Prospered to Bless

Deuteronomy 8:18 And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth.

In this text, Moses was informing Israel to recognize God as the one who orchestrates the event in our lives and He alone gives us the ability to obtain wealth. Yes, material blessing are included in one of God's 600 blessings, or promises, to His children who faithfully follow His commandments. Moses strictly warns Israel not to falsely conclude that this capacity for success is an innate talent of their own, but to humbly acknowledge that it is a God-given ability. It is really God's gift to us and should not be squandered selfishly. Clearly, God wants our needs met and He wants to give us our heart's desires, but God's desire is that we use our abundance to bless others. Money is only a small part of wealth. A person can have a million dollars and still be poor; poor in peacefulness and poor in friendship.

If the Israelite's would of recognized God and said, “He is the great I Am, which encompasses; He is all we need”, their journey would have been much shorter and less stressful. God made it possible for them to conquer all the land of Israel, gave them a pillow of cloud (which provided a shade) to walk through a hot desert, a fire for light and warmth in the darkest night, their clothes and shoes never wore out in 40 years, God swept back the Red Sea for an escape from pharaoh's pursuing army, and water came from a rock! I just can't imagine all the other blessings they must of missed, all because they did not recognize who God was and they were too busy grumbling and complaining.

It is time we take note of how we are using, and what we are doing with His blessings.

Elda Jones