Secret of Prosperity And Abundance
Every
human being on earth desires prosperity. After being prosperous, we won’t want
it to end like that, thus, we would strive to have more of it, we would want it
to be in abundance, wanting it to continue to flow, because it is when
something continues to flow that one can have it in abundance. Consider a
business person who has X material in stock, maybe this person has gotten the
material in stock for weeks or months, but the demand for it has not been high and
suddenly something happens and the demand for the thing soar. If this business
person cannot be replacing the quantity being sold, it is sure that he will
soon run out of stock of the material and he will have to go to the market.
If
for any reasons this business person does not know that the price of the good
has changed and increased and he sold the material at the old and lower price
he would have himself to blame, because the gains made, and his initial capital
may not be able to buy the quantities sold back. This business person does not
have the goods in abundance immediately it gets out of stock.
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| Tree planted by the riverside is always productive |
For
the business person to have the goods in abundance, he must be able to be
replacing the goods sold after being sold. There is an example of this in the
book of second Kings chapter 4. The author of the book shared with the world an
incident of a woman who lost her husband who happened to be one of the sons of
the prophets, in other words this man was among the prophets in Israel, and
according to records of the bible we know that most of the prophets living in
Israel live comfortably or averagely so to say. They hardly go lacking because
by supernatural means, God usually meets with their needs.
For
only God knows why, this man despite doing his best to obey the injunctions of
Yahweh as associated with his office as well as the rules of the land could not
meet with the required basic necessities of life. Maybe it was not yet his time
for him to be blessed because there is time for everything under the sun.
“To every thing there is a season, and a time
to every purpose under the heaven” (Ecc. 3:1)
Maybe
God wants him to learn some lessons before he blessed him or changed his
fortune this was not clearly stated in the bible. What however was clear was that
this woman’s hubby was of the order of the sons of the prophets.
This
man got married to his wife and they had two children before the unfortunate
happened. Before his demise when he could not meet with the basic needs of his
home, he went and take loan to keep his family up and running. Sadly, before
this man could repay the loan taken, he died.
Whether
the man who lend the prophet the money knew or not that the prophet had given
up the ghost could not be said. I want to assume that he knew and gave the
woman a breathing space before going to her to go and ask for the repayment of
the loan.
When
he got the wife of the son of the prophet, he probably showed the woman the
agreement binding the loan that if she couldn’t pay up, her children would be
taken away.
This
widow has nothing neither did her husband left anything behind to inherit nor
anything that she could sell to repay the loan. She however pleaded with the
lender to give her sometimes to run around and if nothing could be done, he can
come and take the children away. With this new agreement, the lender left the
woman.
After
he left this woman went to prophet Elijah’s successor, prophet Elisha to tell
him what she was facing. Prophet Elijah’s successor asks her for what she has
at home and she told him that a pot of oil was all she has left in her house.
The
man of God answered her that “very well, that is more than enough for the Lord
to work with. Your part in the changes is that you will go and borrow as many
pots as you can and after borrowing those pots then close the door behind you
and start pouring the oil into the pots. Did you understand me?” Prophet Elisha
asked her.
The
widow replied that he understood what the man of God said, appreciated him and
left his presence. She set the ball rolling immediately went to her neighbors
far and nigh to borrow pots. She borrowed as many pots as she could, being
assisted by her sons, they returned to their homes and she closed the door
behind her and started doing what the prophet commanded to do.
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| Widow Pour oil into pot being assisted by children |
What
she discovered was that the oil never runs out until when the she runs out of
the pots. That was when the flow of the oil stopped.
“Now there cried
a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying,
Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the
LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.
“And Elisha said
unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And
she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.
“Then he said,
Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.
“And when thou
art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt
pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full.
“So she went
from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured
out.
“And it came to
pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a
vessel. And he said unto her, There is
not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.
“Then she came
and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and
live thou and thy children of the rest.” (2 Kings 4: 1-7)
What
I wish for us to see here is that when there is a constant flow of something,
one would be in abundance but if the flow stops, the abundance will be no more.
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| Widow, Son and Prophet Elisha |
Definitions
Shall
we see the meaning of prosperity, abundance and secret from dictionary? Prosperity
is defined as state of being successful especially financially while abundance
is large quantity (of something) that is more than enough. One of the
definitions of secret by the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary is “the best
(or only) way to achieve something”.
Types
We
shall see that the definitions of prosperity and abundance are in tandem with
the brief introductory words into the topic above. However, before I use the
spiritual digger to dig the earth of this topic, I want to say that we have two
types of prosperity and abundance; the good and the bad types.
a) Good Type of Prosperity and Abundance: The good type is intertwined with peace that surpasses all human
understanding
“And the peace
of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:7)
This
kind of prosperity and abundance has no associated sorrow because it is God who
has release his blessings upon the person. When the bible says, the blessing
that makes rich is with no additional sorrow, it doesn’t mean that the person
would not sweat before getting the blessings, no that is not what it means.
No
one in the can escape sweating before acquiring whatever he or she wants to
acquire in the world. Even if you are working under the best of all
environment, working at home like bloggers and authors, you will still sweat
because you will task your brain and immediately you begin to task your brain
on a certain thing, you have started sweating.
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| Sweating |
So,
the sorrow being talked about in this book of proverbs is not talking about
sweating. If this is not talking about sweating, we will now ask ourselves that
what does the sorrow stated by King Solomon connotes in his book?
Sorrow
Holman
Bible Dictionary says, Hebrew does not have a general word for sorrow. Rather
it uses about fifteen different words to express the different dimensions of
sorrow. Sorrow, means emotional, mental, or physical pain or stress. Some speak
to emotional pain as found in Psalms 13:2. Trouble and sorrow were not meant to
be part of the human experience. Humanity's sin brought sorrow to them (Genesis
3:16-19). Sometimes sorrow can be a sign of God chastising His people for their
sin (Amos 4:6-12). To remove sorrow, the prophets urged repentance that led to
obedience (Joel 2:12-13; Hos. 6:6).
Strong’s
Dictionary says the Hebrew word used for sorrow in the book of proverbs 10:22
is “עצב”is “‛etseb”
(pronounced as eh'-tseb) which means usually
(painful) toil; also a pang (whether of body or mind): grievous,
idol, labor, sorrow.
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| Family in sorrow of mind |
W. L. Walker of biblestudytools.com says,
the Old Testament has very many words translated "sorrow," sor'-o
(chebhel, yaghon, makh'obh, etc.) those named being the most frequent; in the
New Testament "sorrow" is usually the translation of lupe (Luke
22:45; John 16:6). In the book of Revelation 18:7 and 21:4 “penthos” which is
the word for sorrow is translated mourning in Revised Version. TheRevised
Version frequently gives a more literal rendering of the words used, as
"toil" (Gen. 3:17), "pangs" (Exod. 15:14),
"pining" (Deut. 28:65), "distress" (Isa. 5:30),
"lamentation" (Isa. 29:2), etc.; sometimes also it uses
"sorrow" for other words, as for "grief" (2 Chron. 6:29;
Psa. 31:10).
It is a known fact that sorrow or grief is
sometimes necessary for discipline, for the development of the finer feelings
and higher nature of the soul and spirit (Ecc. 7:3) of a
man. This kind of treatment is used by parents and masters in this part of the
world to discipline their subjects when they are misbehaving. God can as well
employ such to deal with his children when they are not doing what he expects
them to do.
Google says toil means "work" (in
both its noun and verb forms), it usually has the added meaning of hard
work, especially physical labor.
Having seen what the word sorrow means from
the Hebrew context and the meaning of toil, I want to say that we can see that
the sorrow that King Solomon is referring to that the blessings of God are not
associated with in this book is “pains: emotional, mental or physical”. From
the inception the work that Adam was doing in the garden was not associated
with pains, he was doing it joyfully, happily without any forms of stress. This
is what the Lord wants to restore to those who follow him, to the believers yea
his children. This he will restore unto you if you are sincerely his. He will
give you a blessing that is not associated with hard labor or stress or pains
in any form whatsoever.
May I try to show us the kind of hard work
that our blessings will not be associated with if we are his’. There was an
incident which Physician Luke documented in the fifth chapter of his book of
Simon and his brothers who have toiled throughout the night doing what they
know how to do best, but none the less their efforts yielded nothing.
“And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have
toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will
let down the net.” (Luk. 5:5)
This is what it means to toil, to do hard
work. You labor so much before you can get little it is a form of curse.
“Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and
shalt gather but little in; for
the locust shall consume it.
“Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat
them.
“Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy
coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself
with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his
fruit.
“Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt
not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity.
“All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust
consume.” (Deut. 28: 38-42)
This kind of curse which the fall of man
brought unto man, which the mistake our fore-parents made in the garden brought
on all mankind is what the Lord wants to remove from our lives, the believers’
lives, that is why the blessings of the Lord added no sorrows to it.
