(January 4, 2009)

Everything should be getting better, not worse. In ministry, music should be getting better, tithing should grow, attendance should go up. In athletics, one should get better. In academics, grades should go up. It is inherant in us that we get better. We want to get better. We are wound that way.

What does God want to do with our prosperity? Why does God want us to do well? Money is the vehicle by through which God's message can be spread. God gave us money so that His covenant can move throughout the world. God gave us the power to generate wealth. We need to rid ourselves of the thought that money is evil!

Ann Frank said "Nobody ever became poor by giving." This is absolutely true! Whether you like it or not, someone is trying to pass their message to you. Whose agenda are you furthering based on their message? God's agenda? TV's agenda? Your brother-in-law's agenda?

Financing the message is up to you and me. The churches need to pool their resources for the message. When you're debt free, you can do more for God. Debt is a cruel master.

No one wants to be in debt. No one wants to be in bondage. It can't be wished into existance. It must be fought for! It's a lifelong fight.

What if you decided to live on only 75% of your income? You'd have abundance at the end of the year.

Four things God expects us to do with our money:

1. Produce enough to provide for our own household.
2. Possess enough to spread His message.
3. Have enough to pay our taxes.
4. Have enough to take care of the poor.

When we seek the Kingdom, the more is added unto you. God has given us what we need and if we seek Him, His abundance will be poured out. Over our history, we've invited a spirit of poverty into our houses of God. We seem to believe that a vow of poverty is somehow virtuous. That's a skewed view of what God said.

In church history, those who bragged about their poverty had a motive to appear self-righteous, thus turning off those who may have been open to God's word. Poverty is not the way to holiness. People have actually welcomed a spirit of poverty.

The fact is that we own nothing. God owns it all. If we want to understand God's prosperity, we'll understand that it's all His. He owns all of your paycheck, yet he only commands 10% as a minimum be given to the storehouse. We don't have to be impoverished to spread His word and further the gospel.

Be ready not to compete with the world. Be ready to surpass the world for the Kingdom!