How to Prosper Through the Gospel | Season 04, Episode 09 | Simple Truth Podcast

God's path to prosperity is not what most people expect. Many Christians want God's provision. They pray for it. They hope for it. But they're not always sure how to walk in it. Should you just work harder? Should you just have more faith? Maybe you should just wait for God to do something supernaturally that will make you prosperous. The Bible gives a much clearer answer than most people realize. God doesn't just promise provision. He shows us a path to provision. A path that begins with believing in what Jesus did on the cross and trusting God as your provider. A path that includes pursuing God's will, working diligently, stewarding what you already have faithfully and being content in Christ. Along that path, there will be a need for dedication, repentance, and faith. And here's the challenge. Many Christians want the results of biblical prosperity without following the biblical principles that lead to prosperity. In this episode, we're going to walk through five practical principles from scripture that show how Christians will prosper God's way through the gospel. We'll see what prosperity really is, how God provides, what our responsibilities are, and how to enjoy God's blessings without letting them become an object of our worship. In other words, to not become an idol. By the end, you'll have a simple biblical framework for walking in prosperity through the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's get into it in this episode of The Simple Truth. Welcome to the Simple Truth Podcast, where we open the Bible to uncover simple, biblical, and essential truths that can transform your life. And now, here's your host, Ted Ross. Hi, my name is Ted Ross and this is the Simple Truth Podcast, your home for biblical truth clearly taught and freely given. Welcome to season 4, episode 9 on how to prosper through the gospel, where we get practical, we get tactical, and we drill in to the biblical path for prosperity. So why does this episode matter? Well, God desires to provide for his people. Yet many Christians, they struggle to know the difference between biblical prosperity and worldly prosperity. Some people, they chase money as the goal. Others, they assume God doesn't even care about provision or finances at all. When we misunderstand biblical prosperity, we actually miss God's provision. We miss his purpose and the opportunities that he places before us. In this episode, you're going to discover how to prosper through the gospel and how to walk in the gospel and prosperity God's way. Let's see what the Bible teaches about this controversial topic, biblical truths about prosperity. Let's take a quick look at last episode and recap some of the important teachings. Remember, last episode was season 4, episode 8 on how the gospel is everything you need. From the beginning, we saw God's desire for his people has been blessings, fruitfulness, provision, and the ability to fulfill his purpose. We saw this throughout scripture, Old Testament and New. Just look at Jesus Christ. He lived on the earth with his needs abundantly met by the father. He demonstrated God's will was for provision, not for poverty or lack. Throughout his ministry, Jesus always had what he needed to fulfill God's assignment to bless others and to accomplish the father's will. At the cross, though, Jesus then took our poverty. He no longer was sufficient. He no longer had abundance. He took poverty on himself and lack. And that was our poverty and our lack. So we could then have God's provision, his sufficiency, and his abundance through the gospel. So biblical prosperity, it's not an end in itself. It's a tool for obedience, for generosity in our lives, for ministry, and for advancing God's kingdom. So through the gospel, God provides everything we need. spiritually and physically as we saw in scripture to accomplish the purpose that God has given us for his glory and his honor. So how do you prosper through the gospel? Well, so if God desires to provide for his people and Jesus purchased that provision through the gospel through his death, burial, and resurrection as defined in 1 Corinthians 15 verses 1-4. How do Christians actually access it and walk in prosperity today? Well, here's the biblical path to prosperity. First, put your trust in God as provider, not in your own abilities. Second, pursue God's will above material things. In other words, seek God's kingdom first. Third, work hard. It is scriptural to work hard. In fact, it's scriptural to work hard as if you're working unto the Lord himself. Fourth, obey him with the provision that he gives you. Be a good steward. show stewardship. And fifth, be content in Christ. Prosperity is to be a blessing, not an idol. We are going to shape this entire episode around these five biblical principles, and we're going to walk through each one of them and look at scripture related to it. So, don't feel like you need to memorize or take notes on them right now. So here is a diagram showing trusting God, pursuing God's will, working hard, obeying with provision, and then being content in Christ as scriptural principles and a path to prosperity biblically. We're going to see towards the bottom of the screen when we get to a simple truth, as we're showing for those watching on YouTube, we're going to show where we are in each of these five steps. So that brings us to our first simple truth. Simple truth number 69. God is your provider, not your own cleverness. Let's take a look at that. Deuteronomy 8:17 and 18. As a reminder, all Bible verses are from the New King James Version. So, feel free to follow along here. We're going to see that Israel was tempted to believe that their success came from their own strength, from their own wisdom, from their own efforts, their own hard work, you could say. And yet God corrects them here in Deuteronomy 8 to say. It is God who gives the ability to prosper. It's God who gives the ability to build wealth. That's really what the scripture is saying. So let's take a look at it. Deuteronomy 8:17. Then you say in your heart, "My power and the might of my hand has gained me this wealth." Verse 18. And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant, which he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. That's a fascinating scripture. It says, "Then you will say in your heart, my power, this is you and me. This is the Israelites. This is God's people going into the promised land and saying, well, it's my power." which is to say my strength, my capacity, my ability to accomplish, right? And my might, my capabilities by my hands that have gained me this wealth. That word wealth is what you expect it to be, its resources, its substance, its prosperity. Right? Verse 18. And you shall remember the Lord your God. Right? You shall recall. You shall bring back into mind the Lord your God. For it is he who gives you power to get wealth. That word gives, it is he who grants. It is he who bestows. It's he who provides, right? Provides you the power. He provides you the strength, the capacity, the ability to accomplish, to get wealth. Same word, resources, substance. Prosperity. Prosperity begins when you recognize that every ability, every opportunity, every resource, every blessing, it ultimately comes from God. And if you don't put your trust in God, you are going to encounter resistance to your finances and resistance to your prosperity because your trust is not in the right place. Let's take a look at Proverbs 3 verses 5 and 6. And here we're going to see that prosperity, it starts with submitting every area of your life to God. That sounds like a strong term, but it's important, right? Instead of trusting on your own ideas, your own analysis, your own plans, you're going to need to put your heart onto God. You're going to need to let him direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." Verse six, in all your ways acknowledge him. That's God. And he shall direct your paths. Praise God. It says, "Trust." To trust is to rely on, to place your confidence in, to depend on the Lord with all your heart. Your heart is your inner person, right? It includes your soul and your spirit, your will, your intellect, your emotions, your will, your intentions, your intellect, the brain, the part that thinks and analyzes, and your emotions, your feelings. