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When I came to Christ one of the first things God did was start blessing me. I was blessed in so many ways, but I was also blessed financially many times over. I started to prosper and that went on for years. I came to realize that God wants to bless his children and he wants to prosper them. I came to find truth in passages like Psalm 1
Psalm 1: 1-3
1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wickedor stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in seasonand whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.
It basically says if you follow God you prosper. And that is so true, so many people in the Bible who followed God did just exactly that. Jesus said I have come so that you may have life and have it more abundantly. And abundance God gave me. But then some things didn’t go as planned and I got depressed. I became negative and lost faith. Pretty soon I was no longer blessed. The more negative I got the worse it got and the more I believed that God didn’t want to prosper me the more poverty took root in my life. Suddenly people didn’t want to bless me anymore or even be around me and everyone was negative towards me. This went on for a long time. But over the years God has shown me how I had developed a wrong mindset. I became anti-prosperity and would even put down the rich. And the truth was this wasn’t serving me at all or God for that matter. It wasn’t being humble it was being stupid.
God wants us to be wealthy, of course not everyone is going to be equally wealthy but really how can you further God's kingdom or help anyone if you are broke and barely scraping by? In the Bible, Jesus tells the story of the good Samaritan.
Luke 10: 30 - 37
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Notice what the good Samaritan did, he paid someone to take care of the injured person. And Christ says to “Go and do Likewise.” Could you pay for someone else’s doctor’s bill or care? You can if you have wealth. But if you’re broke it’s not happening. If God wants us broke, then why does He say to pay for someone else’s care? If he wants us barely scraping by, why would he tell us to financially help a stranger?
In God’s kingdom, He wants to bless us and make us stewards of a lot of things. Things that can further the kingdom. In the Bible, there is a story of the shrewd manager.
Luke 16: 1-9
16 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’
3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— 4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’
5 “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6 “‘Nine hundred gallons[a] of olive oil,’ he replied.
“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’
7 “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’
“‘A thousand bushels[b] of wheat,’ he replied.
“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’
8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
We are that manager and God wants to give us stuff to manage. Our time managing that stuff is short and we will lose our job managing it because life is short. But as long as we are managing it, we need to be wise and use what God has given us to manage for the kingdom so we will receive eternal dwellings. How can we use what we manage for the kingdom if all we have is lack? We can’t. God wants to make us managers over much. And he wants to use us to further His kingdom and help people.
But if you have a lack mentality and something against prosperity it is a lack of faith. And we know it takes faith to please God. And you must have the seeds of prosperity planted in your mind. Jesus said,
Luke 19:26
26 “He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”
If you lack the faith seeds of blessing in your mind you won’t be given any more in this world. And if you aren’t given more you will even lose the little that you have. So, if you are guilty of believing that God is against wealth and doesn’t want you to prosper cast that aside and start believing. Because God's word says this about God's plans for you and it doesn’t mention being broke.
For I know the plansI have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Adam Becker
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