Biblical Prosperity – 5 principles for building wealth

Biblical prosperity by Pastor Bruce Edwards

Prosperity and Wealth

 

God’s will for His people are for them to prosper and have success. Joshua 1:8 tells us, “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.”  Just like a natural father wants his children to prosper and be successful in life so does the Father God want His children to prosper.    Biblical prosperity has a purpose.  Biblical prosperity is needed to build the kingdom of God.

If you’re a follower of Christ He wants you to have success in life. Jesus said, “I have come to give you life and life more abundantly” (John 10:10).  God has given us the principles of prosperity in His Word. It is part of our inheritance as a believer. That being said, I realize many pervert and abuse the truth of God’s Word about His provision. However, we should not allow that to hinder us from walking in the light and truth of His Word.

I know many of you are reading this because of the title “Biblical Prosperity” or you just read its Gods will to prosper you and you’re thinking, “that means I’m going to have a lot of money“. Biblical “prosperity” is not just about money or financial achievement. Prosperity is a blessing from the Lord, it’s an all encompassing idea, that does include financial well being, but it also includes physical well being and spiritual well being. It includes having every aspect of your life – your family, your career, your health, and other relationships blessed so you can enjoy the blessings of God, have a life that is fulfilling and be able to bless others. Biblical Prosperity is not to be self focused but to be servant focused. “He who is greatest among you shall be your servant.” (Matthew 23:11)

biblical prosperity by pastor bruce edwards

Prosperity – isn’t just money

God’s Will is For You to Prosper

The Bible is filled with instruction, counsel, correction and direction about prosperity, wealth, money and finances. There over 2000 Scriptures related to prosperity and finances! Here are just a few verses that speak of God’s will for prosperity in your life:

Psalm 1:1-3 says, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law, he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall
prosper.”

3 John 2 says, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”

Psalms 35:27 tells us the Lord takes, “…pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”

John 10:10 says, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

It is clear from the Word, that God wants His children to prosper. I don’t see how anyone can deny that. However, not everyone will experience the fullness of God’s prosperity. Just as it is God’s will for all to be saved, yet not everyone will receive Christ as their savior. Just because someone does not experience God’s will in their life, that does not change God’s will. God’s will is not established by someones experience. To receive the benefit of God’s provision you have to receive it by faith. Faith is believing, speaking and acting on His Word.  You need to know for sure that God wants you to prosper otherwise there is no way you can have faith to prosper.  The focus of this short teaching is to help inspire your faith.

Biblical Prosperity – 5 Principles

We need to realize there is a responsibility that comes with God’s blessings. Prosperity should not be the end in itself. It is a tool to help us in our life. God has put each of us on this earth for a purpose and all that He has provided for us is to help us fulfill that purpose. The following are 5 foundational principles of Biblical prosperity. These are to help you establish a solid foundation and help you experience “financial breakthrough” in your life.

Principle One –  Know God Owns it All

Until you realize God owns everything you will not experience true prosperity in your life. He owns a cattle on a thousand hills. (Psalms 50:10) The gold and silver belong to Him. (Haggai 2:8) The Psalmist puts it best “The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein.” (Psalms 24;1) God owns it all. You will never be in financial trouble if you remember those four words. They are the foundation for true financial prosperity. When we understand everything belongs to Him we can let go, trust Him and focus on our true responsibility and task , that is of being a steward. God owns it all!

Principle Two- Realize We Are Stewards

John Wesley founder of Methodism put it this way, “When the Possessor of heaven and earth brought you into being, and placed you in this world, he placed you here not as a proprietor, but a steward.”  Stewardship is managing God’s treasures in God’s way, for God’s purposes, and always for God’s glory. We begin life with our hands wide open and nothing in them. As we mature, by the grace of God, He allows certain things to be placed into our possession, none of them under our ownership. Remember, He owns everything in heaven and earth. It’s all His. We are stewards for a season. In the parable of the good steward found in Luke 16 Jesus explains the principles of stewardship. The essence of His instruction is for us to be faithful with what we are entrusted with. God is the source of what we have and He expects us to be good stewards.

Principle Three – Understand God is Our Source

If you are looking to your job, education, government, someone else or even the church as your source you have limited your supply. God has more than enough supply for every need you have, He is El Shaddai the God who is more than enough. It is in Him we live move and have our being. Hebrews 12:2 says, “fix your eyes on Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.”

If you want to experience Biblical Prosperity in your life make God your source. “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory.” (Philippians 4:19) Make God your source and you will never be without. You are more valuable than any bird and Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

God is your source the issue is do you have your priorities right? Don’t put other things ahead of God. God is Our Source!.

Principle Four- Having Right Priorities

Jesus gives us this instruction in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” This simply means we are to seek the things of God as a priority over the things of the world. It means we are to give our relationship with Jesus and the things in the kingdom of God priority because they are of greater value than all the world’s riches.

This does mean we are to neglect the responsibilities we have in our communities, schools, businesses, and daily life. We just need to continue to keep things in the right order of priority. Notice when we keep the things of God first He then adds to us the things we need for life.

When it comes to understanding God’s plan for success and prosperity the issue is this – “Love God not Money”. Jesus explained this way, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24)

The Apostle Paul in 1Timothy 6:6-10 gives us this admonition, “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

John Calvin said, “Where riches hold the dominion of the heart, God has lost His authority.” And if God loses authority over your heart, there will be a God-shaped hole in your heart that can’t be filled by anything or anyone other than God. It is unfulfilling.

Satan is the Lord of Materialism. He will try to use money and possessions to lead us down a dark path of greed and destruction. In Luke 4, we see that Satan says the following to Jesus: “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them-because they are mine to give to anyone I please. I will give it all to you if you will bow down and worship me.” Satan is the devil because of his desire to be worshiped and he wants nothing more than for you to worship him.

Principle Five-  Understanding Prosperity Has a Purpose

The primary purpose of prosperity is not so you can heap riches upon yourself. There is nothing wrong with having an abundant life style if you have the other four principles operating in your life and they are producing the fruit of true prosperity in your life. “Prosperity with a Purpose” is not a phrase to be used to justify ones selfishness, greed and desire for more wealth. There really is a God based purpose for prosperity. God prospers your life for the following reasons:

1) so you can be a blessing

2) so you can help establish His covenant in the earth

3) so your life has greater influence in the “world”

4) so your life is blessed

Be encouraged by what has been shared and be challenged to believe God for His will to be done in your life.  His will is to prosper you. Biblical prosperity is for a purpose, so begin to walk out His will.  Take the steps He directs.    May the Lord prosper you in all things and bless you with good health as your soul prospers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.