Never Forget the Pitfalls of Prosperity

Positioned to Prosper – Part 6

What Does It Mean to Prosper?

The word "prosper" in the Greek literally means "to help on the road" or "succeed in reaching." It means to advance, make progress, succeed, or be profitable.

It is very clear from this definition that prosperity is more than money and the accumulation of wealth, but rather an ongoing state of success that touches every area of our lives. It means to have nothing missing and nothing lacking. You can have wealth with no health and you are not prosperous.

If you can make what's important to God important to you, God will make what's important to you important to Him.

3 John 2 (AMP)

Beloved, I pray that in every way you may succeed and prosper and be in good health [physically], just as [I know] your soul prospers [spiritually].

To handle more, I have to build my ability to carry more weight.

Psalm 35:27 (AMP)

Let them shout for joy and rejoice, who favor my vindication and want what is right for me; Let them say continually, "Let the Lord be magnified, who delights and takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant."

Why would God delight in the prosperity of His people?

A Reminder of Humility

While ruling Rome, Marcus Aurelius was concerned he might let his power go to his head. Every time a citizen bowed a knee or called out a word of praise, Marcus Aurelius instructed his servant to whisper this reminder in his ear: "You're just a man. You're just a man."

Five Blessings of Prosperity

Deuteronomy 8:1-5 (MSG)

Keep and live out the entire commandment that I'm commanding you today so that you'll live and prosper and enter and own the land that God promised to your ancestors.

Everyone say: LIVE OUT

Enter and own—meaning you have a part to play in this.

Remember every road that God led you on for those forty years in the wilderness, pushing you to your limits, testing you so that he would know what you were made of, whether you would keep his commandments or not. He put you through hard times.

Everyone say: REMEMBER

This lets us know God will try us with hard times to test our obedience.

He made you go hungry. Then he fed you with manna, something neither you nor your parents knew anything about, so you would learn that men and women don't live by bread only; we live by every word that comes from God's mouth. Your clothes didn't wear out and your feet didn't blister those forty years. You learned deep in your heart that God disciplines you in the same ways a father disciplines his child.

The Benefits of Obedience

Deuteronomy 8:6-9 (MSG)

So it's paramount that you keep the commandments of God, your God, walk down the roads he shows you and reverently respect him.

Again, He reminds them about keeping the law.

God is about to bring you into a good land, a land with brooks and rivers, springs and lakes, streams out of the hills and through the valleys. It's a land of wheat and barley, of vines and figs and pomegranates, of olives, oil, and honey. It's land where you'll never go hungry—always food on the table and a roof over your head. It's a land where you'll get iron out of rocks and mine copper from the hills.

Deuteronomy 8:12-13

• Eat to the full
• Goodly houses filled with good things
• Multiplied herds and flocks
• Multiplied silver and gold
• Multiplied blessings of every kind

Don't Forget God

Deuteronomy 8:10-16 (MSG)

After a meal, satisfied, bless God, your God, for the good land he has given you. Make sure you don't forget God, your God, by not keeping his commandments, his rules and regulations that I command you today. Make sure that when you eat and are satisfied, build pleasant houses and settle in, see your herds and flocks flourish and more and more money come in, watch your standard of living going up and up—make sure you don't become so full of yourself and your things that you forget God, your God.

God reminds them of what He did for them:

• The God who delivered you from Egyptian slavery
• The God who led you through that huge and fearsome wilderness, those desolate, arid badlands crawling with fiery snakes and scorpions
• The God who gave you water gushing from hard rock
• The God who gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never heard of, in order to give you a taste of the hard life, to test you so that you would be prepared to live well in the days ahead of you

Remember the Source

Deuteronomy 8:17-18 (MSG)

If you start thinking to yourselves, "I did all this. And all by myself. I'm rich. It's all mine!"—well, think again. Remember that God, your God, gave you the strength to produce all this wealth so as to confirm the covenant that he promised to your ancestors—as it is today.

Two Temptations of Prosperity

Temptation #1: Pride and Self-Exaltation

Deuteronomy 8:17-19 warns of the tendency to forget God as the cause of blessings and turning to reliance upon self and personal ability.

1 Timothy 6:17-18 (AMP)

As for the rich in this present world, instruct them not to be conceited and arrogant, nor to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly and ceaselessly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, willing to share [with others].

1 Timothy 6:17-19 (MSG)

Tell those rich in this world's wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they'll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.

Temptation #2: Forgetting God's Faithfulness

The danger of prosperity is not just pride in present success, but forgetting God's faithfulness in past struggles. When your standard of living goes up, make sure your gratitude doesn't go down.

Discussion Questions

1. The "You're Just a Man" Reminder: Marcus Aurelius had a servant remind him of his humanity during moments of praise and power. What practical "reminder system" can you put in place to keep yourself humble as God blesses and prospers you? Who in your life has permission to speak truth to you when pride starts creeping in?
2. Remembering the Wilderness: Deuteronomy 8 repeatedly instructs Israel to "remember" the wilderness—the hard times God used to test and prepare them. What difficult season in your past did God use to shape your character and dependence on Him? How does remembering that season help you stay grounded in current or future prosperity?
3. The Gratitude Test: The passage warns against thinking "I did all this. And all by myself. I'm rich. It's all mine!" when prosperity comes. Be honest—in what areas of your success are you tempted to take credit rather than acknowledge God's provision? What specific blessings do you need to more consistently thank God for?
4. When Blessings Multiply: Deuteronomy 8:12-13 describes multiplied houses, herds, silver, gold, and a rising standard of living. The warning is that increased blessing can lead to increased forgetfulness of God. As your income, influence, or comfort has increased over the years, has your dependence on God increased proportionally, or has it decreased? What's the evidence?
5. Extravagant Generosity vs. Obsession with Money: 1 Timothy 6:19 (MSG) calls the wealthy to be "extravagantly generous" rather than "obsessed with money." On a scale of 1-10, where would you rate your current generosity? What would it look like for you to move toward extravagant generosity with the resources God has entrusted to you? What specific step could you take this week?

A Final Warning

Deuteronomy 8:19 (MSG)

If you do forget, forget God, your God, and start taking up with other gods, serving and worshiping them, I'm on record right now as giving you firm warning: that will be the end of you. I mean it—destruction. You'll go to your doom—the same as the nations God is destroying before you; doom because you wouldn't obey the Voice of God, your God.