"...blessing, which means 'to empower.'" (vii)
"His last work was not the creation of man - it was THE BLESSING of man." (vii)
"When God says, 'I want you to go over there,' don't expect those people to pay you anything. God's going to pay you. Do you remember what He told His disciples? 'Don't bring any money. Don't bring any clothes.' He wasn't telling them to be poor. He was telling them, 'Quit bringing your stuff. You're working for Me. I'll take care of you.'" (ix)
"...do what He said to do because He has a plan, and your provision is part of it." (x)
"...in thee shall all families of the earth be BLESSED." (xii) // Gen. 12:2-3, 13:2
"We suddenly know not only that God created all things, we know why.
He did it because He needed someone to love.
If you know anything about real compassion, you know that's the truth. Compassion can't be satisfied with selfish endeavors. It needs someone to fellowship with, give to and BLESS. Compassion needs someone on whom it can pour out its goodness. Compassion needs a family." (36) // compassion cannot be performed with one party alone.
"The Light God spoke forth on the first day of Creation wasn't just visible illumination." (39) // mental and moral illumination, also radiation waves as the substance of all material things.
"...the Bible says, 'Man became a living soul.' The Hebrew commentaries put it this way: 'He became a living speaking spirit like God.'
As a living, speaking [emphasis added] spirit like God, man had the same power to speak that God Himself had. He was full of God's own faith and had the authority to speak creative, compassionate words and exercise dominion with them." (47)
"The Jews, who were the original readers of the Bible, completely understood that fact. They didn't have the problem many Christians do. They never got blessings and curses mixed up. They knew: If it's good, it's a BLESSING. IF it's bad, it's a curse. You could never convince a Jewish person who knew the Old Testament that things like poverty and sickness were BLESSINGS." (50) // Deuteronomy lined them up side by side, unmistakably.
"The Hebrew definition of the word good gives us further proof that a blessing is a purely positive thing. It includes: 'beautiful, best, better, bountiful, joyful, kindly, loving, merry, pleasant, prosperity, sweet, wealth and to be well.'" (51)
"In Hebrew, the phrase be fruitful, and multiply means to increase and have abundance in every way. Replenish means to fill up, to perpetually renew, supply and keep full. When God spoke those words, He endowed mankind with the divine power to increase and excel in everything good. He empowered them to fill the earth with that goodness." (52)
"...you are longing for dominion." (55) // God designed us to desire success and dominion and responsibility, it is not just pride. (if we do it right.)
"...it's one thing to have a desire to reign; it's another to be equipped to do it." (55)
"...the concept of tithing didn't originate with the Law of Moses. It originated in the Garden of Eden. That's why in Genesis 4 we find Abel brining God the firstborn of his block. Although Abel lived thousands of years before the Law was given, somehow, he learned to tithe. Who taught him? There's only one possible answer. It must have been his father, Adam." (70)
"Because God is life, to a spirit being, the true meaning of death is 'separation from God.'" (77)
"He [satan] thought that by capturing mankind, he could gain access t the power and glory they'd been given to rule the earth. He thought he could elevate himself to their godlike status and get his hands on THE BLESSING. But he was wrong. His conquest of Adam and his wife didn't cause him to ascend, it caused them to fall. Instead of becoming lord of THE BLESSING he had coveted, the devils' own deadness contaminated its glorious power and he became lord of the curse." (79)
"THE BLESSING was his [Joseph] profession. He worked it all the time and expected it to do the same thing in prison that it did anywhere else. He expected it to remove the curse and begin creating the conditions of Eden wherever he went..." (124)
"If we'll just believe what the BIble says about us and walk in the covenant of love, THE BLESSING will produce the conditions of the Garden of Eden around us..." (135)
"For unto us a child is born . . . And it shall come to pass in that day, that [the enemy's] burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off they neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing. Isaiah 9:6, 10:27" (151)
"Despite the devil's feverish opposition, THE BLESSING always remained active through at least a remnant of them. Throughout the ages, there was always a man or woman or group of stubborn believers who refused to let go of it." (152)
"...those shepherds had never experienced any kind of supernatural joy. True joy is a result of the inner working of the Holy Spirit. It comes from having God inside you. In those days, it was difficult to even imagine such a thing." (154)
"If His purpose had been to prove His divinity, He would have worked miracles as a child. He was just as much the Son of God at 4 years old as He was at 30. But the BIble makes it clear that He didn't work a single miracle until after the Holy Spirit came on Him during His baptism in the Jordan River. At that moment, Jesus stepped into the full power of THE BLESSING..." (158)
"In places like Nazareth, where people wouldn't believe, however, Jesus could do no mighty work (verse 5). He wanted to - but couldn't because unbelief slams the door on THE BLESSING." (161)
"You're wither a sinner or you've been saved by grace, but you can't be both at the same time. (184) // 2 Cor. 5:17. E.W. Kenyon has interesting things to say about this in Two Kinds of Life
"Notice, that verse [2 Cor. 5:21] doesn't say that God has accounted righteousness to us. (185) // like He did with Abraham in the OT
"He [Oral Roberts} said, 'Once you have committed your life to the LORD Jesus Christ, and are doing your best to follow His WORD and walk uprightly before Him, you may do something that turns out to be a mistake. YOu may make some slips, but always remember: You have been redeemed! You didn't set out to make a mistake. There is no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Receive your forgiveness and keep going!'" (191)
"'I really don't need that prosperity message. My family and I can get by on a modest income. We're not looking to get rich.'
There's only one word to describe that attitude - selfish.
Maybe you and your family can get by on minimum wage, but what about the work of God? What about your pastor? What about the poor and the homeless? Why don't you believe God for about $10,000 a week, take out your modest income, and sow the rest into the kingdom of God?" (222)
"...in the Hebrew language, the word for thing and word are the same. [referenced from Strong's Exhaustive Concordance] To God, the word is the thing because when He speaks, His WORD becomes the thing that was spoken." (233)
"...we can't escape the fact that our lives are governed by words, we can choose the words under which we live. We can choose words of faith. We can choose words of BLESSING." (243)
"...peace (shalom: which includes healing, deliverance, prosperity, and a life with nothing missing and nothing broken)..." (269)
"Sin is anything that disconnects you from THE BLESSING and connects you with death." (273)
"Fear in any measure is totally unacceptable . . . It is a sin because there is death in it. When you get right down to it, fear is actually faith in death. The fear of a dangerous animal is faith in that animal's ability to hurt or kill you. Fear of disease is faith in the power of that disease to destroy your body. Fear of death is faith in its power and authority." (274) // we fear things we believe to have power over us. fear *gives* things power over us.
"For this, do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not covet; and if there is any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, you will love your neighbor as yourself. Love works no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (Romans 13:9-10)" (297)
"...love fights to protect its covenant partners.
The love of God in me, for example, would cause me to fight anyone who might try to hurt Gloria [his wife]. I would love them but would do whatever necessary to protect her because I'm in covenant with her. I've promised before God to watch over here . . . He [God] is in covenant with us through the blood of Jesus, and because of it, He is responsible for our protection." (309)
"'Kenneth, I love you but I don't like you very much.'
'Why, Lord?' I asked
'You do and say things that are crosswise of My desires. When you get irritated and snap at people, I can't join in on that. I can't be a part of it. I have to withdraw from a part of your life and I don't like being locked out of any part of your life. I want to be part of the whole thing. I want to BLESS everything you do, everything you say, and everywhere you go. I will manifest Myself at all times, if you'll learn to walk in love.'" (319)