Money is one of the most confusing and polarizing subjects in the church today. Some people bang the drum and shout the tune of prosperity as a promise of God making you as rich as can be, while others embrace a life of poverty
as a sign of Christ-likeness and humility. These two views are extreme and confusing to say the least, and lackluster half-truths if we’re being completely honest.
But what if God never meant for us to be poor? What if wealth could actually be related to your relationship with Him
, not from a place of begging or striving but rather from the inside out? I didn’t say riches. No;
wealth is much bigger than what the world sees as riches
.
MAYBE THERE’S ANOTHER WAY TO APPROACH IT
On today’s Flashback Friday video let’s take a look at some Biblical perspectives on wealth that maybe haven’t been shouted from the mountaintops (but I hope that they’ll inspire hope and passion in all of you):
In a nutshell:
• Both Solomon’s riches and Abraham’s riches were directly attached to their relationships with God. Genesis 13:2 says, “Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold,” and 2 Chronicles 9:22 says, “So King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.”
• So maybe wealth is not a sign of your relationship with God, unless it is.
• I’m not saying that everyone who is wealthy has a relationship with God. But I am saying that when God makes you wealthy, then that wealth is directly related to your relationship with God. So then, sometimes wealth is a sign of your relationship with God
!
• You can, of course, be poor and have relationship with God, but let’s not go to the other extreme and say that God doesn’t make some people rich. And if God made them rich, then what’s your problem with them?
• Whenever I write about this on social media I get blasted with negative comments… I don’t understand why we all want to go heaven and be wealthy, but for some reason we’re opposed to people being wealthy on earth.
• Deuteronomy 8:18 says, ”But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”
• To the Jewish people in Israel, when they were wealthy it was a direct sign of their relationship with God, because God had said He’d make them wealthy as a sign of His covenant with them..
• Do you know that Jesus told more parables about money than any other subject? The parables of the minas, the talents, the lost coin… Jesus talked more about money than any other single thing in the parables.
LET’S STOP BEING CONFUSED ABOUT MONEY
I truly believe that most people who still struggle with a poverty mindset want to be free and want breakthrough. However, when you’ve been struggling for a long time, kingdom abundance can feel unattainable or overwhelming. Today I’m asking you to take the step of simply opening your mind and heart to what God may want to say to you on this subject. I want to encourage you to put down your fears, your offenses, your wounds, your disappointments and maybe even some pride, and be open to the thought that perhaps there is a way to have clarity on wealth. Let go of the poverty doctrine you may be under because I want to propose to you that there’s way more to life than living in lack.
WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT MONEY MATTERS
If Jesus taught more on the subject of wealth than anything else, then it should matter to us too. He wasn’t wasting His words. He wasn’t trying to confuse us. Clearly we can see that He gives us power to make wealth, so what’s stopping you from believing that for yourself?
Obviously this subject is much bigger than a single blog post, but I hope it’s got you thinking on the possibility that God can bless you with wealth. If you’d like to know more about this, check out my book, “Poverty, Riches and Wealth.”
