Giving is a principle that God set up from the beginning. Some have called giving the foundational principle of financial prosperity. God teaches us that as we give, He will abound that amount and more back to us. It is not logical, but it works every time.

God himself set the example of how this principle of giving works by giving His only begotten son that all that believe on His son would receive eternal life (John 3:16). Since God had given, he received back hundreds of thousands if not millions of sons and daughters after the day of Pentecost. Thus, God set the standard, the all-time example of how giving and receiving works.

Fortunately, God does not ask us to give our firstborn, just some of the money He sends our way as our Father.

There are four very nice promises about giving and receiving we can look at.

Malachi 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, 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.

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.

Philippians 4:15-19 Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only. For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity. Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God. But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

These are four promises depicting 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, sometimes we feel that if we give, God will immediately shower gold coins down upon our heads. Kind of like a slot machine. 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.

These promises of prosperity about giving are illustrations that show different aspects of the law of giving God instituted.

The record in Philippians states that God will supply all our needs. Many times, like the record in Philippians, that need of Paul was supplied by people. Just like the promise in Luke says, “shall men give into your bosom.” Galatians speaks of this law or promises of giving and receiving like a person sowing a crop. You don’t harvest the day after it is sown. You have need of patience that once you have done the will of God, you will see the promise come to pass. (Hebrews 10:36)

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 is our faithfulness in handling what God has blessed us with. Saving and investing our surplus.

There is an old saying that says when the going gets tough, give. When the going gets tough in this context, what we usually need is more money. Why not pick up a second job, give off the income from that job and use the rest to meet the immediate need. There are no hard and fast rules. But some have given away what they really needed in hopes God will give them even more back. He may. He is very gracious and merciful. But we would do better over the long run to keep close adherence to the principles in His Word.

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?

Prosperity is built over time rather than 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. Learn the principles of prosperity and make them the habits of our lives. 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 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 have been opened to you.

Learning about the process of prosperity is all part of The Prosperous Life of a believer.

The promises of God come to us as we believe what God has said (promised). For instance, the promise of eternal life comes to us as we believe what God has said.

Romans 10:9,10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

We see that believing is integral from the very beginning of a Christian’s life with God. Knowing this can help to open our understanding of prosperity and health. These two subjects are joined together in:

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

As people get older, both topics, health and money, come more and more to the top of the mind.

First, let’s look at prosperity:

Proverbs 3:9,10 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase: So, shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

Many of us have believed the first part of this verse that we are to honor the Lord with the first fruits of all our increase. We may call that tithing, giving or sharing of our abundance. We have learned the Word, have believed what God has said and have given.

But the passage here has another part where believing is required. So shall thy barns be filled with plenty…. I realized one day that although I had believed the first part and had given, I did not believe the second part and provide a place to put the surplus.

A barn, or storehouse as it is translated in another place, is a place to store the surplus of your harvest if you are a farmer. A dairy farmer’s barn or storehouse might be a haymow for hay, a granary for oats, corn cribs for corn, or a silo for silage. These crops are harvested in the summer and fall to be used as feed for cattle later in the year and through the winter. The farmer harvests the crops and stores them. He does not sell them and spend the money. Cows don’t do well if you try to feed them cash. They like hay and ground feed.

Since most of us are not farmers, how do we understand the rest of the passage? We could use a bank for our surplus instead of a barn. As we work each week, we should give some (honor the lord…) and then save some of the income. This is what some of your earnings are for – to save. God promises to fill our barns or storehouses with plenty.

If we believe this part of the passage like we believed the first part by giving, then we would have a place set up to put part of what we receive for our work – in our case, a bank account. By doing this, setting up a bank account, and putting part of our earnings in it each week, we are believing the second part of the passage as well as the first. Remember, prosperity is more of a process than it is an event.

For the better part of my life I believed the first part and gave but had no clue that I was responsible to save some of the surplus and put it in the bank. It was quite the day when we saw that. We have been doing that ever since, and it has changed our lives.

Now some may say they give but they have no surplus to put in the bank. That is because your finances are so structured that you spend everything you receive. God’s giving back to you is there; you need to eliminate some of the debt. Get a better job and/or get a second job so you can pay down some of that debt and put that same money in the bank. There are many books written about paying off debt.

You can also get a more in-depth understanding of this topic in the book Poverty vs Wealth available on Amazon.

Secondly, believing is also a principle of healing.

When Jesus healed the two blind men this is the record:

Matthew 9:29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith (believing) be it unto you.

