Daily Rhema: Reality of our prosperity in Christ I

2Corinthians 8:9 (KJV)
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

Material prosperity is having the ability to use God’s power, wisdom and skill to tap into and, where necessary, create physical resources to meet your physical needs. It is not just money. A person can have money and not be prosperous; but if you are prosperous you will have money.

Prosperity is one of our redemptive rights in Christ. Just as Jesus suffered and died to make us righteous, healed and delivered, He also became poor at the cross to make us materially prosperous.

For us to remain sinful, sick, oppressed or poor is actually a miscarriage of God’s justice, since Christ suffered to save us from all these things. In fact, the Lord is unsatisfied and displeased when Christians do not enjoy the benefits of the travail of His soul on the cross (Isa. 53:11).

That is why the Lord says, “He desires above all things that we prosper and be in health even as our souls prosper” (3Jn. 2).

Prosperity is the will of God: The Lord Jesus was prosperous.

Now, it is important to realize that the Lord Jesus was not poor. He was very prosperous because He obeyed and served God faithfully; it was only at the cross that He became poor for our sakes. The Lord could not have been poor because of the scripture in Deuteronomy 28: 1-14.

The Lord Jesus kept the law of God better than any man that has ever lived, and so He must have automatically enjoyed all the blessings of Deut.28: 1-14.

Moreover, the Lord wore a coat of such good quality, that the Roman soldiers who crucified Him preferred to cast lots for it, rather than tear it (Jn. 19:23-24).

God uses our prosperity as part (not all: a godly lifestyle and character must be added to our prosperity), of our Christian witness (1Tim.4:15).

One of the ways our profiting appears is by our material prosperity (Deut. 28:8-10).

God wants us to spend our days in prosperity and our years in pleasure, but it is conditional, and the condition is not just getting born again! You must obey and serve Him (Job 36:11; Ps. 35: 27).

Material Prosperity Balanced with Spiritual Prosperity
There are two extreme lies that have been preached in the Church. One is that poverty is equivalent to holiness and humility. The second is that God wants to give us unconditional riches once you are born again; all you have to do is give to the man of God!

While it is one of God’s supreme desires that we prosper materially and financially, that material prosperity must be preceded and thus balanced with spiritual prosperity (3 Jn. 1:2).

The caution regarding divine prosperity is that we must not put material prosperity as number one priority. The kingdom: allowing the nature of God, like leaven, to permeate your entire soul and body, must be number one priority: otherwise, material prosperity will kill you (Matt. 6:33, 13:33; Prov. 1:32).

This is why God has tied the level to which He will prosper us, to the level at which our soul is prospering in the kingdom. If your material prosperity goes beyond the level of your soul’s prosperity in the kingdom, then it does not have God’s approval (Ps. 106:15).

This in fact is the basic problem with the distorted prosperity message that is being preached in the Church today.

The way you will know if your material prosperity is going beyond your spiritual prosperity, is when your pursuit of material things is taking away from the time you should spend with God in prayer, the Word and in Church: fellowshipping with and serving in the Body of Christ.

For more on today’s study visit:
https://bit.ly/2N8jr9c

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