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. And don't lean on your own understanding. That is your own reasoning, your own analysis, your own judgments. In all your ways, acknowledge God. That is to recognize God, to regard God, to honor God, and to submit to God in all your ways. Acknowledge, submit, regard, recognize God in the decisions you make. And then he shall direct your paths. That means he will lead you correctly. He will make your path straight. He'll make your paths right. He'll make your way of life, the direction that you're walking straight and correct. And that is exactly what we want. Especially in the context of prosperity and material things in your life and provision. As we submit to God and seek his will, he leads us on the right path including for provision to do God's will for provision of all the things that you know you need in life and he knows you need in life. James 4:13-15. And here we're going to see that our lives, they're not our own. They're not our own. We should submit our financial plans, our career moves, our business decisions. We should submit them to God as we saw in Proverbs. We should acknowledge, we should regard, we should honor, we should submit to him in those things. And when we do that, we're submitting them first of all to someone who's all wise, who's all powerful, but also someone who actually owns tomorrow. You can say, who literally knows what's going to happen anywhere in the world tomorrow. It's exactly the right place to be submitting ourselves in our decisions to James 4:13. Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit." Verse 14, "Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away." Wow, that's your and my life. Okay, we may we may not think of it that way, but that's because we're arrogant, right? We're self-centered too often. Clearly, our life is a vapor in the grand scheme of everything. It'll appear for a little time and then it will vanish away. Praise God. It's good to acknowledge that. Verse 15, instead you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that. Very powerful verses here. He says, "Come now, you who say today or tomorrow, we're going to go to such and such a city. We're going to spend a year. We're going to buy and sell. We're going to make a profit." That says, "We're going to go to those places to gain to acquire resources to gain a benefit to make money is what James 4:13 says." And says, "Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. You don't even know. God does, but you do not." Right? So, you should watch the plans that you make. You should submit them to God. You should honor God. regard and acknowledge God in the plans that you make. You don't even know what's going to happen tomorrow, let alone a year from now. He says, "For what is your life? It is even a vapor." A vapor is a mist. It's something temporary. It's something fleeting, right? And then it vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, James writes, "If the Lord wills, if God desires, if God purposes, if God determines, then we shall go to a city, we shall spend a year, we shall make a profit." Right? Plan wisely, work diligently, but keep your trust always in God. God is always your source. Let's take a moment. Trust God and obey God. These sound simple, right? But what if it feels really really hard? Remember number one, God is gracious. You don't need to be perfect to start following God. You should just start following where you are. We saw scriptures where it says to acknowledge God in everything and in your entire every area of your life. You should submit it over to God. That's easier said than done for most people. So let's be frank. That's why we included this slide. You don't need to be perfect. Start following God right where you are now. Second, growth requires closeness. For you to regard God, for you to acknowledge God, you're going to need to hear God. You need to understand what God's will and purpose is for your life. And there are ways to get there. But it requires a closeness, which is exactly what God's looking for in the first place. God is not trying to instruct you from a distance. He's not trying to be way up here and you're way down there and he sends orders out from long distance. He wants a relationship. He literally sent his son to die on a cross and to rise again the third day so that he could bring children into his kingdom so he could be your adopted parent so you could be his child and he can be your God. He wants a very close and direct relationship and he doesn't want it with your priest or with your pastor with your minister. He wants it with you. He wants it directly with you. Do you understand? I say this emphatically because I do not want you to miss the point that God wants a relationship with you. Trust in God. It grows as you spend time with God. And that's why we describe this concept of the five disciplines throughout season 3 of this podcast. Reading God's word, meditating on God's word, praying, fasting, obeying the spirit of God. We describe these things because they build a closeness to God. As you read God's word, you better understand who he is and who you are. As you meditate on his word, it goes from being in the head and starts getting into the heart. When you pray to God, you start fellowshipping and relating and interacting with him. When you fast, you start bringing down the strength of the flesh. You start to become spiritually more sensitive. And when you seek to obey and follow the Holy Spirit, you start to manifest God's will in your life. That is how you trust God. Season 3, episode 1. If you haven't watched it already, check out the five disciplines that every Christian needs for success. And then third, growth. It often feels uncomfortable at first. Often God convinces you to make the right decision. Then when you make that decision, you'll start to feel pressure, resistance. Sometimes it's your flesh. Sometimes it's simply the enemy. But you often feel a discomfort at first when you are growing. when you begin to take God seriously, God may lead you through testing in what's often called a wilderness season before you get to a season of fruitfulness. So, if that is you, if I am describing your situation, I hardily recommend you check out season 2, episode 3, why God leads Christians into the wilderness. It's going to get right into the details of what a wilderness season is. And most importantly, we have episodes on how to get out of it and to get out of it in power. Praise God. After starting to trust God as your provider, the next step is to make his will, not your comfort, not your finances, to make God's will your first priority. So that brings us to our second step in the five steps in the biblical path. And that brings us to simple truth number 70. Prosperity follows the relentless pursuit of God's will. Praise God. Let's take a look at a famous set of scriptures. Matthew 6 verses 31-33. Here we're going to see that the world chases provision, but Christians chase God and trust him for their provision. I'm going to repeat that one more time. The world chases after provision. Chases after material things. Christians don't chase after material things. They chase after God. And God provides the material things. Why? Because God doesn't want us to starve to death and be naked without shelter on the streets. He's got a purpose for our lives. It's really as simple as that. God has a purpose. And for us to fulfill God's purpose, it often requires things like money, like clothes, like food. I mentioned it in last episode. Here we are. I'm obeying God with this podcast. It requires a camera. It requires subscription. It requires clothes. I need to be able to provide this message. I need