Читать книгу Path to Prosperity - Jeanel Champion - Страница 4

Your mind and your thinking are at the core of who you are. Your thoughts are so powerful. Proverbs 23:7 is saying that what you think determines who you are. This is a “selah” moment, which means to stop and ponder on what was said. I need you to get this – you can only get as far as your mind allows you to. If you have a mindset of “I cannot" then you will not and you never will. If you have a poverty mindset, then you will never prosper financially. If by chance you gain wealth, you will lose it quickly if your mindset does not change.

Have you ever heard of people winning millions of dollars and then ending up worse off than they were before? Why does that happen? It is because although they became wealthy, their poverty thinking never changed and as a result, they had no choice but to end up poor again. They went from poverty to riches, then right back to poverty, but this time they are worse off because now they are poor with rich people’s problems, such as millions of dollars of debt. But this will not be the case with the children of God. God has given us a spirit of wisdom and we will learn to walk in it.

To better understand the mind and its impact on your future, let us take a step all the way back to Genesis to understand who we are as humans.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Genesis 1:26 (NKJV)

“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Genesis 2:7 (NKJV)

This is our beginning and therefore our understanding of it is crucial. First, we see here that God formed man. In other words, He created and designed our body. It was a work of art and He was the inspiration. He made us to look just like Him, for Scripture teaches that we were made in His image and likeness. To be created in His image simply means we were designed to look like and resemble Him. Next time you look in the mirror, know that you look good because you actually look like God. Pause and smile (smiley face inserted here).

To be created in His likeness means that we function the same way He does. God all along intended for the human being to operate and live the same way He does. This is a very powerful statement and one that I love to teach on.

I want to point out how Genesis 2 tells us that God formed man. So no, you are not something that accidentally evolved from a monkey or gorilla. And no, when you go to the zoo and see the primates, you are not staring at your distant cousins. You are part of God’s strategic plan of creation and dominion and you were made by His hands.

Next, we see that God breathed into man. The lifeless sculpture of mankind laid next to God. He blew air from His mouth into the nostrils of man and this earthly, hand carved structure suddenly became alive and a living soul. The Hebrew word for living soul is nephesh (Strong’s number 05315) and it involves everything that makes us who we are. As the breath of God entered the human body, mankind rose to life. The spirit of the human was born as well as the will, emotions, life in the blood, soul, character, passions, and mind (taken from the definition of nephesh).

Let us set our attention on the last one listed – the mind. We received our minds when God breathed into us and gave us life. This means that your mind contains the Spirit of God. This is powerful. Your mind is not meant to wander on its own and think whatever drops into it in that moment. God gave you your mind as a piece of Him. Your mind is a part of God that was given to the human race to position us to be like God. This was the great deception in the Garden of Eden. Satan told Eve that if she ate the fruit she would be just like God – the problem was that she was already just like God (read Genesis 1:26 – 28).

You must think like God in order for you to display His character and power. I love this Scripture (and shout out to my dad as this is his favorite verse):

“And Jesus answering said unto them, have faith in God” Mark 11:22 (NKJV)

In Greek, the word “in” also means like. In Mark 11:22, if you replace the word in with like, Jesus was saying to His disciples, “have faith like God.” If you read the entire phrase in Greek, it reads something like, “have the faith of God." In other words, Jesus expected his disciples to display the same faith God has which allowed Him to create the entire universe by simply speaking it into existence (Genesis 1:3-31). This is another selah moment for you to pause and digest. This is a part of the “likeness” of God we were created in.

“God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did” Romans 4:17 (NKJV)

If we are not using our minds and mouths to create and speak things into existence, then we are not functioning as God intended for us to.

We see that the mind is not a natural object. We think of it as being natural because we tie the mind to the brain, but the mind itself is part of our spirit being and not part of our flesh. Mankind received its mind, or nephesh, not when God formed us from the ground but when He breathed life into us. Our mind was created from the breath of God and is therefore part of our spirit being.

I have come to realize that the mind actually connects the carnal world to the spirit world. The link between the supernatural and the natural is the mind. It is the bridge that allows us to go into the depths of the spirit and causes angels and demons to interact with humans. I repeat, the mind is what allows angels and demons to interact with humans. Have you ever worshiped God or prayed but was unfocused? You were singing or speaking words but your mind was distracted by other things and the outcome was probably nothing much. Then suddenly you focus your attention on the worship or prayer and all of a sudden you make that connection with God. You feel Him and connect with Him more deeply and even receive a breakthrough. What made the difference? You put your mind into it! Once your mind was into the worship or prayer you were offering, you were able to connect your spirit to God and receive your breakthrough. It has happened to me countless times. Once my mind connects with the activity that my body is doing, then power is created. The ability to achieve and see results is born.

