Does Jesus Promise us Wealth and Prosperity?

Some days are more of a struggle than others, financially speaking. When Malachi and I were first married all we lived on was his GI Bill, which paid $1000 a month. Our rent was $500 a month. So technically we lived off of $500 a month. Looking back I am amazed we made it. The Lord always provided through unexpected means to which we were and are grateful for.

Now I know most of you will say, “Oh, but all new young couples struggle”. However, we are in our 3^rd year of marriage and we still struggle financially. I don't consider us young as Malachi is 32 and I will be 27 in July. We have both held steady salary paying jobs in the United States Air Force, so we know what getting a steady pay check can do to people. It can make them feel secure in something that is NOT secure.

Six months into our marriage, Malachi and I moved in with his parents. We thought maybe the job market in Baton Rouge would be better than Gulfport, Mississippi. WRONG! We had just had our first miscarriage and when we moved in with Malachi's parents, he couldn't find a job anywhere. Malachi's uncle helped him get a job with a staffing agency doing manual labor with a construction company. This brought us $250 every week. We bought groceries, paid our car insurance and a storage bill. After those things were paid for we usually had $20 left to which we used for our date night. This date night consisted of cheap sushi from Target and walking through the mall.

A couple months after moving in with Malachi's parents hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast. We had NO money to buy food to last us through the storm. My mother was kind enough to wire us money to hold us over. We bought canned spagettios and other non-perishable items. We used the grill outside to make coffee, using an old drip style coffee maker. We actually cooked the spagettios in a pot on the grill. We were without power for a couple days. We were all exhausted and ready for some real food. When the power was turned back on, we drove around to find many businesses still closed.

After Katrina was over and Rita made her pass through town, Malachi got a job working for a company selling vacuum cleaners. These vacuum cleaners were $2000 each! Malachi felt convicted about selling these stupid things to people who needed to repair their homes from the damage Katrina caused. So he quit that job.

During this time we were all struggling financially. His parents were struggling and we were struggling to make ends meet. It was then that Best Buy was having their annual seasonal hire program. Malachi walked in there and filled out an application and within a few days he was hired to work in the Geek Squad. Only problem we ran into is not having the money for gas. We lived about 45 minutes from the city and we were on “E”. Malachi humbled himself and told his boss. She gave him a $100 gift card for Walmart. We were able to put gas in the car AND buy groceries! Praise God for His Providence!

We did experience another miscarriage during this time. That year was a rough year for us. However, we both started school which brought in money from our GI Bill. Then we got pregnant with Sofia! Soon there after we were able to move into the city. We had the money to pay our bills and get a place of our own! We were so excited.

I must say at this point is where we dropped the ball. We began to think this money would always be there. Once I was about 8 months pregnant I had to quit school, which meant my GI Bill stopped. So now we were living on Malachi's paycheck and his GI Bill. This worked for a little while until Sofia was born. The month after Sofia was born the apartments we lived in decided to raise their rent from $800 a month to $1000 a month. There was no way we could afford that. So we started looking for another place to live. Our church family told us about these townhouses that a few of our church members lived in. It was the same rent we were paying, but a lot more room! So we moved!

Things seemed to be going smoothly, until Malachi's GI Bill stopped. Then we had to figure out how to live on his paycheck from Best Buy. The numbers never added up and we were never able to pay our bills using his pay check. Malachi humbled himself and asked our Pastor for help. We received help from out church family without question.

For 3 years we have struggled to make ends meet. Honestly, “WE” never made ends meet. Only the Lord could provide for us during these times. It forced us to rely solely on Him for all our needs. This is a tough thing for Christians to do. We hear so many leaders of different churches preaching this prosperity gospel. They tell people that God wants to prosper them financially and that they need to just have more faith to receive their “abundant blessing”.

Have you noticed they always point to Old Testament scripture? I never once heard Jesus say that the Father in Heaven is an ATM. Yes, the Lord will provide for His children. However, His methods of providing are not always our methods. We cannot strong arm God into making us wealthy. We cannot strong arm God into healing our sicknesses. Our “riches” are not of this world.

We are told in the New Testament that Christ's Grace is sufficient. What does that mean? Sufficient means “enough” or “adequate”. So Christ alone is “enough” and “adequate”.

God is never surprised by our circumstances. He is never caught off guard or worrying how He will “fix” the situation. We on the other hand, are always caught off guard when we face a trial. Why is that? We shouldn't be surprised when we are in a situation where suffering is present. Jesus promised us that we would have trials and tribulations in this life. He also promised us that we would be hated for loving Him. He didn't say “if” you experience trials, but “when”. So this tells me that it is certain that as Christians we will suffer for HIS sake.

My husband said this today:

“Wherever you find yourself at any given time, you can be in the Lord's Will. It's not a physical step. It is when you purpose in your heart "Lord do with me as You Will, right now I am surrendering all and giving You the reigns"

We have prospered in so many ways, even financially. But we know that money is fleeting and we can't trust in it and it doesn't provide any comfort.”

Over these past three years the Lord has taught me to rely on Him and not lean on my own understanding. He has taught me that “worry” doesn't come from Him. He has also proven time and time again, no matter how bad the situation is, that HE will take care of me and my family. Malachi and I have never been homeless or gone hungry. Our electricity has never been shut off, although the threat has been there. I have learned to trust the Lord. He gives and He takes away. Anything and everything I have belongs to Him. I own nothing and can do nothing apart from Him.

