Increase is
desired by any sane person. We all want progress in our lives and will strive
towards attaining some amount of increase in our stead. It comes naturally to
us humans, to want to multiply that which is with us and increase our
prosperity. We detest stagnation and are often irritated by the sense of being
stuck in one position too long—at least for any rational person. The dream of
prospering in all our affairs dominate the thoughts of any man daily. No
rational thinking human, sees himself in abject poverty and desires it for
himself. We all dream of gaining enormous wealth, become plenteous in goods and
all the vanities of life. Too much money is not enough money; a cliché that
seem to spin the rich towards attaining more and more wealth. Millionaires
aspire to the billionaire status. Billionaires aspire to reach whatever level
that exists beyond their limits and so on.
Are we born
this way? Are we to desire these things? Should we work towards storing
treasures for ourselves and secure the future? What is the secret to getting
wealth? These are but a few questions that run through the mind of many a
believer. Many Christians do believe that desiring wealth is a sin, and it’s a
sure way of derailing from the will of God. There exists many examples of
people who sinned against God after experiencing a little increase in their
stead in the form of ‘’material prosperity’’. On the contrary, there are also
examples of people who received the blessing of increase in material prosperity
and continued to serve God.
In revealing the mystery of the principles that provoke divine increase in the
form of material prosperity; we need to know the Lord of the Increase first. Then we will unravel the principles
from two major time frames in the Holy Bible.
KNOWING THE LORD OF THE INCREASE
If you
didn’t know before now who the Lord of increase and prosperity is , Know now
that His name is Jehovah–Jireh ( My God my provider), Jehovah el-shaddai ( My
God my All sufficient). He is the Lord, the creator of the universe, he created
everything in the earth and saw that it was good. He gave man a role as a steward to tend to the things that were
created and use as much for himself and increase in numbers and become fruitful—subduing
the earth.(Genesis 1:27-31)
Apostle Paul
says of Jehovah—the Lord of Increase:
‘’And my God will meet all your needs
according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.’’(Philippians 4:19)
Jesus Christ
reiterates the power of the Lord of increase to supply all our needs if we know
him and ask of him:
‘’ And why do
you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not
labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was
dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field,
which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much
more clothe you, O you of little faith?
So do not worry, saying, ‘’what shall we eat?’’ or ‘’What shall we
drink’’? or ‘’What shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things,
and your heavenly father knows that you need them. But seek first his
kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as
well’’ (Matthew 6:28-33)
This is what God says of Himself:
‘’ ‘The
silver is mine and the gold is mine’
declares the Lord Almighty’’ (Haggai 2:8)
‘’
But remember the Lord your God for it is he who gives you the ability to
produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your
forefathers, as it is today (Deuteronomy 8:18)
Should we
desire wealth and increase?
I bet your answer is yes. Mine is too. But make sure that
you have a strong foundation in God while you desire these temporary things.
While we are at it, I would rather you focused on eternal riches more than
temporary earthly prosperity. Meditate on the words of Jesus:
‘’Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth
and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where moth and rust
do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where
your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’’(Matthew
6:19-21)
God will fulfil his covenant by rewarding obedience with
blessings. Blessings that translate in
material prosperity. Find them well listed out in Deuteronomy 28:1-14. But when
God does release these blessings we are to use them in promoting Kingdom
business on earth. Our wealth is given us not to gloat in our achievements, but
to glorify God. If we cannot preach the
gospel, then we can support those evangelists and missionaries who do; with our
financial contribution etc .We shall be discussing these and many more shortly.
Warning: ‘’You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have
produced this wealth for me’. But remember the Lord your God; for it is he
who gives the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant,
which he swore to your forefathers, as
it is today.’’(Deuteronomy 8:17-18)
‘’ No-one can serve two
masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted
to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.’’(Matthew 6:24)
2 Principles that unlock doors of Increase
We will
consider and unravel the mysteries behind two key principles between three
different time frames in the bible. The Pre-law era—the era of the law—and the
New covenant era. The pre-law era will refer to principles that worked for the
patriarchs Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. The era of the law will refer to the written law
and covenant that God had with the children of Israel. This is also referred to
as the old covenant era. The new
covenant era is the Jesus era and is the summation of every other era. We will
discuss them under the Old testament and New testament Principles of
prosperity.
