Message

 

“... and whatever he does shall prosper.”  Psalms 1:3 

Dearly beloved in Christ,

Greetings to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Man wants to accomplish so many things in his life to be blessed. He makes every effort to do his business and other endeavours in a successful way and to have a good yield. Some face defeat and disaster in what they undertake to do. They encounter loss and failure and close their enterprises. Sometimes they have to vacate their place of living. You may have also faced such a situation and be living in shame with questions as to why such a thing happened in your life. You may be shedding tears as there is no prosperity in what you do. You may be worried about your future and about what to do next. Dear child of God, are you in sorrows as a result of loss? The Lord wants to bless you today. He says, “... and whatever he does shall prosper.” (Gen. 50:21).

Dear child of God, it is time for you to consider your ways. Why things did not happen as you thought? Why this defeat? Examine yourself. “You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes.” (Haggai 1:6). Dear Brother/ Sister, you may be worried that this has happened in your life. Usually in agriculture, you sow a little but reap an abundance of it. But it is not so. Why nothing turns up your way? Even what you earn is put into bags with holes. Nothing remains. Everything is spent on interest and medicine. Why this? The Bible answers that you have left “this temple to lie in ruins” (Haggai 1:4). The word of the Lord also clarifies: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” (1 Cor. 3:16,17). Because the heart which is the temple of God is in ruins, there is failure. In life you meet with defeat, difficulties, loss and worries. Prophet Elijah was successful in what he did. King Ahab calls him “troubler of Israel.” ‘And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and have followed the Baals’ (1 Kings 18:18). Then he challenged the king to bring the prophets of Baal on whom he trusted. “Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD; and the God who answers by fire, He is God.” So all the people answered and said, “It is well spoken” (1 Kings 18:23-24). The prophets of Baal failed; but Elijah repaired the altar and called upon the Lord to answer with fire. He was successful. He killed the prophets of Baal. Today how is the altar of your heart? Is it filled with arrogance, jealousy, evil intention and wickedness? This altar has to be set right. Then only can the Lord bless you with success.

WHY YOU ARE NOT SUCCESSFUL?

1. Wrong Faith

“Indeed you will go forth from him with your hands on your head; For the LORD has rejected your trusted allies, and you will not prosper by them.” Jeremiah 2:37

Some have shifted their faith from the Creator to the created ones. That is the reason for their failures. Dear Brother/ Sister, on what have you laid your faith?

Once a Brother who was doing business came to me and told me that the business was not successful. There were no other shops there to compete and yet it had no business. He had made a lot of investment in it to make it attractive. There was more turnover, but the profit was not enough to meet the interest and other expenses. Then a few more shops also were established in the area leading to reduced sales. He was confused as to what to do. I told him that his faith was on wrong things. It was not pleasing to the Lord and therefore all his efforts were in vain. He had placed a lime fruit and some flowers in the money box of the shop. His faith was on those things. He thought that those things would bring prosperity. That is why he was unsuccessful.

Dear Brother/ Sister, your faith and hope should be in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then you would see a change in the trend.

2. Curse of Disobedience

“And you shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways; you shall be only oppressed and plundered continually, and no one shall save you.” Deut. 28:29

Curses descend as a result of not obeying the Word of the Lord. “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you.” (Deut. 28:15). Curse is one of the reasons for not being successful in life. All the statutes and instructions have been given to us for our good.  The Lord who said that He would bless us if we obey Him is alive. None of our acts are hidden from Him. Anything, whether overt or hidden, abhorrent to the Lord brings curse upon us. So what we do is not successful making us sad.

Once a family invited me for prayer. In that family of two sons and two daughters, there were many horrible things. The eldest daughter had not married and had got retired. The next daughter was also not married and was working in a Higher Secondary School. The elder son had got married, but had no issues. He was suffering from asthma. The last son was blessed with a son. As the house they were residing was not enough to accommodate them all, they started the construction of a house in the adjoining land. The house construction stopped in the middle. A few years also passed by. They had all the means to build it but it could not be completed. They asked why it was so. I began to share with them what the Lord revealed to me in prayer. I asked whether a twelve year old girl died in fire. The eldest man in the family told us that when he was 15 years old, there was a twelve year old girl in the family. Her parents had died. She would call his mother’s mother her aunt. Once she called him from a burning cottage. It was burning. But his mother’s mother did not allow him to rescue her. She died in it. She had equal share in the property. Only to gain it she had been burnt alive. This terrible act brought curse upon the family. So anything they did would not prosper. I told them to plead for forgiveness from the Lord. Then I left the family. We should not lust for the things of others. They had violated the command that they should not commit    murder. So they came under curse. Their efforts were unsuccessful.

