In our understanding of The Prosperous Life, it would do us well to understand exactly what God has said in His Word. Sometimes, what men say God said, He did not say at all. And sometimes, what God does say, men say He didn’t.

Such is the confusion when it comes to the record of the rich young ruler. This record has been used to say that to be a good follower of the Lord Jesus Christ; one must give away all his earthly goods to follow Jesus. Here are some quotes from the early church fathers:

Instead of the tithes which the law commanded, the Lord said to divide everything we have with the poor…… 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 AD

In my book Poverty Vs Wealth: Fundamentals of Prosperity, we cite even more. This wrong doctrine developed in the church because of the failure to read the entire context of the records in the Bible. It has grown and developed until poverty is still aligned with piety. Some parts of the church still take vows of poverty, and we regard them as very religious people living close to God. So let’s go read the record for ourselves and see what we can learn of The Prosperous Life, and pull back the curtain so we can see clearly.

• Mark 10:17-25  And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one (Luke calls him a ruler) 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.

This is where most readers of this record stop. They rightly conclude that it is very hard for the rich (the rich who trust in their riches) to enter the kingdom of God. Then they wrongly conclude that all people need to renounce all worldly possessions. This is where the expression I heard many times growing up came from. Speaking of the preacher, “God, you keep him humble, and we will keep him poor.”

But if we continue to read, we find Jesus is not yet done with this situation, and his disciples wanted to know more just as we do.

• Mark 10:26-31 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.

Apparently in this record, God has no problem with the amount of money a person has, it was the young ruler that had a problem. His possessions and prosperity, not God, came first in his life  He served the world, trusted in his riches, and loved his money more than he loved God. Jesus Christ realized this and attempted to help him. The record says “he loved him.”

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 that he was wealthy, but that he trusted his wealth.

God never told Job to give up his wealth, in fact in the end of the book of Job, God gave Job twice what he had in the beginning. God never asked Abraham to give up his wealth. In fact, Abraham acknowledged that God was the one that made him wealthy. God also stated that he gave Solomon riches in abundance as well as Hezekiah.

If we keep God first in our lives and trust in Him, it is His desire to prosper those that love Him and trust him.

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 that He will do for those that put their trust in Him.

The book Poverty Vs Wealth: Fundamentals of Prosperity,  pulls back the curtain in many more areas of prosperity. It is not a rehash of what you may have learned in the past. The information has helped many people, including myself, to understand what God really did say concerning The Prosperous Life.

In the lands and times of the Bible many people had stewards that ran their businesses and their households. These stewards were given complete autonomy over the affairs of their masters. They could buy and sell in their master’s name and conduct business on his behalf. Their job was to serve their master and have his best interests at heart. Joseph, in the Old Testament, would be a good example. He was bought as a slave and yet attained the stewardship of his master’s house. The master in return took care of all of the steward’s needs, housing, cars, sending his kids perhaps to a private school, and clothing, everything the servant could need.

With that in mind let’s read the record in Luke 16.

• Luke 16:1-3 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.

Perhaps he had a nice lifestyle — three bedroom house, a couple of car payments and a kid or two in college. He could not pay for all that on a ditch digger’s wages.

• Luke 16:4-8 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.  So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

He still had complete authority over the affairs until the books were audited, so the record here tells us what he did to provide for himself and his family in the event he was fired. He had the right to do this according to the standard of stewardship of the time. Apparently, the books were found to be in order and that he had done nothing wrong. His master felt that the steward had done wisely.

But here is an interesting thought. When he had the debtors write down their accounts, whose business was the steward taking care of? His master’s or his own? That is worth thinking about.

• Luke 16:9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.

This verse now makes for some confusion. EW Bullinger in The Companion Bible,  notes on this verse that it should read as a question: “Is this what I have taught you? NO!” It is a rhetorical question. I don’t believe you can find another record where Jesus Christ taught his disciples to make friends with the things of this world, money, or the mammon of unrighteousness.

