We all want to flourish and do well in life, in our relationships, finances, health, joy and peace. And the good news is that it’s also God’s will for us to flourish. Jeremiah 29:11 says that God knows the plans that He’s got for us and that they are plans to prosper us and not to harm us; God has a prosperous future filled with hope planned for us! Our perfect Father desires for us to flourish and do well in life! But you need to realise that you aren’t just going to flourish by accident. A lot of people think that if it’s God’s will for them to flourish, they will, but if not, they won’t. The truth of the matter is that it’s not up to God.
John 3:16 New King James Version (NKJV)
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
This verse shows us that God wants us to have eternal life and that He doesn’t want anyone of us to perish and yet people perish every day because they haven’t believed in Him. We have to choose to believe in Jesus in order to receive salvation. 2 Peter 3:9 says that God doesn’t want anyone to perish but He desires that everyone come to repentance and be saved. God wants every one of us to flourish and yet there are people who perish every day in this life and then when they die in the afterlife because they haven’t chosen to believe and receive God’s free gift of salvation. Jesus said to the disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel. Why on earth would it be necessary to go into all the world; to go through the expense of going into all the world to preach the gospel so that people can receive the gospel if everything that God wants to have happen will just happen? God’s will doesn’t automatically come to pass.
James 4:7 New King James Version (NKJV)
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
The devil doesn’t like you and he would love nothing more than to succeed at wrecking your life. Don’t be afraid! You’re bigger than he is – most believers don’t seem to realize this and we will be looking at it in a future devotional. If the enemy cannot succeed at keeping you passive he will get people to criticize you and be mean towards you with the aim of trying to get you to value the opinions of others above God’s. You need to actively resist the attacks of the devil if you want him to flee against you. If you want to flourish in your life, you need to choose to submit to God’s will for your life and actively fight against (resist) the enemy’s attacks. Flourishing doesn’t happen by accident, but God has set you up for it. Salvation is the first step to flourishing.
There are really only two reasons why you would have continuous lingering problems in your life. Yes, the enemy might be attacking and yes you might be making bad decisions, but the reason why you’re not overcoming is that you’re not born again or if you are a Christian, you may be suffering because you don’t know what happened to you when you became a Christian. God is not your problem; He’s not stuck. God wills that we walk in health and freedom and victory, and he has provided for it through the gospel. Now I just need to choose to believe it and walk in it.
Hosea 4:6 New King James Version (NKJV)
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…
Wrong information and wrong doctrine will kill you. People say, “what you don’t know won’t hurt you” but the truth is that you’re suffering because you’re ignorant of who you are in Christ and how to walk out your new identity.
2 Peter 1:2-3 New King James Version (NKJV)
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue
Grace and peace can be multiplied in your life through your knowledge of God. This “knowledge” isn’t referring to a mere intellectual knowing but an intimate knowing; it’s talking about relationship. We have all we need for life and godliness through knowing God! If you don’t know God, you cannot flourish, but the more you know God, the more you can flourish.
John 8:32 New King James Version (NKJV)
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
When you come to know (relationship) the truth you’ll start to walk in freedom and all that God has for you!