Pray. God’s been working with me on the issue of prosperity story. Talk this morning about “Unlocking 6 Keys of How to prosper. God’s money back guarantee.
Theme text comes from Prov 10:22 but we will spend some time in the books of Genesis, I Chronicles, Job, and Acts.
We act as if to prosper is a bad thing. We see…and aren’t happy…something negative story. I found myself doing the same thing (Disney story). As I thought about it later I realize that I was ashamed to be thought of as one of them….you know..the persons with considerable financial means. Now let me set the record straight…I’m not one of them…would like to be…as God has blessed me exceedingly but I’m not what I wealthy or rich. But why do we react that way as christians? I didn’t grow up to prosper is bad…didn’t define you…1st lets dispell: bad to prosper notion…psyche.
Lets go to our theme text of Proverbs 10:22
And get rid of this hinderance to your..our prosperity.
Theme Text: Proverbs 10:22 “The blessings of the Lord (it didn’t say devil it says the Lord) it (talking about the blessings) maketh rich, and addeth no sorrow with it.
Blessing = prosperity Rich = wealth
We must 1st understand diff types of wealth (health, good relationships, the right relationship and fellowship with God) and these variations a parts of wealth are important to our christian walk. But today we are talking about financial/material wealth. Its not evil…its not bad. Our text says “The blessings of the Lord it maketh rich, and addeth no sorrow with it.
Sorrow means to labor and toil:
Labor = he’s talking about strenuous effort. Strenuous effort…for he says the blessings of the lord will make you prosper…but it’s not a product or result of strenuous effort. It’s not automatic and guaranteed because you work 7 days a week and 18 hrs a day.
Toil = means struggle/worry…so this blessing or blessing will bring increase into your life without struggle/worry.
In other words we could shorten the theme text to “The blessings of the Lord makes rich and toil yields no increase like it brings. I’m saying to you this morning that you can work several full-time jobs and not increase in the world…like the increase that God can give you. A literal translation would be The blessings of the lord brings wealth and this wealth is not accompanied with trouble. How many of you know that there are many ways to accumulate wealth?? If you accumulate wealth in the world…from the world…the bible says that it will bring trouble.
R&B and Rap Charts was “The Mo Money” story.
Many christians accumulate wealth in the world and we don’t have to do it to get increase. How many of us know people who sacrifice their family, integrity, and relationship with god for money?? A lot of us are sacrificing needlessly. The scripture says that The blessings of the lord will make you wealthy (x2) and that it will not make you sorrow. God will not give you a job or send you a job which takes you away from your family. We often hear people say god blessed me with this and that….and and now all of a sudden they can’t spend time in church or with the family.
God’s not gonna send you to a new job were you can’t find a church home. Now you have more money…but no seeding from word in your life. We are being led by money. God won’t bless you with a house that will so stress you that now you can’t tithe. You were tithing before the car and the house….but now after your blessing you can’t tithe. I would say to you that those blessings are not from God…they are from our own decisions influenced by the world…which is bad…bad wealth.
So it would seem that to prosper is bad…but that’s the trap…for it’s not bad. Here is the key…listen up: Wealth or riches is not bad…but they must be obtained from the blessing of the lord. Let me show you from the gospel how the lord has blessed and can bless you. And I would say that if God does it..then it can’t be bad.
We need to be glad about it….I told that I would show you 6 keys to having prosperity. We just dug up the ground…for planting and harvesting prosperity…so now lets get the garden ready for the seeds with the word which will make our soil rype for growing. Lets start by Gen 13:2.
Lets start with Abraham and renew our thinking on prosperity. "Gen 13:2 "An“ Abram was very rich (was what….not just rich….but very rich…with what?) in cattle, in silver, and in gold. Unless you have roots in the country you may can’t identify with the cattle prosperity piece…but we all can grasp onto the silver and gold of this text.
Now lets turn to Gen 14:20.
Gen 14:20 “And Blessed be the most high god, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand, and he (this is talking about Abram) gave him tithes of all”. So we see that Abram was a tither…remember that for later.
Lets jump to Gen 24:34 and notice what the gospel tells us Gen 24:34 “And he said, I am Abraham’s servant, and (35) the Lord hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great; and he hath given (now who has blessed him? God…who…? God with what…) him with flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels.
OK lets turn over to Gen 26:12 and look at someone else in the gospel. Lets look at Isaac and see how we can proper.
