Greetings in the name of Jesus!
Thanks for looking into Prosperous Life Newsletter today. We've prayed that this article will edify you with the TRUTH of God's Word and cause your FAITH to grow stronger (Romans 10:17).
In this series we're discussing the relationship between LOVE and the condition of our finances. Most people don't connect these two things but indeed they're related. The New Testament that Jesus shed His blood for us to be a part of is built on two LOVE commandments that He identified in Matthew 22:37, 39:
1. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
2. Love your neighbor as yourself.
Jesus went on to say that the entire Law and everything the Prophets of the Old Testament had ever said were dependent upon these two commandments. In other words nothing in the Kingdom of God works except by LOVE which includes the principles of finance that are scattered throughout the Bible in ALL of the various covenants between God and people. Even our FAITH won't work except by LOVE (1 Corinthians 13:2) and without FAITH it's impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). God has given His GRACE (favor, blessing and empowerment) because of His profound LOVE for His children. Without GRACE we wouldn't be able to achieve anything in life which would certainly include overcoming our financial obstacles. God is our PROVIDER and without His LOVE and GOODNESS working, there would be no provision. And there would be no mercy and without mercy, there would be no forgiveness of sins. It ALL depends on LOVE.
God Is Not the Cause of Our Financial Difficulty
Indeed, God is LOVE (1 John 4:8, 16) and precisely because He does LOVE you, He wants you to PROSPER in every area of life including your finances. Yet many Christians have been taught and are choosing to believe that a loving Creator Father causes poverty, lack and insufficiency to be a preferred way of life in their lives. In the Old Covenant lack and insufficiency were an important part of the Curse. Read the 28th Chapter of Deuteronomy verses 15-68 for yourself and you'll see this. Then take a look at Galatians 3:13 in the New Covenant where you'll see that Jesus has redeemed (rescued) us from the Curse. There's no way to correctly interpret this into a theology that professes God-ordained poverty, lack and insufficiency yet more than half of the Body of Christ believes this "interpretation" even though there're NO scriptures in the New Testament read in context that say it.
And so, many Believers have doubts that God really does want them to prosper because they've had some real financial problems in their lives. In fact they've decided to hold God responsible. Some folks have been confused by teaching that says God puts tribulations on us New Testament folks to teach us how to be good and humble people. And others have been taught that at the least God has allowed your financial problems to happen so He's the One to blame that you still have them.
Have you ever asked yourself the question that if God is the One who caused all our financial problems why is it okay that all of us are trying so hard to get out of His will and plan for our lives? Shouldn't we just settle back and be content with all the insufficiency God is causing to help us develop into better Christians? Or another question is, why would God send Jesus to die on the Cross to redeem us from the Curse if He wanted to continue to use the Curse to mold us and teach us and develop us? If you can find some New Testament scriptures that support the theology of poverty, lack and insufficiency could you please send them to me because I haven't been able to find them? No, God does not cause financial tribulations in the New Covenant. What He does do is allow us to make our own decisions and choices which along with the enemy and the world are the actual causes of our tribulations. What God also does is help us work through our tribulations once we get into them and He can turn those problem times into success and victory and prosperity.
What about Love?
The main reason that we tend to make wrong choices and let the enemy into our finances is that we're selfish and we put ourselves ahead of the Kingdom of God. When we do that we're not loving God first and we're not loving our fellow man pretty much at all. What happens when we don't walk in LOVE? The biblical financial principles can't get together and work for us in our lives like they were designed (Matthew 22:40). The real problem is that we're not walking in LOVE and we wind up blaming God for our problems instead of LOVING Him first and most. So here's the way it works: first we have a LOVE problem with our friends or neighbors or families, which opens the door to the enemy, who then comes in to our part of the Kingdom to try to convince us that God is the problem, which causes us to get mad at God, which causes us to violate the first and foremost commandment to LOVE GOD WITH ALL OUR HEART, SOUL AND MIND.
The bottom line is, if you're experiencing financial problems these days stop blaming God. He isn't your problem. Repent and start telling Him how grateful you are for His mercy and how much you LOVE Him. Then kick the devil and the influence of the world out of your domain by the Word of God and the authority in the name of Jesus. And then repair any personal relationships where you fell out of LOVE. If you're walking in resentment, bitterness or unforgiveness with any person whatsoever, get out of it immediately by praying for God's GRACE and FAVOR to come upon those people you used to be so upset with. This isn't optional if you want financial prosperity in your life and it'll ruin your finances for the long haul if you don't deal with it.
We hope you can more clearly see this oft-overlooked connection now. LOVE and finances are inextricably connected. If you're having a few financial problems right now take a look at your LOVE walk first and go from there. Be patient as the Lord works through your tribulation to help you escape. He'll never be your problem because your Bible says in numerous scriptures that God is GOOD all the time. Everything that's GOOD comes only from God (Matthew 19:17) and a LOVING and GOOD God doesn't cause tribulations for His kids. Your Bible also says He's RESTING now (Hebrews 4:10) and a loving, good and resting God doesn't cause tribulations. Jesus has paid for all the reasons that God might have otherwise had to be the cause of tribulations in the lives of Believers so that He can now REST from His works.
Thanks for dropping by today and we'll be looking for you again in three weeks on Friday, March 18. Until then love God with all your heart, soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus would have never COMMANDED us to do things we're unable to do. God bless you.
Sinners' Prayer
If you've never invited Jesus to be the Lord of your life, you need to and you can do it today just by saying out loud the following simple prayer:
Jesus I declare today with all my heart that I believe in you and that God raised you from the dead. I receive forgiveness for my sins and I ask you to come into my life today and be my Lord and Savior. Thank you for salvation and eternal life.
If you were sincere as you prayed this prayer, God has already come into your life and you are a new creation, a totally new species recreated in His image. Now ask the Lord to lead you to a good faith-based, bible-teaching church where you can be equipped to fulfill your potential in the Kingdom of God.
Prayer Requests
If you have a Prayer Request, please connect to the Link below and follow the promptings. The PLN staff members pray over Prayer Requests every Tuesday morning at 10:00 AM eastern time. God bless you.
About Prosperous Life Newsletter
PLN is an outreach ministry of Make A Way Ministries located in Miami, Florida. It is in its 14th continuous year of publication and has been published faithfully every third Friday since January 1998. It's an e-publication primarily about finances in the Kingdom of God and is sent ONLY to our email list of members. If you're reading this and aren't yet on our growing email list, please let us know and we'll be so very happy to add you.
