by Guest Roary Hutt
What are some different things that come to mind whenever you think of the term prosperity? Money? Okay, what else? Health, okay, awesome. Anything else? Family, awesome.
So lots of different things and always give yourself permission for what does it mean to you? Because we're all in different stages of claiming our prosperity, just depending on where we're at in life. Let me tell you the early stages of prosperity in my understanding in my life.
So I come from Backwoods, Missouri. And when I say that, I mean that very lovingly because there's a lot of character in Backwoods, Missouri. So I grew up, my mother's an alcoholic, we didn't have any money. So this fits a lot of lives from where I grew up. And this was Iberia, Missouri. Are any of you familiar with Iberia? It's about 30 minutes away from Lake Ozarks. My best friends were a turkey named Tom and a goat named Susie.
And I remember being there and I thought to myself, “What would a good life be?” I had to sit with that. Like, what is a good life? Because for me, I'd see the cool trips to Disneyland and I'd see families doing these things on TV. But the question in my mind was, do people really live like this? Is this a thing that people actually do? Vacations, that's a cool word, but I've never had one of those.
And it wasn't like a level of sadness or anything else. It was just a curiosity. But then later on in life came the understanding of prosperity.
And I thought to myself, okay, if I make enough money, then I'll be happy. And so I begin the pursuits of money. And then as I'm sitting in these different work environments, I'm looking at everybody and I'm thinking, they aren't necessarily happy.
So here I am making more money. I'm getting closer to having a decent house and a decent car, but I'm just like, this person's 30 years older than me. They're making more money and yet they're still not happy.
And so I thought, okay. So mom said money doesn't buy happiness and I have to sit with this. And I thought to myself, “Well, neither does poverty, mother.”
And it wasn't good or bad because that's just one of the many areas of prosperity. Some of you had mentioned health. How many of us have felt at some point in time that we were lacking prosperity in our health? Yeah.
And always remember that this is a process of “until.” How many of you were, as you look at your, and this is no reflection upon where your financial life is at because everybody's is different, but how many of you can remember a time where maybe you were not as economically well off as you are now? Yeah, a few more on that one. And it was always “until.”
And what you will see is as you're out there in the world, you'll notice a lot of people who have acquired things. Maybe they're in great health, and it may be their bank account's looking really, really good, but let me ask you all a question. Have you all known somebody who's in relatively good health, has a relatively what we would assume is a good bank account, and still have not yet found a level of satisfaction? Can we say we've met some people like that? And once again, it comes “until.”
You can look back at your journey because this isn't about anyone else's. Cause even as I'm going through it, I'll talk a little bit about where it's mentioned in scripture, but I want you each to be sitting with your own journeys of prosperity. And if you can recognize that you've won in one area, maybe that's the financial side, maybe it's health, maybe it's in friendships, whatever that is, just recognize the journey that you've made to get to where you're at right now. So it's with grace and love, cause there's no other place that you can be, but it's sitting with it and saying, “Okay, where has prosperity showed up? What did it feel like before I had achieved that? And what does that feel like now?” Then ask yourself the question, “If I've done this in this area…?”
Let's just say you've done really well in your economics, but then the health right now, it's not feeling the best. And you can say, “Well, I'm just not in the best health,” but ask yourself, what actions am I taking on a daily basis to move me towards that health? Cause if it's like my back's hurting, well, what exercises are you doing today to help reduce that back pain? Cause once again, these are all forms of prosperity and it's which area do you wanna work on right now? Then it's giving yourself permission to go down that road. So in scripture, there's a beautiful story. It's in John 6: 1-15.
And this is a story after Jesus had performed a miracle. Now, how many of us are familiar with some of Jesus's miracles? And I want you to really sit with some of those miracles for a second, what's a miracle that Jesus performed? What about water into wine. Now, I want you all to sit with this for a moment.
So you're sitting down at the dinner table, right? Cause we can all say, hey, we believe in Jesus and we believe in the miracles that he's performed, but I want you to now place yourself inside of said story. So you're sitting down, Thanksgiving is coming up and I just want you all to be imagining that you're sitting there, the table's spread out, you got the turkey, you've got the bread. And then you got that cousin who shows up, in this example, let's say this is Jesus.
So Jesus comes to your table and you're just doing your thing cause you're like, yeah, Jesus, we're friends. You say some amazing things that give me a lot of insight on my life. And then all of a sudden he turns water into wine.
What would your reactions be in that moment in time? Yeah, a little bit. And in this day and age, let's just look at where things are at cause we're sitting with the miracle of Jesus. A lot of people are like, I believe in Jesus.
I'm like, okay, good. Let's explore how much you believe in what you're practicing. So you have a lot of concerns in your life, but that moment that that water gets turned into wine, do you continue with conversation as usual or would you begin to say, “Hey, I think there's something more going on here?” Maybe, just a little bit.
