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I would like to share a story with you that is from PositiveChristianity.org written by its minister.

These are his words –

“In 1991 I went into to the Post Office. I put my key in my Post Office box (and I always pause for a minute because one of my favorite things to do is to receive mail), turned the key, and stuck my hand in.

“There was just one envelope inside. I pulled it out and looked at it. It looked official. On it was printed, ‘Official Notification. You are a major prize recipient!’

“I said, ‘Thank You, God. Publisher’s Clearing House is finally noticing me, after ALL this time!’

“I opened up the envelope and pulled out a letter from a resort property in southern Missouri. They said, ‘You have won! You have won a high-tech color television set.’

“I said to myself, ‘A high-tech color television set?’ I read on.

“It said, ‘Reverend, if you come down and visit our resort property and take a tour for ninety minutes, you can pick up your high-tech color TV.’

“I looked on the calendar and found a day; my day off, on Friday.”

“As I was thinking about going down to pick up my high-tech color TV, I thought perhaps I would need a pickup truck because it would be a big box. Then I thought, ‘Well, what if it rains?’ If it rains the box would get all wet in the back of the pickup truck and possibly ruin the TV inside. I thought if it might rain, I have a friend with a full-size station wagon. The station wagon was a Chevrolet Caprice; it came from the age before gas prices mandated downsizing. It was literally about 19 feet long and about 6 feet wide. With the seats down in back it looked like the interior of one of the jumbo cargo planes. I would ask this friend to go along with me. I thought we could put quite a big box in there, and if it were bigger, I could rent a U-Haul trailer. I’m open to possibilities.

“I went down in his full-sized station wagon (about a two-hour trip), and I toured the property. They were genuinely nice to me. At the end, the man said, ‘Now it is time. What have you won?’

“I said, ‘I’ve won a high-tech color television set.’

“He said, ‘Well, you can pick it up right over there,’ and he pointed to a small shed-like building with a small door. I’m wondering how in the world they got the high-tech color television set in there.

“Well, I shake the nice man’s hand, leave his car and go get the station wagon. I waited for about 20 minutes until all the cars had left the front of the small building so that I would have room for the mammoth Chevrolet Caprice station wagon to back up to the door. I backed it up to the door because I did not want to carry the television set box far. I open the lift gate and I think I can get it through the doorway if I tilt it just a certain way, and then I can slide most of the box right inside the station wagon. I go in, and the first thing I do is look for a high-tech color television set. I’m looking all around and I don’t see any big boxes.

“The nice lady behind the counter said to me, ‘Do you have your certificate?’

“I said, ‘Yes, I do, I said proudly. I have won a high-tech color television set.’

“She said, ‘Yes, you have! And because you’re here on Friday you’ve also won a bonus prize!’

“I said, ‘Great! Thank You God!’ I took several deep breaths, bringing the strength of God into me, because the excitement was almost too much for me to bear.

“Several others were coming in at that time and had to squeeze around, the Chevrolet Caprice to get through the open door. I apologized saying ‘I was there to help a large console color television set, and knew that I couldn’t carry it very far.’

“They all worked for the company, and they gave me the strangest stare!

“The lady took a small key and put it into a lock on a small drawer. She turned the key, opened the drawer, reached in and pulled out a box. She handed me a little box and I said, ‘What is this?’

“She said, ‘This is your high-tech color television set.’ No exaggeration, the box was four inches by seven inches and about an inch deep.

“I said in total shock, ‘That’s my color television set?’ In the meantime, I have the station wagon backed so close to the door that nobody can get into this place. Several people are looking through the door from the other side of the Chevrolet Caprice, trying to see what is happening.

“I’m holding this in the palm of my hand and she says, ‘Yes, there’s a color television in there.’ I thought when I opened it up that perhaps the directions to the warehouse would be in there to where I would go and pick up the huge box as big as this station wagon demanded.

“I open up the box and here is what was in it.

“A Casio television the size of a small transistor radio. It had a two-inch screen.

“I felt a little embarrassed. I moved that station wagon faster than anyone has ever moved a station wagon, and I acted cool, like I knew all along, it would be in a small box like this.

