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[- Several men in the locker room of a private exercise club were
talking when a cell phone lying on the bench rang.
- One man picked it up
without hesitation, and the following conversation ensued:
- "Hello?" – "Honey, It's
me." – "Sugar!"
- "I'm at the mall two
blocks from the club. I saw a beautiful mink coat. It is absolutely
gorgeous! Can I buy it? It's only $1,500."
- "Well, okay, if you like
it that much."
- "Thanks! Oh, I also
stopped by the Mercedes dealership and saw the new models. I saw one I
really liked. I spoke with the salesman, and he gave me a great price."
- "How much?" – "Only
$60,000!" – "Okay, but for that price I want it with all the options."
- "Great! Before we hang
up, there's something else. It might seem like a lot, but, well, I
stopped by to see the real estate agent this morning, and I saw the
house we had looked at last year. It's on sale! Remember? It’s the
beachfront property with the pool and the English garden?"
- "How much are they
asking?"
- "I don’t know but it
seems to be a great price."
- "Well then, go ahead and
buy it"
- "Okay, sweetie. Thanks!
I'll see you later! I love you!" – "I love you, too."
- The man hung up, closed
the phone's flap, and raised it up, asking, "Does anyone know who this
cell phone belongs to?"]
- Wouldn’t it be nice to
really be able to make those decisions so easily?
- Or maybe it wouldn’t – I
think it would depend a lot on our personal character.
- When we talk about
prosperity, specifically financial prosperity, I think there is a lot of
confusion for us as to what the Bible says.
- On the one hand you have
some TV preachers telling you that God wants everyone to be rich, and if
you’re not, you don’t have faith in God.
- Then on the other hand,
you have some who say that God wants everyone to be poor, and that we
should feel some sense of guilt for being materially well off.
- What we discover in the
book of Proverbs is somewhere in between those two extremes – God
specifically gives us the principles for becoming prosperous, but He
also tells us to pursue prosperity in a godly way.
- In other words, God
encourages us to pursue wealth, as long as we don’t forget Him in the
process.
- Let’s get into this and
you’ll see what I mean.
-Before we go any further
let’s define what Prosperity is.
- The Encarta Dictionary
defines success as “the condition of enjoying great wealth, success, or
good fortune”
-We naturally tend to
think of prosperity is terms of finances.
-Please turn in your Bible
to Deuteronomy 28 or Page 144 in the Pew Bible
-Mr Krabbs Greedy Video
-Well that is not
the prosperity we shooting for the greedy kind. We are shooting for the
kind found her in Deuteronomy
-So Before we ponder some
proverbs lets go way back and ponder an earlier passage of scripture.
Deuteronomy 28:11 The
Lord will grant you abundant prosperity--in the fruit of your womb (YOUR
CHILDREN), the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground
(YOUR JOB)--in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you. 12 The
Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain
on your land in season (YOUR WHOLE BEING) and to bless all the work of
your hands (YOUR LIFE). You will lend to many nations but will borrow
from none (YOUR FINANCES). 13 The Lord will make you the head,
not the tail (YOUR STATUS). If you pay attention to the commands of the
Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you
will always be at the top, never at the bottom. 14 Do not turn
aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the
left, following other gods and serving them.
-So we can see that
prosperity is not just our fiancés but really every aspect of our lives.
Beloved, I pray that
you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul
prospers. -3 John :2
-So first to experience
prosperity we must…
1. PURSUE WISDOM
IN EVERY WAY
- Of course, Wisdom
is the theme of the entire book of Proverbs, and we find the merits of
pursuing it applied to every possible subject, including prosperity.
- Let’s look at a couple
of verses together:
- Those who listen
to instruction will prosper; those who trust the LORD
will be happy. – Proverbs 16:20
- To acquire wisdom
is to love oneself; people who cherish understanding will
prosper. – Proverbs 19:8
- There are several
important actions listed in these verses we need to be involved in if we
are to experience prosperity, and they all have to do with our minds.
- We need to acquire
wisdom, cherish understanding, and listen to instruction.
- Now these things can
happen through a variety of experiences, but they mainly have to do with
gaining an intellectual and spiritual education.
- Let’s say that I plan on
becoming prosperous through owning an advertising business.
- Most likely, I’m going
to need to receive instruction in this area from others who have been
successful at it.
- I might need to go to
college and get a degree in this area.
- I might need to work for
someone else who is successful for a while, learn everything I can, and
later start my own business.
- There are no shortcuts
to this – I need to learn how to be wise in business dealings, how to
treat my customers, my suppliers, and 1,000 other things that will be
involved in being successful.
- In other words, if I am
going to be prosperous I need to take the advice of Proverbs to heart
and do whatever is necessary to be educated in a particular area.
