Category Archives: The Prosperous Life

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There is no Magic Pill!

It takes time in some situations to see through the fog of religion and be able to understand and believe what God is saying in His Word about prosperity. There is no magic pill. Some treat the verses on giving and receiving as if they were the beginning and ending, the “magic pill” of prosperity.

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.
Malachi 3:11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.

This is the truth of God’s Word, and God is always faithful to His Word. But this verse and verses like it that speak about giving and receiving are not the only verses in the Bible that deal with prosperity.

Along with myself, I have seen many people that were faithful givers struggle with prosperity even though God promises it in His Word.

Since God is always faithful to His Word, clearly, there was still more to learn. Others asking questions about unrealized prosperity were told:

“You are seeking the blessing, not the Blessor.”

“It is all according to your believing.”

Both statements are non-answers and are not helpful. Prosperity is a much broader topic than can be covered in one verse. The promises of God do come to pass in our lives by believing, but it is possible that we simply have not understood that there are many principles in God’s Word that we need to apply to see the promises come to pass. The want of prosperity may be due to a lack of understanding of or being unfamiliar with many verses.

If we give but we are not diligent in our business to maximize our income, if we spend ourselves into debt, if we buy what we cannot afford, it may be that God has given back to us, but we have not been good stewards of our finances, our time and our labors. It might be more helpful to sit with the person and look at the numbers of their finances.  Talk to them about their understanding of Biblical prosperity.

We could decide to make a study of prosperity and financial principles from God’s Word for ourselves. We could find authors that have already done that and read their books and learn how they incorporated God’s principles into their lives. We could get a journal and take some notes. Here are some principles in God’s Word about prosperity to start us on our quest.

1. Faithful in little, faithful in much!

Proverbs 13:11 Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow. (NIV)

As we show ourselves responsible with small amounts of money, God can trust us with more. It reminds one of the parables in the Gospels of the men that were given some money. They went and traded with it, and the goodman of the house made them rulers over much more. They took what they were given and made it grow.

2. Get out of debt!

Proverbs 22:7 The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. (NET)

Don’t borrow in the first place. But if you have debt, do whatever it takes to get out from under it. Some financial people recommend getting a second job and using that money to pay off those debts. Some recommend paying off the smallest debt first and then apply the money from that debt plus your second job money to the next smallest debt. Continue this until you are debt-free.

So far if you obey what is in these first two steps, you are believing what God has said. These two verses are part of the process of prosperity. Apparently, prosperity is a much bigger topic than can be covered in one verse. It seems that God has given us many aspects of prosperity to believe and do.

3. Be a giver!

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.
2 Corinthians 9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

It seems counter-intuitive to give money away to be more prosperous, but study after study shows that givers become wealthier, are happier, and live better, longer, more fulfilled lives.

4. Be diligent to grow your value in the marketplace!

Proverbs 10:4 He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.
Proverbs 13:4 The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.
Proverbs 22:29 Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.

Here are some suggestions if you have a job:

Do more on each task than what is asked.

Arrive early and stay late.

Treat others like you would like to be treated.

Network. Make friends with others in your same field or with similar businesses. It will pay off down the road.

Dress appropriately for your position or business. It shows respect for others and that you respect yourself. When promotions are going on, part of the decision will be made on how you look. They may not want a rube sitting across from them in their office.

Read and learn about your profession as much as you can. Eventually, you will be the go-to person for information and thus more valuable to those you work for.

Be a problem solver.

Learn how to market yourself. You will eventually need that knowledge.

5. Spend Less than You Earn!

Proverbs 21:20 In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has (NIV)

Once you have an income, you MUST spend less than that income to make financial progress.

Here, God says the wise have plenty left over because they don’t spend it all. Fools, though, spend all they bring in and put even more on credit cards.

By not spending all your income, you will have some to save, and thus grow your net worth.

Even if you only spend $100.00 more per month than your income you are going backwards in prosperity. No matter how much you give.

You cannot violate all the principles of prosperity except one and make progress.