“She gave me a diamond watch, too. (That’s what it says. There is something in there that sparkles, so I guess it must be a diamond.) That was my bonus gift.

“I had to drive all the way home because my friend, the owner of the station wagon, was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down his face to a point that he couldn’t see.”

When it brings a smile to the face, that is one of the best gifts won in life.

“Behold, I am doing something new! It is already happening; don’t you recognize it? I will clear a way in the desert. I will make rivers on dry land.” Isaiah 43:19

During the Depression, there was a gentleman who had been accustomed to great wealth. He lost everything in the Depression. He walked around in shock and kept saying over and over again, “I know there’s a way out of this. I know there’s a way.” He would even wake up at night and say, “I know there’s a way out of this.” He did not realize it, but he was saying a positive prayer affirmation. He was preparing his thinking in a spiritual way. He was giving of himself to God. He was not buying into what was happening in the world. He was buying into what could happen to him with God’s direction and help.

He was reading a newspaper one day, and noticed an article about millions of pounds of coffee being available in Brazil, but there was no market for it. There was no money to bring it over here, and over here, they wanted the coffee, but there was no money to get it here. He thought for a minute, “Well, there are millions of bushels of American wheat over here.” He realized that if he could get the two together in a trade, we would have coffee and they would have wheat. Through a couple of simple telephone calls, he started on his way back to making a fortune.

The key to life is circulation. The key to life is keeping things moving. You’ve heard the saying, “When things are tight, something has to give.” I change that to say, “When things are tight, someone has to give.”

In Luke 6:38, Jesus says, “Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

As humans, we have an incompleteness of vision. The clear vision is disclosed to you and me that in God, supply for any need you face, this morning, is instantaneous. No matter what your need, God is here to fulfill that need. But, to our human thinking, supply is progressive. We think we have to go through a series of events, from here to there, from point A to point Z, waiting for our supply to come.

We have a tremendous opportunity to realize, first of all, that in God, supply is instantaneous. In God, supply is infinite and instantaneous. To human thinking, it is progressive. Your available supply, in a practical sense, is measured by your spiritual lung capacity. It is measured by your ability to use it. We know that air is everywhere present, but we can only use that amount of air in front of us that we have the lung capacity to use. It is the same with supply.

In Matthew 13:12, Jesus says, “For those who have [a consciousness of supply] more will be given. They will have abundance. But those who have nothing [those who do not have a consciousness of the supply from God] even what they have will be taken away.”

Where does the demonstration of abundance begin? In demonstrating supply, the demonstration begins with the spiritual consciousness of supply. Do we really believe in God? Is our God big enough to handle our challenge?

What do you wish for in your life? What successes do you wish for? What kind of supply do you need? Is your God big enough to meet the need? Can you believe, in your spiritual consciousness, that it could be instantaneous?

In many places in our world today, there is apparent lack. But we know that this is just in that particular place. Somewhere else, there is all anyone could ever want. The problem with lack in the world is circulation – how to get those needs to those people, how to get that supply to the people who need it most.

The problem in our individual lives is always circulation.

Years ago, there was a man who owed many, many debts. He was frozen in his fears. He had some money, but he did not have enough to pay everybody. Therefore, he just sat frozen, filled with fear, because he did not know how to move.

What was said to him by the minister is that he was not living the law of circulation – giving and receiving. He had to get into a new relationship with supply. He was urged to go to his creditors, explain the situation, and offer to pay them a little, what he could, to start the payback, to get into the movement of circulation. Every one of those creditors was impressed with his integrity, and they helped him remain in business. He, ultimately, fulfilled his obligations and was on his way back in a big, big way to success.

So often, when the human mind cannot see its way completely through a problem, it is tempted not to act even upon what it can see because we can’t do all that we desire to do. Too often, we delay in doing anything at all.

Give what you can, and you can always give something. If you have no money, offer your services. Find some way to keep yourself in circulation.

