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Prosperity
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Posted by: angelofthelord
A man who faithfully serves the Lord gives decades of his life working for a
company that takes advantage of him, operates with little ethics or morals,
and lets him go just before he is scheduled to retire to save money while
those who run the company live extravagant lifestyles. A young man trying
to follow the Lord and God's Word struggles to buy a new pair of shoes while
teenage thug rappers glorifying and living lifestyles of sin wear hundreds
of thousands of dollars of jewelry and drive new exotic cars.
There is an endless list of examples of those who love the Lord, live for
Him, yet are currently struggling in their daily lives while those who deny
Christ and live in complete rebellion to Him seem to prosper and live in
great comfort and ease. So it becomes a legitimate question that the
prophet Jeremiah asks. It is a legitimate question that men who love the
Lord throughout the ages have asked. It is a proper question for those who
serve and follow the Lord today to ask. WHY DO THE WICKED SEEM TO PROSPER?
The answer to this question, like the answers to ALL questions, is found in
God's Word. You need to take time to read the 37th Psalm, all 40 verses.
The answer to this age-old question of why do the wicked seem to prosper is
found in never losing sight of the big picture of what this life is all
about. First, it is God who gives us life and we all have the same general
purpose of serving and glorifying Him with our lives. Second, we are all
going to die one day. As the Bible clearly tells us, tomorrow is promised
to none of us, so that day is not as far away as many think it is. Third,
when we die, our soul lives on for eternity. The only issue to be
determined is do we spend that eternity WITH God who created us or APART
from God who created us. Each person makes that choice in either accepting
or rejecting God's ONLY plan of salvation through faith in His Son Jesus
Christ.
So what is important to understand is that we actually have a very limited
number of days in this life here on earth. The most critical choice we have
to make during our life is what we do with Jesus, since that choice will
determine our eternal home. For those who have chosen to follow Christ,
their days on this earth are to be focused on fulfilling our God-given
purpose of serving and glorifying the Lord with our lives in whatever way
God calls each of us to do that.
If you haven't noticed, I have not mentioned having money, possessions, or
any of the things of this world. You see, those are simply the temporary
things of THIS LIFE and are meaningless in light of eternity. What happens
is the righteous, the followers of Christ get caught up in measuring
prosperity and success the way the world does by the temporal things of this
world. Real prosperity and success aren't found in the temporary things of
this world but in the eternal things of God. Things like peace and joy and
living an abundant life that don't come from this world, but from a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ!
Let me ask you a very serious question. This is actually a question Jesus
once asked. He said," What does it profit a man to gain the whole world,
yet lose his soul?" When Jesus was in the desert being tempted by the devil
for 40 days and 40 nights, at one point satan showed Him all of the kingdoms
of the world and told him to worship him and they would all be His. Jesus
answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.' "
You see, Christ understood that the things of this world are but temporary.
The REAL Kingdom is not in this world, but in Heaven. The REAL riches are
not in this world, but in Heaven.
I love you and care about you so much. It is natural in our flesh to look
at those who have chosen to reject Christ and live their lives in complete
rebellion to God and His Word and wonder why they seem to prosper while we
may be currently struggling. While they may be enjoying the prosperity this
world offers, without Jesus they are SPIRITUALLY BANKRUPT. Actually, rather
than envy these people, they are to be pitied since when their brief journey
through life is over they will be spending eternity in a place created for
satan and his fallen angels unless they come to know Jesus. Bill Gates may
be the richest man on the planet, but the moment he dies, all of his wealth
is MEANINGLESS. The ONLY THING that will matter when he stands before God
is does he know Jesus as his personal Savior.
This is also the problem with the "prosperity gospel" so many today preach
in error. There is NOTHING in the Bible that says just because you know
Jesus you are guaranteed to have great wealth in this life. What the Bible
DOES PROMISE is that if you know Christ as your Savior, you are assured of
everlasting life and that during this life you will enjoy the blessings and
provision of God. You see, God has promised to meet your needs during this
life, needs like food, shelter, and clothing. That is God's promise to His
children. The true prosperity gospel is not about dollars, it is about
BLESSINGS!
God NEVER promised you would have a million dollar home, a new Rolls Royce
in the driveway, $5,000 suits, a Rolex watch, or any of the many treasures
this life can offer. God may allow some to be blessed to have those things
during their life, but the wealth of a follower of Jesus is not measured in
the temporary things of this world, but in the eternal things of God! God
measures the heart of His children not by their bank account, but by their
obedience, their faithfulness, and their willingness to completely surrender
all they have to follow Him.
I will be praying for you today. Praying that God will speak to you through
these words about how you look on those who have chosen to live their lives
in rebellion to God, yet seem to be prospering. The fact is, they may
indeed be prosperous according to the standards of the world for a brief
season. But whatever we have in this life will one day be gone, and at that
point, the only thing that will matter is do we know Jesus. Pray for those
who you may have been envious of for what they possess. Pray that they will
come to know Christ as their Savior since salvation cannot be bought, it is
only available through faith in Jesus.
I have dealt over the years with thousands of people who had great wealth
but when the real trials of life came, they realized that all of their
wealth and possessions meant nothing. When your spouse or child or loved
one has a serious illness and is laying in a hospital bed, when you find out
your spouse wants a divorce, when you learn your child is on drugs, when the
doctor tells you that you have a serious disease, when you face many of the
major battles in life we all face, at that moment your money and possessions
mean nothing. Only a deep abiding faith in Christ can sustain you through
those dark moments in life.
There is no amount of money that can buy God's peace. There is no amount of
money that can buy God's strenght. There is no amount of money that can buy
God's joy. All of those things come from your relationship with Christ and
your faith in Him. The wicked my prosper for a season, but it is the
righteous who have true prosperity for eternity.
Posted by: christythompson
Thank you for your deep thought and the time you put in to share. You have some good meat. Have you thought about teaching a bible study?