Biblical Prosperity

Do you look forward to what only God Himself can do in your life to produce the kind of person He desires? We stand together, as the Body of Christ to magnify and honor Him in a variety of ways. How He choses to fashion us, how He choses to shape our lives, is completely dependent upon His will. He desires to do good things, to produce good fruit from our lives that will bring glory and honor to Him.

This article is just a beginning … yet it is with this beginning that I want to speak to you about a very important topic – Biblical Prosperity. What is it exactly and why is it so important to each and every one of us.

So let’s open our Bibles. Turn with me to the book of Ephesians:

He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
Ephesians 1:3

The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Ephesians 1:16-23

That’s a lot to think about. All spiritual blessings in heavenly places. The riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. These are all good things that God has done for us … past tense. This is an abundance that we can walk in NOW, not later. I pray tonight the Lord opens eyes and makes these parts of His Word come alive in you: becoming a living, breathing, working part of each person here tonight. Amen.

Now, let’s think on some things. In Ephesians 1:3 we read that He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ! Wow! What exactly does that mean? What exactly is this talking about?

Let’s step back a few moments and consider the Kingdom of God. Jesus preached the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is what Jesus both spoke of and demonstrated while on earth. Remember when Jesus told the crowd to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and to render unto God that which is God’s? Also, do you remember when Jesus told Pontius Pilate that His Kingdom was a spiritual one, not an earthly Kingdom?

With that foundation laid … that puts things in better perspective for us when we consider spiritual blessings and this topic of Biblical prosperity. Unfortunately there has been a lot of false teaching out there, making Christianity sound like a get rich quick scheme of some kind. Really it is a die to self and follow Jesus kind of thing. Now, I do believe that as we apply Kingdom principles in our lives that it leads to good fruit in our lives. Some of that good fruit will include things like food and clothing, responsible living and the ability to give unto others. But the foundation of our prosperity starts in an area that we can’t see, touch or feel. Our prosperity as Kingdom citizens begins in heavenly places. Yes, we as followers of Jesus Christ have been given [past tense] all spiritual blessings in Christ! Wow, that is pretty intense and that is also pretty fantastic when you really think about it. We have all spiritual blessings. And how does that work? Well, it has to do with our position in Him: in heavenly places.

When was the last time you looked around in the Spirit and saw heavenly places rather than earthly ones? That is real Kingdom living you know. Jesus said He only did the things He saw His Father doing. Are you asking to see what the Father is doing? Are you waiting to see what the Father is doing? Are you doing what the Father is showing you? Do you even know how to live that way?

We have been given every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ. That is our abundant life. That is our prosperity. It is a prosperity that only followers of Jesus Christ can participate in. Those that choose to live outside the Kingdom, choose to live in the dust of the earth, rather than in the abundance of Christ. I believe the greatest adventure that can be lived is to be a radical follower of Jesus Christ. That, my friend, is our greatest prosperity.

As the apostle Paul put it, “the riches of the glory of the inheritance of the saints”! That is our great treasure. That is our great prosperity. From there, God gives us the ability to bear fruit to His glory and that is what our life is to be doing … bearing fruit that God may be glorified. As we exercise this unseen, untouched and unfelt prosperity, we bear fruit that will bring honor to God.

Let’s look further at this abundance, this prosperity that we have …

Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, [being] the ninth [hour].

And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;

Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.

And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.

And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.

Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.

And he took him by the right hand, and lifted [him] up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.

And all the people saw him walking and praising God:

And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.
Acts 3:1-10

“Silver and gold have I none … but such as I have, that I give you”. That is the prosperity that I believe the Lord has for each and every one. It does not just fall into your lap, but as you choose to radically follow Jesus, this prosperity follows you. Peter and John gave what they had. You and I have the ability to give what we have too. That is the fantastic thing about this life in Christ. He gives us things and out of that abundance, we can share with others.

Let me tell you about this great “such as I have” that we can give to others. A few months ago I traveled to Long Island, NY. I flew from Kansas City to Chicago, then from Chicago to Long Island. The leg of the trip from Chicago to Long Island takes two hours and fifteen minutes. I was the last person to board the plane and with Southwest, there is not assigned seating. So when I got on board, I was expecting to choose a seat. However, it was an absolutely full flight. There was one seat left, between a couple of elderly people, around 75 or so. When the flight attendant showed me to the only remaining seat, the gentleman scooted over next to the lady. They were not married, but had started dating recently. Being widow and widower, they had met each other online and this was their first trip together.

I struck up a conversation with them and we visited quietly for a short time. Once in the air, we really struck up a conversation and they just opened up their lives to me, told me how they met, how they had loved their spouses before, how they were seeing they were beginning to love one another. They told me all about their online dating experiences. How they met a bunch of people before finally meeting each other. I shared how my dad remarried after my mom died. I retold the experience of him calling me on the phone and telling me he was going to try dating … “Oh shoot”, I remember him remarking.

