God is saying that in this season, there will be a major transfer of wealth from the sinners to the righteous. Many believers have experienced lack, debt, poverty and have experienced major financial losses but we are about to come into a wealthy place. In this season, we have to be strategically positioned to cross over this Jordan and take possession of the land which God has promised to us and our children’s children.

“”Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses” (Joshua‬ ‭1:2-3‬ ‭ESV‬‬).

In this season, surround yourselves with the sons of Issachar, men that have understanding of the times, to know what ought to be done (1 Chronicles 12:32). We equip ourselves with the understanding of wealth, business, finance, real estate and other financial investments. In so doing we will gain the wisdom and understanding which we need to gain and maintain our inheritance.

We also have to be sensitive to the move of the spirit in order to move in correct timing. “He has made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes‬ ‭3:11).‬ “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (Ecclesiastes‬ ‭3:1‬).

Trust your decisions to God so that he will show you when to invest, when to make purchases and when to make major business and financial decisions. Let us be led by the spirit and also remember that once God has blessed us to remember to keep all of his commandments and to put him first in everything.

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There are worldly philosophies that suggests that hard work leads to success and generates wealth. While it is important to work to the best of our abilities and to be industrious, hard work is not synonymous with wealth. This idea is a human fallacy which can lure you into the trap of burn out and lifestyle diseases. If that was the case then people who put in hard manual labour would be wealthy. In fact many of the world’s poorest populations include people who work long and arduous hours and earn meagre wages.

How then do we attain financial freedom and overall success? We remember that it is God who gives us the ability to gain wealth. “You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” (Deuteronomy 8:18) When we work with this mindset, we do our best and allow God to do the rest. We learn and understand biblical principals of success such as sowing and reaping.

“give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”” (Luke 6:38) Sometimes if we are in debt or things are tight financially, we can be tempted to tighten our belt. We can become stingy and worry about giving from the little that we have because we worry that there won’t be enough left for us. God is not unjust to overlook your labour of love and will bless you when you have the faith to be a blessing to others.

Trust God with your finances; study the bible to understand what God prescribes as principles for success and work to the best of your ability but don’t over extend yourself with the view that this will cause you to gain wealth. “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.” (Proverbs‬ ‭16:3‬)

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Moses was born into a Jewish family who were enslaved in Egypt. The Pharaoh at the time was threatened by the rapid expansion of the Jewish community. He commanded that all the male children should be killed. Moses’s mother hid him when he was born and after 3 months, put him in a basket and he was found and raised by Pharaoh’s daughter (Exodus 1-2).

The time came when Moses had to choose between, living like an Egyptian and enjoying the luxury of the palace, or admit his heritage and work to free his people. Why would Moses give up the “easy” life of luxury, in the palace to suffer with the people of his origin? How many of us would give up the chance to live in wealth in order to own up to our true identity.

This would not have been an easy choice for Moses, but God knew ahead of time the kind of person that Moses was destined to be. No wonder Moses is considered as one of the greatest prophets, who spoke to God and heard him audibly.

“And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses”” (Numbers 12:6-8)?

So intimate was God’s relationship with Moses, that he confronted his siblings Miriam and Aaron when they spoke against him. God honours obedience and he places value in those who are willing to deny themselves to do his will. “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).

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I was walking into work one morning and a delivery man from a supermarket, had his van parked on the side of the road and appeared lost and approached me to ask for directions. It turned out that the road he was looking for is the road that I live on and he was only two minutes away from it. I started pointing in the direction of the road to show him the way. I noticed that while I was explaining the directions to him, he was not paying attention but continued to look at his phone. To get his attention I asked him if he was listening to what I was saying. He pointed at the phone and mentioned that he was looking at the map.

I felt the need to qualify my experience and said to him, “look the road you’re looking for is where I live so I am showing you the way to go.” He then appeared to gain some confidence in what I was saying and looked up. I showed him that all he needed to do was drive a few metres up and take the second right turn. In fact the road was in eye shot of where we were and he repeated my instructions as it was clearly explained.

