an irrepressible prosperity

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  (Jer 29:11)
God said this to the Israelites who were carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.  And while God indeed planned to deliver the Israelites and restore them to their promised land at the appointed time, his will was for them to prosper even in their exile.  He said to them:

“Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.  Marry and have sons and daughters… Increase in number there; do not decrease.  Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile.  Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”  (Jer 29:5-7)

From the beginning, God has wanted his creation to prosper – to be fruitful and to multiply.  And while there are seasons of fruitfulness, prosperity does not need an appointed time.  In describing a righteous man, the psalmist said:
“He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.  Whatever he does prospers.” (Ps 1:3)
There is something extraordinary about a person walking so closely with God that his “leaf does not wither”, even in the most dire of situations.  We can see this most clearly in Christ, who even on the cross overflowed with life: he took care to entrust the welfare of his earthly mother to a faithful disciple (Jn 19:26-27), he prayed forgiveness for those who crucified him (Lk 23:34) and gave eternal life to one of the criminals crucified at his side (Lk 23:40-43).  In the darkest hour, the Light of the world still shone; his soul still prospered; his goodness still overflowed to those around him.
That same prosperity is reflected in the ministry of Paul and Timothy.  They described themselves as:
“sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.” (2Cor 6:10)
True prosperity overflows from deep within to make others rich, in all the ways that matter.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  (Jer 29:11, NIV)

God said this to the Israelites who were carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.  And while God indeed planned to deliver the Israelites and restore them to their promised land at the appointed time, his will was for them to prosper even in their exile.  He said to them:

“Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.  Marry and have sons and daughters… Increase in number there; do not decrease.  Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile.  Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”  (Jer 29:5-7, NIV)

flower

From the beginning, God has wanted his creation to prosper – to be fruitful and to multiply.  And while there are seasons of fruitfulness, prosperity does not need an appointed time.  In describing a righteous man, the psalmist said:

“He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.  Whatever he does prospers.” (Ps 1:3, NIV)

There is something extraordinary about a person walking so closely with God that his “leaf does not wither”, even in the most dire of situations.  We can see this most clearly in Christ, who even on the cross overflowed with life: he took care to entrust the welfare of his earthly mother to a faithful disciple (Jn 19:26-27), he prayed forgiveness for those who crucified him (Lk 23:34) and gave eternal life to one of the criminals crucified at his side (Lk 23:40-43).  In the darkest hour, the Light of the world still shone; his soul still prospered; his goodness still overflowed to those around him.

That same prosperity is reflected in the ministry of Paul and Timothy.  They described themselves as:

“sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.” (2Cor 6:10, NIV)

True prosperity overflows from deep within to make others rich, in all the ways that matter.

– Joeseph Koh

Comments

3 Responses to “an irrepressible prosperity”

  1. col badger on August 19th, 2009 8:36 am

    Well done Joey – I was deeply moved by your example of true prosperity demonstrated by our Lord Jesus even on the cross.

    “In the darkest hour, the Light of the world still shone; his soul still prospered; his goodness still overflowed to those around him”

    Doesn’t this turn the concepts of prosperity in the world upside down…

    Blessings

  2. Simon on October 11th, 2009 10:37 am

    Interesting post Joeseph. What kind of prosperity should we seek from God? Financial prosperity, is that okay?

  3. Joseph on October 20th, 2009 2:40 am

    Hi Simon,

    Thanks for your questions, and sorry for taking so long to get back to you. My thoughts on what you’re asking are as follows:

    The kind of prosperity we can seek from God is very broad. (I say “can”, because “should” sounds a bit legalistic and oddly mechanical to me – like talking about what kind of ice-cream children “should” ask their parents for, when in fact it’s quite natural for them to ask for all sorts of ice-cream at different times). Here’s a couple of passages of Scripture that lead me to think we can ask for a somewhat all-encompassing form of prosperity:

    3 Jn 1:2 – “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers” (NKJV)

    2Cor 9:8 – “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” (NKJV)

    [I used the NKJV as a more literal translation for 3 Jn 1:2. The Greek word translated as "prosper" is "euodoo", which my two Greek dictionaries define as "to help on the road, that is, (passively) succeed in reaching; figuratively to succeed in business affairs / to have a prosperous journey"]

    And so I don’t think it’s wrong to ask for financial prosperity. But like children, sometimes we ask for things that may not be in our best interest at a particular point in time – like children asking for too much ice-cream and then eating until they feel sick. In a similar vein, we see this prayer in Proverbs:

    Prov 30:8-9 – “…Give me neither poverty nor riches – Feed me with the food allotted to me; Lest I be full and deny You, And say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or lest I be poor and steal, And profane the name of my God.”

    Financial prosperity can be a double-edged sword, so to speak, and only God knows how much is just right for each of us. For some it may be more, for others it may be less (but God does promise to provide for us.)

    Jesus said that where our treasure is, there our heart will be also (Mt 6:21, Lk 12:34) I often think of an old-fashioned balance scale, with our heavenly treasure on one side and our earthly treasure on the other. The more earthly treasure we accumulate, the more heavenly treasure we need to have (and/or to recognise we have)to keep the balance pointing in the right direction – and our heart in the right place.

    So it’s fine and well to ask God for financial prosperity – but it’s also important to trust that God knows exactly how much to bless each of us with, and to be content with the portion he has allotted to us (which may well be more than what we currently have, but perhaps less than what we might imagine). Praying for an abundance so we can bless others (rather than as an end in itself) also strikes me as more in line with God’s heart – as I see it in scriptures like 2Cor 9:8 and others.

    Hope that helps, and apologies if this was a bit long-winded! I wanted to be as precise as possible, since prosperity can be quite a controversial topic. Would love to hear your thoughts, and thanks again for the comments/questions.

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