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.