- And while there are
people who are prosperous who never spent a day in a college classroom,
I will guarantee you they got educated somewhere – through an
apprenticeship, through books, through on-the-job-training.
- Somewhere along the way,
they had enough diligence to do what was necessary to succeed, and if
you want to succeed in this way, you’ll need to do the same.
-Next to experience
prosperity we must…
2. BE GENEROUS
WITH ALL YOU HAVE
[-
A
guy named Joel Schelsinger borrowed a book from his local library in
Orchard Park, NY.
- But by the time Joel
revisited the library to return the book, it was 24 years later.
- He had borrowed
The Joy of Camping in 1981, but
forgotten about it.
- In 2005, now living in
another state, Joel had rediscovered the volume and determined to make
things right.
- Traveling 400 miles to
his old hometown, Joel returned the book and paid a fine of $2,190.
- The maximum penalty for
overdue or lost books is $15 – Joel wasn’t satisfied with that.
- Knowing that the Orchard
Park library faced a budget crunch, Joel calculated what his actual fine
would be at 10-cents-a-day for all those years.
- It added up to $2,190.
- Referring to his
over-and-above act of generosity, Joel said, "I hope they can do some
good things with it; maybe buy some books."]
- Now here’s a guy who
could have paid the minimum, or never even returned the book, and no one
would have been the wiser – but he had a generous spirit.
-I am not saying you have
to be like this guy if we forget our library book, but we do need to be
generous like this man.
- The generous prosper
and are satisfied; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.
– Proverbs 11:25
- One of the secrets to
prosperity is personal generosity.
-A saying we have around
here is that we want to be” Givers and not Takers”
- It is amazing how even
secular books on business and success follow this biblical principle and
I’m not even sure they are aware that it is in the Bible.
- You might even hear
secular and successful people use the term “tithe” in reference to
giving a large portion of their earnings to non-profit organizations.
- It is a spiritual
principle of success that many of us miss.
- And while I would not
give for the purpose of receiving, at the same time I know that God says
that He will give a return on my generous investment toward those who
are in need.
- Don’t expect to receive
from God, if you do not give to God.
-One may say I don’t have
enough money to give. Then give something else.
-God has given to each of
us time, talent, and treasure.
-If you don’t have
treasure give time, if not time give talent.
- When the offering plate
is passed each Sunday and you have treasure to give, don’t let it pass
you by without dropping any money in it and then go home and ask God to
bless your finances.
-When you have talent to
meet a need and you withhold it don’t ask God to bless you with more
talent.
-Or if you have time to
give God and you spend it all on yourself don’t ask God to bless you
time.
-You are being a taker and
not a giver.
-Do not withhold good
from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act.
–Proverbs 3:27
- And I’m not talking
about just being generous to the church, but being a person who lives a
generous life, and gives of their time, talents, and finances to those
in need.
-I am talking about
getting out of your little world for a while and serving, loving, and
giving.
-It is the way to
prosperity.
-You will be amazed by
being a giver will help you not to be depressed, to be more of a happy
person, and give you more energy.
-I am my most happy when I
am doing something for God that is selfless.
-God would have us to be
givers and not just takers.
- Whoever gives to the
poor will lack nothing. But a curse will come upon those who close their
eyes to poverty. – Proverbs 28:27
- One of the legitimate
reasons a godly person should seek prosperity is so he/she can share the
wealth with others who don’t have it.
-Like I have said before
if God can get it through you He will get it to you.
- If it weren’t for
Christians who were generous in giving their money to foreign missions,
orphanages, schools, and many other ventures, we wouldn’t be able to
accomplish nearly what is being accomplished today.
-Next to experience
prosperity we must…
3. LIVE FOR
RIGHTEOUSNESS
- Now I want to make sure
we’re real cautious when we talk about prosperity.
- Because there are some
of us who just can’t handle it, because we will be seduced by the money,
and will quit living the life of righteousness God calls us to.
- For the love of
money is at the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving
money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many
sorrows. – 1 Timothy 6:10
- Notice that he doesn’t
say “money is evil” but the “love of money” is evil.
- If the pursuit of
financial success gets in the way of your pursuit of God, you’re walking
down the wrong path, so we need to be very careful with this.
- And God says that He
will not help you prosper if you turn from Him.
- The crooked heart
will not prosper; the twisted tongue tumbles into trouble. –
Proverbs 17:20
- That doesn’t mean you
can’t prosper, but God isn’t going to be the one driving it, so guess
who is? Let’s just say it’s somebody you don’t want to align yourself
with
- So you need to ask
yourself some questions as you pursue success:
*Am I more concerned about
what God thinks of me, or what my colleagues think of me?
*Am I spending more time
thinking up plans to make more money, or more time meditating on the
things of God?
*Am I willing to cross
ethical and moral lines to get ahead, or am I making sure I am
completely honest in everything that I do?
