From Blessed to Blessing
There's this book by, I think his name is Gary Chapman. He wrote a book on The Five Love Languages. And he basically says that everybody has a primary love language.....
December 8, 2024
Romans 1:16 – Anything that God does, He does through His Word.
There’s this book by, I think his name is Gary Chapman. He wrote a book on The Five Love Languages. And he basically says that everybody has a primary love language. But if I don’t speak to you in your primary love language, even if I want to express that I love you, because I’m not speaking to you in your love language, you will not feel loved. Similarly, the technology through which God works is His Word. If you can’t understand the language of God’s Word, you will miss out on His work. If you are from China, and I speak Hindi, and you don’t know Hindi, and I don’t know Chinese, we are both at a loss.
Oftentimes, we want God to speak to us in our language. But the thing is, He cannot speak to us in the language of despair, in the language of hopelessness, in the language of depression. That’s not how He talks. See, the Word became flesh. The Word stepped into our reality, but that’s not where the story ends. See, we always want Jesus to come down to our level, but if that is where the end is, then it’s a very sad ending. Yes, He does come down to our level, but it is for you to be picked up to His level. The culture and the times we are living in often push for empathy: “Empathize with me, relate to me. I’m going through this.” But I’m telling you, empathy will do you no good if it doesn’t deliver you from where you are and take you to a higher realm.
So, yes, Jesus does come down to our level, but He became flesh so that He could pull you into His reality (John 1:14). If your reality was good, then why do you even need Jesus? Yeah, but if you keep expecting Him to come down, see, He came once and for all into our reality. He’s not going to keep coming down because once you have received the gift of salvation, now it is for you to rise up.
The Bible says,
Isaiah 60:1 – “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you”.
So, I want to challenge you: arise, my friends, arise.
We are waiting for Jesus to come down to our levels. But here’s the truth: He has already blessed you with everything you need to get up and walk. He said one word to Peter,
Matthew 14:29 – Come!. Peter got out of the boat and started walking on the water.
He told the man who had been at the pool of Bethesda for 38 years,
John 5:8 – “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk”. And the man stood up and walked.
But the picture of Jesus that many of us have is like this: He’ll just come, pet us, and go. No! His comfort is meant to take you out of the pit. But you need to be willing to get out of the pit. For some of us, the pit has become comfortable. Living in despair has become normal. You know, living with that pain—”It’s just a small pain, I can deal with it”—has become comfortable. Turn to someone and say, “Get uncomfortable!” You are not meant for this level. It is God’s desire that you are not circumstance-driven. God doesn’t want you to be tossed around by circumstances. When things are good, you’re happy; when things are bad, you crumble. That’s not His design for you. God’s desire is for you to dominate your circumstances, not be driven by them. Many people let their day happen to them instead of taking charge of the day. But you are called for dominion.
The Bible says,
Genesis 1:26 – “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and over all the creatures that move along the ground”.
You were created for dominion. But if you are comfortable in your pit or misery, nobody can help you. Look at Jesus. He comes to the man who had been sick for 38 years. The man was hoping to get healed when the angel stirred the pool, but he couldn’t walk, and no one would help him. He was helpless.
Now look at Jesus. He asks him,
John 5:6 – “Do you want to get well?”.
It might seem like an insensitive question. Of course, the man had been lying there for 38 years; doesn’t he want to be healed? But here’s the truth: Many of us don’t truly want healing. We talk about healing, we talk about deliverance, but we don’t take the step toward it. For this man, his sickness had become his lifestyle. His “career” was sitting there, begging, and receiving food without effort. Once he got healed, he’d have to figure out how to live his life. And sometimes, the things we hold on to—whether it’s our pain, our comfort, or even our steady salary—are the very things keeping us from stepping into the next level of glory that God has for us. You want to pray, you want to believe in God: “God, deliver me, deliver me.” But you don’t really mean it because you are comfortable where you are. There’s no drive that pushes you. So yes, Jesus comes to your level, but the first thing He asks is, “Do you want to be healed?” (John 5:6). It’s very important to answer this: Do you want to be healed? Do you want to go to the next level? Do you want to be delivered? Do you want to see peace? It’s really important—do you even desire it? This is the gospel of grace, okay? Just want to vacuum you out of your sleepiness so you’ll wake up. God has so much for you. Don’t settle for less. No matter how much you’ve grown in life, there’s always more. Don’t settle for less.
