Category Archives: The Prosperous Life

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Four Famous Promises

A Short on Prosperity #6


There are four genuinely nice promises about receiving when we give.

Malachi 3:10 ….  if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

2 Corinthians 9:6   But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

Luke 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

These are four illustrations of the same truth: as you give, you receive back much more than you gave.

When we read about the windows of heaven being opened and blessings pouring out, I think sometimes we feel that if we give, God will immediately shower gold coins down upon our heads. Not seeing this come to pass right away can cause some to feel that giving does not work. But when God uses the illustration of sowing, we know that it takes a while once the seed is sown for the harvest to take place.

There is a rule in life that says that things that are equal to the same thing are equal to each other.  If A equals D, and B equals D and C equals D, then A is equal to B, which is equal to C. So these four promises are all giving us more information on the same subject.

Very few things in life happen instantly. Prosperity is growth over time, like most of the rest of the things in God’s creation. Children take years to grow up. Crops take months to grow. Our prosperity is not in our paycheck. It is in what we do with part of the check. It may take us time to grow into the ability to learn how to steward and handle larger amounts of money.

According to Dave Ramsey, if you put $35.00 per week away in a savings account and invested it in a good growth stock mutual fund at 15%, you could retire in 40 years with $890,000.00 to $1.5 million.

This could be done on a federal minimum wage. A genuinely nice growth process.

If you worked at federal minimum wage for 40 years and retired a millionaire, could you feel like God opened the windows of heaven?

Godly prosperity is built over time rather than God being a cash machine whereby we give, and God then gives us rent money. This is not to say He will not or could not do that, but we need to take a long-term perspective on prosperity.  It is not how much you make, but what you do with what you make. Do you spend it all or save part?  It is a huge difference down the road.

So, as you give and save remember to be patient. You don’t reap a crop the day after you sow.  But it will come back to you, pressed down, shaken together and running over so that over time it will be like the windows of heaven are open to you.

Growing in our faithfulness and ability to handle money properly is all part of The Prosperous Life.

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Needs and Wants Parallel

A Short on Prosperity #5


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

In order to receive anything in life from God, the first thing we need to know is what is available. In 3 John 1:2, we find two of the promises in God’s Word concerning health and prosperity.  A computer with a good Bible program such as e-Sword and a cup of coffee can reveal many more promises on the same subjects.

So, for your study, is prosperity available from God?  Is it only for certain people or is it available to all who ask?

Once we understand prosperity is available to all God’s children regardless of who they are or where they are from, the next thing we need to find out is how to receive that abundance into our lives.

First, it would be good to confess Jesus Christ as lord and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead.

(Thus, eternal life … the greatest prosperous move you can make!)

Second, we would learn from studying God’s Word that all His promises are available by “believing”; that what God promises is true and available to all. But His promises are not automatic.  In other words, we should “expect” to see God bring His Word to pass in our lives. Like your children expect you to do what you have promised. Have you ever heard, “Daddy you promised!”

(Chapter 6 of Poverty vs Wealth covers this subject of believing in more detail.)

Third, we need to know what to do with the things of God once we receive them.  In our study here, what are we to do with the prosperity once we receive it from God?

1.    God asks us to give 10% back to Him. In other words, tithe 10% to the church or fellowship we attend.
2.    We are to be savers of part of that abundance.  If our goal is to give 10%, we could have a goal to save 10% in an account where it is invested for the long term. You are the one that did the work, you deserve to get paid, too.

Fourth, our needs, wants and desires should be parallel with God’s Word.  In any area where we have need, our desire should be on the same level as the promises God has given in His Word. If we have great need, we should have great desire to see and expect God to bring His promises to pass in our lives.

As humans, we are very adaptable.  Many times, it is easier to adapt than to rise up in our believing. We become comfortable in our needs, our poverty or our ill health. Our situation becomes our comfort zone. Then our desires are not on par with what God has promised. In other words, we don’t have much expectation of seeing God bring His Word to pass in our lives.

To see the promises come to pass, we may need to reframe our thinking, our expectations, and the words that come out of our mouths. Since believing comes from the heart, it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. If you want your life to change, you have to change!

Are you one that says, “I am no good at handling money?” Read some good books, listen to some audio, make a study of how other prosperous, righteous people handle their money and copy them. Expect God to teach you and prosper you as you set out to see His Word come to pass in your life. If need be, find a good Christian financial advisor/mentor.

