BLESSED

Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

Now the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. Job 42:12

And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.  Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:  "Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are those who mourn,  For they shall be comforted.  Blessed are the meek,  For they shall inherit the earth.  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. Matthew 5:1-6

We have many in Christendom who spiritualize the promises of God that they become useless and of no avail including “Blessed are those who mourn,  for they shall be comforted” by the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)!  The comfort of God is not just something spiritual but has physical aspects attached to it just like Job could testify when LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning by restoring to him double all his real losses!

To say they there are not real physical benefits in serving and being faithful to God is to deny they truth of the word of God that the Lord is a Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Many anointed ones in the bible including Abraham, David, Solomon, Moses, Joshua, Hezekiah,  Jehoshaphat and Joseph can testify how God blessed them in wealth and richest!   God’s word is true:

'I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.' Joshua 24:13

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. Psalm 112:1-3

The speech pleased the LORD, that Solomon had asked this thing.  Then God said to him: "Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice,  "behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you.  "And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days.  1 Kings 3:10-13

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Romans 8:31-32

God has clearly stated “The generation of the upright will be blessed.  Wealth and riches will be in his house!” The blessings of God include wealth and riches for the upright!  To deny this truth is to deny the word of God and to add or remove things from it which is a very foolish thing to do!

Mind you there are those so called Christians who claim and  confess God’s word  in Proverbs 13:22 “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, But the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.” And since the bible doesn’t state how they wealth is acquired they steal it from the elderly and God’s people by means of a ponzi scheme or through “love offerings” that are freely given by God’s people.”

The Lakeland Ledger reported on June 16, 2006  Daniel Strader To Stay In Prison - Son of religious leader is serving a 45-year sentence for stealing $3 million from investors[i] By Jason Geary:

BARTOW -- A bid for clemency by Daniel Strader, a former insurance agent and son of a prominent Lakeland religious leader who is in prison for stealing more than $3 million from investors, has been denied. Strader, 48, has been searching for mercy since his 1995 conviction on 238 criminal charges.

He is serving a 45-year prison sentence with a scheduled release date in 2033.

In December, Karl Strader, the founder of the Carpenter's Home Church in Lakeland and father of Daniel Strader, and other supporters made their plea to aides to the state Clemency Board. They suggested Daniel Strader should be released from prison to begin repaying his victims.

But the State Attorney's Office in Bartow received a letter Tuesday from the Office of Executive Clemency in Tallahassee with news that Strader's request to waive the clemency rules to allow his case to proceed had been denied.

The Florida State prosecutors proved their case and convinced the jurors that Dan Strader devised an elaborate scheme to attract cash in real-estate and mortgage investments. He was selling the securities without a license and that the securities were unregistered. This was done in an organized method amounting to Racketeer-Influence and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO Act.

As a result Daniel Strader, 37, was sentenced to 45 years in prison in August 1995. He was convicted of 238 felony counts for bilking 57 mostly elderly investors, some members of the church, out of $2.3 million by selling investments in properties that didn't exist or already had liens against them.

Crime didn’t pay for Dan or Karl Strader who had to sell his beloved Carpenter’s Home Church to another scoundrel Pastor Randy White. Speaking of Randy White the St. Petersburg Times reported on July 11, 2009 Without Walls gets new pastor [ii] By Sherri Day:

TAMPA — One week after her ex-husband resigned as senior pastor of Without Walls International Church, Paula White plans to take the pulpit Sunday as the church's new leader, the Whites said in separate interviews late Friday.

...Word of Paula White's new post seeped out Sunday when Randy White preached his last sermon as senior pastor at the church and resigned. White, 51, said he was stepping aside because of health concerns. He declined to elaborate on his condition, although he said he had been ill and in and out of the hospital for much of the last seven months.

"I have some serious health issues right now," White said in an interview Friday. "I've had six different doctors say that I had to take the stress, the pressure out of my life. So I've resigned, and Paula's taking over."

Although she had made periodic visits, Paula White, 43, has been away from full-time pastoring at Without Walls for more than two years. She left Tampa following a 2007 divorce from her husband. Since then, she said, she has ministered mostly in New York, Texas and abroad.

…Once a powerhouse couple in charismatic Christian circles, the Whites started the ministry that would become Without Walls in a South Tampa storefront. Its present sanctuary seats 4,000, Randy White said. The ministry was hit hard in recent years by the couple's divorce, the death of White's daughter from brain cancer and the hint of scandals, including a federal inquiry into the church's finances by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.

[i]  www.theledger.com/article/20060616/NEWS/606160330?Title=Daniel-Strader-To-Stay-In-Prison

[ii]  www.tampabay.com/news/religion/article1017585.ece