Monday, May 25, 2015

#43 - Kingdom Prosperity #10

Special Announcement!

I've been sharing little snippets in the last 9 Posts from what I said was my soon to be published first book, "Kingdom Prosperity - God's Plan for successful Financial Stewardship".

However, I failed to mention here on my Blog as I have on other social media that the book has now been published, and is available on Amazon.com in both paperback and kindle format. So if you have been blessed in any way by these blog posts about what's covered in the book, I invite you to get the complete book so you have all God wants to share with you through this publication.

Also, if you are in the area next Sunday, May 31, stop by The King's Cathedral located at 1860 Westminster St. in the Olneyville Square section of Providence RI, where the official Book Release & Signing will take right after the 1st (8:30am) & 2nd (10:30am) worship services. I hope to see you there.

Now back to what the tithe & offering really are in the next Post.

#42 - Kingdom Prosperity #9

Before getting into what the tithe and offering really are, there is one more aspect about why God puts the qualifications in Deuteronomy 8:18 & Malachi 3:8-10 around the blessings He promises to give us in Malachi 3:10-12 that I need to cover. And that is, it's because He wants us to trust Him in our heart as our source.

You see, God is more concerned about the condition of our heart, not how much our tithe and offering are. But since money is the most difficult thing for man to let go of, God determines where our heart is by what we do with our money. Do we invest in the Kingdom first, trusting God to meet our needs & be our Provider as He promises in His Word? Or do we trust and invest in ourselves, our jobs, other people and everything but God to provide for our needs?

Matthew 6:19-21 tells us that where our treasure (money) is, is where our heart is, and that we should therefore lay or store up treasure in heaven which is everlasting rather than treasure on earth which is temporary and does not last.

So do you want Kingdom Prosperity from a financial perspective in your life? Then bring God the tithe and give God the offering with a right heart considering it an honor to be able to sow into His Kingdom. Bless others out of love as you want God to bless you. Show God by your actions that you truly trust Him as your source and Provider, letting Him know He has your heart.

Then, you will experience Kingdom Prosperity in your life, financially and in every other other area of your life, "letting it be even as it was spoken to you by the Lord", as my Pastor recently shared is one of the meanings of "Amen".


Thursday, May 21, 2015

#41 - Kingdom Prosperity #8

So what is the power that God gives us to get wealth as Deuteronmy 8:18 says? The short answer is tithes & offerings. But it goes much deeper than that, which we will explore in this and the next several Posts.

We learn from Malachi 3:8-12 that God expects us to bring the tithe which is His, and to give offerings. Tithing and offering then are not really optional. And when we are faithful in tithing and offering, God promises to open up the the windows of Heaven and bless us abundantly.

But the promise of abundant blessing in Malichi continuing as we continue to bring the the tithe and give the offering is tied to our continued faithfulness in putting God first in our life and using the blessing God gives us to establish His Kingdom in the earth rather than using that blessing all for ourselves, as we saw in Deuteronomy 8:18 in the previous three Posts.

Understanding what the tithe and offering really are, and that how we bring the tithe and give the offering really matters are both critical to achieving Kingdom Prosperity in our lives, and where we will pick things up in the next Post.


Sunday, May 17, 2015

#40 - Kingdom Prosperity - Wealth Power

The second part of Deuteronomy 8:18 says "for it is He who gives you power to get wealth". So after you make God first in your life, the second key to achieving Kingdom Prosperity is to realize and understand that all wealth comes from God and that He has made the power to obtain that wealth available to you.

From Romans 13:1 and Psalms 24:1 you will see that all authority (power) comes from God, and that everything in the Earth and the Earth itself are God's (ncluding all wealth). So if all the wealth belongs to and comes from God, why doesn't He just give the wealth to you instead of giving you the power to get wealth?

Because God has established conditions for us to get wealth, based on our submission to God's Will as His children (sons and daughters through Christ). The first of those conditions is that we should put God first in our lives which we covered in the last Post.

The second of these conditions is found in the last part of Deuteronomy 8:18 - "that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day". In other words, God wants us to use the wealth He gives us the power to get to establish His covenant or will, not ours.  The problem is that most people want to get wealth to use for themselves first, and give the leftovers to God. But God doesn't take second place behind anybody or anything. If we learn to put God first and use the wealth He gives us the power to get to do God's will first, He will not only get more wealth to us but we will be blessed in the process and have all of our needs met as well!