John Gill’s in Biblestudytools.com while
writing on this, “The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, ….” (Prov. 10:22a)
says riches are from the Lord and should be acknowledged as such and not
attributed to the industry, diligence, sagacity and merit of men, but should be
looked upon as had through the blessing of the Lord upon the labors of men; and
when they come as a blessing and with one; it may be understood of being made
rich n a spiritual sense; it is the blessing, good will and favor of god, that
makes men rich in Christ; that bestows upon them his unsearchable riches; that
enriches them with all spiritual blessings in him; that makes them rich in
faith and in good works and with the riches of grace and of glory…
“… and he addeth no sorrow with it.” (Prov. 10:22b) no sorrow goes along with the blessing, but what is
a blessing itself, as one observes; riches enjoyed through blessing of God are
not attended with that sorrow in getting, keeping and losing them, as the
riches of wicked men unlawfully gotten are; (1 Tim 6:9-10) for as the good man
comes by them easily, without any anxious care and sinful solitude, he seeking
the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all these things are added to him,
over and above, without much thought about them, or expectation of them (Matt.
6:33); so it is with great delight, pleasure, and cheerfulness, he enjoys them
and readily communicates them to others; while the wicked man is full of
anxiety, distress and sorrow (Ecc. 5:12, 13; 5:18, 6:2). This is eminently true
of spiritual riches; there is no sorrow attending them; the fruit and effect of
them are peace, joy and comfort”
And Keith Simons on this verse, “The
blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.” (Prov.
10:22) says, “if God gives wealth to a good person, then this is good news for
everyone. By his kindness, god is good to the rich man and his friends and
neighbors. Everyone benefits, because the man will use his wealth wisely. He is
generous. This rich man does not worry, because he trusts God to protect him.
An evil man’s wealth brings troubles everyone suffers because he uses the money
for his evil purposes”
David Guzik says, bridges compared this
principle, “The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with
it.” (Prov. 10:22) with that of proverb 10:4, “He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of
the diligent maketh rich.” He says the one notes the primary source of
the wealth; the other points to the instrumental source of wealth. Neither can
be effective without the other.
He continues by saying that the sluggard
looks for prosperity without diligence; the atheist looks for prosperity only
from being diligent.
He says this on “… and he addeth no sorrow with
it,” (Prov. 10:22) that this is greater blessing upon smaller
blessings. To receive riches from god is to be blessed; to have riches without
the sorrow that often come with them is an even greater blessing. There are
many rich people who are miserable and have great sorrow along with their
riches.
Guzik says that Trapp in his write up on
this says, ““… he addeth no sorrow with it.” (Prov. 10:22) means that those three vultures shall be
driven away that constantly feed on the wealthy worldling’s heart – care in
getting, fear in keeping, grief in losing the things of this life. God gives to
his (own) wealth without woe, store without sore, gold without guilt”.
Bridges in his case relates this portion, “….
he addeth no sorrow with it.” (Prov. 10:22b) with Lot and Ahab. Lot’s
covetous choice was fraught with bitterness (2 Pet. 2:8) and Ahab wore a crown
but lay on his sickbed discontented (1 King 21:4). We should always know that
the rich man’s rejection of Christ was the source of present and everlasting
sorrow (Luke 18:23-25)
As I was saying earlier, when tasking your
brain, thinking about something that is no pain because when you begin to see
green lights on what you are thinking about or thinking upon you will be happy,
but there is no pain that would bring happiness to anyone in the world. It is
tears, cries, that are associated with pains, either emotional or not.
Think about this, for we read about
Archimedes, a physicist who has been thinking about something for long and one
day while taking his bathe, an incident happened which made him happy and he
said Eureka, he has found answer to what he has been looking for, for sometimes
because the thought never got off his brain. That is an example of a person who
tasks his brain, someone who sweats to get what he wanted and which he got.
This was not associated with sorrow, grief and or anguish. It shouldn’t be seen
as being related to it.
- This kind of prosperity and abundance makes one happy, it brings
continuous joy to the person’s heart as well as people associated with him.
- This type of prosperity and abundance gives peace that passes understanding
because the person on whom such has been bequeathed knows Yahweh, Christ Jesus,
whose wisdom, knowledge, understanding, wealth is limitless.
You may want to say that the people of the
world, unbelievers in Jesus Christ are also prosperous and living in abundance,
does it mean that they don’t have this kind of peace being described here? Yes,
it is true that unbelievers from the ages past have been making it, God has
been blessing them because the bible says no one on earth can receive anything
except such be released unto the person from on high.
“John answered and said, A man can receive nothing,
except it be given him from heaven.” (Joh. 3:27)
God allows them to be blessed too because
the rain that falls on the good also falls on the bad people, no discrepancy,
neither any form of discrimination by God in that.
“That ye may be the children of your Father which is
in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and
sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”
(Matt. 5:45)
As he created us with our faculties intact,
our brain in-situ, so did he create them too. He has given us all brain to
think, reason and do things and as long as anyone employs the use of these
well, such people will receive the associated benefits without fear or favor.
These follow normal or natural sequence so
to say, but these natural sequences are not associated with the spiritual
sequence that is associated with peace that supersedes all human thoughts.
Think about these biblical examples. During
the time of Isaac, it was stated that God made him rich, in the meanwhile it
was also noted that the kings of the neighboring countries (towns) were also
rich. However, their kind of wealth followed the natural order, thus they
envied Isaac and fought with him and his servants on many occasions, but
because Isaac knows Elohim, God of his father, the God who made his father
wealthy he was not perturbed by all that they were doing and would just ask his
servants to leave it for them, relocating to another area to go and start
afresh. (Gen. 26) This is an associated prosperity that enjoys peace that
transcends all understanding.
Another example was the case of King
Solomon, King David’s heir the person who ascends the throne after him. He did
what surprised God and Yahweh asked him to ask of what e wanted. He asked for
wisdom to rule the people of Yahweh right and God finds this reply to be a rare
ask, he thence told him that accompanied with what he asked he is going to give
him blessings, wealth such as not possessed by anyone before neither after him.
This did happen during his time for we read
that there was peace in the nation of Israel, he was given peace that could not
be stated, as well as the entire country because they were under a good
leadership.
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| Temple in Jerusalem |
However, other kings in other lands,
neighboring lands then were also rich, prosperous, but they did not have the
kind of peace that King Solomon and the country had.
“In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by
night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
“And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant
David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and
in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for
him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne,
as it is this day.
“And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant
king instead of David my father: and I am
but a little child: I know not how
to go out or come in.
“And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great
people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.
“Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to
judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to
judge this thy so great a people?
“And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had
asked this thing.
“And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this
thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for
thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself
understanding to discern judgment;
“Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I
have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like
thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
“And I have also given thee that which thou hast not
asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings
like unto thee all thy days.
“And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes
and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy
days.” (1 King 3:5 -14)
I do hope we see something here, so the
people who do not believe in Yahweh neither in Jesus could also make it and
that exceptionally too, but their kinds of wealth or prosperity would not be
associated with peace that passes all understanding like those who believe in
Yahweh.
b)
Bad Type of Prosperity And Abundance: this kind of
prosperity and abundance is usually associated with grief and anguish of mind
or souls. One of the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary definitions of grief
is “problems and worries”. The kind of people possessing this kind of wealth
worry too much and the bible says, who of you by worrying can add a single
second to his life?
“Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto
his stature?” (Matt. 6:27)
Adding a second to our life span on earth
maybe considered out of our human reach, but we may think well height is
associated with growth, height is associated with what we feed on, the hormones
in our bodies most especially the growth hormone according to physiologists.
But Jesus is herein saying that no amount of artificial growth hormone infused
into man’s systems would add a cubit to the person’s height.
Assuming this is possible that our heights
could be changed by growth hormones alone, there won’t be dwarf people in the
world again, or let’s say at the advanced regions of the world if the
developing region could not afford the costs. If this were to be possible there
won’t be at risk ladies on earth again because some ladies whose height do not
reach 155 centimeters are considered at risk patients when they become
pregnant.
Some of these kinds of people would have
raised money to get such hormones, to get their height increased.
If worrying can’t do what is a little thing
before God unto man, then why worry? Jesus asks.
The bad kind of prosperity is associated
with great worrying. The psychologists advise us against worrying from their
carried-out researches documentation that it is not good for our health, this
is invariably saying worrying would result in developing some other kinds of
diseases by those who worry. This has been found to be very true of those who
worry too much in the world, even if the person is not a rich person, that is
why we hear of suicide here and there today because people worry too much.
- The kind of peace associated with this
kind of wealth or prosperity is a relative one, their kind of peace is not whole, complete unlike the good
type that has peace that surpasses all human understanding or imagination.
