Cyber-Discipleship

A false gospel has permeated the American culture. It is the false gospel of prosperity, the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel, as some call it. I call it a false gospel because those who preach it do not preach the entire counsel of God—only the appealing part. They teach how God longs to bless His people. They teach how God desires to give them the Kingdom. They teach how God’s people are to be the head and not the tail, lenders and not borrowers. But they neglect the part that comes before—in order to be blessed by God, one must be obedient to God.

God does desire to bless His people. Inherent in that statement is the fact that one must first be His people. What does this mean? It means one must be adopted into His family by the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. It means one must acknowledge his or her sinfulness, repent of that sinful life, and submit to Jesus’ Lordship. In order to be blessed, one must be His child, His obedient child.

God told the Israelites, who were His people, that they were to follow His commandment and to keep His statutes. If they did this, He would bless them exceedingly. “…He [would] bless [their] bread and [their] water; and [He would] remove sickness from [their] midst. 26 There shall be no one miscarrying or barren in [their] land; [He would] fulfill the number of [their] days. 27 [He would] send [His] terror ahead of [them], and throw into confusion all the people among whom [they came], and [He would] make all [their] enemies turn their backs to [them] (Exodus 23:25b-27). Why would He do all this? It was to win the world back to Himself by provoking them to jealousy. When the foreign people see the blessings of the Israelites they would ask, “Why are you so blessed?” They would point to God as the Source of their blessings. When their gods were unable to bless them like the Hebrew God, they would come back and say, “tell us about your God.”

A similar scene happened in the Book of 1 Kings. Solomon’s fame had gone out around the world. The Queen of Sheba came to see the man about whom the whole world was talking. The problem was that by then Solomon was not still close to God so when the Queen came, Solomon did not influence her towards God; rather she influenced him away from God.

In the New Testament, Paul tells us that God’s plan hasn’t changed. He still wants to use His people to provoke those outside to jealousy. Paul tells us in Romans 11:11 that God has taken the Kingdom to the Gentiles as to provoke the Jews to jealousy. When they were to see the blessings of God upon the Gentiles, it was meant to cause them to turn from their ways, recognize Jesus as the Messiah, repent, and turn back to God. This part of God’s plan is still in effect.

As believers we are to be walking billboards of the blessings and the glory of God. We are to both display God’s physical blessings and His spiritual ones. He does want to bless His people. I am convinced that God searches the earth looking for people He can bless. But He only blesses the obedient (Exodus 23) and the faithful (Matthew 25:14-30). His blessings are not just for us but as a testimony of His goodness and a witness to His faithfulness. They are to lead people to seek not just His hand but His face.

Do you want to receive the blessings of God? Be a blessing to others. Share what you do have-time, talent, and treasure. Let your joy be evident to all. Put your faith and your praise on display. Let your life be a witness for God’s honor and not dishonor. Provoke those who have no peace and joy to jealousy so they will ask you, “What’s up?” When you become a willing channel for God’s glory, and not your own, it will be your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.