Stop having a pity party, and don’t look for people in the church to resonate with your pity party. I hate such fellowships! Offended people always find other offended people. Somehow, they’ll find each other. “Let’s hang out for coffee,”
Come on, make a decision today. So I haven’t even begun, but before I do, I want you to pray. Have a desire in your heart.
God, today, this is my desire. If it is healing, deliverance, breakthrough—whatever it is—place that desire in your heart and tell the Lord:
“Lord, today speak to me through Your Word. Plant that seed in my heart because I want to see it. I am tired of where I am, and I need Your touch. I need Your Word today, right now.”
Let’s turn to
Romans 1:16 – “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes.”
The gospel is the power of God for salvation. The gospel is the power of God for salvation. Just like electricity is the power for all electronic items, the gospel is the power for salvation.
If you understand the word “salvation,” it means being rescued. That’s why it’s not a New Testament term—it’s an Old Testament term. Even David said,
Psalm 27:1 – “The Lord is my light and my salvation”.
When David wrote that psalm, he was surrounded completely by enemies. King Saul was after his life. His own son Absalom was after his life. He went through times when enemies surrounded him, and he felt alone, with no one there to help him. It was in that time that he said,
Psalm 27:1 – “The Lord is my light and my salvation” .
Salvation means being rescued from something—like being kidnapped, and then a rescue mission is sent to save you from your captors. So salvation delivered you from death. Salvation delivered you from sin. Salvation delivered you from sickness. Salvation delivered you from darkness.
But the problem is, most Christians only understand one side of salvation—what we have been delivered from. We don’t fully understand what we have been delivered into. A lot of times, the gospel narrative we hear is, “Oh, you know what? Jesus died to save me from sin. Jesus died to save me from hell.” We only know that side of the story. But the other side of salvation—the other side of the coin—is our responsibility. You’ve been delivered from something, but you’ve also been delivered into something. You’ve been delivered into life. You’ve been delivered from death into life. You have been delivered from sin into righteousness. You have been delivered from darkness into light. This is not something that is going to happen if you believe in Jesus—it has already happened! The main problem with Christians is understanding tenses. Many are confused about the past, present, and future. A lot of Christians are waiting for a futuristic Jesus to deliver them from their situation. But here’s the truth: the gospel is not futuristic. The gospel is finished. It’s done.
You do not put faith in something that God is going to do. You put faith in something that God has already done. Change your perspective from a futuristic gospel to the gospel that is done. When did God place Adam in the garden? After He created everything. After He had prepared everything Adam needed for life and dominion, then He created Adam.
Similarly, when did you come into existence? After everything was created for you to live a life of dominion. God is not catching up with your mistakes. He is not catching up with the choices you make. God is not catching up.
God does not start until He has already finished.
Yes, let me say that again: God doesn’t start until He has already finished.
Hebrews 4:3 – “His works were finished from the foundation of the world.”
Do you know that Christ was crucified before the foundation of the earth? Revelation 13:8 refers to Jesus as “the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world.”
Revelation 13:8 – and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.
You were chosen before the foundation of the earth.
Ephesians 1:4 – “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.”
You weren’t chosen the moment you said “yes” to Jesus. You said “yes” to Jesus because He had already chosen you.
You were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. For you to be chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, you must have existed in God’s eternal plan before the foundation of the world.
And for you to be chosen in Christ, Christ Himself had to exist before the foundation of the world. Everything Christ accomplished had to have been completed before the foundation of the world, because that is what makes Him Christ.