God’s Desire: having seen some things about
the types of prosperity and abundance in the world, I want us to see some of
the best ways to achieving (or getting) this prosperity because the bible says,
“dear
friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with
you, even as your soul is getting along well” (3 John 1:2) and King
James Version’s translation says, “beloved, I wish above all things that thou
mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” (3 John 1:2)
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| Little girl pleased with her father's training/association |
“Above” in king James Version is a Greek word “περί”, “peri”, (pronounced
per-ee') which the Strong’s Greek
dictionary says meansaround), excess (beyond), or
completeness (through). This has a relative base with this word “πέραν”, “peran” (per'-an) meaning “beyond, farther
(other) side, over.”
“Prosper” is said to
be written in Greek as “εὐοδόω”, “euodoō” (pronounced yoo-od-o'-o) which figuratively means to succeed in business
affairs: - (have a) prosper (-ous journey). This word is from a compound word of “εὖ”, “eu” (yoo as it is being pronounced) meaning (good);
(adverbially) well: good, well (done), and “ὁδός”, “hodos” (hod-os')
meaning a progress (the route, act or distance); figuratively a mode
or means: - journey, (high-) way.
Bringing these together we can say prosper
means good progress, success. Apostle John wishes that his friend makes
progress in what he is doing even as his soul is getting on well.
We again see Yahweh’s desire for his
servants and his people as stated by the Psalmists in chapter 35 of the book
“Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my
righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified,
which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.” (Psa. 35:27)
Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary says, “חפץ” is the Hebrew word for pleasure here and
it is called “châphêts” (khaw-fates') which means “pleased with: delight in, desire, favour,
please, have pleasure, whosoever would, willing, wish.”
The word for prosperity on the other hand
is “שׁלם שׁלום”, “shâlôm shâlôm” (shaw-lome',shaw-lome') which is from this hebrew root word, “שׁלם” called “shâlam” (shaw-lam')
which means to besafe (in mind, body or estate); figuratively to be
(causatively make) completed; in health, prosperity, peace.
This verse, “Let them shout for joy, and be
glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the
LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.”
(Psa. 35:27) would now read “Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that
favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be
magnified, which pleased
with: or hath delight in, (desire,) in the completeness or wholeness of his servant.” (Psa.
35:27) (Modifications mine)
Having seen that God has pleasure in us,
his children and his servants becoming prosperous, does he then want us to get
it anyhow? No, I do not think he wants us to become prosperous anyhow for
assuming he has approved anyhow means of achieving this, father Abraham would
have taken that route, but he did not.
“And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up
mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,
“That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not
take any thing that is thine, lest
thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: (Emphasis mine)
“Save only that which the young men have eaten, and
the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them
take their portion.”(Gen 14: 22-24)
Thus, if father Abraham decided that he
will not make it anyhow because he knows Yahweh that he will not approve of
that means and thus follow the good route, the route with which he can lay
examples for those coming behind, his heirs and servants of his house that the
best form of making it is through the ordained way of the Lord.
You may ponder on this a little longer,
think about the ways of your coming about the money you dole about, think about
the source of your wealth, is it through the means that you can tell others
about that they should follow the route. Listen to the testimonials of Yahweh
about father Abraham.
“Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and
mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
“For I know him, that he will command his children
and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do
justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath
spoken of him.” (Gen. 18:18-19) (Emphasis mine)
God while re-enacting his wills and
covenants with Isaac, Abraham’s son testifies that his father kept his wills
and commandments
“Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my
charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” (Gen. 26:5)
Thus, some of the prosperity proclaimers of
today who sell this and that to people, to be using such that by that, people
would become wealthy may not be doing what is right before the Lord.
Some of the several sown seeds, different
covenants that we are being called to, to break forth and breakthrough may be
some other forms of misleading the people of God. I even found something weird
about those prosperity proclaimers and it is that they will even ask people to
talk to money that they want to sow as if they are herbalists.
We have been hearing of this kind of thing
from the herbalists for long, but now, such
has crept into our midst by perhaps those who were once herbalists who got
converted and in order to cover their tracks and maintain what they have been
doing when they were yet unbelievers they have introduced this into the church,
introduced it to the brethren, under the guise of faith.
This was akin to what Simeon did in Acts of
the Apostles chapter 8 and Apostle Peter told him that such is not expected
neither allowed in the body of Christ.
“Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and
preached Christ unto them.
“But there was a certain man, called Simon, which
beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria,
giving out that himself was some great one:
“To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the
greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.
“And to him they had regard, because that of long time
he had bewitched them with sorceries.
“But when they believed Philip preaching the things
concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were
baptized, both men and women.
“Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was
baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and
signs which were done.
“Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard
that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:
“Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that
they might receive the Holy Ghost:
“(For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only
they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)
“Then laid they their
hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
“And when Simon saw that through laying on of the
apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,
“Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I
lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.
“But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee,
because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.
“Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for
thy heart is not right in the sight of God.
“Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray
God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.
“For I perceive that thou art in the gall of
bitterness, and in the bond of
iniquity.” (Acts 8: 5, 9-23)
God desires to make his children
prosperous, he wants it for us more than anything, he has not completely wipe
out his view for mankind, the view he has in creating us in his form and
likeness as seen in the book of Genesis 1:26 ff.
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the
fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female
created he them.” (Gen. 1:26-27)
It is the view that he has for us that
makes him form a garden where in there were different kinds of things in
manifold.
He created those things ahead so that
mankind would not suffer, so that we shall live like Queens and Kings in the
palace, those were created so that we shall dwell in the midst of abundance in
the garden.
But when the devil crept in through the
serpent and mankind fell, God seeks for another means of bringing this to pass
and the means to bring it to pass is having for himself people who could be
called his’. This is why Jesus comes to the world to save mankind.
Despite coming for the entire people of the
world, he knows that it is not everyone in the world who will accept his Son
because people love darkness more than light because the works of their hands
are evil.
“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into
the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were
evil.” (Joh. 3:19)
However, those who dare to accept Jesus
Christ are those empowered to become the children of God.
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to
become the sons of God, even to
them that believe on his name:” (Joh. 1:12)
Those people are God’s people, those people
he also desires that they prosper, that they make it, that they will be
dwelling in affluence, surpluses as the first people created were in such
position.
If God therefore desires to make us rich,
wealthy, prosperous, he will not allow for any shady means of making it for
allowing that would mean he is promoting what he knows is wrong. God will not
do that. He is God of holiness and purity and he wants his heirs to achieve all
that they will achieve in life in holiness.
My father told me of some young guys he
overheard saying that no one can become wealthy through straight means, legal
means except one makes some dubious deals. Those young guys are Christians by
name, they attend church, and some are even called pastors among them, yet
their manner of thinking is such that people cannot make it unless they act
fraudulently. Nothing can be farther from the truth than this.
May I digress a bit to say that it is this
kind of belief that fills young people’s hearts while entering different
relationships in the world, example of which is love relationship.
Young people believe that except you tell
lie to woo a lady, you will not see a lady to enter a relationship with let
alone a lady to be married to. Therefore, many believers tell lie when
proposing and dating ladies, yet they call themselves Christians, after their
wedding problems will start. That is why the rate of divorce is high today in
our land. Lies and unholy means of getting things fill everywhere.
God’s desire for us to be wealthy and
possess anything is not through dubious means. He wants us to have everything
through legal means yea Godly means. Shall we therefore see some of the means
to make it legally and Godly using the example of a man in the bible.
God’s
Keys Unlock God’s Doors
Having said that God desires in making
those who are his’ wealthy and that through legal means, holy means but not
through unscrupulous means to show example unto others.
He, therefore, must have a way for
believers to make it, there must be means of making it that differs from the
ways of unbelievers making it.
 |
| Key inserted into the right hole |
Yes, we may be doing the exact same work,
studying the exact same course, graduate of the same field with the unbelievers
but something will sell us out, something will make our works distinct and it
is that unique thing that will make us excel thereby opening doors of God’s
abundance, riches and prosperity unto us in all we lay our hands upon doing.
The thing that sells us out would of course
be hidden unto others, because such would have been revealed unto us by God
himself and by his Spirit.
Since outsiders neither have God in them
nor possess the Holy Spirit of God, such would be hidden from them. Sometimes
some believers will tell those who have not believe Christ what sells them out,
out of pressure, as did Samson unto Delilah, with the hope that they are
helping the person, with the hope that the person will receive the same measure
and treatment from God but they will be shocked days or year afterwards that
such thing(s), what they told them is not working for them. Why is it not
working for them? It is not working for them because they are outsiders, they
are aliens to the promises of God, they do not belong to the commonwealth of
God.
