Biblical Prosperity, Part 1

Our topic for today and tomorrow is biblical prosperity.  God desires to bless his children in every way.  He wants to bless us spiritually, emotionally, physically, relationally, and even financially.  2 Peter 1:3 declares that God’s divine power: “has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.”  Paul in Ephesians 1:3 says that the Heavenly Father “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”  And the writer of 3 John 2 declares in a greeting to the saints: “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”

Shalom
God’s general desire to bless his people is captured by the Hebrew concept of shalom. You have probably heard that the word shalom means “peace.”  Yet, God’s peace is more than quietness or stillness.  God’s peace includes the concepts of completeness, well-being, and prosperity.  God wants to bring wholeness to the broken aspects of our lives.  A Biblical view of prosperity must be seen from the perspective of God’s desire to save humanity and to restore what was loss through sin.

Abundance
Jesus said in John 10:10: “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”  Abundance is more than what is sufficient.  God's resources are more than sufficient to meet our needs.  Paul speaks of God’s ability to do “exceedingly abundantly” above all that we could ask or think (Ephesians 3:20).  God is infinitely generous and kind.

God, however, also knows what's best for us, so he is not going to give us everything that we want.  No good parent would!  Yet, God will meet every need that we have out of his abundant resources in Jesus Christ.  As Paul declares in Philippians 4:19: “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

So how does God view money?  How does money fit into God’s overall plan of prosperity for our lives?  Tomorrow we will look at the special topic of financial prosperity.

Blessings,
Wilfred Graves Jr.
www.wilfredgraves.org