I am not into marketing but I would imagine that if I wanted to sell diet pills or exercise equipment I would definitely do a huge marketing campaign right around the first of the year. That is when people are making resolutions about getting fit and losing weight. If you watch some of the commercials closely you will sometimes notice a message on the bottom of the screen in small print that says “results not typical.” Isn’t that the way some people feel about all the resolutions they make, results not typical. But imagine starting the New Year with a simple promise that whatever you did you would not fail? Imagine being told that your life is not a series of random events; that it is being guided by Someone whose plan for you involves prosperity. That seems to me to be the promise to Israel in Jeremiah 29. God tells Israel that He knows the plans He has for them and they are plans to prosper them and not harm them.

We need to be careful when it comes to scripture like this because that passage was intended for Israel over 2,000 years ago and was written in the context of their impeding captivity however I do believe there is enough New Testament evidence to support the fact that God not only knows the plans He has for us but an integral part of that plan is to prosper us. Be careful with the idea of prosperity please. I am not saying God wants us all healthy and wealthy, that is our worldly idea of what prosperity is; what I want to convey to you as we start 2008 is that your life is not just a series of isolated events randomly coming together; rather it is a part of the process by which God wants to transform you into the person He wants you to be. So prosperity for us is not having lots of money or friends or anything else this world says it prosperity. Prosperity is living a life that is daily surrendered and consecrated to fulfilling God’s purpose for your life.

Can you imagine what God can do in your life when you are fully committed to Him above all else? Can you imagine what God can do in our church when we are fully committed to Him above all else? Can you imagine what God can do in our community, state, and nation when we are committed to Him above all else? I don’t believe that we can fully comprehend what God could do for us if we asked Him and then trusted Him for the results. To trust God for prosperity in our personal lives, church and community takes genuine faith, believing prayer; and a surrendered spirit which are traits often lacking in lukewarm Christian lives that seem to typify the American church.

My challenge to us as a church in 2008 is what can you imagine? What can you imagine in your life that only God can accomplish? What can you imagine for our church that only God can accomplish? In 2008 let’s stop trusting in our resources and abilities and let’s hold fast to the promises of God’s Word and rely on His Holy Spirit for guidance and direction.