By spending less than you earn, you save money – a key part of financial success.

6. Save some money!

Proverbs 6:6-8 says: Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.

The ant saves in a time of plenty for a time when there will be lack or need. If you are wise, you will do the same thing — save now for future expenses that you can be certain will occur: things like retirement, a home, cars, college for the kids, and the like.

My recommendation is to save a part of every paycheck you receive. You did the work, and you deserve to be paid. A good rule of thumb is to start by saving at least 10% of your income, and from there, the amount should increase over time, perhaps 1-2% annually.

7. Get good counsel!

Proverbs 15:22 “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”

Financial advisors can be very helpful. Just make sure they do not receive a commission off any money you invest. Remember, many people that call themselves advisors are actually salesmen! That is like asking the fox if it is ok to leave the chickens out tonight!

If you are married, your spouse should be your primary source of human counsel. Seeking the counsel of a spouse helps preserve your relationship. No matter what the consequences of a decision, if you’ve made it together, your marriage is more likely to remain healthy. Parents can be a second source of counsel. They usually know you well and typically have the benefit of many more years of experience to share.

8. Too much visiting leads to poverty not prosperity!

Proverbs 14:23 All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.”

One of the best ways to end conversations that are wasting your working time at work is to say, “Well, I have to get back to work.” Then just walk away.

9. Be content!

I Timothy 6:6-7 But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.

As you study financial principles from God’s Word, don’t be anxious. Your thinking does not change overnight. So be patient and be content with where you are as you pursue believing and working on some of these principles of prosperity.

If you will do these things, it may amaze you after a while how your fortunes have changed. You are seeking the Blessor through applying His word in your life. Now, you are gaining a better understanding of the principles God has laid out in His Word as to how prosperity works. Understand AND do. This is believing, and this is all part of The Prosperous Life.

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Poverty is a Disease

He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man...

I watched a movie on a flight a couple of weeks ago that I had seen before called “Hell or High Water” (the most recent one). If you ever watch it, read the large billboards. One says DEBT; one says LOANS, and another says REFINANCE. Also, three times in the movie the characters make a comment that the bank is the one that ends up with all the money. All the people in the movie are poor and look like they live a hard life. At the end of the movie, one of the characters makes the comment that “my grandparents were poor, and my parents were poor. Poverty is a disease that is handed down from one generation to the next.” All of that reminded me of some verses I had recently read in Proverbs.

Proverbs 5:1-13 My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding: That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge. For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them. Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth. Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel: Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger; And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

Deuteronomy 28:12 The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.

If we borrow money, our prosperity many times will end up with the banker, and all our labor will be in his house because of the interest, late fees and fines we pay on the debts we have. If you buy things you don’t really need or you bought because of the current fad, your wealth ends up in the pockets of the vendors. If you had all that money back, for some it would be quite a pile. Banks and vendors are in business to make a profit. I have nothing against them, but I am in favor of doing things God’s way and prospering.

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.

We should follow the principles laid out in God’s Word of saving money and not borrowing, as much as possible. Cut up those credit cards and pay cash. Pay off that house quickly, drive an older car if you need to. God teaches much of this in His Word.

It is God’s will for us to not only prosper but also to be wealthy. ‘The lord shall open unto thee his good treasure.” God’s will is for OUR wealth to be in OUR house!

But if you are concerned about your priorities in life as it concerns money – if you feel that thinking too much about money is a sin, it might work well to consider it this way: the proper handling of finances should be as natural as prayer and other aspects of our walk with God. I like the way the Old Man put it in one of my favorite books “The Old Man and The Boy”;

“Rich, the old man said dreamily, is not baying after something you don’t have. Rich is having the time to do what you want to do. Rich is a little whiskey to drink, and some food to eat and a roof over your head, and a fish pole and a boat and a gun and a dollar for a box of shells. Rich is not owing money to anybody, and not spending what you haven’t got.” Robert Ruark

I like this quote because if you are looking for wealth according to the Word, it kind of puts it into the right perspective, like where Paul said to be content with such things as ye have. We are to be good stewards, managing our prosperity properly, seeing our God-given wealth grow year after year. But we are also to be content while being diligent. We can end the disease of poverty in our families by believing God at His Word.

