Part 3 of 5 from "Stewardship" in the Autumn 2015 VISION Newsletter

God’s blessing is often associated with natural abundance such as wealth and good fortune, like Abraham. Conversely, consider the parable of Job. His friends assume God has removed His blessing from Job’s life because of his natural calamities and they unfairly judge him.

But Jesus paints a different picture in His teachings. In the Beatitudes, He tells the poor, the meek, the mourners and the persecuted that they are blessed also, but links blessing to the Kingdom of Heaven. Our Chief Apostle recently emphasized that in this way, Jesus defines blessing. It is anything that God gives or allows that brings us closer to the Kingdom. Hence, some conditions may be a blessing that are not pleasant to experience and may not include wealth and health. Please be careful of the idea that our offerings will lead to prosperity. Our offering is given out of thankfulness for God’s blessing in our lives, not the other way around.