There is a reason why Yahweh created every single one of us. His word tells us that He knows the plans that He has for us.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29: 11
If you are a (mildly) serious believer in Christ then you must be familiar with the bible verse above, it is one of the favourite verses used in the twenty-first-century church, and a classic go-to for our modern-day pharisees’ and false prophets in their exasperating motivational speeches disguised as sermons.
How many of us are aware of the fact that like the verse above, our God, Yah, in the triune person of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, is a very nuanced mighty Being who does not compromise Himself for our volatile feelings? He works in ways that must be learned, assimilated, respected and then integrated in our spirits, souls and hearts so that we can be enabled by His Holy Spirit to bear fruit for His Kingdom.
The bible verse above speaks about the Lord wanting to “prosper you” and “not to harm you”. One would be inclined to equate these terms to success, money, wealth, and so forth. Yet, if you look throughout scripture to try and understand what Yah considers prosperity, you will realise that it does not have the same definition as what we were taught in school – or church for that matter.
For some context, as it pertains to this bible verse, the Lord goes on to describe what will happen to His people when they “prosper”.
It is written:
“Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” Jeremiah 29: 12-14
The Lord is speaking of a return to prayer, an intimate relationship with Him, a surrender to Him, a softening of the heart, a reconciliation with Him, and freedom from captivity. Think about this for a moment, is this what would naturally come to your mind when you hear the word “prosperity”?
In other translations of the Bible, “thoughts of peace and not of evil” is used instead of “plans to prosper you and not to harm you”. Again, we read “peace” and naturally equate it to something that is either an emotional feeling or a lack of war. Yet, the peace you get from Jesus Christ, the Prince of peace, is neither. It is not a “peaceful” feeling in your chest because a person like the Apostle Paul spoke of peace all the time, yet was simultaneously getting flogged to near death, imprisoned and held captive because of His faith in Christ.
Didn’t Paul feel pain, sorrow and even fear from the brutal and inhumane treatment he suffered? Yes, he did. Yet, he always spoke of peace. What is this peace? This peace is divine and transcends emotions in the soul, and can only be felt in the spirit. The peace of Christ is neither related to war or the lack thereof nor to the state of the world around us that our physical bodies may react to. This peace is spiritual steadfastness, inner calm, quiet confidence, and unshakable hope.
The particular verse above is often preached as a prosperity promise, and like every other prosperity text in the word of the Lord the church has interpreted it as a wealth-building and money-making promise designed to please her ears and burry her soul in a pool of pleasures that the Lord does not recognise as the truth. She has lacked understanding for several decades, and subsequently wisdom.
Unfortunately, the modern church – thanks to her corrupt leaders – has decided to interpret much of what the Lord gave us in His word as the world does, or worse, as it was dictated to them by Satan, the father of all lies.
Here is a truth: “Prosperity” in the eyes of God is obedience to His word and His demands upon our lives, a surrender to His will and a tight-knit relationship with Him. In turn, the natural result of this “prosperity” will be freedom from afflictions, sicknesses, poverty, theft, destruction and the death that is bestowed upon the world by the kingdom of darkness.
How many people were taught this in church? Let me not mention in schools or such institutions. Yet the Bible is overwhelmingly insistent on this basic principle in the Kingdom of our Lord. A quick read through the Psalms of David will make this abundantly clear.
In the Lord’s Holy Book, our prosperity begins and ends with our obedience and dependency on Him, the rest (wealth, success, etc…) is only a natural result, a mere consequence of our submission to Him.
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:33
There is also another important side of the coin to consider.
What if prosperity, as in obedience, results in what most may consider suffering or misfortune? Its results may not be the niceties of life listed above. There surely weren’t any niceties for the likes of Paul and the other apostles in their time, but that is not a problem for the Lord and should not be a problem for us. When we grasp the truth that in every act of obedience to Jesus we are actually doing what is in our best interest because everything He ordains and demands is for our own good and will always work out in our favour, this obedience becomes a no-brainer, a lifestyle, a natural state of being.
Even if obedience does not manifest as physical riches, that good is registered in an eternal realm – the only place that counts. Don’t get it twisted, the everlasting reward in Christ Jesus FAR outweighs anything that this broken, dark and twisted world may dangle in front of you.
I have been writing 10 paragraphs on a single bible verse to begin to answer the question of “what does bearing fruit mean?” because in this place – Jesus Christ’s Fruit Factory – we operate within a specific paradigm.
Our paradigm is exclusive to Yahweh’s word, His purposes for our lives and the fate of the world around us so that His will may be done on earth just like in heaven. This is the very meaning behind mankind’s creation and what bearing fruit encompasses.
This paradigm is built upon the precepts that:
- We serve a sovereign God, Jesus Christ.
- Who has divine standards.
- Who is holy and pure.
- And who demands complete surrender to Him through humility of heart, faith without sight, and obedience to His word – the Bible.
When I say precept I mean that which precedes a concept, the idea behind a concept, the thought that gives a concept its meaning, the foundational belief of a concept. The underlying reasoning behind an expressed idea or thing.
We have just taken the examples of two basic terminologies: prosperity and peace. These are two universal concepts with well-known definitions, yet when it comes to the Kingdom of God, the precepts of these terms imply something different. We must develop the capacity to gaze into the Lord’s precepts to function correctly at the most basic level of our relationship with Him, and this happens through a paradigm shift by renewing our minds.
We have just entered times that no one alive in this generation has ever seen, failure to adapt quickly and adopt the precepts of the Lord Jesus Christ would be like purchasing a one-way ticket to hell. Anything or anyone who does not comprehend and believe these basic precepts is bound to be consumed by darkness at one point or another.
So with this in mind, let’s read the verse above again, this time, with a different mind and this new paradigm applied as a filter to our understanding:
“For I know the plans that I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a new hope for the future.”
Suppose that the wonderful plan that the Lord has for you to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a new hope for the future means that in these end-times you are called to be part of the martyred believers that heaven is still expecting to welcome through its gates before the Lord’s return, as stipulated in Revelation 6. If that is the fruit you are called to bear for Yah will you be able to say that the Lord has kept His word of prosperity to you?
Have you arrived at the posture of the heart where you would consider such a fate as a plan that prospers you, does not harm you, and gives you a new hope for the future? Are you willing to allow the Holy Spirit to work on your heart, spirit and character to prepare you for the ultimate sacrifice of your life – that which (in this scenario) you were predestined to bear as a perfect fruit in the Lord’s sight?
I am taking the (extreme) example of martyrdom here because in these end-times many will die that way. The word of God has already proclaimed it and the Lord Jesus Himself spoke it out of His mouth, promising us persecution – even unto death. Real Christians have continued to be killed in many parts of the world since the Lord Jesus ascended to sit at the right of the Father. In these end times, there will be a sharp spike in this phenomenon.
These are the realities we must be ready for.
I invite you to make the paradigm shift in your heart, soul, and spirit right now if you have not already.
Go to the secret place before the Lord, repent and seek His face with humility, consistency, and patience. If you do this sincerely, He will be faithful to respond and from there on your life will never be the same.