Prosperous Mindset #4 - Knowing Your Source

 

Read this carefully. Do not allow yourself to skim over this passage. (If you're reading this because you somehow think that MY words are more interesting than GOD'S...you should probably read this series first.)

Matthew 6:24-33 - "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. 

"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? 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? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

"So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 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?

"Therefore do not worry saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

Serving Mammon

Did you notice the first "therefore" in that passage? Go back and find it; then notice the two things it connects. Jesus first said, "You cannot serve God and mammon", and then He said, "therefore stop worrying about where things are going to come from!" When you are looking to anything or anyone other than God as a source for your needs, then you are serving mammon. 

When Jesus says that "you cannot serve God and Mammon," He meant it. You cannot do both! Since we just saw that worrying about your own needs is how you serve mammon, then obviously you can't serve God and worry at the same time. This is a serious thought...it means that worry is not a "weakness". No...worry is actually a sin, a form of idolatry.

Prosperous people know that God alone is their source of supply. Their jobs, their families, the banks, the government...all of those are merely avenues that God's blessings can come through. No matter how it happens, God's people need to understand that He alone brings blessings into our lives.

Think about this: Do you know that you can spell the wrong word correctly?
Just because it seems like you're doing something correctly, does not mean you're doing the correct thing. There are two ways to get money - God's way and the world's way. You may be getting money correctly as far as the world is concerned - but that does not mean your becoming truly propserous.

The world's way can make you rich, but only God's way leads to true prosperity.

Not From Your Job

The key to prosperity is not necessarily to "work more hours."

This goes back to what we spoke of earlier: It makes no sense to spend what really matters to get something of lower value - that is, money. But we know that countless people are doing exactly that in their work life.

How many guys work 60-80 hours every week to make "big bucks", only to lose their marriage, their kids, and other relationships?
How many people switch employers because of the potential for a bigger paycheck, only to eventually lost that promising new job?
How many people have had lives that revolved only around work, only to die months after retiring because they had nothing else to live for?

Proverbs 23:4 addresses this issue: "Do not overwork to be rich; because of your own understanding, cease!"

Should you work? Of course!
Should you outwork your unbelieving coworkers? Absolutely!
But remember that you're at that job to bless your employers - not because the job is your source of provision. You're there to serve God in the workplace...not mammon.

Not From Handouts

When you view other people as your source (i.e. your family, government, friends, and anyone else that could give you a "handout"), you'll actually begin to get angry at them when they don't meet your needs. You'll end up resenting people who have more than you...but who won't give you any of it. Looking at people who have more and demanding that they give you some...what a tragic way to live!

Psalm 118:8 - "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man."
Psalm 146:3 - "Do not put your trust in prices (i.e. your government), nor in a son of man (i.e. any other person who could give you something), in whom there is no help."

If you're going to prosper God's way, then you cannot look to other people as your source. No matter how wealthy or powerful they may seem to be, stop looking to them to provide for you! No rich relative, no boss, and no government handout is enough to make you prosper!

Not From Debt

Proverbs 22:7 - "The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender."

Part of the blessing we inherited by faith is the freedom from debt.

We see this blessing pointed out in Deuteronomy 28:12, "You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow." This freedom from debt was just one of the promises to Abraham's natural descendants. But in Galatians 3:13-14, we see that we've also been brought into those promises by faith. "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us...that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus."

Proverbs 10:22 tells us what this blessing does. "The blessing of the LORD makes rich, and He adds no sorrow (i.e. a monthly payment) to it."

"Debt is NOT a tool!" - Dave Ramsey

Listen to me, if your source of provision requires more from you than it provided to you in the first place...could that truly be a source of  blessing? Wouldn't that end up as a net loss? The truth is that debt always takes you backwards, never forwards. It draws on your present resources to pay for a decision you made in the past. This cannot be a source of true prosperity.

This is why God clearly warns us to get out and stay out of debt. 
Proverbs 6:5 - "Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, and like a bird from the hand of the fowler." That wasn't a suggestion - that was a clear command concerning debt.

Thankfully, whenever God gives a command, He also provides the grace, power and provision to obey it.
"Stretch out your rod and split the sea..."
"Rise up and walk.."
"They don't need to go away, you give them something to eat..."
"Go and sin no more..."

And so, the command from Romans 13 - "Owe no man anything..." - also carries a promise of provision in it!

God Alone...

Prosperous people know that God alone is their Provider. They choose to operate by faith in God, in His Word, and in His love for them. 

Psalm 37:3 and 4 - "Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart."

Say this with me:
God is our Father!
We are not beggars!
We are sons and daughters of the King of kings!

Like any father would, we know that God wants His kids to prosper.
Because of this, we look to Him, and Him alone, as our source! We'll follow His directions, and receive the blessing from His hands.