One of the great benefits of being human is our capacity for rational thought.  We can observe, think, analyze and change if we want to.  Although most people change slowly, it is possible. Trees on the other hand are stuck right where they are.  If storms or fires are coming, there is nothing a tree can do but endure.  But we are not trees.

People change all the time. A young person with no knowledge of engineering goes to school and after a few years, they graduate as an engineer. Another person chooses psychology and learns how people think and how to help them. Another person decides to be a plumber and does what it takes to learn and to get a contractor’s license.

Animals other than humans live mostly according to built-in instinct. Ducks fly south in the winter, bears hibernate and salmon return to their birthplace to lay eggs. As people, we can step back and change any part of our lives that are in disarray and come up with a new plan. Only humans can do that.  Even people of only body and soul can change the course of their lives. With Christ in us, we can do even more.

If you don’t like how your life has been going, you can tear up the script and write a new one. Sigmund Freud said that we cannot change. He taught we are the products of our genetic code, and we are the products of our parents and our environment. Many say of other people in poor circumstances that it is not their fault, it is how they were raised. But these things are lies. God asks us to renew our minds, and many people in God’s Word made some drastic changes in their thinking patterns such as the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus and David after he was confronted by Nathan the prophet.

God’s Word gives us the underlying principles that govern a prosperous life in so many areas. Others having successfully incorporated those principles into their lives have written books and teach courses on how they accomplished what they were seeking. By reading their books and taking their courses, we can take a shortcut to accomplish the same thing. Instead of making all of the mistakes and having the frustrations that comes with changing, we can shortcut that by learning from others.

In Ephesians, God tells us to not let the sun go down on our wrath, yet many people find getting rid of anger hard to do.  So, they take courses in anger management to learn how not to become so angry. Take a course to learn how to do what God asks us to, what a unique thought.  How about a course or book on marriage or handling finances, or forgiveness?

Many people come from families that hold grudges against even their own family members — mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and even exes. If you grew up this way, it may take some work learning how to change your thinking patterns.

God says not to be drunk with wine wherein is excess, so some people join Alcoholics Anonymous to learn from previous addicts the shortcuts to go from being addicts to being sober. A shortcut is not cheating. It means learning from other people’s mistakes so that we don’t have to repeat them in our search for deliverance.

People join Toastmasters and become public speakers. (Some people fear public speaking more than death.) But after they have faced the fear, risen up and opened their mouths hundreds of times, the fear goes away. They have changed.

But if you will notice, all of the changes I just listed were changes that occurred inside the person. A person does not change because of his surroundings, circumstances or his appearance. You cannot go to the beauty parlor or The Gap and come out a new person.  What is inside is still the same only the outside looks different.

You cannot change by moving to a new city or state.  As Emerson said, “We carry our Goliaths with us.”
When you change the way you think, the way you believe or the focus of your life in a certain area, then your outer world can begin to change.

I read years ago that some family lines continually produce preachers, nurses and teachers — those concerned with helping others. Other family lines constantly have members in jail, are thieves or prostitutes.  These are learned behaviors and are passed from parents and relatives to young children. Children grow up being exposed to certain mindsets — good or bad.

I met a lady that lived in the country northwest of where I live, and she worked as a highway patrol trooper.  I asked her where she was originally from because of her nonlocal accent.  Her family was in another state.  She said she moved here when she had children because she did not want them raised around her relatives.  She did not want them to grow up and be acquainted with their lifestyle.  She said those negative traits in her family were stopping with her.

I don’t know what traits, habits, or mindsets her family had that she did not want her children to grow up with. In the movie, Hell or High Water, at the end, the main character said, “Poverty is a disease that is handed down from one generation to the next.” It also reminded me of President Harry S. Truman who had a sign on his desk that said, “The buck stops here.”

If like the lady, you have negative family traits, you can decide that they stop with you. If your family has high divorce rates, you can learn together how to stay married. If your family has a problem with forgiveness, that can end with you. If your family has a problem with handling money, you can teach your offspring how to prosper. We have the ability to change any part of our lives we want to, but it may take some work.

You can’t have a strong family if you merely talk about building a better relationship with your spouse and kids. Take some courses, read some books and learn from the shortcuts of other people. Make a plan, and put it into action. You have to get out of your comfort zone. You have to step up and do the work.