Gen 26:12 “Then Isaac sowed in the land (he did what..he sowed in that land…this illustrates that he was a giver to God and what happened?) and received in the same year a hundred fold, and the lord blessed him. (who blessed him?)..not the world…but god. Verse 13 continues with “and the man waxed great and went forward, and grew until he became great, for he had possessions of flocks, and possessions of herds, and great store of servants, and the philistines envied (they what??) they envied him.
Now lets see someone else who prospered Jacob as we look to Gen 30: 43. Gen 30:43 “And the man (talking about Jacob) increased exceedingly (increased what??? Exceedingly) and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels.
Who did all of this for Abraham Isaac and Jacob? God did….a new god…no…the same god….yesterday etc.
But lets not quit..lets look at a fella named Jospeh in Gen 39:1
Gen 39:1 “And Joseph was brought down to Egypt and poti-fur, an officer of pharoah, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him (so we see he was a slave) of the hands of the Israelites, which had brought him down hither. And the lord was with Joseph (and what happened) and he was a prosperous man (what type of man…a prosperous man) and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. The word says that the lord was with Jacob and it turned him from a slave to a prosperous man.
Well lets look at longevity of the blessing of our father to make us prosper. Lets look at David in I Chronicle 29:28 “and he (David” died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor, and Solomon his son reigned in his sted”
You remember Job? Lets go to Job 1:1 “there was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job, and that man was perfect and upright and one that feared God and ES-Skewed evil. And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. His substance also was 7,000 sheep, and 3,000 camel, and 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 she assess, and a very great household, so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.
Pretty rich huh? How would you like to…. Now who blessed him? Lets see what our friend Satan has to say: Job 1:10 hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou has blessed the work of his hands and his substance is increased in the land. So who blessed Job??? God did. And when he lost it all you gave it back??? Go to Job 42:10 and the lord turned the captivity of job, when he prayed for his friends, also the lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.
Here is the money back guarantee found from peter: go to Acts 10:34. Satan can’t bless you with money and material goods. Sure he can give them to you…but they are just a trap to entice you into the darkness. Acts 10:34 “then peter opened his mouth and said of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons” O..O…O what does that mean?
Doesn’t embrace faith over another’s Doesn’t take favorites among his children
If we can find any truth in gospel..were he has caused wealth to come into a person…and
I believe this morning we have talked about 6 examples of his power. Then this scripture tells us that we have a right to what they received. But they’re three requirements to pass.
Acts 10;35 but in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. Nation in Greek for ebsalon means race of men…so god’s not concerned with race. It says that he that feareth…which means that you must not allow be afraid of god’s wrath but must love god and his ways. The rightoenousness that is required is not the initial righteousness of being saved. But the righteneousness of works…of doings whats good and just in god’s sight.
Well we qualify we need to understand the last portion of the guarantee and requirement…
Acts 10:34-35 “then peter opened his mouth and said of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons but in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. What do we do..to be accepted by God. Well here are 6 staples from our men in this lesson:
1. Abraham = man of faith, tither = trusted god’s plan – not own plan
2. Isaac = operated in the law of giving and receiving. He tithed in the famine…wait for a good time…it won’t come. He sowed and had 100 fold in the same year.
3. Jacob = he was a liar, cheat, and deceiver. He was transformed and after this transformation God began to work in his life. If you are always taking advantage…then god can’t bless you until you get right…the word won’t work in a dishonest heart. You need to get in a position of trust.
4. David = was a steward. He understood stewardship. He said everything that I have came from god”. He didn’t have an owner’s mentality.
5. Job = patient man…didn’t quit…you may say god took it…no the word say the deaf comes to steal kill and destroy. Be sober, be villigence for the adversary the devil walketh about seeking whom he can devour. God let it happen as he let happens what we allow…Job 1:5 the immorality of the children and Job 3:25 job’s own fear…is what allowed Satan in when you study the entire story of Job’s life.
6. Joseph = god is not limited by our limitations. Joseph was a slave, minority, no money, no influence, no education…had all the strikes against him. But he had god who is only limited by your faith…etc stuff. Joseph saw himself as more…what do you see. There’s a song that the male chorus sangs which says to name it…and claim it.
Hebrew 11: 6 says that without faith its impossible to please god.
1 John 5: 4 says 4For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. By what??? By faith.
Adlib Closing