Thus the steward was faithful in the eyes of his master and perhaps he had done wisely according to the times in which he lived, but according to Jesus the steward was unjust or not faithful. So now Jesus explains why he taught this parable.

• Luke 16:10-15 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?  No servant 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. And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

The Pharisees did have charge of the money that came into the temple, but their main job was to serve God and his people, to teach the people God’s Word. But the Pharisees were covetous men who loved silver more than God. They were more concerned with themselves, their position, their prestige, and their prosperity than with the things of God.

They were not faithful men. Jesus was using this story to show them you can only serve one master, either God or the unrighteous mammon, money and the things of this world. ….. but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

Being wealthy and providing for yourself is highly esteemed among men, but God values faithfulness much higher. The steward had been faithful according to the standard of his master and his time, but he in the end was serving himself not his master. Thus according to God he was unjust, unfaithful. The Pharisees were exactly the same. So remember what Jesus said:

• Luke 16:10-13 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own? No servant 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

Jesus thus encourages us to be faithful in our use of money or material things. Faithful to give some, faithful to save some, faithful to be diligent in our finances and faithful to keep God first and serve him in our lives.

The record then says that if we learn to be faithful in these small things we can be trusted to be faithful with much more – the true riches. But he says that if we are unjust in the least, as the steward and the Pharisees were, we will be unjust in much. So if we want the true riches committed to us, we need to learn to be faithful in the material things.

In our pursuit of The Prosperous Life, we are in pursuit of the true riches, an understanding and knowledge of God’s Word.

Does God Put Limits on Our Prosperity?

I attended an advance (which some call a “retreat”) a few years ago and one of the speakers made a statement I never forgot. “We only allow in our lives what we think we are worthy of. Accept God’s abundance.” This is on my computer so I can see it every day.

Here are some questions to ask yourself and think about:

• In God’s eyes how much are you worthy of having financially?
• How much do you think you’re worth as far as earning power goes?
• How much are you worth per hour, per week, per year?

Our minds put limits on us in many areas of finance. We are not even aware that this is happening until it is pointed out to us. I was not aware until someone pointed it out to me. In some areas I was shocked as to what my limits were and immediately set out to change them.

For example: if what you earn or think you are worth is $15.00/hour (the new proposed standard for minimum wage), that is about $30,000/year. At $30,000.00 per year for a family of four, that is barely above the poverty threshold. Lower middle class is $35K to $75K, and upper middle class is over $100K which averages out to about $48.00 per hour.

The jump from $15.00 per hour to $48.00 is not much. Why don’t more people make the jump? Perhaps they don’t see themselves as worth more per hour? That is one of their limits.

Perhaps they were raised at the lower income level, and that is all they know how to make. Perhaps that is all they have ever seen themselves worth doing. Perhaps more seems so impossible they never think about how to increase their income. Perhaps more than what they are earning now would be outside their comfort zone.

Perhaps it is fear of the unknown:

• Fear of making more than their friends make
• Fear of seeming to be greedy
• Fear of having to learn new skills to bring to the marketplace
• Fear of being uncomfortable and being out of place
• Fear of not being smart enough or good enough

All of these limitations on our income and our prosperity do not come from God. They are limitations we put on ourselves because of how we see ourselves.

If we want to go from $15/per hour to $48/hour, if we want to go from just above the poverty line to upper middle class, we have to change what we think we are worth. We have to get rid of the limits we have placed on ourselves.

We are the only ones that limit our success or prosperity in life.

God’s prosperity has no limits or ceilings. Accept His abundance.

In your pursuit of The Prosperous Life, throw out the limitations you place on yourself and put this verse in your mind instead:

Proverbs 8:21 That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.

Two of the greatest areas of concern in life are wealth and health. As we age these become even more important. In light of this, the Epistle of III John has a very interesting verse.

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

Think about this: it is nothing for us to talk after fellowship or church about things that affect our health and nutrition and then to study nutrition during the week. But the subject of finances has been stigmatized for hundreds of years to the end that most Christians don’t speak much about it.