And you can sit with that as you go through scripture and you look at all the miracles cause don't get lost in the words, but sit with, okay, how would I react to this miracle? Like, would I really believe that this is going on? It's like, right, that's the journey of beginning to understand what Jesus was trying to demonstrate.
So in this particular story, he's just performed a miracle. And it says sometime after this, Jesus crossed the far shore to the Sea of Galilee and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick.
So sit with that miracle again. So you're sitting down with Jesus, someone is sick, someone that you love and care about and they just get healed. Would you not begin to question the experience that you're in the middle of? What is being demonstrated there? Just that Jesus could do that or that this is the same experience that you're in the middle of? And then allowing yourself to sit with that and say, what is he demonstrating here? Is it something outside of me or is it within me?
So then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples.
The Jewish Passover festival is near. When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming towards him, he said, “Philip, where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “It would take more than a half year's wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite.”
Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up. “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place and they sat down. About 5,000 men were there.
So once again, sit. You are not separated from the story because sometimes as we're sitting with it, we just think we're the ones receiving the bread.
But Jesus is sitting there trying to demonstrate an understanding that this is not something separate from you. This is something that you are capable of. But so many people look to the physical to be like, “Man, I'm not seeing any money in my bank account right now. How can I just have faith that everything's going to be okay?”
Now, I want you each to think back and as you think about it and you say, what was my emotional state like when I was in that lack? That could be in your economics, your health, anything. Because you may not be there right now, but then that emotional state, that feeling of sadness, fear, if it came in, felt really real.
Can we all sit with that? But then you look to where you're at right now, if you're on the other side of that, and if you're going through it, you can look to your left and to your right, and you can see someone who's gonna give you some encouragement and see you on the other side of what you're going through. And also recognize where you may feel like, “Man, this is just me going through this. Recognize that that person sees you, they love you, and they would acknowledge, like, “I see, I know what you're going through. It actually is not the most pleasurable, but you can get through this.” And it may not even be in their words, but just understand that if you really wanted to pause for a second to say, “I really am not feeling the most abundant,” there won't be any judgment there. And if they are judging, that's on them, but it's you and your journey, and it's perfect, and it's an amazing unfoldment.
So as we continue on, this faith has got to be tested a little bit. So Jesus said, have the people sit down, and there was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down. So you had the 5,000.
Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted, and he did the same with the fish. When they all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, gather the pieces that are left over, let nothing be wasted. So they gathered them, filled 12 baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
After the people saw the sign Jesus had performed, they began to say, surely this is the prophet who has come into the world, Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
When we sit with that story, it is really recognizing the role that Jesus wanted to take. Was he trying to demonstrate that “I'm the only one who could do this?” And as we sit there, because you each are sitting there now, you've got your loaves, it's beautiful, you've seen something miraculous occur, and while we're eating our loaves, we can be in that position of just really sitting with it and saying, man, this loaf is really good, this wine is really great, or you could question and say, what was Jesus really trying to demonstrate there? Because there was a time that I was without, but now I have. What changed? Was it that something appeared that wasn't there before? Or was it I came to realize what was always there?
So when you think about your journey to your economic situation where it's not money, because you can think of a lot of people who have various amounts of money, but you're looking at how are they responding to this? Are they running with scarcity? And where this shows up in life a lot of the times, I'll be sitting with someone who, let's just say they have a few million dollars, and that could be a lot, it could be a little, it depends on where you grow up. And it's really important to sit with that and say, well, what is my measurement of doing well? In health, what is your measurement?
My mom, I love her to death, she's amazing. I try to pour belief and love into her every time that I see her, because I want to remind her how amazing that she is. And that even if her health isn't the best, I'm like, “Mom, the things you've done for me are ridiculous.” And what I mean by that is just love, care, even when money wasn't there, it wasn't about that. And she always said, “I once knew a man who had no shoes, but then I saw a man who had no feet.”
So as you sit with that, you gotta question, where am I practicing prosperity? Where is this showing up? Because I assure you, each one of you has a large amount of prosperity, and then also the fear, because maybe you've reached that point in your economic life where the bank account looks better than it ever has. But then it's like, “I don't want to spend this because what if I go back?”
Well, the truth is you can't ever go back. As much as each one of you may want to go back to who you were even yesterday, that's not the case. As we look at even the growth of a church, it's like, it's not what was going on yesterday, it's about where we're at and where we’re going forward and moving by faith. Like Gina had so eloquently put it, that faith the size of a mustard seed. Because some people say I have faith, but then we need to take ourselves back to looking at where did the loaves come from? How much faith are you practicing? Because there's different levels of faith.
And there's no judgment on that. Because some people right now are just beginning to learn faith. And as you look at them, maybe they're your age, maybe they're younger than you, maybe they're older than you. Just recognize that this is their journey to unfoldment.
And how do they get from where they are to where you're at? Well, number one, I would say question, are you demonstrating the fullest expression of appreciation for the prosperity that's in your life? Maybe you're on the way of gathering money. Maybe you're on the way of improving your health.