You are worried about your tomorrow, but from God’s perspective, it’s already done. That’s whatever you are believing for—you can only have faith for what you believe has been done for you. The way some of you are looking at me, it’s like I’m talking Hebrew. Oh, Jesus! On the cross, Jesus said, “It is finished.” It is done. Does that even mean anything to us?
If we continue to live the Old Testament life, but Jesus says on the cross, “It is finished,” that means something has changed, right? Yes, something has changed! What has changed? You have been delivered from death into life. You have been delivered from hell into the kingdom.
This is not something that is going to happen—it has already happened, right now, right here. And for you to walk in it, all it requires is for you to believe in what Jesus has done.
So Paul says in,
Romans 1:16 – “The gospel is the power of God for salvation.”
Now, imagine yourself as that person who could not walk for 38 years (John 5:1-9). It’s a wonderful story of him being healed. But here’s the practical question: now that he is healed, what does he do for a living?
For 38 years, he was being fed. He just had to beg. Now that he’s healed, he can’t beg—or he could fake it . But now comes the biggest challenge.
The problem with Christians today is that we don’t know how to live. We know how to die in Jesus, but we don’t know how to live. Dying is easy but it’s tough to live.
You say, “I want to die for Jesus. I want to die for Jesus.” Learn how to live for Jesus.
How often do we misquote Paul’s words?
Philippians 1:21 -“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain”.
But what is better—Christ or gain? The answer is Christ. Yes, Paul says, even though dying would benefit him, he chooses to live because living is Christ.
My friends, dying is easy. Living is hard. But God has delivered you from death to life.
Many Christians live like that 38-year-old man who was healed but doesn’t know what to do next. What career path should he choose? How should he live this new life?
Too often, our mindset is: “Jesus, take me. I’ll see You in paradise.” All our hope is to somehow make it through earth, die, and get to heaven. Why? Because we can’t deal with family. Family feels like chaos. We can’t deal with our finances. So what’s better? That a truck hits you?
I’m telling you, when I was growing up, I genuinely thought if the gospel was about getting to heaven, we should all just pray to die. As a kid, I would think, “It’s so difficult to live a life dominating sin—how much can you not lie?” I used to pray, “God, take me. This is so hard. Just take me. I just want to get to heaven.”
But God did not pay such an expensive price on the cross for you to die.
Jesus didn’t say, “I have come to give you a wonderful death and a beautiful life in heaven.” He said,
John 10:10 – “I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly”.
But here’s the problem—our understanding of life has been so warped by Sunday school teachings. For those of us who went to Sunday school, we often assume that any time the Bible talks about life, it’s referring to heaven.
Every time we see the word, the phrase the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God, we assume it means heaven, which, heaven, you know, after death. Here, I’m breaking the news, okay? Heaven is dimensional. Meaning Paul said,
2 Corinthians 5:8 – “When I’m absent in my body, I am present with Christ”
He’s not saying that only when he dies, he’ll get to heaven. He’s saying that there’s a superior reality, which is of a higher dimension, which exists right here, right now. Heaven is a superior dimension. Heaven does not exist after Mars, Heaven is right here, right now. It’s a superior dimension. It is a superior reality. That’s why even though your body is sitting here right now, in your spirit, you are seated with Christ in heaven . The deception of the enemy is that he has made us believe that there is no superior dimension. And all that we have is the three-dimensional—the time, space, and matter. The reason why he deceives us into believing that there’s no higher dimension is so that he can control us.
