Covenant; the sealed contract where God pledges His resources towards our prosperity.
Genesis 12:1-3 “Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”
God told Abram to separate himself from his family. Sometimes when we decide to follow Christ to keep God’s commands, we have to decide to be different and not follow the rest of the crowd, including friends and family.
A friend of ours thinks Christians are not supposed to be wealthy. This article is for him and anyone else who feels that way.
Genesis 13:2 “2 And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.” See also Gen. 15:1 & Gen. 15:5-6
Genesis 15:13-14 “13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.”
God caused them to have great substance. He does it for us, too, but we have to do our part.
Leviticus 26:1-9 “1 Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the Lord your God.
2 Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.
3 If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;
4 Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
5 And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.
6 And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.
7 And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.
8 And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
9 For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.”
This is actually a beautiful chapter, if you read all of Leviticus 26, because it shows us how God will bless us for obedience, punish us for disobedience, and then, if we turn back to Him, bless us for turning back to Him!
God’s blessings of abundance in all things hinges on us obeying His commandments, and loving God most of all, and our neighbors just as much as we love ourselves. So, if we fall short on the two most important commands Jesus taught us in , how can we expect to receive from Him?
One of our friends thinks the following Scripture means our prosperity will come when we’re in heaven!
Luke 6:20 “20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.”
Based on what Jesus said below, I disagree with our friend.
Jesus said “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10
As a parent myself, I have this part of me that wants to give to my children, but I also know it’s our job to prepare them to take care of themselves and their family. They have to learn how to be humble, hold down a job, secure a home, pay for it, work hard on it, and still juggle the wife and kids. If we give and give to them, they never work and work, like I have! We’re just like our Lord. He’s always willing to forgive and help us, if and when we turn to Him, but He has limits, too! We reach our limit and say no, and so does He. We are built and created in His image.
Matthew 22:35-40 “35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
He wants to give to us, but the first commandment is to love Him more than anyone else or anything else. Do you love Him? If you do, you will seek Him and His Son, Jesus the Christ! And when you do, you will begin keeping His commands and His promises will begin unfolding blessings right into your lap!
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