Excerpts from Change Begins with Choice by Jim Rohn

1.    Any day we wish, we can discipline ourselves to change it all.
2.    Any day we wish, we can open the book that will open our minds to new knowledge.
3.    Any day we wish, we can start a new activity.
4.    Any day we wish, we can start the process of life change. We can do it immediately, or next week, or next month, or next year.

We can also do nothing. We can pretend rather than perform.
And if the idea of having to change ourselves makes us uncomfortable, we can remain as we are. We can choose rest over labor, entertainment over education, delusion over truth, and doubt over confidence. The choices are ours to make.
As Shakespeare uniquely observed, “The fault is not in the stars, but in ourselves.” We created our circumstances by our past choices. We have both the ability and the responsibility to make better choices beginning today.
And if I may be so bold to offer my last piece of advice for someone seeking and needing to make changes in their life: If you don’t like how things are, change it! You’re not a tree. You have the ability to totally transform every area in your life. And it all begins with your very own power of choice.

“Our dilemma is that we hate change, but we love it at the same time.
What we want is for things to remain the same but to get better.” –Sidney Harris

No one can change your life for you.  They can only open the door. They can show the way. God can light the path, but we have to walk through the door and follow the path for ourselves.

So in our quest for The Prosperous Life in the area of money, take a course, listen to podcasts, read some books, formulate a plan, and get started.  It is never too late. Along the way, you may find you need to change your plan in ways you never thought of in the beginning. Our Father will be with you lighting your path all along the way. Eventually, you may be able to help others with the process of change in the area that they struggle in. Remember, You Are Not A Tree.  You can change any area of your life that needs it.  This is all part of living The Prosperous Life.

The Winds
One ship drives east and another drives west
With the selfsame winds that blow,
‘Tis the set of the sails and not the gales
Which tells us the way to go

Like the winds of the sea, are the ways of men
As we voyage along through life
“Tis the set of the soul that decides its goal
And not the calm or the strife.

–Ella Wheeler Wilcox

James 1:5-6  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

As God’s children, we have some great avenues available to us for learning and protection. Here, God says that if you lack wisdom, which we all do, all we have to do is ask, expecting that He will hear us and grant us the wisdom we seek.

We have a great book of financial wisdom available to us in God’s Word. We have seen much of that wisdom already in what we have been looking at so far. This wisdom on how money works rightly is priceless.  Once you understand how true prosperity works in life, you can do it over and over again. For instance, if you lose it all, you can, with the wisdom you have learned, do it over again. This is why God’s Word says that wisdom is more valuable than money.

Someone once asked me, “If I put my money in the stock market and lose it all, what happens then?”  I told them, “Well, it depends on your motivation in becoming prosperous.”  If you were just after the money and you lost it all, those are the people that jump out the 10th-story windows, as in the stock market crash of 1929.  But, if your motivation in becoming prosperous was to see God’s Word come to pass, you are in much better shape. If you become a giver and a saver because you could see those principles in His Word, then the next morning, you go back to work, and when you get paid, you give and save as in the past because you have seen that is what God expects us to do. That is how He set life up. With this attitude, there is no devastation if we lose it all.”

There is a man in the Bible who lost it all—IN ONE DAY—including his children! –Job.

Job 1:22  In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

Job’s main concern was his relationship with God. When God told Job—a man who had lost all children, all his wealth, and was covered in boils—to pray for his friends, he did exactly that.  Here is a man who had God first in his heart.

When Job’s troubles were over, God doubled back to him all his wealth. Interesting.  I doubt that he opened the front door the next morning, and it was all sitting on his front step.  Friends gave him some, but he must have known the principles of prosperity and simply put them back to work.

If you lose it all—if  God is first in your life and your trust is in Him, you take it to Him in prayer.

When you pray, you can ask God to give you wisdom, as we read in James. He never berates you for asking.  You could ask Him for wisdom every day, for things in general, and for specific things, such as how to deal with finances and how to keep Him first.  Ask Him to show you if you get off track.

You could read and study His Word.  Part of what we read earlier in 3 John 1:2 was prospering as your soul prospers. Read and apply His Word in all the areas of your life that you can.