That’s why when you read the Bible, the Bible hardly talks about the physical dimension. It talks about the heavenly, spiritual, invisible dimension. That’s why when believers are waiting, “Oh, pastor, give me one practical thing, one practical thing,” you can’t find a practical thing from here. Nothing is practical. Let’s talk about practical things? Moses parted the Red Sea—try doing that in a bathroom. Make it practical. One army going to fight walks in circles around the city seven times—they’re already tired. They circle around seven times, and now they have to shout, and the walls come tumbling down. I’m saying the reason why we are trying to make it practical is because we have believed in the deception of the enemy—that all that we see is all that there is. But there is a higher dimension, a higher spiritual dimension that cannot be seen, but it is more powerful and more superior. In Jesus, you have been delivered from the lower dimension, and you have been delivered into the superior dimension. Before the fall, Adam was in the garden, and all the animals came to Adam, and none of them had the courage to attack Adam. Because he was operating from a superior dimension. But when he sinned, everything turned against him. Now, even the dog that was wagging its tail wants to bite him.Because he’s been cut off from the higher superior dimension. Now he’s caught up in the physical reality. But in Christ, you have been delivered into the superior dimension of heaven.
So, heaven is not something that happens to you later after you die. Heaven happens to you right now, right here, when you receive Jesus and you walk by faith.
Romans 5:17 – “For we have received the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness to reign in life.”
Read the last line: “In Jesus, we have received the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness for what? To reign in life.”
The same mandate that God gave Adam for dominion has been restored to you in Christ. The mandate still remains the same. When God created man, He created him for dominion—dominion over everything, “Dominion over everything.” Because of the fall, when he lost that authority, now in Christ, you have been restored back to the authority for dominion. See, this verse before it begins—the second statement, it says, “Much more.” Say with me, “Much more.” What Adam lost, Christ gained much more. Meaning God did not set you to that same level where Adam was. God set you ahead of Adam because you are much more in Christ.
Just imagine there’s an account. Your account is full red, and you owe a lot of money to somebody. Imagine you owe somebody a hundred thousand dollars, A hundred thousand dollars. It’s a lot of money. But what Jesus did for you is not just repay your hundred thousand dollars in debt. What Christ did was much more. So He did not just pay a hundred thousand dollars in debt; He gave you a hundred billion dollars. You have enough to pay off your debts. Now, what will you do with the rest? That is what Christians are wondering. What will I do? Unless you are not embarrassed by the blessings of God, you are not blessed. Any area of your life where you’re not embarrassed by the goodness of God, you’re not blessed. That means you can believe more. Are you embarrassed by how much you have in your accounts? No. Not embarrassed because of the lack of it—embarrassed because of the abundance of it, that you don’t want to tell anybody.
God is a lavish giver. See, I’m using the example of money because it resonates with us. But it’s not just money; it’s in every dimension of our life—health, bodies, relationships, emotions. In every area of our life, we can live in abundance. And the Bible says,
Romans 1:16 – “The gospel is the power of God for salvation”
So, don’t just be satisfied with knowing what you’re delivered from. Learn what you are delivered into so that you can operate in what God has called you to. God has delivered you and has delivered you into abundance.
Now, if you see the account of God, especially Genesis 1, it begins with: “In the beginning, God created heaven and the earth.” Isn’t it wonderful that the Bible introduces God as the God who creates? God created the light, the fish, the animals, and the birds. You see a God who creates. I believe the highest revelation of God is to know Him as a Father—there’s no doubt about that. But if you look at how the Bible introduces Him, it is as a Creator. Because in Genesis 1:26, He says:
Genesis 1:26 – “Let us create man in our own image.”
You are created in the same image of your Creator. What does a Creator do? What should you do? That’s why each and every one of us has the creative ability of God.
How do you take dominion? By using the power of creation.
Genesis 1:28 – And God blessed them.”
The first thing Adam and Eve heard was blessing. Dr. Bill Winston says, “The blessing is the name for the power that God used to create the entire cosmos.” So, the power that God used to create the cosmos, He gave to you, and He called it the blessing. Then He said: “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, and take dominion.” His mandate to mankind is to produce. Are you with me? Our mandate is to produce.
