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Are the wicked blessed by God with prosperity?

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hillsbororiver:
Pro 24:1  Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them.

Earthly riches whether real or perceived can certainly snare a soul into darkness if and when they become an idol of the heart or the object of envy or lust, if a person becomes comfortable ("have need of nothing" Rev 3:17) in this life are they not to be pitied? Who holds the real treasure, those with temporal gold and silver or those who seek Him and strive to know and live His Word?

 Ecclesiastes 6

 1There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men:

 2A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.

 3If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.

 4For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.

 5Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other.

 6Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?

 7All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.

 8For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living?

 9Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

 10That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he.

 11Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better?

 12For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?

 His Peace to you,

 Joe

hummer:

Proverbs 10:2 Ill-gotten gains do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death.
Proverbs 10:22 It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich, and He adds no sorrow to it.
Proverbs 11:4 Riches do nor profit in the day of wrath, bur righteousness delivers from wrath
Provers 11:28 He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like the leaf.
Proverbs 15:6 Great wealth is in the house of the righteous, but trouble is in the income of the wicked
Proverbs 15:15-16 All the days of the afflicted are bad, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast. 16) Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and turmoil with it.
Proverbs 16:8 Better is a little with righteousness than great income with injustice.
Proverbs 28:20 A faithful man will abound with blessings, but he who makes haste to be rich will not go unpunished
Proverbs 28:22 A man with an evil eye hastens after wealth and does no know that want will come upon him.
Proverbs 30:8-9 Keep deception and lies far from me, give me neither poverty or riches; feed me with the food that is my portion, that I not be full and deny You and say, "Who is the Lord?" or that I not be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God
1Timothy 6:4-11 He is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. 6) but godliness is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. 7) For we brought nothing into the world, so we can not take anything out of it either. 8) If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. 9) But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10) For the love of money is A root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs 11) But flee from these things you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.
James 5:1-5 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. 2) Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth eaten. 3) Your gold and your silver have rusted, and their rust will be a witness against you and consume your flesh like fire. it is in the last days that you stored up your treasure 4) Behold the pay of the laborers who move your fields which have been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure, you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.


1John3:17-18 But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18) Little children, let us not love with word or tongue, but in deed and truth.

Skip

mrsnacks:
Interesting points. I see that in marriages that it isn't about happiness. I mean happiness is a by product of a good marriage but it isn't the main goal as far as God is concerned. Even our spouses have high expectations and the reverse may be true.
 
Let me be honest and transparent for a moment.

I feel my wife expects me to be like Jesus. And most couples I know go through the same thing. It is almost universal. The husbands ( including me) complain. The wives complain. Husbands aren't happy really and wives aren't either. Then everyone goes to church and puts the masks on.
This morning I woke up and said to myself " I am not a Christian. " I am a believer.

IT is Easter Sunday and I didn't go to church. My wife and I got into an argument yesterday and she is just fuming. She sees me being wrong and I see she is being blind. Nothing new. So she took off to church with our daughter and I said that I wasn't going. Why ? Because it is hypocritical to me to go and face all these people and worship God in the building when the insides of me aren't settled. When there is unfinished business and strife between us.Not only that there are many unsettled problems in the church especially in the leadership at the time. The pastor and his wife have a beef and internal fight going on with the assistant pastor and etc.  So it is a mess. I know we are all human. But maybe I am wrong - I can't go and put on the act. With my wife standing beside me pretending and full of hate etc forcing a smile. She is teaching the kids in Sunday school as well. And then everyone going around saying Praise the Lord abd giving a Holy Spirit hug and kiss. Yuk !

I may have wandered off of the subject a little. Sorry.

 I think of me being a musician and composer. I am very sensitive. When things are not going well in relationships it affects me. IT affects my work. I can't arrange and compose. IT affects me spiritually. Almost like a thorn in the flesh.
Many times I say I can't do this. The expectations are too high. I know the scriptures that it is Christ that lives in me and not . I must die daily etc. BUt I continue to fail. Especially not meeting the expectations of those loved ones around me. 
What is God saying ? What you said Cly is so true. God is working in all of us.

PLus this thing about idols. Why are we so affected by what our spouse or family members think. Could our wife or husband of even our kids be idols of the heart?
God does command us to love our wives as Christ loves the church. He gave everything. And wives to respect their husbands. Why has this become so difficult today. LOok at the divorce rate among believers and unbelievers. About the same. What a day !

 

LittleBear:
Hi MrSnacks,

Marriage is a forum where we get to practice our forgiveness skills on a continual basis. Jesus said to forgive your brother seventy times seven times and it is definitely a good prescription for all the aches and pains in a marriage.
I get the picture about your not going to church when things are not right between you and your wife and you have to pretend that they are in order to continue with the image of the perfect family. Everybody does it. Everybody wants everyone else to see them as an upright, amazing, strong-in-the-Lord Christians, pillars of our society. This is an idol too. It's a dishonest idol, because one has to generate a great amount of energy into portraying that perfect image.

What if you went to church and stood up and anounced that you and your wife need prayer because things are not right between you today? Gasp!
It would be honest though. If everyone did that, you would have a really long service. Bring lunch.

The thing is, you love your wife and your wife loves you. God brought you together to bring something about in both of you that you need. All these irritations are part of God's great plan in your life. It doesn't feel like it, it doesn't feel good, it feels mundane, but as CIY said, it is done in the light of God's overall plan.

Hi CIY,
In my situation, I have decided that I am going to stick with this man, my husband, no matter what. Sometimes it gets overwhelming, but those are the times I turn to God with everything I have. I found I can't control what my husband does or doesn't do, and God is working through him, through his weaknesses and imperfections, through the insecurity of the future, to bring me to that humble place (which hasn't happenned yet). I don't really know what that place looks like because I have still a lot of pride in me, and my own weaknesses and imperfections as well.

It sounds like God has given you a strength in your situation, and a vision of His being in control in the midst of it all. Your post really encouraged me when I needed encouraging. Thank you.

Ursula

LittleBear:
Hi NickyM,

Society's expectations will definitely drive you mad. It is the world's expectations and you are right, they are expecting more than you can ever be especially because you are following the Lord.

Luke 16:15 says "For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God."

That's big for us. What is highly esteemed among men these days? Just think when you don't measure up or if you don't run after what the rest of society pursues. Who and what do they idolize? Lots of money, big houses, fancy cars, sports personalities, self aggrandizement, youth, all the latest gadgets, etc. etc.

The motto of the world is eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. But for us, we pursue the things of God.
I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.Phil. 3 :14.

Paul also said, "But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ."Phil. 3:7. This was one amazing man in the Lord.
I was reading a scripture last night which I found awesome.
Hebrews 10:34 "...and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven."
I like the "joyfully" part.

Ursula

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