Satan is the Master of Lies! Oh Yeah!
PROSPERITY IS ABOUT PROVISION…AND THAT PROVISION IS NOT ALL ABOUT YOU! IF YOU CAN STOMACH THE
TRUTH…PLEASE READ ON.
MATTHEW 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
* The provisions’ purpose is to further God’s plan in the earth! This is first and foremost. Maybe you don’t understand…but God does.
Americans are so funny sometimes. Most of the wealth of the world is here in this country. The whole country is mired deep in debt including the body of Christ. My beautiful neighborhood with homes once owned by Judges, Doctors and affluent politicians who cashed in when they sold their houses; is now filled with more vacant houses than we’d care to admit, that no one could afford. Our block doesn’t have any, but 6 empty houses in an affluent area is a problem. My mom’s neighborhood has more. Neighbors scurry in summer to make the vacant homes appear occupied and mortgage companies have turned into high end landlords and banks have become leasing agents! Mortgage Brokers have been forced to close up and find new offshoot businesses. Pride of ownership? Well, not like it used to be. God doesn’t want it that way. He wants us out of debt, paying our bills and furthering His cause. Christians are forced to apologize when they talk about prosperity…but I won’t do it.! It’s been taboo too long!
DON’T GET IT TWISTED FOLKS!
Christians silently want to be wealthy; but publicly it is almost a crime to say it!
Oh my goodness…where do I start?
I’ve written so many hundreds of articles and this may be the “first” on Prosperity. It may well be the “most” misunderstood word that the Body of Christ has ever known and Satan continues to use that to his advantage! I pray the God will give me the grace to explain it to you in a way that you can receive it. The devil has deceived the Body of Christ so much when it comes to prosperity. He has made people think prosperity simply means getting money and “lots” of it. As a result of that…people in the body have gotten it all mixed up.
Simply put: the condition of being successful or thriving; it also refers to a state or a condition. It is a 13th Century word and society tended to equate it to material wealth which is certainly an incomplete description. One can be successful academically, emotionally, physically, psychologically, spiritually, athletically, and in many other ways. God wants us to be successful.
Here’s where the problem lies: the problem arises when the focus becomes a fixation on material wealth with a lack of responsibility and a drive to get it at all costs and an ever so slow move away from God. Honestly, it is really easy to miss it and to misinterpret the message. Yes, God wants you to be able to pay your bills, but He does want you to pay them yourself and not to ignore them while you’re waiting for a windfall. ( I’m certainly not saying waiting for a windfall is good if that is the only way that you think that God can Bless you; God chooses, not us.) This is a fact. As Christians we’re to be responsible.
I HEARD A STORY ABOUT A WOMAN WHO MISUNDERSTOOD PROSPERITY…
One of my dear friends had a niece who had a nervous breakdown. The entire family blamed the church that she attended. This is what they told me: This young woman became an active part of a ministry and began to tithe. She soon threw her whole life into the Ministry. At some point, she became interested in getting a husband which somehow in her mind caused her to serve and be present at the church all of the time. Apparently, she began to not pay her bills because her house was in foreclosure and they didn’t have food. There were other signs of disarray involving her children. When the story was told to me; I was told the church would not help her. So the question I ask is: “Do I believe it and if I do; who’s at fault? (The family blamed the church)
At the time that I heard it…I admit that I was perplexed to some degree. You see, my Social Work background allowed me to recall how easy it is for people to lose focus and not pay bills. In fact, forget the Social Work stuff; I learned the hard way to pay my bills. So, could I objectively have sympathy for someone who couldn’t or wouldn’t? Yes I could. But…could I blame God or the Church? No, I couldn’t do that. We all make choices and they cannot be fueled by our emotions. This young lady allowed her family to convince her to leave the church. That’s sad, but my prayer is that she will get before God, make her comeback and find a good church home.
I LEARNED ABOUT TITHING…
For years I had attended church and never…I repeat never had any intentions to tithe. That was for the rich people. For those of substantive financial means or in other words; those who could afford it. I didn’t even feel guilty.
And then….I got some teaching and instruction on it. That changed my life and it changed me.
