So it begins…the second try. It is often my experience with technology, that just when I get a good thought typed in, a miscue happens and it is lost. I’m never sure if it’s ‘the force’ or my lack of expertise here. At any rate, I persist. You’ll know when major frustration sets in, for I will write it out on paper , take a picture of it and post it here!
Since it’s a second try, I’ll catch up on the background a little later. The main point here is not about me. It’s about my Saviour. For a couple of years, I’ve realized I must write about him. It isn’t maybe, maybe not. It’s to be done NOW! I realized it last night while hearing yet another sermon about how we are to listen and act on what we hear from God. Agreed! Now to proceed will not be on my own. For I cannot without him giving me the air and the ability to inhale…exhale. He is the air I breathe. And now it has come down to obedience or not.
I know what happens to those who are not obedient. They do not prosper. Now, hold on…let’s look at the word prosper. It isn’t a recent occurrence that dollar signs appear in our thought circles when we hear the word ‘prosper’.
This from Google:
pros·per
ˈpräspər/
verb
verb: prosper; 3rd person present: prospers; past tense: prospered; past participle: prospered; gerund or present participle: prospering
succeed in material terms; be financially successful.
“his business prospered”
flourish physically; grow strong and healthy.
“areas where gray squirrels cannot prosper”
synonyms:
flourish, thrive, do well, bloom, blossom, burgeon, progress, do all right for oneself, get ahead, get on (in the world), be successful;
informal go places
“the family business continues to prosper”
antonyms:
fail, flounder
archaic
make successful.
“God has wonderfully prospered this nation”
Origin
late Middle English: from Old French prosperer, from Latin prosperare, from prosperus ‘doing well.’
Yet, we mustn’t accept the first authority that comes along. I have a Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary which means it’s a very large book with lots of tiny print. It requires a magnifying glass and intense light to read. (Mercy me, this aging process!)
I quote here, as a photo and transferring files are beyond my limited techie expertise. Actually I will paraphrase here, as most of us won’t understand the Old English from Chaucer:
Prosper (adverb ) rare . coming from Middle English to French to Latin- favourable, fortunate, prosperous; of uncertain origin. Prosperous, successful.
Prosper (verb) coming from French to Latin- to cause (a thing) to succeed, to render fortunate, also absol in late Latin, also to propitiate (God).
…of a person, community…to flourish, thrive, succeed, do well.
Several Old English writers are quoted, then Tennyson in 1864 ” a luckier or a bolder fisherman…did not breathe.”
Ruskin 1884 “No false knight or lying priest ever prospered, I believe in any age.”
Several other mentions of ‘flourish’ and ‘doing well’, then :
to cause to flourish; to promote the prosperity of ; success of; to be propitous to.
Intermingled here there is mentioned ” God…cherished and prospered them with all the blessings he could.
1865 Kingsley”…if Heaven prospered them, they might seize a Spanish ship.”
Here, I will interject my delight at finding this writing restored somewhere in the bowels of WordPress. So nice when all is not lost! Onward…
Looking in the W.E Vine’s An Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Prosper-” to help on one’s way” , (“well” + “a way or journey”) is used in a passive voice signifying ” to have a prosperous journey,” Rom 1:10 , RV ” (as) he may prosper” 1 Cor 16:2 “as God has prospered him ” KJV. “In whatever he maybe prospered” meaning material things ; the continuous tense suggests the successive circumstances of varying prosperity… 3 John 2, of the “prosperity ” of physical and spiritual health.
So then , we might look at the definition of ‘success’. But we’ll save that for another time. Watch for it:)
I do count this blog successful so far. This morning, I looked to see what was salvageable, what had been lost for good in the big cloud and where to proceed. And we’re off to the races…with an Eternal Finish.
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Published by bethsatprairierose
Coming near 'retirement age', there are a few things on my mind I would like to discuss. And I'm open to respectful honest feedback.
Living on and helping manage a certified organic farm with my family, there are many opportunities to see God's Creation and be blessed by it. That's right- you should know upfront, that I am a follower of Jesus Christ. Thoughts and opinions are of that nature yet I am interested in mutual, respectful exchange of all ideas.
I was born and reared the first eighteen years in south Mississippi and have lived in north central North Dakota ever since. Living in a place for 40+ years does not make me a native, as we all know, those first years always hold a special place in the heart and influence our thoughts and loyalties. The South will always be 'home'...the Southern Pines and the Live Oaks with drapes of Spanish Moss and beach fronts to wander.
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