Prosperity And Success

Joshua 1: 8-9

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. 
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

God made this Earth for us, then made us of it. He put into this World everything that we need because He loves us and He wants us to love Him back and enjoy all His provision. So He gave His rules for cooperating with how He designed this World to function. 

He told Joshua here that if he would study His Word, and immerse his consciousness in how all the stipulations work together, thinking about it day and night; then he will understand how God is our Source, and he will be able to have the abundance this World will provide and enjoy prosperity. 

We would be well advised to also follow this direction God gave Joshua. 

When we read the Bible, and think about how all 66 books together give the whole story of this Earth from beginning to end, and it's all His story (History); then we will be able to put it all together to cooperate with our Lord in honoring Him and loving our neighbor, doing all the good we can for one another, operating our businesses with integrity, and enjoying wholesome leisure with one another. This is the prescription for a good, healthy, productive and satisfactory life (Ecclesiastes 5:18-20). 

Jesus told us to ask, seek, and knock (Matthew 7:7 and Luke 11:9). 

To ask, we need to know what to ask for; what is it we need? What has the Bible told us to ask for? When we know God, then we'll know the kinds of things He wants to give us. Then we'll ask Him and He will give them to us to enjoy. 

To seek is to go after whatever it is we're wanting, not just sit around waiting for it to come. Do we want it enough to put the effort into seeking it? Is it our passion? 

To knock is to actually do what needs to be done. To be active and energetic in making it happen. We don't do it on our own, we're not alone in accomplishing this, but if we're lazy in waiting for someone (or Someone) else to do it, then we're not doing our part. 

Then when we ask, and we seek, and we knock; and we know that God hears us and sees that we are serious, then He will move Heaven and Earth to make our desires come true for us (I John 5:14-15). 

Then He will smile on us as a father enjoys his children. He is our Father, and He wants us to have everything we want. But He won't spoil us, and He won't give us anything that would harm us. 

Sometimes what He allows hurts. But in the end, it is all for our good (Romans 8:28). 

And He will get all the glory for what He has accomplished in us and through us, in His Kingdom that will last forever!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!