“Which in time past were
not a people, but are now the
people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.” (1 Pet. 2:10)
“That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens
from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope, and without God in the world”
(Eph. 2:12)
The things that back up such exemption and
progress they do not have. The keys that open the doors into such unique possessions
and qualities that make believers outshine others they do not possess and since
they do not have such keys, they can neither open such doors nor enter there in
because they do not belong to the family of God.
We know that parents would not show their
secrets to those who are not their children for doing that would mean such a
one is exposing himself and the rest members of the family into danger. We may
also think of different disciplines, for example engineering. An engineer will
not reveal the secret of his work to non-engineers, this is called Job ethics.
That is what God does when he wants to make his own people prosperous and live
in abundance the secret behind it will not be revealed unto the general people
except his own people alone.
And since such has not been revealed unto
them, they won’t know how to go about it, it means they do not possess keys to
unlock such doors so that they will be able to enter there in.
We equally know that to open a door one
needs a key that has been manufactured for it. If another key not manufactured
for it is used the door will not be opened.
To open the doors that lead into God’s
rooms (or storehouses) of prosperity and abundance, we need the keys that match
those doors and such keys cannot be gotten from the devil and his servants.
I will want us to look at a man in the
bible, an Israelite to see some of the keys he used to unlock the doors of
abundance and prosperity during his days on earth and we as spiritual
Israelites can use what we see or learn from him to unlock the doors of
spiritual and physical abundance and prosperity in our lives.
“And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the
Israel of God.” (Gal. 6:16)
The story of the man that I want us to
examine shall be found in the book of first chronicles.
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| Everything was written in scroll before |
About
The Book of Chronicles
The Hebrew title of the book of chronicles
is “ymyhyrbd” which means “the words or events of the days”. In Greek it is
paraleipomenwn A’, B’ which means “the books of things left out”.
Online Wikipedia says this about these
books. “The book of Chronicles (Hebrew: דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִיםDiḇrê Hayyāmîm 'The Matters [of] the
Days') is a Hebrew prose work constituting part of Jewish and Christian
scripture. It contains a genealogy from the first human being, Adam and
narrative of the history of the ancient Judah and Israel until the proclamation
of King Cyrus the Great (c. 540 BC).
“Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew
bible concluding the third section of Ketvim. It was divided into two books in
the Septuagint the Paralipoménōn (Greek: Παραλειπομένων,
lit. 'things left on one side'). In Christian contexts it is therefore
known as the Books of Chronicles, after the Latin name chronikon,
given to the text by scholar Jerome in the 5th century. In the Christian Bible,
the books (commonly referred to as 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles,
or First Chronicles and Second Chronicles) generally follow the
two Books of Kings and precede Ezra-Nehemiah, thus concluding the
history-oriented books of the Old Testament.”
It should be noted that the book talks
about the history of a nation called Israel. The book was a single entity
before, that is not divided into first and second chronicles. This book should
not be mistaken for the books of chronicles often referred to at the end of the
book of Kings.
About
The Author
The author of this book is unknown, and he
is usually called the chronicler. He was probably a male of the Levitical order
in Jerusalem. He was learned a historian who uses continuity and selectivity,
two things which are hallmark of historians to pass across his messages to his
peers and the people of the world.
These two things are essential to
historians because no one can write a complete story about an incident that
happened in a nation or race, however, by being selective a historian chooses
the ones that he is most acquainted with to express the events of things and
through that link the pasts with the present and with a focus of the future in
mind.
Online Wikipedia adds that he uses
“Israel’s past to convey religious messages to his peers, the literary and
political elites of Jerusalem in the time of Achaemenid Empire”.
The closing sentence of the book of
chronicles which is repeated as the opening words of the book of Ezra-Nehemiah
makes some scholar think that the author could likely be Ezra who receives
assistances from these prophets: Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.
The time of writing the book which was
during the post-exilic period was another point considered by scholars to think
that Ezra probably could have been the author of the book, but consensus was
not reached on this assertion.
The
Uniqueness of The Chronicler
These are however very true of this
chronicler and they are: he has access to different kinds of books from Genesis
to Kings and other books which perhaps are presently in extinction to draw from
while writing this book.
The synchronicity in the connections of the
book is different from how the author of the book of Ezra-Nehemiah writes his
accounts. What he emphasizes is different from what Ezra emphasizes.
The
Time Written
What the author emphasizes shows that the
book was written during the post-exilic period in Babylon and for the fact that
this author could trace the descendants of Zerubbabel to the 6th generation
shows that the book was written around 450 – 400 BC. It was during this time
that the book Ezra was also written.
Purpose
of Writing
The book could be viewed as readers view
the book of Saint Matthew, Saint Mark, Saint Luke and Saint John in which each
author presented Jesus Christ differently to the people of the world.
This book should again not be seen (or
considered) as a repeat of the book of Samuels to Kings because it is different
from them. The author of this book wants his peers, colleagues and those who
have returned to Jerusalem to know their origin, how God started dealing with
mankind before choosing a family from whom the nation evolves. He shows them
how God, Yahweh, rewarded those who were faithful to him and how he punished
sinners, so that they will choose the path to follow.
He concentrated on the Southern Kingdom,
Judah, but not as if he ignored the Northern Kingdom. This he did because of
what he wants to pass across to the people, his colleagues and brethren.
What he desires his people to know is that
though the exile that they went to had eliminated or reduced to the barest
minimal the political powers being wielded by their Kings before being taken to
the exile, but while they return to their land, the religious power in the
custody of the priests has neither been eliminated nor reduced as compared to
that of the political (Kings) power and that the future of the nation resides
in religious power which was what God originally said when they were asking for
Kings, political leaders, like other nations of the world.
“Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves
together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,
“And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons
walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” (1 Sam. 8:4-5)
If they really want to be relevant and wish
for the firm establishment of the nation as they have returned to their land,
they need not undermine their religious leaders again.
Thus, he focused on the temple, the ark of
covenant, the Priests in their different sub-divisions or departments, all of
these were hardly mentioned in other books (Samuel – Kings) what they mostly
made mention of were their political leaders. He made them know that God chooses
Jerusalem to be the place of worship and shouldn’t be ignored again.
By this he was telling the people of what
would happen to them in the future. How God has chosen that through the
descendants of David, he would raise a person who would save mankind, the
person called Jesus Christ.
From this we can see that all the people of
the world come from Adam and Eve. Europe and North Asia come from Japheth; many
people in Africa and Far East from Ham and Philistines the original possessor
of Canaan land from Cush.
Chuck Swindoll says, “… the books of
chronicles written after the time of the exile, focus on those elements of
history that God wanted and the returning Jews to meditate upon obedience, that
results in God’s blessing, the priority of the temple and priesthood and the
unconditional promises in the house of David”.
Elliot Johnson in his own write up says, “…
the chronicler longs for and seeks to contribute to a recovery of the glorious
days of David and Solomon not by the re-establishment of the mediatorial rule
of God through monarchy but by a return to obedient worship. To a people
stripped of Kings (monarchy) and forced to obey Persian law and to submit to
Persian government (times of gentiles), he writes about the glory days with an
implication of hope…. The author of chronicles simply lingers on those
individuals who valued and supported worship”.
Online Wikipedia on her part shows us five
reasons why chronicler chronicles the books of chronicles and they are:
“1. God is active in history and especially
the history of Israel. The faithfulness or sins of individual Kings are
immediately rewarded or punished,
“2. God calls to a special relationship.
The call begins with genealogies, gradually narrowing the focus from all
mankind to a single family, the Israelites, the descendants of Jacob,
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| Special Relationship |
“3. God chose David and his dynasty as the
agents of his will. According to the author, the three great events of David’s
reign were his bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, his founding of
eternal royal dynasty and his preparations for the construction of the temple,
“4. God chose the temple in Jerusalem as
the place where he should be worshipped and
“5. God remains active in Israel.”
From the discuss of the scholars and
believers on these books of chronicles, which summarized the events of the
pasts, and most importantly those which have to do with God’s template –
Israelis -, we see that Yahweh rewards those who are faithful to him, those who
worship him in truth, those who associate themselves with the mode of operation
of their days.
While the author does not make mention of
Yahweh in chapter one of the book, he however shows his activity in the same
chapter where the name of God was not mentioned.
On getting to chapter four, he shows in no
mean measure what happened to a faithful man of Judah called Jabez. It is the
concise story of this man as compressed into verses that we shall examine to
see the secrets of abundance and prosperity, being the reward of his
faithfulness to Yahweh.
Short
Note on Jabez
Jabez was of the tribe of Judah, who is
said to be son of Coz (or Kenaz), ninth generation from Judah, although his
families were not mentioned directly in the Holy Book. It is the believe of
some scholars that he is a doctor of the Law (Jewish) whose good accomplishment
contradicts his name.