As I walked away I thought; what’s the point in asking for direction if he wasn’t going to listen for the instructions? The Holy Spirit said to me, “how many times do we do that to God?” How many times do we ask God for an answer, but we continue intently searching the internet for expert advice or look for answers from different sources. We sometimes ask a friend or a loved one and other sources and at times we lean on our own understanding.

At other times we don’t even ask God for direction. God is all knowing, omnipotent, omnipresent and he knows the end from the beginning. We must trust him and ask him for direction when we feel lost. Let God lead and when he orders our steps we will have great success. Ask God to direct you and seek his face when you need to know the way to go and then listen when he speaks.

“God sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in” (Isaiah 40:22).

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We all need someone who we can confide in about our struggles. Someone who we can share our difficulties with who will help us to pray for healing. This two way process of mutual sharing and support is both therapeutic and strengthens us spiritually.

The bible encourages us to bear one another’s burdens to fulfil the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2) The aim is to find someone who we can trust to share our burdens with. Someone who will lift us up and help us pray in times of weaknesses. We are to also stand in the gap for that person so that the burden is shared between us.

Adapting this principle will reduce stress and the amount of time we spend in isolation and distress. Pray and ask God to show you someone who you can trust to share your heart with. In 2 Samuel, David had a great love for Johnathan who supported and prayed for him and stood by him in times of trouble. In Luke 1, Mary knew that she could confide in and find comfort in her cousin Elizabeth. Ruth refused to leave Naomi but committed to staying with her in spite of her pain and struggle. (Ruth 1:16) Although Jesus had 12 disciples, he had a closer relationship with Peter, James and John and invited them to help him pray in Gethsemane.

These things were recorded to point to our need for close relationships for support. We need friends and confidants who we can trust to talk to and confide in who can help bear our burdens and pray for us during difficult times.

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Our purpose and plan as believers should be to do the will of God and to walk in his way no matter the cost. The will of God is not always the easiest thing to do but it is the safest thing to do. God’s instruction is often given to protect us from things that we cannot see. Only God knows the true end of a matter because he can see into the future. He also searches the deep intentions of the heart which we cannot see.

Moses prays to God in (Exodus 33:12-17) and asks God if his presence would go with him on the journey that God had asked him to go on. God promises Moses that his presence would continue with him and that he would find rest. A hard journey can be a lot easier when we walk with God.

Saul was not so lucky and lost favour with God. He disobeyed the word of the prophet because he wanted to please the people. Saul was commanded to completely destroy the enemy and everything that they owned during a battle. Saul took the advice of his men and spared the fattest cattle with the intention of offering a sacrifice to God. God makes it clear to Samuel that due to Saul’s disobedience, he had rejected him as King of Israel. Saul’s need to please other people rather than obey God’s instructions cost him his role as King. (1 Samuel 15)

Let us live everyday seeking to do the will of God, listening to his voice and heeding his direction. God often speaks through his word to give us direction. Other times he sends a message through another believer who is able to deliver a word of instruction. Let us obey lest we miss the promise of blessing.

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The will of God is not always the most popular way to live and we often think that prescriptions in the word for how to live are outdated and antiquated. God can see ahead of time and there is a reason why he prescribed marriage and the family structure to raise children for example.

God likened disobedience to the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness he compared it to wickedness and idolatry. (1 Samuel 15:23) It was because of disobedience that God rejected Saul and his continued rebellion led to the fall of his kingdom and eventual death.

Now even if we have rebelled against God He is waiting to forgive us and restore us to himself. This when we confess our sins to him, repent and return to walking in his will. A life of continual disobedience however leads to death and separation from God. (Romans 6:23) I am sorry that I cannot put this in any nicer terms, to appease our 21st century sense of political correctness, but the word of God does not change. In the same way parents reward their children when they are obedient and punish disobedience, God also disciplines the children that he loves. (Hebrews 12:6)

I am not saying that every trial is due to disobedience as some suffering is redemptive to bring about God’s glory in us and draws us closer to himself. Other times our challenges are a direct result of our lack of obedience to God’s will and plan for our lives. There are benefits to living for God and the children of the righteous man are never forsaken or seen begging for bread. (Psalm 37:25) Put God first and he will add what you need.

