Sunday, October 31, 2021

SO YOU WANT TO PROSPER



When I moved into this area almost 50 years
ago I was being influenced by the "prosperity 
gospel".  You know, God wants you rich and
healthy etc.  If I had more money, I could put
more money into God's work, so my thinking
went.

But, ever since I moved here God has been 
shoving the thing of the "widow and her two
mites" under my nose.

"I tell you the truth,' Jesus said, 'this poor
widow has given more than all the rest of
them.  For they have given a tiny part of 
their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has
given everything she has."
(Luke 21:3,4 NLT)

Further Jesus said

"What sorrow awaits you who are rich,
for you have your only happiness now."
(Luke 6:24 NLT)

The other day when reading my Bible God
brought some to my mind who wanted to 
be rich.  Consider:

Achan.
"Achan replied, 'It is true! I have
sinned against the Lord, the God
of Israel.  Among the plunder I saw
a beautiful robe from Babylon,
200 silver coins, and a bar of gold 
weighing more than a pound.  I
wanted them so much that I took
them."
(Joshua 7:20,21 NLT)

You know what happened.  His greed caused
36 warriors to die at Ai and the loss of his 
family and everything he had.

The rich man.
"Good Teacher, what must I
do to inherit eternal life?"
---
"Looking at the man, Jesus felt
genuine love for him.  'There is still
one thing you haven't done, he told
him.  'Go and sell all your possessions
and give the money to the poor, and
you will have treasure in heaven.  Then
come, follow me.'
At this the man's face fell, and 
he went away sad, for he had many 
possessions."
(Mark 10:17, 21 NLT)

I do not need to tell you about the outcome
of this, unless he repented later.

Rich man and Lazarus.
Again, avoiding all the details;

"Finally, the poor man died and 
was carried by the angels to sit beside
Abraham at the heavenly banquet.
The rich man also died and was buried,
and he went to the place of the dead.
There, in torment, he saw Abraham 
in the distance with Lazarus at his
side."
(Luke 16:22,23 NLT)

He let his riches come between him and 
God.  The result, he ended up in hell.

The rich retiree.

You know the story that Jesus told us
of the rich farmer who had more than
his barns could hold, so he decided
to retire, sit back and take it easy:

"But God said to him, 'You fool!
You will die this very night.  Then
who will get everything you worked 
for?
Yes, a person is a fool to store
up earthly wealth but not have a 
rich relationship with God."
(Luke 12:20,21 NLT)

Judas

"Not that cared for the poor - he
was a thief, and since he was in
charge of the disciples money, he
often stole some for himself"
(John 12:6 NLT)

And of course we know that he sold out
Jesus for just 30 pieces of silver.

The out come, Judas has been in hell
for over 1985 years now, and he is 
just getting started.


Then of course there was
Ananias and Sapphire in Acts chapter 5.

They pretended to give all of the money
from the sale of some property, but greed
made them keep some of it back while 
pretending to give it all.  They lied to God
and as a result they both dropped dead.

As and old man near the end of life now
I am content to be poor and have done 
what little I could for the kingdom of God.

If you want to chase after a lot of money
that is between you and God, 
BUT, BEWARE.




 

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