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| Prosperity........ |
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God Wants the Church To Prosper
Prosperity comes in many different forms. There is social prosperity and mental prosperity, and there is professional prosperity. Once you marry, you can also experience marital prosperity. There is parental prosperity in terms of raising your children, and physical prosperity in terms of your health. No Christian has a problem with any of these ways through which God can prosper us. No minister, theologian, or church denomination will tell you that any of these areas of prosperity are bad, or of the devil.
When it comes to financial and material prosperity, however, that is an entirely different ballgame. When you begin to talk about those two forms of prosperity, you become a target. All the worms come out of the woodwork, and you might even have some people talk about you. But I know the true reason these attacks come. Satan knows that if he can keep Christians poor, he can hinder the proclamation of the gospel. And he has done a good job of keeping Christians poor up to the present time.
It costs money to proclaim the gospel. It costs money to build or rent a church building, to provide a pastor for a congregation, to equip a church sanctuary. Christians need an environment in which they can hear the Word, fellowship with one another, and grow in the knowledge of God.
Satan knows that if he can keep us poor, keep us barely making it, keep us struggling to provide for our own individual households, then we will have limited resources to give to the Church. By our poverty, he can prevent us from sending out those who need to carry the message of Jesus Christ to others. It's a conspiracy! A person cannot give what he or she does not have, especially when the person does not know how to get it.
The world's system is not designed to aid your financial independence - not when you are a child of God. It will allow a few of Satan's kids to get wealth, so that others will think they are going to become wealthy too, but the enemy certainly does not want the Church to become financially prosperous. That is why he has so cleverly infiltrated theology. The very people who should be supporting one another are attacking one another. We have enough opposition coming from Satan, so we don't need any coming from our brothers and sisters in Christ. When a minister or another Christian starts talking about money, non-Christians and Christians alike get on the person's case. They automatically think the minister is a crook or charlatan.
I can handle what the world says, but it becomes a bitter pill to swallow when your Christian brethren criticize you for talking about prosperity. Nevertheless, we have to talk about money. This is especially true if you have a television ministry. It costs the same amounts of money to be in Christian media as it does to be in secular media. However, it would take me years to go around the world and physically teach the Word to as many people as I can reach in one hour via television. Television is the least expensive way to reach the greatest number of people in the shortest length of time, although it costs megabucks to do so.
The bottom line is, no matter what medium a person uses, spreading the gospel quickly boils down to dollars and cents. Therefore, if anyone ought to be sympathetic to the idea of material and financial prosperity, it ought to be Christians. Christians need to learn how to prosper, so that the Church can bring glory to God.
God wants you to prosper. Until you are convinced of this, you will never prosper. When you realize that Jesus and His disciples were not poor, but rather had wealth, you will begin to understand that you don't need to be poor to serve Him.
Joshua 1:8:
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
It is up to You to meditate on His Word day and night. It is Your responsibility to never let that Word depart from Your mouth, and to observe to do it.
When You do that, He Will make Your way prosperous. When You discover what God said in Joshua 1:8, Agree & decide that You Will be prosperous. Go all the way. If you are willing to do it God's way, you can prosper.
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Amen Sister! Might I add the lesson from the book of Malachi? Unfortunately, many don't believe in tithing properly. God told his people in
3:10 Bring ye the whole tithe into the store-house, that there may be food in my house, and prove me now herewith, saith Jehovah of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough `to receive it'. And if you're not sure what your tithe should be: 27:30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is Jehovah's: it is holy unto Jehovah. 27:31 And if a man will redeem aught of his tithe, he shall add unto it the fifth part thereof. 27:32 And all the tithe of the herd or the flock, whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto Jehovah. 27:33 He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and that for which it is changed shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed. In todays language this means 1/10 of your gross income! May we all heed and obey the word of the Lord! |
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With the economy the way that is everything seems to have doubled in price! Our hours are being cut at work and I do worry! ( Let your hearts not be troubled) I am reading my Bible more than ever to find comfort as well as answers! I pray for a turn around but I feel so selfish as many are much worse off than I! I struggle with whether to give my tithe or not? I wonder will God understand? So far, I have kept it up as it is important to me, even though I question it! Thank-you for this blog! It is a perspective!!
GoD'S, PeAcE aNd LoVe |
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Mrs W |
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April 20, 2008 at 6:56pm |
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Ok - really good blog -- Bro Dennis - Amen! 1000's of testimonies from tithers over the 27yrs. I am one of them -- xoxoxoxox 3Jn 1:2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and [that your body] may keep well, even as [I know] your soul keeps well and prospers. Amplified !!! |
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Ed |
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April 21, 2008 at 6:04pm |
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Well said, Linda. Thanks for a stimulating blog. It makes me think....
I know people who are very rich indeed, and prosperous, too. They do not have a lot of money, in fact, they are in poverty (according to the Gov't levels). However, I don't know a Christian who is more thankful to God, more encouraging to others, and more giving. They too, are prosperous and learned to be content. That's the other side of prosperity.
13:5 Be ye free from the love of money; content with such things as ye have: for himself hath said, I will in no wise fail thee, neither will I in any wise forsake thee. That's what prospering in God is all about. A little money doesn't hurt, either! |
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Chris |
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April 22, 2008 at 11:23am |
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Linda, You bring up some very good points. I particularly like what you said about Satan trying to keep us from doing God's work. For it is very true he will trick us into believing we don't have what it takes in terms of resources or talent. But is it our lack of what it takes that keep us down? Or rather, is it our precieved lack of what it takes?
I might only drive a 1995 truck with 180,000 miles on it, but it always gets me where I need to go. I might not have a big house behind walled protection, but I have a modest house that keeps out the rain and cold. Well, you know what I'm getting at. I really consider myself prosperous. As Mary Poppins put it, "Enough is as good as a feast".
Can we minister without the finances? What I've actually found to be true is, if God gives me a particular ministry, He also gives me the finances to fund it, or at least the abiltiy to raise them. They don't have to be "mine" for me to have full use of all He has at His disposal.
I don't belittle those who have much, anymore than those who have little. I'm sorry there are saints who unknowingly do. However, they need to realize it is God who gives us what we have. It is our lot just to be happy with what we have now, praising God for it; and to give God what is God's (FIRST) from that which he gives us (ref. Bro Dennis comment) He promises that we will be able live off the remainder. We shouldn't let finances restrict us from entering into ministry as long as it is in His will. Johovah Jirah.
I was talking with an elder of a chruch in a subburb of St. Louis, whose church was entering into a building project. The current balance was $0. Their board made a streach goal of raising $600,000 in a year to purchase land to build a new church on. They played it up with a Saturday dinner and I think three consecutive sermons and directed prayer meetings. In 6 weeks and $1.75 million later, by the Grace of God, they bought their land and got a good start on the building. Satan would have told them their church was still too small, even though it was growing modestly. And Satan would have told them that times are hard and prices are up and people aren't able to give enough. But Satan is a lier, and because they didn't listen to Satan and kept their faith in God, God blessed abundantly.
Do I think God wants the church to prosper? Sometimes yes, and sometimes no depending on His will for them. That kind of makes Him God, you know? |
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