What is wealth?
What is wealth? Let
us start our study with question.
Wealth according
to the Bible is different from the world.
The value system
in the Heaven is invert to the value system in this world.
In another way,
wealth in heavenly perceptive is not always what we call wealth.
Wealth in heavenly
perceptive is physical, material, mental and spiritual, all together.
God has created the whole world for increase.
He placed the power within every living creature to
reproduce beyond them.
God gives humans the special ability to manage the
resources from earth to create a comfortable atmosphere for living.
God has also given us ethical guidelines to keep us
from the snare of greed and covetousness.
For this purpose God has given our wealth a
mission.
The earth was created to produce enough to feed,
clothe and house the entire population.
But sin steals, destroys and kills.
And hence millions starve in this world while tons
of food is wasted in another part of the world.
Only God has a plan to get out this situation.
The entire universe, in which we live, is governed by accuracy.
God based the universe
on natural laws.
He allows the earth to
operate on natural laws and principles like the law of gravity, the law of
lift, the law of motion etc.
Money is a neutral instrument;
it puts on the character of the owner.
You must have a definite
purpose for it; or better know God’s purpose for it.
Before money comes you
must have purpose.
The concept of wealth differs
As I have mentioned above wealth is not always money or material
possessions.
The concept of wealth in different ages in human history is
different.
Wealth in OT
Wealth was not personal possession of materials for Adam and Eve in
the Garden of Eden.
They lived surrounded by material wealth, enjoyed physical health,
overflowed with mental health and lived rich with spiritual health.
But they had no personal possession of material wealth.
Wealth in the desert was a burden for the Israelites until God’s purpose for it was
revealed.
They had gold and silver with them but desert offered no opportunity
for its transaction.
The use for it was to contribute for the construction of the Temple
of God.
During King David’s time wealth was victory over the enemies.
David was a warrior and defeated Israelite’s enemies conquering the
land promised by God.
He conquered Jerusalem city and established the capital there.
King Solomon was a rich king, but he is better known for his wisdom.
When God met him and asked him to request for a blessing, Solomon
requested for wisdom.
For him wisdom was better than wealth than riches; or rather wisdom
was wealth for him.
God granted him wisdom and riches.
Wealth in NT
In New Testament though Jesus had many rich people as his followers,
spiritual wealth was more emphasized.
Our attitude to wealth is governed by the truth that we are
sojourners and strangers in this foreign land.
Though the cause of the widows, strangers and poor was attended in
the Old Testament, Jesus embedded it in His teaching as a part of the Gospel of
the Kingdom.
Giving became more blessing than receiving.
Wealth in different circumstances
And the concept of wealth is different in different circumstances of
our life.
For example:
·
Money
is wealth for a school boy to pay his school fees.
·
Food
is wealth for a hungry vagabond.
·
Health
is wealth for a sick person.
·
Time
is wealth for a busy person.
·
Materials
possessions come under the lowest step of the ladder.
If you have no food, no health and no peace of mind, the materials
possessions you have is a burden.
Wealth must not be a burden but a blessing.
So think about blessed wealth not about burdensome wealth.
Wealth is no
poverty, no enemy and no disease.
Now let us learn 5 Biblical principles
of wealth creation.
As we move along from the first to the fifth Biblical principles,
please keep in your mind that the 5
is more important than all others.
So continue to watch or listen to the whole message.
And also let me remind you that we are discussing here only the Biblical
principles of wealth.
We are not discussing any tricks or methods to create wealth.
Now let us move forward.
1.
Inherit wealth from ancestors
This is the simple
method of wealth creation.
It is actually not
creating wealth, but only inheriting wealth.
Still it can bring
certain amount of wealth to your credit.
If your ancestor
was a wealthy person and he has left it for you, you simply inherit it.
It is that much
simple.
Though this does
not come under the section of easy money, this is not a recommended principle
of wealth creation.
And this is not dependable.
That means, it may
or may not keep a person wealthy.
Ancestral wealth
is conditionally sustainable.
This is the only
problem with the inheritance from an ancestor.
Wealth from
ancestor comes not in single but in bundle; it may carry along with it
blessings and curses.
We are simply
inheriting ancestor wealth and hence we have no freedom to choose blessings and
reject curses.
So, how our
ancestor created wealth is important.
That decides the
sustainability of wealth.
Proverbs
13:22 A good man leaves
an inheritance to his children's children, But the wealth of the sinner is
stored up for the righteous. (NKJV)
Because of
limitation of time, let me leave the topic of sustainability of ancestor’s
wealth without any further discussion.
2.
Hard work is the secret of wealth creation
Hard work is the secret to wealth creation.
By hard work I do not mean a total dependence on our flesh.
Hard work is utilizing our physical, mental, material and spiritual
health for creating wealth.
This is a Biblical prescription for creating wealth.
As we said above, Adam and Eve never created any wealth.
God created wealth for them and put them in its midst.
They were surrounded by wealth but owned nothing.
But after their disobedience, they were driven out of the blessed
state.
As they marched out of the Garden, God prescribed to them a method
for wealth creation.
That was to work hard in the cursed land.
