The second part of this instruction is to lay up His words in our hearts. Christianity is not supposed to be a once per week affair. It is supposed to be a lifestyle. Far too often we try and fit Christ into our lives instead of making our lives to be about Christ. The devil works full time yet we have too many part time Christians. The Psalmist reminds us to hide His Word in our hearts as well. Beloved, we are under contract with God. The Bible contains the terms of our covenant. We know God will always be faithful. The problem is that we often do not know the terms of the agreement we stand in! Sure we know a smattering of verses here and there, usually ripped out of context by a topical preacher looking to make a pre-designed point. The Word of God is so much more powerful than that! It has so much more power for our lives if we would just know and believe what it says! If we must think of prosperity in material terms then at least remember that the devil seeks to steal as well as kill and destroy. What he really steals is our peace and joy, which is the true prosperity God speaks about. He steals it by lying to us and we prevent the theft by knowing the promises contained in the Bible. God's Word assures us that everything the devil says is a lie. That lying is his native language. For every lie the devil whispers in our ears there is a promise in the Word of God that proves him to be a liar. But we must lay up His words in our hearts beloved, lest we fall for the lies.
Continuing in the key verses we see the promises of God extend even when we fail Him and stray. God is not some vengeful angry old man hurling lightening bolts down at us in a fit of rage. He understands our human condition. Know this beloved - we are never beyond the grace of God. I do not mean the cheap knock off of grace being sold by some today that teaches no accountability. We have responsibilities as well. Look at the key verses. Restoration is always possible with God. It does not matter how far you have strayed or for how long. The statement is definitive. If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored. What is quite telling for us today in our discussion of prosperity are the two requirements God demands for "returning" to Him. It is not merely saying a prayer or going back to church. It has nothing to do with ministry efforts or how much you give. Restoration starts with two responsibilities we have. One deals with sin and the other deals with what we value.
If you remove wickedness from your tent is the first command for returning to God for restoration. If you stop the sin that has separated you from God! I know in this era of hyper grace and prosperity heresies that sin is no longer discussed but it still matters to God! Do not let any snake oil salesman tell you differently! I find it interesting that God uses the phrase to remove from your tent. Centuries after the Book of Job we find Joshua leading the Israelites into the Promised Land. They had been ordered by God to not take any of the devoted items from the spoils. After the glorious victory over Jericho the Israelites were embarrassed and soundly defeated by the inferior Ai. Joshua did not know that a man named Achan had secretly taken a Babylonian robe, 200 shekels of silver and a gold bar and buried them under his tent. Joshua tears his clothing and falls face down before the Lord and here was the response from God:
The Lord said to Joshua, "Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction. - Joshua 7: 10-12 (NIV)
Sometimes beloved we have things hidden under our tent as well. Things we know God has told us to not be involved with. Things that separate us from Him and render us powerless in our walk. Things that make us weak and vulnerable to the enemy of our souls. Things that rob our peace and prosperity in God. The Lord is saying to us today that restoration is always available but it starts with us standing up and stopping the violation of His Word that has caused us to fall away. He will not be with us until we destroy whatever we cling to that is devoted to our own destruction!
The second responsibility is devastating for prosperity preachers. The Lord says that if we want to be restored in Him then we must assign our nuggets to the dust and our gold to the ravines and then the Almighty will be our gold and choicest silver! Are we getting this today? I have heard the false prophets who pretend God has left gold dust at their services use this verse as some sort of biblical foundation, which is one of the most absurd things imaginable. Yes, this is the only place in the Bible that gold dust is mentioned but it is referenced as something we need to get rid of! Why? Because the Lord wants to be the gold and silver in our lives beloved! He wants to be what we value. He wants us to pursue Him like we pursue the trinkets of this world.
So, does God wants us to prosper? Yes - in Him! In His riches of peace and joy! The riches of this world are fleeting and often pull people away from God. Can't we have both preacher? I honestly think we cannot as long as that is what we are asking. As long as we have half of our heart looking to the riches of this world then we only are seeking God with half of our heart. Half of peace is no peace at all. Half of joy is no joy at all. The Apostle Paul once said that he had discovered the secret of contentment whether he had plenty or was lacking. That contentment is found only in God through submission. That submission is only found by accepting His Word completely and storing it up in our hearts. God is always merciful and will always be willing to restore but we must do our part. We must remove what we have buried under our tents. We must get back to valuing God and not the things of this world. When we do that beloved we will be prosperous in Christ. Maybe we will see earthly success and maybe we won't. It will not matter to us because we will no longer be pursuing it. We will only be pursuing God.
　
Reverend Anthony Wade - September 19, 2013