And by the way, I'm gonna challenge some of you in case you're like, I'm X amount of age, I've lived my life. And I will challenge you to say, if you take that approach, you're either growing or you are, what was that? Dying, right. So you're either growing or you're dying.
Some people check out early, they're like, I've lived my life, and you can do that, nothing wrong with that. Or you can say, I'm in the best shape I've ever been in in my life so far. Like, let me continue getting better. Or it's like, my body is going to continue to get worse. Which one of those do you wanna sit with?
The same thing goes with levels of fitness. It's not just where you're at. Maybe you're in the recovery stage of something. Claim your prosperity, what is working? Thank goodness I can move my hands. Thank goodness I've got feet.
Thank goodness I have friends. Thank goodness I have community. And as you claim that, if you're thinking in lack, scarcity, missing something, the more time you spend in gratitude, the more that scarcity will begin to fall away.
So I wanna sit with that for just a moment because this is each one of your own journey. It's me sitting face to face with you, looking at you, and I want to acknowledge you because I see it. It's a beautiful unfoldment to get to where you're at. And there's no comparison. And if in your mind, you're running someplace else, I just want you to look at you. Give yourself a pat on the back because I have no idea what all had to occur in your journey for you to get here, to accomplish what you've accomplished.
I can't even begin to imagine. And if you don't allow that to make you feel good, think about the number of people in your family tree who had to go through a lot just so you had the opportunity to be where you're at. And then that's that unfoldment, recognizing that it continues to get better.
And you have to sit with that anticipation that God is continuing to unfold and reveal to you the abundance which was always there. And if you see someone, because this is not the only place where church is, and you sometimes are that only gift of insight, wisdom, and understanding that will show up. And maybe with prosperity, when someone sees them in life, can you see them? It's not changing, but can you shift the way that they see their own situation? Because you may be on the other side of the mountain and you may see them as the person who's climbing.
They don't even see the other side. They can't even see the summit that you're talking about, like, yeah, things get better. Well, can you, by your presence and your energy, just create a space in which they feel that love and that abundance? Because they're standing next to you.
Or if you're in the room with you, you're with you. How great should I feel? How great should anyone feel if they're with you in a moment? Anyone? How should they feel? And this is not something that needs answered, but should they be excited if they're with you? Are you excited to be with you? Because this is the journey back to self. And Jesus was always reminding us that everything we need is always available to us.
But sometimes, and this is the argument, we'll argue that it's not. And as God is always there trying to provide, trying to reveal to us that which was always there for us to claim, we sometimes get in our own way with our thoughts, with our words, with maybe the judgments of who we were in the past. But it's that fullest recognition of the journey to where you're at now, because there is nowhere else you could be, even if you think about it, even if you debate it, even if the bank account isn't where you want it to be, maybe it's you wanna give more, don't forget, there are so many beautiful things you can give that have nothing to do with money.
It could be sharing of the prosperity of happiness, of joy, love, connection. And if for some reason right now, you feel that you don't have any of that to share, open yourself up to receive, because part of the law of circulation, the law of prosperity is to open yourself up for giving and receiving. There's a prayer that is often said during giving times, and it's giving appreciation for all that we have, all that we give, and all that we receive.
And if you can carry that in each moment of your day, that will begin to reveal more prosperity than you can even begin to possibly imagine. And even if for this point in time, you feel as though you've gone as far as you can go, this is my encouragement, because you have to feel it yourself. I can see it in you and each one of you, if I were to sit down one-on-one with you, you can tell me everything you've done, but I will gladly get there and say, “Hey, I see you're just warming up, what's coming next?” Because you could take that enthusiasm, and then that begins to add fuel to your fire.
You'll see a lot more prosperity showing up, but it's letting yourself feel that. And if you don't feel that, just give yourself permission to practice. How many of you would like to experience more prosperity in your life? Okay, and how many of you are going to not just gain more prosperity, but practice the appreciation and gratitude for all the prosperity in your life right now? How many of you want to just kind of get by in life and just go until it's done, or how many of you want to experience that joy in your life? And let yourself feel, because it's your story.
It's your story, it's not mine. I'm just some guy just reminding you of some of the beautiful gifts that you have in your life. Whether or not you want to claim it and say it's great, that's on you. I see you, and I'm like, that is awesome, all of you on your journey here, thank you for allowing me the opportunity just to be here and just remind you guys, what a beautiful opportunity.
And as you claim everything that's available to you, that God hasn't given it all to you, you know that, each one of you know that, wherever you're at, and you recognize that, and you see that in the world, but just remember that it's trying to show up for everybody. And so if you speak with that, just see the joy, love, and unfoldment that will continue to show up in your life, but also it will begin to illumine so much that's already there that maybe we're overlooking. So I just want to share that with you, and I want to let you know how honored I am just to be here as we claim our prosperity, share our prosperity, and remember the prosperity that is always there, that Jesus tried to demonstrate and promised to us, because that's the walk that we are all on.
So thank you all very much for allowing me to be here.
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