Proverbs 23:4-5:
4 Weary not yourself to be rich cease from your own [human] wisdom. 5 Will you set your eyes upon wealth, when [suddenly] it is gone? For riches certainly make themselves wings, like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.
The word "weary" here is the Hebrew word "yaga`", which means: to be exhausted; to tire; to toil; to labor; to be weary; to faint. There is no doubt for someone who actually KNOWS the Word of God that God wants us to be prosperous in every area! The emphasis of these verses is to warn us NOT to make being rich our priority! Ephesians 4:28 tells us the motivation for having a job!
28 let the thief steal no more, but let him be industrious, making an honest living with his own hands, SO THAT HE MAY BE ABLE TO GIVE TO THOSE IN NEED.
(Emphasis mine) Now THAT is the proper motivation for working! With that attitude, we will BE the light we are meant to be wherever we work, and our priorities line up with HIS priorities! Blessings ALWAYS come with obedience to the Word of God! Amen! What SHOULD we be focusing on instead of getting rich at all costs? Verse 12 give us the best answer!
12 Apply your mind to instruction and correction and your ears to words of knowledge.
Be like Paul in Philippians 3 and get to know Jesus more every day! You will NEVER be the same! And then verse 23 goes right along with that!
23 Buy the Truth and sell it not; not only that, but also get discernment and judgment, instruction and understanding.
Wise men aren't born wise! It takes time and diligence to to be a student of the Word; but it is time well spent!
Ephesians 1:5-6 reveal God's ultimate plan for us:
5 For He foreordained us (destined us, planned in love for us) to be adopted (revealed) as His own children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the purpose of His will [because it pleased Him and was His kind intent] 6 [So that we might be to the praise and the commendation of his glorious grace (favor and mercy), which He so freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
So I will pray this prayer for you now! Verses 16- 23:
16I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.
17[For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him,
18By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones),
19And [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength,
20Which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His [own] right hand in the heavenly [places],
21Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named [above every title that can be conferred], not only in this age and in this world, but also in the age and the world which are to come.
22And He has put all things under His feet and has appointed Him the universal and supreme Head of the church [a headship exercised throughout the church],(A)
23Which is His body, the fullness of Him Who fills all in all [for in that body lives the full measure of Him Who makes everything complete, and Who fills everything everywhere with Himself].
The title for the chapter on Ezra 7-8 in the Bible Exposition Commentary is: The Good Hand Of God. I like this introduction:
But if we had interviewed Ezra and asked him the secret of his successful life, he would have said humbly, "The good hand of the Lord was upon me," a phrase that's found six times in Ezra 7 and 8 (7:6,9,28; 8:18,22,31). Nothing but the blessing of God can explain how an obscure Jewish priest and scholar, born in Babylonian Captivity, could accomplish so much for God and Israel when so much was working against him.
That God's good hand was upon this man doesn't minimize the importance of his personal piety or his great ability as a scholar, nor does it ignore the great help King Artaxerxes gave him. God uses all kinds of people to accomplish His will, but if God's hand isn't at work in us and through us, nothing will be accomplished. It's the principle Jesus taught His disciples, "Without Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5, NKJV). What did God do for the people of Israel during those difficult days after the Babylonian Captivity?
