it comes to you, He always has time for every little thing about you.

So when Jesus said, “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered,” He was not exaggerating. He never exaggerates. He means what He says and He says what He means. So for the Lord to say that the very hairs of your head are all numbered means that He wants you to know that He is very absorbed in you and has intimate knowledge about you — your body, family, finances, relationships… everything in your life!

He knows the pain you have been having in your body. He is aware of the financial concerns which you have been keeping from your family. He sees how your rebellious son is treating you. He understands the hurts you have been keeping in your heart. He hears your heart’s cry for a miracle baby.

Your heavenly Father wants you to know that He pays attention to everything that concerns you. He does not overlook it as long as it concerns you, even if it is your pet, as a church member found out. She panicked when she first discovered that her pet terrapin had gone blind. Then, remembering my messages on confessing healing for our bodies, she did the same for her pet. Three months later, the terrapin’s eyes were wide open and seeing!

God knows you intimately. He knows every small problem that you are worried about and every single burden that you have. And when you approach Him for help, He has all the time for you as if no one else exists. That is how valuable you are to Him and how absorbed He is in you!

Forgiveness Is For The Undeserving

Matthew 18:21
21… “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”

The Lord’s answer to Peter was simple: Up to seventy times seven. (Matthew 18:22) In other words, all the time!

“Well, Pastor Prince, he does not deserve my forgiveness.”

Neither did you deserve God’s. Listen, there is not a single person alive or dead who did not break all 10 of God’s commandments. There is no such thing as a “partial sinner” or “great sinner”. All of us were great sinners when Jesus saved us! And we need to have that revelation because if we know that we are forgiven much, we will love much. (Luke 7:47)

“Pastor Prince, how can you say that I have broken all 10 commandments? I have not committed adultery. I have been true to my wife since the day we were married.”

My friend, Jesus said, “If you lust after a woman in your heart, you have already committed adultery with her.” (Matthew 5:28) That is God’s standard. Man looks outward, but God looks inward. God sees the heart. So everyone has broken all 10 commandments. Everyone is a great sinner.

Now, you are no longer a sinner if you have received Christ as your Saviour — you are now a new creation. But you were a sinner and God forgave all your sins through the death of His Son. You owed God big time, but God forgave you of your huge debt through His Son’s death.

So if someone has wronged you, say this: “I did not deserve God’s forgiveness, but God forgave me through Christ. So I forgive this person also in Jesus’ name.” If you say something like, “He does not deserve it,” it makes no sense. Forgiveness is not for people who deserve it. If they deserve something, then it is punishment. No, forgiveness means that you extend grace. Grace means undeserved favour, like how God extends undeserved favour to you.

If you choose to hold on to bitterness, no one suffers but you. You lose your peace, health and sometimes even your life. It is not worth it! God says to you, “Let go. Forgive them their debts, just as I have forgiven you yours.” Don’t try to do it on your own. Bring the cross of Christ into the situation and you will find the grace to forgive!

Divinely Arranged And Beautifully Timed

Ecclesiastes 3:11
11He has made everything beautiful in its time…

Nothing happens to you by accident. Even a “chance” meeting with someone is part of God’s plan to set in motion His blessings in your life.

Such was the divinely arranged meeting of the Shunammite woman and Prophet Elisha. It led to the prophet pronouncing over her the blessing of a miracle child even though she was barren and her husband was old. (2 Kings 4:8–17) A few years later, it was this friendship with the man of God which saw her through a crisis when her son fell seriously ill and died. Elisha raised her son back to life. (2 Kings 4:18–37)

When God is the one orchestrating the events in your life, neither lack nor danger nor destruction can affect you. When famine hit the land, the Shunammite woman’s family did not suffer because God had through Elisha told them to leave the land. They went to the land of the Philistines and dwelt there throughout the seven years of famine. (2 Kings 8:1–2)

God can place you at the right place at the right time, even through your daily decision-making. The Shunammite woman decided to return to Shunem after the famine ended. She then decided to appeal to the king of Israel for help to regain her house and land, which had been illegally acquired by others in her absence. This decision brought her before the king on the same day that Elisha’s servant Gehazi was in audience with the king, who wanted to hear all about the miracles performed by Elisha.

This gave the Shunammite woman the opportunity to share first-hand with the king how Elisha had raised her son from the dead. The thrilled king then ordered the restoration of her house and land, including all the proceeds of the field from the day that she had left until then. (2 Kings 8:3–6) The Lord had timed and set up everything beautifully for her!

Beloved, God has also made everything beautiful in its time for you. As you involve Him in your daily life and trust His love for you, you too will see Him lead and place you at the right place at the right time to enjoy His blessings.