A friend of mine from the Orlando Sentinel recently interviewed Joel Osteen. As I read through some of the stories there and heard a couple of the things he said, a couple times he talked about having a heart that is pure before God. I really like that and I appreciate that he points that out. So many people forget that aspect when they focus on the abundance of God and his blessing. I don't like the word "prosperity" in this context, only because of its connotations. The so called "Prosperity Gospel" is focused on this world and on our possessions. Our culture bombards us with prosperity. We need a gospel that talks about blessing.
God repeatedly talks about blessing in the Bible, but it is for those who are totally surrendered humble before Him, pure in heart before Him. They're not following God simply because they want to be blessed. They follow God whether he blesses them or not. It's Matthew 5, the beatitudes. In the OT, God desired to bless Israel so that they could be a testimony for God's glory. They screwed it up by not being pure in heart toward him. So he stopped blessing them. Another good 5 minute read in this context is the book of Haggai. Go to the beginning of the New Testament, then go back three books. When the people neglected building God's house, and built their own houses, he sent drought. When they followed him, he promised blessing.
Kudos to Joel for pointing out, in his warm fuzzy Texan drawl, that following God blesses us when our hearts are pure, when we're in it for Him, and not for his blessing. Look up John Piper on youtube or Godtube about this. God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.
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