So many people misunderstand prosperity, as a matter of fact, someone once said it was a sin to be rich. Perhaps many people have been brainwashed to think this way due to the large number of false prophets or ministers trying to take money from God’s people, but regardless of what people do, God never changes. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. God is not going to change His plan concerning us because of the mistakes or shortcomings of others.
“Money is the keenest contestant of God’s place in man’s life, not the devil” – Bishop David Oyedepo.
What Many Do Not Know
Wealth & riches is God’s plan for His people. If the wealthiest God is thrice holy, then it is possible to be rich and be holy at the same time. It is not money that is the root of all evil, but the love of money – 1 Timothy 6:10. So when Jesus talks about the rich man, that it was harder for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven, He was speaking of those who love, depend, and would do anything to keep the riches they have acquired – in place of God. Clearly the rich man was not willing to leave his riches and follow Jesus.
Job 2:10 says … “shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?…” For this reason someone may say it is good for us to receive and live in poverty. Well, we should be open to receive anything that God wants to give us, but the point is God is not in the business of sending you evil but GOOD. Even Jesus made this clear in the Lord’s Prayer “…deliver us from evil…” Besides, God wasn’t the one afflicting Job, God only gave the devil permission to do what he wanted to do. Besides, any affliction, including poverty, should only last for a moment (2 Corinthians 4:17) and not for your entire life. If you ‘ve to learn through that then there comes a time when you learn through poverty (as God wills) and then grow on to maturity…so that having experienced poverty & riches, you can be a more mature believer. But this is still not God’s choice, He just wants us to understand that the most important thing is seeking the kingdom & not seeking after these things.
However, those who God chooses to serve a purpose to others are not under affliction. Basically, if God has destined it so in the life of a particular individual in other to paint a picture to others & to teach people who are not content with what they have to be content, then for such an example to have any meaning to someone else, this believer should still be comfortable in that situation. They shouldnt’ be begging and in lack…because the righteous is not supposed to beg for bread (Psalm 37:25). The scriptures CANNOT be broken.
Also remember Christ became poor that ye through His poverty might be rich –2 Corinthians 8:9 So do you mean Christ died to give you everything in life and yet, you decide to remain in poverty? Is that your way of saying thank you to all He did? Of course not! If wealth, riches and money wasn’t God’s plan or agenda for His people then why do the following scriptures defend wealth, riches and money for good and for those who seek after God?
- Psalm 89:34,
- Zach 1:17,
- Pro 30:8-9,
- Psalm, 112:3,
- Job 36:11 & 22:21, 24,
- Isaiah 48:17,
- Joel 2:23,
- Ek 7:12,
- 2 Corinthians 8:9
Clearly from the scriptures above, it is God’s will and agenda for His children to manifest wealth and riches, to prosper and to be in good health, even as our souls prosper – 3 John 2. Even God said, “seek first after the Kingdom & all these things, money, wealth, riches, etc that you are running after will be added to you.” [Paraphrased]. It is wrong to be of the mindset that it is against God’s will for you to prosper and to increase in riches.
Some Reasons Why God Doesn’t Mind You Having Riches
- The heart of a man who loves God is centered on God so even if you give him 1 million dollars today, he would most likely give 90% or more of it to the poor, to build shelter homes, to feed the hungry, etc. Basically he is not the first priority and God sees his heart and knows what he would do with the money even before he receives it.
- The Kingdom of God needs money in order to advance. The wealth and riches that God blesses you with is not for your selfish gain but for you to give others, help, and give towards the expansion of the kingdom of God. If you begin to keep the riches for you alone, then you are not walking according to His will and before long the riches will disappear. But whatever God gives you remains; however if you try in your own strength, in the end, it profits nothing. 1 Corinthians 13.
Some Reasons Why People Can’t Receive
First, if you want to remain in poverty, you can never be increase. As far as your eyes can see, you can have (Genesis 13:15)…so if you think poverty is God’s choice for you then you will remain there.
Many people want to receive but they are never willing to give. It is a law, the giver is the one that receives. The more you want to receive and refuse to give, the more you will run dry of resources, money, etc.
Example: If I want to give you something and your hand is closed, how will you collect it from me? It’s the same way, God says “open your hand and give” so that you can receive!
Remember the paycheck or what you worked for is God’s. He has given you the power to receive income every month, thus you should be willing to release or give out when He asks you to…whether it is in Tithe, helping others, offerings, towards Kingdom Projects, etc.
Nine (9) Kingdom Principles
The same way you exercise your muscles if you want to stay fit and toned is the same way you exercise your pockets or wallets & your faith and believe in God concerning your finances.
If you do what the word says, the principles, etc you would never have to pray for such things. You just receive because you have done your part by obeying. Below are a few things to consider and exercise during this journey.
