Firstfruits – Opportunity for Prosperity – Part III
The Land of More Than Enough
Deuteronomy 26th Chapter
1When you have
entered the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance and have
taken possession of it and settled in it, 2take
some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the
LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the
LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name 3and say to the priest in office at
the time, "I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come to the
land the LORD swore to our forefathers to give us."
For months we have been wanting to teach this series, but it was not in
God’s timing. Then a few weeks ago I was out on campus when I ran into a
friend. She and I began to talk about money and how tithing has really worked
in our lives. During that discussion I began to share with her about
firstfruits. I’m telling you, the sister got excited. She asked me to send her
some scriptures as soon as possible on the subject because she was ready to
receive her blessings from giving firstfruits. However, instead of letting me
just shoot her some scriptures, the Lord gave me the go-ahead to start this
series.
After getting our message and understanding where her firstfruits needed to
go, my sister committed her firstfruit to her pastor. I repeat: she committed
her firstfruit. And guess what? The Lord put His angels on the case. Even
before she was able to actually give her firstfruit to her pastor, her boss
told her that she would be getting a raise! If that isn’t enough to make you
shout, I don’t know what is! This sister’s experience falls right in line with
this week’s text.
Our text tells we will enter the land of our inheritance, the NEW LAND which
is known as — the land of "more than enough." You see, some of us
came from being "P.O." po(pronounced poe). [You know you’re poor when
you can’t afford the "O.R."] Our "P.O." po status was when
we were in the land of "not enough." Then God allowed us to
move THROUGH the land of "just enough." (living from paycheck to
paycheck.) And when we say through we mean through. We aren’t pitching tents
and planning to stay a while; we are heading through. But now God is moving us
into the land of "more than enough!"
As we move into the Land of "more than enough," we are supposed to
take the firstfruits to the place the Lord our God has chosen as a dwelling for
his Name (your church). And from our previous teachings on firstfruits, we know
whom we are supposed to give these offerings to — the pastor. Yet on top of all
of this, there is one more thing we need to do upon giving our firstfruits to
our pastor. So let’s look at the 3rd verse.
3and
say to the priest in office at the time, "I declare today to the LORD your
God that I have come to the land the LORD swore to our forefathers to give
us."
The 3rd verse tells us to confess our arrival into the new land
to our priest (pastor). I know the question some of you have, "what if I
didn’t tell my pastor this when I gave him/her my first fruit?" No
problem. Just tell him/her the next time you see him/her, "Pastor . . .
I’ve come into the land of "more than enough" and increase
cometh!" Confess it and profess it over your life because if you
don’t who will?
In short, we just need to open our mouths and declare, "I’ve come into
the land of ‘more than enough!" We need to let hell know that we ARE
IN the land of "more than enough" and increase cometh! Don’t be
ashamed to say out loud, "Increase cometh!" I remember back in the
70’s when it was deemed cool to say, "Baby, I’m living just enough for the
city." And even in the late 90’s a rapper took a song from the movie Annie
and had people confessing, "It’s a hard knock life." Yet, we are
ashamed to proclaim God’s prosperity over our lives. Our mouths exist to help
improve our conditions, not keep us where we are or move us backwards. So once
you step out and give the Lord His firstfruit, confess the blessings because
they will surely come.
Faith Confession: "I have come into the land of "more than
enough." I will not be in lack or need of any good thing. Regardless of
what my situation looks like, I shall receive my inheritance and see the
goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. He loves me too much to leave
me in the land of "not enough," so nothing can keep Him from getting
me into the land of "more than enough." No demon in hell and no
person on earth can stand in my way. The land is mine for the taking and I
choose to inherit the land because I have trusted the Lord. I have sown where
He has told me to sow and have done what He has told me to do. Therefore, I
know, believe and shall see the prosperity promised to me as my inheritance
laid up in heavenly places. And I proclaim in the name of the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit that He shall not fail me!