Prosperity

Claiming the Scriptures:
Prosperity


Jesus Became Poor To Make You Rich
2 CORINTHIANS 8:9

9 You know how full of love and kindness our Lord Jesus was: though he was so very rich, yet to help you he became so very poor, so that by being poor he could make you rich.

Most Christians consider being poor the will of God. Scripture actually gives a quite opposite picture. Although there are many warnings in Scripture against the love of money and its misuse, the fact remains that financial prosperity is considered a blessing from God in the Bible.

Leave Foolishness Behind:

"Evil pursueth sinners: but to the righteous good shall be repayed." (Proverbs 13:21)

Satan has had us in a poverty mentality so long that it's tough for us to grasp just how intensely God really does desire to prosper us--even though He's demonstrated that desire again and again.

Take Abraham, for example.
God made him an extremely wealthy man.
Genesis 13:2 says he was rich in cattle, in silver and in gold.

Then, of course, there was Solomon.
The Bible says he surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.

God's servant Job possessed such great wealth that he was called the greatest of all the men of the East. That was before Satan put him through the wringer. Afterward, God blessed him with more than twice what
Satan had stolen.

The problem is, just the thought of the kind of wealth God gave to those men scares most believers today. They're afraid it would destroy them.

God has said that "the prosperity of fools shall destroy them" (Prov. 1:32).
But that doesn't mean you should avoid being prosperous. It means you should avoid being a fool!

I challenge you to go to Proverbs and find out for yourself what God says about the characteristics of a fool. Let the Holy Spirit search your heart. If you see ways in which you've been a fool, repent and make a firm decision not to be caught in that trap again. Let the Word of God inspire you to leave foolishness behind and stir within you the faith to reach out and receive what you, as a redeemed child of the living God, have a divine right to-- not the curse of poverty, but the blessing of prosperity!

Amen?

PSALM 35:27 NKJ
27 Let them shout for joy and be glad, Who favor my righteous cause; And let them say continually, "Let the Lord be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant."

Certainly there are dangers in being prosperous. With more money you can make more choices, and buy more trouble. However, money itself is not evil. The person using money determines whether it will be a force for good or a force for evil.

You do not have to convince God to prosper you. No arm-twisting will be necessary, as He has already made the provision. Through the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ, prosperity already belongs to you.

I can almost hear the objections: "If I am rich, where is it?
Why do I have all these debts and bills?"

The answer is simple actually. The devil has stolen it away from us because of our ignorance.

You can reclaim it by faith, but you will have to feed on the Word for your faith to continue strong and effective. So, to receive the blessings available to us through Christ, we have to draw near to God. Some maturity is required to receive God's provision and to keep the devil from stealing it. This insures that immature believers will not have more money than they can handle and thus have their lives ruined by it.

Nevertheless, according to the Bible you are rich. You may not have ready access to it, but in Christ wealth is yours - just as surely as a young heir is rich even though his money is held by trustees and he cannot have it until he matures.

Jesus Christ became poor to make us rich and as His daughter I am rich through Christ Jesus. You've heard how people always say "Money is the root of all evil", and then a mature Christian comes up behind them and says "Actually, it says 'For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil'. (1 Timothy 6:10) But check this out: In Ecclesiastes 10:19- "A feast is made for laughter, and wine makes life merry, but money is the answer for everything."

Did you know the Bible declares that MONEY ANSWERS ALL THINGS? (Ecclesiastes 10:19) You must understand the power of money from a correct, biblical perspective...


~Money gets the gospel preached.

~Money pays your bills.

~Money supports missionaries.

~Money takes care of your family.

~Money blesses the poor and feeds the hungry.

~Money publishes faith resources and life-changing books so you can minister the anointed Word to the world.

~Money and material blessings are a testimony of God's goodness in your life.

~Money is seed for advancing the Kingdom of God in the earth realm.

~Money is not evil, the love of it is! Sowing money seed is the proof that you have mastered greed!

~God's ultimate purpose in prosperity and blessing you financially is to get the gospel out to the nations and establish His covenant in the earth.


In Luke 12, Jesus warned about worrying. He said (starting in verse 22) "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn (they don't store up food, thinking one day they might go without); yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?" Verse 31: "But seek His kingdom, and all these things will be given to you as well."

Philippians 4:19- "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."
(according to His riches, not ours!)

Proverbs 8:18- "With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity."

Ephesians 3:20- "By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope". A different translation of that same scripture says: "Now unto him that is able to do exeeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us*."

God is able (and WILLING) to provide for us exeedingly and ubundantly above all that we can ask or think! Pretty cool huh? But the "catch", if you will, is found in 3 John 2- "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth*." The God that made us and everything in this earth (even the earth itself) wants us to prosper (financially as well as spiritually) and be in health, but only as much as we're giving to Him and growing in Him. If we give a little, then we get a little, we give more, He gives us more!

The bible is FULL of promises just like those above .... promises to us! Promises that take care of the health, spending money, house, food, clothing, cars that break down and all points in between. He knows we can't have and raise children without those promises of being cared for, so that we may in turn care for our children. And even the children themselves are a promise, too!

Psalm 128:1-4- "Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways. You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons will be like olive shoots around your table. Thus is the man who fears the Lord."

My point is that everything we want and need can be found in Him. We can try and struggle and worry and trip, but ultimately the easiest way is to give our cares to the Lord and let Him work it out. God cannot lie, so unlike us humans, we can trust His word, His promises.

Psalm 37:4- "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."


Priorities of Prosperity

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." 

God isn't against your having money.
He's against money having you.


He's against your making it your priority and putting your trust in it instead of in Him.

Why? Because He knows money makes a lousy god. Its power is limited. It will only buy so much. It will only go so far. If you need healing from an incurable disease, money won't help you at all. If your family is falling apart, money won't mend it. But if you'll seek God first, His prosperity will reach into every area of your life.

God is so generous that He desires you to have the best on this earth, just as you desire the best for yourchildren. His plan is for you to have all of your needs met according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Get in on that plan by keeping your priorities straight. Seek Him first and His righteousness. Make pleasing God your number one priority. Set your eyes on Him above all else and all these things will be added unto you.

Mark 10:17-27 NIV
17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
18 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good — except God alone.
19 You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give falsetestimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'"
20 "Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and giveto the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
22 At this the man's face fell. He went away sad,  because he had great wealth.
23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!"
24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?"
27 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."


Biblical Financial Freedom:

Freedom from financial worries is assured by God's Word. Many people are robbed of peace and joy in the Lord because of their constant worry about finances. But as Christians, when you are faithful in your tithes and offerings, you can claim the promises in God's word.


Look up the following verses to discover God's promises regarding finances:

Duet. 29:9
Ps. 37: 3
Ps. 37:25
Ps. 84:11
Prov. 13:22
Eccl. 11:1
Isa. 45:3
Luke 6:38
Luke 12:28
Luke 12:31
Luke 12:32
John 16:24
Phil. 4:19
3 John 2