Mary believed what the angel told her and thus became the mother of Jesus:

Luke 1:45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

There was a woman who had an issue of blood. She touched the hem of the garment of Jesus and was healed. He said to her:

Matthew 9:22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith (believing) hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.

The promises of healing and health come to us also as we believe the promises of God:

1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

The promise of your healing is in the past tense. By whose stripes (Jesus) you were healed. Jesus has already paid the price for your healing and mine. No matter what the problem is, the healing is ours for the taking as we believe what God has said.

Just as we believed that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead and we received eternal life, it is with that same believing we receive the promise of healing for ourselves.

Learning that this principle of believing is how we obtain the promises of God is all part of learning about The Prosperous Life.

One of the biggest keys to developing prosperity in your life is in understanding the aspects of prosperity. Prosperity is more of a process than it is an act or event. An act or event would be like winning the lottery or getting a raise at work.

Prosperity or finances or money is a subject that is dealt with throughout God’s Word, and rightly so since it is a huge part of our daily lives. Most of us work to make money every day, and we have bills to pay with that money every day and week.

Thankfully, God has laid out the principles of how to deal with money in His word so that it is a blessing to our lives. They are not all written in one place, but we can find them if we diligently search for them.

If you really want to understand the topic of prosperity, or any topic for that matter, there are a couple of verses that will help.

2 Timothy 2:7 Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.

Consider means to think about – to ponder – to dwell upon.

Any time you consider a verse or topic from God’s Word, first ask God to open your eyes so you can see. Then as you consider, here are some questions to ask yourself:

Do I actually believe that in my heart?
What would it take for me to believe that verse?
How would my life change if that verse was part of my everyday life?
Do I believe God would do this for me?
Are there any other places that subject is written about?
Are there any records in God’s Word that would illustrate that principle?
What is the context this verse or topic is in?
Could this principle be applied in other areas?
Do I know anyone that lives this way that I could use for an example or talk to or read about?

You must actually think about each question for a while. Search your mind and heart. If you do this diligently, then answers will eventually begin to come.

Another verse that is helpful to understanding is a set of verses from the book of Psalms.

Psalm 119:98-100 Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.

Notice here the psalmist said God’s Commandments were ever with him. In our day and time, we might write them on a card and put it on our bathroom mirror or keep them in our car where we can see them constantly – so they are ever with us. Then the psalmist said he had more understanding than his teachers because God’s Word was his meditation – he thought about them, pondered or dwelled upon them. Finally, he said he had more understanding than the ancients because he kept God’s Word. He did what God said; he carried it out. As he was faithful to keep God’s word, God gave him the true riches of this life — more understanding about God and His Wonderful Word.

Here is a great quote along this line of holding God’s Word in your mind and thinking about it.

“As the outward man is not fit for work for any length of time unless he eats, so it is with the inner man. What is the food for the inner man? Not prayer, but the Word of God-not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe. No, we must consider what we read, ponder over it, and apply it to our hearts.”
― George Muller, The Autobiography of George Muller

With all that in mind, let’s look at a great principle on the proper use of money.

Proverbs 21:17 He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.

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

Interestingly, it is apparent God wants us to NOT spend all we make. We are to save some of each amount we receive. We are not to spend it all. If you have had the habit spending all you make, then some adjustments may be necessary.

To start, how much do we save? The example in the Old Testament on giving was 10%, so it would seem only right that we could save 10% also. It is only logical that if we are to pay God what we owe, 10%, then we should pay ourselves 10% because we did the work. Now that may be more than some can start doing right out of the chute. So, start with what you can. Give 1% and save 1%, but just get started. Then ask God to show you how to increase the amounts.

You may have to get a better job or take on a second job temporarily to pay down some of your debt to get your finances to the point where you can do 10 and 10. Part of getting our foot off the hose so to speak is to bring our finances into alignment with what God has said.

Our goal then is to bring our finances and believing into alignment with the Word of God.

Remember, read the verses, meditate on the verses and do the verses!

No matter how hard it seems in the beginning, it will get easier. Changes in life are not usually cataclysmic, but they more often start small and then grow. If you move your life towards God, doing what His Word says, He will be right there to help you no matter what your circumstances are.
Decide today to become one of the wise that stores up some of their prosperity and stop spending all we make.

Pondering on the scriptures, applying the list of questions written previously, then making what you learn a habit in any area of interest is all part of The Prosperous Life.