Poverty is not the absence of resources; poverty is the absence of production. The continent of Africa has many resources—lots of resources—but it’s still poor because they haven’t built the ability to produce. Now it’s changing. But look at a country like Singapore: they don’t have resources, but they produce. Why? Because our mandate is to produce. The difference between God’s creative ability and our production is simple: God gives the seed, and we plant and bear fruit. We don’t create seeds; we plant what God has given, and we bear fruit. Yet, even in this, because we can plant and bear fruit, we share in the creative ability of God.
All the raw materials God has given us, we can use to produce. For example, God didn’t create tables and chairs; He created trees from which tables and chairs are made. As the image of God, we are called to create. How do we create? From the raw materials God has given us. That is why one of our mandates—not just one, but the main mandate of mankind—is to plant heavens on the earth.
Isaiah 51:16 – “I have put My words in your mouth so that you shall plant the heavens and establish the foundations of the earth.”
Adam was a farmer. The garden he was in was the Garden of Eden. Eden means pleasure. He was not working for pleasure; he was working from pleasure. Eden is symbolic of heaven’s atmosphere being pulled down to earth. Adam’s mandate was to spread heaven’s reality across the entire earth. Now, Adam failed in his mandate, but then came a man who started preaching something: “Repent, for the kingdom of God is near”. The same mandate that was upon Adam, the last Adam—Jesus—carries.
The mandate Jesus had was not to take you into heaven but to bring heaven to earth. Heaven is dimensional. Heaven is a reality, just as hell is another dimension and a reality. Now, I’m not saying that if you die, you’ll just die and there’s no hope of heaven. That’s not what I’m saying. What I’m trying to tell you is this: as long as you’re living here on earth, learn to live with Jesus, which becomes your heaven. Push through to see the reality of heaven because hell is pushing back.
That’s the reality. Hell is pushing back. That’s what Jesus said:
Matthew 16:18 – “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail”
Does that mean hell won’t try to prevail? No, hell will try. The devil will try. But you need to push back—push through, push through! That’s why, while we’re on this earth, we will face challenges. We will face different issues and problems. But the one thing you have is the power of resurrection, the power of creation that’s inside of you. Start using it to push back against the power of hell.
Stop asking, “Why is this happening to me?” Start determining, “I will push back against the power of hell.” Is it too much arrogance to say, “I will push back”? No! Because if you believe that Christ can push back the darkness, then the One whom you believe in is inside of you, and He can push through you. Are you with me? If you believe that Christ can externally come and heal sickness, then the same Christ inside of you can heal sickness through you.
You can only work out your salvation “with fear and trembling”, what God has already worked in. You cannot work out something God hasn’t deposited in you. God has deposited the blessing of healing, the power to prosper, and the ability to take you to the top—not for yourself, but for the sake of His kingdom. So, push through! Push through! Push through!
The Psalmist says,
Psalm 119:28: “When my soul melts away with sorrow, Your words strengthen me.”
Some of you need strength right now. I am releasing His word for strength. Strength to push through. You are not done yet. You are very close to your miracle, very close to your breakthrough. You are not done yet. The One who is in you is greater. “The power of resurrection is more powerful than the power of death” .
The power of the blessing is more powerful than the power of lack. Be strengthened. Be strengthened. Push through. Don’t give up.
Isaiah 54:2 – “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitation be stretched out.”
You are being enlarged. Before your finances enlarge, you need to be enlarged. Before your influence enlarges, you need to be enlarged. God cannot do something in your life that He cannot do in your heart. So before the enlargement happens in your finances, your heart must first be enlarged.
Can you see your heart being enlarged for the next breakthrough? Can you see your heart being enlarged? “Enlarge the place of your tent.” Church, enlarge, for you are going to spread abroad. Your offspring will possess the nations. Amen!
You’re not just going to die as you came—you’re going to make an impact on history. I’m not just saying this to motivate you, but your spirit needs to be stirred up. The battle doesn’t belong to the strong, even though you are strong. The battle belongs to the one who stands last. There’s no point in being strong if you give up. You had the potential, but you gave up too soon. I feel in my spirit some of you have given up because of repeated battles. Again and again and again. But those battles are meant to strengthen you.
