Christians tend to be tightwads and call it good stewardship. But that's not what Jesus taught.
In the parable of the talents, He made it clear that good stewardship is not saving, but multiplying.
Remember? The one who got caught saving was sternly rebuked. Then, everything that he had was given to the one multiplying.
God is not interested in how thrifty you can be. He's not helping you clip coupons and figure out everything you can get for free.
If you are focused on saving money, you are not thinking like God thinks. And that's why you are having financial difficulty.
Get your thoughts on multiplication. The best opportunity you have is to sow financial seed into the kingdom of God and trust Jesus for His promised hundredfold return in THIS life.
But don't stop there. In everything you do, be fruitful and multiply!
God's plan for you has always been prosperity, safety, and rest.
Isaiah 55 paints a clear picture of the life God wants you to have.
Eating the finest foods. Enjoying His unfailing love. Walking in power and strength. Leading others to repentance and obedience.
There's only one requirement to live this kind of life: Come to God with your ears wide open. Listen to what He says, and you will find abundant life.
If this is not your life, it's because you aren't listening. You are too busy doing your own thing.
His ways are not our ways. They are much higher. The best life you can create on your own doesn't even compare to the abundant life available to you by simply listening and obeying what God says.
Most everything He leads you to do won't make sense at first. That's why few live in God's abundance.
Most people stick with what they can understand. Don't let that be you. Decide now to trust God and obey even when you don't understand. That's called faith, by the way.
Many ask the question, "Where was God?"
This is the default question when people struggle financially, or experience a tragedy, or suffer a broken relationship.
We tend to have this expectation of God intervening, even though we didn't involve Him leading up to the challenge.
Our expectation of God is to leave us alone when things are good, but come to the rescue when things are bad.
And you know what? He will come to the rescue. He's that good. But there's a requirement on your part.
You have to ask Him.
Jesus said, "Ask anything in My name and I will do it."
Many times in scripture we are instructed to ask. It's a required ingredient.
But don't ask from a place of hoping that you've done enough to deserve God's attention. Ask from a place of knowing you are in Christ, and your asking is no different than Jesus' asking.
It's time to get comfortable asking God for everything you need and trusting that His answer is always yes, in Christ.
Jesus Christ has given you His righteousness.
He lived a life free from sin and then gave you righteousness in exchange for your sin.
For all those who believe Jesus was raised from the dead and declare Him Lord are given the gift of righteousness.
This simple decision breaks the power of sin over your life. From that point forward, God gives you both the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.
It's up to you to establish yourself in righteousness. If you don't take time to remember that you've been made righteous, you'll slip back into your old ways.
This isn't about trying to be good. It's about remembering, every day, that Jesus gave you His righteousness and you are now free from sin.
So, the next time you are tempted to sin, don't get discouraged. Instead, crack a confident smile and declare out loud, "I am free from the power of sin. I've been made righteous in Christ. For every temptation, God provides a way out."
Here's the good news: You don't have to sin anymore. In Christ, you've already been set free, so you might as well live like it.
It’s almost over. This era that we live in is coming to a close.
The first era that Adam and Eve lived in lasted for two thousand years. The second era that Moses lived in lasted for two thousand years.
We are in the third era, and it has reached its maturity point of two thousand years. We are on the very edge of the great tribulation, which marks the end of this age and the beginning of our millennial reign with Christ.
But first is the greatest revival the world has ever seen.
From now until the tribulation, those who are in Christ will experience an overwhelming amount of God’s goodness, and it is all because His glory is being poured out in these last days.
Don’t get distracted by the wicked. The glory being poured out will have the opposite effect on them.
The glory produces judgment for the wicked and blessing for the righteous.
So remember, the only way to become righteous is in Christ. I’m talking about full immersion into our identity in Christ, where nothing else matters except who Christ says we are.
When you talk about a Christian being wealthy, it causes quite an upset.
Mostly because people have a hard time reconciling scriptures like "God gives you power to get wealth" with others like "It's hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven."
Let me help you settle this.
The problem has never been the amount of money. It's always been our relationship with money.
If you struggle with generosity, you have a wrong relationship with money.
If you criticize how other people use money or long to have what they have, you have a wrong relationship with money.
The Bible refers to these two things as greed and covetousness. That's what you need to get away from.
And once you have, let God make you wealthy, just like He did for Abraham and many others.
I wrote a short book to help you get your relationship right with money, titled "God's End-Time Wealth Transfer".