Dear Brother/ Sister, if you trespass the commandments and the Word of the Lord, your life will be filled with curse and sufferings.

3. Evil Plots

“For they intended evil against You; They devised a plot which they are not able to perform.” Psalm 21:11

If we have the favour of the Lord in our lives, we will become unassailable and blessed. Psalm 21:7 says, “For the king trusts in the LORD, and through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved.” Our Lord shows favour to us out of His mercies. Jacob realizes it and says that he had crossed the Jordan with a staff but returned with two companies of people with lots of wealth. The life of Joseph is also a witness to this fact. The Bible says, “So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority” (Gen. 39:4). The Lord does everything. The Lord promised: “And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed.” (Exodus 3:21). This did happen that whatever they demanded from them they gave. When we have the favour of the Lord, everything happens in a wonderful way to make us rejoice.

4. Persecution of the Servants of God

“But the LORD is with me as a mighty, awesome One. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and will not prevail. They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper. Their everlasting confusion will never be forgotten.” Jeremiah 20:11

The Lord Jesus Christ has promised to be with us till the end of this world. When we sanctify us and invite Him in our lives, He will remain with us and bless us. The Lord is with us as a mighty, awesome One. Those who come against us to harm will stumble and fall. As they do not succeed in their evil designs, they will be put to shame. Today we find that the servants of the Lord are being persecuted in various ways.

Once I had been invited to do ministry in a place by a retired teacher. He shared with me what had happened the previous day. They had plans to bind him to a tree and to beat him. There was a man among them who wanted to beat him with a basket used for fishing. He went chasing him when his lungi prevented him and he fell and got injured. Then his old students also stood with him and saved him from that crowd.  Because they threw stone at the car of the servant of God, the wind glass was broken. The next day a brother came to the teacher’s house and confessed that he was the first to throw the stone that day. But he was greatly punished by the Lord for that act. His boat standing in still waters sunk into the ocean. He asked for forgiveness. He had to spend several lakhs of rupees to redeem it.

‘“No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is from Me,” says the LORD’ (Isaiah 54:17).

When the Lord is with us as a mighty and awesome One, those who come against us will stumble. They will not accomplish their evil designs and will be put to shame.

Thus there would be failure and shame in the lives of those who have faith in wrong things, those who work against the Lord by acts of disobedience, and those who devise evil against the servants of God. The Lord promises us today: “And whatever he does shall prosper.”

You may be in the process of arranging the marriage of your children, or trying to buy or build a house or extending your boundaries or business or laying a bore for water. Whatever be that, the Lord God will make it happen. He lives.

WHAT WE SHOULD DO FOR THINGS TO PROSPER?

1. Seek the Lord

“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.” Chronicles 26:5

Uzziah was made a king at the age of 16. As he sought the Lord in the days of Zechariah, God made him prosper in all that he did. “Now he went out and made war against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath, the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod; and he built cities around Ashdod and among the Philistines” (26:6).”And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the corner buttress of the wall; then he fortified them.” “Then Uzziah prepared for them, for the entire army, shields, spears, helmets, body armor, bows, and slings to cast stones. And he made devices in Jerusalem, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and large stones. So his fame spread far and wide, for he was marvelously helped till he became strong.” (2 Chr. 2:9,14,15). Thus he prospered in all that he did.

Dear child of God, the Lord who supplies your needs with nothing lacking in your life when you seek Him lives even today. He will guide in a wonderful way. You will be rid of all fears when you seek Him. When you seek Him, you will be blessed to have this exalted life.

Man seeks various things in order to have blessings. But, beloved in Christ, if you really decide to seek Him, He will guide you in a wonderful way and make things happen in your life. You will inherit the blessings of His promise.