The Old Testament Principle of
Prosperity
The Principle of the Tithe.
The first
record of tithing was seen in Genesis chapter 14. This was more than 400 years
before the law was given to Moses.
‘’ Then Melchizedek king of Salem
(Jerusalem) brought out bread and wine. He was a priest of God Most High, and
he blessed Abram, saying,
‘’Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High who delivered your
enemies into your hand’’
Then Abram gave him a tenth of
everything.’’ (Genesis 14:18-20)
A tithe is one-tenth of all your increase or income or
earnings. Note that accompanying the tithe was a blessing and a hint of
protection from the most High. Without a doubt the bible pronounced Abram as a
wealthy man (Genesis13:2), and he was prosperous all the days of his life. Abraham
understood the significance of tithing a tenth of increase to God. God did many
things for Abraham. He confirmed a covenant with him. Chapter 15, began as a
continuation of the previous chapter, with God affirming a blessing on him:
‘’After this, the word of the Lord came to
Abram in a vision: ‘’ Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your
very great reward’’. (Genesis 15:1)
Yet again, a
promise of great reward (material prosperity) and protection. The word ‘shield’
signifies ‘protection’.
The
principle of tithing operates on the principle of giving and receiving.
‘’Give and
it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together and
running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it
will be measured to you.’’(Luke 6:38).
Tithing
operates under this same natural principle; only that, more importantly it
belongs to God personally.
God says:
‘’A tithe of everything from the
land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord;
it is holy to the Lord.’’( Leviticus 27:30).
Now we know
that giving a tithe will be accompanied by God’s blessings and protection; and
more importantly it belongs to the Lord and is holy to him. This scripture above
shows the tithe under the law.
The Blessing and the Curse
The most
promising scripture on the subject of tithing is seen in Malachi 3:6-12. The Malachi
miracle is how I love to call this chapter. God actually tells us the reason
why we are in poverty and lack of material wealth and possessions.
‘’I the Lord do not change. So you, O
descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your
forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return
to me , and I will return to you,’’ says the Lord Almighty.
But you ask, ’How are we to return?’
‘’Will a man rob God?’’ Yet you rob
me . But you ask ,’How do we rob you?’
‘’ In tithes and offerings. You are
under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me.’’ (Malachi
3:6-9)
As a matter
of fact, if you do not pay a tithe to God, as a tenth of your increase or
earnings or income, you have incurred a curse on yourself—you are regarded as a
robber in God’s sight. You cannot rob God and get away with it. It means that
even though you work legitimately, you have earned your money unjustly and
Jeremiah 17:11 will apply to accentuate the curse you are under:
‘’Like a partridge that hatches eggs
it did not lay is the man who gains riches by unjust means. When his life is
half gone , they will desert him, and in the end he will prove to be a fool’’.
Stealing
from God is unjust and is a sure way to poverty. No wonder why we usually can’t
account for our money when we didn’t pay a tithe from it. It just grows wings
and flies; so to speak. Look deep into your life have you been experiencing
this sort of thing?
But here is
the blessing that accompanies the obedient:
‘’Bring the whole tithe into the
storehouse , that there may be food in my house. Test me in this’’ says
the Lord Almighty ‘’ and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven
and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. ‘’
I will prevent pests from devouring
your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruits’’, says the
Lord Almighty.’’ Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will
be a delightful land’’ says the Lord Almighty. (Malachi 3:10-12)
So here are
the blessings ( material prosperity) accompanied with obedience to tithing.
Note that the first reason why God wants the tithe is for his Kingdom welfare.
‘’ That there may be food in my house’’. Here God is reiterating the proper use
of the temporary earthly wealth that we would be given,’ that there may be food
in his house’. Kingdom business should be our business. Investing in this
business is what the tithe represents. The return on investment? Material
prosperity in the form of Deuteronomy 28:1-13, 2 Corinthians 9:10-11).
