"...their prosperity in Christ."

This isn't the first or second or third blog post about prosperity here, but it comes up in the Book of Mormon on a regular basis, including instructions on how to obtain it.  In this blog post, we investigate some actions that can be taken to lose the prosperity that righteousness merits.

First, just a recap of what "prosperity in Christ" looks like: 

4 Nephi 1

23 And now I, Mormon, would that ye should know that the people had multiplied, insomuch that they were spread upon all the face of the land, and that they had become exceedingly rich, because of their prosperity in Christ.

There is something here that makes social scientists jump:  The entire idea that people multiplying happened at the same time as people getting rich.  It works the exact opposite way in our time - when people become rich, they have less children.  This is a rock-hard doctrine of our times, but apparently not a feature among the righteous followers of Jesus Christ.

What was the difference? We can see what happens when things take a turn for the worse.

24 And now, in this two hundred and first year there began to be among them those who were lifted up in pride, such as the wearing of costly apparel, and all manner of fine pearls, and of the fine things of the world. 

We live in a world awash in pride and the acquisition of the things that show we are prideful and that are worn like a badge of honor these days. After exactly 200 years, the non-prideful, prolific, and in-congruently rich people started wearing expensive clothes and jewelry and feeling pretty prideful doing it. This very quickly proved their undoing - no more peace.

In a world quick to blame the environment, social pressures, one ideology or another, solar flares, or biorhythms for the bad state of things, God and his prophets are quick to reveal the real culprit: personal pride.  If you want the prosperity in life that Christ offers, a prosperity so foreign to our times that you can enjoy a large posterity and lots of money at the same time, you humble yourself before the Lord. You stop considering your own path as superior to the agenda of God. You follow the teachings of prophets and apostles and you start receiving blessings that defy logic. It is amazing to see, especially in your own life.

The path to prosperity is through the Lord Jesus Christ.  When you put yourself between Jesus and your more obedient self through pride, how can the Lord prosper you?  As we follow God's agenda, miraculous blessings will come as surely as the sun rises.

The Shape of Prosperity

There is a tendency among many people to turn God into some mystical being, all the easier to dismiss him and his promises in the future. Such folk pat themselves on each other's backs for their "rationality" and a touted "evolution" beyond a supposedly foolish belief in God.  These acts are, at their very heart, pride that they can handle their own affairs in their own way and without help: this is categorically foolish - biting the hand that supports you from day-to-day. 

We do so much better in life and happiness when we humbly align ourselves with God's purposes. When we obey him, things tend to go better for us!  His promise is that he will prosper us and that prosperity will come in very concrete forms.  I am grateful for a literal God that rewards us, not just "spiritually", but in very physical and tangible ways. 

Book of Mormon, Helaman 12:1 - 2:

...yea, we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper those who put their trust in him.

Yea, and we may see at the very time when he doth prosper his people, yea, in the increase of their fields, their flocks and their herds, and in gold, and in silver, and in all manner of precious things of every kind and art; sparing their lives, and delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; softening the hearts of their enemies that they should not declare wars against them; yea, and in fine, doing all things for the welfare and happiness of his people;...

When the Lord speaks of prosperity and promises that he will prosper you, this is what it will look like. It will be very obvious, though we may discount it or choose to say that our own strength gave us these things. I, for one, always try to credit God for any good fortune that I enjoy! 

Who does he prosper?  "...those who put their trust in him."  It can also be more precisely understood by the conditions under which the Lord will not prosper us:

 Book of Mormon, Helaman 12:2:

...yea, then is the time that they do harden their hearts, and do forget the Lord their God, and do trample under their feet the Holy One...

If you acknowledge the Lord and obey his commandments with gratitude to him for all that you have, he will provide you with more as he has promised! 

Would you like prosperity in your life?  My advice would be to attribute the good things you have to God and show him your appreciation through following the path and commandments of Christ. The promised prosperity will follow!

Sackcloth and Ashes in a Land of Plenty

One overarching element of the Book of Mormon record is something that many people call "the pride cycle", which is readily seen in the graphic of this post. A studied approach toward good is necessary from a large majority of a nation or people to get out the pride cycle once it has taken hold of a society.