Are you one that says, “I never feel well, I get sick every winter?”  Read some good books, listen to some audio, make a study of how others have overcome what is bothering you.  Expect God to teach you and deliver you as you set out to see His Word come to pass in your life.  Find a believer to minister healing to you. If need be, see a doctor. Just get delivered. It is God’s wish above all that you be in health even as your soul prospers.

In so many words, the greater your need is, the greater your desire should be to see yourself delivered and prosperous.  Your desire should be parallel with what God promises in His Word.

Many times, the answers to our problems will come as we are attempting to move in the direction of deliverance.

Jesus never said poverty was a virtue, and God said, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”

So, get out of your comfort zone, rise up in your believing and move into the arena of The Prosperous Life.

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Where Did it All Go?

A Short on Prosperity #4


Have you ever received some nice amount of money as a gift or a bonus, put it in your bank account, forgot about it, and a couple of weeks later, you looked at your balance, and it was all gone?  Where did it all go?

Money, by its nature, flows like water.  It flows through our economy and through our hands and lives.

Have you ever noticed how much we talk about money as if it were water? Think about it: we say things like “cash flow,” “liquid assets” and “frozen accounts.”

In many ways, money is like water.  It flows in and out of our hands.  

Some say that if you worked at minimum wages from 18 to 65, 2 Million dollars would have flowed through your hands.  WOW!!  How much do we capture?

It comes in from our paychecks and out to pay bills and buy the things we think we need.  Cash in and Cash out.

If you tried to drink by using your hand as a catch for the water coming from the tap some will slip through your fingers. Someone invented the cup to be more efficient in catching more of the available water.

We need to set up systems to catch more of the money that flows through our lives.  This is a Godly thing to do.

One of the great things you can do is keep a notebook for a month and write down every cent you spend.  This will tell you where the money is going.  You might be amazed at how much you spend on certain things in a month, like coffee on the way to work or buying your lunch out every day. What did those expenses cost you in a month? In a year?  Over 20 years? Compounded by interest.  Probably enough to retire on!!
When you add that extra money up, like say $4.00 for coffee, and times it times 5 and then times 52 that is about $20,000.00 in 20 years.  What if you had captured that amount in a “cup” and put it to work at 8% each year? That is just one example of capture.

As we have cut down on needless expenses, we have had the additional amount deducted from our checking account automatically each month or week and deposited into a savings account.  This was added to what we were already saving.  

It does not do much good to save $4.00 each day if the money stays in your account and just gets spent on something else.  Capture it.  You won’t miss the money; you have been spending it anyway.

So, how do we keep our money from slipping through our fingers? With the proper systems and strategies in place, we can make our money go where we want it to.

Ben Franklin said, “Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.”

Pro 21:20 There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up.

Once you have tithed, you need to save some of what you have worked so hard for.  Save some money. This, too, is part of The Prosperous Life.

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Need vs Greed Revisited!

 

 

I have heard the expression in the past “God will supply your need but not your greed”.

This sounds great on the surface, but really it is confusing because need is closer to an amount, but greed is really an attitude. By putting need and greed together in the same sentence, it makes greed appear to be an amount, but it is not an amount.  It is an attitude.

By putting need and greed together, it seems to say that anything above “need” falls into the category of “greed.” So that if you have more than what someone sets as the bare necessity of “need,” you are a greedy person. Remember, greed is actually an attitude of the mind.  It is a heart issue not an amount.

So, let’s separate the two biblically.

Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

1Timothy 3:8 Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;

The Working Translation, “A Journey through the Acts and Epistles,” translates the phrase “greedy of filthy lucre” as “avaricious,” which means having or showing an extreme greed for wealth or material gain – Oxford Languages.  God refers to greed as an attitude.

Therefore, need is an amount, so to speak, whereas greed is an attitude of the heart. You might say it is an attitude of covetousness.

God makes no promise to supply greed – your over-desire for wealth or material gain.  That would make sense.

But because we see greed as an amount above and beyond need, then the questions begin. Notice, all of the following questions have to do with amounts and not attitudes.

Do you really need a three-bedroom home; could you get by with a two-bedroom home?     In other words, is a three-bedroom home greed or a need?

Perhaps you don’t need a house at all, but could you suffice with an apartment? Maybe owning a home is greedy?

So, do you need a three-bedroom apartment? Could you not put the kids in bunk beds and get along with two bedrooms?

Could you choose an apartment in a cheaper part of town to live in? Do you really “need” that? On and on and on.

Do you really need two cars? ….  You could both take the bus.

Do you really need that many clothes if you washed more often?

