“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”

Jeremiah 17:9-10

God knows that the human heart is full of deceit and, before blessing His children He first wants to check the direction and state of their heart. This is why He allows people to go through certain circumstances that will lead them to a complete and total surrendering of themselves and all that they own. I know that God wants to provide for His children’s needs. He will always go beyond what we can even imagine because His heart is very generous. However, every single man and woman of God who ever lived was always tested before they saw prosperity come to their lives.

We have to understand the following things.

• His will for us is Good: Just like a loving father, God wants to give the best to His children. He has prepared rich blessings for us to enjoy. The word “good,” speaks of divine favor and of all that is valuable, virtuous and right.

• His will for us is Pleasing: God is very careful with all that He grants to His children. He desires for His blessings to only bring happiness and satisfaction. The Lord does not give man a wife so that she can make his life miserable. He doesn’t bless a man financially to then afflict him with some illness. For His Word says, “It is the blessing of the LORD that makes rich, and He adds no sorrow to it” (Proverbs 10:22).

• His will for us is Perfect: The word “perfect” indicates completion. God never leaves anything incomplete. He gave us all of His blessings so that we can fully enjoy them. He has not limited the giving of His Spirit. David said, “I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8). John the Apostle said, “The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:17). The word “perfect” also refers to growth in the context of reaching spiritual maturity.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
We were spending time with one of the couples in our ministry and were excited to hear about recent experience theirs. The husband told us “Two weeks ago we visited Costa Rica. I travelled with my wife and two kids. Before the plane took off I felt suddenly afraid, as if something terrible was about to happen. Immediately I started to pray and confess that we are on this earth until we fulfill the purpose of God, just as you taught me Pastor. Even though my wife and I were not sitting together on that flight, she had the exact same feeling, a great fear, and so she prayed and entrusted our family to the Father. The plane started to rapidly pick up speed and, when it was going so fast that it seemed that it was about to take off, it suddenly came to a halt. A problem had been found and the mechanic failure was so serious that it could not be fixed that day. So we did not leave for our destination until thirteen hours later. God spoke to my heart and told me, ‘Today I saved your lives.’ When I heard His voice, I was very broken. Then the Lord spoke to me a second time. He said, ‘…and it was because of the covenant offering that you gave to Me, when you gave up your car. Because of your obedience, today I guarded the life of your family and your descendants.’ We prayed and thanked God for His protection and for having led us to make a covenant as we understood that our offering had pleased God. Today, we are convinced that when we make a covenant, we will see His supernatural intervention in our favor.” (Fernando and Clara Ramos)

TODAY’S DECLARATION
“God’s will for me is good, pleasing and perfect.”

Today’s post is an excerpt from Pastor Cesar Castellanos’ book, Declarations of Power for 365 Days of the Year: Volume One.

TODAY’S BIBLE READING

• Old Testament: Numbers 7-8; Psalms 51
• New Testament: Matthew 22:15-33; Romans 3