Prosperity

[0:00] A Pastor's Reflections, Prosperity Genesis 39.2 And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man, and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

[0:15] John 15.10 If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. Galatians 5.13 For brethren, you have been called unto liberty.

[0:32] Only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. I don't believe anyone would argue the fact that Jesus was successful in everything he put his hand to.

[0:47] As the Son of God, he was unencumbered by a sin nature, selfishness, and pride. This meant that as a man, his motives were pure and his endeavors righteous.

[0:59] Jesus was prosperous in all of his ways. In fact, he was the most prosperous man to ever walk the earth. However, as the world measures prosperity, you will never find Jesus on a list for the most wealthy, most famous, or most powerful people of this world.

[1:19] In fact, if it wasn't for the scriptures, we would have very little record of who Jesus was. At the time of his ministry, he was a nobody to this world.

[1:29] In Genesis 39, Joseph finds himself in a very uncomfortable situation. He has been sold into slavery in Egypt, and the freedom he had once enjoyed in his father's house is now long gone.

[1:45] From now on, his time was no longer his own. His decisions were no longer his own. And in fact, his life was no longer his own. There was nothing about Joseph's life that would give any evidence of prosperity.

[2:03] However, there was another perspective that defined Joseph's life. No, not a perspective that saw Joseph on a who's who's list of this world, but one that declared him as a who's who of heaven.

[2:19] God declared that not only was he with Joseph, but that he was also making Joseph to prosper. In the midst of his lowest moment, least amount of freedom, and zero personal wealth, Joseph was in fact the most prosperous man alive.

[2:37] The world views prosperity as having personal wealth, personal freedom, and zero personal responsibility. Prosperity to the world means being your own master.

[2:51] But true prosperity is very different from the definitions of this world. True prosperity is not found in self-determination, but self-sacrifice.

[3:03] True prosperity is not found in independence, but service. Matthew 20, 28. Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

[3:18] Jesus, the most prosperous man of all time, did not come to use his prosperity for his own personal gain, but as an opportunity to serve. Jesus' prosperity was in his service to his Father and his service to man.

[3:33] Jesus' time was not his own, his decisions were not his own, and in fact his life was not his own either. Today, you and I have an opportunity to prosper in the prosperity of Jesus.

[3:47] No, not a prosperity that amasses personal wealth, but a prosperity that enters into the service of Jesus. Just as we prosper eternally from Jesus' service to his Master, so we too can be a source of eternal prosperity in another's life as we serve our Master, Jesus, the Son of Favor.

[4:11] Father, how prosperous we are in the wealth of your presence. Help our service to you prosper others in the wealth of your love.

[4:23] Amen. Amen.

[5:11] Amen. Amen.

[5:23] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[5:34] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.