Key 2: Invest in the
Kingdom of God:
There is a very simple key given to us by Jesus
Christ showing what our priority should be in life. "But SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD, and his righteousness; and
all these things shall be added unto you" (Mat 6:33), some people want
to seek other things and expect the kingdom to be added to them. That shall
never be. Your primary investment should not be in education, business, job or
family. Your primary investment should be in the Kingdom so that every other
aspect of your life is protected by God. The major goal that God has given us
in this life is to win souls and make disciples of all nations. This is God's
desire for every believer, "And he
said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every
creature" (Mar 16:15). This is not a great suggestion, it is a great
command and great commission. When you do not put money into the gospel, you
have lost the whole point of what prosperity is about. God wants His children
to prosper but when they foolishly refuse or forget to sow the money into the
gospel, He blocks the supply from the source. "For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and THE
PROSPERITY OF FOOLS SHALL DESTROY THEM" (Pro 1:32), God will never
permit you to prosper when you are still a fool and your mind is not renewed to
his purpose of wealth.
God wants you to
prosper and He clearly spells it out in the Word, "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest PROSPER and be
in health, even as thy soul prospereth" (3Jo 1:2). Many have
complained about the preaching of the prosperity gospel and shut their ears
when they hear the mention of that word. Is the message I am declaring to you a
"prosperity gospel"? Beyond any shadow of a doubt it is and I will
not even mince words about it. Why do we preach the prosperity gospel? Because
God preaches the prosperity gospel. Why should I share anything that is outside
the word? I certainly would declare God a liar if I do not preach the
prosperity gospel. Newspaper columnists do not dictate what should be preached
in the church of Jesus Christ. Whether they ridicule Men of God or not, the gospel
shall still be proclaimed to the poor that Jesus wants them to be set free from
poverty. That was the very first message that Jesus preached, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he hath anointed me to PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR; he hath sent me
to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and
recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To
preach THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD" (Luk 4:18-19). The gospel or
good news was first of all proclaimed to the poor. The good news was not that
they were going to remain poor but that they are going to be made rich. Jesus
even added that the year of the Lord's favor was being preached. This was the
year of Jubilee when all debts were cancelled and all the slaves were set free.
This shows us that the first gospel Jesus preached was a prosperity gospel.
Whose gospel should you preach, the religious unbeliever's gospel steeped in
dogmas and traditions of men or the gospel of Jesus the Son of God?
What steps should
you take to start operating in the God-kind of prosperity? The first step is
tithing. Without tithing, a man confesses and demonstrates that God is not His
source. "Will a man rob God? Yet ye
have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In TITHES AND
OFFERINGS. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole
nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in
mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not
open you THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall
not be room enough to receive it. And I will REBUKE THE DEVOURER for your
sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your
vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts"
(Mal 3:8-11). Many saved individuals would readily condemn a thief caught
stealing on the street and some carnal ones would even venture to cane or stone
him. However, this is commonly done by the hypocrites. The greatest thieves
that we have on this earth are not those who rob men on the streets or who take
bribes but those who rob from God. The repercussions of robbing God are much
greater than that for robbing man. Some believers think that they will prosper when
they fly out to another country. You should come to the understanding that the
devourer, the devil, does not need a visa to find you where you have flown and
devour your finances. A curse follows everyone who robs God and keeps back the
tenth of all his increase from Him. When the believer gives back a tenth of all
the Lord has entrusted Him with, the windows of heaven are opened over His
life. A blessing is poured out that even your pockets and bank account cannot
contain. Some argue that tithing was done away with in the Old Testament. It
could not have been done away with since Jesus mentions tithing, "I've had it with you! You're
hopeless, you Pharisees! Frauds! You keep meticulous account books, TITHING ON
EVERY NICKEL AND DIME you get, but manage to find loopholes for getting around
basic matters of justice and God's love. CAREFUL BOOKKEEPING IS COMMENDABLE,
but the basics are required" (Luk 11:42 MSG). Jesus speaks to the
Pharisees and tells them that it is commendable for them to tithe and they should
continue with it but that they should not forget justice and the love of God.
He never condemned the Pharisees for tithing and neither does He condemn us. We
are supposed to deliver our tithes to our High Priest, Jesus Christ, who is
supposed to receive them, "And here
men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is
witnessed that he liveth" (Heb 7:8). The one who lives forever is
Jesus Christ and He has the right to receive our tithes under the New Covenant.
Where should you tithe? The Bible gives you the place, "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse" (Mal
3:10a). The storehouse is the place you should take the tithes, and this is the
place where you receive your spiritual food from. When you receive spiritual ministry from an
individual, it is a commandment in the Word of God that you should minister to
that person in physical or material blessings, "Let him that is taught in the word COMMUNICATE unto him that
teacheth IN ALL GOOD THINGS" (Gal 6:6). Or as the Geneva Version
states it, "Let him that is taught
in the worde, make him that hath taught him, PARTAKER OF ALL HIS GOODS"
(Gal 6:6 Geneva), showing that a man who is taught should allow the teacher to
be a fellow partaker of all his physical goods. The ministers stand in the
place of Jesus Christ as His representatives and receive the tithe as a right.
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