You can also ask God to teach you, lead you, and guide you. Maybe you are an adult and it might seem a little late in life to ask God to teach, lead, and guide you. In the Old Testament, David asked for those things, and he was a king. You would think a king would not ask to be taught, to be lead, or to be guided, but he did. And David’s son, Solomon, asked God for wisdom!

Psalm 144:1  (A Psalm of David.) Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:

Psalm 143:8-10  Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.  Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me. Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.

Psalm 31:3  For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me.

2 Chronicles 1:10-12  Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people, that is so great? And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thine heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of thine enemies, neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king:  Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like.

David, the king of Israel, asked God to teach him, to lead him, and to guide him. Solomon, the wisest man to live up until the day of Jesus Christ, asked God for wisdom. We could do the same daily as we pray and then expect that our Father would do that for us also.

You might think of God as your older and wiser business partner. God’s Word says that He is at work within you. Learn to pray for your family’s finances. Ask Him to protect what you have stored and saved in your savings and funding accounts.  Remember what we read in Malachi:

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.

God used agricultural illustrations because the people were so connected to the earth. We may not be farmers, but the promise of protection of what He has blessed us with is the same.  Expect to see His hand at work in your finances to cause them to increase as you grow and learn. Even Satan recognized God’s hand of blessing upon Job’s financial life.

Job 1:10   Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

Below is a great prayer from a man asking God to bless him. We are blessed with all spiritual blessings.  This prayer concerns the physical realm here on the earth.

1 Chronicles 4:10  And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.

Why is this prayer in the Bible? Those things were written for our learning. We could also pray prayers like this. Ask and expect God’s hand to be with us in all our endeavors. We are not alone in this work.

When you look at your accounts and see that some are depleting because they are being used, like the emergency fund, ask God for help in replenishing it. Don’t wait till the fund is empty. Pray before you reach the bottom of the barrel. Guard your increase!

Pray for your savings and funding accounts. Pray for your investments. God is like a partner. Ultimately, it is His stuff anyway.

Psalm 24:1  A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

1 Chronicles 29:14-16  But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.  For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.  O LORD our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own.

These last verses are on the occasion of David’s dedication of the things he was giving to store up for the building of the temple by Solomon. David recognized that we are just stewards of the things we have. It all comes from God, and it all belongs to Him.

While we are here, we simply get to steward those things God gives us, and part of stewardship is to see the things under our care prosper and grow in value, the same as Joseph did in Potiphar’s house.

Genesis 39:3  And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand.

If God made all that Joseph did to prosper, He will do the same for you and me. We, as stewards, are not just caretakers, but we are to see it grow also.

People used to work from daylight or earlier, until dark. So when you get home from work, work a couple of hours on learning how to cause your savings to grow. Learn to trade or buy and sell something.

Matthew 25:16-18  Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.  And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.  But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.

People used to trade for a profit.  Obviously, it was known how to do that in the lands and times of the Bible. It is a lost art. So get some books and read up.

Here are a couple of suggestions:
One Red Paperclip: How to Trade a Red Paperclip for a House    Kyle MacDonald
Horse Tradin     Ben K. Green

Some people take their savings and buy and sell houses, boats, campers, antique glass or anything you can think of. Some sell it to dealers, on eBay, or on Craigslist.

Use the money in savings to buy and then put it all back along with the profit, minus your giving. The verses above do not say they made one trade to double their money. But when the householder came back, they had doubled it.  That is much better than the bank!

In every venture you start, pray and ask God to give you understanding and wisdom, and to teach you, and to lead you, and to guide you.  This, done over a period of years, will have some great success because you are not alone in this venture. God is at work within you. You know He wants you to prosper. Learn to expect to see His wisdom and His guidance in your life. This is all part of learning to live The Prosperous Life.

What is a truly Prosperous Life? God gave Joshua a key.

Jos 1:7-9 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

In order to “observe” and do according to God’s Word, we would need to study His word. Particularly that Word of God that applies in our administration (The administration of Grace that started on the day of Pentecost and that is laid out in the Church Epistles of Romans – Thessalonians).

Read it for yourself and then think about it and meditate on it.

The first Psalm of David also speaks of The Prosperous Life.  (Interesting to note that God speaks to us about how to prosper in the very first Psalm).

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.

