Prosperity—The Choice Is Yours

Poverty or Prosperity

For too long we have believed the devil's lie. Satan says some people are destined to be poor, and some people are destined to be rich, and there's nothing anyone can do about either circumstance. This satanic lie has crippled Christians and ministries for far too long! It is time we learn the truth.

There are three main reasons we know this destructive statement is a lie:

1. It is a lie because God is not a respecter of persons.

Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons.

Acts 10:34

God did not predetermine who would be rich and who would be poor. He simply created His spiritual laws, and freely gave them to everyone. Every person then has a choice—to implement the laws of poverty, or to implement God's spiritual laws of prosperity.

2.    It is a lie because God's desire is that you prosper. This truth is plainly stated in Scripture:

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

3 John 2

Prosperity, not poverty, is God's intention for your life.

3.    It is a lie because God has given you the power to get wealth.

But thou shalt remember the lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

Deuteronomy 8:18

God would not give you the power to get wealth if He did not intend for you to use that power and become wealthy!

The decision to live in poverty or prosperity is yours. God has already cast His vote. He wants you to be prosperous. Make your life-changing decision today to reject the destructive laws of poverty and accept your God-given rights under God's law of abundance.

Remember:

God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34).

God wants you to prosper (3 John 2).

God gives you the power to get wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18).

The Source of Poverty

Many people believe poverty and prosperity are both matters of birth or luck. They believe some people are meant to be poor and others are meant to be rich. That is not what the Word of God says.

God has established certain principles of economics that govern who will be rich and who will be poor, and He will not violate His own laws. If we follow the principles that lead to poverty, we will be poor. We all play an important part in determining our own financial situations.

Satan does his part, too. He will lie to us in every imaginable way to keep us poor. He will tell us myths about money. He will say that money is evil or that money will corrupt you. He might even suggest that it is godly to be poor or that you will become even poorer if you give to God.

You see, poverty is a partnership. The devil wants us to be poor, and he will lie to us to keep us from following the biblical principles that will result in wealth. Poverty is a joint venture between us, Satan, and our ignorance of God's Word.

God's law of prosperity says if you are a liberal giver, your money will increase.

There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.

The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.

Proverbs 11:24,25

The God-kind of prosperity is based upon giving. Make the choice to operate God's law in your life, and you will begin to experience ever-increasing abundance.

Money Is Not Evil

One of the biggest mistakes people make about prosperity comes from a misunderstanding of this verse:

For the love of money is the root of all evil....

1 Timothy 6:10

The mistake many Christians make is in what they think the verse says. Instead of reading what the verse actually says, they read what they want it to say. Please notice that this verse does not say money is evil. It clearly states that the love of money is the root of all evil.

I've heard so many good Christians use this verse to justify their belief that God does not want them to have anything to do with money. They ignorantly believe the Bible teaches that money is evil.

This is a terrible mistake. God does want you to prosper superabundantly. God does care about your needs, and He knows the lack of money can cause serious problems in your life, as well as throughout society. It doesn't take a genius to notice that people commit robbery because they do not have enough money. All over the world, people starve to death because they do not have money to buy food. People freeze because they do not have enough money to buy fuel to heat their homes. The Bible even says ”... money answereth all things” (Ecclesiastes 10:19).

Money itself is neither good nor evil. It has the ability to do only what its owner wants it to do. The owner is in charge. Money serves its owner without question; it is ready to do good or evil at its owner's discretion.

My money is good money. When I spend my money, I spend it for good things. I spend it on spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, on my family and their needs, and on helping others less fortunate than I. My money is not evil.

The only way for money to be evil is for it to come under the control of an evil person. Money simply manifests what is in its owner's heart. Luke 12:34 says, "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

If your heart is in line with God, then your treasure (money) will literally be godly money. When your heart is right, you will put more of your money into the gospel and less money into frivolous diversions.

Mark this truth: money is not evil. It is a magnificent tool in the hands of godly men and women to help bring the saving message of Jesus Christ to lost souls around the world. Choose to stretch your faith and believe that God wants you to have as much money as you will properly use.

... God will give you much so that you can give away much....

2 Corinthians 9:11 TLB

God Wants You to Have Money

Many Christians honestly believe poverty is godly. They think if a Christian is poor, he must be in the center of God's will. Some misguided groups of people even believe that by taking vows of poverty, they will somehow be more godly or more believable to those who hear them witness the gospel. Many preachers have actually taught if we have holes in our britches and no soles on our shoes, we are suffering for Jesus and making our testimony easier to believe.

It's time for us to start believing God's Word instead of our traditional ideas. God's Word does not teach poverty!