When I was pregnant with my first child, I was afraid of labor. In fact, at one point I used to say that I would not have children because I was afraid to deal with the pain of giving birth. At around seven months of pregnancy, I started dedicating time every day to speak to myself and change my mind about labor. Yes, I decided to change my mind. I convinced myself that labor was easy because I am a woman and I was born for this (among many other things). My body knows exactly what it is doing and that is how God designed it. I spent forty-five minutes to an hour each day rehearsing these statements and preparing myself for birth. When the time came, I opted for an epidural but due to complications it did not work. I unwillingly had a natural birth and can I tell you that when I left the delivery room I was dancing and felt very empowered! My labor experience was comfortable and it was positive! People are shocked when I tell them this, but why did that happen? It was a mindset shift. I worked diligently to change my thinking, to undo the years of horror stories I was told from many other women and to tell myself a new story. I forced my mind to accept a new truth - that labor was easy because I was designed for it. My mind believed, and therefore labor was easy.

I am hoping by now you are beginning to understand that your mind is a powerful tool and your diligent attention to the thoughts it thinks is very important. The thoughts that are in your mind are so powerful that they actually go into your future and prepare it for you. This is why someone with a poverty mindset will always be poor. Remember, you cannot go beyond your thoughts. This is precisely what our opening Scripture means – you are what you think or you become what you think. The mind is so powerful and filled with creative power. This is why you must pay extra close attention to what you allow your mind to think. My rule is, if I do not want that thought to be my reality, then I should stop myself from thinking it.

It is critical to your success and your future to establish a healthy, Godly mindset towards every area of your life, including your finances. We need to shed wrong thinking concerning money and our personal finances and establish new ways of thinking.

Here are some thoughts I want you to shed:

If God wants me to be rich, then I will get rich.

The truth – many people actually die with their dreams and destinies still within them, leaving earth never having shared their gifts with the rest of us or reaped any benefits from them. In fact, according to Dr. Myles Munroe, the graveyard is the wealthiest place on earth. In it lies books that were never written, businesses that never got off the ground, songs that were never written or produced, and so many ideas and dreams that never came to fruition.

God has many wonderful plans for you. The Bible says that God knew you before you were ever in your mother’s womb (Jeremiah 1:5). God set you apart for your purpose before you were born. His plans for you are so great and grand but if you fail to do your part, they will not happen. This is why the cemetery is so wealthy because it is filled with people who did not do their part and their dreams died with them. Our walk with God is a partnership between us and Him. You must do your part and we will continue to explore this in the remainder of this book.

I will get checks in the mail or some random person will give me millions of dollars and I will be rich.

The truth – While on rare occasions God does bless in these ways, this is not normal and nor should you sit around expecting this to happen to you. God is the Miracle Worker who does all sorts of impossible things beyond our comprehension but if you want wealth, it will not come like “magic”. We have come to expect this hocus pocus type of God and that mindset is demonic. Miracles such as checks in the mail and people handing money over to you will not sustain you. They are temporary blessings that last for a season. There is more that has to be done in order to build wealth and to sustain it throughout your future. God sets high expectations for us. There is a role you play in your future and God loves you too much to let you be lazy while He just hands you wealth on a silver platter. He wants you to do your part so that you can grow and then turn around and help others on the journey. So stop waiting to get rich by magic and make your mind up that you will do whatever it is God has for you to do.

Poverty is a sign of humility. It is not. Poverty is a sign of lack. The Bible says that if we are humbled, God will lift us up in due time. Get ready for your lifting because it is your turn for elevation. My family has always been poor. Your future is not based on your past. In fact, the Bible tells us that God will use the low things of this Earth to confound the wise.

“For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His Presence.” 1 Corinthians 1:26 – 29 (NKJV)

That means, God looks for those whom others have rejected, the ones who seemed doomed to fail, doomed to not succeed or amount to anything. He uses those who are low and base. Why? Because first, He is drawn to those who have a broken spirit and who are humbled. He is drawn to the ones whom society has written off and those that are looked down upon. Second, God loves to do grand things in the lives of the least qualified so that He gets all the glory. It is a type of “only God can do this.” God wants to transform your life so much that those who think they know you so well will not be able to recognize you and all they can say is that it had to have been God. God is about dramatic transformation. Are you ready to be His next masterpiece?

