Part of the purpose of this blog is to help get a proper understanding of our relationship with God and money.

In Deuteronomy God says He gives you the power to get wealth.  So, this begs some questions – How do you feel about wealthy people that are Christians? How do you feel about wealth for yourself?  Is it wrong or sinful to be wealthy? If you were wealthy, would you feel guilty? Do you feel desiring money is evil? Do you think you would have to sell your soul to have money?

Deuteronomy 8:18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

If God gives you the power to get wealth, how then could being wealthy be evil or sinful? If God provided this prosperity to you, there would be no need for guilt, and if it comes from God, you obviously did not have to sell your soul to the devil to obtain it.  God gives you the power.

3John 1:2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

Think for a moment. Generally, we have no problem with ourselves or others desiring great health.  It is a promise here in God’s Word that it is His desire for us to be healthy.

How then can it be wrong for us to desire the other half of the promise – to prosper?  If you feel desiring prosperity is wrong, it is because of our culture and/or wrong teaching in the church.

God’s Word is divinely designed to be put together.  Not everything on a topic is all in one place.  No one verse covers all there is to know.  For instance:

Proverbs 13:4 The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.

I have known people including myself that worked extremely hard.  I was taught to tithe when I was 12 years old and have done so ever since. I have worked as many as 18 hours a day for weeks on end, and yet I had a hard time seeing prosperity.  This is an example of ONE of the principles of prosperity.  Others are needed also!

Just like working hard is not all there is to prosperity, tithing is not a magic pill either.  There are many aspects we need to learn to see the wealth God desires for us in our lives.

God gives us the fundamentals in His Word on how to accumulate wealth.  It starts with the tithe and giving then moves to saving money and staying out of debt. But there are many things to learn in addition to these fundamental principles.  Here is another one:

Hebrews 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee

As I have read about truly affluent people, ones that could live for years on their investments without working any more, three things stood out to me.

1.    Most had been married to the same spouse for 20 – 30 – 40 years.  Be content.
2.    Most have lived in the same nice home for 20 – 40 years.  Be Content.  They were not buying up constantly.
3.    Most buy 2-3-year-old, low mileage American sedans.  They let someone else take the early depreciation.  Be content.

We live in a consumer-driven culture.  Therefore, the news and the commentators are always concerned with consumer spending.  Are people shopping?  Have they gone back to buying? This is what drives business.

The truly affluent have become accumulators of wealth and not spenders – they are – Frugal.  They have learned how to control their money rather than being in bondage to it or in bondage to the lenders of it – credit.

We are subject to commercials, TV, and others writing that tell us we deserve to live like they depict the wealthy.  From what I have read, those that look the part of the wealthy — expensive cars, big houses and fancy clothes — are not the truly wealthy.  Big hat, no cattle as the Texans say!

The truly wealthy live boring lives. They may be your next-door neighbor, and you might never know.  They wear JC Penny’s clothes and drive older cars – Frugal.  They are still married and have lived in the same house for years.  They have no desire to keep up with the culture. Lots of cattle, no hat!

In one story I read, the child asked his father why they could not have a swimming pool.  His father said we can either have a pool or you can go to a great college.  The man had graduated from a great college.  In a word – Frugal!

This all reminds me of another verse:

Luke 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

Let others seek after the glitz of this world and wear the big hats.  We want to be of the group that has learned what God has promised, then believe those promises, put our part into action, and then watch God fill our storehouses.

There is a lot to learn in this life. As we learn to be faithful with the things of this world, God will give us the true riches He has in store for us — a deeper knowledge of His word to help us live The Prosperous Life!