a microphone. I need headphones. And God provides that provision in my life. And it didn't come easy. I've had difficult times financially in my life. I had to overcome a lot of things when I was younger that were bring about a poverty in my soul. And as I started to believe God and trust God and obey God and submit to God and do the five disciplines, I started to see an overcoming in my life. And as my soul started to overcome, I started to see it manifest in my finances. And I thank God for it. I can't take credit for it. Everything that you're seeing on this set, everything that you're participating with, I owe to God. It's God who provided for all these physical things. And it's God who provides the understanding and the wisdom. And the words that I speak, if they're just my words, they'll have no effect. But if my words are truly from God, he will bear witness by his spirit. And he will manifest it in your life, too. Because God did not call us to speak our own words, but to speak his words and to submit to his will. So whether it's you or with me that you know there's nothing different between the two of us. So I digress. I apologize. But again, the world chases provision. But Christians chase after God. And that's what Matthew 6:31 is going to get into. Quote, "Therefore, do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear?" This is Jesus talking. Jesus says to his people, to his Christians, to his disciples, to us, "Don't worry about what you will eat, what you will drink, or what you will wear." Verse 32, "For after all these things, the Gentiles seek." People who aren't even serving God know you need all these things. Quote, "For your heavenly father knows that you need all these things." I don't want to sound disrespectful, but God's not stupid. Let's be clear. He's extremely wise. He's clearly not stupid. He knows what you need. Verse 33, but Jesus says, "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. All what things? What we shall eat, what we shall drink, or what we shall wear." He says it two verses prior. He says, "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." Praise God. What a powerful set of verses. Thank God for Jesus Christ. Thank him for doing the will of the father and thank God for people who wrote down his words. He says, "Therefore, do not worry. Do not be anxious about do not be distracted by what we'll eat, drink, or wear." And you could extend it beyond that. He chose three basic provisions, right? Three basic items. But here in modern life, you could also say, "Do not worry about rent or your car payment or your need for insurance or whatever it may be." We live in modern times and we have things above and beyond food, clothing, and drink, right? Jesus knows this. Again, I saw I say it this way. God's not stupid. He understands exactly what's going on way better than you and I do. It says, "For after all these things, the Gentiles seek, right? The Gentiles search for, they desire, they strive after all the things that we just described. He says, "For your heavenly father," he knows the things you need. He knows you need all these things. But then Jesus says, "But so acknowledging everything that we just said, but seek first the kingdom of God." That is to seek God's rule, to seek God's reign, to seek God's authority. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. His righteousness is his right standing and his right behavior. So seek God's kingdom. Seek his rule in your life. Seek him becoming master over all things. Remember we heard in Proverbs, in all your ways acknowledge him, right? And he shall direct your paths. This is simply Proverbs brought into the New Testament and described so eloquently. So seek first the kingdom of God. Seek God's reign. Seek his rule. Seek his authority and his righteousness, his right behavior, his right standing with him. and all these things shall be added to you. God will provide all these things. So, the world chases the quote unquote gentile chases the things, but Christians chase God. God knows you need the things and God will provide those things. And as we saw last episode with Jesus Christ, he'll provide them abundantly because your heart is not after those things. Your heart is after God. The path to prosperity is not about pursuing money, but pursuing God's will and trusting God to provide what is needed along the way. Praise God. Let's take a look at Joshua 1 verse 8. Notice how whether we're in Old Testament or New Testament, God is very consistent on this topic. Praise God. Thank God for his faithfulness and his consistency. Joshua 18, we're going to see that the closer you align your life with God's will, the more you position yourself to walk in the prosperity and the success that God has to offer you. And that God wants to provide for you. Much like Adam in the garden, as we saw in last episode, God wants to bless you. He wants to bless you. We get in our own way about that. Joshua 18, in fact, in the Psalms, it says he has the cattle on a thousand hills. He says if he needed something, he wouldn't ask us. Right? And so there's so many verses and so many scriptures about this. Joshua 18, quote, "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then, right?" So for after it doesn't depart from your mouth and after you meditate and after you observe to do everything written it for then you will make your way prosperous and you will have good success. This book of the law that's God's instructions God's teachings right it says you shall you shall not depart from your mouth but you shall meditate in it that you may observe to do. To observe to do is to watch carefully to perform and to carry out. If you read scripture, if you pray and God speaks to you, these are things that you should watch carefully to perform and to carry out. You may hear a minister in a pulpit or somebody on a podcast where you hear and go, "That's God talking to me. That's not that person. That's God talking to me." When you hear that, watch carefully to perform it. You might even want to write it down and go carry it out. Go carry it out faithfully because God is telling you to do something. So you should observe it and observe to do it. It says for then it will make your way prosperous. That means to make it successful. You will accomplish, you will advance by observing to do those things and you will have good success. That means you will act wisely. You will prosper through understanding. The actions you take will be wise and they will be blessed. Prosperity is the result of aligning our thoughts, our words, and our actions with God's will. Nothing in Joshua 18 says go chase after things. It says take God's instructions. Take God's teachings. Don't let them depart from your mouth. As in speak them, meditate on them and do them. That's what he's saying. And when you do that, you will be successful. You will advance in life. You'll prosper with understanding and you will act wisely. Thank God. That's what I want. That, my friends, is way beyond just material things. Third John 1 verse 2. Here we're going to see that biblical prosperity, it begins on the inside and it flows outward into every area God has entrusted to you. This is such a powerful and an important scripture. Prosperity begins inside of you and it manifests itself on the outside of you. Okay. Third John 1 vers2 quote beloved I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health just as your soul prospers says beloved I pray that you may prosper this is John writing to prosper is to succeed to have things go well to have a good journey right he prays that you may have a good journey to be successful to have things go well in your life in all things right it's all that's a powerful powerful term. It's every area of your life. He wants you to prosper, to have success, to have things go well in every area of your life. And on top of that, to be in good health, to be in health, to be physically healthy, to be sound, to be whole. And how does this happen? It happens just as your soul prospers. The inside of you, your