Our adversary, the devil, has attacked the subject of health, to the end that many Christians believe it is God’s will for them to be sick. This enemy also, through devilish doctrines, has caused many Christians to believe that if you have much money you must have gotten it through shady means, and that you are greedy. The devil has put forth that the most humble people are poor.

A good friend of mine, Rev. Mike Verdicchio, wrote a book and produced a CD on healing that are very good. The book shows that it is God’s will for you to be whole – that by the stripes of Jesus Christ you were healed.

Some people feel that prosperity and health are inextricably interwoven:

• Great wealth but bedridden?
• Great health but in poverty?

God wants us to have both together. Great health AND prosperity. These are two of the biggest areas of concern in many people’s lives. It is the desire of God that we are all prosperous and healthy.

If both health and prosperity are part of God’s will, then both should be acceptable to study.

Christianity has taught that if you speak of money then you are greedy. If to desire great health is to desire God’s will for your life, then to desire great prosperity should be just as acceptable as part of God’s will for your life. A steady diet of teaching from God’s Word, listened to every day, could prosper your soul, increase your believing, and increase your understanding of God’s Word. Could that, then, have an impact on your prosperity and health? Change your life?

This subject of prosperity is covered in more detail in our book Poverty vs Wealth, available on Amazon.  It would be well worth your time to read it in your search for The Prosperous Life.

For Our Learning

 I have heard the comment: “you must remember that the Old Testament was ‘written for our learning’” many times in the past years.  The implication is that the part that was “written for our learning” is not very important, and that we only need to know and understand the part that was written “to us.”

That phrase “for our learning” could take a good looking at. It is true that different parts of the Bible are addressed to specific groups of people. The part of the Bible addressed to us in our day and time is the Church Epistles: Romans –Thessalonians.

Some have said the Old Testament was written to the Old Testament believers, and it is like we just get to peek over their shoulder as they read a letter God wrote to them.

I have heard some say that in their church or fellowship they only study the book of Ephesians or the Church Epistles – the part specifically addressed to the church of today.

If that is true that you only need to pay attention to that very small area of a large book, what do you do with the verses below?

• BUT: before we read them, here are some things to consider. In the Old Testament no one had a Bible like we have today. The scriptures were in the temple only, and perhaps the king had a copy if he copied out the scriptures like God told him to do. Other than that, all that the people had was what they heard when the scriptures were read or taught. They had no dust covered Bibles on the coffee table. They could not open the Bible in the morning with their coffee and read the law or the Psalms or the prophesies of Isaiah. It wasn’t until very late in the Old Testament, around the time of the Babylonian Captivity, that the scripture began to be translated into Greek. Then those copies could be copied by slaves and if you had enough money to have a slave do the work, you could buy a copy of the then Old Testament.
• Also consider in Ephesians 1:4 that God called out the church we belong to before the overthrow (foundation) of the world. When Adam had sinned, God had Adam on one side and the devil on the other. Before God gave over the dominion of the earth to the devil, God called out the church. He knew one day He would have sons and daughters once again like Adam but they would have much more. All through the Old Testament days, the prophets spoke many things to God’s people and others. Some of what was spoken and taught God had written down … for us His Children!

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.

1Corinthians 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

1Corinthians 9:8-10 Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished (perfectly equipped) unto all good works.

If you are a child of God, God had all the Old Testament, Gospels, and other New Testament books written for our learning. So that we could see all that God went through to bring the Messiah to pass on the earth. So that we could see what God was like – that He was a God of deliverance, health, and prosperity. So that we could see that God was a faithful Father and that He loved His children. So that we, as His children, could believe that as He sent Christ the first time that He would be faithful to send Christ again to gather the church. We ought to become very familiar with what our Father had written for our learning, our admonition, so that we can be fully equipped for every good work as He intended when He had the Old Testament written.

Becoming familiar with ALL of God’s Word is one of the keys to The Prosperous Life.