Unfortunately, a lot of people have been hurt by preachers that pretend to be ministers of the gospel but are just after money. It’s a shame that those things happen, but unfortunately they do.
Here’s the problem: Because something has been taught incorrectly, many people throw the baby out with the bathwater. It seems many Christians don’t want to hear anything that the Bible has to say about wealth because they assume it’s all the same greedy, money hungry teaching. Instead, why don’t we just listen to what God has to say about His son and not be influenced by teachings that have hurt us in the past?
The truth is everyone has wealth. The only reason you’re here today is because you had food, water, and physical wealth to at least buy necessities. That goes for everybody. And unless your mind is fully renewed, your Heavenly Father knows that you need certain physical things.
Matthew 6:32 (NKJV) For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things [physical things].
Here’s the difference: You can either believe that Jesus provided the power to physical wealth, and lean on Him for it, or you can trust yourself and seek after these things for yourself! You need wealth one way or another. It’s just a matter of whether you lean on yourself for it or believe that Jesus provided these things through the cross! There are no other options.
The Power To Wealth
This is not a full teaching on this, but the Bible makes it very clear that Jesus has provided us power to get physical wealth in this world (click here for more teachings on the topic):
Deuteronomy 8:18 (NKJV) And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth…
Proverbs 10:22 (NKJV) The blessing of the LORD makes one rich , And He adds no sorrow with it [speaking of physical riches, which typically comes with sorrow – 1 Tim 6:10].
2 Corinthians 9:8 (NKJV) And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance [excess] for every good work.
If you don’t believe that Jesus provided the power to wealth (physical things) at the cross, then you are leaning on yourself for the wealth you obtain! The truth is you have wealth! And most of us reading this, have quite a lot of it compared to generations past. Who did you lean on to get all that wealth? Either you sought after these things for yourself, trusting in yourself and the work of your hands to obtain these things (like the Gentiles do, in Mat. 6:32), or you leaned on the work of Jesus for your wealth (like Abraham did in Gen. 14:23).
Yes, believing that Jesus provided the power to wealth does not cause you to be money hungry or seek after wealth, it alleviates it from your mind altogether! When you can trust the finished work of Jesus and believe what He’s provided you, you don’t have to stress and lean on yourself to seek after these things.
Matthew 6:31 (NKJV) “Therefore do not worry… But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and ALL these things [physical things] shall be added to you.
You see? The knowledge that “ALL these things will be added to you” actually frees you up to not worry and to seek Him!
Good Intentions, Wrong Implementation
Sometimes we have good intentions. We omit preaching on wealth because we don’t want people to be greedy or money centric. While it’s true that God would never want people to be centered on money, when we don’t teach how Jesus provided power to wealth, we are making people money centric. Because when people don’t have the finished work of Jesus to lean on regarding their finances, they will rack their brains becoming consumed with it themselves.
We need to understand everything Jesus provided us. The power to wealth is one of those things. When you know what Jesus provided for you, you can seek Him and place your confidence in Him for the power to wealth. When you don’t believe that Jesus provided it, you are seeking it out for yourself. And that principle applies to everything in life.
One More Point
Some people may say, I do trust in God to take care of my needs, but I just don’t believe that Jesus provided it to us on the cross. That’s another topic entirely but trust me you don’t want to say that. When you say that you trust God for wealth, but don’t believe Jesus provided it at the cross, you are saying that you can receive something from God APART from a mediator — apart from Jesus’ payment at the cross. And let me just say, that’s an extremely dangerous thing to believe… to believe that you can receive something from God, APART from Jesus’ atonement.
The truth is, either Jesus paid for it, or you can’t receive it from God. He didn’t stutter when he said “I am the way.”
John 14:6 (NKJV) Jesus said to him, “I am the way… No one comes to the Father except through Me.
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