I Timothy 6:5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.
I Kings 11:3-4 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.
Mankind has always seemed to struggle with this and it seems to be even worse today. We try to constantly correlate prosperity with Godliness. God does often bless his believers with prosperity, but it cannot be used as an accurate gauge for right and wrong. Many today try to judge a church, person, or personal decision's correctness on the amount of prosperity that may be on hand or have the potential to be gained. Oftentimes, this leads to a larger gap in the relationship between them and God which is very seldom noticed until it reaches a point at which we assume (wrongly so by the way) it cannot be corrected. In our verses you will notice that God informs us of two things which let us know that prosperity as we think of it naturally has no direct correlation with how close a persons relationship is with God. In I Timothy, God through the pen of Paul tells us to actually withdraw or separate ourself from those that have his as their way of discerning the right and wrongs of serving God. In I Kings, God informs us that Solomon had allowed his heart to be turned toward (approving of these false gods) other gods. At this time and afterward he was the most prosperous man living on the earth and God had not removed his great wealth during his lifetime, yet he now reached a point in his life where God approved very little of what Solomon was approving in his spiritual walk with God. Keep these things in mind as you make your decisions of how and where to best serve God. There is no better way for you to have the peace of God in your heart than to simply follow the biblical advice of one of our beloved hymns, "Trust and Obey".
I Kings 11:3-4 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.
Mankind has always seemed to struggle with this and it seems to be even worse today. We try to constantly correlate prosperity with Godliness. God does often bless his believers with prosperity, but it cannot be used as an accurate gauge for right and wrong. Many today try to judge a church, person, or personal decision's correctness on the amount of prosperity that may be on hand or have the potential to be gained. Oftentimes, this leads to a larger gap in the relationship between them and God which is very seldom noticed until it reaches a point at which we assume (wrongly so by the way) it cannot be corrected. In our verses you will notice that God informs us of two things which let us know that prosperity as we think of it naturally has no direct correlation with how close a persons relationship is with God. In I Timothy, God through the pen of Paul tells us to actually withdraw or separate ourself from those that have his as their way of discerning the right and wrongs of serving God. In I Kings, God informs us that Solomon had allowed his heart to be turned toward (approving of these false gods) other gods. At this time and afterward he was the most prosperous man living on the earth and God had not removed his great wealth during his lifetime, yet he now reached a point in his life where God approved very little of what Solomon was approving in his spiritual walk with God. Keep these things in mind as you make your decisions of how and where to best serve God. There is no better way for you to have the peace of God in your heart than to simply follow the biblical advice of one of our beloved hymns, "Trust and Obey".
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