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Our current struggle is not because we have done anything wrong or because God wants to punish us or to make us struggle. In fact, God does not cause suffering, but through our struggles we can increase in strength. This strength empowers us for the work of ministry to the needs of others. Within our struggles we are forced to seek God so that we can be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. It is so that we can help to change the world.

The disciples asked Jesus if the blind man or his family had committed sin why he was born blind. Jesus responds, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. Jesus continued that we must do the works of him that has sent us for a time will come when no one can work. (John 9:3-4)

We have each been called to work for God, to lead people to him and to be his disciples. The blind man had a testimony about the healing power of Jesus Christ. His neighbors could not believe that he was the same blind person who used to stand in the street begging. “Is this not the same person who used to sit and beg?” (John 9:8) God will promote you from your current place of despair to cause others to marvel.

God will turn things around so your neighbors will say; is this not the person who was broke and depressed? Is this not the person who was single, lonely, jobless, childless, sick and in despair? They will be able to see God’s work displayed in you and this struggle will become a testimony. Suffering doesn’t last always and just like every season, this too will pass. When we allow God to heal us, he will transform our suffering into a source of strength to help someone else in need.

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Paul spoke in Galatians about God not showing favouritism to anyone. Now at the time there were Gentiles being added to the church. This went against Jewish tradition as historically the Jews did not associate with people from other cultures. It was Peter who God showed the vision which was interpreted to mean that God had made all people equal and loved. And as such, it was ungodly for him to discriminate because no one whom God made was uncommon or unclean. (Acts 10)

Paul’s ministry was mainly to the uncircumcised or to those who were not Jews and he observed that Peter’s behaviour was often discriminatory. “For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.” (Galatians 2:12) Paul noticed that Peter was too afraid of the opinion of others and treated the Gentiles differently depending on who was around.

The Devil does not like unity and we have to guard against favouritism and discrimination. It is often easiest to associate with the people who look like, think like and act like us. We can sometimes create circles that unfairly exclude other people. This should not be the case among Christians and we should remember that heaven will include people from every nation and culture.

We have to make an intentional effort to try to understand other people’s way of life. We have to continuously make an effort to ensure that people within our sphere of influence feel valued, worthy of acceptance, loved and included. This is especially important for people in positions of leadership. Organisations and groups that include diverse input in the creation and implementation of programs do better as this guarantees a rich blend of experience and expertise. This in an effort to meet the needs of a diverse audience which impacts the growth and relevance of our organisations.

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We live in a season where we have to stand up for what we believe in and hold fast to the confession of our faith. The enemy is deceptive and ready to convince people about the non existence of God. Satanism is on the increase and people who once denounced God have selected Satanism in an effort to further rebel against God. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; (1 Timothy 4:1)

Human intellectualism has given rise to the belief that God does not exist and that creation happened by some major accident. The Devil doesn’t care what people believe as long as they do not accept that there is a God. There are also others who have some form of godliness but deny its power. Titus warns us to avoid such people. (Titus 3:5)

Harsh instructions but unbelief is contagious and most people with an intellectual mindset and unbelief will often try to convince others of their own belief system. When we hold unto what we believe in we do not waver in doubt and unbelief. We pray against every seed of doubt, fear and unbelief and we pray to be endued with strength, power and might.

Imagine if our only hope rests in this life, how miserable we would be? But we believe in eternal life through Jesus Christ and we have hope that on the other side of this life we will have a brand new body and life eternal. We will live with the creator and we won’t have to contend with the challenges on this earth. What sweet hope and assurance of his coming and a life beyond this existence.

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