If you compare yourself with Christians that live in third world countries, then you could think about this:  Some live in mud huts, and you can’t do with an apartment and think you need a house—with how many bedrooms?  And look at the size of that kitchen!!

Maybe the homeless who live on the side of the road in a tent are the ones without greed and are truly walking with God!

There is no end to this kind of questioning. You could literally pare yourself down to living in a cave with only a loincloth.

This is because we associate greed with an amount rather than an attitude of an over-desire for money – wealth – affluence, etc.

My wife was once riding with a group of Christians through an expensive neighborhood.  The houses were probably in the range of $7-800,000 twenty years ago.  Someone in the car said: “That has to be nothing but pure greed to live in a house like that.” Really?

If it is greed to own an $800,000 home, is $500,000 OK? $200,000?  Where is the line drawn? Who gets to decide whether a certain purchase or item is greed or need? There is no answer to this line of thinking.

“Greedy” people are generally ones that have more than you do because people generally associate greed with an amount not an attitude. God has not called us to decide whether our brothers and sisters are greedy.  We could just be thankful that God has blessed them so much.  In the case of the $800.000 house, many people earned a good living building the house and more are provided with some income in taking care of it. Be thankful!

It is possible that those that have more are better stewards of what God gave them!!

Consider this: once you have done what God says to do according to His Word as regards to giving and saving, then the rest is yours to do with as you please.  You have done your duty, so to speak.  Then if you want to build an $800,000 house, go for it.  Remember, Solomon in the Old Testament?  God gave him great wisdom and riches. The Bible says that in Solomon’s days, gold and silver were as plentiful as stones in Jerusalem.

Apparently, he did not save ALL the riches God gave him. He was not like the king sitting in his counting-house counting all his money! He built many great works and paid the craftsmen and prospered them in the process as well.  So, by believing the promises of God and prospering, we could help to prosper those around us.

Let’s look at some of the great men in the Old Testament who walked with God, but first this:

Romans 15:4 Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us. Those things were written so that we could have hope. That hope comes from the patience and encouragement that the Scriptures give us. (ERV)

God, our Father, had these records written down to teach us about Himself.  What He is like. What He is willing to do to bless the lives of those who love Him with all their heart. In the case of the men we are about to read about, pay attention to the idea of where their wealth came from.

Job 1:3 His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

Job 42:12 So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.

Job 42:15 And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.

You must ask yourself a question.  Did he “need” six thousand camels? You can only ride one at a time.  God gave them to him. How does “need” vs “greed” fit with this record?  Greed is not an amount.  It is an attitude.  When you read the record of Job and these other men that follow here, you will see that they loved God with all their heart.  God came first and because of their love for Him, God blessed their lives.

If you believe that greed is an amount, instead of opening your hands to receive the blessing of God which you may consider greed, you really have your hands closed and are not able to receive.  You have closed off the blessings of God by your misunderstanding – by your believing.

Genesis 24:34-35 And he said, I am Abraham’s servant. And the LORD hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses.

Genesis 14:14 And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.

Does anyone really “need” a personal army of 318 trained servants?  If you could count their wives and children and servants not born in his house that would be a great number of people that Abraham was responsible to feed and care for each day.  Perhaps a thousand?  Did he “need” that many people?

Could he not walk with God living in a cave with a loincloth, just him and his wife and kids?  Apparently, because he loved God, God wanted to bless his life and He did. Abraham received the blessings of God like the dry earth is open to receive the rain.

Genesis 26:12-14 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him. And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.

Here Isaac was so blessed a nation envied him! These men were servants and not sons born again of God’s spirit.  We are sons and daughters of this great God that blessed Isaac.  Is God looking to bless your life? As one of my friends said, “We only allow in our lives what we think we are worthy of.  Accept His abundance.” Open your hands!

2 Chronicles 32:27-29 And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honour: and he made himself treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all manner of pleasant jewels; Storehouses also for the increase of corn, and wine, and oil; and stalls for all manner of beasts, and cotes for flocks. Moreover, he provided him cities, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance: for God had given him substance very much.

Was all this abundance greed on Hezekiah’s part or was this all the blessing of God?  God said of Hezekiah that Hezekiah trusted God greatly.

2 Chronicles 17:1-5 And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead, and strengthened himself against Israel. And he placed forces in all the fenced cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken. And the LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim; But sought to the LORD God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel. Therefore the LORD stablished the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presents; and he had riches and honour in abundance.

God is showing us what he is willing and able to do for those of His children who trust Him and keep Him first in their lives.  He is willing to open the windows of heaven and bless us exceedingly abundantly above all we could ask or think.

