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It always amazes me when I
preach about prosperity and someone comes up to me and says, "I don't
need much prosperity. I'm a simple person with a simple life. So I just
ask God for enough to meet my needs."
They think that's humility,
but it's not. It's selfishness! They don't realize it, but they're
actually saying, "All I care about is meeting my own needs. I have no
ambition to help meet anyone else's."
They could ask God for a
million dollars, take out just enough to meet their needs, and give the
rest away. But that doesn't even occur to them because when it comes to
money, they've been brainwashed by a world that says if you have it,
you've got to keep it.
That philosophy has hindered the ministry
of Jesus Christ on the earth today. It has caused preachers to set aside
their calling and get secular jobs just to survive. It's handicapped
churches and stunted the growth of ministries that could have reached
thousands more for the Lord.
It takes money to preach the gospel.
Jesus Himself knew that, and contrary to what some people think, His
ministry was not a poor one. He had so much money coming in and going
out through His ministry that He had to appoint a treasurer. His name
was Judas.
But Jesus didn't store up that money for Himself. He
gave it to meet the needs of those around Him. He had such a reputation
for giving that on the night of that last Passover when Judas left so
abruptly, the disciples assumed that Jesus had sent him out to give to
the poor.
Can you imagine how much and how often Jesus must have given to the poor for the disciples to make that assumption?
Jesus
never built a worldly empire for Himself. But that doesn't mean He was
poor. It means He was the greatest giver who ever walked the face of
this earth, and it's time we started following in His footsteps.
Don't
turn down the wealth God wants to give you just because you don't
"need" it. Dare to accept it, then pass it along to those who do. Stop
working for a living and start working for a "giving." Discover for
yourself what riches were really meant to do.
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