I thought I was a smart businessman when I worked my way up from making twenty-five cents a day on a Tennessee farm to making $4,000 a week. I thought I was pretty smart.
But when I turned my life completely over to God, I found out that I was pretty dumb.
Now I don’t ask Norvel Hayes where he is or where he wants to be. I ask God to tell me what He wants me to do. This is a much better choice.
There have been times when I am driving down a road, and the Holy Spirit begins to manifest Himself to me and reveal great opportunities.
For example, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I purchased a piece of property for $9,000 and sold it later on for $100,000. There was no effort involved.
About a year ago, I bought a piece of property for $80,000. Today, it is worth approximately $600,000. This highly profitable transaction required no effort on my part, except walking into a lawyer’s office to sign the papers.
I have asked the Lord, “Jesus, why do you bless me like this?”
“Because you passed my test,” He answered. “How did I pass your test?”
You fulfilled the Scripture,” He said. “My test for the human race and the Church is obedience to the Scriptures.”
This statement seems simple to me. God has a test He wants you to pass.
He said, “I don’t have any other test except the Scriptures. Tell my people that there are blessings attached to each verse that is fulfilled by any believing Christian.”
Even As Thy Soul Prospereth
I would dare say that businessmen all across America want to be rich. They would like to make $100,000 just like that, with no effort. And they would like to have health and not be sick.
They need to remember that God said, “Let your soul prosper, then you can prosper financially and prosper in health.”
“Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” (3 John 2).
Allow the Lord to guide your life and show you opportunities you never dreamed possible. Remember that earning $4,000 a week doesn’t mean that you are very intelligent, because God can allow you to earn a quarter of a million dollars in fifteen seconds.
All He has to do is ask the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself once and show you the opportunities. He could reveal those opportunities to you right now. The Spirit of God has more sense in five minutes than an entire town has in five years.
The Holy Spirit thinks exactly in accordance with the Word—there is no difference. In (Peter 5:7), God says to not worry about anything—your finances, your health, your family, your friends or your church.
The Word has the following to say about everything that concerns you and that you don’t know how to handle: “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7).
So, from this moment forward, give all your problems to God quickly.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
Norvel Hayes is a successful businessman, internationally renowned Bible teacher, and founder of several Christian ministries in the United States and abroad.
Brother Hayes founded New Life Bible College, located in Cleveland, Tennessee, in 1977. New Life Bible Church grew out of the Bible schools\' chapel services. Among its many other outreachs, the church ministers God\'s Word, and hot meals daily to the poor through the New Life Soup Kitchen.
Brother Hayes is also the founder and president of New Life Maternity Home, a ministry dedicated to the spiritual, physical, and financial needs of young girls during pregnancy; Campus Challenge, an evangelistic outreach on college campuses across America; Street Reach, a ministry dedicated to runaway teens located in Daytona Beach, Florida; and Children\'s Home, an orphanage home and education center located in India.
Known internationally for his dynamic exposition of the Word of God, Brother Hayes spends most of his time teaching and ministering God\'s deliverance and healing power in churches, college classrooms, conventions, and seminars around the world.