Balanced prosperity

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TODAY’S SPECIAL: Proverbs 30:7-32

TO CHEW ON: “Give me neighbor poverty nor riches—
Feed me with the food allotted to me;
Lest I be full and deny You,
And say, ‘Who is the LORD?”
Or lest I be poor and steal
And profane the name of my God.” Proverbs 30:8,9

I love Agur’s balanced attitude toward possessions. Though he doesn’t use the words, “prosper” and “prosperous” come to mind. He describes someone who is prosperous in a balanced way.

A sidebar article in my Bible gives good insights on how this attitude might look in our lives:

“As we ask God to meet our needs, we grapple with how to ask Him to prosper us. Our goal is not to accumulate wealth (riches) or renounce it (poverty) but to faithfully oversee our individual portion from God and remain undistracted in our love for Him” - Clark Whitten, “Neither Poverty Nor Riches But Prosperity,” New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 838.

The Bible speaks often about people prospering. From a sampling of these references, we learn that prosperity:

• Allows us to be generous as Jacob was with Esau - Genesis 9:27.

• Can come to us even when we’re in sub-optimal circumstances. Potiphar observed that all that his Hebrew slave Joseph set his hand to prospered and was successful, and so Potiphar promoted Joseph - Genesis 39:2-6.

• Is promised to those who fashion and conform their lives to God’s word and the principles in it - Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:1-6.

• Was a consequence of seeking God wholeheartedly, as Judah’s King Uzziah discovered - 2 Chronicles 26:5.

• Is a promise for those who pray for and love Jerusalem (Israel) - Psalm 122:6.

• Can come to us in many areas. John prays for early Christians: “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health just as your soul prospers” 3 John 1:2.

I love how my Bible’s sidebar article details many-faceted prosperity:

“Prosperity is more than money. It is a lifestyle that includes spiritual fullness, physical well-being, mental soundness, social friendships, and financial well-being…. A prosperous person is one who is wealthy in all things that eternally matter” Charles Whitten, Ibid.

As I examine my life from this perspective, I see that it is flush with prosperity. I do well to be grateful.

PRAYER: Dear Father, please help me to recognize and be grateful for all that I have received so generously from Your gracious hand. I want to cultivate a lifestyle of seeing where I prosper and being content with what I have. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Secret disciples

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Matthew 27:57-66

TO CHEW ON: "Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus." Matthew 27:57

Here Joseph of Arimathea (a rich man, Matthew points out) asked Pilate for Jesus' body. John's account of the same event includes Nicodemus as Joseph's companion in this:

"After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus. And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds" - John 19:38-39.

I find it interesting that these two members of the Sanhedrin, so intimidated by their fellow Jewish leaders during Jesus' life that they didn't follow Him openly, finally showed their colours at His death. Perhaps they felt ashamed that they hadn't declared themselves sooner. Maybe they wished they had tried harder to bring about a different ending, and this was the least they could do. From their point of view it had ended badly and now showing their allegiance to Jesus was more important than staying tight with the Sanhedrin crowd. Maybe folks like they were the reason Jesus had warned so often about the danger of riches.

On the other hand, their riches and position now gave them the leverage they needed to get Jesus' body from Pilate. Joseph had the tomb, Nicodemus the expensive spices. With their resources they showed Jesus care and respect, albeit too late.

I come from this story with two thoughts.

• Riches and influence can be a trap. Fear of losing them has the power to shut mouths and change behaviour. I am reminded of Jesus' words: "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels" - Mark 8:48.

• But riches and influence are also needed in the Kingdom of God. God gives the power to make money ("...for it is He who gives you the power to get wealth..." - Deuteronomy 8:18). He places people into positions of influence ("But God is the Judge: He puts down one, And exalts another" - Psalm 75:7). If we're rich and influential, let's not get caught up in materialism and power, nor be made to feel guilty by those who have given up everything. Rather, let's put our resources at the disposal of the Kingdom of God.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for the example of Joseph and Nicodemus who honoured Jesus so beautifully in His death. Help me to use my influence and resources for Your kingdom. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

What kind of a plant are you?