1 Samuel 17:34-37 – “Unless you face the lion and the bear, you will not face the giants.”
So come on, strengthen yourself with the Word. Strengthen yourself with the Word.
Proverbs 24:16 – The righteous may fall seven times, but they will “rise again”.
Get up! Don’t give up. Get up and stay in faith. It is done. Whatever you are believing for, it is done. Whatever you are believing for, it is done.
See, the enemy is looking for a loophole to get through you. Jacob was a blessed man. He carried the blessing of Abraham. But look at what discouragement can do. When he found out that his son Joseph had died, he stopped operating from the blessing of Abraham. He was known as Israel, the prince of God, but discouragement, grief, and disappointment disconnected him from the blessing.
But when famine came, and he had to buy food from Egypt, his blessing was restored. Because his joy was restored when he saw his son. God is not done with you yet. Don’t give up. It’s too soon. Don’t let the enemy speak through grief, disappointment, and discouragement. When tragedy strikes, grief, disappointment, and discouragement naturally come. But with that, the enemy speaks lies. Even when the tragedy is over, and you have overcome grief, disappointment, and discouragement, the lies remain. That’s why you need to speak God’s Word. As you speak God’s Word, any unnecessary root of the enemy will be uprooted. For our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). Anything that contradicts the reality of heaven, shake it off. You only need the reality of heaven in your life. Anything that contradicts that, push through it.
In faith, you are an overcomer because you are born of God.
1 John 5:4 – “This is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith”.
“Faith is my victory!” Faith is your victory. If you lose your faith, you lose your victory. Faith is your victory.
So, how do you know you’re in faith? By the words of your mouth. What gives you victory is faith. So, stay in faith. Never take a break from faith.
Many times, I personally feel like I need a break when I return from the traveling ministry, after being fully prepared and charged up for weeks. But when I get home, I want to take a break. The problem is, I sometimes take a break from faith. Don’t take a break from faith. You may be on vacation, but don’t take a break from faith. When you’re working or studying, don’t take a break from faith.
Never take a break from faith. Does anyone here take a break from breathing? No, right? That’s how faith is to your spiritual life. Stay in faith. Don’t live on stale revelation. The Israelites gathered manna every day, and it didn’t last until tomorrow. Don’t live on old revelations—God has fresh manna for you today. Stay with the fresh revelation of God.
I’m telling you, He can speak through the same Word, the same scriptures, and still give you newness and freshness in your life. Are you with me? You know, we’ve made a monument out of our 1960s revelation. But that monument has become a stumbling block. How many times have you seen Paul write about his bright light experience? “I saw a bright light; I was on my horse, and I saw a bright light”. Did he write a book on it? No. But many people have written books on their own encounters. Let’s not go there—don’t make a monument out of those encounters when you can have fresh revelations every day.
You can have amazing stories, like “The angel came, and I saw the angel, His wings were so big.” But what did it do for you? It’s the Word. If you had an angelic experience but didn’t get the Word, it’s useless. It’s the Word. It’s not the burning bush, it’s the Word. It’s not the bright light, it’s the Word. Get a fresh Word from your Father. Freshness comes from His Word.Don’t stay on stale, outdated words.
So, what I meant to say is never take a break from your faith.
Never. Never take a break from your faith. Because, my friends, we are meant to go up.
But do you know that it takes a lot of strength to go up? It takes no strength to go down. If you do nothing, things will go down. But to go up from where you are, it requires strength. So, even if you don’t feel like going up, don’t leave faith, because if you do, you’ll go down.
Keep building your faith. Keep building our faith. Never get comfortable. The previous place we had for the church was good enough to host everybody, but the Lord did not want us to be comfortable. So, we enlarged and stretched. So don’t remain comfortable. Keep enlarging, keep stretching, and get a word from the Lord.
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