The history surrounding why his mother
decided to give him the name which he was given wasn’t clear, but it is
believed that something terrible must have happened that necessitated his
mother to give him that name, perhaps the pain that his mother passed through
during his birth was severe or maybe during the time his mother wants to give
birth to him his father died as it happened to High Priest Eli’s sons etc.
“And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled
before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the
people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the
ark of God is taken.
“And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark
of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and
his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had
judged Israel forty years.
“And his daughter in law, Phinehas' wife, was with
child, near to be delivered:
and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her
father in law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; for
her pains came upon her.
“And about the time of her death the women that stood by
her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not,
neither did she regard it.
“And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is
departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her
father in law and her husband.
“And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for
the ark of God is taken.” (1 Sam. 4: 17-22)
(Emphasis mine)
Whatsoever it was, it is true that
something terrible happened during his birth which her mother attached to him
and she could not take her mind off such incident, thus she named him Jabez.
Jabez (ya’bets) means sorrow, affliction,
to grieve. It is most likely that she lost her hubby while given birth to him,
for assuming her hubby wasn’t lost then, the man probably could have intervened
on the name as Jacob did on the case of Benjamin whose mother called “Benoni”
“And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a
little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.
“And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour,
that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.
“And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing,
(for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him
Benjamin.” (Gen. 35: 16-18)
Assuming the woman’s husband was alive he
would likely have stopped her from given their son the name because majority if
not all the Israelis do study history and he would have heard of what happened
during the parturition of Benjamin and that if not for the timely intervention
of his father, the name his mother wanted him to bear would have stand, but
because Jacob was alive and she, Rachel wasn’t the only person who gave birth
to the child because it takes the mixture of egg and sperm for an embryo to
develop which will grow to fetus and would be delivered as a baby at term (or
before term in some cases).
Moreover, Jacob, the father of the child
notices that the child her wife gave birth to is a male, a baby boy that
carries his gene, Y chromosome and whose name would be attached, who will
continue to carry the name of his grandfather – Isaac - and his great
grandfather – Abraham – would be associated with the name, he thence intervened
on the suggested name by his wife that the child should bear because of what
she passed through during her birth.
Jacob again must have intervened because he
remembered the covenant of God with him, his father (child’s grandfather) and
his grandfather (child’s great grandfather) that the covenant has no
relationship with sorrow, if such is allowed to subsist, it means a dark spot
has been allowed to stay on a white linen when it could have immediately been
removed or washed off before it becomes permanent. Father Jacob intervened and
said, “yes, I know you pass through a lot while carrying this pregnancy, I know
it was not easy for you wile given birth to him, it really pained me sore to
lose you in the process of you given birth to him because you were my beloved
one, you were the one I really, really loved, you were my life, my breath, my eyes,
my thoughts, you occupied the center place in my heart, but you have gone in
the path of all the world, this child is just starting his life, I cannot and
will not allow him to bear that name because by bearing that name he would
become a reproach and a byword among his siblings and this would have negative
effects on his future.
“I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong
therefore, and shew thyself a man” (1 Kings
2:2)
He ordered that the name be changed. As the
head of the family, a covenant man, the name of the child was changed from
“Benoni” to “Benjamin”.
Now, I view it that, assuming the father of
Jabez was alive, he could and would have brought to his mind the above painted
scenario which is a well-known history in their land and would have stopped his
wife from calling the child that name for whatever reasons it may have been
that she wants to hang on to call him that name, it would have been stopped
cold and given a better name.
To buttress this, all bible students know
that Zacharias was dumb when his son was given birth to, but before then he has
discussed with his wife, Elizabeth, telling her the name that he has received
for the son. When members of the family and other priests gathered together to
rejoice with them and give the baby a name, the baby’s mother told them what
the name of the child would be, but they all rejected it, countered her, saying
no one among his family ever bears that name before.
To avoid argument and counterargument, the
baby’s father was contacted to tell them what the name of his one and only son
would be, and he asked for something to write on. What he asked for was
provided for him and he wrote on what was provided for him what the name of his
son would. The name written on the tablet or scroll provided for him that his
son would bear was John which was the name his wife, the baby’s mother has said
the son would bear but which they frowned at.
When they noticed that the name that the
baby’s father supplied was in alignment with the name his mother supplied
initially, they had no option other than agreeing to what both parents have
agreed that their child would be bearing. Subsequently after this, we know from
the story that the father started talking.
Now what I want to point us to for bringing
up this story here is that assuming the father of the baby was not alive, the
baby’s name may have been changed by the members of the family who had
countered the mother of the baby when she stated what the name of the baby
would bear.
“Now Elisabeth's full time came that she should be
delivered; and she brought forth a son.
“And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord
had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her.
“And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came
to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his
father.
“And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John.
“And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred
that is called by this name.
“And they made signs to his father, how he would have
him called.
“And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying,
His name is John. And they marvelled all.
“And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised
God.
“And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and
all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of
Judaea.” (Luke 1: 57-65)
If Jabez’s father had been alive, I want to
believe that he may not have subscribed to his wife calling their child’s name
grief, affliction or sorrow as the name implies those days.
Jabez’s mum named him that because of the
tragedy that happened to her, the pain she bore while carrying the baby and
when she wants to deliver the baby and most especially because of the uncommon
love she has for her dead hubby. She least considers the future of the child
while given him the name, and that was one of the most unfortunate things about
the story.
All parents need to learn from this story
we should not because of what we are passing through at the moment forget the
future of our children, we should always learn to put the future of our
children in hearts. Though, we may be looking at the future to be bleak, the
future may seem not to be there, yet we need to trust in the Lord for a
wonderful future for our wards.
Worryingly when Jabez began to grow things
did not change for him, it was sorrow everywhere, whatever he touches turns
sour, bad. What people call bad luck has been associated with him. You know
when a person is not making progress in one’s endeavors people will start
avoiding the person, people will not want anyone they know to get near the
person so that the “evils” following the person and the evil powers associated
or working on the life of the person will not bounce on them. Thus, he was
avoided, his family members also distanced themselves from him if not that his
mother carried his pregnancy to term, assuming she has used human carrier (as
it does happen today, that those who do not have uterus or those who have
recurrent abortions or an old woman who is afraid of carrying pregnancy or
those suffering from infertility for long, those whose eggs and semen have been
extracted and developed in a test tube (incubator) and thus employed the
services of carriers to carry the pregnancy to term) she may have said she was
not the one who gave birth to Jabez. It was that terrible for the man.
Though the beginning of the man was not
good, but he ended his life well such that he could carve out a niche for
himself in the history of the tribe and the history of the nation.
I want us to see some of the things that
assisted the man in setting new records in becoming prosperous in the world.
Secrets
of Jabez’s Prosperity And Abundance
1.
He Grew Up: Since the day he was given birth to has
he been called sorrow, affliction by the family members, peers etc. he started
noticing that most of the things associated with his life bring no good tidings
not to outsiders alone but himself inclusive. Having grown in the knowledge of
Yahweh, he discovered that crying would neither solve his problems nor remove
the agonies he has been passing through over the ages. I even perceived that at
a certain juncture the people will begin to think that the man was not serious,
because he was looking unruffled when being called sorrow and when he was being
make jest of.
I said this because I know that when a man
is passing through hard times which he has tried his best to get resolved but
which failed to be resolved, the man would be tired trying resorting to fate.
He will keep enduring whatever people are saying about him.
Jabez must have gotten to this position
during his life time. He may have thought of committing suicide at a point or
another when things remain as they were with him, but his knowledge of Yahweh
prevented him from doing so because such is considered a sin unto God.
As time passes by not relenting in the way
of Yahweh, he started seeing lights at the opposite end of the tunnel of his
life, he must have been gingered by the histories of the patriarchs of how they
overcame the obvious impossibilities through faith and he decided to toe their
paths, the path of exercising faith by going to the Lord in prayer to talk to
him about his life and the condition he was in, of the need to change his
position.
Was it that the Lord did not see him in
that position before? It was not that the Lord did not see him in that position
before but sometimes the Lord will want us to talk to him about what we are
experiencing, the situation we are in, what we are passing through, asking him
to find a lasting solution for us in that position.
Jabez stopped being a child by talking to
the Lord, as we know that when a child is a baby, he or she would not be able
to express himself to his or her parents. When the baby is sick, she won’t be
able to tell his or her parents what is wrong with her or him. What she will
only be doing is crying and it is through conjecturing, trial by error that the
child’s parents would arrive at the solution for the child.
As long as one remains in this position,
one cannot make appreciable growth, all that one attains at this stage, one
cannot possibly say one has attained it by himself or herself for it is the
child’s parents or guardians who would be determining (deciding) for the child
at that position.
“Now I say, That
the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he
be lord of all;
“But is under tutors and governors until the time
appointed of the father.
“Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage
under the elements of the world” (Gal. 4:1-3)
The apostles in their epistles counsels
that we leave this position and grow to maturity for when one continues in this
position one is still nothing but a slave.
“Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of
Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of
repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God” (Heb. 6:1)
2.
He Stopped Apportioning Blames: it was when he
stopped apportioning blames, when he stops being childish that he decides to
take step. He decides to slug it out with his God talking to him that he should
look upon him and have mercy on him as he used to do unto them who love his
name.
“Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou
usest to do unto those that love thy name.”
(Psa. 119:132)
If you want prosperity, you need to leave
childish position, you have to stop crying, stop murmuring, stop apportioning
blame on anyone and know that everything works together for the good of those
who love God and those who have been called according to his purpose.
“And we know that all things work together for good to
them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Rom. 8:28)
Rise to your feet in prayer and talk to God
to open effectual doors unto you. When you do this in faith, when you do this
like a true child, a child who is not dumb, a child who has known how to talk
and you talk to your parents, who is God in heaven, you will surely be answered
because parents answer their children and Jesus said in Luke 11:13 that, “if
ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much
more shall your heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”.
He, God, who is not evil, he who is
righteous in all his ways and dealings will surely answer you as he did answer
Jabez when he realizes that the only person to lean on is Yahweh but none else.
It may be good to know that no one who
apportions blame in the bible succeeded. Take as instance the incident that
happened in the garden of Eden. Were those who apportioned blame vindicated in
the garden? No, they were not.
3.
Thought Over His Plight: he has for a while resort
to fate, he has for long thought nothing could be done again on what he was
passing through but on a second thought, a deeper thought than he had before he
saw the need for him to take action to go to Yahweh and ask him to show him the
way he contacted him for his help and he was helped.
Some people have been brain washed that
some negative words uttered on them by their parents cannot be cancelled
because they are their parents. That is not true. If your unbelieving parents
utter what is not right on you, because of your faith, because you believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ you have to know that such could be erased when you take
it to the Lord in prayers, telling it to him in clear manner, showing him
reasons why he should remove those curses on you and that will be done.
“Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your
strong reasons, saith the King
of Jacob.” (Isa. 41:21)
What he won’t do is if you know the truth
yet do what is not right to your parents, God would not condone that because he
enjoins us to honor our parents.
“Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first
commandment with promise;)
“That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live
long on the earth.” (Eph. 6:2-3)
If nothing like this happened, if you have
not disrespect your parents, but your parents have been fighting you or doing
evil against you because of the way of the Lord that you are following be it
known unto you that God is there for you to save and deliver you. You however
need to take it to him in prayers sometimes and do not assume he ought to have
seen it. Yes, he has seen it, but he yet wants you to tell it over to him.
 |
| He thought about it |
It will not be out of way to say that
Hannah too has resorted to fate for long thinking, well if God wishes he can
turn around her situation, thinking the children of the junior wife are also
her children. But the day she had a second thought, the day she thinks it
through, she knows that when a farm (or company) is jointly owned by father and
son, there would still be a demarcation, the ratio of sharing of the profits
and assets of the company would be different.
When she realizes this, she went to Shiloh,
the yearly event of prayer with a purpose, a mission, a focus the next time
they went to the place for yearly event (prayer).
Because she has thought it through, when
she got to the place, she did not rest on her oars until she talks it through
with her father in heaven and her God.
She left her comfort zone ensuring that she
talks what was in her heart over with her God after doing that she became happy,
contented and relaxed knowing full well that miracle knocks at her door.
Jabez did as his predecessors have been
doing thinking something through after which they will go to Yahweh to talk to
him asking him to shower mercy on them.
4.
He Stopped Looking Down on Himself: one of the
factors that keeps on repressing a person, preventing a person from breaking
through in life is looking down on oneself. This is part of the reasons why
people from developing countries of the world found it hard to make it in life.
Anyone who will make it in life must ensure that she or he breaks himself off
this problem. This is because the more you look down on yourself the more you
will not want to associate with people, the more you will lose faith in
yourself. What you have successfully done before would be undone when you are
looking down on yourself.
 |
| Stops Looking down on self |
I remember when we were in in secondary
school, many of our mates dread mathematics and because of their fear for
mathematics thy never believed that they can answer a mathematics question
correctly without aid. Sometimes when class teacher gives us question to solve
in the class, some of them would have arrived at correct answers only to be
misled by the people whom they thought knew better because they do not have
confidence in themselves, they do not believe they can get the answers and
workings of the questions correctly without aids.
It is the same with many if not all of us
from the developing world, we hardly have a thought that we can successfully do
something without the support or assistance from the people of the developed
world and that is bad. This keeps pushing us back while they are making
progresses everyday in all spheres of life.
Jabez has been in this position for decades
until one day that he discovers himself, until when he saw this bean in his
eyes, the eyes to view his progress, his future. When he discovers this he did
not sit idly by, folding his hands watching, thinking that he no part to play
in resolving the conundrum, he stood up to it, withstood and resisted the
demons behind the thought and he was freed.
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil,
and he will flee from you.” (Jam. 4:7)
As long as you and I continue to look down
on ourselves, I want us to know that we have sentenced ourselves to perpetual
failure, setbacks, poverty and at times death.
Let us bring to our minds the case of the
Israelis in the wilderness. Out of the twelve chosen people from each tribe who
were sent to view the land, only two did not look down on themselves neither
look down on the people of God, but the rest looked down on themselves and the
people of God. Sadly enough, the people of God too bought the idea they had
sold unto them and they started to look down on themselves thereby sentencing
themselves to death well before the pronouncement from God.
“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
“Send thou men, that they may search the land of
Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their
fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.
“And they returned from searching of the land after
forty days.
“And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to
all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran,
to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and
shewed them the fruit of the land.
“And they told him, and said, We came unto the land
whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.
“Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
“The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and
the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and
the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.
“And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said,
Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.
“But the men that went up with him said, We be not
able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.
“And they brought up an evil report of the land which
they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which
we have gone to search it, is a
land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in
it are men of a great stature.
“And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were
in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” (Num. 13: 1-2 & 25-33)
“And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
“How long shall
I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have
heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.
“Say unto them, As
truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will
I do to you:
“Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all
that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years
old and upward, which have murmured against me,
“Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you
dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.” (Num. 14: 26-30)
If you want to make it, you need to stop
looking down on yourself as Jabez did.
5.
He Stopped to Have Self Pity on Himself: Google
defines self-pity as an exaggerated sense of pity over one’s own life, position
or circumstance. Pity is defined as a feeling of sympathy and sadness caused by
the suffering and troubles of others.
It is being said that most if not all
humans at a time or another experience self-pity during their lifetime on
earth.
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| Stop having self-pity on himself |
Though, sometimes, this self-pity can serve
as a self-soothing mechanism which assists human beings in accepting or
changing their circumstances but on another note, humans could make a toxic
habit of it.
When we paused to reflect on the above word,
we shall discover that Jabez had been having shame on himself for years because
of what people say about him, which perhaps would have stemmed out of what his
mother said about him. There is an adage in the part of the world to which I
belong which says that people will call calabash what the owner of the calabash
calls it. It is what one calls something that people will call it with you.
People will not act to be too know, they will not address what you have in
another way, what you have will be addressed the way you address it.
If a wife calls her husband a fool, people
will begin to see the man as a fool, people will begin to interact with the man
as they interact with fools. That was what happened to Jabez, people started
interacting with him based on what his mother has said about him because they
have gotten a wind of what the woman said about his son.
Words have a way of going around, it has a
way of growing winds and flying around. Even if I said something in the closets
it would still break out one day and the people will know what has been said in
the closets.
“For there is nothing covered, that shall not be
revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.
“Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall
be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets
shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.” (Luk.
12:2-3)
It is only what has not been uttered, that
could be considered a secret, but whatever anyone has uttered out to another
person, either in the closets or in the open, such a word is no longer a
secret.
People start relating with Jabez in this
way. Their interactions with him keep dwindling by seconds which makes him to
have self-shame on himself because of his condition.
6.
He Accepted The Challenge: as he grows and the
situation remains the same, he braced himself up to face the reality of life.
He grows from the position of self-shame to seeing what he was passing through
as a challenge, what he needs to face headlong and overcome. This is one of the
characters of a person who will breakthrough in life.
If you want to breakthrough in life you
must stop having self-shame on yourself and see those things you are passing
through as challenges. What you need to face and overcome.
7.
He Believes His Case Won’t Be An Exemption: Having
accepted what he was passing through as challenges, he believes if God can help
the patriarchs of old, his won’t be a exemption, he believes it won’t be
difficult for him to be helped and delivered by Yahweh.
He must have brought to his mind the
histories of the patriarchs, his fore parents how God has helped them to scale
through difficult times during their lifetime and if God could help them then,
he believed that, that same God would help him, save him from his present
condition.