There is another great record in the book of 2 Kings that we ought to consider.  This is about a woman with no name in contrast with the great men we have been reading about.

2Kings 4:1-7 Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.

What was the woman’s real need?  To be able to pay the creditor so her sons were not sold into slavery.  Did God provide her with just enough or did he do exceedingly abundantly above all she thought to ask for?  God is good all the time and will bless those that love him with all their heart. Selah

What do you really need?

Enough substance to provide:

Your family’s daily needs
A retirement for you and your wife
To be able to give to the church and to him that needeth and to every good work
Replacement funds for things that wear out like clothes, cars, etc.
An emergency fund for slow economic times or times of disaster
An inheritance for your children’s children.  Remember Job and the inheritance he gave his children?

You might want to sit down with a calculator and some numbers and see how much that would be on a weekly basis that you would need to provide for all those things.

That is a lot more than a loincloth in a cave! Sometimes, what you need is a better-paying job. Some may need to send their children to a private school.  As I heard someone say, “You need to get your needs up!” Your needs should be on par with the promises of God’s Word. You may need to get some more education so you can bring more value to the marketplace. We are paid for the value we bring to the market.

Greed is an attitude, not an amount.

Greed doesn’t have anything to do with wealth. A person could be as destitute as Job but have their heart in the wrong place by having an over desire for wealth. But as the above men did, you could love God with all your heart, keep God first in your life, and be blessed with great wealth that comes from God.

God will supply our needs, and His Word says He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.

If your attitude is an over desire for money or material things, greed, you will never be satisfied with what you have.

If your attitude is to love God first and foremost while being content with what you have and striving to steward it properly and see it grow, you will see wonderful things.

Learning is an exciting adventure and is part of The Prosperous Life.

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Money – Heirs Together!


I have heard many times over the years: “I don’t want to do that, but my husband is my head, so I have no choice if I want to obey God.”

Disagreements over and the management of finances are one of the major causes of divorce in the United States.  This could be eliminated if we put our decisions about money on some sound Biblical ground.

It is true that the husband is the head of the wife as stated here in Ephesians:

Ephesians 5:23-29 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church.

Here it states that the husband is the head of the wife.

What if the husband decides to do the Bonnie and Clyde thing and rob banks? Or do drugs? Or decides to no longer go to church?  Does the wife have a right to put her foot down and say no!  YES!

It does state that the husband is the head of the wife. It also says that husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it.

How is it that you love your wife?  Well, one way is to honor her, as God states in 1 Peter.

1 Peter 3:7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

Is it honoring your wife to cut her out of financial decisions?  No! Is it honoring the wife to not listen to her regarding money? No!  Being together on the same plan and the same page alleviates many problems.  Plan out your finances and work on them until you are together.  Together, Biblically is a great place to start, i.e., tithing and saving.

Many decisions in marriage should be 50/50, not 51/49. Once you are married, the money is OURS, not mine and yours.  We are working toward becoming that “one flesh” God talks about.

Matthew 19:5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain (two) shall be one flesh?

It does not matter who gets the paycheck, it is our money. It is just as much her money as it is the husbands. Work till you are on the same page.

It might help to get some good books on money and read them together.  When we drive out of town, my wife reads out loud, and I interrupt her, and we talk about different points.  Getting on the same page is the goal as to what to do with all the money as it comes in.  Dave Ramsey has some good books to read.  We also enjoyed The Millionaire Next Door. I might also recommend the book I wrote Poverty vs Wealth.

On the topic of the man as the head of the wife, Jesus had some interesting things to say in Luke.

Luke 22:24-27 And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth.

Christ sets a great example for husbands.  Love her, honor her, serve her.

About the man being the head of the wife, Galatians adds an interesting perspective.

Galatians 3:26-29 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

In the body of Christ, God sees neither male nor female. Colossians states that we ALL, both male and female, have Christ, the gift of holy spirit, in us. So that God can speak to the wife just as easily as he does to the husband. So, it is a sign of maturity in the Word to listen when she speaks.

Colossians 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

This subject of finances and how to work together, how to recognize God at work within each other, learning how to love and respect each other, and working your finances together will affect many areas of your life.

This subject of men and women and their relationships in the body of Christ is much larger than what this small blog will allow.  But if you can keep this part of marriage straight, it will do wonders for your part in the body of Christ and the body of believers.  And it will do wonders for your marriage and for your storehouses.  It is another small piece of The Prosperous Life.