Current Partner Letter

AUGUST 2022 PARTNER LETTER
Tom Leding Archived Letter 

Dear Partners,
  I am so thankful that God has connected us and that I can speak God’s word into your life. I want to see you (and teach you how to) experience the abundant, blessed life that was paid for by Jesus’ sacrifice (John 10:10).

  Many people often wonder, “Why it is that some Christians seem to be blessed or more blessed than other Christians?” I want to ask you a different question today: What kind of person does God bless with ongoing prosperity?

  This question must be answered not by opinion, but with the Word of God, because the Word of God reveals the will of God. And if you and I believe His Word and apply it in our lives, then He will fulfill His promises to us.

  Psalm 112:1-9 gives us the answer by describing the type of person that God blesses:

  Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches will be in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness; He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. A good man deals graciously and lends; He will guide his affairs with discretion. Surely, he will never be shaken; The righteous will be in remembrance. He will not be afraid of evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is established; He will not be afraid, until he sees his desires upon his enemies. He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever; His horn will be exalted with honor.

  The above passage from Psalm, reveals the type of person that God will bless with wealth and riches. Wealth means the state of being rich and affluent, having a plentiful supply, the quality of profuse abundance, and extreme well-being. Riches means having abundance of possessions and resources.

  So what are some of the qualities this person has that produces God’s blessing of wealth and riches (ongoing prosperity) in their life? Let’s break down the passage from Psalm 112:1-9 and we’ll find five key qualities.

  First, it says, “Blessed is the man that fears the Lord…” This doesn’t mean you and I should be afraid of the Lord. The Amplified Bible says blessed is the one “that reveres and worships the Lord”. To revere is to love unquestioningly or to excess; to regard with feelings of respect; to consider hallowed.

  So, the first characteristic of the person that God gives ongoing prosperity is to truly love God without question, even to the point of excess. In other words, God is number one and first place in this person’s life.
He can’t love God too much as far as he is concerned and his respect for God is so high that he refuses to conduct himself in a way that would dishonor Him in any way.

  This is a person who has the greatest respect for God and is deeply appreciative of the fact that he is allowed to have a relationship with Him – that God would actually permit him to be in His presence.

  Second, this person “delights greatly in his commandments”. They love the Word of God – they simply cannot get enough of it. It’s like a precious treasure to them. They never consider it a chore but a privilege to spend time in God’s Word.

  The dictionary defines delight as a feeling of extreme pleasure or satisfaction. It provides a source of joy and happiness.

  Nothing thrills this person more than spending quality time in the Word and having the Holy Spirit impact revelation knowledge into him as he’s doing it. I know what that’s like because that’s the way it has been in my life.

  Third, this person that God blessed “shows favor and lends”. I looked up several other translations and the majority of them all said that this person is “very generous”. He’s a giver.

  Fourth, verses 6-8 tell us that the person God blesses will never be shaken; not be afraid of evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

  He or she is the kind of person who’s not easily moved. Neither bad news, adversity, tests, trials, nor challenges move them! God’s Word is final authority in their life, and they refuse to give up or give in until it comes to pass.

  Finally, verse 9 declares again that a giving heart is what God looks for – “He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor”.

  Other translations say the person God blessed has distributed freely and that their generosity goes on and on. It sounds like to me that you could say that this person actually lives to give. He’s learned the meaning of “It’s more blessed to give than to receive”.

  Now, if you look very closely, it seems that the thing that is mentioned more in these verses than anything else is that this person is a giver. It states four different times that God blesses the giver – he shows favor, he lends, he has dispersed abroad, and he has given to the poor.

  He’s a giver! Ongoing prosperity is in the house of the giver. You just can’t ignore this principle.

If giving isn’t a major characteristic or virtue in your life, then it’s not likely you’ll ever become the person that has ongoing prosperity in your house.

  Many people mistakenly think, “When I have more, I’ll start to give”. It simply doesn’t work that way. Giving is what produces the more! Proverbs 11:24 says, “One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty”.

  Let me encourage you to refuse to live beneath the privileges and blessing that Jesus paid for through His sacrifice. Trust God and obey His Word! Position yourself to be the type of person that God blesses with ongoing prosperity.

When you give, you get a part of changing people’s lives!

  Marcia and I want to thank you in advance for letting me speak the truth of God’s Word into your life and thank you for helping me encourage many others.

Your Prayer Partner,
Howard Riley