Documente Academic
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Documente Cultură
Prosperous
and the
Soul
Stephen K. DeSilva
Contents
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Foreword
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Foreword
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Foreword
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Introduction
The Voyage
We can find ourselves in a good book. Stories can spark perspective, hope and victory in a persons life. My prayer for
you is that the following pages would spark the journey of
your own prosperous soul. To that end, imagine you are on
a voyage.
You are the captain of a cargo ship, responsible to acquire,
protect, manage and deliver merchandise for its rightful ownersyou are a steward. In spite of your skills as a sailor, you
have suffered loss from time to time. Foul weather has required
you to jettison cargo, doldrums have threatened, but you have
sailed on through tempests and calm. This is your profession;
you are a dealer and transporter of goods from port to port.
Then one day you receive a great commissiona voyage
that will require you to sail far beyond the familiar harbors
and stretches of ocean. The risks are great, but the reward
is greater. The one who has chartered your ship is the most
successful merchant in the world. He is looking for busi15
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m
Poverty and Mammon are spiritual influences that we all
must learn to resist. Each of these spirits, like the islands in
the voyage, has its own current, pulling upon our internal
wounds and fears like magnets. And each features a host
of pitfalls, both literal and spiritual, that are disastrous to
wealth. Some believers perceive these influences as normal
or unavoidable parts of everyday lifelets call them familiar spiritsand unintentionally allow their destructive
effects into their lives. Other believers overcompensate in
their avoidance of one spirit, putting themselves at risk of
falling under the power of the other. We must continually
consult the Holy Spirit for guidance and allow Him to train
our vision upon our ultimate goalJesus, the One who has
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Introduction
gone before us as our model of stewardship and the embodiment of the prosperous soul.
Where, you might ask, does a prosperous soul feature in
this voyage story? It is the ship itself, where the condition of
our souls is like the capacity of a ship. It determines what we
can be entrusted to carry. Just as the islands threaten the ship,
the dangers of Poverty and Mammon are targeted primarily
at diminishing our souls capacity, not merely our material
possessions and circumstances. But the One who calls us to
this journey does the opposite, growing our ability to carry
wealth, both natural and spiritual. Our cooperation with
God causes our souls to expand, according to Johns prayer,
even as our soul prospers (see 3John2).
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1
Purpose
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Purpose
Shouldnt I use what we have to cover some of the payroll? These people have entrusted their livelihood to us. I feel
responsible for them.
He pointed out that the same was true of the missionaries,
and their due date was upon us now. We would take care of
our immediate commitments and seek God for the rest. I did
as he instructed, keenly aware that we had entered a moment
of truth. Would God provide in time?
I whined, moaned, imagined the worst and continued
to pour out my desperation in prayer. When I was spent, I
wandered back to my office and collapsed in my chair, too
distracted to work on anything else. Suddenly my telephone
buzzedsomeone had come to see me. Send him in, I
said.
A church member walked in, stood before me, smiled and
handed me a check for $35,000. He told me he had been trying
to deliver this gift for three months. Problems kept coming
up and cash flow struggles held it back. But today, here it is.
I hope you can use it. See you later. With that, he stepped
out of my office and into my hearts hall of fame.
Lifting my jaw off the floor, I sat and wept at Gods deliverance. The check exactly matched the payroll, plus payroll
tax deposits, needed the next day.
This provision had come in after we had made our payment
of $10,000 to the missionaries and tithes. But what struck
me most profoundly was that, while my prayers had been
passionate during the crisis, God had established our deliverance three months prior, before I even knew of the need. I
had acted as if I needed to get Gods attention and convince
Him to care about our necessities, when the reality was that
God knew and cared far more about them than I.
I have never before or since seen Gods provision as miraculously and hilariously paraded before me as it was that
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