Pass the Prosperity Test

But you shall [earnestly] remember the Lord your God, for it is He Who gives you power to get wealth.– Deuteronomy 8:18, The Amplified Bible

The very idea of wealth scares some Christians. They think having a lot of money is ungodly—but that’s not what the Bible says.

God doesn’t object to our having money. On the contrary, He “takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant” (Psalm 35:27, The Amplified Bible). What God doesn’t want us to do is covet money. He doesn’t want money to have us! He doesn’t want us to love money and make it our god.

So He gave us a safeguard. He gave us in His Word a foundational instruction about prosperity that enables us to be wealthy and godly at the same time... “Seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His [God’s] kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides” (Matthew 6:33, The Amplified Bible).

That is the foundation of biblical prosperity. It’s based on God’s way of doing and being right. It comes to those who operate in this earth according to His system of life, instead of the world’s system.

The world’s system has money for its god. It loves and seeks after money. But the kingdom of heaven has the Father for its God. And in His economy, you can’t prosper supernaturally unless you give Him and His ways first place in your life.

Granted, there are times when godly people begin to prosper and then get off track. Those people pass the poverty test, but fail the prosperity test. They start out seeking first God’s kingdom. But when they begin to experience the financial blessings of that kingdom, they become overly preoccupied with the things that have been added to them. Their hearts begin to grow cold toward God because they don’t continue to give Him first place in their lives.

God doesn’t want that to happen to His people. That’s why He told the Israelites not to forget Him when they entered the Promised Land and started living in goodly houses and enjoying material abundance.... “But you shall (earnestly) remember the Lord your God; for it is He Who gives you power to get wealth.”

So don’t just release your faith to pass the poverty test. Pass the prosperity test as well!

Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 8:11-18

Gloria Copeland