Any person who walks with God, believes (observes) His Word, and carries it out is walking in The Prosperous Life.  They may witness to or help the ungodly and sinners, (like Jesus did), and avoid the scorners.   But these types are not their best friends.  Our friends, those that we counsel with, stand with, and sit with, are those who revere God and His Word above all else. Those who are endeavoring to walk according to God’s Word.

So it is not only important to learn God’s Word and do it, it is also important who you hang out with.  People have a great influence on us.  For instance, if your friends are not givers/tithers or savers, you probably aren’t or won’t be one either. If they go into debt for all the new shiny stuff, you probably will too.

Pro 27:17  Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

Pick good friends. Who your friends are and what they believe and do from God’s word are important.

So why did we deal mostly with finances in these blogs of The Prosperous Life?

• There are many that teach about the great work that JC did to accomplish our redemption.
• There are many now that teach that God gave the gift of holy spirit on the day of Pentecost and is available to all.
  There are some that teach about how to operate the manifestations of spirit (that gift that is born within).
  There are some that teach that we are to do the works that JC did and even greater works.
  There are many that teach Old Testament history.

People teach many different topics from the Bible but accurate teaching on money is hard to find. Yet money is a huge part of our life.  We spend our days working for it and our evenings paying bills.  God knew this and so included many principles in His Word on how to properly handle what He gives you.

Our adversary, the devil, has convinced many that God is the one that sends sickness, disease and death (calling them home.) The devil has convinced many that God’s will is for us to give all our earthly goods away and live one paycheck to the next until we die.  That to save money is to store up treasure on earth.

Yet of all the things that God could wish for His children to have as we wait for the return of Christ, God said he wishes for this in 3 John 2

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

Some have written great books on God’s will for our health and healing.

Mike Verdicchio   Healing from God Is Available
Dave Bergey         100 Scriptures to Help you Recover your Health

We, on the other hand, learned about prosperity. God’s desire is for us to be healthy and prosperous.  Yet prosperity is a much-maligned topic in much of the church. The misconceptions and wrong teachings about money have abounded for thousands of years.  Some stem from a wrong interpretation of the scriptures.  As I began to learn what God really said about money, it shocked me at the beginning that I had NEVER heard some of these things growing up in the church.  Yet there they were — in His word.  So, I began to share them with others. Thus a blog that only deals with the financial side of prosperity.

I have many teaching on other topics. There are over 700 teachings available on our fellowship website.  Most have nothing to do with “prosperity” per se.  I have another blog site www.selah.rogerbraker.com.

I continually post blogs about prosperity because most of us don’t change our minds quickly.  We may acknowledge the truth, but it takes time for the truth to become part of our inner life. That happens more quickly as we look at the scriptures over and over. This is easier to do when we are younger, and our heads are not yet so full of what those in the pulpit expound.

The Prosperous Life is a life that has, first of all, been Born again, that is the greatest prosperity of all.  It is a life that endeavors to learn God’s Word and do it. To Walk and talk with God, our Father.

This is why prosperity is such an interesting topic. Because giving/tithing and saving and staying out of debt is part of what God asks us as His children to do. It is part of walking with God. Many might say “yes I walk with God but don’t ask about my money.  Money is personal and I don’t have any to spare”.  Walking with God involves every aspect of your life, including your money.

You could do the same with the manifestations of spirit.  You know how to speak in tongues but don’t really have the desire to do it.

This is a case like the Pharisees, they held the truth, they knew the truth of God, but the truth did not hold them

Mat 23:1-3 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.

Remember walking with and for God is a personal thing. It is not a group thing or a church thing.  It is you and God walking together.  God instructs us in His word how to walk and God tells us of the benefits He has in store for those that do.

Deu 28:1-5 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 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…..

This is an exceptionally long list of what God has in store for those who choose to believe His word and walk with Him. The list basically deals with prosperity as an agricultural issue because their economy was agriculture.  Our economies are completely different, but God has not changed.  They were under the law, we live in the administration of Grace. This is why reading God’s word for yourself is so important.  What did God really say?

My hope is that over time, some will gain a new appreciation for the promises and instructions God put in His word about money.  What God actually said. This is why you need to read it for yourself, think about His Word and then do it.  This is part of walking with God and part of The Prosperous Life God wishes for you.