My prayer for you today......

Several who read my blog have asked whether I was able to get the water back on yesterday. The answer is no and yes. No because the pump had burned up but yes because I coordinated the repair effort and we had water going again by noon. Now that’s a good long time to be out but everyone was happy to see it back on. Now that I have cleared up that burning question, let me move on to some random acts of thought for this Tuesday, March 24, 2009. How in the world are you doing, anyway? The Apostle John writing in one of his very brief letters expressed the idea that his prayer was that those he loved would prosper in their lives, spiritually, in their health, and in their day-by-day pursuits. (3rd John: 2 "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.") Mentioning prosperity in our world typically causes one to jump directly to having money and far too many reduce John’s words to mean only good health and much wealth. As with all things spiritual, we need to grasp the full meaning of the Apostle’s expressed desire.

I think John’s heart was one inclined to seek enabling on the part of his beloved followers. My take is that he was interested in them being enabled to live and function for God’s honor and glory in a way that promoted and furthered the Kingdom of God. To those who think his prayer was only that people would be rich and healthy miss the significance of God’s revelation of what true riches are all about. John connected his prayer for prosperity to the individual’s soul making it a matter of spiritual orientation. I believe a summary of teachings from our Bible would indicate that God would have each of us to serve Him with any and all that He provides to us. We are to put Him first in all things. John’s prayer could not have meant that only those who are God’s own but also have wonderful wealth and health are those whom God cares for and uses for His Kingdom’s work. That teaching, while prevalent, especially among the TV preaching crowd, is an absolute absurdity in view of the magnitude of revealed truth from The Scriptures.

God has given many the gifts and abilities to prosper financially in order for them to use what He has given to them for His honor and glory. He has provided health to us so that we can get up and go and do His bidding. At the same time, He can also use the poor, the destitute, the unhealthy, and those thought to be the down and out of this world because they may have spiritual wealth beyond measure and they may end up contributing more, (like the widow in Jesus’ story that gave her all, Luke 21:1-4), than the wealthiest in terms of their spiritual contributions. Those contributions by the way will last for all of time and eternity. Therefore, we can know the Apostle John had no worldly thoughts whenever he sought prosperity for his followers. This leads me to my prayer for you today: "I pray that you will prosper in all areas where God can infuse you with whatever you need to fulfill the life He has given to you to the extent that one day you will hear those most sought after words from His lips: “Well done my good and faithful servant.” (See Matthew 25:23) That’s my food for thought on this Tuesday. May God bless and keep each one. Amen. ……More later.