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Seeds of Success

by Indira Patro

270 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #02-0028; ISBN 1-55369-215-2; US$25.50, C$28.95, EUR21.00, £14.50

This tool has been developed to help you gain personal financial victory through a personal relationship with Christ, by understanding God's principles and by following the lead of the Holy Spirit.

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About the book      About the author      Sample excerpts or Table of Contents      Catalogue info

About the Book Success is neither an inheritance, nor an accident. It is God's plan. Total Success Ministries Letter To Pastors Dear Pastors and Leaders, Please allow me to introduce Total Success Ministries; dedicated to helping people understand that God is our provider. God has laid it upon my heart to help people know His will through their finances. Even though we need to work, is not our source of supply. God is our source of supply. It is a difficult balance - working to obtain things but looking to God as the provider of all things -- and we all need to be reminded of the need for this balance time and again. We all tend to loose sight of this fact and think of our job as our provider and our focus gets clouded. And then more and more of our time is spent on material pursuits with little time left for the "spiritual" aspects of life. This results in more stress and far less of the peace that we all can have when our focus is on God and not on our own abilities. No doubt, there are many in your congregation who are struggling with this lack of balance right now and would benefit from learning of success from God's perspective. A Total Success seminar will help people live from God's point of view and grow in their faith in God. Please visit our web site at www.total-success.org where we have posted all the information you need to judge us. As you can see, the focus of the seminar is so much on the spiritual aspects and not on how to manage your money. Please examine these materials and prayerfully consider how those you minister to may benefit from learning more through a Total Success Seminar held in your church. In HIS service, Indira Patro Total Success Ministries

About the Author Indira Patro is the founder of Total Success Ministries, a woman with a vision that has extended over twenty years. She grew up and married in India but soon she and her husband immigrated to North America, eventually settling down in 1974 in Canada where they raised two sons. Over the years, Indira has endured and triumphed over numerous economic and personal crises that had threatened the security and stability of her family. It was in the midst of crying, fasting and meditating on His word that she realized God's Laws of Prosperity are significant, relevant and vital to our lives. There is no success outside of His Word. Indira has served as Vice President of Evangelism and Outreach in the Fraser Valley Area and also as president of different chapters in AGLOW. She was the Director of LINK, an outreach to young women in Campus Crusade for Christ, Canada. Professionally, Indira has enjoyed considerable success as a realtor over the past 21 years. Her vision is to teach and apply spiritual truths, to promote financial well-being and to provide financial assistance to individuals and families in crisis.

Table of Contents

Sample Excerpts

Introduction

Conventional wisdom teaches that diligence and hard work are the paths to financial freedom. But to lead a successful life financially, and even more importantly, to live victoriously on all levels, does not depend on a formula. We are inundated by the number of books, lectures, seminars and tools available - all trying to show us how to live that successful life.

This is not one of those. Although I am interested in you living a successful, victorious life, I am not offering a formula. That would be easy.

Unfortunately, if we are honest, we all want that easy route. We prefer to follow ten easy steps. Or buy a lottery ticket. Or play the stock market. Or join another get-rich-quick scheme.

We want a trouble-free life. Free from financial worries - and in order to get there, many of us will do almost anything.

It might surprise you to discover that your relationship with God is in fact the key to a prosperous lifestyle. (We will define all these concepts very carefully in the first week.) God holds a unique plan for your life - a plan to prosper you, and not harm you. All you need to do is yield, understand His principles and live your life by daily seeking His guidance and revelation in His Word.

Lack Mentality

God provided a perfect environment for Adam and Eve to live in. They lacked nothing. Today we would probably say they were prosperous. In fact, they did not even know what lack or poverty was. It did not exist in their vocabulary. But when sin entered, a curse was introduced and with that a lack mentality developed. God through a grand (contingency) plan, introduced Redemption through His Son Jesus Christ. Christ came and redeemed us from the curse of the law, as stated in Galatians 3:13. Christ delivered us from the Kingdom of Darkness into the Kingdom of Light.

Scripture teaches us that Christ became poor, so that we might become rich.

Read 2 Corinthians 8:9 (KJV).

For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

Probably your first reaction would be, "Surely she knows that the Apostle Paul is not talking about financial riches!"

What kind of poverty is Paul talking about? In what way did Jesus become poor?

Is it spiritual poverty? I think we will agree that Christ was certainly not spiritually poor. In fact, He was the only person who was spiritually rich and blameless in God's sight, which qualified Him to be the perfect Sacrifice for our redemption. He took our poverty upon Him even as He was hanging on the cross.