Matter of
fact, God actually dares us to test him!
He promises us that we won’t have room enough to contain what he is sending us via
the floodgates of heaven. Now you know better to become a tither, not by
religious obligation; lest you act like a hypocrite, but by faith in the One
who gives the ability to create wealth.
New
Testament Principle of Prosperity
There exists
a controversy as to whether Christians in the new testament should desire wealth; given that the Messiah
and the apostles led a simple humble life. While some argue for and against, I
would rather we dug into the scripture to answer this controversy before we
unravel the mystery of the principle of prosperity in the new testament.
One of the
common scriptures that are being considered is Matthew 19:16-29, also see Mark
10::17-31. This bible describes an encounter a rich young man had with Jesus .
After asking Jesus questions on what he needed to do to have eternal life, Jesus
told him:
‘’if you want to be perfect, go ,
sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in
heaven. Then come, follow me’’ (v.21)
After the
young man had left the presence of Jesus, because he could not part with his
great wealth for he was rich, Jesus said to his disciples:
‘’I tell you the truth, it is hard
for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the
Kingdom of God.(V.23-24)
What exactly
did Jesus mean by saying that ‘’it is
hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven’’? Did it imply
literally that if anyone was rich , the wealth limited his chances of going to
heaven? I do not think so given the context of the conversation. Jesus knew
that the rich young man guarded his wealth up close and that unconsciously
contested with his love for God. Jesus told him ‘’go, sell your possessions and
give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven’’. At that point, I guess
the rich young man didn’t trust Jesus' instruction anymore especially when his
money and possessions were concerned. And many of us today are no different.
When the disciples heard what Jesus had
said that it was difficult for a rich man to enter heaven and much easier for a camel to pass
through the eye of a needle they were greatly astonished. They asked
‘’ Who then can be saved’’(v.25)
Peter
answered him ‘’We have left everything
to follow you! What then will be there for us?( V.27)
Jesus said to them, ’’I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man
sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve
thrones, Judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left
houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my
sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.(V.28-29)
The Messiah
promises a 100-fold blessings in this life-time; which translate to temporary
material wealth and the promise of eternal life –to whoever leaves all and
follow him. He is the lord of Increase, he doesn’t just give us the blessing of
the old testament principle but he adds
an interest of 10,000% plus eternal life. But we must do what the rich man
couldn’t do—to leave it all and carry the cross. This leads us to the mystery
of prosperity of the new testament. We are entitled to get this wealth but we
must do Kingdom business first. In the early days of the church great wealth
were entrusted to the hands of the
Apostles, so money and wealth is important in running the Affairs of the
Kingdom. (Acts 2:45)
The principle of Seeking the kingdom
and its Righteousness
This is the
Principle of prosperity in the new testament. It is the ultimate principle:
because it does not only guarantee a 100-fold material blessing in this lifetime,
it guarantees eternal life and absolute immeasurable prosperity in God’s
Kingdom.
Jesus said :
‘’ But Seek first his kingdom and his
righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well’’( Matthew
6:33)
In other
words, God will give you all the material wealth that is due to you; if you
give him first place in your life. This principle secures your soul for eternal
prosperity while you prosper in earthly affairs. The bible says in 3 John: 2 :
‘’ Beloved I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health,
even as your soul prospereth.
It is a
simple principle to follow. You just have to lay it all at the feet of the
Cross and lead a life that is pleasing to God through faith in Jesus Christ.
Does this mean that we should disregard paying the tithe? Definitely that’s a NO. Jesus actually taught
that men ought to pay their tithes:
‘’ Woe to you teachers of the law and
Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and
cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the
law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practised the latter,
without neglecting the former.(Matthew 23:23)
Jesus commends
tithing but stressed on the more important matter of the law that defines their
spirituality. It is a hint that we shouldn’t give our tithe religiously out of
obligation, but we should give it with love of God at the centre of our hearts.
Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and also invest in the kingdom by paying your tithes and offerings!
Shalom!
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