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MIDWEEK STUDY by Kim Dillhoff
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” --Matthew 13:44 We have now come back to looking at Shoshana’s message, “Why, Because All Things Working Together”. (http://www.hopeontheinside.org/SUNDAYSERVICE%20why-allthings.html) Now Joseph is still a slave, but he is finding prosperity. There are so many things that come to mind here. How could he find prosperity as a slave? Prosperity and slavery seem to clash with each other on the face of it. Just like prosperity and being ill or having circumstances that seem unfair and overwhelming. What is prosperity then? If Joseph was a slave and he couldn’t have all those things that were supposed to mean prosperity, how did he prosper? I think we can assume that Joseph was close to and obedient to God. God lets us know through the scriptures that, He is with Joseph while Joseph is a slave and He “…made all the he did to flourish and succeed in his hand.” Genisis 39:3 Also, because of what we learn later on in the Bible about prosperity and also about Joseph’s later forgiveness of his brother’s, we can also assume that Joseph most likely had a close relationship with God and was not “acting out” as a slave. He was not causing problems, screaming constantly that things weren’t fair! Even though Joseph could have been upset at times, I think we can be assured that, he was not causing Potiphar problems . If we want to find prosperity with God, we have to be calm enough to let Him give us the gifts he wants to give us. When we throw a fit all the time about our pain or our circumstances then we are focused on our pain or our circumstances, not on God. We are not focused on what He wants us to have, and then we miss it. A child throwing a full blown tantrum is put to bed and after awhile burns himself out and falls asleep while the rest of the children are put up to the table for ice cream. How much of God have we missed because we were too busy being upset over some circumstance in our lives. I know I have missed God many times.
So then what is prosperity? Here is a definition given in the Amplified Bible: “Blessed and happy and enviably fortunate and spiritually prosperous (in the state in which the born-again child of God enjoys and finds satisfaction in God's favor and salvation, regardless of his outward conditions) are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake (for being and doing right), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!” --Matthew 5:10
Enjoying and finding satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation…regardless of his outward conditions. Those are the things that we should focus on if we want to prosper: satisfaction in His favor and salvation, not our conditions. This, of course, means we should spend time with God, in His Word, praying, learning and teaching (witnessing), in order to learn about His favor and salvation. These are free gifts and that is what is so amazing, to me, about God. He offers his favor and salvation for free…all we have to do is believe Him. We can prosper even when we are ill and stuck in our homes. I believe that we can prosper in any circumstance, because I have this example of Joseph and then we also read of so many others. When you follow Christ, anything is possible. Even raising children that are ill while we are ill can be done with grace and victory. So far, I have emphasized how very hard it is and how much we need to lean on Christ in order to make right decisions and to keep a positive attitude for your child. There are also times of great joy and prosperity. It all depends on how you determine to lead your life. When there is chronic illness in a home, there are many valleys, many more than in a lot of homes, I believe. Much more pain, depression, doctor appointments, financial burdens, physical restraints, relational problems…and the lists go on. But, if we walk through our times of trouble, we will see times of prosperity. Some of the key words in the often quoted scripture…”Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil…” –Psalm 23:4 are “walk through”. We need to move through our fear, pain…whatever our shadow of death is, with God’s help. Sometimes God will surprise us with something that we just didn’t expect. If we move forward in God’s plan and don’t “act out”, we will occasionally see times of prosperity where we get a “treat”---some “ice cream”, something special that we cannot explain, other than God loves us so much that he blessed us for no apparent reason. These are times when it is as if God is giving us a gift, telling us He is proud of us. There is the kind of prosperity that gets us ready to do His will. A more important kind, I believe, and this is what Joseph was experiencing--- the kind of prosperity that comes in ways we don’t expect. Ways of training us, molding us, teaching us, maturing us to be able to do His will; the kind of prosperity that gets us ready for something to come. Possibly, a “job” that God is going to ask us to do later. Often this kind of prosperity does not make sense. This kind of prosperity comes from obedience (See John 21:22). There is a joy that comes from following what Jesus is asking you to do, even if it does not make sense to you at the time. Jesus wants us to prosper and be joyful. We can find real joy following God’s plan for us. We can then teach our children how to find this joy also. It is not wrong to pursue joy. This kind of joy is so exciting because our children can have it always, no matter if they are ill or well… and so they can have a joyful life. He tells us how to do this but we have to not only read what He said, we have to apply it to our lives. For many years, I heard the word of God; at times I even read the Bible and thought that these things were very wise. But, I never applied them to my life. Now that I am working on pursuing Jesus, I am prosperous. I feel prosperous. It doesn’t look like I thought it would. But how can I not feel prosperous? I now understand that it all comes from God, no matter how hard I may have worked. The best definition of prosperity, for me, is to be in the presence of the One who provides for me. How shall I prosper? By listening and following the One who provides for me. That is the best way to prosper, I have found, by staying in His presence. Read the Word, pray, turn my life over to Him to the best of my ability every day. Just talk to Jesus and He helps me. This is a tough road. You shouldn’t have to do it alone. I tried to find support everywhere. The only support I found that was always available was His light yoke. It all seems backward, not only does he ask you to take on more in order to rest, which is true, but when you take on His yoke, you not only receive rest, you also receive prosperity and joy. You can find ways to be in His presence, no matter what your circumstances are. And, therefore, you can always pursue joy and have a full and purposeful life---as can your children. Jesus said that he told us about these things that we may have joy. He loves us that much! “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full”—Jesus Christ --John 15:11
************************************************************* A couple of notes here, if your spouse is not supportive or does not believe in prayer, God will give you the strength and blessing that you need to take care of your chronically ill child. If you are a single parent, you have a very difficult job. God will also bless you with what you need. Please write to me, if you can or find support. I pray that you will press into Jesus and let Him carry you and your child. If you need to have a personal relationship with Jesus, please follow this link http://www.hopeontheinside.org/getwithgod.html If you are not sure, I want to encourage you to find freedom, rest, salvation, wisdom and love. These things are freely given by God, if you will only freely accept Him…His Son. These are tools that I could not have lived without in raising my children. I pray that you will tap into these incredible gifts for parenting that God has to offer you. But, first you must receive. **************************************************************** If you feel overwhelmed and need some support please write to the email address below or go to the Forum on this site. If you are raising a chronically ill child, please send me an email at findingtruejoy@yahoo.com and tell me a little about yourself, including your age and the age(s) of your children, if you don’t mind, so that I can know more about you. ******************************************************************* Kim Dillhoff lives outside of Portland, OR with her (supportive) husband of 22 years and two children, still at home. Alex (16) and Katie (13).[here is the link to Katie’s poems that she wrote awhile ago and allowed Hope on the Inside to print. http://www.hopeontheinside.org/KATIESKORNER.html.] Kim, also has a son, Rob (25) who lives near her. Kim and Katie both suffer from Fibromyalgia (FM) and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). Kim also suffers from Myofacial Pain Syndrome (MPS). She was diagnosed in 2000. Kim has been a Christian most of her life. But has followed Jesus’ teachings much more closely, in order to have a personal relationship since 2002. She feels blessed that God has set her in a family by blood and of Christian sisters who support her, and her family, with prayer and love.
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