Your Desire for Wealth

 

 Hunger after His Kingdom (4)

Through the apostle John, God said, “I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”(3 John 2, KJV) God wants you to prosper – that is, in wealth. In the above verse, the first “prosper” must refer to material wealth, or at the very least includes material wealth, because the soul is taken care of in the last “prosper”.  There is no ambiguity here, you can be certain of it. If you desire wealth, you are simply after something that God desires you to have.

Wealth is not defined by the amount of money we have. Simply put, it is the state of being whereby we have all our material need satisfied and more. The “more” is important; without excess we cannot be said to be wealthy.  In the Scriptures, when God dispensed of material blessing, He always gave more than enough. When Jesus fed the five thousand, there were twelve baskets full of leftover. When He blessed Peter and Co. the fishermen with a miraculous catch, there were so many fish they needed another boat to help trawl them in without the weight of the catch sinking their boat. You see, God has so much in surplus that when He gives He doesn’t give just enough. It’s not His idea that we have just enough. He wants us to have more than enough. Much More.

So, firstly, God desires us to be wealthy. Secondly, to be wealthy means to have more than enough. Bear in mind these two points, and we are in a good position to understand and receive what the Lord wants to tell us about our desire for wealth in His great Sermon.

The very first group of people that Jesus addressed in His great Sermon are those who desire to be wealthy. Blessed are the poor …(Matt 5:3, Lk 6:20). In fact at the outset of His public ministry Jesus proclaimed that the Gospel of the Kingdom would be preached to the poor (Lk 4:18). “Gospel” means good news. Why is it that the coming of His Kingdom is good news to the poor, except that they will be made wealthy when the Kingdom has come on them? Is it good news to you when you need money someone come and tell you it’s okay because you will be rich when you get to heaven? Of course not. You would probably slap him and ask, “Do you want me to die now?” Jesus has better sense than that. So when Jesus said “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:3, Lk 6:20) he means when the Kingdom comes on them in the here and now they will find in it the wealth they desire. The wealth that we desire, just like any other need, is found in the Kingdom.  

But you cannot serve both God and Mammon (Matt 6:24). Mammon is not money. It is the economic system of this world, the Babylonian system. You can almost say that it is a person, a spirit. God’s Kingdom is different from this world. If we desire something in His Kingdom, we cannot get it from this world. The world’s system of getting wealth by toiling and worrying is not God’s way. When we are determined to do it the world’s way, we are joining ourselves to Mammon and automatically severe ourselves from God’s Kingdom. When we invest in the Babylonian system of this world to accumulate wealth for ourselves we are laying for ourselves treasures on earth (Matt 6:19). Clearly the system doesn’t work as we can see from the frequency of financial crisis, famine and strife everywhere. In this system, moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal (Matt 6:19).  

If we want true wealth, wealth that doesn’t diminish whatever the condition of the world economy, we must join ourselves to the Kingdom of God. It is a superior kingdom and recession-proof. “How to have the Kingdom?” you asked. You can only receive His Kingdom; you cannot obtain or achieve. A prerequisite in the economy of this Kingdom is that we recognize God as our Father. A father always provides for his children. It is far more important to learn how to receive than how to achieve. Our Father God is such that He even takes care of the lilies in the field and the birds in the air, how much more will He take care of us. Do not worry or toil, it will do you no good (Matt 6:25-30). All you need to do is to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you (Matt 6:33, NKJV). Yes, all that pertain to be wealthy, to have more than enough.

Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. (Luke 12:32, NKJV)

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Scripture Link: BibleGateway.com