But even though God intends to bless us through Christ who paved the way to our inheritance of all spiritual and material blessings, these don't come automatically. Just like salvation isn't automatic, God's blessings need to be appropriated and received. We cannot obtain these through good works or right living, but simply through accepting Christ and His work on the Cross. When Christ delivered us from the curse of the Law, He freed us from that bondage. Just like we pray to receive salvation, we need to bring our poverty before God and receive His blessing through Jesus Christ, and by His grace.

Would you like to pray right now?

The purpose of the Law

Read Galatians 3:19-25 (KJV).

What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, until the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

What was the purpose of the Law in your opinion?

The Law was our tutor and it brought us to Christ. The Law did not have the power to give us liberty. That means our success was Christ's Cross. Obedience and knowledge of the Word of God is the road to success.

God's Word is not complicated. It is very simple. God wants us to each study His Word and be guided by Him through His Word in the steps that we take.

A Metaphor for Salvation

God delivered the Jews out of Egypt and took them to the Promised Land. Not only did the Israelites make this physical journey, it is also a metaphor for our Christian life. God delivered us out of the world (Egypt) and gave us eternal and abundant life (the Promised Land). When Christ delivered us from darkness into the Light, the story of the Jews is paralleled.

Deuteronomy 11:8-9

Therefore you shall keep every commandment which I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land which you cross over to possess.

God's first instruction, going into the Promised Land, is to keep His every commandment.

Deuteronomy 11:9

... and that you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord swore to give your fathers, to them and their descendants, "a land flowing with milk and honey."

When Jesus becomes our Lord and Saviour, we come into the Promised Land. Because of our faith in Christ, the blessing of Abraham is ours.

Deuteronomy 11:9-10 For the land which you go to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot as a vegetable garden. As we move from the world into the land of our spiritual inheritance, we need to know that it won't be the same. We will have to work and live differently in order to enjoy our milk and honey.

Deuteronomy 11:11-12 But the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rain of heaven, a land for which the Lord your God cares; the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.

Our idea of a "Promised Land" might be quite different from what the world identifies it as. The spiritual landscape is full of hills and valleys - it is not a trouble-free zone. It drinks water from the rain of heaven - in the Promised Land we are dependent on every Word God speaks to us by His Holy Spirit. Our Lord cares for this land and His eyes are upon it.

Knowing and living by God's Word guides us into living a successful and prosperous life. Our new life in Christ is our Promised Land. Jesus opened the door for us, so that we may live without lack or sickness. The Cross did not only redeem us for the future by giving us eternal life and then leaving us to figure it out by ourselves until we go to heaven. Jesus also took care of our daily troubles. Jesus warned us that trouble will come, but reminded us to be of good cheer, because He has overcome them all. Still, He gives us free will to choose how we want to live our lives, now and through eternity. Living supernaturally is a gift from God. It is free for everyone. But it is our responsibility to take the first step, to move into the realm of living in the supernatural. Total dependency on Christ is the key to this life. Hills and valleys are no longer obstacles, but stepping stones instead.

Review today's lesson.

1. Prayerfully choose one statement or verse that was most meaningful to you today.

2. Write a prayer of response.

3. What action do you need to take in response to today's lesson?

The Truth about Abundant Living

Money plays an important part in our life here on earth and determines our abundant living both here now and in eternity. It may not appear like that and we may spiritualize this entire truth just by ignoring the facts. However, when we face the judgment seat of Christ we will have to give an account of our each and every action, including how we handled our money.

In Luke 16 Jesus talked about using your money to prepare a place for eternity. If it is not possible I don't think Jesus would have told His disciples this parable.

A true story about using money for eternity

In 1985 Jack and Lisa, a medical doctor and his wife, met a real estate agent who sold them their first home worth $71,000. They thought the house would be on the market soon.

The agent did not know of any young professionals who would live in such a modest little home but then, she didn't know Jack and Lisa. As Jack read his Bible he found himself compelled to reach for something more and found himself at the start of the generosity process. Luke 6:38 gripped him:"Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."

As Jack's medical practice grew, that verse replayed itself over and over again in his mind."Maybe," he confided to Lisa, "the extra money I'm making is not meant for us. Maybe God is increasing my income so we'll have more money to give away."

They faced challenges like tax, investments, children's education - whether to send them to private or public schools - vacation and much more. As a result of their convictions, the couple made a remarkable decision. They set a cap on their lifestyle and resolved not to move the markers, even if their income rose.

If you choose to run life's race with an eternal perspective, what changes can you make now?

Do not spiritualize the truth

God's Word contains His facts and His promises. Our attitude should be like that of a child, receiving from God. We do not give in order to receive, but we definitely acknowledge the facts in the Word of God. If we plant, it will grow.

