God Wants Us to Prosper

[Ecclesiastes]

Does God want everyone to be blessed and to prosper?

Yes.

But there are natural and spiritual principles that must be followed. Just because someone is poor, doesn't mean they are out of the will of God. People have to follow all of the spiritual principles regarding prosperity and they also have to do what they are supposed to in the natural. Every person is different.

The defintion of "THE BLESSING" is the empowerment to prosper. Just because people have this power, they have to decide to use it and to use it efectively in the right manner. "The Blessing" will bring about blessings (which are the things.) I believe that there are some good books for you to read. I'll pm you some ideas.


Ecclesiastes

 

[ydouxist]

Does this prosperity gospel work in countries like Sudan? If so then they need to hear it?

Lord help us.

 

[JoeRe4mer]

GOOD POINT ydouxist!!!!

 

[growingupinhim]

Excellent list...carnal minded dont like suffering....

Here is a list from Willmingtons Book of Bible lists in regards to why we as Christians suffer:

1. To produce the fruit of patience​

Rom. 5:3; James 1:3–4; Heb. 10:36​

2. To produce the fruit of joy​

Ps. 30:5; 126:5–6​

3. To produce the fruit of maturity​

Eccles. 7:3; 1 Pet. 5:10​

4. To produce the fruit of righteousness​

Heb. 12:11​

5. To silence the devil​

Job 1:9, 10, 20–22​

6. To teach us​

Ps. 119:67, 71​

7. To purify our lives​

Job 23:10; Ps. 66:10–12; Isa. 1:25; 48:10; Prov. 17:3; 1 Pet. 1:7​

8. To make us like Christ​

Heb. 12:9, 10; 1 Pet. 4:12–13; Phil. 3:10; 2 Cor. 4:7–10​

9. To glorify God​

Ps. 50:15; John 9:1–3; 11:1–4; 21:18–19; Phil. 1:19–20​

10. To prevent us from sinning​

2 Cor. 12:7, 9–10​

11. To make us confess when we do sin​

Judg. 10:6–7, 15–16; Ps. 32:3–5; Hos. 5:15; 6:1; 2 Chron. 15:3–4​

12. To chasten us for our sin​

1 Pet. 4:17​

13. To prove our sonship​

Heb. 12:5–6​

14. To reveal ourselves to ourselves​

Job 42:6; Luke 15:18​

15. To help our prayer life​

Isa. 26:16​

16. To become an example to others​

2 Cor. 6:4–5; 1 Thess. 1:6–7​

17. To qualify us as counselors​

Rom. 12:15; Gal. 6:2; 2 Cor. 1:3–5​

18. To further the gospel witness​

Acts 8:1–5; 16:25–34; Phil. 1:12–13; 2 Tim. 4:6–8, 16–17​

19. To make us more than conquerors​

2 Cor. 2:14; Rom. 8:35, 37​

20. To give us insight into God’s nature​

Job 42:5; Rom. 8:14–15, 18​

21. To drive us closer to God​

1 Pet. 4:14; 2 Cor. 12:10​

22. To prepare us for a greater ministry​

1 Kings 17–18; John 12:24​

23. To provide for us a reward​

Matt. 5:10–12; 19:27–29; Rom. 8:16–17; 2 Cor. 4:17​

24. To prepare us for the kingdom​

2 Thess. 1:5; 2 Tim. 2:12​

25. To show God’s sovereignty​

Rom. 8:28; 1 Cor. 10:13; Ps. 66:10–12; Gen. 45:5–8; 50:20​

​

Willmington, H. L. (1987). Willmington's book of Bible lists. Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House.

 

[flyfishing]

Ok lets look at this. Peter who was walking down the street and having people healed by his shadow falling on them said "silver and gold have i none" but such as i have i give you. Compare peter to what you see prosperity preachers in church today experiencing for a "move of God". And you decide who is truly GODS servant.

 

[his excellence]

I see this all the time where people misinterpret Wealth in the bible as meaning money. I could be dirt poor but have a heart wealthy with love.

 

[flyfishing]

I see this all the time where people misinterpret Wealth in the bible as meaning money. I could be dirt poor but have a heart wealthy with love.

Amen... Or be dirt poor as a preacher and have a strong annointing which coincedentally few prosperity teachers have...