You may have to read some books and study to learn how to live this way according to God’s Word, but this learning is also part of The Prosperous Life.

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Filthy Lucre

 

If this is you or someone you know, you might want to read this!

 

Part of all you earn is yours to keep. — The Richest Man in Babylon

(The book, The Richest Man in Babylon, was originally written as a series of pamphlets around the early 1900’s. Bankers had them written to encourage people to save their money. The pamphlets were eventually combined into a book)

 

While my wife and I were watching TV the other night and visiting about this book, a commercial came on advertising a TV show called:  BLOOD AND OIL. The tag line at the end of the commercial was:  “Sometimes you have to play dirty to get filthy rich.”

To get a better understanding of prosperity from the Bible’s point of view, we need to look at where this idea of filthy rich or the idea of money being filthy came from.

The term “filthy lucre” means:  greed for wealth or material gain.

Lucre:
Oxford Dictionary:
(http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/lucre)

Money, especially when regarded as sordid or distasteful or gained in a dishonorable way — “officials getting their hands grubby with filthy lucre.”

Filthy rich:
Very rich, possibly having become so by unfair means. This little phrase can’t be explained without looking at the word “lucre”. From the 14th century lucre has meant money and is referred to as such by no less writers than Chaucer and John Wycliffe. These references generally included a negative connotation and gave rise to the terms “foul lucre” and “filthy lucre”, which have been in use since the 16th century. “Filthy lucre” appears first in print in 1526 in the works of William Tyndale: “Teaching things which they ought not, because of filthy lucre.” Here, Tyndale was using the term to mean dishonorable gain.

Following on the term “filthy lucre”, money became known by the slang term “the filthy”, and it isn’t a great leap from there to the rich being called the “filthy rich”. This was first used as a noun phrase meaning “rich people; who have become so by dishonorable means”.

(http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/filthy-rich.html)

The pairing of filthy and lucre was meant, of course, to highlight the sinfulness of immoderate, greedy or shameful desire for wealth, but this was soon applied to the money itself and then onto the people that had a lot of money. How much is a lot of money? Generally, it is just more than what you have!!!

You can also see how the idea that if you have very much money, you must have had some greed in your life and gained it through dishonest or shameful dealings. Therefore, you have been tainted as well as the money. In some churches, the wealthy feel shunned or closed off because others think that the wealthy must have gained their money through dishonesty. (But they will accept their tithe to help run the church!) While discussing this book in my chiropractor’s office he volunteered the information that his family, that is made up of doctors and lawyers who are very well off, are avoided by most people in their church because the people feel that the family is too well off.

The idea of having much money being sinful started as early as 100 AD and came into its own around 300 AD. Here are some quotes from the early Church Fathers:

You are not making a gift of your possession to the poor person. You are handing over to him what is his.
Ambrose of Milan, 340-397.

The property of the wealthy holds them in chains . . . which shackle their courage and choke their faith and hamper their judgment and throttle their souls. They think of themselves as owners, whereas it is they rather who are owned: enslaved as they are to their own property, they are not the masters of their money but its slaves.
Cyprian, 300 A.D.

The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry man; the coat hanging in your closet belongs to the man who needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belong to the man who has no shoes; the money which you put into the bank belongs to the poor. You do wrong to everyone you could help but fail to help.
Basil of Caesarea, 330-370 A.D.

Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours but theirs.
John Chrysostom, 347-407 AD

Instead of the tithes which the law commanded, the Lord said to divide everything we have with the poor. And he said to love not only our neighbors but also our enemies, and to be givers and sharers not only with the good but also to be liberal givers toward those who take away our possessions.
Irenaeus, 130-200 AD

The rich are in possession of the goods of the poor, even if they have acquired them honestly or inherited them legally.
John Chrysostom, 347-407

Share everything with your brother. Do not say, “It is private property.” If you share what is everlasting, you should be that much more willing to share things which do not last.
The Didache

Let the strong take care of the weak; let the weak respect the strong. Let the rich man minister to the poor man; let the poor man give thanks to God that he gave him one through whom his need might be satisfied.
Clement of Rome, 1st Century

How can I make you realize the misery of the poor? How can I make you understand that your wealth comes from their weeping?
Basil of Caesarea, 330-370 A.D.