soul is your inner life. Your soul is who you are. It's often described as your personality. It's your will, your intellect. It's your emotions. It's what you intend to do. It's your reasoning and your rationale. It's your analysis. It's your emotions. It's your feelings. It's this unseen part of you, right? It's not about your body. Your body isn't exactly who you are. Your body is what you look like. But your body carries around a soul and a spirit. And in that soul, your soul describes your personality, who you are. Someone might be stubborn. Someone might always be in a good mood. Right? There are these facets to who we are. And that is in our soul. And so when it describes it, it says just as your soul prospers, as your soul flourishes, as your soul succeeds, as your soul has things go well. So as God is converting you, that's what we're going to get into. God's blessings, they're not limited to one area of your life. He wants to prosper you spiritually. He wants to prosper you on the inside. And then it's going to extend outwardly to things like finances and health, things that are physical, things that are visible, things that you see on the outside. So the best path to prosperity and health for that matter is an obedient and a prosperous soul. So when you're doing something in your life, when you're praying, if you're if you're wailing, if you're repenting of something, if you're crying out to God for help, God bless you because that is the work you do to be converted, to be transformed. And the work that is happening where you set aside the television set, where you read your Bible, where you submit to God, where you give because you believe it's right, where you submit yourself to people because you know that's where God has you. All those things that you're doing in obedience to God is converting your soul. And as it converts your soul, it will manifest itself in the physical things that we see. And here we see in 3 John 1:2, it's prosperity, right? It's success to have things go well, to have a good journey across every area of your life. He prayed and to be in good health. Praise God. And it starts with a prosperous soul. So let's take a moment. If you're wondering how to know God's will for your life right now because we tell you we say trust God but then also go do God's will right make it sound like it's easy. It's normal to wonder and we discussed this in detail last season. It's normal to wonder what is God's will for my life. Right? You may know God has a purpose for you. God draws people often through a very powerful supernatural experience. And then as you get pulled, you say, "Okay, I need to be a Christian." But sometimes depending on what church you're in or where you're at or who's around you, you may start to fall yourself and it feels like you're wandering because you're unsure. You do I read a Bible? What version do I read? And I I hear conflicting things from different people. So it can often make things difficult. In fact, that's honestly why this podcast was created. It was created because too often people in churches are still unfamiliar with the basics of Christianity. So our purpose here is to establish foundational truths. is to establish a foundation regarding of what part of the country you're in, even what part of the world you're in that we can establish sound biblical practices that you can build your life on that are regardless of denomination or group of people or culture, but they are around about being a Christian, about being a follower of Jesus Christ. So, it's normal to wonder what God's will is for you. You may know that God has a purpose, but you're still not exactly sure what that purpose is yet. So, you start where you're at, right? You seek God in prayer. You read your Bible. You reflect on what God is trying to speak to you. You pay attention to your convictions. God may be stirring inside of you certain convictions, certain burdens. You may have a heart after people or heart after certain kinds of people or certain groups or even desires that he might be shaping inside of you. So, you start to pay attention. You start to think about those things and what you would commit your life to and what is something that's driving inside of you and seems important. You also shouldn't wait passively. You should keep walking with God. Right? So, as you're praying and you're reading and you're reflecting, you start testing things out wisely. Test things out. See if it's God or not. God often reveals his purpose as you work, as you serve, as you obey him. Often, you may find that you're working even in a small capacity. He'll give you insight into a much bigger one. Or you're serving, you know, maybe it's a children's wing or maybe it's as a deacon in your church or whatever it may be. or you're just serving a widow in your life or you're serving an orphan or you're serving the poor, right? There's all sorts of areas and places where God says to serve and to contribute. And as you're obeying in those things, he'll start to reveal purpose to you. It's very powerful. And of course, check out season 2, episode 5, how to find your purpose in the wilderness, which really gets exactly into this topic. In fact, one main way that God reveals his purpose for you is actually through the work that he's already placed right in front of you, which brings us to simple truth number 71. You should work diligently as if working for God himself. So, in the five steps, the biblical path to prosperity. This is step number three around working hard. Let's take a look at Colossians 3 verses 22- 24. Here we're going to see that prosperity it's not built on laziness. This may seem like no duh, but it is. It's important to mention folks. Prosperity is not built on laziness. It's not built on shortcuts. It's not built on seeking your boss's approval. It's built on faithfully serving God through diligent work. Okay. Colossians chapter 3:22. quote, "Bond servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men." Verse 24, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ. Such a powerful term here. So it's describing this idea of bondservants. A bondservant is a servant. It's one who serves under authority. Now for most of us in the societies we live in, we do not have people who call themselves masters and we don't have people who call themselves bondservants. But we certainly have employees and we certainly have supervisors and managers, don't we? And in many ways when you work in a job, when you even own a business and if you're serving others, we're serving under the authority of others. And that's the nature of how we're, let's say, earning an income. So he says, bond servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh. They are not your masters in the spirit. There's one master in the spirit, right? And that is God. But he says, obey them because when you go to a job, you're submitting to people there. Of course, do so ethically and wisely and legally, but submit yourselves in the flesh. You show up on time. You do a good job, and you do the service that your company or your boss is paying you to do. And it says don't do it with eye service. Eyes service means you only work when you're watched. You only perform because someone is seeing it. Here Paul is saying don't do it with eye service. Don't just do it just because someone's looking over your shoulder. And don't do it as a men pleaser, but do it in sincerity of heart, fearing God. When you're doing your work, do it to God and do it sincerely, respecting and revering God, knowing that he sees what you're doing, knowing that you represent him and that he knows that he sees everything that you are doing. And verse 23, it says, "And whatever you do, whatever you do," it's a very broad statement. Whatever you do, do it heartily. That means to do it wholeheartedly. Do it with full effort. If something's worth doing, it's worth doing right. As the old saying goes, go when you get out there and you do something, do it wholeheartedly. Give it your full effort and do it as to the Lord. Do