MEMORISE:
Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us.
Psalm 67:5-6
READ: Psalm 92:12-15
92:12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
92:13 Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.
92:14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;
92:15 To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
MESSAGE
Those whom the Lord refers to as the "flourishing" are those who have the capacity to lend to nations. They are the kind of people that nations can humbly go to in order to explain their needs, anticipating that they will receive something impactful from them. The first thing you need in order to flourish is divine favour. In Romans 9:15-16, God said:
"...I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy."
In other words, struggling for wealth does not necessarily lead to prosperity. This is why an African proverb says, "It is not the lack of food that stops a cat from being as big as the dog."
After God has shown you favour, the next thing you need in order to flourish is hard work. Lazy people don't work hard, so they don't flourish. In John 5:17b, Jesus Christ said:
"My Father worketh hitherto, and I work."
God is a hard worker, so it would not be in His character to cause a lazy fellow to flourish. In Proverbs 13:4a, the Bible says:
"The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing:"
In my lifetime, I have seen a lot of people who want to flourish without working hard. They remain poor, because God's word cannot be broken. His word says in Proverbs 22:29:
"Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men."
If you don't want to work hard, then there is no way God can cause you to flourish. When God wants to bless someone, He opens doors to him or her. However, if He opens a door for you, He won't push you through it; you will have to do what it takes to go through it yourself.
For you to flourish, beyond working hard, you must work right. Working hard is not as important as working right, otherwise all labourers would be the richest people in the world. Peter and some other disciples fished all night but they caught nothing because they were fishing in the wrong place (John 21:3-6). You can only know which way to cast your net if you have surrendered the boat of your life to the Master. Those whose hearts are sold out to Jesus never lack direction. They always have net-breaking catches because Jesus tells them which direction to cast their nets. Is it so with you?
PRAYER POINT:
Father, I am wiling to work hard and work right; please bless me today.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Ezra 4-6, Revelation 22
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 1: THERE SHALL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSING
1 There shall be showers of blessing:
This is the promise of love;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
Sent from the Saviour above.
Chorus:
Showers of blessing,
Showers of blessing we need;
Mercy-drops round us are falling,
But for the showers we plead.
2 There shall be showers of blessing—
Precious reviving again;
Over the hills and the valleys,
Sound of abundance of rain.
3 There shall be showers of blessing;
Send them upon us, O Lord!
Grant to us now a refreshing;
Come, and now honor Thy Word.
4 There shall be showers of blessing;
O that today they might fall,
Now as to God we’re confessing,
Now as on Jesus we call!
5 There shall be showers of blessing,
If we but trust and obey;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
If we let God have His way.
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