“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him.” (Heb. 11:6)
His faith in Yahweh paid off for him as he
was delivered from all his troubles setting a new record for all to see among
his people, his tribe in the land of Israel and the entire world.
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| When you walk by faith you become incorporated into God's wills and promises |
His life shows us that it does not matter
what your beginning was, what matters is what your end would be. His story
shows that it matters a little what people think and or say about you at the
initial, what matters is what would become of you later.
Therefore, you do not need to be distracted
by what people said or are saying about you, but what matters is your focusing
on the Lord, trusting and having faith in him.
8.
His Peculiarity: Jabez’s story is a peculiar one in
which we know of the end of a man before we read of the beginning and the
middle of what happened to the man, what he passed through before he got to the
end of his life or struggling.
9.
He Called On Yahweh, God of Israel: a writer says
what motivated Jabez to call on Yahweh was the portion of land assigned to him
which was yet under the territory of the enemies, you will recall that, when
they got into the Canaan land, it was the duty of each tribe and persons to
chase off the occupiers of the lands and possess them. Although they will seek
for assistance from other tribes to chase the people off, but they will make
the move.
Jabez a man of affliction did not have
people he could call upon for assistance as others he was more or less left
alone and seeing that he will lose his place and right among his brethren, he
decided to trust in God, he committed all into his hand, telling him that he
puts all in his care, that he wants him to help him chase the enemies off and
give him a name among his people and nation.
Let us see some things about the words he
uttered unto God in prayers.
(a)
Blessing Indeed: he identifies God as the sole
person who can give people real blessing. He knows that it’s God’s blessing
that can turn around his situation.
You have to know that it is God who can
really, really bless you. Looking unto small gods for blessing and fortune
changes would amount to nothing because he says gods that do not create heaven
and earth would perish with the world.
“Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not
made the heavens and the earth, even
they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.” (Jer. 10:11)
Jabez discovers himself and asks God for
real blessing, impeccable blessing from God. It saddens to know today that many
people in the world have not discover themselves and as long as a person fails
to discover himself, that person would be tossed to and fro by people. Such a
person would be tossed to and fro by small thing. What ought not to be
controlling the person would be controlling the person because she or he has
failed to discover himself. That is why marriage is not for children, marriage
is not for those who are still under rulership of their parents. Marriages are
meant for those who have discover themselves. If one gets married before
discovering himself or herself, it is no gain saying that the person would
bring problems unto his or her partner if the marriage does not hit the rocks
at the end of it all.
Shall we take our minds to the books of the
beginning to see something there? The bible says God having closely been
observing Adam discovers that he has no companion and he provided one for him
in the person of Eve. But the Eve who was provided for Adam did not discover
herself early, she did not define what she wants in the world early enough as
such she caves in to serpents lies and eventually fell, bringing troubles,
pains, anguish, sorrow into the world.
Another example was Rachel, the wife of
Jacob. Rachel too failed to discover herself on the God to follow before they
left Haran. It was her indecisiveness that made her take along her father’s
idols.
“And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had
stolen the images that were her
father's” (Gen. 31:19)
Discovering oneself in life plays a larger
role in one’s advancement in life whether the person would get to his or her
desired haven or not depends on whether one discovers oneself in life.
The greatest discovery anyone can have of himself
in the world is knowing that one is a sinner who cannot save himself. It is
when one discovers that one is a sinner that one would start looking for a
savior. It is what one starts looking for that one would get. What one is not
looking for one would not get, and, in the case, positive thing comes along
one’s path during this time, since one is not looking for the thing one would
not be able to appreciate the thing neither acknowledges it.
“Salvation is
far from the wicked: for they seek not thy statutes.” (Psa. 119:155)
When one acknowledges that she or he is a
sinner, when the message of salvation is presented to the person, such a person
will know how to acknowledge the message.
I need to again say here that acknowledging
something does not mean accepting the thing. I have known people who
acknowledge that they are sinners, but they do not want to change because of
what people will say, because they have for long been serving a certain god,
because they were born into certain religion.
They acknowledge that Jesus can save, they
acknowledge that they were touched by what they heard, but to change they
cannot for fear, and this is not good. Such people have not been discovered.
This kind of thing happened to the rich man
in the bible, and the rulers during Jesus days on earth. They acknowledge Jesus
but failed to accept his as their Savior and Lord as such they remain as they
were in their sins.
“And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master,
what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
“And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good?
none is good, save one, that is, God.
“Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit
adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy
father and thy mother.
“And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.
“Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him,
Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the
poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
“And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he
was very rich.” (Luke 18: 18-23)
The greatest thing anyone can do is
accepting Jesus Christ into his or her life, this is the real blessing that God
could bless anyone with. It is for salvation of lives that God sent his son to
the world for.
We may want to think that but Jabez did not
ask God to save him (his soul). We need to remember that Israelites believed
that they are God’s choice, God’s number one because God says that and proves
it to them, they thence do not need to ask for salvation again. This nostalgia
and believe they carried on till when Jesus appeared in flesh and blood and do
not see any reason for salvation again even when Jesus was proving to them that
all that happened before were foretelling him, yet they do not believe that and
would rather follow the order of worship of the ancient days and times, they
weren’t prepared for the changes that Jesus brought.
However, in our case, we (gentiles) were
aliens to God. Do you know how citizens or indigenes of a place look at aliens?
They look at aliens “pitifully”, because they know they cannot have access to
all the things that citizens have access and right to, the citizens pity them.
“That at that time ye were without Christ, being
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of
promise, having no hope, and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12)
Though aliens could eat out of the crumbs
that fell off the tables of the children as that woman replied Jesus in the
gospel according to saint Matthew.
“And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the
crumbs which fall from their masters' table.”
(Matt. 15:27)
But so many crumbs would have to fall off
the table for the aliens to eat before they would be satisfied.
That is the graphic picture of who we are before
God until Jesus’ appearance. When he appeared, he brought us to God’s side
through his blood and anyone who believes in Jesus Christ globally. As from
then we stopped being alien to God’s promises because we have been integrated
into God’s family through Jesus’ blood, by his blood we become his children by
faith.
If those of us who are strangers could
discover ourselves by acknowledging and accepting Jesus into our lives, then we
would have been blessed indeed. Have you given the matter of salvation a
thought? Have you given your heart to Jesus? If you are yet to, you need to
right now.
Jabez did not discover himself early but
when he did, his orientation changed he went to God in faith and prayers asked
for blessing indeed.
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| Enlarge my coast he says to the Lord |
(b)
Enlarge My Coast: he followed up his prayers for
blessing with the need for God to enlarge his coasts. During his days, the
status of a man is directly measured by the land he conquers, by his
territories, how expanse his land is. He must have noticed others territories
and he wants something bigger, something that will stand him out from others,
for assuming he possesses the same thing, conquers the same land like others,
people may not really acknowledge God’s power in action, for he was not
different from them. But in the case they see something different and bigger,
they will know that this is beyond the ordinary, this must be God in action.
Enlarge my coast that he asks for here
probably includes asking God to make him a family man.
“For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be
well with thee.
“Thy wife shall
be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like
olive plants round about thy table.” (Psa.
128:2-3)
For a man of sorrow, ladies would not want
to be associated with the man let alone being married to him. Having been
forsaken and rejected he asked God to have mercy on him such that at all the
places where he has been rejected, he would be accepted back.
I am beginning to think that assuming Eve,
the mother of all humans has children when she was in the garden those children
may have given her some kinds of protection, those children may have given her
some kinds of protection, those children may not make it easier for the devil
through the serpent to penetrate Eve as she effortlessly did in the garden. The
author of the book of Psalms in chapter 127 says children are heritages of the
Lord and those whom God blesses with these heritages would contend with the
enemies at the gates.
“Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
“As arrows are
in the hand of a mighty man; so are
children of the youth.
“Happy is
the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they
shall speak with the enemies in the gate.” (Psa.
127: 3-5)
The author is saying through them enemies
would not overpower them, through them they will chase enemies off.
Marrying bible words with bible words, I
think Eve would have overcame that great serpent assuming she has children with
her in the garden.
Apostle Paul in his letter to his son in
faith, Timothy would say that through child birth women would be saved.
“Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing,
if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.” (1 Tim. 2:15)
I believe this saying supports what I am
saying that the woman, Eve, may not have been overtaken cheaply as it did
happen assuming she has gotten children in the garden.
As a
believer, God wants to enlarge your coasts as he did for Jabez he likes to do
for you if you can call unto him as Jabez did for that prophet says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and
shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” (Jer. 33:3)
(c)Thine Hand Might Be With Me: one thing that is common with the
hand of the Lord is power. The bible says, the hand of the Lord doeth wonders.
When the hand of the Lord was on Egyptians it was on each and everyone of them
for evil, catastrophe because he wants to save his children, he wants to take
them out of the land of suffering.