During our times of financial struggle, the idea has come into my head that I need to get a job. However, each time I am convicted that I am not placing my trust fully in the Lord. I am trying, yet again, to take the reigns of my life. When we do this we are essentially telling God that He has failed us. We are accusing Him of not holding to His promises. We need to recheck “what” those promises are.

Do I think the Lord sits on the throne and takes pleasure in seeing His children persecuted? Do I think He delights in seeing His children struggle with money? Not at all. However, we were not promised wealth and prosperity based on the world's standards. The world will tells us that we aren't successful unless both parents work. We are also told that at some point we are entitled to retirement. I have yet to see anywhere in scripture where “retirement” is spoken of. Unless of course we are talking about being in Heaven. Only then we will truly be able to “retire” or “rest”.

There are many snares out there that the enemy has planted to trap Christians. One of these snares is the feeling that we are entitled to an easy life. Satan will fool Christians into thinking that they deserve a break. Or heck, just have ends meet is something that Christians are entitled to. This however is not true.

We need to remember that with more money comes more responsibility. If the Lord were to give Malachi and I one million dollars today, I can confidently say that we would give that money to the church. From the world's standards, Malachi and I are poor. We are in debt over our heads and we still struggle (even with this new job) to make ends meet. However, my trust and hope is in the Lord. He is the only one who has proven Himself able to take care of me and my family. You would think if we were given one million dollars we would at least help ourselves first. Of course we would pray and be thankful, but as Christians we aren't supposed to be thinking about “self” first.

The widow only gave a mite, and the Lord said she had given more than the man who gave out of His wealth. Why is that? It is because her heart was in the right place and the wealthy man's wasn't. Just because someone is wealthy and can make their bill payments on time, doesn't mean they will have a better relationship with Christ. In fact I think we all see just the opposite happen. With wealth comes “self reliance”. There is no reason to rely solely on the Lord. Which is a trap for any and all Christians.

Only in America do we have members within a congregation mail in their tithe check. It is more convenient than actually being present in church. We send money to the missionaries in third world, hostile countries, but we ourselves won't go do the dirty work ourselves. Money can make people think they are better than they really are, or more righteous in their giving than those who don't have anything to give.

Giving out of your poverty is giving more than those who give out of their wealth. Malachi and I hold to the position that we don't want God to give us anything that will cause us to become complacent. We only want what we need to survive. If the Lord determines that means all we have is our salvation, then that is sufficient.

We don't' seek to be wealthy by any means. Malachi works because he needs to provide for our families needs. God is the one who places Malachi where that is possible. We don't' want anymore than we “NEED”. I think that is because we are realistic with what we can handle. During our time of receiving both our GI Bills ($1000 a month) and his paycheck at best buy, we fell into the trap of spending just because we had the money. So we are not naive to think we are above stumbling when we have an abundance of money.

All throughout scripture we are warned about the love of money. Jesus told the wealthy man to go away and give all of his stuff away and then come and follow Him. I never heard Him tell a poor man “go get rich first and then follow me”. So we see a totally different message in the New Testament than the Old Testament. Do they contradict themselves then? Absolutely not!

Malachi explains it this way:

“Promises made to His People were according to the covenant He made to them. Many principles in that covenant are universal and still apply today. But there were principles in that covenant that were for that time and specific to that covenant. They were under the Mosaic covenant, under the Law in which if they followed the Law they would prosper, and if they didn't they would be punished. (Deuteronomy 28) But in Jeremiah 31:31-34 we see God promising a New Covenant, one that is NOT like the one He made with the forefathers. In it "I will forgive your sin and remember it no more.."

Jesus reiterated the vast difference between these two covenants, you can't put new wine (New Covenant) into old wine skins (Old covenant). (Luke 5: 37-39)

Even though the new covenant shares many core beliefs of the old testament, it is dramatically different in practice. The old covenant exposed sin through the Law and only offered temporary covering of sin. The new covenant wipes out all sin in the believer, which permits God to take inhabitance in the believer enabling him to do good works and to overcome sin in his life.

So when we hear someone say “God wants to prosper you and give you wealth from His riches”, they are forced to use Old Testament verses because there are none that say that in the New Testament. They try to mix the "benefits" of the Old Testament (prosperity from obedience) without including the "consequences" of the Old Testament (death and separation from God if the Law is not followed perfectly). Contrariwise, Ephesians says that in Christ we have already been blessed "with all spiritual blessings in heaven.." So Christ alone is worth more alone, than every single thing that could be attained through the Old Covenant.

"In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace" Ephesians 1:7

These peddlers want to convince the believer to exchange the "riches of His grace" with the riches of this world. Galatians warns against reverting to the Old Covenant now that we have the gospel of Grace.

“Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.” Galatians 5:4

I think it's important to note, that to follow after the benefits of the Old Testament, is also to follow after it's own conditions: the LAW must be followed in order to gain it's rewards.”

Each day I have to check myself and make sure that a spirit of entitlement doesn't creep in. Especially during those times when we are really struggling financially. I also have to remember James' words:

“Consider it ALL JOY, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” James 1: 2-5 (emphasis mine)

Serving God and My Family,
Crystal <>< (SAHM)