Pride often keeps us in a religious mode and false humility prevents us from going to our heavenly Father with a child-like attitude. God pursues a relationship with us while we often choose to pursue religion. Satan tries to keep us under the false assumption that we should pursue righteousness by our good works and ignore the practicality of God's revealed Word.

Life was not easy for Jack and Lisa. They had to make many tough choices and had to learn to receive from others. When they decided not to visit their in-laws because they did not want to exceed their spending, their in-laws sent them the ticket. Lisa's parents understood perfectly. Jack saw God's hand at work, and gladly received the blessing.

Jack and Lisa saw God's faithfulness as He met their expenses in ways they could not have imagined. But if they had been unwilling or too proud to receive from others, they would not have been able to enjoy the blessing either.

Do you find it hard or easy to receive from others? Why?

Ask God to help you to not only give freely of yourself and your possessions, but also to receive joyfully at His ordained times.

Jack and Lisa put a cap on their spending, by setting boundaries and marking a financial "finish line."

Financial boundaries serve two purposes:

1. They cause you to aim for something and indicate a clear cut-off point.

2. Instead of looking at a formula or a human expert, a God-ordained boundary keeps your eyes fixed on Him as the CEO of your family financial institution.

Since God owns everything, including everything you are managing for Him, every spending decision becomes a spiritual decision.We are always using God's resources. The question is not, "Can I afford this?" but rather, "Would God want me to use His money this way?"

Changing your financial status is a four-step process. You need to:

1. Spend less than you earn.

2. Avoid debt.

3. Build liquidity.

4. Set long-term goals.

Review today's lesson.

1. Prayerfully choose one statement or verse that was most meaningful to you today.

2. Write a prayer of response.

3. What action do you need to take in response to today's lesson?

Myths concerning the love of God

John wrote in 1 John 4:8 that God is love and says that love is the focal point of God's moral attributes. It is critically important to understand the goodness of God's love. We usually measure God's love according to our present physical and material circumstances. God sees us in our present choices, but He also sees the end results. His love takes action, with the end result in mind, and He does not compromise His character.

We view God's love through human eyes and many judge God in their hearts. By viewing God's love through the human heart we create a distance between Him and us. Fear often prevents us from consulting Him, from praying or from reading His Word.

In other religions of the world, the relationship between deities and their worshipers is usually marked by fear. It is often expressed in the religious practice of the worshipers as they attempt to prevent the wrath of their deities. They often express the revengeful attributes of their deities. These heretic attitudes have filtered into the body of Christ, reducing God's love to the standard of human love.

Myths concerning Sovereignty and Prosperity

Perhaps we see God's Sovereignty from a human prospective only. If a human possesses the power of sovereignty he might reserve the right to override his written contract or promises (words) if the outcome does not justify his purpose and plan. He has to change constantly to maintain his purpose and plan to bring about the desired results. With human limitations, this may have to be done in order to justify the end results. But God cannot lie. He knows the end from the beginning. When He gave His Word to us as a guide to live our life, He limited Himself within that Word. His written Word is full of His expressions of limitations.

Job 38:4-13 (NKJ)

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Or who shut in the sea with doors, when it burst forth and issued from the womb; when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band; when I fixed My limit for it, and set bars and doors; when I said, `This far you may come, but no farther, and here your proud waves must stop! Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?

However, I believe that within that limit He has unlimited avenues and unlimited ways to accomplish His purpose without violating His written Word and overturning His promises. I also believe that He has given us the ability to access all those unlimited avenues through Jesus Christ. Our human mind, however, is not able to fathom His unlimited limitation. How can a mortal man ever understand an immortal God?

Why do you think did God put Himself under such limitations?

His passionate love for the human soul created those boundaries. He loved us so much that He gave us Himself to save us from the bondage of sin. I believe He limited His wrath (anger) and judgment also.

God is all love, perfectly Holy, totally just and He created us. We will not be able to fathom how all those attributes of God work together to save us and love us.

He gave us His Word. He will bless us within the boundaries of that Word. He will judge us according to the boundaries of that Word. His Word contains two important things: God's facts and God's promises. God's facts are past and have to be believed and trusted. All the promises are in the future tense and they are conditionals. To take advantage of those promises a person has to fulfill the conditions in order to reap the benefits. Promises are given so we can live effectively now and to receive our reward in eternity.You cannot attain those promises little by little but you have to obtain them by faith.

Hebrews 11:6

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.

Knowledge about God

As Christians we believe:

* God is the Creator of the heavens and earth.

* He provides us our daily food, sunshine, air to breathe and rules over the Universe.

