Sorry I haven’t posted anything in a while. I’ve been too busy building garden paths, working to complete real estate and remodeling deals and contemplating prosperity.

That contemplation began on April 29th, a date I will henceforth celebrate as ‘Prosperity Day.’

Two important things happened that day.

First, I paid off the balance of a business loan that had been crushing me like a giant python for 24 straight months thanks to accelerated payments demanded by the lender.

Second, my small business bank (no relation to the python lender) changed its name to Prosperity Bank.

As I made a deposit at my newly merged and re-branded bank on that momentous day I couldn’t help but identify with their name. Finally rid of an oppressive debt, my mind filled with thoughts of prosperity as my spirit swelled with faith toward achieving it.

At the same time I realized how heavy a toll The Great Recession of ’08-’12 had taken on my soul, beating down my hopes and visions (not to mention my income), leaving parts of me desolate – like certain long-neglected areas around my home that begged for cultivation in the form of much-needed pathways.

The first path we built provided a symbolic glimmer of the revival to come. Solid flagstones set firmly in formation across a barren stretch of yard where earlier materials had broken down and disintegrated. The rumblings of vision and faith had risen from the dust – literally.

Next was a larger and even longer ignored space to tackle, an utterly bare shaded area under trees where nothing grew and we rarely ventured. The time had come to create a pea-gravel pathway from side gate to front yard, along with borders and mulch to re-establish the greater shaded area.

Faith fueled vision which formed plans which provoked determined effort and teamwork. Prosperity was taking shape in material form – from dust and discouragement to confidence and direction.

The subject of prosperity gets a bad rap among evangelical Christians who often overreact against ‘prosperity preachers’ who espouse Name-it-and-claim-it theology and promote presumption and materialism in the name of ‘faith.’

Yet God promised prosperity to Adam and Eve in the garden, to Abraham, to Joseph, to the Israelites and to believers in Christ who follow his simple commands by faith – including the call to give our first and best to God in recognition of his provision to us and the blessing that results when we choose to be generous and faithful givers rather than fearful and distrusting hoarders.

Prosperity starts with faith. We must believe it’s possible, and even promised. The Hebrew word Shalom speaks not just to ‘peace’ but to an all-inclusive state of prosperity.

A spark of faith can ignite an impoverished urchin to find a way out of squalor and into economic stability thru education, an eye for opportunity or sheer force of will. This spark can re-ignite a wounded warrior, an out-of-work executive or anyone in any situation no matter how desolate or bleak. With God all things are possible. We must believe it to see it.

I heard recently of an impoverished woman in South Chicago, a single mother of three little boys, a longtime drug abuser and brand new believer who heard a preacher’s message of faith. After the service she asked if he thought she could ever realize her dream of becoming a nurse. He pulled her away from some well-meaning women advising her against such impossible dreams and told her she could IF she made serious changes.

Twenty years later the same woman met the same preacher and reported the power of his words and of the faith they ignited.  She had made changes and worked day and night to study and become a nurse and raise her boys the right way and had ultimately become head nurse at a prestigious Chicago hospital. Her boys earned football scholarships to major universities and graduated with honors, with two going on to play pro football and the third well on his way. By faith she had become prosperous.

Your path to prosperity starts with faith. Yes, you can get there. Yes, you can climb out of debt or change your direction, your environment, your health, your family or your financial condition. You’re not doomed, you’re destined. It’s possible! Believe it, then let your vision form. Then make your plans, increase your efforts and build your team.

We settle all-too-easily for poverty, in all its forms. This stems from our natural ‘orphan’ mind-set, rather than our royal adoption in Christ. (Read my book, God’s Spirit of Adoption, for more on this.)

Here’s something to remember: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that through his poverty you might become rich.” (II Cor 8:9)

Let’s pray:

Thank you Heavenly Father that you prosper us by your Spirit and grant us favor for honoring your son. Thank you Jesus for lifting us out of the mire and grafting us into the line of Abraham by faith and into his legacy of blessing, both spiritual and material. Help us to create pathways to prosperity thru faith and vision, anointed plans, effort and teamwork. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

Got any related thoughts or experiences?  Please comment at the bottom of the page.

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