Prosperity can be dangerous, but it doesn’t have to.

I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. Philippians 4:12

Many people have learned “how to be abased,” but have not learned “how to abound.” When they reach the top, their heads become dizzy, and they prepare to fall.

The Christian far more frequently shames his or her faith In times of prosperity than in times of adversity. Prosperity can be dangerous. To the Christian, the tragedy of adversity is a less severe test than the refining pot of prosperity. 

God's very mercies and bounties have brought leanness of soul and neglect of spiritual things!

However, not everyone is taken up by the deceit of prosperity. The apostle tells us he knew how to live in plenty. When he had a lot, he knew how to put it to good use. 

Abundant grace enabled him to bear abundant prosperity. He floated safely with a full boat because he was loaded with a lot of ballast. It needs more than human skill to carry the brimming cup of mortal joy with a steady hand, but Paul had learned that skill, as he declares,

In all things, I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry.

It is a divine lesson to know how to be full because the Israelites were full once, but God’s wrath came upon them while the flesh was still in their mouth. 

Many have asked for mercies in order to satisfy the lust of their own hearts. And fullness of bread has frequently resulted in fullness of blood, which has resulted in carnality. 

When we have a lot of God’s providential mercies, we often have little of God’s grace and little gratitude for the blessings we’ve received.

When we are full, we forget God, and when content with the earth, we are willing to forego heaven.

It’s more difficult to know how to be full than it is to know how to be hungry—so desperate is human nature’s tendency to pride and forgetfulness of God.



In your prayers, make it a point that you ask God to teach you "how to be full." 

Let not the gifts thy love bestows

Estrange our hearts from thee.

C.H Spurgeon Devotions (Paraphrased By THE CCN DAILY)

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