The Blessing of the Lord: Riches, Wealth and a Life of Abundance

By John W. Smith, Jr.

In this book you will learn how to:
- Remove the blinders that block the blessing.
- Release provisional miracles in your life.
- Receive the power to get wealth and riches.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Aug 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9780977056071

Book preview

Napkin

INTRODUCTION

Way to go Smitty!

If you have ever played team sports you probably had an occasion to make a mistake or two during the game you were playing. When I was young I loved to play baseball. I started playing organized youth leagues when I was about 10-years-old. At that age you want to fit in and identify with others and I admired the kids that played in the neighborhood and I wanted to be accepted as one of the guys.

I was somewhat of a misfit compared to most of them. I had long hair, crooked teeth and ragged looking clothes that I wore over and over again. I always felt awkward and out of place around the other kids but I never said anything about it that I was aware of.

I remember practicing and playing with other kids that were much more fortunate than I was. They all used the latest equipment and wore the brand name shoes all the stars were wearing. It kind of reminds me of one of my favorite movies, The Sandlot.

In the movie the new kid in town wanted to be a part of the neighborhood baseball game and when he joined in, he had the wrong glove and a fly-fishing hat instead of the traditional baseball cap. I wore a plain old ragged red cap that someone gave me.

I came from a family of eight children and there was generally not enough to buy the basic necessities of life. Purchasing a baseball glove or a pair of Converse All-Stars just wasn't in the budget. If we got anything new it was the result of a lay-a-way plan at K-mart. K-mart sold their own brand of sneakers that looked like the Converse All-Stars, but they had a great big letter K on the back of the heel. Today they call these in-store brand knock offs, but back then they called them buddies.

If you wore a pair of buddies you set yourself up as the focus of jokes and ridicule. I purposely scuffed up the back of the heel to take the attention away from them.

To make matters worse, I wore a pair of very old, very worn out buddies. Eventually the front of the shoe would split open and make a flapping noise when I walked.

Believe it or not I took some grey duct tape that my Dad used for his toupee and wrapped it around the shoe to keep from tripping while walking and running. Oh yea, my dad used the duct tape because he could no longer afford the toupee tape. Excuse me for saying this but, OMG and LOL! It is funny today, not so funny then.

Someone gave me an old baseball glove to play with. This glove was worn out and had a large hole in the webbing where the baseball was supposed to be caught. I tried to pretend that it did not matter because I was happy just to get on the field and participate.

To say the least, I missed more than one baseball that was thrown or hit to me because of my inexperience and messed up glove. Nobody had worked with me or showed me how to play baseball so when it was my turn to take the field I kind of just stood there hoping the ball would not come to me. I generally missed every ball that came my way.

At the end of an inning we all came into the dugout, I embarrassingly ran with my teammates thinking that I wish I could hide from sight and disappear. All the players gave me that look, you know, the one that says, What did we do to deserve you?

Fortunately we had a coach who encouraged everyone on the team and especially me. He would see the dejected look on my face and say, Don't sweat it, just shake it off. As a young man living in a very dysfunctional home, this made me feel like there was some hope in trying again.

I never really had the love and encouragement I saw going on in the lives of the kids I hung out with and it just felt good to hear the coach say these words to me.

I will never forget one rainy afternoon when we were playing one of the best teams in the league. The game was delayed because of the rain and the field was soaked from the showers. The coach had me play centerfield. I guess he thought that no one would hit the ball that far in the rain because centerfield is usually a prime position.

Here I was standing in a mud puddle with my pathetic glove on, waiting for the game to end. All I could think about was getting back on the bench to drink the orange soda pop in the cooler by the dugout that they gave us after every game. This was not something I got to enjoy on a regular basis.

While I stood there counting the pitches in the rain, the batter hit a high fly ball to centerfield. It looked like it was going over my head, so I began to run backwards with my pathetic baseball glove waving back and forth. I was slipping and nearly fell down and just about the time I thought that the ball had went past me, I felt this sudden tug on the one leather strap that was holding the top of the glove together.

To my surprise and everyone else, I had caught the ball. This was the last out of the game and the winning catch. I had a mixed feeling of shock and amazement that brought the biggest smile I had ever felt on my face before.

The coach who told me over and over again not to sweat the errors, shouted out, Way to go Smitty! The whole team ran out to meet me as I came running and hydroplaning on the wet grass.

It was one of the few good memories of my childhood, one that I can see vividly in the theatre of my mind every time I think or talk about it. From that moment on I realized that the glove I had did not decide whether or not I could catch a ball. It was the person holding the glove that made the difference.

I raised enough money from cutting grass in the neighborhood to buy a new glove with former Pittsburgh Pirate great, Roberto Clemente's name on it. I developed into a pretty decent player from then on. In fact, I made the all-star teams in central Ohio and played with some of the best players in the region.

Coaches went from waiting to put me in to the minimum innings required by the leagues, to starting me in centerfield and placing me in the clean-up position at bat. My self-esteem and confidence grew from the experience that day on a rainy baseball field with a dilapidated glove.

I will never forget the coach who inspired me that season. It is not always the person you believe in that inspires you, it is often the people that believe in you that inspires you.

The statement, Don't sweat it stuck with me for the rest of my life. I learned that I would need to apply this throughout my entire life. There is always something trying to get you down and to give up. I have not had an easy life; I do not think that anyone really does.

Whether it is unexpected bills or sudden loss and tragedy of someone dear to you, it hurts and it is real. We all have had our share of difficult circumstances and situations in life. I have frankly lost count of the number of bad things that have happened to my family and me.

