Rules for Prosperity

Rules for Prosperity, August 7
Author: Charles H. Spurgeon From the book: Faith's Checkbook

"Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the Law, which Moses My servant commanded thee: turn not from It to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest" - Joshua 1:7

Yes, the LORD will be with us in our holy war, but He demands of us that we strictly follow His rules. Our victories will very much depend upon our obeying Him with all our heart, throwing strength and courage into the actions of our faith. If we are halfhearted we cannot expect more than half a blessing.

We must obey the LORD with care and thoughtfulness. "Observe to do" is the phrase used, and it is full of meaning. This is referred to every part of the divine will; we must obey with universal readiness. Our rule of conduct is "according to all the law." We may not pick and choose, but we must take the LORD's commands as they come, one and all. In all this we must go on with exactness and constancy. Ours is to be a straightforward course which bends neither to the right nor to the left. We are not to err by being more rigid than the law, nor turn out of levity to a more free and easy way. With such obedience there will come spiritual prosperity. O LORD, help us to see if it be not even so! We shall not test Thy promise in vain.

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This may seem like C.H. Spurgeon is demanding perfection but what I think he's really doing is reminding us that the Lords road is straight and narrow. We cannot take what God says and put our own spin on it, we can't make it say more than what God initially meant for it and we can't make it less than what God meant for it. When I say that we can't make it say more, I mean we can't put a meaning into it that God did not intend to be there, not that we won't get more and more out of something written by the hand of God, each time we read it. God's word, His commands are perfect and we are to follow them perfectly, which goes back to watching the Lord continually sanctify you and chasing after righteousness. You may not be perfect and you may not do all things perfectly but that should be our aim. Grace&Peace.