Be Fruitful

PRAYER - "Praying for the Wrong Thing" 

We get pretty cranky with God because He doesn't answer prayers like we want Him to. We pray for things, and then complain if we don't get them. God is not likely to give you what you want if it doesn't fit His plans for your life. If He does, you'll be sorry. You would do better to thank Him for using His divine discretion and count your blessings.

James 4:3 - "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts."

PRINCIPALS -"The Forbidden Fruit"

People commonly call it an apple, but nobody knows what the forbidden fruit was. It doesn't matter. It might have been anything. Tragically, people always think they will be better off when they get it, but that is NEVER the case. Lucifer tells all kinds of lies to tempt people with anything he can find, but obedience to God is always more rewarding.

Genesis 3:5 "And God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." 

PRINCIPLES - "Prosperity"

God has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant. But sometimes, it also pleases the Lord to bruise His servant. God wants you and me to be blessed, but sometimes, for His glory, He needs us to endure some things that may drain us, even bankrupt us. Remember Job's trial. Learn how to prosper AND how to be abased.

Ecclesiastes 7:14 - "In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him."

PROPHECIES - "Replenish the Earth"

God told Noah's sons to replenish the earth. Shem's descendants soon migrated to what is now known as Iran, Syria, Iraq and Turkey - and 

became the Middle Eastern nations (Semites). Ham's descendants are generally believed to have migrated to Africa. Japheth's descendants are principally European Caucasians; For example, Magog is in Southern Russia. Meshech and Tubal were founded in the region of modern Georgia. Ultimately, all nations descend from these three sons of Noah.

Genesis 9:1 - "God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth."

Welcome to the Big Leagues

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

– Matthew 5:11-12

When persecution comes, don't sit around whining about it. Don't waste your time feeling sorry for yourself. Despite what you may think, that persecution hasn't come because the devil gets his kicks out of picking on you. It comes because you've become a threat to him. It comes because you've put the Word in your heart, and he knows that if he doesn't get it out, you're going to cause him more trouble than he can handle.

So, rejoice! Heavy-duty persecution means you've made it to the big leagues. It means the devil is taking you so seriously that he's sending in his best players in an effort to get you out of the game!

The players that make it to the Super Bowl don't look for some way out of it, do they? They don't say, "Boy, I sure wish I didn't have to be in that Super Bowl game. Those guys are the biggest, meanest players in the country. "Maybe I'll get sick and I won't have to play." No! They relish the opportunity. "Let me at 'em," they say. "I've worked all my life to get here and now I'm going to prove I'm the best!"

That's how you should be when the devil challenges you. You should accept that challenge with joy, knowing you're going to come out a winner. After all, your God is sufficient to see you through. He never stops and wonders if He's going to have enough resources to get poor, little you over your problems this time. He knows He can beat anything the devil brings against you.

So, when persecution comes, trust Him and rejoice, knowing that you've made it to the big leagues now!