If the current American people were on the cycle, I predict we would be somewhere between "Righteousness and prosperity" and "Pride and wickedness", leading to "Destruction and suffering".  In most measures, we have enjoyed a very long period of prosperity that was largely due to the righteousness and industry of previous generations. As we have largely abandoned the ways of our parents and grandparents, we are already beginning to pay the price in a fading prosperity. Few people deny that the children of today will have lives less pleasant than we have enjoyed. All of the economic indicators are going in the wrong direction and the "Pax Americana" that the world has largely enjoyed in decades past is replaced with the drumbeat of war on several fronts.

 

I don't really worry too much about the children. In spite of our world of mechanized compulsory schooling, depressing economics, and over-socialized, over-sexualized peer worship, these young people are amazingly resilient and resourceful and totally capable of overcoming the stupidity that my older generation has pandered to and pushed our children into. They have an obvious strength and ability to swing themselves into a permanent state of "Righteousness and prosperity" and to avoid our decadent "Pride and wickedness" before they are stuck with the "Destruction and suffering" that our foolishness will bring on.

Myself and my cohort seem the lot to be most concerned about. We ruined our society with LGBTQ+++ and DEI idiocy and we gave fuel to the fire of "climate" hysteria, among thousands of other lunatic ideas that we fat and lazy cretins are easily brought to think. We gave our disposable incomes and our largely disposable existences toward the missions of enriching oligarchs and worshiping ideologues, both promising much but rarely delivering anything worthwhile. This is at the root of our "Pride and wickedness", raising mere mortals to being our gods.

 

Even for us, there remains hope if we recognize our peril and spin ourselves about toward the state of "Humility and repentance", a recipe for joy provided by the likes of Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father.  The way for us to avoid getting stuck in the "pride cycle" is well preached by mounds of scriptural affirmations and the words of modern prophets and apostles. We need to access these saving resources and Christ's redemptive power (grace) and "shake off the dust" of this corrupt world we have helped to ruin and turn to the better living and example that the Divine has told us time and again to embrace.  God will readily forgive us our silliness as we change and turn to him!

I implore us all to get out of the "cycle" toward "Destruction and suffering" and return to the "Righteousness and prosperity" that God and his Christ have in store for us!

Pathways to Blessings and Prosperity - 3 Nephi 5:21:22

I have spoken about prosperity at least once before and I have prospered myself in recent years. I don't know how much I deserve anything like it, but good things have happened regardless as I put myself in God's path.

My continued slow reading of the Book of Mormon might shed some light on some things that bring prosperity, physical and spritual. 

3 Nephi 5

21 Surely he hath blessed the house of Jacob, and hath been merciful unto the seed of Joseph.

22 And insomuch as the children of Lehi have kept his commandments he hath blessed them and prospered them according to his word.

As it reads, God blessed the house of Jacob (those would be the tribes of Israel) and has been merciful to the "seed of Joseph", which are more specifically the descendents of Ephriam and Menassah, the sons of Joseph. This is relevant to the writer Mormon, who is a descendent of Lehi, whose children were of both sons of the biblical Joseph.  It seems that these scriptures make reference to a lineal tradition of God's followers and covenant people.

The Book of Mormon has many references that God will "prosper" his people upon the Western Hemisphere who obey him.  The people of the Book of Mormon, both the righteous and the wicked, are descendents of Joseph, so blessings and mercy are due to them by heritage, if they seek such through obedience to his commandments, as in the second verse.

Blessings and mercy are not restricted to one or another of the twelve tribes of Israel: such is given to all the descendents of Jacob. Anyone who seeks out an authoritative baptism are included in the tribes of Israel and become an inheritor of these promises.

One of those promises is that we prosper according to our dilligence in keeping Christ's commandments as in verse 22. 

Why not seek the prosperity that comes of being baptized into the house of Jacob and keeping the commandments of Christ?

Some Jaredite Prosperity Wisdom

 

Here is some more in the vein of prosperity:

And because the people did repent of their iniquities and idolatries the Lord did spare them, and they began to prosper again in the land.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/ether/7?lang=eng&id=p26#p26

Here is another view on how to attain prosperity from the children of Jared and his brother as filtered through Moroni.

 Are we grateful that the Lord is willing to spare you, when you and I really deserve hellfire and damnation? We best be repenting from our cherished iniquities (sexual/"gender" deviance) and idolatries (water skiing and that demon bowling)!

God brought Us to a Land of Liberty

When Lehi, who lead his family away from a decadent Jerusalem across the ocean to the Americas, left his final blessings on his children, he made a prophecy about this new land that his children would inherit: 

2 Nephi 1:7

Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever.