The poor human is the shut-off human. It is the person who isolates himself or herself from life. Keep your contacts open with activity and circulation and supply, and never harp on your losses.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6

In the Bible, the prophet asked a poor widow what she had in her house. She did not answer him directly; she told him what she lacked. She said, “Thy handmaiden hath not anything in the house save a pot of oil.”

When the disciples were asked what they had, they said, “Oh, Jesus, we don’t have anything. We just have five loaves and two fishes.” This is the consciousness of lack. It is the awareness of postponement. It is the awareness of delay.

Agree with God now. Do not say, “I will prosper when … ,” or “I will give when … “

Thank God for present supply, for what you can do now, for what you can give now. Now is the acceptable time. All things must begin when you begin.

Let me give you some guidelines to power-giving to jumpstart the law of circulation in your life.

#1. Attach no strings to your gifts.

So often, we receive a gift with a string attached to it. How did you like that gift when you received it? That is not a gift at all. Attach no strings to your gifts. Do not try to bargain or barter with God, because that is attaching a string to your gift with God. Give your gift of your services, your time, your money, with no strings attached. Here is an excellent motto: “I give as to the Lord.”

Emerson once said, “Have the courage to withhold what you can’t give without a blessing.”

#2. What is given in a grudging way, blesses neither the giver nor the receiver. As you give, you shall receive.

Here is what I’m talking about. You are paying a bill and saying, “That Electric Company is really, really robbing me this month.” What we link with our gift or payment becomes as real to our minds as something tangible in front of us, and it goes forth like an unseen messenger to represent us and to become identified with us. Unless we wish to attract lack, we should never stamp the thought of lack on any one of our disbursements.

#3. If a person says: “Sooner or later, my good always becomes manifest for me, but I’m tortured by many ‘eleventh hour’ deliverances of apparent want and anxious waiting,” what’s wrong?

God answers our prayers even before we ask. But if we are having interruptions, we need to give more regularly. We need to get into circulation in a more regular way. You wish, as I wish, that God will continuously give to us. Well, we must be about the Father’s business.

What is the Father’s business? The Father’s business is giving, sharing, and serving. Let us be as regular in our giving as we wish God to be in giving to us.

#4. How should we measure our giving? With what standards shall we compare our gifts?

Shall we give an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth? Or should we give full measure, heaped up, pressed down, and running over?

Years ago there was a company that many of you are familiar with – A & P grocery stores. They were a major concern in the grocery industry because when you went in for a pound of coffee, instead of giving you sixteen ounces, they gave you seventeen ounces, on the Biblical principle of giving you more than you paid for. They stopped doing that and now the business is barely alive. Always go the extra mile, surprise people by giving more than they expected, and you will be rewarded with continuous, ever-expanding success.

The Biblical principles work in our lives. When we are paid our salaries, do we give more than we were paid for? We should. We should constantly give more and surprise the person on the other end. That is the law of success. It is a joy. It is the first half of manifest prosperity.

Let me quickly share with you the second half – receiving. Some of us are poor receivers.

I would like you to think of receiving in a new way. It is a joy to give. You all know that because you are giving people. But you also share the joy of giving when you receive. You must receive.

“Faith without works is dead.” James 2:26

There was an elderly lady who hardly had any money at all. A minister helped that elderly lady by giving her a ride to church several times. The elderly lady got together her nickels and dimes and quarters and put together a love offering gift of $2.00 to the minister. She had great joy. She stumbled over her words and said, “Here. I want you to have this.”

The minister said, “No! What I did for you was a joy. I wanted to do it.”

The lady was crushed. She said, “Wait just a minute. You must not deny a like joy to me. I want you to allow me to give to you.”

The minister refused the poor woman’s gift, and within weeks the woman quit the church, refusing to ever come back.

The minister thought a lot about this realize that he robbed this woman the joy of being in circulation. The minister decided that he would never refuse another gift.

Here are the guidelines for receiving.

#1. We must not rob the giver in their joy of giving.

#2. We must prepare ourselves to receive by being receptive and appreciative.

#3. We must be grateful for little things to prepare for big things.

#4. God’s bounty and blessing will come to us through God’s messengers.

Friends, if you are praying for an answer to a problem, there will probably be someone new come into your life with the exact solution.

