The devil tries to tell people that money is the root of all evil and that it’s better for you if you don’t have it—otherwise you’ll become proud and fall into sin (1 Timothy 6:10). But notice, the Bible does NOT say that money is evil, it says the LOVE of money is the root problem. It’s our attitude towards money that is the issue!
Changing your location has nothing to do with your prosperity. It’s possible to be poor in a wealthy society, and it’s also possible to prosper in a poor society. You can prosper in the midst of adverse conditions where everyone else is failing, just as Isaac did when he obeyed the Lord! “Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous” (Genesis 26:12-13).
The highest method of learning, and the least expensive, is to learn from others. The lowest method is personal experience. It will always cost you time and opportunity. One industrialist said, “It’s a shame that people learn from their own mistakes rather than from others. By the time they learn the lessons to be productive, it’s time to retire.”
Jesus said “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). He is saying that following His success will make you someone that others want to follow. Men will be caught by your posture, words, peace, and authority in the midst of challenges. That is true leadership!
Christ followers should be the top politicians, administrators, educators, doctors—the top in every area there is. Why? Because our teacher reveals things to us that the average person can’t receive. It is vitally important for us to learn to be sensitive to His voice and expect His guidance!
The highest form of learning, and the least expensive, is to learn from others. The lowest form is personal experience. It will always cost you time and opportunity.
One industrialist said, “It’s a shame that people learn from their own mistakes rather than from others. By the time they learn the lessons to be productive, it is time to retire.”
No matter what the nation’s or your own personal economy may look like, The “Good News” is that we live according to God’s economy, employing age old principles of stewardship, giving, faith, prayer and obedience.
“And besides, what’s the use of worrying? What good does it do? Will it add a single day to your life? Of course not! 26 And if worry can’t even do such little things as that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things?” (Luke 12:25-26 TLB)
Recently I heard of a single mom who was prompted by the Lord to pledge a $1,000 offering. After she got home she told the Lord that she didn’t have the money but trusted He would provide. He reminded her of the hair barrettes she had created for family and friends, so she made up some barrettes and found a friend’s boutique to sell them in. A few days later a woman admiring the barrettes asked if she had created them and if she could place an order. The woman was a representative from a major department store chain, and placed an order for 50,000 barrettes on the spot!
REMEMBER – God has specific direction for you that will open the windows of heaven!
Partners, we encourage you to rejoice in the seed you have sown into this ministry and the ministries of others!
GOD IS FAITHFUL!
Once I was playing tennis at a certain sports club. There were weeds growing up on the court and there were holes in the backboard. The owners seemed not to care, but they were hurting themselves by not improving what they could. Maybe they thought small details didn’t matter, but they were terribly wrong. Small details are the best reflections of our whole attitude toward what we do. People will always notice in one way or another. And believe me, with that club’s kind of a sloppy attitude, you won’t succeed!
The attitude, “We only need to do enough to get by,” is just not good enough! If you only do the minimum expected of you, don’t expect much out of life. The Bible says, “…God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7). God gave you all the keys for success, so use them!
Andrew Carnegie, a well-known billionaire, had 50 millionaires working for him. He said, “No man ever became a millionaire by putting a million dollars as his goal. He did it by putting excellent service as his goal.”
Money is not a strong enough or worthy enough goal for life. You need a goal worthy enough to die for, so you can put your energies into it and live for it!
It’s important to pick a goal that will glorify God. Write down what money could do if you had it, then make those things your goals. Millions of Communists died for their goal, but because it was the wrong goal, those who remained later ate the bitter fruit of wasted lives.
Our goal should never be to make as much money as possible. Money is not the end-all, but rather the by-product of our life. Our goal is not our job–we all have jobs. Our work is different from our job. Our work deals with our attitudes and our thoughts before God and our actions before people. A worthy goal for a spiritual person is to be a positive influence on the job to transform attitudes and hearts!
Nations and individuals prosper for the same reasons: they serve others with excellence, meeting their needs and desires. We must cultivate that thinking in our society again. We must find new ways to improve service or the blessing of God will pass us by.
When I was in Mexico I looked out my hotel room window and saw a vendor selling donuts on the busy street corner below. Hundreds of people were walking by him but nobody was buying any donuts, so I thought I would help. I went down to him and told him that if he gave me one donut free, I would sell all of his donuts. He refused, but I was committed.
I bought two of his donuts, cut them up into small samples and started to give them away free to the people passing by. Many stopped for a sample, and once they tasted them they wanted to buy a whole donut. I showed this vendor at my own expense how he could make money quickly, but instead of thanking me he became angry, saying that he didn’t want to work that hard! He got paid by the hour, so it didn’t matter to him whether he sold donuts or not! Friend, if that is your attitude toward your job then you should quit today because you are in the wrong job!
The Bible tells us, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men” Colossians 3:23). Whatever we do we should do with all our heart. It’s not God’s will, nor is it His fault if you are poor. Poor thinking produces poor living!
