Prosper

Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will prosper in everything you do.

- Joshua 1:7

So often we undermine the importance of obedience. This world has a tendency to make you believe that everything is negotiable, that you can bargain with God. We always want to pick and choose where we listen to God and where we do what we want and “it’s not that deep,” it’s how the world introduced the white lie, we start to qualify and quantify sins, which God never did, He simply required that we keep all His laws and commands.

At almost all point when God is talking about how a man makes his ways prosperous, God is calling for obedience to His word. Our problem so often is separating our understanding of biblical constructs with the worlds definition. It is hard to live a prosperous life in God when you are defining prosperity the way the world does. It will mislead you into thinking that God’s way fails to bring true prosperity.

The world defines prosperity as: being successful or fortunate, especially in financial respects. God looks at prosperity as growth in all areas pertaining to your life in Him. So consistently He talks of obedience to all of His laws because God doesn’t want you to just grow in one aspect of who you are but in all that you do, in all that you put your hands to and in all that you are.

“…till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;”

- Ephesians 4:13

The goal of prosperity is that we grow in the full stature of Christ, not that you have an excessive bank account. Yes, prosperity includes financial growth, because it is total growth.

Joseph aligned Himself with God and remained in His presence at all times, made sure he did not disobey God because of his circumstances and because of that God prospered him in all that he did. Everything Joseph did, grew him, built him up, drew him closer to who God had called him to be.

There are two words often translated to prosper in the Bible, the first one being the Hebrew word “tsâlach” which means to push forward, to break out. God is saying by this that when He prospers you there will always be growth, you will advance in all that you when you obey Me and seek Me.

“He sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God; and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.”

- 2 Chronicles 26:5

As long as you seek Him, He will advance you, He will give you breakthrough. In every area you commit to God, God will push you to a new level.

The second word translated to prosper is the Hebrew word, “śâkal” which means to have good success and to act with insight, with wisdom. This says a lot, God is saying prosperity comes from acting in accordance with the wisdom He gives. This is why He constantly says you will have success when you seek Him and obey his laws. Prosperity comes when you act in alignment with what He tells you. The measure of a mans capacity for prosperity aligns with his heart posture to both seek and obey God.