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

3 John 2

I am going to share a scripture that is so non-traditional, I recommend you read it several times and allow its truth to penetrate your spirit. Without a doubt, it is one of the greatest blows to the erroneous teaching that poverty enhances the testimony of the gospel.

Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

Ecclesiastes 9:16

Don't let your traditional thinking close your mind and prevent you from seeing the real truth here: God wants you to prosper.

If you do not prosper, the world will not listen to your wisdom when you share the gospel. A few may hear your testimony, even if you are poor. However, many, many more will listen to your testimony if you are prosperous.

God wants to work a miracle beyond the miracle of salvation, beyond the miracle of the Holy Ghost, and even beyond the miracle of divine health. God wants to work a miracle of financial prosperity in your life. He wants to set you up as one of His earthly stewards.

Decide today that when an opportunity arises for you to give, you will give. Once you get hold of the truth of God's will for your prosperity, you will experience such abundance that you will need to look for extra opportunities to give. Choose now to plant seed into God's work so that He can begin to unleash His miracle of financial prosperity in your life.

As God blesses you, your testimony will be a powerful witness for Him. As people see there is positive financial activity around you, they will seek your opinions and give you the opportunity to freely and effectively witness to them about your God and His Son, Jesus Christ.

Giving Spreads the Gospel

When Moses took a special offering in the Book of Exodus, he was overwhelmed by the generosity of the Israelites. He had to tell them to stop giving. They had literally given too much!

I believe that if Christians will grasp the principles of biblical economics, and apply them in their daily lives, every church, every mission outreach, every Christian television ministry—and yes, every Christian home in our world—will be able to say, "Stop, Lord, we've got too much!"

Your choice to be faithful in giving to God's work guarantees that a day of abundant prosperity will eventually come to you, a time when the reapers will overtake the sowers.

But no matter how long it takes the whole church world to come to that moment, you can begin right now to have more than enough by applying these principles and seeing their benefits materialize in your life before your very eyes.

That is not my promise; it is God's promise!

When you learn to act upon this promise, you can ask God how large your financial gift should be to a certain Christian ministry, a strong missionary outreach, or to your own local church. Whatever God tells you to do, you will have the money to do it—when you catch this God-given vision!

Giving is a key part of your Christian walk. It is not a separate, non-spiritual act of writing out a check. Giving your finances to God is a deep, personal interaction with God Himself, and is as much a part of your Christianity as your time of prayer.

So do not just give your money without thought or prayer. Ask God where you should direct your gifts, and even ask Him how much you should give. God has a definite plan for your finances, and He cares about your individual offerings.

Nearly 20 percent of all the verses in the Bible relate to finances, land, money, goods, cattle, personal belongings, and so on, so you can be sure God is concerned about your personal possessions and finances. He cares about every part of your life, and each part relates to your overall walk as a Christian.

Remember, your giving will help spread the gospel.

How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

And how shall they preach, except they be sent?....

Romans 10:14,15

I believe there is an answer to this crucial question. They will be sent by those who have complete dominion over every aspect of their finances, those who choose to put God's plan of giving and receiving to work.

Satan Exposed and Deposed

Satan is a thief. He is a deceptive, calculating plunderer. If left unchecked, he will move in and out of your life at his own discretion, trying to find ways to rob and defraud you.

He has stolen finances from many of the saints by convincing them that poverty is godly, and prosperity is evil.

His lies have kept us crippled, ineffective, and impotent long enough! Satan has stolen from many Christians the quality of life God intended for all His saints.

Establish this principle clearly in your mind. God wants you to be prosperous, and the devil wants you to be poor. God has given you the biblical principles of increase to achieve prosperity, and Satan tells lies to keep you poor. Prosperity is a material state, but it is attained through a spiritual battle!

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Ephesians 6:12

You see, if you do not learn how to stop the devil's robberies in your life, no matter how much you seek to prosper, you will make no real progress toward abundance.

It is time we expose the devil for the father of lies that he is (John 8:44)! It is time we depose him from his position as ruler of the darkness of this world. The devil has used his lies about money to destroy good relationships, break up families, and even split churches. But, the money wasn't evil. It was Satan's lies about money that were evil!

It is time to serve notice on the devil! He has deceived us long enough. For too long he has "ripped off our possessions and indiscriminately robbed the saints of God, literally diminishing our quality of life.

Decide to take a stand. Refuse to stay in bondage, and begin walking in the prosperous heritage God has provided for you.

Recognizing Your Heritage

Prosperity is a part of our heavenly heritage. It comes with being a child of the King!

You have the ability to take back what the devil has stolen. You can claim a significant portion of the riches of this world and use them to finance the final, end-time harvest before the return of Jesus!

