BIBLICAL PROSPERITY

                                                            SHEPHERD TO SHEEP

BIBLICAL PROSPERITY

What is true prosperity?  Is it achieving economic success and having the advantage of independence and the luxury to enjoy your success?  If that’s the case then way are so many successful and prosperous people miserable, divorcing, or taking their lives?  Or is prosperity something else, true prosperity the way God defines it?  There is a prosperity God wants us to experience and it’s called BIBLICAL PROSPERITY because it’s in the Bible for us to discover.  

THE PROMISE OF PROSPERITY:  It’s a Biblical fact that God wants to bless and prosper His children.  It’s even a prayer in the Bible:  (3 John 1:2) Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.  John’s wish for his readers was prosperity in three areas:  TOTALITY (in all things).  (Mat 19:26)…with God all things are possible."  PHYSICALLY (be in health).  (Exo 15:26)…For I am the LORD who heals you."  SPIRITUALLY (Pro 14:30) A sound heart (soul) is life to the body…  Are you expecting God to advance you and give you success in life?  

THE PATHWAY TO PROSPERITY:  So what is the pathway to prosperity? PERSEVERANCE.  Remember that on the way to prosperity is adversity.  Don’t let the health and wealth teachers convince you otherwise.  You have to bear the cross to wear the crown!  (2 Tim 2:12)  If we endure, we shall also reign with Him…  PONDER.  Read and meditate on God’s Word every day.  Try to never skip time with God.  (Psa 1:2 3)  But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. {3} He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.  PRAYER.  Pray about everything you do and ask God’s touch to be upon it.  (2 Chr 26:5) He (Uzziah) sought God…and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper.

THE CHALLENGE OF PROSPERITY:  There is a danger in prosperity and that is forgetting the Lord who blessed us in the first place.  (Deu 8:17-18) then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’ 18 “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth…  We are to give thanks to the Lord every day and remember from whom all blessings flow.  And a sure way to also keep grounded in prosperity is to share the wealth God has given you.  Why do you think He has blessed you?  It’s surely not for yourself or to show how smart you have been your finances.  (1 Tim 6:17 18)  Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. {18} Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share. 

Now we know what true prosperity is all about.  It’s called BIBLICAL PROSPERITY and it comes through a relationship with the Lord.  It’s experiencing His grace through Christ and sharing His blessings with a needy world so all can feast on the goodness of God’s salvation!  

Louie

CHECK ENGINE LIGHT

                                                            SHEPHERD TO SHEEP

CHECK ENGINE LIGHT

(2 Chr 36:15) And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people. 

You know the familiar feeling when your check engine light comes on?  Thoughts run through your mind:  I wonder what the problem is?  The car seems to run fine.  Maybe it’s just a fluke and it will turn off eventually.  What if I need major repair work?  I should have sold this car ages ago.  I can’t afford a car payment.  And the list goes on while the icon stays on and seems to glow like a Time’s Square advertisement.  That’s kind of like how the Lord works with His children.  He sends them warnings but so often we ignore them until we break down. 

Whenever Israel went astray He would send warnings through the prophets.  They would speak boldly in the name of the Lord.  Look at the Old Testament and see how many prophets of God there were.  They were faithful to speak God’s message.  God wanted to spare His people from disaster.  That’s why the prophets would thunder their heavenly admonitions and some, like Jeremiah, had tears in their eyes.  But so often Israel persecuted and sometimes even killed the prophets.  They didn’t want to fix the problem and wanted to black out that check engine light.  

So how does that check engine light work when the child of God strays and needs a warning?  

- THE HOLY SPIRIT: (Isa 30:21) Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.  If you listen to that still small voice of the Spirit, He will guide you away from error and into the truth.  But you have to listen and not push Him away. (Psa 46:10)

- CIRCUMSTANCES: (2 Chr 13:12 )…O children of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper!”  Many times as we wrestle with the Lord, He will make the situations of our lives turn problematic and which defy solution.  This is God’s way of getting our attention!

- A FELLOW BELIEVER: (2 Sam 12:7) Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!...  When David strayed God sent a concerned friend to challenge him in the direction he was taking. (Gal 6:1)  Sometimes even non-believers speak out against our compromise, like my Christian cop friend who got angry and cussed in the squad car and was then rebuked by his unsaved partner.  

Is God trying to get your attention through your marital problems?  How about your troubling finances?  Is your health also something that might cause you to wake up and realize you have strayed from the Lord?  That check engine light is an opportunity to rededicate your life.  So why not do business with God right now and get everything cleared between you and Him?  

Louie