Christians may differ on a lot of things, but most all of us agree on this: If we know what God’s will is for any area of our lives, we should do it. That’s such an obvious truth, I think it could draw a hearty amen from a whole multitude of believers—including me. :: I learned years ago that the secret to success (which is not a secret at all but is plainly stated in the Bible) is saying to God every day, “I am Yours to command, Sir. Your will and Your plan be done in my life today.”
I also learned years ago that when it comes to embracing God’s will, there’s one area where a lot of really sincere Christians have trouble. Even though they love The LORD, they find it difficult to say, “Heavenly Father, it’s Your will for me to prosper, so I’m going to do it!”
For some reason, that statement always thins out the crowd. Believers who are all gung-ho about God’s will being done in other parts of their lives suddenly start hemming and hawing when the issue of money comes up.
“Well, I don’t really need to prosper,” they say. “After all, my little family and I don’t require much to get along.”
I never have figured out the logic behind such statements. What does the family budget have to do with it? If it’s God’s will for us to have financial prosperity, who are we to tell God we don’t need it?
“Now, Brother Copeland,” you might say, “I think you put that a little too strongly. It’s not really the absolute will of God for every believer to prosper, is it?”
Yes, it actually is. The Bible says that “Jesus…though he was rich, for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Look again at the last word in that scripture. What is it? It’s rich. R-I-C-H…rich!
Quote: The economy might be bad on earth but heaven’s economy is doing just fine; and that’s where your financial supply comes form.
Some Christians almost faint at the very mention of that word because they have it associated with sin and worldliness. But we need to get over that. Rich is a Bible word. It’s a God word! He’s the One who invented wealth. He’s the One who put gold in the Garden of Eden and said, “The gold of that land is good” (Genesis 2:12). Adam wouldn’t have known the difference between gold and dirt if God hadn’t taught him. But He did, and His covenant people have been prospering ever since.
Think of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, for example. They were all extremely wealthy men. Think about the Israelites God freed from Egyptian bondage. Psalm 105:37 says, “He brought them forth also with silver and gold.” If God’s BLESSING caused His people to prosper materially under the Old Covenant, how much more should we prosper as New Testament believers? After all, we have an even “better covenant” (Hebrews 8:6). We have Jesus, who became poor for our sakes so that we through His poverty might be rich!
Not the Manger but the Cross
“But that verse isn’t talking about finances,” someone might argue, “it’s talking about spiritual wealth. It’s saying that Jesus left the riches of heaven to be born in a lowly manger so that we could go to heaven when we die.”
I realize that’s often taught, but it’s incorrect. That verse was written to the Corinthians about giving financially into the kingdom of God. It’s talking about money. And it doesn’t say that Jesus came to earth as a poor man.
He didn’t! On the contrary: Wise men showed up when He was born and provided Him and His family with significant wealth. After He grew up and went into ministry, Jesus was so prosperous He needed a treasurer to keep track of the funds. He always had plenty to give to the poor. Money or no money, feeding 20,000 people was no problem for Him.
Jesus was a prosperous man all His earthly life.
So, when did He become poor?
When He went to the Cross.
There Jesus became poorer than any human being has ever been. He took the whole burden of mankind’s poverty upon Himself all at once. In the same way that He bore all our sins on the Cross so that we could be made as righteous as He is, He bore our sicknesses so that we could be as well as He is, and He also bore our poverty so that we could be as rich as He is!
Clearly, our prosperity is important to God. It’s so central to His will that He included it in the price Jesus paid for our redemption. So it doesn’t matter whether or not we think we need it. What matters is that God needs it!
“Oh, Brother Copeland, God doesn’t need anything.”
In one sense that’s true. As Almighty God, He is complete in Himself. But let me ask you this: Does He need people?
Yes. Because He’s chosen to, God does need people. Specifically, He needs you.
Does He need you to be an unsaved sinner running around doing the devil’s will?
No, He needs you born again.
Does He need you sick and weak, unable to bear any fruit for His kingdom?
No, He needs you healthy and strong enough to serve Him.
Does He need you so broke that you can’t bless anyone?
No, He needs you “always having all sufficiency in all things,” so that you can “abound to every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).
That’s why it bothers me so much when believers shrug off God’s will concerning prosperity and say they can get along without much money. It’s a selfish perspective. What about helping your church and your pastor? What about helping missionaries? What about giving to the poor?
This isn’t just about you and your little family, or me and my little family. It’s about the kingdom of God. It’s about being blessed so that we can be a blessing. No one said you have to keep all the prosperity God gives you. If you enjoy living on a shoestring, fine. Go ahead and live on $500 a month, but believe God for $10,000—and give $9500 into the Kingdom.
“But how can I do that?” you might ask. “The economy has been horrible.”