At some point these ideas moved from the religious realm into the political realm. In this book, we are trying to get our understanding and thoughts straightened out so we can see the promises of God’s Word come to pass in our lives.

About eight or ten years ago I was in a meeting where the teacher said that in the dark ages, the people desperately wanted out of their poverty and serfdom. The church, which was very wealthy, did not want a lot of people striving to become clergy or priests. The landowners, who gave a lot of money to the church, did not want the lower classes striving to join their ranks. So the church taught that it was sin to try to climb out of poverty. God had put each person where he wanted them, and that if they were content in this life, their reward would come in the next life. That is where they would be rewarded. To keep the people down or content with their poverty, the church taught that to save money was sin and to have much was sin and caused by greed.

A few years later I ran across this on a web search:

In 2009 Alan S. Kahan published Mind vs. Money: The War between Intellectuals and Capitalism.

According to Kahan, there is a strand of Christianity that views the wealthy man as “especially sinful.” This brand asserts that the day of judgment is viewed as a time when “the social order will be turned upside down and… the poor will turn out to be the ones truly blessed.” Many of the church fathers condemned private property and advocated the communal ownership of property as an ideal for Christians to follow. However, they recognized early on that this was an idea that was not practical in everyday life and viewed private property as a “necessary evil resulting from the fall of man.”

According to Kahan, Christian theologians regularly condemned merchants or as we would call them, wholesalers. Honorius of Autun wrote that merchants had little chance of going to heaven whereas farmers were likely to be saved. Gratian wrote that “the man who buys something in order that he may gain by selling it again unchanged and as he bought it, that man is of the buyers and sellers who are cast forth from God’s temple.

By the 11th century, Benedictine monasteries had become wealthy, owing to the generous donations of monarchs and nobility. In reaction to this wealth, a reform movement arose which sought a simpler, more austere monastic life in which monks worked with their hands rather than acting as landlords over serfs.

By the 13th century some Dominican and Franciscan monks departed from the practice of existing religious order by taking vows of extreme poverty and maintaining an active presence preaching and serving the community rather than withdrawing into monasteries. Francis of Assisi vowed poverty as a key element of the imitation of Christ who was “poor at birth in the manger, poor as he lived in the world, and naked as he died on the cross.”

The contrast between the wealth of the church which at one point owned 20 to 30 percent of the land in Western Europe and the monks that took vows of poverty, caused some uncomfortable questions to be asked about the church’s wealth.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_views_on_poverty_and_wealth)

In the book, Mind vs. Money: The War between Intellectuals and Capitalism, Kahan distinguishes three ways of holding money in disdain, “the Three Don’ts,” with a fourth supplementary one thrown in for good measure. The first Don’t recognizes that sufficient money is needed to live a good life but nonetheless disdains commerce:

1. “Don’t Make Money (Just Have It)” (p. 31). If this mandate brings to mind Plato and Aristotle, the next has an altogether different origin.
2. “Don’t Have Money (Give It to the Poor)” (p. 42) inevitably recalls the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels. Though few have been able to adhere in full to the rigors of this precept, its influence has been vast. Kahan’s final Don’t has a more modern ring.
3. “Don’t Have or Make More Money Than Others Do (It’s Not Fair).”
4. “Don’t Make Money; Take It and Spend It.”

Another line of Protestant thinking viewed the pursuit of wealth as not only acceptable but as a religious calling or duty. These were generally Calvinist or Puritan theologies which viewed hard work and frugal lifestyles as spiritual acts in themselves. John Wesley was a strong proponent of wealth creation. However, to avoid wealth becoming an obstacle to faith, Wesley exhorted his audiences to “earn all you can, save all you can and give away all you can.” Out of that thinking comes today’s prosperity theology.

