God WANTS You to Prosper!!!

[Laeomis]

Jesus had nowhere to lie his head because he was homeless. He had left his home. He also could manifest money out of fish Matthew 17:27.

If you have lots of money, then you should follow what Jesus warned the Church of Laodicea to do. Buying gold is no loss. White raiments are not a shame for a man to wear. There are plenty of eyesalves.

A lot of wealthy people neglect one or more of these three. A rich man who buys gold, but still wears black because he thinks white is shameful for man to wear is actually making a shame out of himself. Those who are wealthy and wear white, but don't compliment their wealth with gold are actually limiting their riches. Without eyesalve those who have increase will start to lose sight of more important things. They are making themselves vomit.

Revelation 3:14-18

14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

 

[Andyindauk]

It took me a while to realize that God wants me to prosper and succeed. I grew up in a poverty-based theology that manipulates people into thinking that if they stay poor, broke, and out of shape that they are holier and that they should stay that way. Anything that deviates from that, like working hard at your goals and being ambitious is sinful and worldly.

Joshua 1:8 says “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night. Then you will make your way prosperous; then you will have good success.”

I’m so glad I escaped that destructive theology. Now I’m working hard at getting in super good shape, muscular, and making more money so I can invest in real estate. This is the dream God gave me, and I’m so glad to be sharing that with you guys today. I’m looking forward to being able to tithe even more now, really blessing others with how God has blessed me.

So to any guys out there who are broke, out of shape, lacking purpose, I say get in shape (it’ll clear your head!), fast, pray, and make lots of money!!!

When Jesus talks about giving, He often refers to the other side of the coin (if you'll excuse the pun), not what you've given, but what you've kept for yourself.

Mark 12:41-44. Jesus would have marvelled had the widow put in one coin and kept the other one to buy a biscuit on the way home or whatever that coin would have bought: but no, she put in, not 50% but 100%. We're not told what happened to the woman but I do know she had abundant treasure awaiting her in Heaven.

Matthew 19:21. He was clearly asked to sell everything, give it to the poor and follow Him (Jesus). What an invite that was, he could have been Jesus's 13th disciple, all he had to do was get rid of his clutter and follow Jesus. But that was too high a price. There's a posh store in the UK called Harvey Nichols and there you buy a t-shirt for £100 ($120). I could afford £100 but I'd want more than a t-shirt for it! And that's exactly how the rich young ruler viewed Jesus's offer. He liked it: it's just that the price was too high, more than he was prepared to give.

If you skim over Luke 16:1-13, you think Jesus is saying be crafty with your money, verse 9 refers, but Jesus explicitly says this parable is not about money, verse 13 refers. “No servant 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.” Luke 16:13 NKJV. No this parable is about your non-spiritual side, your relationships (peers, colleagues, relatives, neighbours etc.), your possessions, your career and in your case, your body - it's good that you keep fit in order to serve the Lord better. So Jesus is saying with regards to Mammon, deal with it, don't embrace it..

For me I'm not a fan of tithing. God asks for a minimum of 10%. If you stick to that, it's become a tax rather than a love offering, it's God on minimum wage. At the moment, financially I'm in a good place, I give substantially more than 10% and yet still I feel I'd like to give God more and live off less, but I don't and I sometimes give myself a telling off. That said there have been times when finances were a bit dire, sinking into debt due to losing my job. I tried to tithe but I felt God was telling me that borrowing money to give to God was giving Him other people's money so I gave less than 10%.

The prosperity gospel is about acquiring possessions, enhanced standard of living, flash cars, house, watches, designer clothes. It ignores Jesus's statement of fact - “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21 NKJV. Possessions are a handicap, not a blessing.

The prosperity gospel ignores the teaching of James in James 2:15-16. There are brothers and sisters throughout the developing world that are in dire poverty, facing starvation for themselves and their children. Please don't even bother to pray for them if you're not prepared to give, your prayers will be of no value.

If anyone's got a different take on what I've said, let's hear it. May the Lord bless you and I hope you have a lovely week ahead.

 

[Brother Paul]

When Jesus talks about giving, He often refers to the other side of the coin (if you'll excuse the pun), not what you've given, but what you've kept for yourself.

Mark 12:41-44. Jesus would have marvelled had the widow put in one coin and kept the other one to buy a biscuit on the way home or whatever that coin would have bought: but no, she put in, not 50% but 100%. We're not told what happened to the woman but I do know she had abundant treasure awaiting her in Heaven.

Matthew 19:21. He was clearly asked to sell everything, give it to the poor and follow Him (Jesus). What an invite that was, he could have been Jesus's 13th disciple, all he had to do was get rid of his clutter and follow Jesus. But that was too high a price. There's a posh store in the UK called Harvey Nichols and there you buy a t-shirt for £100 ($120). I could afford £100 but I'd want more than a t-shirt for it! And that's exactly how the rich young ruler viewed Jesus's offer. He liked it: it's just that the price was too high, more than he was prepared to give.

If you skim over Luke 16:1-13, you think Jesus is saying be crafty with your money, verse 9 refers, but Jesus explicitly says this parable is not about money, verse 13 refers. “No servant 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.” Luke 16:13 NKJV. No this parable is about your non-spiritual side, your relationships (peers, colleagues, relatives, neighbours etc.), your possessions, your career and in your case, your body - it's good that you keep fit in order to serve the Lord better. So Jesus is saying with regards to Mammon, deal with it, don't embrace it..

For me I'm not a fan of tithing. God asks for a minimum of 10%. If you stick to that, it's become a tax rather than a love offering, it's God on minimum wage. At the moment, financially I'm in a good place, I give substantially more than 10% and yet still I feel I'd like to give God more and live off less, but I don't and I sometimes give myself a telling off. That said there have been times when finances were a bit dire, sinking into debt due to losing my job. I tried to tithe but I felt God was telling me that borrowing money to give to God was giving Him other people's money so I gave less than 10%.

The prosperity gospel is about acquiring possessions, enhanced standard of living, flash cars, house, watches, designer clothes. It ignores Jesus's statement of fact - “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21 NKJV. Possessions are a handicap, not a blessing.

The prosperity gospel ignores the teaching of James in James 2:15-16. There are brothers and sisters throughout the developing world that are in dire poverty, facing starvation for themselves and their children. Please don't even bother to pray for them if you're not prepared to give, your prayers will be of no value.

If anyone's got a different take on what I've said, let's hear it. May the Lord bless you and I hope you have a lovely week ahead.

I agree that the prosperity gospel is a perversion of Scripture and of God's teachings, though God can and does bless some in this way but IF they have the Spirit of Christ we shall see the fruit. The problem with most teachers of the prosperity gospel is they are selfish greedy conmen (and women) who have no regard for their flock whatsoever. So being wealthy is not a bad thing or against God so long as they take Isaiah 58:6-12 and Matthew 25:31-46 seriously (and better it should be their own heart and not just obedience).

So do you think he was pushing the idea that it is God's will that we all should be wealthy? If he was then that is clearly absurd.