Do you believe that God wants to bless you and give you the desires of your heart? Have you spoken frankly and openly with God about where you want to go in life, about what you want to do, about how you may serve humankind?
Do you know what God is looking for in your life? Do you know how God expects you to live? Do you agree that you should live in harmony with God’s will?
Are you willing to believe that following God does not mean that you have to abandon your goals? Do you believe that God partners with you to give you fulfillment?
To answer some of these questions, look at some of God’s promises included in Scripture. In Jeremiah 29:11-13 it says:
“11For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
———————————————————
Excerpted from Compton’s Interactive Bible NIV
Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved
This certainly does not sound like God the Scrooge, does it? Do these verses from Jeremiah make you think that God wants you to live as a pauper, scraping by from paycheck to paycheck?
Do you think that God wants you to lack self-confidence, to have a poor self-image, to be negative and pessimistic and cynical? Is that what God wants?
As it is said in the vernacular, “Hell No!”
God is honored when we walk confidently and successfully through life.
Hear what God has to say through the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:15-29
15To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19″After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. `Master,’ he said, `you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’
21″His master replied, `Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
22″The man with the two talents also came. `Master,’ he said, `you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’
23″His master replied, `Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
24″Then the man who had received the one talent came. `Master,’ he said, `I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
26″His master replied, `You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28″ `Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.
———————————————————
Excerpted from Compton’s Interactive Bible NIV
Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved
I guess God is serious about the fact that we should make the most of what God has given us. God wants a return on his investment in us. God is pleased when he sees us developing our skills, reaching out to others in love, striving for and achieving personal goals.
When God sees us taking care of what we have, no matter how small it may seem, God is quick to give us greater responsibilities and greater prosperity.
Please understand me. God loves the poor, God loves the downtrodden, God loves the persecuted, and God loves the humble.
How much stuff we have is not a reflection of how much God loves us. The size of our house in no way indicates how dear we are to God. There are many that are filthy rich that are far from the heart of God, and there are many that are dirt poor who are close to the heart of God.
God stands ready to bless us richly. In fact, God made us a promise that if we give generously of our time, talents, and money, God will give us far more back than we will ever give away. This promise from God is in his word at Luke 6:38:
“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
We serve a big God who wants to do great things through us.
Let’s trust in God’s promises of blessing and prosperity, and let’s be cheerful, generous givers. We must rely on God to fill your storehouses so that we can continue to empty our storehouses for the benefit of those we touch!
We love because God first loved us, and we give generously because God has given generously to us.
If we want to succeed in life, if we want to reach our goals, if we want God to bless and enrich our lives, we would do well to be vessels through which God can bless and enrich others.