The following is a long one, but very very important, because the devil has wrongly convinced many of God's kids to have a poverty mentality to defund the work of God so that the covenant of God won't be established! If you think you must be poor than that is what you will always be! If, on the other hand, you see yourself prospering and successful by God's hand for the right reasons you will prosper!
"But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day." (Deuteronomy 8:18 KJV)
Money Is Not the Problem!
Many Christians believe that God wants them to be poor because they equate being poor to being godly. But, nothing could be further from the truth! Having money and being wealthy is not evil. It's actually the "love of money" that the Bible says is the "root" of all kinds of evil." (1 Tim. 6:10). And you can look around you and see that that statement is certainly true! But you can biblically say the same fact about lots of other things because loving them could also lead you into evil. For instance loving food can lead you into serious problems (gluttony) and hurt your body which is called "God's temple". Loving sleep, can lead you into serious problems (slothfulness) and into poverty. And loving wine can lead you to serious problems (alcoholism), but, Jesus turned the water into wine, so wine in itself isn't bad.
It's a Blessing to "Establish God's Covenant" and much more!
Having money, or anything else for that matter, is a blessing if you don't "love" it more than you love God. Understand that money and everything else you have is a blessing from God and He blesses you so you can "establish His covenant", and so that you are able to be a blessing to others. The promise at the top says that God "gives you power to get wealth" in order to "establish His covenant... as it is to this day." Knowing what wealth is for is the important thing to remember. It's a great blessing personally and It's a great ministry tool. "I will bless you so that you will be a blessing to others." (Gen. 12:2). "You will be enriched in all ways so that you will be able to be generous on all occasions." (2 Cor. 9:11). Just think what a wonderful blessing it is to be able to give generously to promote God's Kingdom! I love that I can do that and I do! Praise God for it!
But wait, there's more!
PS - When I told someone this recently (someone who is very religious and always struggles financially, by the way), they said, "Jesus was poor!" And I pointed out to them that he was NOT in fact poor! Even as a baby, wealthy people sought Him out to give riches to Him (the wise men in chapter 2 of the gospel of Luke). He was in fact the "King of Kings and the Lord of Lords" but, He deliberately "lowered himself" in order to accomplish His specific mission to bring redemption. (Phil. 2:7). Even so, many wealthy people followed and supported Him. And the only people who criticized him were religious people. When a woman broke a bottle of very expensive perfume onto Jesus they complained about it! (Mark 14). And later, when He was crucified the soldiers nearby cast lots for his robe because it was valuable. And he was buried in a rich man's tomb.
Do not lay up treasure "for yourself" but, be "rich towards God!"
And of course we should never look to wealth and riches to find our happiness. In the gospel of Luke, verses 12:17-21, a rich man planned to build bigger barns to store up his excess grain, "but thinking to himself, he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. And God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." Notice the last part here, that he "layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God". The problem wasn't that the man was wealthy. It was that he was selfish and he was storing up his wealth only for himself and not to be used "toward God".
Have the same mind of Christ
And we should have the "same mind" of Christ (Phil. 2) to do what is needed according to the calling God has called us to. The Apostle Paul said it this way in 1 Cor. 9:19, "Although I am free from all men, I have made myself to be a slave to all that I might win the more.... and I do it all for the sake of the gospel that I may share the blessing therein." And, keep in mind that what Jesus did on the cross paid for over 8,000 powerful promises that covers every possible provision. And the main thing to understand is to use whatever you have been given by God to serve Him and others and to "establish His Covenant on earth." By the way, I have been poor and also rich, and rich is far better! And I don't apologize how God blesses me. Psalm 68:19 - "Blessed be the Lord who daily loads us with benefits."
What you plant is what you get!
"Remember this: whosoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly." (2 Cor. 9:6 NIV)
The Bible says plainly that "you reap what you sow" and everything you sow (good and bad) works like a seed in God's kingdom way of doing things. And there are many, many verses in the Old and New Testament that clearly say this. Yes, it is very important to understand "seed, time, and harvest" principles. And yes, you need to be planting good seeds into God's kingdom. This is the main way God blesses his kids. In fact, this is something that God tells you to test Him about (Malachi 3:10), and He says the blessing will be so large you won't be able to contain it.
Don't throw out the baby!
So, don't get put off by looking at people you are turned off personally by who tell you to send them your "seed faith" money. Just because there are people who may be using these principles in ways you don't like don't make God's Word and promises of provision untrue. Don't throw out "the baby with the bath"! The devil loves to get you to not do God's principles (for any negative reason) so that you won't benefit from them!
Check out the fruit
Yes, you MUST plant money as seed, but do what I do! I find ministries that I really trust and believe in and then I support them! I look at their fruit (you will know them by their fruit). And I check them out in other ways too (through legitimate agencies who track non-profit's money usage), so that I can make sure my money is being used as they claim it is and in ways which bring the most increase. And I then give cheerfully to them because "God loves a cheerful giver!"
Don't eat your seed!
By the way, when I first discovered these principles, I had very little. And I was tempted to eat my seed rather than to sow it! But God showed me something powerful about sowing seed in the following verse: "Be not deceived, God is not mocked! Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." (Gal. 6:7 NKJ). First, you always get the same thing you plant! If you plant a radish seed, you won't get potatoes! If you plant discord you won't get peace. It works the same way with everything in God's created world, including money! Secondly, you get more than what you plant! If you plant just one corn seed, you don't get back just one corn seed, you get a plant with lots and lots of corn! So, it doesn't take much seed to get a great harvest! And then thirdly, it comes later (takes time). Seed not only must planted in good soil, but it takes time for it to grow and produce a crop that you can harvest. That's why it is important to be planting good seed of all kinds continuously.
Be a cheerful giver. God loves them!
I give every way I can and I am very much blessed because of it! I now am able to sow hundreds of dollars each month, even thousands, and do so cheerfully. I once only had little to plant, but now I can sow and reap much more. Praise God!!!!
