As some of you know, the last 90 days has been a time of many trials for me and—while it’s not nearly over, I am beginning to see God’s miraculous and gracious hand working in and through me. He is revealing to me what true prosperity looks like and transforming my way of thinking about my greatest life investments! He is challenging me to faithfully put on my armor. He is making it clear that I need to quit playing around because I am on a spiritual battlefield. ALL of God’s children are! For me, this has been a time of renewal. Through it all, He is turning my law office into a place of refuge and peace where people can meet Jesus and unwrap His powerful gift of salvation!
It’s been one of the toughest but most amazing experiences of my life!
This morning, as I was studying His Word, God began teaching me in earnest about this thing called “prosperity.” It has resulted in a three part devotional series on the subject. If you’re like me and you want to have a physically prosperous life; but you find your life upended, it’s a great time to consider…
What is “prosperity” according to God’s Word?
My friend, I’m discovering that God’s brand of prosperity is nothing like I thought it was. Unwittingly, I had bought into the idea that the greatest manifestation of prosperity is reflected in the material gifts that God had given me. But, that just shows how powerfully and completely our enemies have infiltrated our Christian thinking. You see, we cannot define God’s ways according to what the world culture teaches us; rather, we must know His ways according to His Word. Otherwise we live in a false reality which is devoid God’s truth and we miss out on the best blessings. While in my MIND I knew that prosperity involved doing God’s work, God has revealed where my HEART actually was—mostly engaged gathering this world’s goods, improving myself for success, having powerful friends, building a great business, etc. We do what we LOVE—don’t we?!?
But after studying GOD’s truth, He revealed that my primary pursuit of physical prosperity meant that I was denying myself the richest investments.
I needed to drastically change my way of thinking (and thus, my actions) about this idea of prosperity. There are two kinds of prosperity; “physical prosperity” and “spiritual prosperity.” You see, when I honestly evaluated the proportion of time spent on pursuit of physical prosperity vs. spiritual prosperity, it was impossible to deny that my investment goals were upside down. I had been deceived by my enemies regarding this idea of “prosperity!” Goodness—it’s no wonder my accumulation of worldly goods never felt like enough and I could never seem to shake the fear of disaster over losing what I have!!!
But here, as I feel like I am on the brink of a great disaster and am questioning whether I’ll lose the kind of prosperity I’ve enjoyed, I’m asking myself: Are the physical resources I’ve attained—which ALL could be lost tomorrow—REALLY the BEST kind of prosperity?
Is God’s brand of prosperity so fragile that it could be wiped out by a war, a coup, a financial disaster, a death? My friend, the Bible makes it clear that God’s brand of prosperity is found in what HE gives us. His gifts are the only ones we won’t EVER lose! The first and greatest asset in our own spiritual portfolio is God’s priceless gift of salvation. If you have NOT been born again—you are missing God’s irrevocable gift of eternal life. The same way that our physical life enables us to enjoy physical prosperity; our spiritual life enables us to enjoy remarkable spiritual prosperity. But to enjoy spiritual prosperity we need to be intentional about our spiritual growth. Spiritual prosperity can be enjoyed now AND in the life to come! Physical prosperity is wiped out for us when our body dies. Jesus taught us how to have spiritual prosperity:
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 6:19-21
Where is YOUR heart?
Jesus died with no possessions. He was branded a criminal and buried in a borrowed grave; yet—He was the richest human who ever lived. He collected treasure. His work on this earth is still paying eternal dividends—I am one of them and so are you.
My friend, have you been born again and become the everlasting treasure of Jesus?
If you are, then you have the great opportunity to become God’s treasure hunter! The greatest treasure we can gather is to bring others into the eternal family of God. I don’t want to see anyone in hell, do you? God’s born again followers are the evidence of His prosperity. And, because of what He did for us on this earth, we ALSO have the opportunity to gather the same eternal treasures! God gave us sixty-six books of instruction about how to attain spiritual prosperity. Jesus even gave us the cliff notes:
“Love God and love others as you love yourself.” (Matthew 22:38-39)
So what is God’s plan for YOUR spiritual prosperity? How do you start investing today in order to attain it? Consider your plans for this day. Will the majority of your day be spent on the singular goal of slogging away working for things you can never take with you? How do we make a living concurrent with investing eternally? Ah, my friend, please don’t miss out! God has made a way to make your life eternally prosperous WHILE He also takes care of your physical needs. In the next two devotionals we are going to discuss God’s plan for spiritual prosperity as set forth in His Word.
God has a simple investment plan for us to make eternal investments into our spiritual portfolio—do you know the plan?
We would love to hear your thoughts about this devotional. Did God speak to you or challenge your daily walk with him? Or is there a topic that you would like Kimberly to cover or expound on? Please share with us in the comments below.
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17 Responses
Keep up the great work
Praise God!
good word we as Christian do need to keep kingdom number one. I struggle with over spending on books, and some other things and I have been praying for Holy Spirit to remind me I am usually wasting money on things I could do without to afford more money devoted to missions …
Yes, we all struggle!!! I ask God to change my desires! 🙂
Thank you for the insight I truly need physical prosperity how are where do I start? tks
Well, I think the next two devotionals will help give perspective on this!
Kimberly;
Thank you for the great story today. It is a very powerful message that means a lot. I have, and will continue to pray for you as you say you are going thru some hard times. Stay strong and remember there are people who are praying for you. Thanks.
Joe Begendorf
Thank you for the encouragement! Your prayers are precious to me. Blessings.
Thank You
To God be the glory!