* He has given us the written Word and revealed Himself through that Word.

* He planned and sent Jesus for our redemption.

* God is Triune. There are three persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. All three work together to bring the plan of salvation into action in believers' lives.

* Without faith it is impossible to please God. We have to obey and live life according to the Word of God.

* In order to obtain eternal life we need to receive Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour.

This knowledge about God created the Christian religion and culture. However it also brought myths around God. It created a mental distance between Him and us. Somehow - apart from giving God lip service about His sovereign power - for many, God's personality is weak. The sovereign power of God has created an emotional garbage dump for many - Christians and non-Christians alike. The sovereignty of God becomes a "safe"place to dump the undesired results of all our irresponsible behaviour. It creates a comforting pretence and hides those times when we have deliberately chosen to disobey God.

When we, in our ignorance, fail to appropriate God's facts into our lives, we may fall into the trap of explaining our failure as the result of God's sovereignty. When we shift the responsibility to God, rather than acknowledging our own lack of obedience or understanding, we are a poor witness of God's Word. Instead of acting like soldiers of God's Word, we take a certain pride in being "victims" of God's sovereignty. Jesus said, "... the things I do, you will do also and greater things." Still, even when we miss out on the fullness of God's provision, God is merciful and gives us a second chance to rise up in the midst of failure, change our ways and possess our personal promised land.

Knowledge about God stimulates our trust, but knowing God actually establishes our trust in Him, produces faith and brings about temporal and eternal results.

My Story

In my own life, I came to realize that I could not lead a successful life on my own. I wanted to find a reliable, powerful partner who could - and wanted to - be with me. As I searched for someone, I concluded that nobody in the world would do anything without the promise of profit. I turned to the Scriptures and tried to discuss financial matters with experienced, mature Christians, but I couldn't find satisfactory answers there either.

My parents were very good Christians, but they never went to the Scriptures for answers when they experienced financial difficulties. It seemed to me that, although it was highly acceptable for Christians to be wealthy, it was unacceptable to discuss financial issues. Well-meaning Christians tried to justify a lack of understanding about the material realm and God's part in it, by attributing everything to God's sovereignty. In other words, that we have no control over our own financial affairs, but rather that God decides whether we should be poor or rich or even whether we should just stay where we are and get by.

If prosperity was dependent upon the sovereignty of God, then there was neither reward for following Christ nor penalty for ignoring Christ. And if what I was hearing from others about the sovereignty of God was true, in my opinion that made us mere puppets in His plan. It just did not feel right in my heart. As I searched for the truth in this matter, the Holy Spirit directed me to Scripture and guided me step by step. As I spent time with God and in His Word, I started to change.

Living the Word of God

As my life was developing as a new Christian, I noticed inconsistency between what I was reading in God's Word and what I was seeing in the lives of Christians around me. Concepts like peace were talked about but never lived out. Healing was proclaimed but few received it from God. Passages like John 10:10 and 3 John 2 became confusing to me. I was particularly troubled by how many Christians in the church suffered financially.

Too often I was told that everything was under God's Sovereignty. It sounded to me like my faith in His written Word counted very little, but that God's will was final. I could not deny God's sovereignty, but I did question these interpretations and these ways of thinking in my heart. I started to try and bring everything under God's sovereignty alone, even my financial matters which included giving to the church for the sake of spreading of the Gospel. I wondered why giving to the church seemed to depend on my own will, while everything else depended on God's will alone. Things didn't line up for me.

Jesus said that we will know the truth and the truth shall set us free. Our thinking has to be God's thinking. Our observations, associations, and any obstacles we encounter, influence us into forming certain thought-patterns. We must replace our own thoughts with God's thoughts. Jesus' words "If you abide in me and my words abide in you then whatever you will ask, it will be done for you" call for oneness with Him.

In Matthew 6:33 it is written, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." (NKJ) Take a few moments and consider your own understanding of this verse.

In all honesty, in view of this passage, when I started out, I really did not understand what to believe and what not to believe about my financial matters. My thoughts were clouded with religious thinking. I now realize that I did believe God's truth but only in part - I did not embrace the whole truth.

The Holy Spirit is there to interpret the Word of God, but He will never contradict or go beyond God's Word. There are no new revelations outside God's Word. When we are not well versed in the Word of God, some points of view might appear like new revelations to us , while in reality they have existed in the Bible since the beginning. God's Will for our lives is never automatic; we must participate with Him to bring it to operation in this world.

Review today's lesson.

1. Prayerfully choose one statement or verse that was most meaningful to you today.

2. Write a prayer of response.

3. What action do you need to take in response to today's lesson?

Catalogue Information