this to God. If you're doing that job and God, you knew God was in the room and watching. How would God feel about the job you do? Would God look at it and say, "Yeah, that person represents me." Or would God look at it and say, "Why are you cutting so many corners? Why you taking so many shortcuts? I've given you strength. I've given you energy. Get on it. Go do a good job." Right? It says, "Do it as unto the Lord and not to men." It's not about people. It's no longer about people. It's about God. It's about your service to God. You'll notice that through all these scriptures, all these verses that we're looking at, it's not about the people in your life. It's about your relationship with God. It's about you submitting to God. And I'll tell you this, as you submit yourself to God, and as you do these five principles to biblical prosperity, as you do them, you'll see that God blesses you. And he'll bless you sometimes through people. Sometimes it's not through people, but it's not going to be about the people. It's not going to be about your boss. It's going to be about God. God has all these blessings he'd like to give. And it's about your and my relationship with him. It's not even about those people, folks. He can turn those people's hearts any direction that he wants. It says verse 24, "Knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward." The reward is the repayment. It's the reward given in return. Return for what? for doing your job with sincerity of heart, for fearing God for whatever you do, doing it wholeheartedly and doing it with full effort. Praise God. God will bless your work, but he won't bless the work that you refuse to do. I'm going to say that one more time. God will bless your work, but he will not bless the work that you refuse to do. Praise God. Proverbs 10:4 here we're going to see that diligent hands they become vessels for God's provision while lazy hands unfortunately they lead to lack. Right? Proverbs 10:4 quote he who has a slack hand becomes poor but the hand of the diligent makes rich. Who what is a slack hand? A slack hand is a lazy hand, a negligent hand. A hand that's careless. A hand that avoids responsibility. That person who has that slack hand becomes poor. That means they lack. They have need. They get reduced to poverty. That's what this word means. But the hands of the diligent, the hands of the hardworking, the hands of the decisive, the hands of the person who's ready to act. We we'll compare this it'll say with our previous verse, the hands of the person who's ready to be wholehearted, ready to give it all that they got. Right? That hand makes rich. To make rich is to become rich. It's to gain resources. It's to have abundance. Again, this is about wealth. This is about resources. This is about a provision. It's about sufficiency. It's about being able to afford what you need to do to obey God. To be able to put gas in the car. To be able to have a car if that's what you need. To be able to have clothing and food. To be able to accomplish the goal in your life, and to provide for others who are depending on you. Praise God. Biblical prosperity, it's not passive. Trusting God does not excuse laziness, right? But God calls us to work as a part of walking in God's provision. God is our provider, right? But diligent labor is often how he provides for us. So his provision is often released as we work and as we work heartily as to the Lord. Ephesians 4:28. Here we're going to see that biblical prosperity. It turns us from survival to service and from lack to generosity. There's another scripture here that I didn't include, but talks about God wanting us to be a lender and not a borrower. Not to be a person who's dependent on others, but person who can help others. That's the position God wants to put you in. Praise God. But it's going to require a conversion of your soul. It's going to require a prosperous soul so that then God can start to use you for those things. Because if God gives you a bunch of material things and you don't have a converted soul, it'll simply become an idol to you. You'll simply have just one more reason to get insnared into sin. Right? And that's not what God's here for. God would rather keep you poor. I can't speak for God, but from everything I've read in scripture, God would rather keep you poor and humble than give you money and cause you to be led astray. But most importantly, he wants to convert your soul so that material things don't cause you to be led astray. There's no reason- Jesus didn't feed the 5,000. God didn't feed the 5,000 to Jesus and then Jesus got lost and then started running away to go buy clothes and fancy cars and things like that. Jesus was Jesus was clear. Jesus was set. Jesus was on lock. Jesus knew exactly where he was trying to go and what he was trying to do. Jesus was listening to the will of the father. And as Jesus did the will of the father, God gave him abundance of provision because it wasn't going to be a stumbling block to him. Praise God. And Jesus is our example. God wants to have an abundance of provision in your life so you could be a blessing to others. But he's not going to do it if you're going to be ins snared and enticed and you're going to fall into sin because of it. Back to Ephesians 4 28. Quote, "Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need." Praise God. It says, "Let him who stole, let the person who's a thief, the person who takes what belongs to others, let him steal no longer, but rather let him labor, let him work hard. Let him labor with effort." So instead of stealing, work is what Paul is saying. Praise God. Instead of theft, instead of stealing, instead of dependency, get out there and work. Labor with effort. Some people could work harder than others, but everyone can certainly give it a good try, right? And he says, "Working with his hands. To work is to produce, to be active in labor. With your hands, what is good." And I understand we live in modern times. Your work may be on a computer. Your work may be on a phone. You may work at a service desk. There's so many different ways to work. Maybe you do work in the field. Maybe you do work physically with your hands. Maybe you dig or you climb or whatever it may be. There's so many different kinds of work. But whatever you do, produce. Be active. Labor with effort. Work hard. Don't take what belongs to others. This is what blesses you. Get out there and produce and work hard. God bless you as you do it. And do what is good, what is useful, what's beneficial, what's upright, that you may have something to give. To give is to share, to distribute, to give a portion to another. God wants you to work, to labor, right? To work hard, to labor with effort. And then he wants to give you more than you need so that you could share it. You could distribute it. You can give a portion to others. That's a blessed place to be. Remember what Jesus said. It's more blessed to give than to receive. And that includes material things. Folks, work is not just about earning an income. It's a part of obeying God, becoming useful, and creating a capacity for generosity to others. So that when something happens and someone is in need, God could say, "I gave you extra so that you can go ahead and give it there." And as you obey God and give it there, God blesses you for your obedience. And you can see the full circle of blessing that's involved. God blesses the person who it's given to, God blesses you to be able to give you extra capacity. And then God blesses you for your obedience in the giving. It's just God's blessings through all of it. In other words, you should obey God with what you are given. Which brings us to our next simple truth. Simple truth number 72. You must be faithful with what God gives you. And in our five steps of biblical prosperity, our path, it's path step number four, right? To obey with the provision that God gives you. Luke 16:10-2. Here we're going to see the quickest way to be given more is to faithfully steward what you have. Okay? to faithfully manage and to use