The question I am asking today is, how do you see yourself, who are you really? Are you limiting your walk with God because of self-limiting thoughts or beliefs about yourself? Are you how YOU see yourself or are you how GOD sees you?

Craig Ballantyne wrote an article a few years ago where he talked about a physician, Dr. Maltz (author of Psycho-Cybernetics). He had patients that told him if he could correct some deformity that they had, it would change their life. However, he found that even though the surgery was successful, the patient did not benefit from it because of the self-limiting beliefs they had about themselves. Dr. Maltz then set out to help them change how they saw themselves.

I saw an interview with a Hollywood star that struggled with a poor self-image. Outside of that interview, you would have never known how they thought about themselves. They said it took a lot of work years later for them to change how they perceived themselves. They made the money, but they saw themselves poorly. Some people in entertainment make the money but, in the end, kill themselves.

We call ourselves Christians and quote the verse that says, “It’s Christ in you the hope of glory.” We say we are born from above of the spirit of God, we call ourselves His children – His offspring, we call God our Father. Yet many times, we act or see ourselves as much less than what the new birth would indicate. We have the head knowledge of the scriptures, but it does not live in our hearts to the end that the Word of God affects our decisions in our everyday lives.

One of the major keys to The Prosperous Life is to see ourselves as God made us to be in Christ and walk that way. We should hold our heads up and expect that our Father’s hand is with us in every situation and in everything that we do.

We say or confess that we are the children of God, and yet we make decisions based on fear. We do not ask for the salary we deserve or bid that job at what it is worth out of fear we won’t get the job. Or we may not ask the young lady out for fear of rejection. Teaching or writing may be inhibited out of fear of rejection or people laughing at us, and thus we live far below what God desires for us.

How we see ourselves can manifest itself in how we dress for our jobs or when we go out for the evening, how we carry ourselves or what we talk about.

We may see ourselves as always struggling with finances or struggling with sickness when our Father has clearly said He wishes above all things that we prosper and be in health even as our soul prospers.

There are probably other areas in our walk with God that we do not struggle at all. Perhaps we are never late for an appointment, or perhaps to not give (tithe) is unimaginable to us. We can simply take the attitude we have in these areas and use it in the areas we need to change.

You can make part of your inner thinking of your mind and what you confess out loud to be, “I always dress the best I can for the job at hand.” Or, “I always price myself at the market or higher because of the confidence I have of God being with me and causing me to prosper. God is always at work with me in my finances to help me prosper. By his stripes I was healed, and I know God helps me to stay healthy – He keeps the bugs away from me – He keeps me from stumbling and getting hurt.

As you change the internal script you have in your mind about yourself, it is not enough to just say the words. You must believe these things are true for you. Change may take a while, but be patient. As you come to believe who you really are as a child of God, you will see more of the promises of God come to pass in your life. As you change, your life will change.

It is a great thing to have the confidence and wisdom that comes from God and His Word. One of the benefits that comes as you believe more of who you really are as a child of God is to not be offended by the words of others. To realize that when you are attacked verbally, it is really the other person that has the problem. They are trying to make you feel bad, so you won’t look at them and see their shortcomings or faults or their messed-up life.

Sometimes, they are jealous of some area of your life or envious of what you have. So, they try to cut you down. But if we know whose we are and who we serve, then we can pray for them instead of being offended. That kind of wisdom and confidence comes from believing what God says in His Word about who you really are.

As you become more confident in your position as a son or daughter of God, you must protect your sense of self-worth, your new self-image, and the self-confidence that brings.

This is very important. It does not matter what people say to you or situations do to you, you are always God’s great possession — His child. He loves you more than you love yourself. You know how you might sacrifice your life to save your child or children? God did something similar; he sacrificed his ONLY begotten son so that He could have you in His family.

So, carry and conduct yourself that way. Take an inventory and see what needs to change to be according to what God has said in His Word.

Remember, there is a great difference between arrogance and confidence. We are quietly confident but not arrogant.

Others will see you the way you see yourself. Others will treat you the way you treat yourself.

A famous verse in part says: “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.” It is easier to see yourself as reigning in life as a king if you are constantly thinking about your rights, privileges and abilities as a child of God.

One of the great keys to changing your life is to take time to sit and think. Find a quiet place at the end of the day, week or month to sit and think about God and your life. What do you want to change? Ask His help to be able to see. He loves you and is more than willing to help than we are to ask. Write your thoughts in a journal.

As you go through this process of change, it may become a way of life, a part of The Prosperous Life.