(http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?a=886)

You can see from the quotes of the early church fathers that their idea of giving it all away to be a good Christian became the doctrine of the church.

As a preacher’s son I heard this expression many times, referring to the preacher, “God, you keep him humble, and we will keep him poor.” To take a vow of poverty, to be poor, was considered very religious.

I have seen some people with money in the church, but mostly those without. There are many references in the Bible about trusting God. We are taught not to worry about the future, not to worry about our needs being met, not to be fearful and so on. Along this line then, some teach that it is not trusting God to save money. These people would say that you trust more in the bank and yourself in a financial emergency and your saving shows you may say you trust God with your future, but in your hearts you do not.

I heard many times the warnings from the Bible. Here are some as I remember them.

1. The love of money is the root of all evil.
2. While some coveted after, they pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
3. Give what you have to the poor and follow me.
4. Those that love silver will not be satisfied with silver…
5. Their eyes stand out with fatness; they have more than heart could wish.
6. Not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre
7. Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

I did not want to be one that was greedy or that loved money or that was pierced through, so I had decided to just live from payday to payday and trust that God would meet my needs, which He did.

But as I read His Word, I ran into verses that troubled me. For instance:

1 Timothy 5:8-9 But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man,

Proverbs 13:22 A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.

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

If we are to give everything away to the poor, and are not to save but to trust God from day to day, what do we do with these verses?

Since we have seen where some of this poverty teaching in the church came from, we will be able to see better through the haze to understand what God really expects of us in this life as we wait for the return of His son from heaven.

“Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.”
— John Wesley (1703 – 1791)

To learn more about this topic Amazon has the book Poverty vs Wealth in paperback, as a Kindle download or on Audible

Live long and Prosper

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What is Prosperity?

Poverty: (Stop Bleeding) (Stop Digging) (Stop Borrowing)
Wealth: (Start Giving) (Start Saving) (Start Investing)

 

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

What really is prosperity? In A Journey through Acts and Epistles, Volume 2, the footnote on this verse says:

“prosper: to be led in a good way or on a good path, to have a prosperous journey, to be well guided, to be successful…. Success in all matters would include material needs, health, peace of mind, joy in fellowship and other matters.”

In this book we are mainly interested in the area of material needs.

Dictionary.com defines prosperity as:

  1. a successful, flourishing, or thriving condition, especially in financial respects; good fortune.
  2. prosperities, prosperous circumstances, characterized by financial success or good fortune.

Many see prosperity on a very short term basis — a raise at work, or an unexpected check in the mail, or a good deal on a car, or to catch the right sale at the supermarket. These things are wonderful but not what actually results in long term prosperity.

The Art of Manliness website had a great explanation of prosperity in its article, “The Paycheck Mentality vs. the Net Worth Mentality”:

“From the time we are old enough to understand, society conditions us to confuse income with wealth. We believe that doctors, CEOs, professional athletes, and movie actors are rich because they earn high incomes. We judge the economic success of our friends, relatives, and colleagues at work by how much money they earn. Six and seven- figure salaries are regarded as status symbols of wealth. Although there is a definite relationship between income and wealth, they are very separate and distinct economic measures. Income is how much money you earn in a given period of time. If you earn a million in a year and spend it all, you add nothing to your wealth. You’re just living lavishly. Those who focus only on net income as a measure of economic success are ignoring the most important measuring stick of financial independence. It’s not how much you make, it’s how much you keep.”

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2015/02/16/net-worth-mentality/

The whole article is well worth reading.

Some people that make lists say there are over 2,000 verses on financial prosperity in the Bible. It must be an important topic, yet how many of them do we know?

Now, these promises of prosperity are to those who seek after God—very important to remember.

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.

Deuteronomy 28:2-8 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

Leviticus 25:19-22 And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety. And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store.

“Command the Blessing upon” is a rare phrase and is used here with prosperity.