Genesis
3: 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out of the
garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. (NKJV)
There is a mystery hidden in this verse.
Adam was taken from earth and God asked Adam to till the ground from
which he was taken.
That is, Adam’s flesh was formed out of earth and now Adam had to
work hard on the same earth for a livelihood.
Adam had to work hard on his own flesh, his body to create wealth.
As long as we live in this flesh taken from the earth, there is no
substitute for us to create wealth.
For wealth creation God has prescribed only one method and no man
has ever substituted it.
That is hard work.
All wealth without subjecting our flesh to hard work is easy money.
Easy money is not God’s money.
God has no program to bless you with easy money.
Luck is not the way for a believer; luck is uncertain and unearned.
God hates
exploitation too; wealth made by exploitation and corrupt methods are easy
money.
Sweat is the sign of God’s blessings.
Adam was asked to eat bread with his sweat.
A rough and dirty hand is a sign of clean money.
The modern economists too agree that human resource is real wealth.
Riches are a converted form of human resource.
Proverbs
12: 27 The lazy man does not roast what he took in
hunting, But diligence is man's precious possession. (NKJV)
3.
Long suffering creates wealth
Let me give you a piece of advice as the third principle for
creating wealth.
It is long suffering.
By long suffering I mean a long patient waiting for a good result.
Hard work is like an investment that works on itself to produce a
hundred fold.
And it needs time for maturing.
So patience is knitted together with hard work.
Ecclesiastes
11: 1 Cast thy bread upon the
waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.
Patience has a magical effect on your investments; Patience never
let anybody despair.
Putting them side by side, let us say: Perspiration and perseverance
is the key to Biblical prosperity.
4.
Giving is the heavenly method of multiplying
The fourth principle inverts worldly wisdom.
Amassing wealth is the method of wealth creation for this world.
For the world getting makes one wealthy.
But God’s principle is giving, so that you may get a hundred fold.
Acts
20: 35 "I have shown you in every way, by
laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of
the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is more
blessed to give than to receive.'" (NKJV)
This principle may seem illogic to a worldly man, but true to a
spiritual man.
This is not a principle that can be proved in a theory class; but a
truth that we have to taste and know.
Unless you have the courage to throw away you cannot taste the
return.
After all courage to take risk is another secret to success.
Risk is an inseparable ingredient of success.
5.
Wealth is a gift from God
All the above said principles come under the fifth principle;
without the backing of this principle no effort of man will eventually succeed.
Wealth is always a gift from God.
Only what God has gifted to you is real wealth, because wealth
includes health, peace, materials and spiritual blessings.
That is, as I often say, the value system that measure wealth is
different in Heaven.
And God’s ways are always multicultural and timeless.
So our attitude towards wealth is important.
Wealth is not created by our might and power.
Wealth is a blessing from God for those who have a right standing
with Him
To know more about the right standing with God, let me recommend you
a video titled “Claim your Blessings” available in our video channel:
youtube.com/thenaphtalitribe.
How we can claim and inherit heavenly blessings is discussed there
in that video.
So let me not repeat it all here.
Remember
we do not trust wealth; we trust God.
Trusting people over
God is also short-sighted.
To appreciate wealth as God’s gift, we need a spirit of gratitude.
The attitude that we have accumulated all our wealth by our hard
work alone is pride.
I remember one incident from the life of King David.
He was stopped by God from the constructed the Temple of God because
he was a warrior and hence had shed blood.
So God choose his son Solomon as the next King and for the construction
of the Temple.
Still David had prepared everything for the Temple, gold, silver,
bronze, wood and precious stones.
He contributed sufficient gold and silver and also asked the people
to willingly contribute to the cause.
They offered more materials willingly.
Then David reveals a mystery behind the wealth of man.
1 Chronicles 29: 14 & 16
14 But who am I, and
who are my people, That we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, And of Your own we have
given You.
16 "O LORD our
God, all this abundance that
we have prepared to build You a house for Your holy name is from Your hand, and
is all Your own. (NKJV)
Wealth must come to us as a package of health, peace, materials and
spiritual blessings
Only God can supply wealth in such a package.
True wealth is a gift from God.
To maintain this attitude towards wealth, always seek Godly counsel
in wealth creation.
Psalm
1:1 Blessed
is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path
of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; (NKJV)
Remember the life story of Job.
As
far as the civilized part of the planet was concerned, Job was the greatest.
And his secret was that he chose to fear God.
And
since God was so happy with him, God chose to bless the works of His hands and
protect His investments.
God
made a hedge around Job to protect him and his investment, regardless of what
happened in the world’s economy.
Conclusion
Let me conclude this short message.
So far we have been discussing 5 principles of wealth creation.
Wealth is necessary for a comfortable living in this world.
Wealth in the hands of a true Christian believer is more blessed
than the riches with a wicked man.
Wealth is created by hard work and long patience.
But it is always a gift from God; it is God who gives us health,
peace and time for hard work.
So never run after wealth; live in good fellowship with God; and
wealth will follow you.
Psalm 23: 6 Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the
LORD Forever. (NKJV)
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