The God-kind of love is the greatest force in the entire universe, but in our Success Scripture this week God also includes faith and hope in His discussion about love.

Faith can be defined as the conviction and belief respecting man’s relation to God and divine things.  Hope can be defined as joyful and confident expectation, including that of eternal salvation.  Love can be defined as true affection for God and man, growing out of God’s love for and in us.

Faith gets the power of God to work in your life.  Hope is the direction God has for your life.  Love is how God expects you to govern the relationships in your life.

Love truly is the greatest motivational force in the entire universe, and love needs to be the greatest motivational force in every Christian’s life.

The reason this is so important is because faith is the substance of things hoped for (See Hebrews 11:1), and faith works by love (See Galatians 5:6), and perfect love casts out fear (See 1 John 4:18).

Therefore, walking in love equals the fullness of God in your life!

Listen to more of this exciting message by clicking here…

Romans 10:9 (NLT)
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

I want to draw your attention to the phrases, “Jesus is Lord” and “you will be saved” in the above verse, and I want to challenge you with the contrast of being saved with making Jesus your Lord.

Many have made a decision to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior, but they have never made the commitment to make Him the Lord of every area of their lives. A true believer is one who has made Jesus Christ the Lord of every area of their life.

Salvation is a decision made with the mind that leads a person into a relationship with God. Lordship is a commitment made with the heart that is sustained through daily fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Salvation is a product of a decision made with the mind; Lordship is a product of a commitment made with the heart.

Believing in your heart means acting on the Word of God, and practicing the Word refers to where you invest your time, what you do with your talent, and how you spend your money (treasure). At the believer’s judgment, Jesus will look at how we handled gifts, opportunities, and responsibilities in order to determine our heavenly rewards. In other words, He is going to ask us to give an account of how we managed our time, talent, and treasure while we were on the earth.

Question: Have you made Jesus the Lord of your time, your talent, and your treasure? What you do with your time, talent, and treasure here on the earth will determine how, not where, you spend your eternity.

We know that the person who has never placed his or her faith in the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ will spend their eternity separated from the presence of God, but the person who has placed his or her faith in the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ will spend their eternity in the presence of God, but they will determine how they spend their eternity by what they do with their time, talent, and treasure during their lifetime here on the earth.

Matthew 7:21 (NKJV)
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

Question: What does it mean to make Jesus Lord? Lordship means ownership. When you make Jesus your Lord, He now owns your time, your talent, and your treasure. God has told us in His Word where He wants us to invest our time. He has told us in His Word what He wants us to do with our talent. He has told us in His Word how He wants us to spend our treasure, which refers to our money. Ask yourself these three questions: “Where does God want me to invest my time?” “What does God want me to do with my talent?” “How does God want me to spend my money?”

What we do with our time, talent, and treasure here on the earth will prepare us for our eternal future, and this preparation takes place in three areas:

1. First, it takes place in the personal area of your life. This includes your character, your integrity, and your faithfulness. Is what you are doing with your time, talent, and treasure helping you prepare for your eternal future?

2. Second, preparing for your eternal future takes place in the area of building the Kingdom of God (through the local church). Are you using your time, talent, and treasure to help build the Kingdom of God through the local church?

3. Third, preparing for your eternal future takes place in the area of your personal influence in the lives of other people. Are you using your time, talent, and treasure to help other people prepare for their eternal future?

All Christians will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of their lives here on earth.

2 Corinthians 5:9-10 (NIV)
9 So we make it our goal to please him…
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Many Christians have the erroneous idea that all future judgment is eradicated by their salvation, but remember this: where we spend our eternity is determined by what we do with the cross of Jesus and His saving grace, but how we live for eternity in His Kingdom is determined by the way we lived here on earth as believers.

I want you to think about three questions in light of 2 Corinthians 5:9 – “We make it our goal to please God.” Our primary ambition in this life should be to please God no matter where we are or what we are doing. Remember, what we do with our time, talent, and treasure has eternal ramifications. So let’s answer the following three questions:

1. Is where I invest my time pleasing to God?
Are you spending some time each day finding out what God wants you to do with your time, talent, and treasure?

2. Is what I do with my talent pleasing to God?
Did you know that God has given you enormous potential? Potential is what God thinks you can do with your life. God thinks you can do something enormous (great and wonderful) with your life.

3. Is how I spend my money pleasing to God?
Did you know that Jesus spent more time talking about money and managing material possessions than any other thing? Did you know that the New Testament talks about money and managing material possessions three times as much as any other subject? Did you know that Jesus said in Luke 16:11 that if you can’t be faithful with your money, you can’t be trusted with heavenly riches?

