Psalm 35:27 *Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant*
*IS PROSPERITY ALL ABOUT MONEY&MATERIAL THINGS?( B)*
God blesses his own. Psalm 84:11 says, *"For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: NO GOOD THING WILL HE WITHOLD FROM THEM THAT WALK UPRIGHTLY*". This text is a truism that shows God is in the business of prospering his own.
The text above can be linked to Matthew 6:33 which enjoins that we seek the kingdom and its righteousness first after which all other things shall be added unto us. This is God's order or plan for prospering his own.
*However, It needs restating that prosperity from God's perspective is not only about money or material things. Joseph had nothing other than God's presence and his integrity when the bible says he was a prosperous man*.
As believers, we need to start thinking bible thoughts and to learn how God sees things from his own perspective. This is how to walk with God. Any preaching or teaching that doesn't help with this is not from the throne of grace.
Purveyors of prosperity gospel lay so much emphasis on their material wealth as though it is the only metrics of prosperity. They tie every of their message to earthly possession and even use it as a bait to make altar call for salvation. Little wonder we have many believers lacking in conviction because they did not go to calvary to be washed.
Today, the criteria some use for choosing a church or pastor to learn under is how wealthy he is. This is credited to the influence of the prosperity gospel. They cannot follow a pastor they perceive to be poor. The impact of this on many preachers has been nothing short of negative.
It creates an artificial pressure for one to make it at all cost. In order to match up and have that societal acceptance wealth gives, some pastors have compromised their faith and water down their message because they want more money. As a preacher, I am familiar with this pressure.
I saw something in the book of Revelation worth considering in this discuss. Most of us are acquainted with the letter to the seven churches. I believe those letters mirror the kinds of churches we have today. Read what Christ says about a prosperity boasting church, the Laodicean church.
Revelation 3:17 (TPT) says, *"For you claim, “I’m rich and getting richer—I don’t need a thing.” Yet you are clueless that you’re miserable, poor, blind, barren, and naked*".
This church had material wealth and even boasted about it. I presume their pastor is a preacher of the prosperity gospel that elevates material wealth above sound relationship with God. That church must have been known for elegance and flamboyance and the media called them richest in town.
The day they got their dossiere from Christ, they got a shocker. Jesus told them they were poor despite their claims of having material wealth. Again, this perspective looks like something me and you wouldn't have said about a church such as Laodicean church because our metrics of adjudging prosperity is physical.
*True prosperity is not all about material things or what you can get. A life that pleases God is a prosperous life*.
How good will it sound when the master says, "Son, you are rich". We need to start living for the applause and comment of one- Jesus Christ our Lord. Believers who live with eternity in-view will care so much about what God thinks of them and his perspective on issues.