Photo © 2015 by V. Nesdoly

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Hebrews 5:11-6:12

TO CHEW ON: "For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it is bears thorns and briers it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned." - Hebrews 6:7,8


The Bible has many references to the life of a plant as a metaphor for the spiritual life of a person or nation.

• Isaiah pictures God caring for His nation Israel as a gardener cares for his vineyard. He expects a healthy batch of wine, but the vines disappoint with their wild grapes. So He withdraws his protective care - Isaiah 5:2,6,7.

• John the Baptist picks up this warning about the judgment on unfruitfulness in his sermon on the banks of the Jordan, where he warns that unfruitful trees will be chopped off at the root - Matthew 5:10-12.

• Jesus talks about the unfruitful life in his Parable of the Sower. He blames the thorns of worldliness—"the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches"—for a lack of spiritual fruit - Matthew 13:22.

• In another parable, we see that fruitfulness is expected in trees that are part of God's orchard - Luke 13:6-9.

• Jesus describes His relationship with the plants in His garden in His True Vine talk (John 15). He shows God the gardener removing the branches that don't grow fruit and pruning the ones that do so they'll produce an even bigger crop (John 15:2). The secret of fruit-bearing, He says, is to stay attached to the vine. That attachment results in answered prayers and God being glorified - John 15:5-8.

• What a contrast this is to our passage from Hebrews which talks about the backslider—the once-fruitful person who has turned his or her back on the things of God. The writer says if this one who has "tasted the good word of God and the power of the age to come" falls away, it is almost impossible for them to return. He warns of a fate that is likely to be the same as a patch of thorns and briers "whose end is to be burned" - Hebrews 6:8.

We can apply these pictures to our lives as plants in God's garden.

* We realize that life's circumstances—both good and bad (His walls around us, His pruning of us)—are His way of ensuring and increasing our fruitfulness.

*We are aware of the part that our focus and priorities play on our fruitfulness (and guard against worldliness).

* We know that to stay fruitful we need to stay connected to Him.

* We are also aware of the fate of the once-fruitful person who has turned away from following Him and…  well, we don't want to go there!

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to be a healthy, fruit-producing plant in Your garden. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The hurdle of riches

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Mark 10:17-34

TO CHEW ON: "Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, 'How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!'
And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, 'Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!'"

Note the subtle difference in the way Jesus phrased His explanation, in response to the disciples' dismay, about the kingdom of God and riches: "'How hard it is for those to have riches .... who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!'" It seems He is saying that though it's possible for the person with material riches to enter the kingdom of God, it's hard not to trust in riches when you have them.

Though Jesus was talking here about the riches of material things, I believe His statement about riches also applies to other kinds of wealth:
- the riches of talents and giftedness.
- the riches of friends and influence.
- the riches of intellect.
- the riches of position.

It's easy to trust in riches whatever kind they are. But these things won't buy us into heaven or, when used on their own, guarantee the accomplishment of kingdom work (though Jesus' words "'With men it is impossible but not with God; for with God all things are possible,'" makes me reflect that God can flip anything to do His purposes, even things we do with self-serving motives).

The real key to entering the kingdom of God and living life in it here on earth is poverty. Jesus expressed it clearly on the Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" - Matthew 5:3.

The uncomfortable truth for many of us in the wealthy west is that it's hard to know at an experience level what it is to be poor in spirit because of our riches in other every department.

PRAYER: Dear God, it's hard for me to imagine life without the material comforts around me and I easily trust in all kinds of things besides You. Help me to view all my riches from a right perspective. Amen.

MORE: "We have nothing"

In a recent Canadian Bible Society newsletter National Director Ted Seres tells of Madam Guo, a poor Chinese woman who received her first Bible in 1990. Two years later, she became a Christian and ever since has led people in her remote village in Bible study. When Ted asked her why she became a Christian she answered: "Because I am poor; that's why I believe. Our lives are worth nothing on earth .... We are truly blessed only if we have Christ in us. Like my neighbours I have nothing. Nothing at all. My reward is in heaven. It is only because of the Bible that I know I am rich." - Canadian Bible Society letter, August 27. 2012.

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