GOD'S PLAN FOR YOUR PROSPERITY

What is prosperity?  Webster defines prosperity as a successful, flourishing, or thriving condition.  It is God's desire that all His children should prosper.  There are different ways in which God prospers His children, but there are not different children that God prospers.  What God does for one of His children, He will do for all His children.

First and foremost, God wants to prosper SPIRITUALLY.  Spiritual prosperity is the assurance of who we are in God and who God is in us.

(John 3:3 - Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.)   First we find that in order to be spiritually prosperous, we must serve God. We must become children of God and the only way that is possible is through a born again experience.  How can we become born again? This is the question that Nicodemus asked Jesus. Even the smallest child recognizes the fact that they cannot be born of the flesh again.

(John 3:5-6 - Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.)    So here we see the only way to become a child of God is through spiritual birth. Being born of water does not refer to water baptism but of the human fleshly birth.  We are all born in sin and shapen in iniquity; therefore, we require another birth.  One which cleanses the soul from its former state of sin.  That birth is when the spiritual man within us is born into the Kingdom of God.  It has nothing to do with our fleshly human bodies.

(2 Corinthians 5:17-18 -   Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;  

The greatest spiritual prosperity bestowed upon man was when Jesus Christ died upon the cross to restore man to reconciliation with God.  Jesus did not die for just a few chosen elite, but "whosoever" would come to God.  That encompasses every man, woman, and child from the beginning of time until the end of time.  Spiritual prosperity is for all, whether they receive it or not. Jesus supplied the means for spiritual prosperity but it is up to each individual to apply that means to his own life.

God wants to prosper us PHYSICALLY.  (3 John 1:2 -  Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.)  Just as it is God's desire that all should be saved or prosper spiritually, He also wants us to prosper physically.  Jesus paved the way for this physical prosperity.

(1 Peter 2:24 -  Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.)   This was not just some last-minute decision, some bonus that God threw in as an afterthought.  This was God's plan from the beginning.  It was prophesied by Isaiah long before the birth of Jesus.    (Isaiah 53:4-5 - Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.)  This prophecy was confirmed in the New Testament.  (Matthew 8:17 - That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.)

 If God had Christ bear our sicknesses through the stripes on His back, He did not mean for us to have to bear them.  Otherwise, why would Christ have bore them for us?  The Bible doesn’t say He helped us to bear our sickness, it says that Christ bore them for us.  Every infirmity in your body has already had a stripe laid across the back of Jesus for its healing.  We accept salvation through Christ’s death and resurrection.  Why is it so hard to accept our healing through the stripes placed upon His back?

Many psychiatrists today will tell you that physical ailments are often derived from the mind.  What benefit would it be to have a healthy body controlled by an unhealthy mind? That is why God wants to prosper you MENTALLY as well. (2 Timothy 1:7 - For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.)

Mental confusion is one of the basic strongholds of Satan.  It causes fear and fear will attack the body like cancer, eating away until it has taken over completely.  It robs man of the perfect peace of God, which is its prime purpose. Depression is on the rampage. How can we attain that perfect peace from God and avoid the confused mind? 

              (Isaiah 26:3-4 - Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.  Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:)   The mind which is stayed on God has very little time to be listening to the lies of Satan.  By keeping your mind stayed on God you will find that it is much easier to block out what Satan is trying to do in your life. Keeping your mind stayed upon God will also give you the strength to keep your eyes off the world and the things of the world.  While we may have to be in the world, we do not have to be of the world. 

(Romans 12:2 - And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.)   The man who knows the perfect will of God for his life cannot help but prosper mentally.

          (1 Timothy 6:10 - For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.  This is from probably one of the most misquoted Scriptures in the Bible.  The poor use it to justify their condition, saying it is God’s will not to be rich.  If the above Scripture only stated that money was the root of all evil, I would heartily agree with them.  Unfortunately, the Scripture does not say that there is anything wrong with money.  It is the LOVE OF MONEY that gets man into all kinds of serious situations, and most of them are not favorable with God.

As we all know, it is impossible to live in the world today without money.  It takes money to place the roof over our heads, the clothes on our back, and the food in our mouths.  Money supplies the necessities of our lives.  Without money, there would be no way to survive in the world today.

          God does not prohibit us from having money, just from loving money.  Our love belongs solely to God.  It is when we make money our God that the evil begins.  If it were evil to have money why would God prosper us FINANCIALLY?   (3 John 2 - Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest PROSPER and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.)

This does not say prosper in health but prosper and be in health.

To those who hearken unto the voice of the Lord and observe all His Commandments He promised: (Deuteronomy 28:8 - The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.)   Some would say that God was speaking to the Children of Israel in this verse.  Who were the children of Israel but God’s chosen people?  Although we are not of the chosen people by birth, we have been adopted into that family; therefore, the promises made to them would also apply to us today.

(2 Corinthians 9:8 - And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:)  This verse does not say that we will receive every frivolous whim or fancy.  It states plainly that we will have that which is sufficient for our needs and that what we have is to be used for good works.

God knows what is sufficient for our needs.  He desires to see us prosper but He expects us to be able to handle prosperity in the right way.  If some were to become rich all of a sudden, they would no longer depend on God. Many great men of God have fallen into Satan’s trap because money came between them and God. It is not how much money you have, it is what you do with the money you have.

God challenges us.  There is a condition on our part and if we do that which is required of us, God will do what He has promised. (Malachi 3:10 - Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.)

 Not only is money necessary for the necessities of our lives, it is also necessary to run the Church and carry on the work of the Lord.  Where is this money to come from?  Malachi said bring all your tithes into the storehouse so there would be meat.  The storehouse is your local church.  If they were not for the tithes and offerings of the people, the church would have to close its doors.  Not only are we to give freely and in love, God promises to pour out blessings from heaven that we will be unable to contain.

(Luke 6:38 - Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.)  I don't know about you but this represents financial prosperity to me.  

God has promised to prosper you with FAVOR AND ACCEPTABILITY both from Himself and from your fellowman.  (Romans 14:18 - For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.)  Our goal is to always be acceptable to God but we also desire the approval and acceptance of our fellowman.

(2 Corinthians 8:21 -  Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.)   (Proverbs 3:4 - So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.)

It is and always has been God's pleasure to prosper His children.

(Psalms 1:1-3 -  Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.)

God has prospered His people from the beginning of time and will continue to do so until He calls us home where we shall receive ETERNAL LIFE and dwell with Him. 

 (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 - For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.)                

 

That my friend is the greatest PROSPERITY of all!

 

 

All Bible Text is from the KJV