 

[lilbobby86]

Good post, but not the total picture.

Sometimes God lets bad things come into our lives too, not to punish us, but to make us grow.

Do a study on when He allows us to suffer, then you will have a more balanced view of God's

AMEN TO THAT BROTHA!!!

 

[Heartman]

Nonsense! A prosperous, fat, healthy, blab it and grab it, believe it (selfishly) and (selfishly) receive it, is the antithesis of New Testament Christianity. Knowing God is self sacrificially living your live for the benefit of God and others. If anyone wants to do that with all their heart, there is no desire to chase the American dream. Fair weather makes poor sailors. Fat and sassy Christians make poor Saints.

That does not mean all Christians are poor, but it does mean that the true ones are willing to be in a heartbeat to further the Kingdom of God. It is very hard for a proud heart to enter heaven.

 

[flyfishing]

Nonsence! A prosperous, fat, healthy, blab it and grab it, believe it (selfishly) and (selfishly) receive it, is the antithesis of New Testament Christianity. Knowing God is self sacrificially living your live for the benefit of God and others. If anyone wants to do that with all their heart, there is no desire to chase the American dream. Fair weather makes poor sailors. Fat and sassy Christians make poor Saints.

That does not mean all Christians are poor, but it does mean that the true ones are willing to be in a heartbeat to further the Kingdom of God. It is very hard for a proud heart to enter heaven.

Heartman i hate the doctrine.. Believe it is a one sided truth used by satan to focus people on the world and riches vs being on christ..

My struggle is my brother in law who is a missionary to India who wrote a book recently "the spirit of poverty".. His desire is to win souls and use prosperity to further his orphanage...

i see a doctrine that creates pride in man and elevates man in a sense above the LORD JESUS....

But i cannot criticize my brother who is of indian descent for wanting to see Gods prosperity in the ministry... He sacrifices all for the ministry and the orphanage and saving souls...

 

[Heartman]

Flyfishing,

I am sorry if it seemed I was blasting at you. It is just that the doctrine of prosperity is so incredibly twisting that it is destroying countless lives and is...well...a turnoff for even those that do not know our Lord.

A lot of us do the wrong thing for the right reasons. If your brother is backing this theology, he is mistaken, and will do more harm than good (false doctrine always does that). It seems that he wants to help his people so much that he does not scrutinize the means.

When God seemed slow to keep his promise about Isaac, Abraham and Sarah arranged for Ishmael. Perhaps it is something similiar. The end never justifies the means, but you already know that.

The best thing is to keep gently presenting him with the truth and keeping him in your prayers constantly. I wish I had better advice that would help fix it. Only God has that. By the way, extreme poverty is not a sign of righteousness either, and satan uses that to produce great evil as well.

Heartman

 

[flyfishing]

Flyfishing,

I am sorry if it seemed I was blasting at you. It is just that the doctrine of prosperity is so incredibly twisting that it is destroying countless lives and is...well...a turnoff for even those that do not know our Lord.

A lot of us do the wrong thing for the right reasons. If your brother is backing this theology, he is mistaken, and will do more harm than good (false doctrine always does that). It seems that he wants to help his people so much that he does not scrutinize the means.

When God seemed slow to keep his promise about Isaac, Abraham and Sarah arranged for Ishmael. Perhaps it is something similiar. The end never justifies the means, but you already know that.

The best thing is to keep gently presenting him with the truth and keeping him in your prayers constantly. I wish I had better advice that would help fix it. Only God has that. By the way, extreme poverty is not a sign of righteousness either, and satan uses that to produce great evil as well.

Heartman

No not at all my dear brother.. I had made my views clear regarding how much i hate the doctrine. i too fear as you mention that the doctrine causes so much harm.. Its just abraham is not motivated by money alone as some i see on tv. Sometimes i question why guys that are quoting "bake me a cake first" are allowed on tv. what a waste of Gods money!..

 

[Heartman]

No not at all my dear brother.. I had made my views clear regarding how much i hate the doctrine. i too fear as you mention that the doctrine causes so much harm.. Its just abraham is not motivated by money alone as some i see on tv. Sometimes i question why guys that are quoting "bake me a cake first" are allowed on tv. what a waste of Gods money!..

