I’m not ashamed of my prosperity

First preached on 19.03.2000

Preached again on 25.07.2013

Contrasting Lifestyles

Psalm 1 contrasts the lifestyle of the righteous with the ungodly. The ungodly are the guilty ones who are hostile towards the righteous; they are sinners who are exposed to condemnation. They are the offenders because they are scornful towards the godly. When they speak they express contempt towards the godly. Their pride and arrogance blind them to their own actions. When they mock the godly they do it to make them doubt what they believe. They make them doubt their mission and they scoff at the way of peace.

They are like chaff that the wind blows away, empty husks with no weight or substance.

But the godly do not stand in their way nor sit in their seats. They delight (Hebrew: ‘khayfets’) themselves in the lord their God. The godly are noble men who bend their will according to God’s will like cedars in the wind. They are blessed because they are justified and vindicated by faith in God.

When God’s Cause becomes a pleasant affair it becomes a prosperous one. Hephzibah means ‘God’s delight’. (Isaiah 62:4)

He meditates in the Word of God. Meditate is ‘Hagah’ in Hebrews and it reflects a journey not just a mental exercise. When you meditate you quietly mumble to yourself in a droning sound like doves in a coop (‘dovening’) until it drains out every other distraction and you are totally absorbed with the Word of God. You recite texts and quote phrases into you are lost in communion with the Word of God.

He delights himself in the law of God – not just the written ones, but the revealed ones. Paul says, ‘imitate me’ – what you see and hear, do it. Follow those who through faith and patience inherit the Promises of God.

True prosperity

The righteous prosper in all their ways. In Hebrew the word for prosper is ‘tsalakh’ and it refers to succeeding as God succeeded with His plan of redemption. (Isaiah 53:10). The picture of prosperity in the Hebrew mind is ‘wading through a river on a camel’s back’. (II Samuel 19:18) You make it to the other side! You finish happily!

When you make it to the end of the day, the end of the week, you are prosperous! It may not look like prosperity to others, but you made it! It does not matter what the camel looks like! You waded through the river!

I am not ashamed of my prosperity. Others may scoff at it and despise it, but it is precious to me! My God delights in my prosperity, why would I not delight in it as well? God delights in the prosperity of His servant! If a father in a home prospers, the wife and kids all benefit! My Heavenly Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills! All the silver and the gold belong to Him. He is prosperous and I am His child! I will wade through the river of circumstances and make it to the other side on the back of the camel of faith in God!

You might not look prosperous or feel prosperous, others might not think you are prosperous, but if you made it through today you are prosperous! If you make it through the week you are prosperous!

We tend to think of prosperity in a purely materialistic way: we think, if we have all the money we want we can buy what we want and that is prosperity, but true prosperity means you are able to meet the demands of life and wade through to the other side!

The reason why we never think we are prosperous is because we have a false sense of prosperity. That is why prosperity becomes a carrot in front of the horse’s nose that it can never reach. We are waiting for something that will never happen and we frustrate the grace of God that is sufficient for us. So we never rejoice because we have false expectations from God and for ourselves. But when we get the true perspective on prosperity we actually became grateful and thank God for our level of prosperity that helps us through every single day of our lives. Once we accept our prosperity it begins to increase!

When you enter the river on a camel’s back, you cannot see how deep the river is or how strong the current may be. You are not even sure if the camel can swim or not! But that camel will take you through to the other side and you will arrive at your destination! Faith in God will take you through whatever you are facing!

If at the end of your trial you can still say: ‘I believe!’ you have passed the test! When the jailer that wanted to commit suicide in the Philippi jail because he thought all the prisoners escaped after the earthquake, Paul told him not to do it because they were still all there. Then he fell on his knees and asked: ‘what must I do to be saved?’ Paul told him, ‘believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you and your whole family will be saved.’ It is so simple and uncomplicated.

When Philip explained the Gospel to the Ethiopian Eunuch in the desert of Gaza from Isaiah 53 the Eunuch’s first response was: ‘there is water, what hinders me to get baptized?’ So Philip’s explanation obviously included water baptism of believers otherwise the Eunuch would not have responded in that way! The Gospel includes water baptism if you believe!

If you believe you will finish happily!

Promotion that comes from God

God promotes the righteous. Our idea of promotion is so limited. We can only think in pyramids of higher positions above others, but the promotion that comes from God speak of the spirit of God that comes upon us – the anointing!

Jesus declared: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me for He has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor!’ (Luke 4:18)

Confessions of faith

I am not ashamed of my anointing either! It might not look great to others and they may compare me to other anointed men in the ministry, but I am not ashamed of my anointing!

I am not ashamed of my health. Others may have their opinion about the condition of my health, but I am not ashamed because I believe. If you believe you will not be ashamed.

I am not ashamed of my achievements. What I have done for God might not look much in the eyes of scoffers, but I am not ashamed of what I have been able to do so far.

I am not ashamed of the Gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes! (Romans 1:16)

When we stop comparing ourselves with ourselves, we become spiritual and make room for many orbits in God’s universe filled with people.

We have clearly seen the contrasts between two lifestyles depicted in Psalm 1 and we have a fresh understanding of prosperity. We have to make a choice: which lifestyle do we choose? The one contains prosperity and promotion and the other not. It is foolish not to choose the righteous lifestyle. Are you prepared to bend your will according to the will of God as revealed in His Word? Then pray this prayer: ‘God I come to you through Jesus Christ and I make Him Lord of my life. I believe you raised Him from the dead. I bend my will according to your will and I accept your blessing and confess my faith. I am a child of God and I am not ashamed of my prosperity that you give me today!’

True prosperity goes hand in hand with meekness and humility because we know our source of prosperity and we accept our level of prosperity. Then God begins to promote us. This is the blessed state of the godly that Psalm 1 describes.