So in the next Post we'll begin to look at what this power is that God gives us to get wealth.


Wednesday, May 13, 2015

#39 - Kingdom Prosperity #7

"Remembering God" - the first key to achieving Kingdom Prosperity in your life.

The first part of Deuteronomy 8:18 says that "you shall remember the Lord your God". So if you want to be blessed by God and achieve the kind of prosperity God wants you to have in every area of your life, God needs to be first in your life, above all else.

Stop chasing after "stuff" like the world says we should, and look to God and God alone as your source. Worship Him, Praise Him and live according to His Word. Develop a daily devotional life of time with God, preferably before you start your day, with prayer, reading the Word, praising and worshipping God, just spending time with Him, and seeking and yielding to the leading of the Holy Spirit of God.

Don't just try and squeeze God into your schedule each day, but rather, make Him your priority and schedule everything else around your time with God. Remember He is the creator of all things, and without Him you can do nothing, but with Him all things are possible.

I pray this gives you a small sense of what it means to remember the Lord your God, the first key to achieving Kingdom Prosperity in your life!


Saturday, May 9, 2015

#38 - Kingdom Prosperity #6

Now that I've shared the highlights about the foundation for Kingdom Prosperity (Understanding what prosperity is and what it's for; that God wants us to prosper; and what God says about money and debt), I want to share some highlights on how to actually have Kingdom Prosperity manifest in your life.

The first three keys to Kingdom Prosperity are found in Deuteronomy 8:18 (which I encourage to look at in your own Bible before reading further):
1. Remembering God
2. The Power to get wealth
3. What wealth is for

Once you get these principles settled in your heart, you are well on your way to achieving Kingdom Prosperity in your life.

So starting with the next Post and continuing with several more after that, we'll cover each of these principles one by one, beginning with "Remembering God".

Friday, May 8, 2015

#37 - Kingdom Prosperity #5

The way of the world is to buy things on time, with the accumulation of debt considered the norm. In fact, without any debt you have no credit history, and often you are considered a bad risk.

But how does God look at debt? He'd prefer you have none, but some may be neccessary.

A debt is a legal and moral obligation that must be repaid. It's actually a covenant, a binding agreement, which cannot be broken without some penalty being incurred. It's a vow we are obligated to keep.

Numbers 30:2 tells us if we make a vow we are to honor it, and Romans 13:7 tells us we should owe no one anything except love. Proverbs 22:7 tells us the borrower is servant to the lender, and we know God does not want us to be a servant to any man. So from these and other scritures it is clear that God's will is for us to not have any debt.

But some debt may be neccessary such as for a mortgage on your home, a car loan, etc. However, that some debt may be neccessary is not a license to go out and run up as much debt as you can. If you must incur debt, be sure you can handle the payments, and work to pay the debt off as soon as you can like Numbers 30:2 tells us to do. If the service on a debt you are considering is beyond your means, you may have to downsize what you are planning to purchase to get the monthly payments down to a managable level.

Bottom line, while some debt may be neccessary, if you can avoid it you should, as God's will is that you have no debt and not be in the bondage that comes with debt. And if must incur debt, be sure it's managable and that you are a good steward over the resources you do have to be pay the debt off according to the terms of the debt or sooner.

Friday, May 1, 2015

#36 Kingdom Prosperity #4

What does God have to say about money?

Bottom line, God looks at money as a means to an end (furthering His Kingdom on the earth), not the end. The world on the other hand has perpetuated the lie that it's all about the money, that how much money you have determines how successful you are.

Now God does want us to have money, to both establish His Kingdom and enjoy for ourselves in that order. The problem is when we let money have us and dictate what we do to get it and hold on to it.

1 Timothy 6:10 is usually misquoted as "money is the root of all evil", when in fact this verse reads "the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil".

Further, in Matthew 6:19-21 we learn that where you put your money says a lot about where your heart is and what and who you trust and put your faith in, man and world or God and his Kingdom.

So how do you look at money? Is it your primary goal to make as much as you can, invest some in yourself and the world and hold to the rest; or do you have a heart for God, do you trust Him as your source, do you put your money as a means to an end into the Kingdom of God and trust God by faith to meet all of your needs as He has promised in His Word?

Lastly, ponder this until the next Post - how do you think God looks at debt?