Prosperity? Complete charge of your financial picture?!

Any fellow believers take issue with the premise of this advertisement? Or should I say the viewpoint that spawns it? Unfortunately, it's a viewpoint that has permeated the Body of Christ and is seldom questioned. We even teach courses through the institutional church to help believers become prosperous by taking control of their finances.

Oh, I know... there's purpose to being financially prosperous. It's usually enveloped within the potential to give more to the work of the Kingdom. But fundamentally, foundationally, at the core of a walk aligned spiritually is our trust centralized in our Father (a friend would say our Daddy) not only as owner of all the cattle on a thousand hills, but also as the loving provider for His children.

Is it God's will for us to be financially free? Is it God's will for us to build wealth for the future? Is it God's will for us to be wealthy? Could be, but not necessarily for every believer. Strike that... It IS His will for every believer to be financially free, just not the way we tend to think of it. Is it God's will for us to seek Him over stuff? Is it God's will for us to consistently spend time with Him thereby developing an enduring deep relationship with Him? Is it God's will for us to have a correct perspective of the things of this world and the reality of His Kingdom? Yes. Yes! YES!

Perspective!

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; 6 think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths." That last part in some translations say He will make your way prosperous. If you are pursuing financial peace this year, please accept the challenge to pursue God at least as much as you pursue wealth. He doesn't need your financial help. You DO need the relationship He pursues with you.

Proverbs 3:5,6

The Secret To Life... Just One Thing

Little did I know how true this favorite scene would prove to be in my life. As a senior in high school at our baccalaureate service the speaker read and talked about Proverbs 3:5-6:

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own understanding;
6 think about Him in all your ways,
and He will guide you on the right paths.

This is a just one thing passage. The secret to taking the right path is all about in whom trust is placed.

Then, there was Psalm 37:4:

4 Take delight in the Lord,
and He will give you your heart’s desires.

Another just one thing passage discovered in college which helped lay out the secret to life. The temptation in considering this passage is to place the emphasis on the latter part... the getting the desires of our heart. But if one begins with taking delight in the Lord the desire of our hearts will be aligned with what God wants for us. And what father doesn't long to give his children that which is the desire the child's heart?

Now, as I have been doing my just one thing approach to reading through the New Testament (with a singular focus for discovering specifically what is said or not said about a particular theme of God's work in and around you, reading through Matthew to Revelation with no particular pace in mind except reading a little every day) seeing what appears to be the central theme, or just one thing, of Jesus' teaching: there are two ways to look at life - the typical and the way God intends.

The secret to life? Just one thing! Look at the world the way the Father looks at the world as you watchfully follow Jesus' example of doing only what He saw His Father doing.