"Prosperous and successful"

Regardless of my broken English, this time, I’ll write in English.

Again, it’s my own insights and sharing. So, I may have written and interpreted it wrongly. Yet I want to write it down, because I feel that if it could encourage others, why not writing it down?

Prosperous and successful. Like every preacher, I would ask: Do you want to be prosperous and successful? Haha.. Obviously, today I’m going to share a few verses talking about prosperous and successful.

Now, before crossing the Jordan River, the LORD told Joshua: “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” (Joshua 1:6)

Do you still remember what did your parents tell you before coming to Singapore? (For those who did not understand my 1^st post, I refer the Jordan River as Selat Tebrau, meaning that Jericho is Singapore to us) I still remember what my parents told me. They told me a lot of things. They asked me to spend my money carefully, study well and other stuff.

God is also our father. Before Joshua led the Israelites to cross the river, what did God, as a father to Joshua, tell him? Imagine that the Israelites are now going to a new land. They will have a lot of worries. They are afraid that it will be as what happened few generations ago, that they will become slaves of another nation. God did not choose to be silent. God deliberately spoke to Joshua so that as a leader, Joshua would know what to do. God gave Joshua a promise.

God did not tell him: “Train the people so that they are able to win all the wars.” But God told Joshua, “Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you.” God is saying, “you obey me, and I will lead you to victory.” God is not trying to draw a border line for Joshua. God is also not trying to say, “Joshua, you must do this and do that, or else I’ll punish you.” Then why did God say so? Because God wants to ensure that Joshua will be successful. “you may be successful wherever you go.”

God was telling Joshua: “Be strong and courageous, son! I led you forefathers out of Egypt, and now I will lead you to the new land. I want you to be successful; therefore I’m telling you how to become successful!” Refer to the verses, first, God said, “Be careful to obey all the law…”, then “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night…”, lastly “so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.”

If you carefully look at the verse, you will find that we can’t be monks, staying isolated at the high mount (hall 10) or at isolated places (hall 7), only to “meditate on it day and night” to fulfill what God tells us to do. We need to “meditate on it day and night” SO THAT we “may be careful to DO everything written in it.”

God wants us to do.

Do what? “everything written in it.”

What is “it”? “it” is the “Book of the Law”.

Why? Because God cares for you, and he wants you to “be prosperous and successful.”

Meditation helps you remember that God’s promises. Meditation helps you to set clear your path. “Meditation lets God speak to you.” We meditate because we want to remember what we should do.

Have you heard of people asking such question: “I literally obey all the laws; I turn neither to left nor right. I did not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; I meditate on it day and night; and I carefully do everything written in it; but why am I not prosperous and successful yet?” You may also hear a lot of comments from a lot of unbelievers saying that, “If the promise is true, then all the Christians are trillionaires; if not, then it is either the Bible is not true, or they are not true Christians.”

How are you going to counter all these questions? Let’s look at what Jesus said. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:19-20)

The main problem with them is that they misinterpret the words “prosperous and successful.” Often people will think that “prosperous and successful” must have something to do with power, money, and fame. God wants us to store our treasures in heaven. We may not live well on earth, and we may even suffer on earth, and yet we can still be “prosperous and successful,” because we understand no thieves can steal our treasure in heaven.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21)

-Ljuan-