what you have appropriately. And that's the best way to be given more. Luke 16:10, he who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much. And he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. This is Jesus talking. Verse 11. Therefore, if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, that's money, folks, who will commit to your trust the true riches. Verse 12. And if you have not been faithful and what is another man's, who will give you what is your own. Such powerful words. Praise God. I thank God for scripture. There's such power in these words. I thank God for scripture. I thank God for God's spirit bearing witness to the scripture because it's not about the words on the page or the words in your Bible app. It's about God's spirit taking those words and drilling it right into your heart. Thank God. Jesus said that his words were spirit and they were life. And that is God's word here today. So he says he who is faithful to be faithful is trustworthy, reliable, dependable. Who is faithful in what is least least smallest. It's something that's seemingly insignificant. So the person who is trustworthy, reliable, or dependable on something that's seemingly insignificant is also going to be faithful. They're going to be trustworthy, reliable, dependable in much. That's something great. That's something abundant. Right? And he who is unjust, that's someone who's unfaithful, someone who's unrighteous. To be unrighteous means you do not have a right standing or right behavior. It's showing that you have unright behavior before God. It's someone who's doing wrong. So it says he who is unjust. They're unfaithful. They're unright in their behavior in what's least will also be unright in what is much. Right? Follow the logic there. Therefore, if you, it's Jesus talking to you and me, have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon. If you haven't been faithful in money, in material resources, in wealth, who will commit to your trust the true riches? If you can't be faithful in something like money, in material things and in wealth, then how can God entrust you with something so much more important, the true riches, right? Before God gives you more things, he often tests your faithfulness with little things and with material things. So it's very important for you to be a good steward in material things which means it's important for you to act right with material things to use what you need to not go in excess or go overboard to not pursue worldly desires or worldly lust to be responsible to seek God on how you should use things if you have abundance consider God in all your ways acknowledge God acknowledge God in your abundance acknowledge God in your things how does God want you to use your things. What's right with God when it comes to your things? All too often, people have extra and they go, "Oh, I know where I'm going to spend that." And what they're describing is their lusts, their desires. When what God wants you to do is to seek him. And God is going to have you put money. I can I know this from experience. I've seen this in other Christians lives. God is not against you. God is not going to say, "Oh, no, no, you're going to enjoy that. I'm going to I'm not going to let you spend money on it." God will allow you to spend money on things that you do enjoy. But you would need to seek God first before you seek after those things. Because if you get something that you enjoy and it's God who provided it to you, it will be a blessing. But if you're chasing things and God is nowhere in it, if you're behaving unjustly, if you're being unfaithful and unrighteous with it, then it is not going to be a blessing. It's going to be a curse in your life. That's why it's important to be faithful in unrighteous mam and in money, in material resources, and in wealth so that you can be entrusted with the true riches because that's what it's all about. It's about the true riches. Praise God. Proverbs 21:5, there's two approaches to life in this proverb. There's the diligent planner, right, who has faithful work and it leads to increase. And then there's the hasty decisions, the person who chases quick results and it leads to lack. Proverbs 21:5, "The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, but those of everyone who is hasty surely to poverty." Right? The plans, the intentions, the careful considerations of the diligent, the hardworking, the decisive, those that are ready to act. It will lead to plenty. That's abundance, surplus, increase, excess even, right? Excess that you can then say, "Well, God, what do you want me to do with this excess?" But those of everyone who is hasty, to be hasty is to be impatient. It's to rush ahead. It's to act without wisdom. It leads to poverty. It leads to lack. It leads to need. It leads to deficiency. And I don't know about you, but on this list, I would much rather be in the world of surplus where I need to go to God and say, "God, what do you want me to do with this abundance, with this surplus? Where can I be a blessing to others?" than to be the person who is hasty, who's impatient, who rushes ahead and finds themself in need, in deficiency, and in lack. Prosperity is not merely receiving more from God. It includes wisely planning and stewarding what God has already provided you. Let's take a look at Matthew 25. We're going to look at verses 14 and 15 as well as 19- 21. Here we're going to see that faithfulness it's not measured by how much you have but by what you do with what God entrusted to you. And this is a famous parable, right? Matthew 25:14. For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country who called his own servant and delivered his goods to them. Verse 15. And to one he gave five talents. Now talents is a unit of measurement. We'll discuss that in a second. He gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent. So he gave this resources, this money to three different people. He gave one five talents worth, one two talents worth, and one one talent worth to each according to his own ability. Let's go over to verse 19. After a long time, the Lord to those servants came and settled accounts with them. Interesting. So there's this man traveling. This is the person, this is the lord of the man or the lord of the house. This is the person who's got the money, the resources. And so he's temporarily going out of town. And he entrusts his resources to his servants, to the people who work in his household. And he gives them talents. Now, a talent is a large sum of money. Now, it's a measure of money that you and I wouldn't normally measure. It's 75 pounds worth of whatever that resource is. So if you had 75 pounds worth of gold in today's money, it would be worth $5 million. Okay? So to give an idea that if Jesus was describing a talent of gold, it's the equivalent today of $5 million for one talent. If it was, let's say, silver, it's more like $80,000, which is still a substantial sum. So this person's traveling out of town. So he entrusts his resources to these three servants. One of them gets five talents worth. That's five times. Another one gets two. Another one gets one. But they're all being given a large sum to do something with. And they're given to each one according to their ability. That's their capacity, their capability to handle the responsibility. But notice that all of them were given a great responsibility. Just some were given greater responsibilities than others. Then it says after a long time the lord of those servants came came back and settled accounts with them. To settle accounts is to review. It's to evaluate their performance. Notice what happens when he returns. He evaluates their stewardship. He's not evaluating how much they were given in the first place. He's not even necessarily evaluating how much that they got back, but he's evaluating what they did with it, their stewardship. So Matthew 25:20 20 quote so he who had received the five talents came and brought five other talents. So with that five units of 75 lbs of let's say gold he came back