Once a family came to me to pray for the weakness in their child to be removed. The child had the problem of constipation. They used soap at the anus to help it pass motion. The child was not able to bear it and would cry throughout the day. Even during night it would weep in fear of pain. I asked the parents to pray with unity of mind. They accepted my suggestion and prayed. The child began to defecate naturally. It began to sleep peacefully. Today we are worried about so many things in the life of our children. But if we parents seek the Lord in prayer for help with one mind, He will make wonderful things to happen in our lives.

2. Meditate upon the Word of the Lord

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Joshua 1:8

The words of the Lord are with spirit and life. We read: “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11).

Dear Brother/ Sister, the Lord God would lead those who meditate upon His Word and are mindful of them in all that they do. “...you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life ...” (Philippians 2:1,16). These words counsel and comfort. In Psalm 23, there is the reference to the rod and the staff of the Shepherd that comfort us. They are the words of blessings and promises of protection. They protect us so that no evil shall befall us. He sends His words and heals us. We do not fall into sin as the words caution us. It is said: “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (Psalm 119:11). The Bible assures: “Great peace have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble.” (Psalm 119:165). Psalm 39:3 says, “My heart was hot within me; While I was musing, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue.” All these blessings abound in the Word of the Lord and the statutes of the Bible. We can inherit these blessings through meditating upon them. Then all that we do would prosper.

I have seen persons succeeding and prospering in life through meditating the Word of the Lord. Let us meditate upon them day and night. All that we do would prosper.

3. The Way of Those Who Are Called by the Lord

“I, even I, have spoken; Yes, I have called him, I have brought him, and his way will prosper” Isaiah 48:15.

Jesus Christ makes His call for various things. These calls would remove all that we lack. He gave the clarion call: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). There is also the call to quench our thirst: ‘On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink”’ (John 7:37). 2 Peter 1:3 says, “as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.” The One who called us is faithful. Knowing the purpose of the call would establish us on a stable foundation. 1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” He has made us His own chosen generation. He is called us unto a holy life. He is holy; we also should be holy. We must be worthy of His calling.

The Lord heard the cry of the Israelites in Egypt and called Moses for delivering them. He walked according to the word of the Lord, and delivered the people of God by being a powerful tool in the hand of the Lord.

Dear Brother/ Sister, we should know that we have been called to inherit the blessings and let us commit to walk in His ways.

4. Those Who Walk With the Lord

“The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph’s authority, because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper.” Genesis 39:23

Our Lord Jesus Christ wants to be with us. We should also commit to have Him with us. Then He will make all that we do prosper. The Lord was with Joseph. He revealed to him what He was going to do to him in his life through a dream. As he shared the dream with his brothers, he gained their hatred. So he had to go through suffering. He was sold by his brothers to the Ishmaelite. From them Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, bought him. When he was in his house, his master saw that the Lord was with him and made everything prosper in his hands. So he left everything in his hands.

Dear Brother/ Sister, it should be possible for others to discern that the Lord is with you and He makes everything prosper in your hands. Your life should be so. Then you will be exalted. You would have promotion in your place of work. You will be given more responsibility which cannot be taken away by anyone. Thus you will be blessed.

Joseph feared the Lord and preserved his holiness. Temptation came. There was the call for sinning. He saved himself and did not yield. He ran away from sin. He asked himself how he could sin against the Lord. We should also be like him in running away from sin with the fear of the Lord. But he was put in prison unjustly. Even in jail, as the Lord was with him, the keeps of the prison could see that and left everything in his hands.

Dear Brother/ Sister, are you undergoing trials in your place of work, in your home, where you are? Are you oppressed like Joseph? Like Joseph, set aside all those things that the Lord detests. The Lord will work in the hearts of others so that they show favour to you in a special way as in the case of Joseph. Today devote your body, soul and spirit to the Lord so that the holy God would be with you. He will preserve you as the apple of the eye. Think of the love of Calvary and be filled with that love. Then the Lord who bore your weaknesses will make new life swell in you. He exalts the faithful. He lives. He who broke the yoke of bondage in the life of Joseph and exalted him as He had promised does not change. Commit your life to the Lord of glory to do glorious things in your life, and to guide you. Would you accept Him as your Lord and Saviour?

May the Lord bless us!

In the service of Christ,

Bro. C. Ebenezer Paul.