Sunday, February 8, 2009

How Does God Define Prosperity?

Following is an excerpt from Zac Poonen's Word for the Week, dated February 8, 2009. You can find all of the message at: http://www.cfcindia.com/web/mainpages/word_for_the_week.php

"This book of God's word shall not depart from your mouth"(Joshua 1:8).

You can't build the church with people who are interested in material things. You can build the church only with people who are interested in heavenly things and a godly life. Don't attract the wrong type of people to your church by offering people earthly prosperity. Does God's word promise you that He will give you a house or a car? No.

God's Word promises that you can overcome sin, and that you can come into a life where you rejoice in the Lord always - 24 hours a day – without being depressed, discouraged or defeated - always triumphant, always rejoicing and always giving thanks, in everything and for all people.

This is the new covenant life (Canaan's land flowing with milk and honey) that the Bible promises. Confess it then and say, "Lord, this is the life I want to live all my days."

Joshua was commanded to meditate on God's Word day and night. God promised Joshua both prosperity and success, if he did that (Joshua 1:8). The real "prosperity gospel" is one where our lives become prosperous and successful in a heavenly and spiritual way. 'Prosperity and success' are the two things that everyone in the world seeks for. But they don't seek for these in the way God says in Joshua 1:8.

2 comments:

  1. Greg,

    I came across the only sermon I have ever heard on the subject of "Posperity of Soul." While I don't remember the details of each point what I do recall is that attention was drawn to the NT concept of the above being closely tied in with the OT understanding found in the Hebrew word "shalom" which we most often see translated as "peace." Tracking the word in the OT was an enriching experience because "peace" is only one of many words used by the translators that staggers our cultural mind as to the broadness of blessings in otherwise "Good News" that God has included as provisions for the journey of His people during our earthly sojourn.

    Perhaps we stagger at the magnitude of God's commitments to us as brought out in His promises (unlike Abraham, who "staggered not at the promises of God..."). One of the points brought out in the above sermon is that we feel we have to "dumb down" what God has said and relegate it to the next life because we don't dare believe He actually means for us to experience life according to our position in Christ in THIS life! Whole theological systems have had to be designed around pushing our promised blessings into the future and denying that we can enjoy the peace and prosperity of spirit AND soul AND body more so that we conceive that we can now!

    Thought provoking, to say the least.

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  2. Great comment.

    Your use of the word "Shalom" reminds me of the use of it in Isaiah 26:3: "The steadfast of mind Thou wilt keep in perfect peace."

    "Perfect peace" in the Hebrews is simply a repetition of the word shalom: He will keep you in "Shalom, Shalom," a "pregnant" word summing up health, peace, prosperity, and basically God's goodness.

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