*Am I pursuing prosperity
so that I can better serve God, or so that I can get along okay without
Him?
* Am I spending money I
don’t have to buy things I don’t need so I can appear prosperous?
- These are some of the
questions I would ask; maybe you can think of some more.
- The point is that I do
not want to lose the God who owns everything in my pursuit of a small
portion of His holdings.
-Next to experience
prosperity we must…
4. WORK HARD AND
PLAN WELL
- This is something a lot
of people like to avoid, but the fact is you cannot be prosperous
without these two ingredients.
- You’ve heard that old
saying, “You’ve got to plan your work and work your plan.”
- That is absolutely true
for anyone who wants to be successful.
[- Too many of us are like
the farmer who went out to gather eggs.
- As he walked across the
farmyard toward the hen house, he noticed the pump was leaking – So he
stopped to fix it.
- It needed a new washer,
so he set off to the barn to get one.
- But on the way he saw
that the hayloft needed straightening, so he went off to fetch the
pitchfork.
- Hanging next to the
pitchfork was a broom with a broken handle. "I must make a note to
myself to buy a new broom handle the next time I go to town," he
thought.]
- By now it is clear the
farmer is not going to get his eggs gathered, nor is he likely to
accomplish anything else he sets out to do.
- He is utterly,
gloriously spontaneous, but he is hardly free.
- He is, if anything, a
prisoner to his unbridled spontaneity.
-How many of us live our
lives like the farmer? He let circumstances rule his time, instead of
letting vision, purpose, and following his plan.
-I could totally be like
the farmer when I work here during the week.
-I walk in the front doors
and she the trash needs to be taken out, then I see the garage can needs
to be washed out, then I see ants as I am washing the can out, so I go
and look for the ant dust, and on my way I see that more trash needs to
be taken out.
-But then I have to stop
and submit myself to the purpose of being the Pastor, and leave all
these things undone. And that is hard for me to do.
-But it is more important
for me to fulfill what the Bible says what I should be doing as a Pastor
than to just get caught up in doing things.
-What should you be doing
as a Christian, a mother, a father, or a spouse but are not because you
are so caught up in life.
- The fact of the matter
is that hard work, planning, and personal discipline is the only way to
become prosperous in any endeavor.
- Listen to these verses
from Proverbs:
- Hard work means
prosperity; only fools idle away their time. – Proverbs 12:11
- Lazy people want much
but get little, but those who work hard will prosper and be satisfied.
– Proverbs 13:4
- Good planning and
hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.
– Proverbs 21:5
- Now unless you have a
big inheritance coming, I promise you that you are not going to become
prosperous by luck, or by sitting on your tail end and hoping for it.
- God says that if you
want to be prosperous, make your plan and then get to work.
- No excuses, no
procrastination…just do it.
-Next to experience
prosperity we must…
5. TRUST IN THE
LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART
- Maybe I should have
started with this one, but I thought it might be better as a reminder at
the end.
- In everything we do, we
have to continually put our trust in the Lord.
- I don’t know where you
are at right now financially.
- Some of you might be on
the verge of declaring bankruptcy, and others might have so much money
you don’t know what to do with it.
- Others might have been
doing everything I’ve mentioned so far but you don’t feel real
prosperous just yet.
- Consider this passage of
Scripture:
- Greed causes
fighting; trusting the LORD leads to prosperity. – Proverbs 28:25
- No matter how bleak your
situation looks right now, you’ve got to keep believing that God knows
what is best and He will do whatever is necessary by His own timetable
whether we understand it or not.
- And I also think
trusting in the Lord forces us to redefine what we mean by prosperity,
because the truth of the matter is, compared to much of the world,
everyone of us in this room are already extremely prosperous.
- I think I’ve made this
point clear, I don’t see anything wrong in seeking success, and even
seeking material comfort, but while were doing that, let’s not forget
that the God we’re trusting for the future has been taking care of us in
the past.
- No matter what happens,
we need to remember that God has proven Himself trustworthy, so we will
continue to place our faith in Him no matter what.
CONCLUSION:
- I’ve got to admit that
this is one of those subjects that is kind of hard for me.
- The last thing I want to
do is to make Christians think that their main goal in life is to want
more money and more and more, because that’s not what it’s about.
- At the same time, God’s
message is clear – He provides the means and the plan for us to prosper
in this life, and we should not shy away from it.
-Let’s prosper in the
church. Let’s prosper financially, spiritually, in winning souls to
Christ let’s prosper, let’s prosper in our worship, in prayer, in the
word of God, let’s prosper in our marriages, let’s prosper in our church
facilities.
- My hope today is that we
would all keep this in perspective, and strive for excellence and
prosperity.
-The first way you need to
find prosperity this morning is to prosper in your soul.
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