God is not the One Who is preventing you from experiencing all He has made available to you. He loves you and wants to see you living in total life prosperity! If God is not the problem, then who is?
There are Christians who believe that Satan is their biggest problem in life. Although he is your number one enemy, he is powerless against you. You have authority over the works of the devil (Luke 10:19 AMP), and the only way he can hurt or defeat you is if you allow him to do so.
The Word says that you are to "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8).
Notice this verse says, "whom he may devour." It is not possible for him to devour everyone. Only those who fail to exercise their authority become easy prey and are ultimately defeated by the devil.
A Sure Foundation
Since neither God nor the devil is hindering you from achieving your goals and receiving God's promises, a personal assessment may be warranted. What are you doing, or not doing, that is preventing the promises of God from showing up in your life?
Are you praying every day, reading God's Word and speaking it over your life? Are you applying the principles you learn at church but not getting the results you desire? Perhaps you're trying to make spiritual principles work without putting first things first.
The Amplified Bible, in Psalms 11:3, says, "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the [unyieldingly] righteous do, or what has He [the Righteous One] wrought or accomplished?" Your walk with God must be built on a firm foundation of holiness.
Holiness is living in agreement with God and His Word. I believe this is the missing link that is preventing some Christians from experiencing manifestation. Many Believers mistakenly take the matter of holiness lightly. God is a holy God, and He requires that you set yourself apart from the things of the world and focus your attention on Him (Leviticus 11:44; 1 Peter 1:15).
Holiness is a standard by which God has called you to live. First and foremost, He wants you to measure everything in your life by His standards as outlined in the Word. A standard is "something set up as a rule or model with which other things like it are to be compared."
The word measure means, "the extent of a thing in its length, breadth and depth; to find out the size by comparison." For instance, when I first became a Christian, I used to look at the commitment of other people in the body of Christ and how they incorporated and appropriated the Word in their lives.
I found myself trying to pattern my life after others. Fortunately, I soon discovered that I had to look instead at God's Word to measure how I was supposed to live my life rather than comparing my lifestyle to that of other people.
Second Timothy 1:9 in The Amplified Bible says, "[For it is He] Who delivered and saved us and called us with a calling in itself holy and leading to holiness [to a life of consecration, a vocation of holiness]...."
A vocation is a job or an occupation. It is how you make your living. In other words, holiness is a lifestyle. Every day, you must make it a priority not to become contaminated or defiled by the world's way of doing things.
Instead, purpose in your heart to align your thoughts and actions with the Word.
Put Off And Put On
Second Timothy 2:19 in The Amplified Bible says: "But the firm foundation of (laid by) God stands, sure and unshaken, bearing this seal (inscription): The Lord knows those who are His, and, Let everyone who names [himself by] the name of the Lord give up all iniquity and stand aloof from it."
The Father knows His children. Why? Because His offspring resemble Him in character. They have departed (or separated) from iniquity, lawlessness and sin. When people look at you, do they see God represented in the decisions and choices you make? If not, your Christian walk is not built on a solid foundation.
Revelation 21:7-8 says: "He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone...."
You must put away these things if you want to inherit the promises God has set aside for you. If you are going to walk in agreement with God and His Word, you must separate yourself from the world.
Separation is a twofold process. As you put off, you must also put on. Ephesians 4:21-24 (AMP) says:
Assuming that you have really heard Him and been taught by Him, as [all] Truth is in Jesus [embodied and personified in Him], Strip yourselves of your former nature [put off and discard your old unrenewed self] which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion; And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude], And put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God's image, [Godlike] in true righteousness and holiness.Here's an example: The world may say that there's nothing wrong with having sex before marriage as long as the two people love each other. However, when a Christian lives according to God's standards, he or she must regard premarital sex as sin and abstain from it.
Sadly, some Christians fall by the wayside because they try to come out of the world, without coming into the things of God. They stop drinking, partying and fornicating, but fail to dedicate themselves to God. Eventually they backslide, because they don't separate themselves unto the things of God.
In other words, they don't replace the old behaviors and patterns with new ones.
Dwell In His Presence
Conquerors are people who spend quality time with God on a daily basis. It is only in His presence that you are able to overcome the negative circumstances in your life and get positive results. If your schedule prevents you from reading the Word and spending time in prayer, it is time to reprioritize your life.
Don't make the mistake of trying to fit God into your busy schedule. Instead, arrange your schedule around the time you spend with God. Consider the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42. Mary understood the importance of dwelling at the feet of Jesus. You, too, must make it a priority to dwell in God's presence.
Living by God's standards is an attainable goal. In fact, He would not require you to walk in holiness if it were not within your ability to do so (1 John 5:3). The following steps will assist you in the process of living by God's Standards. Do these, and you'll be on your way to inheriting the things that God has promised us in His Word:
- Choose to live for God (Deut. 30:19). Reevaluate your personal goals to see if they line up with God's will for your life.
- Separate yourself from intimate relationships with unbelievers or carnal Christians (2 Cor. 6:14-18). Replace those relationships by developing new ones with Christians who have similar beliefs.
- Put to death the deeds of the flesh with the Word of God (1 Cor. 6:19-20). Replace old behaviors with new ones.
- Confess, forsake and forget your sins (Prov. 28:13; 1 John 1:9). Don't condemn yourself; forgive yourself and move forward.
- Take a spiritual bath every day by meditating on and reading the Word (Joshua 1:8). Spend less time watching television or talking on the phone and spend more time in God's presence.
love what He loves, you will see His supernatural power at work in your life!
And, you will begin to align yourself to receive the promises that God had made you in the Word!
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Taffi Dollar is a celebrated author, teacher, and well-known conference speaker. Together with her husband, Creflo Dollar, she pastors more than 30,000 active members at World Changers Church International, World Changers Church-New York, as well as a host of fellowship churches throughout the U.S. and internationally.
