Strength to Strength - The Blessing of God

Money is constantly preached about in culture—but if we’re to have a healthy, godly perspective, it must be shaped by God’s Word, not the world.

God is not awkward about the topic of finance—and neither should we be.

2 Corinthians 9:8
And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

God’s nature is abundant, generous, overflowing.

John 5 – Jesus fed the 5,000 with abundance.
1 Kings 17 – The widow’s flour never ran out.
2 Kings 4 – Oil flowed into every pot.
John 21 – Overflowing catch of fish.

God is not the God of “just enough”—He is the God of more than enough.

There are two equal and opposite errors when it comes to thinking about money.

•The first error is to demonise money
•The second error is to idolise money

The right approach is to utilise money to honour God and bless others.

Prosperity is not a secular term it’s a biblical term.

3 John 1:2
Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

Proverbs 10:22
The blessing of the LORD makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.

From Genesis to Revelation, prosperity (when rightly understood and stewarded) is a biblical blessing.

1. THE PROMISE OF BLESSING

Genesis 2:10-12
A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there.

Gold depicts wealth and resource.

Many of the great people of faith in Scripture also possessed great amounts of wealth and used it to do great amounts of good.

Abraham – was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold (Gen 13:2)

Isaac – became rich and gained more and more until he became very wealthy (Gen 26:13)

David – gave equivalent of $100’s million (1 Chronicles 29:7)

Joseph of Arimethea – influence and affluence (Matt 27:57-60)

Theophilus – paid the bills for Luke (Luke 1:3, Acts 1:1)

Some people carry this mistaken idea that obedience to God equals poverty.

Psalm 112:1-3
Praise the LORD!
Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
who greatly delights in his commandments!
His offspring will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
Wealth and riches are in his house,
and his righteousness endures forever.

It’s helpful to consider what money actually is.

André Olivier in Money Matters:

What is money: it is simply a certificate of performance. When we perform a certain service or provide certain goods we receive a certain quantity of these performance certificates.

If you have money in the bank, or in your wallet or purse, and you did not steal it, then you got it by pleasing someone. The more we have, the more we have pleased someone. Inversely, the less we have, the less we have pleased someone!

All of us exchange goods or services for these certificates each day or month ...

The more we use our abilities, skills and opportunities to create wealth, the more certificates of performance we will have by God’s grace.

Andre Olivier goes on to write about an exchange between Yale professor David Waldstreicher and Rabbi Daniel Lapin.

Waldstreicher writes

“Capitalism is about extracting profit from others, and for that reason usually raises ethical issues.”

Rabbi Lapin responds by pointing out:

“How do you extract profit from others without being arrested for theft?

Nobody extracts profit from anyone.

Ordinarily one sets a price for the goods or services one wishes to sell. Customers either materialise and purchase those goods and services, or they don’t. If they do, one earns a profit. If customers spurn your offering, then you fail to make a profit. Where does the extract come in?”

So, it’s important we rise beyond emotional or immature reactions to wealth and see it in the plain light of day.

Paul De Jong in God, Money & Me
He is not the God of limited supply, and He can never give too much to every run out. No! He is an endless river. His bounty is shown throughout His creation.

Psalm 65:11
You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance.

Wealth is not unspiritual—it’s a tool in God’s hand. God is not against wealth, but against misplaced trust in it.

2. THE POWER OF BLESSING

Ecclesiastes 10v19
A feast is made for laughter, and wine makes merry; but money answers everything.

•Money says to debt – I can free you
•Money says to vision – I can release you
•Money says to time – I can direct you
•Money says to need – I can help you

Cecil John Rhodes
“It is no use for us to have big ideas if we have not got the money to carry them out.”

Money is a tool for:

•Helping the poor
•Building ministry centres
•Supporting missions
•Funding discipleship and Gospel expansion

Proverbs 11:10-11
When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices;
when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.
Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,
but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed.

Blessing = ‘prosperity’ or ‘liberal pool’

Phil Pringle in ‘Financial Excellence’
What good is a Christian who sees someone in need but can’t respond because he’s lived by a poverty mind-set, so all he can do is say, “Well, I’ll pray for you, brother”? We should be able to pay our neighbour’s rent if he loses his job. We should be able to give a single mother a car if she needs one. We can’t fight the enemy effectively if we deny ourselves the money that it costs to win many of life’s battles. That is why the Lord wants to give us an overflowing abundance! He loves us and wants us to be His witnesses to this generation.

God wants you in this space because it empowers you to be a force for good.

The story of Isaac illustrates this idea.

Genesis 26:1-3
Now there was a famine in the land—besides the previous famine in Abraham’s time—and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines in Gerar. The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you.

Genesis 26:12-13
Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him. The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy.

Genesis 26:18
Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them.

Isaac didn’t demonise, or idolise, but he did utilise his wealth to make a difference in the lives of others.

British theologian John Wesley said:
‘You need to earn all you can. You need to save all you can. You need to give all you can.’

God has more than enough—and He’s inviting you to be part of the overflow.