How to prosper in Hard times Lesson 4

This sermon is part 4 of 13 in the series Prosper in Tough Times

We know that it is the will of God for us to prosper.

3 John 2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

We also know from scripture that living righteously is one of the main components of prosperity.

Ps 1:1 1 Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners,

or join in with mockers.2 But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.

3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither,

and they prosper in all they do. NLT

A proper attitude concerning money is very important. Money carries the potential for both blessing and cursing. Like fire works when handled properly it makes a beautiful display. But like

fire works if money is mis handled it can blow up in your face !

1 Tim 6:6 Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. 7 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.   NLT

Our Lord Jesus warned His followers not to allow money or anything else to come between us and the Him.

Luke 9:23 “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.  25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?

Matt 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Jesus spoke in plain terms, when He said,   “ we seek God, not riches. ”

Matt 6:32 For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. NKJV

Prov 22:4 By humility and the fear of the Lord Are riches and honor and life. NKJV

Ps 34:10 But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. NKJV

Giving the Lord first place in our lives, pays big rewards.

Prov 8:17 I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me. 18 Riches and honor are with me, Enduring riches and righteousness. NKJV

Prov 20:21 Quick wealth is not a blessing in the end. TLB

We are commanded not to worry about money !

Matt 6:25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?  27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;  29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, NKJV

The will of God is for us to have peace concerning money and all other matters.

Isa 26:3 You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.

Phil 4:6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.   NLT

In reality we own nothing, and the Lord owns everything. We are stewards, or managers, overseers of what has been entrusted into our hands. This understanding  should help us keep money and wealth in general in proper perspective.

Deut 10:14 “Look, the highest heavens and the earth and everything in it all belong to the Lord your God.

Hag 2:8 ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts .NKJV

Ps 24:1  The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein. NKJV

Deut 8:17 then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’

18 “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day  NKJV

Those who trust riches more than they trust God have no inheritance in the kingdom of God.

Mark 10:24. So Jesus said it again: “Dear children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the Kingdom of God. TLB

Satan uses the lust for wealth and greed to hold people in bondage to the false god,   Mammon.

Eccl 5:10 He who loves money shall never have enough. The foolishness of thinking that wealth brings happiness! 11 The more you have, the more you spend, right up to the limits of your income. So what is the advantage of wealth‑except perhaps to watch it as it runs through your fingers! 12 The man who works hard sleeps well whether he eats little or much, but the rich must worry and suffer insomnia.  TLB

Eccl 5:13 There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver. 14 Money is put into risky investments that turn sour, and everything is lost. In the end, there is nothing left to pass on to one’s children. NLT

Prov 1:32 the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. KJV

Prov 15:6 In the house of the righteous is much treasure: but in the revenues of the wicked is trouble. KJV

Prov 10:22 The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it. NKJV

Apostolic admonitions about riches

1 Tim 6:17 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. 18 Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, 19 storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. NKJV

Jesus speaks about our heavenly account.

Matt 6:19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;  20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. NKJV

Series Navigation<< How to Prosper in Tough Times: Lesson 2How to prosper in Hard times Lesson 5 >>

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