The hand
of the Lord came upon small gods, Dagon and they were destroyed, and the
worshippers of those small gods were inflicted with diseases.
“But
the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and
smote them with emerods, even
Ashdod and the coasts thereof.” (1 Sam. 5:6)
This same hand that rests on the
antagonists of God’s children for evil rests on his children for good,
blessings and miracles.
Jabez having discovered himself discovers
that he has been as he was because of the absence of the hand of God on him,
for him to make any appreciable change in his generation and in the world he
cannot but ask for the hand of the Lord to be with him. The hand of the Lord
that he asks for is the presence of the Lord.
Think about this for a moment, can anyone
place his hand on a moving dog without him following the dog? No one can do
that.
If anyone cuts (detaches) off his hand
because he wants the hand to be on something, such hand after hours would be
dead would not have life in it again and with time the hand would wither off
when there is no blood flow through the hand again.
“And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the
saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he
put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which
he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to
him.” (1 Kings 13:4)
A withered hand or plant will be good for
nothing other than to be put in fire to be burnt.
Thus, for the hand of someone to be on
another person, it means that the person would be mobile, the person would be
accompanying, moving as what he lays his hands upon moves or changes positions.
This in summary means that the presence of
the person who lays hands on something would always be accompanying the thing.
This is what Jabez asks God for by praying that the Lord’s hands be upon him.
He is saying that he needs God’s presence to always accompany him wherever he
goes, God’s presence should always be on whatsoever he does.
When the presence of God fills the temple,
no one could withstand it.
“And it came to pass, when the priests were come out
of the holy place, that the
cloud filled the house of the LORD,
“So that the priests could not stand to minister
because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the
LORD.” (1 Kings 8:10-11)
Jabez asks for the presence of Yahweh to
always accompany him, the presence that the enemies cannot withstand, the
presence that would pave way for him always.
When Jesus Christ was leaving the world, he
also promised to send Holy Ghost to the believers, it is this holy Ghost who
will make us feel the presence of the Lord always. He says this Holy Ghost will
be living inside of us, those who believed in him.
“Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient
for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto
you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” (John 16:7)
Holy Ghost signifies God, signifies the
presence of God abiding with the person always. When Holy Ghost lives in us, he
will approve or disprove what we are doing, because we are his. Different ways
could he use to approve or disapprove our steps.
He disapproves the journey of apostle Paul
into certain place not because he talks to him audibly but through some other
means which the apostle did not mention in Acts. So, do not be rigid about the
ways God directs, he can employ different means. What is however essential is
that we be receptive to his leadings always. Let us read the disapprovals as
stated in the book of Acts.
“Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the
region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in
Asia,
“After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go
into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not.” (Acts 16:6-7)
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| Map of Asia |
We shall see interesting things here:
1. They
wanted to go and preach in Asia, not that they wanted to go there to establish
business or do some trades but they were heading there to preach talk to
the people about Jesus Christ the man full of anointing and Power and good
deeds, the man sent by God to save all mankind from sin as Jesus equally
commands while leaving the world that we should go to all the world and preach
to mankind, starting from Jerusalem. They want to fulfil the saying of Jesus,
but the Spirit of Jesus in them which is the Holy Ghost dd not approve the
move, the Holy Ghost stopped them from making the trip. What shall we say of
this? Is the Lord selective? Shall we say the Lord does not really wants us to
go to all the world to preach? No, I do not think the Lord is selective, but we
need to remember that the bible says there is time for everything under the
earth.
“To every thing
there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:” (Ecc. 3:1)
It may mean that the time for the message
to be taken to the place was not then. I
2. Another thing is that it may mean that he was not the one designed by God to take
the message to the place as such he forbids him, restricts him through His
Spirit in him, his ever presence that is going with him.
3. On the third note, it may be that God has more harvest at the area he was
eventually led to as compared to going to Asia at that time. Let me corroborate
this by saying that business people or farmers will look at where they will get
more gains and invest there before thinking about regions that will bring
little or minimal gains. In fact investing in areas with more gains it may be
that people employed in that area where the business has been invested in are
those who will take the products of the business to the area where the business
man has left un-attended to.
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| Plentiful harvest |
On taken the business to that area, the
gains of the business would not be affected if those at the regions fail to
accept the products immediately, unlike what would happen having taken all his
resources to the place at the inception but on getting there the business
person now discovers that his product was not approved. He would have wasted
money, energy, resources and time and would run at a loss by the end of it all
by the time the business person leaves the place.
On taken the investment to the new region
where he is accepted, he may not have much to invest on again which will bring
him low income and may have need to source for money again.
Viewing this from this perspective we can
see that if God sees that the people there were not ready for the gospel it is
better his children be restrained and directed to where they would be accepted,
where there will be plentiful of harvest as he has done for them here.
4. Going there again may bring them harm,
their trip to the place may be injurious
to them at that time, which may be associated with loss of lives. We all
know how hostile some regions are to Christian faith at inception. Since God
has not wished for them to be called home at that time, he must prevent the
move.
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| Dangerous path |
Those of us who are believers should
reflect on these points. God may be stopping us from getting some things we
crave and yearn to have now because the time to have those things are not ripe
before him. It may again be that he has more work for us at a certain area that
what we desire to have at that moment. When he stops us from making such
movements, we should not misconstrue his love for us, we should not think maybe
it is the devil that’s at work, but we should see it that all things work together
for our good.
“And we know that all things work together for good to
them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Rom. 8:28)
Despite all those disapprovals, he approves
their going into a place when they saw in a vision someone from a region
praying them to come over to their place and help them.
“And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There
stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and
help us.
“And after he had seen the vision, immediately we
endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called
us for to preach the gospel unto them.” (Acts
16: 9-10)
After the restrictions by the Spirit of God
in them, the same spirit did not withhold them from going to Macedonia.
We need to be sensitive to Holy Ghost the
ever-present presence of God in us and we should avoid “too know”, we should
avoid thinking that we are the only one who will take the gospel all over the
world. That would be a mistake, a mistake that may cost us our lives and may
cause our untimely death.
The means for which the Holy Spirit talks
to refrain them from going to those areas were not stated but it was sure that
they were stopped by the Holy Ghost for if for their flesh and their human
will, they were already at those places.
This tells us that we should not limit
ourselves to a means of Holy Ghost dealing with us, but we should be opened
unto him that is the most important thing.
Jabez asks for the presence of God to abide
with him, the presence of God that would be his guide, the presence of God that
will be his guard as he guarded the Israelis in the wilderness. He knows that
this is vital to his living, he knows that this is vital to his making it in
the world amongst his brethren. He knows that if he will make appreciable
impact among his colleagues his family and tribe, he needs this presence of God
more than anything.
We also need to say as Jabez said “that
thine hand might be with me” (1 Chron. 4:10d) oh Lord.
(d)
Keep Me From Evil: After the fall of man from the
grace in the garden of Eden, Evil pervade everywhere in the world. To be saved
from evil that is all over the place has Jesus been sent into the world.
“He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil
sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested,
that he might destroy the works of the devil.”
(1 John 3:8)
That is why you need to be saved, that is
why you need to give your life to Jesus Christ.
After we have given our lives to Jesus
Christ, we still need to be protected from these evils that walk during the day
and those that fly during the night. Jesus power will protect those who are his
from all kinds of evil in the world.
“Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day” (Psa. 91:5)
Jabez recognizes the importance of
protection being an Israeli, he knows that being blessed by God would amount to
nothing if he is not protected by God, from all evil.
No matter our wealth, possessions if we do
encounter evil repeatedly all that wealth would fly away, those wealth would be
negated by those evil.
As wealthy and blessed Job a man from the
East was during his days, when evil came those evils consumed all he had in a
twinkling of an eye.
Jabez does not want his own to be like
that, Jabez does not want to experience set back he does not want the Lord to
give room unto the devil to penetrate his territories after being blessed by
God. He thence asked for God’s protection from Evil.
As we continue in this journey, we also
need to ask God for his protection. We need to remember a regular slogan that
says prevention is better than cure. It is always better to prevent something
from happening than trying to look for how to be cured of the menace when it
has happened.
(e)
That it May Not Grieve Me: Do not allow evils of
this world to torment me, do not allow evils of the world to come nigh me
again, I have had more than enough in life he seems to say to the Lord in his
prayers.
Experience people say is best teacher. When
someone has experienced something before, he will always guide against a repeat
of it. This prayer of Jabez is a plea to the Lord that he does not want a
repeat of the past ever again in his life.
Do you wish for God’s prosperity and
abundance in the world, then you may join Jabez in praying this sincere prayer
to the Lord from the bottom of your heart and you will sure experience what he
experienced because our God is no respect of persons.
“And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh
that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou
wouldest keep me from evil,
that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.” (1 Chron. 4:10)
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