In the midst of all of them I have tried to apply and execute the phrase, Don't sweat it no matter what has happened and no matter who is at fault. I encourage you to do the same and to trust in the Lord with all of your heart everyday. The ride may be scary but the results are going to be well worth it.

In the Beginning

In the beginning God did not design mankind to sweat their way through life, physically or mentally. The curse of sin is what caused the 3 to 4 million sweat glands in your body to start pouring through and onto your skin.

Medical science says that everyone sweats differently but everyone sweats. This is true emotionally as well. Some people sweat things more than others do. Some folks sweat over money while others sweat over relationships.

Many people lose sleep and eventually their minds over the chaotic condition of their finances, health and relationships. For over 27 years I have ministered to and prayed for thousands of people that have allowed problems to prevent them from advancing in life.

I have learned that one of the advantages a problem gives you is that problems can force you to think bigger than yourself. King David understood this while going through extreme pressure and stress.

Problems cause you to think bigger than yourself.

Psalm 4:1

Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: you have enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.

Problems will increase your opportunity to move into a larger realm. Suppose that things are going pretty well when all of the sudden you get a notice that you owe more on taxes than you had expected to and you do not have the money to pay them.

The problem causes you to begin thinking of ways to obtain the money you need to pay the taxes that are beyond your present ability.

Simon Peter encountered the need to pay taxes that he did not have the money to take care of. In fact, he went beyond his own obligation to pay taxes and committed to paying taxes for the Lord Jesus Christ. When Simon Peter returned to the house Jesus asked him why did he commit to doing this and what were you thinking? Have you ever opened your mouth and agreed to do something that you regretted? I know that I have.

Even though Simon Peter spoke out of turn, Jesus gave him an inspired instruction on how to obtain the money to pay the taxes for both of them.

I look at it like this, Simon Peter was a fisherman and for Jesus to instruct him to go and cast a line into the sea and take up the first fish he caught was like taking the day off.

Jesus knew where the fish was that would have the coin in its mouth. God knows where the money is that you need. I believe that because of Peter's obedience to Jesus words, God created the coin by His glory and then placed it in the mouth of the fish to take care of the obligation.

By the way, if there was one fish there must have been many fish to follow. But never forget the first fish, the first coin, and the first of everything belongs to God.

Ecclesiastes 10:19 states that money answers all things. Every problem in the world is somehow connected to money. No matter what you are facing, you are probably going to need more money to deal with the issues at hand.

The Bible clearly shows us that in order to grow a harvest you must sow a seed. Unfortunately most Christians do not have a firm grasp on Biblical economics. Some people give to God but lack understanding and revelation about what happens when they give.

Many people have the concept about giving but they do not see the full circle of the revelation of receiving. The book of Galatians states that God is not mocked whatever a person sows that shall they also reap. This is to say that if you don't want to be a receiver then you do not fully believe what God has said about seedtime and harvest principles.

I hear people say all the time that they do not give to get. They don't really believe what they say because when they go to work, they do expect to get a paycheck. When they plant a garden or tree in their backyard, they do expect fruit and vegetables to come forth.

What they're really saying is they don't think it's correct or proper to believe God to multiply money, and to reap a harvest based on His word and promise, when you give into the Kingdom of God. They do not have a revelation of the blessing of the Lord, which makes us rich and adds no sorrow to it.

Most people believe that in order to make more money you have to work harder. I am an advocate for working and making a living, but I don't believe that you can work hard to make a life. Jesus did not say that He came that you might have a living. What He said was that He came that you might have a life, His life, full of abundance, life to the overflow!

So the life that He has designed for you to live is not based on how hard you work but on the work that He's accomplished at the Cross of Calvary and your faith to believe and receive in Jesus Name.

There is an expression that says you should work smarter, not harder. This is essentially true, but I like to say that, you need more wisdom in the word of God in order to increase your cash flow. Wisdom will produce the answers that will in return create the money that answers all the things you struggle with in life.

You will more than likely have to work more hours than before, but your time will become more productive with the application of the wisdom of God. Wisdom and favor will create the energy, access and ideas you need to win financially. This will prevent you from trying to manipulate, analyze and figure out how to increase the bottom line.

There are many things in this world that will oppose you and try to prevent you from succeeding, but God has declared that if you obey and serve Him you will spend your days in prosperity and your years in pleasures. The good news is that God has provided a means to overcome problems such as sickness, disease, poverty, and destruction.

Jesus said that in this world we would have tribulation, but fear not I have overcome the world. We overcome the world through faith in God's word. The New Covenant promises that we no longer have to sweat to pay the bills or have needs meet. In fact, God has called you to a much higher order in life. The anointing to prosper and get wealth is what establishes God's covenant on the earth through you. God gives you the anointing to multiply the seed you sow and then God by His glory will create and produce it for you.

God's original plan for mankind has been and always will be to freely enjoy the good things He placed and planted on the Earth. The prophet Isaiah said that if you are willing and obedient you will eat of the good of the land.

When Adam disobeyed God and ate of the fruit of the tree he was told not to, it changed things drastically. From that moment on, mankind would have to compete for increase. Thorns and thistles would choke out the life of the seed sown in the ground and mankind would now have to sweat their way through the workweek, the monthly bills, and the end of every tax season.

God wants you to come out of this vicious cycle of punching the clock to pay the bills and still be behind. That's what you really want isn't it? I have learned that God wants you to become seed-minded and not need-minded. That means that you can develop a