Chasing vanity Prosperity

 My mother was preaching to me about how much God wants us to be rich and why she gives & pays tithe. As she quoted “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in!” - Malachi 3:10, I asked her, “how come this hasn’t happened to you or anyone we know, instead you are unhappy about finances? Either you or God is a liar” Can God lie? I can lie if I say I don’t want millions but are we all supposed to be rich that we must pursue it even at the cost of our souls? Do you wanna anxiously chase vanity prosperity like my mother or you want to know the Truth?

There is no doubt that God prospers His children materially; we see this from Abraham, Israel, Jacob, to Joseph. Even Solomon whom I believe is a record holder to date as the world’s wealthiest man but says that it is all vanity in Ecclesiastes. I realize in my knowledge that none of the God-blessed guys above chased prosperity- they never prayed nor ask for it. It was just added!

Matthew 6:33 KJV But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

The principle of this verse is that we should seek after the things of the Spirit/ God and God would add everything we NEED (including wealth if you need it like the guys above). We should be like birds who don’t chase after these things but rely on God who provides for them. The following verse gives me an idea of where this prosperity-chasing could be originating:-

Matthew 6:32 NLT These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.

They come to church and instead of us helping them renew their minds to follow the things of the Spirit, we feed their desires for material things with our preaching and the church get full. Now, when these unbelievers add more possessions, they believe that they are growing spiritually because even the pastors give them positions in church and praise them at the pulpit. I witnessed a Pastor taking time in church to praise a woman who has become rich that she bought five cars in the rural area. Yes, five cars! Forget financial integrity or stewardship or if she doesn’t have love, self-discipline or any spiritual fruit, rich is a good example of a blessing from Abraham which Christ died for us to have, so we must and everybody must follow her example. Church of Corinth listen!
 

3 John 1:2 AMP Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and [that your body] may keep well, even as [I know] your soul keeps well and prospers.

It is very clear that God does want you to prosper materially but not at an expense of your soul or spirit (not prospering).

Matthew 16:26 NLT And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?

The problem is that we continue seeing things as in the eyes of man (carnal) instead of God (spiritual) and that is why we see material things worth of value that the spiritual things.

Matthew 6:19-21 NLT "Don't store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

Where is your desire? In the material things or the Kingdom of God which Mat 6:33 is trying to teach us?
Matthew 13:44 NLT "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.

If you haven’t found God to be worth selling everything you have for, you should have a problem.
Please don’t get me wrong, I believe that God prospers His children to be very wealthy and this helps move the Kingdom work here on earth; but this life is too short for our rewards to be mainly in this lifetime. I am just saying don’t let the wealth weigh more than God, and if you get your wealth before you grow spiritually, it will weigh more than God and you would be like the following:-

Matthew 19:21-24 NLT Jesus told him, "If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me." 22 But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions. 23 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. 24 I'll say it again--it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!"

But if you let the Spirit take prominence over material things, you would be a cheerful giver loved by God like the following:-

Acts 2:44-47 NLT And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity-- 47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

Wow! That just makes something jump inside of me. Spirit filled and healthy people with joy, the fruit of the Spirit! A good picture of a body of Christ; whether wealthy or not, it doesn’t matter; if it is there, it is used for the benefit of the church (not organisation but people). These guys were definitely fulfilled unlike the young man above who represent perhaps 95% of rich people that I know.Dont get me wrong that I am hating on rich people because I am not, I could have few chances to be rich myself but chose not to; I love rich people and befriend them. I don’t believe in poverty unless there is grace in the will of God for it. I also don’t rule out that some people are blessed for their hardwork unlike some other people who are poor because of laziness and such people should not be helped financially and neither are they spiritual because the Holy Spirit is power to do acts/work.
Is everyone supposed to be rich? I would say Mother Teresa wasn’t- she chose to be a nun at the age of 18 from a relative rich family to be poor in Calcutta and every time I saw her on TV, even though she was sick, she was fulfilled fulfilling her purpose; and so was Paul & Jesus. So what am I saying? Must we be like Mother Terrasa, Paul and Jesus? No! All I am saying is: don’t chase after prosperity, let it rather chase you! (be added if it is part of your purpose).

Deuteronomy 28:2 AMP And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you if you heed the voice of the Lord your God.

If you heed to the Truth, blessings shall chase you (they overtake you because they are behind chasing you) but don’t do chase the blessings, it’s vanity prosperity!
So what must you do? Be content!

Philippians 4:11 NLT Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.

1 Timothy 6:7-10 NLT After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can't take anything with us when we leave it. 8 So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. 9 But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

Most people who wanna get rich are those people who don’t love their lives and believe by becoming more rich they would be happier. They despise their background and would do anything not to end up like their parents. They escape into the vanity prosperity instead of the One who says “come to me you who are weary and I will give you rest”, the Living Water that you drink and never thirst unlike the vanity prosperity.

John 10:10 AMP “ … I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).

Jesus Christ is the answer! Not prosperity, seek Him first!

I would rather be happy and enjoy my life in the Lord the way I do while shining with the glory of God; be envied by the richer, frustrate the devil and wise people of this world because the things they uphold high as gold, I count as toilet material. Christ is everything and everything is my Father who loves me soooo much!