The economy might be bad on earth but heaven’s economy is doing just fine; and that’s where your financial supply comes from. As Philippians 4:19 says, “God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
You see, even though you live physically on earth, surrounded by the devil’s kingdom, you’re not a citizen of that kingdom anymore. When you were born again, God delivered you out of it and translated you into the kingdom of His dear Son (Colossians 1:13). You’re not going to get into God’s kingdom someday when you die and go to heaven; you’re a citizen of heaven right now. You’ve already been raised up together with Christ and made to “sit together in heavenly places” in Him (Ephesians 2:6).The politicians may be able to mess up the finances of this world, but they can’t cut off heaven’s budget. So you can prosper in any economy!
Do It God’s Way
I know what you may be thinking. If I can prosper in any economy, how come I haven’t?
Maybe it’s because you haven’t realized that prospering in heaven’s economy is different from prospering in the world. People in the world have to make their provision their priority. They’re always worrying about it and saying, “What will we eat? What will we wear?”
But Jesus said to us as believers, “Quit worrying about those things! Those are the wrong questions. Seek first the kingdom of God. Seek His way of doing things, and all these things will be added to you in abundance.”
How can we seek God’s way of doing things?
By looking at how Jesus did them! He said Himself, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9). So, let’s consider what He told us about His method of operation. He said:
The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me (John 5:19, 30). The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works (John 14:10).
According to those scriptures, Jesus performed all His marvelous works on earth the same way: He heard God’s WORD, believed it, spoke it and acted on it. In response, the Father within Him did the works. That was Jesus’ modus operandi every day of His earthly ministry. It’s how He taught; it’s how He did miracles; and it’s how He prospered.
“Yes, but that was Jesus!” you might say. “I can’t live that way.”
Sure, you can. Jesus confirmed it. He said, “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father” ( John 14:12). He also said, “It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luke 4:4).
That means every one of us can hear God’s WORD, believe it, speak it, act on it and get the same results Jesus did. Why? Because the works He did weren’t produced by His own power. They were produced by the power of God’s WORD!
Plant Some Prosperity Seed
To understand this, you have to remember that God’s WORDS aren’t just information. They are “spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). In Mark 4, Jesus called them spiritual “seed.” What happens when you sow seed? It grows. What does it produce? It produces after its own kind.
That’s what happens when we plant God’s WORD in our hearts. Because it contains within it God’s own life and Spirit, when we receive it, speak it and act on it, it produces in us exactly what He said.
Gloria and I have seen it countless times over the years—not just in our own lives but in the lives of our Partners. I remember one, in particular, we used to call the “Dollar-a-Day Man.” He was a minister who’d always believed that preachers were all supposed to be poor. Consequently, he’d been poor all his life. His income had never even been up to the poverty level. But then he got hold of some of our tapes and started to see things in a different light. He realized it was God’s will for him to prosper and be a giver so he began to pray, “LORD, I want to sow into Brother Copeland’s ministry. I want to be a blessing to him and help get this message out to others. But what can I do? I don’t have anything yet!”
The LORD answered him and said, “Send Brother Copeland ‘s ministry $1 every day.”
Initially, he didn’t know if he could come up with a dollar a day. But he decided if The LORD told him to do it, he could.
Soon those dollars started arriving at our ministry. Sometimes we’d get an envelope full of pennies. Sometimes we’d get dimes. Before long, our staff got excited and called to tell me about the “Dollar-a-Day Man.” After a while, they called me again and said, “He’s prospering! He’s giving $2 a day now.”
Many years have passed since then and that man, his ministry and his family became very faithful supporters financially, and very strong Partners with this ministry.
How did a man who had been poor all his life end up with enough money to give so much? He found out it was God’s will for him to prosper and decided he should do it. Then, he followed Jesus’ system. He listened to God’s WORD, received it, spoke it and acted on it. As a result, 2 Corinthians 9:8 came to pass in his life: “God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.”
The same will happen to anyone who operates by faith in God ‘s WORD about prosperity. So if you haven’t been doing it, get started. If you have, then stay where you are. Stay steady. Your greatest blessing ever is at hand! V
5 Key Points to Financial Prosperity
The secret to successful living is finding what God’s will is in every area of life and doing it. According to the Bible, it’s God’s will for you to prosper financially. So that’s what you should be doing! Here are a few points to help you:
1. Settle the fact with Scripture that prosperity truly is God’s will for you.
Corinthians 8:9: “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.”
2. Believe that God is able to bless you financially and make you a blessing to others.
2 Corinthians 9:8: “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.”
3. Stop looking at the world’s economy and focus on heaven’s.
Philippians 4:19: “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
4. Do things God’s way instead of the world’s way.
Matthew 6:31, 33: “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
5. Plant the prosperity seed of The WORD.
Mark 4:20: “And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.”
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