- Do not eat the seed you are supposed to plant: your seed is your tithe. Consider this: it is the same way a farmer eats what he would, invests or sells what he would, and then puts away his seed for the next planting season. A farmer harvests crops for the family/to eat (1), then he has what he sells or invests (2), and then he keeps seed for next planting season (3).
- The same applies to you, you eat some of your income, invest, save, or give (another way of investing); and then you plant the seed aside (tithe).
- If the farmer eats his seed, he would have nothing to plant, and in turn, have no harvest. Eventually, he would go hungry, broke, poor and nothing to look forward to, in fact, he would ‘ve to beg.
- Sadly many people are constantly eating their seed, and then having to beg by borrowing from someone or using credit cards to pay for something, an offering, etc; …before long, things would only get worse. Why? Well, if a farmer begs for seed to plant, how would he pay back the seed he borrowed? Either he hands over all of the harvest or makes a deal with the lender to share the harvest. He would never be able to repay the same exact seed he collected from the lender & there is no guarantee he can pay back unless there is a harvest.
- Simply put, if you eat your seed, you ‘re on your way to borrowing, lack & want; and if you do not plant a seed, you are not entitled to a harvest. For this same reason many are not getting any harvest.
- In addition, God rebukes the devourer for your sake when you do this. Forget about what people are saying about tithing or no tithing, you are running this race on your own and nobody will eat for you. Search for the truth yourself, just do your part, focusing on God and see Him manifest Himself. READ Malachi 3:10.
- Be a giver: give freely, help others, sow into the life of others and do it knowing that you are lending to God and the Lord will pay you back. As you have been given, so also give. READ Proverbs 19:17, Luke 6:38. Every giver is empowered to give. If you struggle with giving, then you need to ask God to empower you and be willing to release that which you have when God asks you to.
- When you give, give with love otherwise it profits nothing. Basically you can give all you want, if there is no love in it, you will not receive anything. 1 Corinthians 13 says whatever we do, we should do in love. Don’t just give for selfish reasons or for increase but give in love. Many people say the bible says “give and it shall be given unto you” but remember that the same measure you give will be given unto. Basically if you give grindingly, you will receive grudgingly. If you give sparingly, you will receive sparingly.
- Give with wisdom: There is also wisdom in love. As you are giving, remember it is not everything you give towards. For example, if you got moved by your love for a fundraiser and gave towards it and later found out that the money raised was used to buy guns to kill people, then yo just contributed towards that, even though it may not have been your intent. So you need to learn to ask God, speak with Him and get the go ahead to give towards anything.
- Give towards the work of God: The advancement of the Kingdom is one of the reason why God blesses us with wealth. The more you give and take care of His business, the more He will take care of your needs. Remember to give because you love God and are eager to do His will, not because someone tells you to. READ Matthew 6:33
- Speak & Confess it: When and if you believe something, you will speak it. In the same vain, you will speak forth what you want concerning your finances and the more you do it, the more you will see what you say. Confess what you want concerning your finances and exercise patience to see it come to pass. Be empowered with the spirit of faith to say the things that you believe!
- Money is a spirit, do not pursue it, command it: do not pursue after money by putting so much effort into getting it but instead do the bit you can and focus on God for a runaround. Command money to serve you instead of you running after & serving money. When you do this, the money that is supposed to serve you cannot serve you anymore. This is a spiritual law. But as you speak it, it builds in the spirit and eventually manifests in the physical. READ Hebrew 1:14
- Do not give out of necessity or because you want to impress people but from what you have purposed in your heart. READ 2 Corinthians 9:7
- Quit borrowing and use money within your means. Don’t be covetous by buying what you cannot afford. If you truly believe God, you will believe Him for provision. (See: “Implications of borrowing”.) Using credit cards and loans is not good as this is not your money. When you become a slave to the lender and this is not God’s choice for you. Of course you cannot serve two masters at a time, so in this case, you are either serving God or serving the lender.
“All things are possible with God” Matthew 19:26
YOU MUST REMEMBER, HOWEVER
The riches that God blesses you with is to humble you and make you see that God is your source, your provider, your helper and that you have not done it by your hand, but when you begin to think you can do it without God, you have gone astray from what He intended for you.
EMPOWERMENT BOOKS
- Read the book “Covenant Wealth” by Bishop David Oyedepo
This book has really blessed by life and opened my eyes to things that I didn’t see before now. I feel empowered to move on to the next level in Jesus name!
Covenant Day of Prosperity
I was at the Covenant Day of Prosperity today at the Winners Chapel International, Minnesota. The sermon today was centered around God’s plan of prosperity for His people. It was powerful!
For Further Study
Read the following scriptures: John 6:4-7, Psalm 64, Hebrew 11:33, Mark 9:23, Gen. 8:22, Luke 6:38, Hebrews 6:17-18, Phil 4:13-19,Matt 12:10, Acts 24:14, Acts 28:24
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