Final Question: How do I know if what I’m doing with my time, talent, and treasure is pleasing God? You will know by how you answer this question: “Is what I do with my time, talent, and treasure geared toward the world and its pursuits, or is what I do with my time, talent, and treasure focused on God and His agenda?”

1 John 2:15, 17 (NLT)
15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.
17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

The apostle John is talking to believers here, not unsaved people, when he says, “Anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.” He is talking about the believer making Jesus Lord of his or her time, talent, and treasure.

All believers will stand before Christ and receive rewards based on how they lived their lives here on the earth. Many people will be shocked to learn that the majority of their time was spent on things that do not count for eternal rewards.

Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Faith pleases God and there are two aspects to faith that pleases God in Hebrews 11:6 – faith that saves and faith that receives. Faith that receives manifests the benefits of faith that saves.

Question: How do you diligently seek God? Answer: You seek God, first and foremost, by getting saved, by being born again and receiving eternal life. You diligently seek God by learning how to manifest the benefits of your salvation.

Faith that receives is how you manifest in the physical realm what already exists in the spiritual realm. Faith that receives is how you manifest in the physical realm all the benefits of your salvation that already belong to you. Salvation is a one-time thing; manifesting the benefits of your salvation is a lifetime thing.

The details of faith that receives come from Romans 10:

Romans 10:9-10 (NKJV)
9 That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Romans 10:9 refers to: “Salvation is a one time thing.” A person gets saved by confessing Jesus as Lord and believing that God raised Him from the dead so they can be right with God. Salvation is a one time thing.

Romans 10:10 refers to: “Manifesting the benefits of your salvation is a life time thing.” One of the benefits of salvation is righteousness (being made right with God). You are already the righteousness of God in Christ, but you may not be manifesting right living. You are already healed, but you may not be manifesting divine health. Manifesting the benefits of your salvation is a life time thing.

Sweeping statement now: The way a person gets saved is the same way they manifest all the other benefits of their salvation; by speaking words out of a believing heart. The way you receive healing, prosperity, deliverance, and protection is the same way you receive salvation; by speaking words out of a believing heart.

Faith that receives believes with the heart and confesses with the mouth. Your believing and your speaking are based on your hearing; what you hear on a continual basis.

Speaking is based on believing (what you speak is a result of what you believe). Believing is based on hearing (what you believe is a result of what you hear). Hearing is based on preaching (what you hear is a result of what people tell you).

If your hearing is wrong, your believing is going to be wrong. If your believing is wrong your speaking is going to be wrong, and it all culminates with your words. Jesus tells us why the words we say are so important in Mark 11:23. Jesus speaking:

Mark 11:23 (NKJV)
“For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.”

Jesus said that a person is going to have what they say. In other words, what you are experiencing in your life right now, according to Jesus, is what you have been speaking. Positive speaking produces positive results and negative speaking produces negative results.

Question: “What have you been speaking?” Answer: You have been speaking what you have been hearing. Is what you are hearing increasing your faith to receive the benefits of your salvation or decreasing your faith to receive the benefits of your salvation?

Romans 10:17 (NKJV)
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Faith that receives comes by hearing the Word of God. The objects of our faith are God and His Word. Faith that receives must be based on God’s Word. Jesus stressed the importance of this when He said:

Matthew 24:35 (NKJV)
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”

The Word of God is more certain than the existence of the universe. Everything is temporal except God’s Word. Everything is temporal, including your circumstances, except God’s Word. If you find yourself in unfavorable circumstances, know that your circumstances are subject to change with the application of God’s Word.

Sometimes it is easier to follow what man thinks about something than to follow what God thinks about the situation. Sometimes the hardest thing in the world is to get your mind to give up what man says and believe what God says. Remember, what you hear is a result of what people tell you. God’s Word is God speaking to you. There is going to come a time in every person’s life when they are going to have to make a decision whether or not to accept God’s Word as the source of truth for their life.

The importance of putting yourself in a position to hear God’s Word cannot be overemphasized because God’s Word contains God’s thoughts. Your thinking must be in line with the Word of God because you cannot believe God, you cannot “believe that you receive” the benefits of our salvation beyond the actual knowledge you have of God’s Word.

Deuteronomy 30:14 (NKJV)
But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.
I want you to notice the last five words in the above verse, “that you may do it.” The goal of believing with the heart and confessing with the mouth is action. The purpose of believing with the heart and confessing with the mouth is so you can practice the Word of God.

Faith that receives acts on God’s Word. Faith that receives practices God’s Word. Nothing happens until you act on God’s Word. There is no lasting manifestation until you practice God’s Word.

Salvation is a one time thing, manifesting the benefits of your salvation is a lifetime thing. Healing is a one time thing, living in divine health is a lifetime thing. Deliverance is a one time thing, living free from addictions is a lifetime thing. Faith that receives manifests the benefits of your salvation!