A Mind To Prosper - Willing To Change

First - If you're a believer, God wants you to prosper!

Second - Since prosperity destroys a fool, God will not let you prosper if you're thinking or acting foolishly. That's not because He's punishing you for being foolish. No, out of love, God will not give you something that will hurt you...even if it's His will for you to have it. If your soul isn't prospering, neither will your checkbook.

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

So naturally, those two points bring us here: If we're not experiencing the prosperity of God in our lives, then we must change. No amount of begging and believing will change what God has already said. No "fortunate" circumstance will ever bring prosperity that lasts. 

If you're going to prosper, then it has to start inside of you. 

"If Only My Circumstances Were Better..."

A one-time solution is not the answer to your financial problems. "Catching a break" may provide some relief, but it will only be temporary.

God, in His mercy, may send someone along to provide some urgent need of yours; but that's not a permanent solution. No one can ever give you enough to make you prosper. Why? Well, at the risk of repeating myself, prosperity is not about how much stuff you possess at any given moment.

Let's pretend that we could make everything equal in the world. We'll just hit the reset button and redistribute all the wealth evenly among everyone around the globe. If we did that, then every man, woman, boy, and girl would have about $34,000 to their name. But what do you think would happen after that reset? I'm telling you, it wouldn't be long before the money started changing hands again.

Inevitably, most of those who were wealthy before the reset would be wealthy again after it. And most of those who were poor before would end up poor again. You see, as long as a rich person's mindset doesn't change during tough times, they'll eventually bounce back into abundance. But that works both ways: As long as a poor person's mindset won't change, then their outcome will ultimately end up the same - and it won't matter how much money is funneled into their life.

Rich people can be temporarily poor.
Poor people can be temporarily rich.
But their lives will always default back to match their mindset.

Seeing The Need For Change

Romans 12:2 - "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

We just spent weeks talking about the need to renew your mind and take control of your thoughts. We learned that thinking the world's way makes your mind into God's enemy.

Don't you think this principle also applies to your thinking about money? If you're making all your money decisions based on natural things (what you enjoy, what you're afraid of, what's easiest, what the experts say), then you won't be in a position to experience prosperity God's way.

We must use God's Word to transform our mind.
James 1:21 - "Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your souls." 

Are you ready to admit this? Are you willing to acknowledge that the problem with your money isn't your circumstances, or the people around you, or God holding back His blessing to keep you humble. Are you ready to accept this? "YOU are the problem with YOUR money!" - Dave Ramsey 

A New Way Of Thinking

In my last post, I talked about the time when God began correcting this in me. After He showed me that the problem was me, He then started to show me areas where my thinking needed to change. In the end, He gave me ten areas where a prosperous person thought differently than I did. If I was going to prosper, then my mind needed to be renewed in those areas.

Since then, my wife and I have been steadily increasing. It hasn't happened overnight, because we didn't make these changes overnight. In fact, we're still working on most of them! But to the extent that we changed, we prospered.

As we continue the series, we're going to look at each of these ten areas. But it's important for you to know that this isn't "Ten steps to prosperity." These aren't "Ten things that prosperous people do."
No, I'm going to lay it out to you the same way God did for me: These are ten mindsets of people who prosper. 

Are you ready to develop a mind to prosper?