"The Prosperity Series"

For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope. Jer. 29:11

When I decided to include "Prosperity" as one of my series, I felt pretty confident that lots of folks would immediately think I was focusing on money and material goods. And that is, of course, the most obvious form of prosperity.

There is a second, and I believe, greater form of prosperity to be possessed, and that is prosperity of soul. The color "orange" has attributes connected to it that would describe what that prosperity of soul might look like. Some of the qualities connected to "orange" are: vitality with endurance, thoughtfulness, sincerity, curiosity leading to exploration of new things, creative playfulness, healing, and a sense of strength.

Obviously, material and monetary possessions can make life easier, but it is also very true that we can have lots of money and material goods and still be a pauper in our soul. Also true is that we can be wealthy in our soul, and not necessarily have lots of money or things. It has to do with how we "see" and what we believe.

In the verse listed above, God says He has plans for us, plans to prosper us - not to harm us - to give us a future and a hope. Sometimes that doesn't seem to line up with what we experience in our lives...in fact sometimes if we focus on what's happening in our lives it would be easy to let things like discouragement, bitterness, or despair creep in. It takes a conscious choice to believe what God says about us...things like He delights in us...we are the apple of His eye...He knows everything about us down to how many hairs are on our heads...He stores every one of our tears in a bottle, and if we cry to Him, He hears us. Look out in the sky on a dark night and count the stars...the One created the cosmos is also the One who stores your tears in a bottle. To be loved and cared for in such a personal way makes it possible for us to hope...to plan...to count on good in our lives. It makes prosperity of the soul possible.

It's my hope that wearing a piece of jewelry from "The Prosperity Series" will remind the wearer that God has a good future, and a good hope for them, and that His love is preparing a prosperity that nothing can steal away...and it doesn't necessarily depend on what we own. It is a choice to believe Him over what our circumstances might be telling us at any given moment. We always have a choice about what - and Who - we believe.