Does Favor With God Mean We Will Prosper?

Favor with God and prosperity are not the same thing.  The definition of prosperity:  The state of being prosperous.   Synonyms:  success, profitability, affluence, wealth opulence, luxury, the good life...and yet we know that Jeremiah pleased the Lord.   None of his words fell to the ground, he walked and talked with God.   He was a true prophet in the midst of many false prophets of his day.   Yet, Jeremiah was imprisoned, hated, ridiculed, he stood alone, he was a person who predicted doom and gloom.  They slapped his face, they hated his words.    If he had favor with God and open doors to minister to the King himself, than why didn't he prosper?  Was something wrong with his doctrine?   There was nothing wrong with his doctrine, he was speaking the true Word of God.  

Do we see the same thing with Noah?   Yes.  He preached to his generation for years and was ridiculed, mocked and scorned.  They thought him a crazy old man.    Was he doing something wrong?   Was he a better carpenter than a preacher?  He seemed successful in building a boat,  but couldn't get anyone but his family to heed the warnings of God.     Imagine the trauma of surviving on a boat with your family and the animals and a flood comes and wipes out the rest of humanity.   We have seen some harsh natural disasters in our day, but nothing compared to that.  It must have been traumatizing.   You would never get over it.  You would talk about it the rest of your life.   There must have been great sorrow emerging from the boat knowing that all of humanity was gone except for your family.   What a different world it must have been after the flood for them all.   loo

The point is that sometimes favor with God is connected to suffering and hardships instead of success, profitability, affluence, wealth, opulence and luxury, the good life...When we begin to try to find prosperity instead of trying to find the favor of the Lord we will find that we are like the rich young ruler.   Today we are going to look at the decision he made.

Luke 18: 18And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

19And Jesus said unto him, Why call me good? none is good, except one, that is, God.

20You know the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and your mother.

21And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.

22Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet you lack one thing: sell all that you have, and distribute unto the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

23And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.

24And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hard it is for those that have riches to enter into the kingdom of God!

25For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

First of all this man had it going on.  He was rich, young and a ruler.   Isn't that the American dream.  He certainly was prosperous in all things.  And yet, he knew in his heart that he was still lacking something.  The thing that he lacked was favor with God.    We see that he called Jesus good.  And Jesus responded by saying there is none good but God.   This man was a good man, and built his life and his religion on that goodness.    Jesus directed him to the 10 commandments.  His response?   He said, "All of these I have kept since my youth."   Wow.  Can anyone of us really say we have kept the 10 commandments of God since our youth?   This man really was a good man.  God had given him prosperity, and yet he was still lacking.   Prosperity and the favor of God are not the same thing.  If we do not realize this than we will continually be frustrated in our service to God.  There are men preaching today that if you please God and He favors you than you will prosper in all that you do.   While God does bring prosperity through his Word we must understand that first of all his Word brings persecution and often suffering.  And if we suffer with Him, we will reign with him.   It is possible to be a good person, keep the 10 commandments, prosper through them, yet NOT have the favor of God.   Jesus told him there is still one thing you lack...What was his lack?   He wasn't willing to suffer in his obedience to God.   He wasn't willing to obey God if it meant losing everything.  He was only willing to obey God if it brought him wealth and prosperity.  

I do not want prosperity without God's favor.   My desire is to be obedient to his will, and that transcends prosperity.  Prosperity is such a shallow goal in life.  Paul said, "I want to know HIM and the POWER of His resurrection."  Peter didn't see himself worthy to suffer in the same measure as Christ.  He asked to be crucified upside down, because we felt unworthy to have the honor to suffer in the same manor as Jesus suffered.   We are so sold out on prosperity in our thinking in these last days that we have forgotten what an honor it is to suffer for the Lord.  For is we suffer with him we will reign with him.  The rich, young, ruler had money, youth and was a leader, and he kept the 10 commandments yet he did not have eternal life because he was unwilling to suffer for the sake of righteousness.   Where is our hearts today?  Do you crave prosperity, or do you desire above all to be like Jesus?