Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “A prosperous life”
Our Bible verse for today: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “This is why a prosperous life matters so much.”
It has always been Jesus’ plan to carry out His kingdom-building work through His followers. In addition to dying upon the cross to pay the penalty for the sins of the world, another purpose of His was to raise-up followers to carry on His work once He returned to heaven.
All throughout His ministry years we see Him preparing that first group of followers to carry on with the work once He was gone. That’s what the Great Commission is all about. That’s what Jesus was referring to in Acts 1:8. But in order to carry on with His work of blessing others, sharing the Good News, and drawing others into the family of God, His followers would have to be focused on others rather than on themselves.
All this month we’ve been considering what a truly prosperous life looks like in Biblical terms. We’ve learned that although it may be prosperous to some degree in terms of worldly wealth, true prosperity from God’s perspective consists of a heart that is overflowing with the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). It’s a life of service as the person works to bless others (Matthew 25:31-40). It’s a life that is fairly low maintenance (1 Timothy 6:6-8; 1 Thessalonians 4:10-12). And it is a life lived by a person who has learned to be content (Philippians 4:10-13).
When a follower of Jesus is prospering in Biblical terms, that person is well-equipped and in the right frame of mind to help carry on the Lord’s kingdom-building work. Such a person is not overly preoccupied with or distracted by the cares of life. Such a person has a buoyant and cheerful disposition and they are living a life that is attractive to those who need to be reached with the Gospel.
That right there is a key point. Are you living a life that unsaved people are likely to admire and be attracted to? When they observe you do they see a kind and compassionate person who truly cares about others and who goes out of their way to bless others? This is what a truly prosperous life looks like and it will be the subject of our final message on this topic tomorrow.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 