#5. We must be open to new people who bring us new ideas.

#6. Jesus said, “No one cometh unto God but by Me.” I say, “No one cometh unto me except by God.”

When a new person comes to you, expect good. Say, “God, thank You. I am so open to this new person coming to me.”

#7. We must be unselfish and let others have the more blessed joy of giving when it is their turn.

#8. We will accept the best.

Too often, especially those who are giving their lives to God, say, “Well, we don’t need the best. Second best will be fine.” The problem with this is that we put this out as a spiritual identity. Jesus constantly said to you, “Can you believe?”

In modern-day language that means, “Can you accept?” I am going to give you this idea on how to get this car, or home, or furniture, or a new career. If I give you the idea, can you accept it? Are you a good receiver of new and delightful ideas?

The last part is accepting God in a new and profound way, every moment of every day – being a receiver of God, realizing that we are not alone; we don’t have to do it alone; human mind does not have to do it alone. God is going to work through me when I work. God is going to bring talent to me. God is going to work in my body, and I am a perfect receiver of God.

Let us pray –

Today, in this moment, I give of myself, totally to God. I give of myself, totally to life, and I get into circulation. I am excited about receiving. I am complete because I give, and I receive. I will do so every moment of this day.

In Jesus Christ’s name … Amen.

God bless everyone!

PRAYER / MEDITATION_________________________________

This ministry is for and about prayer. This ministry is for and about God’s love. This ministry is for and about personal power, power in the individual, by empowerment from God.

This is an appointed time of prayer that we are sharing together. In this moment we begin a spiritual journey that will lead us into new realms of life.

This life journey we are on is a sacred voyage.

Let us still our thoughts and open the portholes of our minds and hearts. We are here to praise God and praise the good in our lives.

In the calming presence of God, we enter into a time of perfect peace. We drift in a sea of tranquility, knowing that nothing can disturb us, for God is here. We relax and let go. We feel God’s love enfolding and uplifting us.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

We dwell in this peaceful, secure presence. Our hearts overflow with the peace and love of God. We find we are content knowing that all is well in our world. Before allowing our thoughts to move on, we pause in the end and give thanks for this serene, peaceful feeling.

Praise God for the love that sustains me! My heart is filled with peace.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

Proverbs 4:18 states, “The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn.” As our journey continues, we thank God for the light that shines in and through us, to illumine our path. The wisdom and guidance of God lead us in ways of goodness. Our path becomes clear. We move forward with confidence in all that we do.

Our thoughts are clear, our actions wise, our judgment right in every situation we encounter. We give praise and thanksgiving for the Divine presence of God that leads us and directs us in perfect ways.

Praise God for the light that shines in me! I use good judgment.

Praise God with me for the light that shines in us. We use good judgment.

In our spiritual travels, we come to a place of wholeness – the realization of the human body as God created it to be. We feel an energizing power, rejuvenating every cell of our minds and bodies. A powerful, healing presence envelops us, and we know in our hearts, our minds, and our bodies that nothing can prevent us from experiencing the healing life of God.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

In this attitude of thanksgiving, we give thanks for miracles of God, we will see miracle upon miracle. God is in this place. God is working in this place. God is working in and through you, to heal you now.

Praise God for the life that invigorates you! You experience good health.

And now, in the silence of prayer, thank God for what is happening within your mind and body …

Our spiritual journey has blessed us with peaceful, guiding, healing thoughts that remind us of how prosperous we truly are! We hold thoughts of abundance, and we praise God for the answer to all our needs. Our hearts are filled with thanks for the many gifts God has given us, and we pray expecting continuing prosperity:

Praise God for the abundance that fills me! My needs are met.

Praise God for the abundance that fills me! My needs are met.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

Our journey has been filled with joy, praise, and satisfaction, and we are ready to face our daily activities with renewed strength and enthusiasm. We praise God for this special spiritual time, and looking forward to future times of prayer and fellowship in complete faith we say thank You, dear God.

In Jesus Christ’s name we pray … Amen.

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GOD BLESS YOU,
Christopher Ian Chenoweth