Flyfishing

They will stand before God and explain what they have done in His name. May God forgive them.

Heartman

 

[flyfishing]

Flyfishing

They will stand before God and explain what they have done in His name. May God forgive them.

Heartman

Amen>. Father forgive them, but show them soon the error in what they teach..

 

[ElElohe]

I saw Sudan mentioned once already, and what about China? etc etc where there is a thriving church but one that is supressed and persecuted (see http://www.persecution.com/ and the recent Randy Alcorn Safely Home.)

So did God want Job's children (his first 10) to prosper? Did God want David's 70,000 fighting men to prosper--the ones that died because of David's pride? I know suffering has already been touched on in this thread but these situations noted here (and there are others) are worth pondering again.

And if you pay attention to nothing else in this post, visit www.CatandDogTheology.com and read through the seminar notes.

Another example, this time on the flip side. God did bless Abram. God made a name for Abram (but notice it was of God's doing, not Abrams). Notice as well the reason that God blessed Abram in Gen 12: so that all people's will be blessed! Our focus needs to be on God's glory. Whether or not God wants us to be healthy and prosper (which I won't disagree with), we should be honoring and glorifying the God of all creation because He deserves it! Despite our circumstances, we should be praising Him and striving to fulfil His mandate for a worshipping body in every tribe, tongue and nation.

God has blessed us, all of us. Don't keep the blessings to yourself or they will be manually and involuntarily redistributed by God, in order that the fame of His Name will be throughout the earth!

 

[LifeInYou]

God Wants Us to Prosper

Christians are under a New Covenant. The promises given to us by God under this Covenant are overwhelmingly *spiritual* blessings, not physical. The references you put forth in the OP regarding physical blessings (health, riches, defeat over enemies) were promised by God to the people of the Old Covenant (most of your references for those blessings were OT references, were they not?). IMO, we are not the recipients of these blessings because we were not a party in this Covenant with God.

The promises of the New Covenant, however, are 'indirectly' physical because when we are seeking after Jesus, and participating in the ministry of reconciliation (i.e. sharing the gospel with others), more and more we will rid ourselves of material things which have little value to us (perhaps leaving us with a little more cash to spare, which may eventually just be put back into the work of God's kingdom) and, no doubt, we can become more mentally healthy because we will have that deep joy and hope in Christ, which provides us with an 'eternal perspective' for each of the daily struggles we experience. This mental health, in turn, may help us to be more physicallly healthy (i.e. less anxiety and worry). As for physically triumphing over our enemies, if we are behaving in the Christ-like manner which we ought to be, in loving our enemies we will 'defeat' them.

Just as Christ did not come to overturn the political power of his day and establish justice and peace in Rome, just as he did not seek to overturn the institution of slavery, He truly did not come so that His people could physically prosper. He came to change the hearts of man, and in doing so, peace would come about, slavery would be overturned, people will be economically well off because we won't be greedy, physical health would come about because we would have the right mindset, and possibly, even doctors who are Christians would generously offer their help to us.

In changing the hearts of man, which *is* a promise of the NT Covenant, all the other physical blessings are bound to come about.

 

[reverend B]

they are not bound to come out, nor were they in the Old Testament. get out your bibles and read Hebrews 11. All of it. this a list of the hall of fame of the ancients who lived their lives and were never able to achieve what they dreamed of. they were murdered on this earth, or left outside of the Promised Land, etc. yet these are the people of God's glory.
the house churches in china are persecuted in ways our prosperity teaches can't imagine. their members disappear into prisons and are not heard from again. if they escape this fate, when they get out they are fearless in finding others to start anew, serving God and worshipping, knowing another knock at the door is probably an eventuality. how many of us wish to compare our commitment to faith to these disciples? can the worshippers of mammon explain to me what these saints are doing wrong to be left in such circumstances, with little hope of things changing in their lifetimes?
how many churches do we see with an irrationally wealthy preacher leading a flock of the financially challenged, digging deep to contribute because they will receive tenfold what they contribute while their families suffer from the loss of income and wait for the big payoff that the pastor promised.

we know the truth brothers and sisters

yours in Christ

 

[ElElohe]

A bumper sticker,
more appropriate than the one we usually see,

from http://www.gospelcom.net/unveilinglory/Misc.html.