While we visited I felt the tangible presence of the Lord steadily grow, becoming a strong anointing of joy and before long the three of us were laughing and having a great time. The stewardess came along to get our order for drinks. The older lady said she wanted a water and orange juice. The stewardess repeated … was that a vodka and orange juice? The older lady said, no that’s water and an orange juice”, and the stewardess just kept getting it wrong. Finally I repeated it to the stewardess myself so she could get it right. By that time we were in stitches again and the stewardess said we didn’t need any alcohol, we were the happiest people she had ever met. When she returned with the drinks she was flustered and mixed up our order, but we were having so much fun it made little difference.

I didn’t realize how much this release of the joy of the Lord on that plane was affecting people. At one point I felt a real release of power – can’t explain it, but it was a physical buzzing of many things around me that was released. Folks all over the plane began laughing too and the stewardess came back and said we were having too much fun … that she wanted in on our secret. I told her how simple it is to be joyful, when you have something to be joyful about. She said there were lots of things she would like to do, especially just being happy. I told her life was too short to be a sour puss. Don’t hesitate to do good wholesome things that bring joy. You will find that the Lord blesses those things and that you will find even greater joy in your life. She listened to me and I had no idea how much she listened to me, until later in the flight.

The couple told me that I was the happiest person they had ever met and they counted it a great privilege to meet me on their trip. I told them about why I was so happy and that they could be that happy too. They listened. Both were from traditional religious backgrounds – one Methodist, the other Lutheran. I told them it was not about their tradition of religion, but about the abundance we have as believers and followers of Jesus Christ. Not just run of the mill Christians, but to radical followers of Jesus Christ. They liked that. I think the Lord used that to speak life into them.

We just had so much fun the remainder of the flight. While taxiing to our gate, after landing, the stewardess did something I never heard in my life. She got on the microphone and began singing a happy little song. I could tell it meant something to her. She came back to see me before we got there, saying she was so happy to meet me. I asked … was that one of those things you always wanted to do? She said it was. The whole plane clapped and shouted after her song. It truly lifted everyone’s attitude to one of thankfulness.

As I was grabbing my bag from the overhead storage compartment, a fellow behind me got my attention. He said “You are the happiest guy I have ever met in my life. At first I was annoyed, but after a while I realized that I was jealous. I want some of those happy pills too.” I told him that the only happy pill in my life was the day that I began radically following Jesus Christ. That is the source of my joy and that is why I can truly be happy. This life we see around us is not all there is. This is not enough to make any one happy. But the great abundance that I have in Jesus Christ gives me lasting joy, lasting peace and lasting love in my life. It’s not just about making money and getting stuff. Life is so much more and when I realized that, then I found the joy of the Lord, that truly is my strength.

He looked me square in the eyes and said that was the most amazing story he had ever heard and that he believed it. I told him to get a Bible and ask Jesus to reveal Himself. He too could find this joy. He said he would.

As I walked off the plane, I realized that I witnessed a great thing that afternoon, on a flight between Chicago and Long Island. I saw for a brief period of time, God coming down and touching people. The people on that plane witnessed the Kingdom of God, for it came down in visible form for just an instant.

That’s not the end of the story. I went out there on business. A client of ours is a large software company, based in Islandia NY. Guess who I ran into while I was there? You guessed it. The guy on the plane that said he was jealous of what I had. He is the president of that large software company.. I met him while waiting for my shuttle back to the hotel on my second day there. He saw me as he was coming out of the executive offices. He recognized me and came over and shook my hand. He couldn’t believe it. I asked him if he had gotten a Bible and asked Jesus to reveal Himself. He told me that he did exactly that. He wanted to visit with me, so we went to his office. There I was able to pray with him and for him and I believe that was confirmation that God was indeed working in my trip to Long Island that week.

The story does not end here however. Several weeks later I was traveling on Southwest Airlines and I noticed that the flight attendants were quite happy. So happy in fact that one of them got on the speaker and sang a song. I asked the flight attendant later where she got the idea of doing a song like that. She shared that in one of their recent internal newsletters the flight attendant on that "happy" flight shared what a customer had shared with her and how it lightened up everyone's trip. Now, it is Southwest Airlines company policy to be happy on flights. As a company policy, they don’t hesitate to do good wholesome things that bring joy.

Praise God! God affected the executive leadership in a large software company, He affected a policy on a major airline, He touched a lot of people that day. I got to thinking about it ... that's what climbing mountains is all about.

Now … guess what? Not all my weeks are that exciting, but I do have some fascinating adventures – me and the Holy Spirit, magnifying Jesus! That is part of this abundant life we have in Christ. It is not something that falls into my lap, but something that I pursue, as I continue radically following Jesus. Day by day, these spiritual blessings flow down in a myriad of different ways and expressions. Praise God for His abundance.

Are you experiencing, demonstrating, walking in ... the riches of the glory of the inheritance of His saints? If not, I would suggest you continue your search. If you have forfeited your inheritance - repent. If you have never realized you had such an inheritance - ask. Jesus never disappoints.

cross posted by Rich Elliot
Mountain Climbers
Biblical Prosperity