with five more units. So he had 10 units in total saying Lord you delivered me five talents. Look I have gained five more talents beside them. His lord said to him well done good and faithful servant. You were faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord. Now, I hardly recommend you read this entire chapter. You can catch all sorts of interesting. But for the purpose of this episode here, we're seeing that God entrusts people with resources, with opportunities, with abilities, with responsibilities, and he expects faithful stewardship. So, it says here, Lord, you delivered to me five talents, right? Delivered. who handed over you entrusted me the servant these five talents and then the Lord looked and says well done good and faithful servant to be good is to be beneficial to be useful to be pleasing to that master right and faithful servant that's trustworthy reliable dependable spoiler alert everybody we are the servants and the lord of this man or the lord of this property the lord of this house is God and God entrusts all sorts of things to us and in the context of this episode, he entrusts material things to us. All of us have something. And the question becomes, what do we do with the something we have? Do we chase after our own desires and do we squander it? Do we gamble it off, so to speak? Or do we try to be wise? Do we try to submit ourselves to God's will and use the things entrusted to us for God's purposes, for God's will, so that then we can then see the blessings of God in our life. And when this servant did wisely with it, God said he was good and he was faithful, which means he was beneficial and he was trustworthy. Praise God. And it says that since you were faithful, you were trustworthy, reliable, and dependable in few things like unrighteous mammon as we saw in scripture, you know, material things, right? I will make you ruler over many things. I will appoint you. I'll set you in place. I'll put you in charge of bigger, better, more important things. Remember what we saw in the previous verse. He says, "If you can't manage unrighteous mammon, how can you handle the true riches?" This isn't about material things, folks. Material things are the small stuff. Remember in Matthew 6:33, he says, "Seek first the kingdom and his righteous." The Gentiles seek after the things. Seek after God. It's way more important than the material things, and all those material things will fall into place as your soul prospers. to connect it into John, right? And as your prosperity grows, will Christ remain your treasure? That's the important question. Which brings us to simple truth number 73. You should be content and not let prosperity become an idol. This is the fifth step in that five-step path related to biblical prosperity. Let's take a look at 1 Timothy 6:6-10. Here we're going to see the richest person is not the one who has the most, but it's the one who is sincerely satisfied in God. 1 Timothy 6 verse 6, quote, "Now godliness with contentment is great gain." Verse 7, for we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out, and having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. That is an important word. It says in 1 Timothy chapter 6:6, "Now godliness, godliness is reverence toward God. It's devotion." Now godliness with contentment. Contentment is sufficiency, satisfaction. It's being at peace with what you have. Praise God. To be content. There's a power in contentment. He says, "Godliness, a reverence, a respect toward God, a devotion to God, with contentment, with being at peace with what you already have is great gain." That means it's great profit. It's a great benefit. It's a great advantage to you. Verse 7 says, "For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certainly we can carry nothing out. When we were born, we brought no physical material things into this world. And when we pass away, we will be taking nothing out of this physical world." Right? And yet too often people get obsessed with those material things. And yet they brought nothing in, they'll take nothing out and they become obsessed with the material things. Verse eight says in having food and clothing. He chooses food and clothing. He it's nourishment. It's covering. It's shelter. It's the basics. It's much like Jesus describing what you shall drink, what you shall eat, and what you shall wear. These are the fundamentals. Says in having food and clothing with these we shall be content. Right? True gain is found in right living combined with contentment, right? Being at peace with what you have. Because material things, they're temporary. They're temporary and they can't even be taken into eternity. So what's the use of amassing them? You need material things to survive. God knows that. But you don't need an abundance of excess where you hoard it after your own desires and you take a confidence where you build your storehouses and stare at your bank account and and and gather some form of pride some form of greed or desire after it. That's actually a punishment. That's not a blessing. So these material things are temporary. Paul's writing to Timothy and they can't be taken with you to eternity. 1 Timothy 6:9. Here we're going to see that money, it's a useful tool, but it's dangerous when you set your affections on it. Okay, verse 9, quote, "But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lust, which drown men in destruction and perdition." Verse 10. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Wow. Praise God. That's a lot. Says, "But those who desire to be rich, to desire to be rich is determined to become wealthy." So those who are focused, they're not focused on God, they're focused on wealth. It says those fall into temptation and a snare. To fall into temptation is to fall into an enticement to sin and a trap. A snare is like something you trap an animal with. Maybe a good example would be a fishing hook and a fish, right? It's a trap. It traps you. When that fishing hook has that worm, that fish is looking at that worm saying, "That's a tasty looking worm." And then when that worm when that fish bites that worm, that fish quickly realizes that that was the wrong worm to bite and it's trapped. And then again, as you're being reeled onto the boat, as we said in our previous episode, being reeled onto a boat, you realize just how terrible how terrible it is what you took part of. So it says those who desire to become wealthy, those fall into temptation and a snare too often. And it's in many foolish and harmful lusts, right? lesser desires, their cravings, their uncontrollable passions, right? That's not godliness. That is covetousness. It's greed. It's sin. Right? And to many foolish and harmful lush, which drown men into destruction and perdition. You and I do not want destruction. We do not want perdition. We do not want judgment. It says for the love of money, an affection for wealth, a craving for riches is a root of all kinds of evil. It means it's a source. It's an underlying cause. It's an origin. So people who have an affection for wealth, who set their heart on wealth, on money, who crave after riches, they actually are craving the root of all kinds of evil. They're chasing after the source, the underlying cause, the origin of all kinds of evil, all kinds of harm for which some have strayed from the faith. Some folks have chased this wealth, have chased this money, have chased this thing that's the underlying cause of all sorts of evil. They've even chased it and they've strayed from the faith and they've done so in all their greediness and they pierced themselves. They've torn into themselves. They've injured themselves through with many sorrows because they desired after those riches instead of desiring after God. Prosperity is a blessing that must never become our treasure or our idol. Our treasure is Christ. Philippians 4:11 through13. Here we're going to see if your happiness depends on your circumstances, prosperity, material things, it'll never satisfy you. But if your happiness depends on Christ, if your joy depends on Christ, then nothing can take it away. Philippians 4:1, not that I speak in regard to need. This is Paul writing, for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. There, there's that word again. I know how to be abased and I know how to abound. Paul writes, "Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need." Verse 13, which is often quoted but often not quoted in this context. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Praise God. He says, but not not that I speak in regard to need because Paul didn't have need, right? He says, I didn't not speaking in regards to need. He goes, in fact, I have learned to learn. That's to learn through experience. I've learned through practice. Paul said, "In whatever state that I am, to be content." It's a powerful thing. We've got a lot to learn from Paul. Everybody, whatever state you're in, Paul said, "Be content. Be satisfied. Be steady regardless of the circumstances." And by the way, Paul has had some really hard circumstances. Just read the book of Acts. You'll see all sorts of circumstances that you and I could not even imagine. And he says, "I know how to be a based." That means I know I Paul know how to be brought low. I know how to live with a little and I know how to abound. I know how to overflow. I know how to have more than enough. So Paul knew what it was like to have few material things. And Paul knew what it was like to have an abundance of material things. Everywhere in all things he said, "I have learned both to be full and to be hungry. Powerful both to abound and to suffer need." And yet he was content through all of it. Praise God. And then he says in verse 13, I can do all things. I can abound. I can abase. I can be full. I could be hungry. I can do all things and I can do them through Christ who strengthens me. Through Christ who enables me with power, who empowers me. His faith was in Christ. He put his trust in Christ. And as he put his trust in Christ, Christ abounded him and Christ supported him if he had to be abased. Praise God. Because he was going to fulfill God's purpose. If Christ is enough, overflow will not corrupt you and lack will never define you. You'll be insulated. You'll be above all of it. Praise God. So, what should I do now? We've covered so many important verses because we wanted to get practical. We wanted to get tactical on this topic. Well, number one, bring your needs back to the father. Okay? Bring your concerns about material things to God. It says it in scripture. It says it in Philippians. Bring your concerns to God. Don't be anxious for anything. Bring it to God. Right? Ask God for wisdom, for direction, and for sufficiency, for what he is calling you to do. You go to God and say, "God, I need things. Why I need things?" Because I need to obey you. I need to do your purpose. I need to do your will in my life. Number two, reorder your priorities around God's will. You're not going to get these things by chasing things. And if for some reason you do chase the things and you get things, you're going to pierce yourself in the side. You're going to pierce yourself asunder. You're going to be chasing the root of all kinds of evil. Then none of us want to be chasing the roots of all kind of evil. It ends in destruction and perdition as the scripture said. So instead, we chase God, right? We reorder our priority around God's will. Before asking God to bless your plans, ask him to shape your plans. Let it be his plans and then he will bless it. If it's your plans, who knows what's going to happen. If it's God's plans, you'll be blessed every single time. Honor God in your work, right? Work with diligence. Work with integrity. Work with excellence. Believe God and trust God to find work and to get work. And when you get work, work hard at it. Don't just work for income, but as a service to Christ, as the scripture says. Number four, be faithful with what is already in your hands. Most of us have something already. Be faithful. Be a good steward with it. Steward your money. Steward your time and your opportunities like they belong to God, not as just tools to chase after your own desires. Number five, keep Christ as your treasure. He's your treasure. He's the true riches. He's what it's all about. Not about these material things. You didn't have them when you were born and you won't have them when you pass away. Receive prosperity with gratitude. But don't let provision become your identity. It's not who you are. Don't let it be your security. You're not secure in things. Don't look at your bank account or your house or your car or whatever it may be and find security. Your security comes from God. And certainly don't let it be your object of worship. You respect, you revere, you put your trust in God. You don't worship things. You don't have idols before you. There's no way you're going to be blessed and successful in your life by putting things and worshiping them. Praise God. Next episode of the simple truth. Okay, we've seen that the gospel, it restores us to God's provision. It teaches us how to prosper and it keeps Christ at the center of our lives. But if the gospel is such good news, why do so many people ignore it, reject it, or never believe in it at all? Don't miss the next episode. Why the gospel is hidden and why some never believe it, where we'll uncover the spiritual forces, the heart conditions, and the biblical truths that prevent people from seeing and receiving the gospel. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Simple Truth Podcast. Today we saw that biblical prosperity is much bigger than money. Prosperity is not about getting more from God. It is actually about becoming more useful to God's purposes in your life. And when that happens, there is no limit to the abundance and provision that God will give you, just as we saw last episode with our example, Jesus Christ. So what should you do now? Over the next seven days, I challenge you to do the following. Bring an important physical need to God in prayer. It could relate to a bill that is due, a debt that is owed, work that is needed, or a promotion that you're seeking after. When you bring it to God in prayer, ask him where he wants you to trust him more, how you can work more faithfully, in what ways you could steward your resources more wisely, or even repent from a misplaced affection for a thing when you should be setting your heart on God. Pay attention to what God shows you. If you're struggling to hear God, try the five disciplines that we discussed in season 3. The good shepherd is faithful to speak to his sheep, and his sheep will hear his voice. When you do this, watch how your perspective changes when you focus less on getting more and more on following God. Jesus died for our poverty and our shortcomings. And the same power that God worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead will work in your provision and your finances so you can fulfill God's purposes for your life. When you do this 7-day challenge, let us know in the comments what God reveals to you or testify what God has done for you and share this episode with someone who would like to better understand the biblical path to prosperity and provision through the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. If this episode helped you, please be sure to like and subscribe. Join us for the next episode as we turn this season on its head. That's right. Next episode, we will get into why the gospel is hidden and why some people never believe it, where we'll explore why people reject the greatest news ever given and what scripture reveals about the spiritual barriers that keep people from accepting the truth. This should be fascinating. You don't want to miss it. It's been a real pleasure talking about the Bible with you. I pray God bless you. I pray God keep you and the power of the gospel work in your finances and provision as you submit to his will in your life. Until next time, thank you for listening to the Simpler podcast. For additional episodes, visit us at www.simpletruth.org.