This passage of Scripture puts into proper perspective our position in this spiritual battle and highlights our spiritual heritage better than any other.

Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Luke 10:19

God has given us power over the enemy, and by now you know that poverty is clearly one of the tools the enemy has used to keep us weak and ineffective. But we have the power to overcome poverty. It is part of our prosperity heritage as sons and daughters of the Most High God.

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.

Hebrews 2:14

Look at that carefully: the devil had the power, but today he is defeated. Jesus wiped out the devil's power. He can no longer keep you poor.

Now God is calling you to be a great giver and to participate in every aspect of the end-time harvest. He wants you to do your part to bring the message of salvation to a hurting world.

As strange as it may seem, this wonderful truth about abundance is not just an impossible dream; it is a reality that can happen in your life. You can possess a new prosperity mentality. You walk out of the door of financial impossibilities and cross the threshold of unlimited financial possibilities through the power of God!

God has given you authority over the enemy. Your Heavenly Father wants you to abound in all good things.

Reclaiming Lost Treasures

Think of how much more prosperous you would be right now if you could only reclaim the treasures you have previously lost.

You may have stepped out in faith to be a missionary, only to lose your house and property in the process.

Maybe you have gone through a painful divorce and lost everything.

Perhaps you have been the victim of alcoholism or drugs, and have been fired from your job, or even lost your home and family.

Maybe you loaned someone some money, and have not been repaid.

Perhaps the lawyer or accountant you trusted proved to be dishonest.

God, in His loving concern for you, and as part of the prosperity process, has provided you with a spiritual way to reclaim those lost treasures. God demands double restitution!

If a man shall deliver unto his neighbor money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man’s house, if the thief be found, let him pay double.

Exodus 22:7

Now I know you are probably thinking: "Brother John, that's all well and good, but I have no idea where that crooked attorney is anymore. He has left the country, and no one knows where he went."

Don't worry. You must focus on the true culprit behind these robberies, no matter what you lost. The thief is not the dishonest lawyer, the divorce, the liquor, or the drugs. The engineer of the robbery is Satan himself. He works in and through the children of disobedience, unsaved men and women.

Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.

Ephesians 2:2

The devil is the true thief; he is the one who takes what belongs to us, whether it is our health, our wealth, our happiness, our job, or any other of our possessions. But the Bible says if we find the thief and accuse him, he must repay double what he has stolen!

My friend, you and I have found the thief —Satan himself. We are not wrestling with flesh and blood lawyers, bankers, real estate agents, or any other person or group of people; we are wrestling with Satan and his host of demon forces.

The next move is up to us. God is waiting for His people to take up the arms He has already provided us, the weapons of our spiritual warfare, and take back everything the devil has stolen from us.

Take the Thief to Court

Behind every evil activity on this earth there is a single mastermind, Satan. He is behind all the troubles, riots, wars, crimes, murders and thefts that have taken place in the past, and all the evil things which are still happening today!

When you name the true villain in your spiritual warfare, and take him to God's heavenly court, you can begin to benefit from God's system of retribution and restoration in your life.

Peter knew how to see past flesh and blood and go right to the source of the problem. In Acts 5:1-11, we have the example of Ananias and his wife, Sapphira. Together, they secretly devised a plot to gain prestige among their Christian brothers and sisters. They decided they wanted the same recognition Barnabas had received when he gave the total selling price of a piece of land to the work of God. However, they thought they could deceive Peter and keep a portion of the money for themselves.

Peter saw through this lying deception and "laid the ax to the root of the tree" by confronting the real liar.

But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie...?

Acts 5:3

Peter knew the real culprit was Satan. He boldly took him to the heavenly courtroom of God. As a result, both Ananias and Sapphira received immediate judgment for allowing the enemy of God to operate through them.

Remember, the devil is the root of all sin (lies, theft, hatred, deception, etc.), but Jesus is the root of all righteousness. Your environment is not able to keep you from prospering when you follow God's laws of biblical economics.

If you are in poverty, it is not because of some chance of birth, education, ethnic origin, or whatever you may think is holding you back. Your battle and problems are with the devil and with yourself. If God has given you the power to get wealth, then it logically follows that Satan will try to bring you to poverty.

To begin now to live a prosperous life, start challenging the real thief, the devil. Accuse him in God's heavenly court. Demand your goods back. Rebuke Satan. Expel him from your thinking patterns; think only on the things God says in His Word concerning you and your prosperity.

Be strong-handed when dealing with the devil. Poverty cannot stay in your life if you destroy its root causes.

Remember, the choice is yours. Choose prosperity!

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