This certainly happened in relation to the descendents of Lehi, who lived in liberty in the western hemisphere for nearly a thousand years, but were destroyed or enslaved in short order as they turned iniquitous.

It can also be seen that as long as most of the people who came to America were devoted to God and keeping his commandments, this was a land of liberty. The American Revolution is a good study of how a nation shouldn't have survived in the face of so many obstacles, overcome through divine intervention.  It was a point of some strange pride that "God Bless America" could be relied upon to save and prosper the Union.  People traditionally went to church and prayed in gratitude for the gift of liberty and prosperity, which they received.

Now, we are beating a fast retreat from God as a people. More Americans identify as atheists; They seek to prop up government as their protector and guarantor of peace and liberty, which is increasingly elusive and even undesirable to a growing number of urbanites. Many believe that God isn't interested in us, even if God exists at all, so they flout his commandments openly and with a pride in their ability to do so.

Lehi makes it clear that "if iniquity shall abound" (and it surely does), "cursed shall be the land..." The American nation has been so trusting that good things will always come, as they always have. However, the blessings we have always enjoyed will turn into a cursing, to which we have little experience.  I expect the kind of horrors that we have never known in our country.

To counter this cursing, we need to be righteous and encourge our neighbors to do the same.  We all need to study our Bibles again, re-learn what God wants us to do, re-enshrine his commandments to us, and them reclaim the blessings for ourselves that our larger society has rejected.   "...but unto the righteous it (this land) shall be blessed forever."

"I Shall Not Want."

My very dear and tolerant wife has mentioned that much of my writing lately has been a bit dark. Although I admit that I tend toward focusing on a need to repent and some of the more punitive aspects of God, I had always hoped that I mentioned the joys of following in the path of Christ. In this posting, I intend to state again my feelings of blessing and gratitude.

I feel as David did when he composed the 23rd Psalm:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

As often as I have turned to the Lord for help, I have received it. When I have worked righteousness and implored others to do likewise, I have been blessed.

I hope when I speak of repentance and our constant and universal need for it, I don't exclusively condemn but also pull away the curtain to the joy and blessing that follows a true redemption. There is always need to better ourselves and to draw closer to God, both in our words and in our actions. As we do this, we will enjoy the blessings that the Lord has already provided for those who obey him! The only thing that stands in the way of such a wonderful life is our capacity to faithfully come to God and claim such prosperity!

I am very blessed and I know that it is by the hand of God that my blessings have come. He is a wise and generous and loving God to those who follow Christ and his commandments. I am trying to do this and have been richly rewarded for my every effort!

I feel to say yet again: Repent and follow where he leads!  Enjoy his blessings!

"the Lord hath reserved their blessings,..."

God promises us blessings for our obedience. Sadly, we often forego our blessings in favor of something else we want. Sometimes, those blessings are of a physical nature - like a house or a piece of land. If we choose to be wicked, such things will be given to others who are more willing to be obedient.

In the Book of Mormon, Mormon the prophet witnessed how evil his formerly righteous people had become and shared what could have been done to retain the land of prosperity that they had once enjoyed.

Mormon 5:

19 And behold, the Lord hath reserved their blessings, which they might have received in the land, for the Gentiles who shall possess the land. 

20 But behold, it shall come to pass that they shall be driven and scattered by the Gentiles; and after they have been driven and scattered by the Gentiles, behold, then will the Lord remember the covenant which he made unto Abraham and unto all the house of Israel. 

21 And also the Lord will remember the prayers of the righteous, which have been put up unto him for them. 

22 And then, O ye Gentiles, how can ye stand before the power of God, except ye shall repent and turn from your evil ways?

We know that this was a true prophecy - the white man came to America and "scattered" the "Indians" that lived in the land.  If they had chosen to obey the Lord and repent, America would still be enjoyed by the people we call "native Americans".

The same is true for us - if we become wicked, and many people in the West are choosing wicked ways today, the things that we enjoy now will be taken away from us and given to other people more obedient than we are. Many people we look down upon from the middle and far East traditionally live more moral lives than Westerners now do, so it would not be surprising if God helped them to dominate us, just as God helped our ancestors dominate the American tribes.

What should we learn from this?

As a people, we need to return to God's morality. Our lives of freedom and our enjoyment of the lands of America depend on it. "Repent and turn from your evil ways" as Mormon suggests.