Deuteronomy 28:11-13 And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee. The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:

God will open to you His good treasure. God has many things stored up in abundance for His children. We have been told for many years that if we use too much, we will run out of land, water, oil, and all-natural resources. But it is not true. We should not be wasteful, but God is not up all night working to create more trees because we are running out of them. He has great storehouses or treasuries to draw from.

God promises us prosperity, and that is only natural as we are His offspring, His children. Why would our Father, who owns the earth and the fullness thereof, want His children to live in poverty? He doesn’t!!

Jeremiah 17:7-8 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

So, these promises we are looking at are for those that trust in and that seek after God and His promises.

Searching the scriptures diligently for God’s promises is part of the Prosperous Life!

If you would like to learn more about this subject; this book is available in audio, paperback or a Kindle format on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Poverty-vs-Wealth-Fundamentals-Prosperity/dp/B073WZ6676

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What Comes First?

Study to show yourself approved before God….

There are two things in life that seem to distract people quite a bit: sex and money. Fortunately, both are covered in the Bible. In 1 Corinthians 7 God, by revelation, lays out some good instructions regarding sexual relations for people in the church, so that, as it says in 1 Corinthians 7:35, “that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.”

Money and finances are also a great distraction for many people. If you are broke all the time or in poverty, that can be a huge distraction. Generally, the distraction is lack of funds to pay current bills. The purpose of this series of blogs is to show the proper foundational truths, from the Bible, about how to handle finances from the Bible. Then you can learn to incorporate those truths into your life. As you incorporate them, the distraction over finances should cease because you will cease to be broke or in poverty. How to deal with money has been much goobered up by religion over the centuries and it is not conveniently covered in one chapter as sex has been in 1 Corinthians. But as we read we can see the plan that God has laid out for us so that we are not distracted by finances either. Then we can “attend upon the Lord without distraction” in that part of our life also.

My motivation in writing this is to learn and to believe what God has promised. Then we can believe what He has said, carry it out, and then see His Word come to pass in our lives.

We are not after money in this blog so much as we are after a greater relationship with our Father. We want to know what He has said and promised to us as His children. To paraphrase another man, “It is not what you get; it is what you become in the process.” In this case, it would be a deeper or greater walk with our Father with far fewer distractions as we learn about this field of prosperity.

To reiterate, my motivation for learning this subject was to find out what God actually said and then build my believing of prosperity on those words.

So let’s get started:

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

God’s desire for us as He states in His Word is that we prosper and be in health, even as our soul prospers. With both health and prosperity, there are promises and principles in God’s Word concerning how to obtain both. For instance, with health, we have the truth that “by his stripes we were healed,” and we have the principle that “a merry heart does us good like a medicine”. The first part here is a promise, and the second part is a way we can learn to conduct our lives to manifest health by having a merry or happy heart.

So it is with prosperity. We are going to start with the principle of keeping God first and see some of what that may mean. Along the way, we will see some principles that go along with the promises. Here in Matthew, it states:

Matthew 6:31-33 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

We learn that if we keep God first and seek Him, He will add the things we need to our lives. If we seek after the things, we may never find them or never be satisfied with what we have.

Jesus Christ spoke about one of the first problems we run into when it comes to prosperity and wealth.

Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

“Hate” is the antithesis of love, as it is active ill will; “hold” is to cling to the one; “despise” is to think less upon or think down upon. We cannot serve God and mammon (the world or things in the world).

The Weymouth New Testament:

Matthew 6:24 “No man can be the bondservant of two masters; for either he will dislike one and like the other, or he will attach himself to one and think slightingly of the other. You cannot be the bondservants both of God and of gold.

If you try to serve, love or trust in both, you would be double minded, and James speaks on that:

James 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

So when we endeavor to serve both, we are double minded and therefore unstable.

The truth of keeping God first is stated in Matthew 6:33, but to see examples of people who did that, we can look in the Old Testament which was written for our learning. Many times the New Testament gives us the finely stated truths, but to see examples of those truths we need to look in the Old Testament.

Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

Consider Hezekiah:

2 Chronicles 29:1-5 Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them. And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street, And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.

This is the very first thing Hezekiah did — he cleaned out the Temple and repaired it. Then he held a Passover in the second month. It was supposed to be held in the first month, but they could not do it then because the temple was not cleaned out. The Law allowed the Passover to be kept in the second month in some cases, so this was legal.

2 Chronicles 30:1, 2 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel. For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the second month.

God showed us what Hezekiah kept first in his heart; he honored God first in the establishment of his reign. Now in the records of Hezekiah, we see God’s prospering of Hezekiah and God’s deliverance from Judah’s enemies.

2 Kings 18:5-7 He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses. And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.

In the first Psalm, the Psalmist explains some of how to keep God first works:

Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

The Psalmist delighted and meditated in God’s Word. God’s Word came first in the Psalmist’s life. Because he kept God and His Word first in his heart, the Psalmist brought forth fruit at the right time in his life, and he prospered wherever he went.

With Hezekiah you see that God was first in his heart because his first action as king was to clean out the temple, to reestablish the worship of God, and then to keep the Passover. As you read about his reign, you then see God prospering him and delivering him.

Here is another example. This record took place just after Judah was carried away into the Babylonian captivity.

Daniel 1:1-8 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god. And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes; Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king’s meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego. But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.

It was against the Old Testament law to eat the meat or to drink the wine that had been offered to idols. These would have been offered in the temples to the gods and then brought to the king’s palace for
consumption. This is what would have been served to these men. Daniel and the other three in the record had determined to keep God first no matter what. God then honored these men with great positions of power and influence in the kingdom of Babylon.

There are other records like this, but these two examples are of men that kept God first, and then God prospered them.

Keeping God first not only pays great rewards now but at the time rewards are given at the gathering together as well. We will see that in a minute.

These men loved God, honored Him, and trusted Him above all else. These men had great respect for God and His Word, and that is why when it was their time to stand on God’s Word, God came first. God coming first was simply a manifestation of what they had put in their hearts a long time before.
Notice that the inward part comes first; then what is produced in their lives is simply a manifestation of what they had already put in their hearts.

The following record is about a man that trusted in his wealth more than he loved God.

Mark 10:17-31 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible. Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.

Notice that the man’s problem was not that he was rich, but that he trusted in those riches. His possessions and prosperity, not God, came first in his life. He served the world, trusted in riches, and loved his money more than he loved God. This is always a problem.

Also note that if he had been willing to give it all away and put God first, God would have given it all back one hundredfold. So the issue was not just that he was wealthy, but that he trusted in his wealth.

(An interesting note here: Abraham was very wealthy as was Job and many others, but they did not have the problem this man had. They trusted, loved and kept God first, not their possessions. So when it says Jesus loved him, he saw what the man’s problem was and offered him the solution. If the man had heeded it, God would have given it all back and much more. Abraham did not need to do that, neither did Job or many others. This was just for that man. It is a lesson not to trust in anything other than God. It is a lesson to keep Him first. Then you do not need to do as this man needed to do.)

Psalm 35:27 Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.

As long as we keep God first in our hearts, love Him and trust Him, He will add to us all that we need. What we need is what God has promised in His Word and what He will do for those that put their trust in Him.

Here is another record of a man who asked Jesus a question:

Luke 12:13-15 And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? 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. 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.

We have no need to be envious of what others have even if we actually should have had part of it, such as an inheritance. Why? God has promised to supply our needs and fill our homes with His treasures, as we shall see, so that we have no need of going to the law to force others to give us something.

Keeping God first is the first and greatest of the fundamental principles of prosperity that we are going to consider. Practicing these principles of prosperity should be such a part of our lives that we barely think about it. Then we can spend our days keeping God first and prospering in this life He has given us.

If you would like to purchase this book in audio, paperback or a kindle format it is available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Poverty-vs-Wealth-Fundamentals-Prosperity/dp/B073WZ6676