The Promise of Provision by Derek Prince

After too many years of receiving more teaching in church about finances and prosperity than about God Himself I am admittedly wary about reading, hearing and talking about abundance and provision. But I couldn’t resist Derek Prince’s promise of new revelation about the subject in The Promise of Provision: Living and Giving from God's Abundant Supply:

God longs for you to have fruitfulness in every area of your life. God is a God of abundance. I pray that He will grant that revelation to you as you read.

I know that Jesus said He came to give us abundant life:

The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).  John 10:10 Amplified

I believe with all my mind, heart and spirit that Jesus was speaking about more than money, though too often this has been applied simply to finances. I appreciated Prince’s remark:

As we consider abundance, let’s take our focus away from the idea of having a lot of money in the bank. Abundance does not necessarily indicate possessions of large sums of money or property. But it does suggest something that is the opposite of poverty, want and failure.

Prince dives into scripture to show us what God has said about His promises and how we must claim them as our own, now, today. As I continued reading, I found myself asking the Lord to reveal His truth, His way, fearing once again the slant of human understanding.

I find myself wishing that God could erase the blackboard in my mind, giving me a clean slate that holds no bias one way or another about contrversial topics, that I could read His Word without recalling the various ways other people have interpreted it.

I cannot blame my discomfort on the author.  Derek Prince seems to genuinely desire his readers to receive fresh revelation from the Lord about a subject that has long been misunderstood.  I will return to this text many times, I'm sure, prayerfully requesting the Lord to speak.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Chosen Book a division of Baker Publishing Group.  The opinions I have expressed are my own.

 
 

Red sort of day

My hands have been immersed in ripe red.
I take time to preserve what this land God has given us produces. 
What can be purchased at the market can not compare with that which grows before our eyes.

These are the days of raspberries and tiny Nanking cherries, bursting with juice, leaving sticky behind.  I fight bees, mosquitos, and birds to pick the choicest fruits. The canner spits steam as jars are sterilized, waiting to be filled. Sugar added chases bitter away.

Preserve the sweet for the days to come.

I remember that this morning, as I sat down with Jesus and my journal, a red pen fell on the floor. I wrote with it instread of my usual black or blue.

Here are the words He shared:

I write My love in your veins as deep as you allow My blood to flow through you.

Walk the road of surrender, the narrowest road of all but the only road that leads to true freedom.

Many are content to know that My blood covers them, accepting My salvation but never going further.

You, little one, have heard My invitation, have responded to My call to step into Me.  In that mingling and merging you have indeed lost your self and found Me.

This is why when our communion is interrupted you feel as if you wander blind.
This, I promise you, is good.  This is good indeed.

Yes I am thankful for the reminder that without Him I can not see.  Without Him I can not breathe.  Without Him I can not be who He created me to be. On this day of red, I am blessed beyond measure to know that my veins run with His presence. 

Preserve the sweet.

Waiting for the becoming

Marcus Goodyear at Books & Culture, A Christian Review has given us the following poetry prompt:

Write a poem about cultivation. When I talk about cultivation, I mean agriculture but also creativity and culture itself. I am talking about the little place in your world where you have been given a small plot to grow new things and add to the beauty of God's world.

This then, is where I took it:

A hand holds
seeds, tiny
easy to lose
to the wind
or spill
pouring almost too much
abundance
on soil fertile, hungry

What will grow?

It is the waiting
that hurts
those ruled by impatience
those prone to fret
expecting never the best

So too, what will
these words
bring forth?

Will they be too few
to nourish
or so plentiful
that one groans
under the burden
of consumption

A seed is just a seed
after all
it is in the waiting
for the becoming
that the imagination
blossoms

To read what else Marcus has to say and see the poems that have been cultivated read the entire article here

Moments of refreshing

Image by Aelle via Flickr

I had a wonderful time of communion with the Lord as I spent time with Him in journaling:

Come to Me when you are weary so I may refresh you. Come for a time of exchange - your worries for My peace. My peace I give to you out of My abundant, unending supply. Ask for more and I will provide.

Lord, I see You taking all those things that seem so heavy to me and just tossing them away with the flick of Your wrist, like one throws a frisbee.

It's not that I do not sense the weight of your worries, little one, for indeed I watched you struggle to bear them. But My Father's love strips them of their power, till they have no weight at all, so yes, they are easy to cast aside, where instead of piling up, they simply vanish.

Lord, now I see us out in the sun on a grassy field, playing a game of frisbee, running and laughing. No matter how off course my aim, You seem able to catch my throw. Sometimes You throw the frisbee right to me. Other times I must reach up quite high. It is like I am catching pure joy!

It is My delight to see you enjoy the freedom I provide. Indeed at times you will have to reach, stretch and grow to grasp the good things I have for you - for too much ease breeds laziness and am I not worth reaching for?

Continue to watch us play. When you toss Me sorrow, I toss back joy. Toss Me pain, I give back comfort. Energy for your weariness, strength for your weakness, wisdom for your lack of understanding. I promised in My Word:

and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61:3 NIV

It is easier for Me to give than it is for you to give up - but I ask you child to continue the exchange so that you may walk in the fullness of all I have prepared for you.

Lord, I see bite marks and jagged edges on the frisbee.

Yes, for that is where the hounds of the enemy have joined the game, trying as they might to distract, delay or abort this divine exchange. Where I offer freedom, he would keep you bound.

The chains are broken, the dogs are powerless - let Us continue to play.

Enough tomatoes

I was seeing tomatoes in my sleep last night. Pails of tomatoes. Pots of tomatoes. Piles of tomatoes. I feel a bit guilty complaining about having too much of something when so many have so little, yet I am ready, more than ready for our tomatoes to be gone.

Today I am using all that are ripe or nearly ripe in a homemade pasta sauce for the freezer. I created this recipe to use lots of tomatoes quickly, for while my salsa and chili sauce require peeling the tomatoes, they go into this sauce simply washed and chopped with skins on.

FireFly's Homemade Tomato Sauce

8 quarts washed and rough chopped tomatoes
6 medium onions rough chopped
6 cloves garlic minced
4 stalks celery chopped
13 ounce can tomato paste
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
1/8 cup salt
pepper
oregeno
basil

Saute onions, garic and celery in oil until limp and fragrant
Add chopped tomatoes and cook until soft
Puree (with immersion blender, blender or food processor)
Add remaining ingredients and simmer until thick
Check for taste and add more sugar, vinegar or seasonings as desired
(I leave this on the stove for hours when I have time)

I freeze this in 1 litre containers.

I will be serving this sauce on 4-cheese tortellini this evening while doing the "only 2 pails of tomatoes left to ripen" happy dance!

You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. Psalm 65:11 NIV