I finally decided to try tithing. After all, it is God’s money. At first, I practiced…smile. I tried 5 %. That wasn’t easy I thought but thank God it wasn’t ten percent, I thought. Somehow deep in my spirit I felt guilty, I began to believe God for me to make the transition to 10%. Mind you; I paid all of my bills. I was coming up short on one but I didn’t realize it. I made the switch to 10% without much fanfare. I continued to pay my bills. I prayed and asked God to balance my life and to send me some Godly friends of good report. At the time, all of my friends had abandoned me because they felt uncomfortable with all of this “God talk.”
Soon, after I “really” began to tithe; a financial crisis arose. It was of great proportions. I went to God in prayer and asked what to do. He sent someone to pay the bill. It was out of the blue and the crisis was averted. By that time, unfortunately much pressure was placed on me to stop tithing by my family and I stopped for almost a year. During that time, I paid bills, saved money and prepared myself for a return to my tithing. God touched hearts and had people to volunteer to take over the bills for me so that when I began to tithe again…there would be no financial crisis. It was after tithing that my credit was cleared up …mainly because I was responsible about making payments on time and because God gave me great favor in my life. By the by: God sent the friends…in droves. I dove into the water and began to find constructive ways to further the kingdom. What a journey it has been. It’s not about me…so let’s not lose our focus.
I’ll tell you that prosperity is misunderstood because people want a bucket of money to fall in their lap without the benefit of hard work or responsibility. As they see people prospering in the body of Christ; they think it’s a sin. When in fact God says these things about prosperity:
GENESIS 9:1 So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
LEVITICUS 26:9 For I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm My covenant with you.
DEUTERONOMY 2:7 “For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.”‘
JOSHUA 1:7 “Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.
JUDGES 18:10 “When you go, you will come to a secure people and a large land. For God has given it into your hands, a place where there is no lack of anything that 2 SAMUEL 6:12 And it was told King David, saying, “The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with gladness.
1 KINGS 2:3 “And keep the charge of the Lord your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn;is on the earth.”
1 CHRONICLES 4:10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.
2 CHRONICLES 1:12 “wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings have had who have been before you, nor shall any after you have the like.”
NEHEMIAH 9:21 Forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.
JOB 36:11 If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.
PSALM 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
PSALM 25:13 He himself shall dwell in prosperity, And his descendants shall inherit the earth.
PSALM 29:11 The Lord will give strength to His people; The Lord will bless His people with peace
PROVERBS 22:9 He who has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he gives of his bread to the poor.
ISAIAH 1:19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;
ISAIAH 30:23 Then He will give the rain for your seed with which you sow the ground, and bread of the increase of the earth; it will be fat and plenteous. In that day your cattle will feed in large pastures.
JOEL 2:26 You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and My people shall never be put to shame.
MARK 10:29 So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s,
MARK 10:30 “who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time–houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions–and in the age to come, eternal life.
LUKE 6:38 “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
JOHN 8:32 “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
2 CORINTHIANS 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, have an abundance for every good work.
PHILIPPIANS 4:19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
1 THESSALONIANS 4:12 that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.
1 TIMOTHY 4:8 For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.
1 TIMOTHY 6:17 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.
JAMES 1:4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
JAMES 1:25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
JAMES 5:11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord–that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
1 PETER 3:9 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.
God’s personal message to us:
3 JOHN 1:2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.
So…it is a Lie…that Christians are not to be prosperous. It is also a trick of the enemy to get people focused on greed and being irresponsible about paying their bills and “not” being people of integrity who keep their word.
How much of the “Lie” do you believe?
ADDENDUM: ***God wants prosperity for the Body of Christ so that HE can further His kingdom. It is not about you getting rich. If someone else is rich or not there is no way that you can know what they’re doing…keep your eyes on God and make very certain that when you come to judgement that you may be counted…worthy.
ECCLESIASTES 5:19 As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor–this is the gift of God.
SUGGESTED READINGS: NOTE: THESE ARE EXCELLENT WRITINGS ALL TRUE AND THEY WILL HELP YOU TO KEEP YOUR FOCUS!
TRUE RICHES BY BISI OLADIPUPO (READ HERE)
PRAISE GOD FOR PROSPERITY BY YEAP CHEE SENG (READ HERE)
THE BLESSING OF PROSPERITY BY YEAP CHEE SENG
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Outpouring! Faith Center 