While it's true that one aspect of lack is poverty, that's not all there is to it. Refusing to live in lack means refusing to live without the fullness of all the promises of God being manifest in your life.

For instance, if Jesus bore stripes for me to be whole, then sickness means I'm lacking the manifestation of that blessing in my life. That's the reason I pulled myself up by my shoelaces and ran through the streets in the wee hours of the morning. Was I just acting crazy? No, I was resisting the devil.

The Bible says that if we will resist the devil, he will flee from us. When I released my faith and refused to lie down and die, the devil packed his little bag of dirty tricks and ran for his life. By the time I got home, every symptom of sickness had left me and I was not lacking any of the blessings of God.

Real Trouble Requires Real Faith
"That's great, Brother Jesse," someone said, "but I live in the real world and face real problems." So do I, but instead of focusing on what the devil is doing, pay attention to what Jesus is doing! A good example of this is found in Luke 5:

And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, and saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.

And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net broke. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them.

And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken.
(Luke 5:1-9)

The first thing I want you to notice about this passage of scripture is that it began with Jesus asking to borrow Simon Peter's boat. It's important to get that in your mind, because Jesus will always ask something of you before your miracle. Simon agreed to let Jesus use his boat, but his attitude changed when He asked him to let the nets back down into the water. Simon answered by saying, "Master, we have toiled all the night!" Simon Peter was looking at lack. That's all he saw.

Lack Was a Thing of the Past
How did Simon Peter respond to it? He fell down before Jesus and said, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord." He began to repent! Animals always made him repent. This time he repented over fish. Later, he would repent over a rooster crowing.

What was he repenting about? For not believing in prosperity. The Bible says, "For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken." The point is that one moment he had nothing and the next moment he was overwhelmed in prosperity. Lack was a thing of the past.

What made the difference? The same thing that will make the difference in your life. He obeyed what Jesus said. He acted on Jesus' words. If you will obey and act on what Jesus is still saying, you'll tap into the supernatural provision of God.

The Blessings of God Are Yours
If you want to live in lack, go ahead, but I won't do it. The Lord said that I am blessed in the city and blessed in the field. He said I am blessed coming in and blessed going out. He said I am blessed in my basket and blessed in my storehouse. He said I am the head and not the tail, the first and not the last. (Deut. 28:1-13).

We either have to believe what He said is true... or not. I choose to believe. I will not lack prosperity. I will not lack healing. I will not lack wisdom. I will not lack the fellowship of God. I will not lack the peace of God. I will not lack the anointing of God. I will not lack the joy of God. I will say what the apostle Paul said, "I finished my ministry with joy."

I haven't always known that those were my God-given rights. When I first started this ministry, I thought it was holy to starve. So, I started out starving. I remember thinking, "The devil treated me better than this!" I didn't know any better, and I was almost destroyed by a lack of knowledge.

The Priestly Robes
In the Bible, God told Moses, "Take Aaron up on the mountain and strip him of his priestly robes." Until then, the anointing of God had been protecting Aaron, but it didn't continue forever. The priestly anointing was removed from Aaron and placed on Eleazar. When that happened, he died in front of all Israel.

The Lord showed me that the same thing could happen today. The anointing will protect them for a time, but judgment will come. Some ministers are halfway up the mountain and don't even realize it. If the lifestyle of sin continues, they will be stripped of their office, stripped of the anointing and they will die.

The anointing protected Aaron when Miriam developed leprosy. She was healed of the leprosy, but her rebellion caught up with her and eventually she died. About three and a half months later, Aaron was stripped and died. Moses died the same year, unable to enter the Promised Land because he disobeyed God. Aaron's two sons died. It's dangerous to play games with God.

God Can't Take Your Life
I've wondered a lot about Moses' death. The first time I read that God sent him up on the mountain to die, I thought, "Did God put a contract on him? Was Michael waiting behind a cliff to whack him?" I began studying the Word of God and found that wasn't true at all. First of all, Moses went up on that mountain healthy. He was one hundred and twenty years old, and the Bible said that his natural forces were not abated.

Moses stood in the very presence of God. It was so powerful that it would light his face with such a glow he had to cover his head to protect people's eyes. Moses refused to live in lack. I like that.

When Moses went up that mountain, his eyes were clear and bright, his hearing was astute, he wasn't stooped or bent, and he hiked up the heights without getting out of breath. The Bible tells us that no one knows where his grave is, but we know that God buried him. So, how did he die? The same way Jesus did: He gave up the ghost.

You see, God isn't a killer. He didn't have an angel whack Moses. In fact, you need to realize something. God can't take your life. Yes, He has the ability to do it, but He can't because He's bound by His own Word. Proverbs 18:21 says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." Your own tongue will decide when you die. I suggest that you guard your words.

Hearts Hardened Against God
I never want my conscience hardened against God. I'm tired of giving Him excuses. "Lord, I know you said I can do all things through Christ, but I can't." "Lord, I know You said I had all authority over the enemy, but it's just too hard to use it."

Finally I just told God, "Your Word is my command. I'm not moved by what I see, but I'm moved by what You say. If You don't mind, I'm going to keep my eyes closed. I'm going to walk the path You want me to walk. I'm going to do what You want me to do. None of it makes sense to me. My mind is doing somersaults. You are beyond my finite mind, but I will obey You."

When you step off into the deep end with God like that, something happens. He shows up in the middle of everything you do. What you can't do, He does. But you can't move into that place with God until you make a quality decision not to live in lack.

Your Right to Choose
"Well, you live in hurricane country, Brother Jesse. Suppose one of those 'category-five' hurricanes comes and blows the whole thing down. What are you going to do?" Build it again. You don't think I'd let the devil run me out of town, do you? I'll never leave town until God tells me to leave town. You see, it isn't my right to choose if I leave town or not. It's my duty to fulfill the will of God in my life.

A lot of Christians don't understand that this is God's kingdom, and there are some things that He chooses. For instance, you don't get to choose your parents. If you did, you'd choose millionaires every time. You don't get to choose your wife. If you did, you'd choose with your hormones every time.

God knows what you need. Last, you don't get to choose your pastor. God led the entire nation of Israel out of bondage, but He wouldn't let them choose their pastor. "Well, I don't like him!" That means nothing. Sometimes, you don't like your parents. Sometimes, you don't like your wife, but that doesn't change the fact that you're married.

But there are some things you do get to choose, because God gave you a free will. You get to choose to live in lack, or to live in the bounty of God's blessings. I'm not denying that you may be standing in a boatload of trouble right now. I just want you to know one thing. Jesus is in the boat.

Copyright © Jesse Duplantis Ministries
All rights reserved. Used by permission.