Here is a statistic that I want you to keep in mind. According to a 2017 survey done by Fidelity Investments, 88% of millionaires are self-made. That means that only 12% of millionaires had their wealth handed down to them. The remaining 88% were “ordinary people” as some might describe them. None of them were born millionaires. You too can become a millionaire regardless of your background or upbringing.

I want to get rich but I have no idea where to even begin.

Begin to tell yourself that God will show you the way. He already has a plan for your life and He will reveal it if you will come along this journey with Him. God knows where you should begin and He will reveal it to you. In fact, He has already placed it in your heart. Through this book and the accompanying workbook, we will draw out the dreams God has placed in your heart. Do not let this feeling of being unsure hold you back. If God tells you open a lemonade stand and all you have are lemons and no water and sugar, then just get started peeling your lemons. As you move forward with what you have, your phone will ring, someone will knock on your door, or God will give you an instruction to go somewhere and you will come into the remaining ingredients you need.

It is wrong for me to desire money or riches, for the love of money is the root of all evil.

The Bible does teach that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil but desiring wealth and loving money are two different things. Money needs to have the right place in your heart – you cannot love it nor should it come first. We cover this topic in more detail in the next chapter. The Bible says,

“...money answers all things.” Proverbs 10:19c (NKJV)

“Giving a gift can open doors; it gives access to important people!” Proverbs 18:16 (NLT)

Money opens doors for us. Proverbs 18:16 was written to provide wisdom to God’s children but the children of the world have used this to their advantage more so than the children of God. Many wealthy people are making donations to organizations and community leaders and in turn are able to push their influence. God wants His children with His values elevated to positions of influence and Proverbs 18 tells us money opens that door. It grants us access to decision makers and allows us to influence those decisions using Godly principles and values.

This is why your ideas and your dream matter – because you will bring Jesus to a world or sector where He is desperately needed.

It is a deception of the enemy that God does not want you rich or that you should not desire or pray about money. God wants you to have it all, as far as your eyes can see is what He told Abraham (“For all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants [seed] forever” Genesis 13:15). We are the seed of Abraham and the promise is for us (“And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:29). God wants you to prosper so believe it now. Pray for your prosperity and desire it. John prayed for us to prosper in 3 John 2, so therefore you can go ahead and pray for prosperity.

“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” 3 John 2 (NKJV)

It will never happen for me. I just don’t have what it takes. This is so not true. God gives us the wisdom that we need to make wealth. Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse 18 tells us that God gives us the ability to gain wealth so that He keeps His covenant with us. He actually made a covenant to make us wealthy and He wants to keep His Word. Blessing you to get rich is one of the ways God keeps His Word. This is another selah (or maybe shouting) moment.

“And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” Deuteronomy 8:18 (NKJV)

In the Scripture above the word “fathers” refer to our forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God made a promise to them to make us wealthy. As we saw earlier from Galatians 3, if we believe in Christ, then we are the children of Abraham. He is our forefather so the promise of wealth is for us as well.

Make up your mind that from this moment, you will not allow these negative thoughts and others like it to float around in your mind. You are taking control of your mind and your life and will stop believing the lies the enemy has told you. Affirm positive things concerning your future and your finances and have a healthy, Godly mindset towards your money and prosperity.

Here are some positive, new thoughts you can adopt:

 It is the will of God that I prosper.

 God wants to bless me, so that I can be a blessing to others.

 God is the One who gives me the ability to gain wealth. I can pray and ask Him for this ability and He will give it to me.

 God made a covenant to bless those who believe in Him and in prospering me, He is keeping His Word.

 My success and prosperity bring glory to God.

 My success and prosperity will help advance the Kingdom of God.

 I am ready to make wealth and God will guide me every step of the way.

 My desires are not wrong – God wants me to have the good of the land, just as He spoke through the prophet Isaiah. He wants me to have the best of everything.

 I want to be rich. I will be rich and there is nothing wrong with thinking like this.

To dig further into your own mindset and the shift you need to make, go to the Workbook that accompanies this book and complete chapter 1 exercises.