Prosperity

The Prosperity of The Wicked

This psalm returns to the problem David had in Psalm 37 and was emphasized again in Psalm 49. It deals with the age old problem of what seems to be the prosperity of the wicked and the suffering of the godly.The problem is stated (vv. 1-3) – Even though the Psalmist has con …

Cautions Against Disobedience

God warns His people that they are not to forget Him after they get into the land and experience His blessing (v. 12). He would bless them with children and grandchildren and increase their numbers greatly. He would also increase their crops and livestock so they would not only have …

Job Says God Will Deal With The Wicked

This chapter centers around a debate between Job and Zophar concerning prosperity. After appealing for their understanding and sympathy Job refutes Zophar’s idea that evil people never experience wealth and happiness (vv. 1- 6). But first, he says, “If you really want t …

Woe to Those Trusting in Military Defense

Isaiah prophesied a time of righteousness and justice. He talked about a king who would reign in that time (vv. 1-4). No historical king ever fit this description. The prophet was speaking of a time when godly conditions shall prevail. The blind shall see, the deaf shall hear, and the ignorant shall …

Remember The Wilderness

Is it harder for you to maintain a proper relationship with God in prosperity or in hardship? Why? Moses doesn’t want Israel to forget God and be proud of their own attainments once they get in the promised land (v. 1). He reminds them of how they had learned humility, how God had proved …

The Concluding Days of Gideon

Gideon who came through the test of adversity with flying colors was not so successful in the test of prosperity. After his successful encounters with the enemies of the Lord he yielded to two temptations which brought devastating consequences …

IllustrationHistory Books Are Filled With Wealthy People

History books are filled with wealthy people who were practically destitute compared to me. I have triple-tracked storm windows; Croesus did not. Entire nations trembled before Alexander the Great, but he couldn’t buy cat food in bulk. Czar Nicholas II lacked a compound-mit …

IllustrationThe definition of Karma

The teaching of karma (literally translated “action”) indicates that karma is something negative, the …

IllustrationWe Do Not Know How to Deal With Prosperity

James Reston was a syndicated columnist for the New York Times for more than thirty years. In his final column for the newspaper, he wrote: “In America, we have learned something about how to deal with adversity since the great Depression, but not much about how to dea …

IllustrationA life goal of having things

In his book, Balancing the Tightrope, Barry Powell relates that in a survey of over 200,000 college freshman, 76% listed financial prosperity as the most important of their life goals. Is it any wonder that one of the top issues in almost every Presidential election is the econom …