The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

GOD’S PLAN FOR PROSPERITY-PART II (Proverbs 28:13-14)

Did you know that God is interested in you being prosperous? Now, the reason that we don’t prosper like God wants us to prosper is very simple, there is un-confessed sin in our hearts and in our lives. It’s just as plain and simple as that.  The reason that you don’t prosper, (meaning that you are not living a life of general welfare, where God meets your needs, and that you are being fulfilled and enjoying the blessings of God) is because there is unconfessed sin in your heart.  

So, you might ask, “Well, Bro. Keith, I have covered sin in my life, and I want to get rid of it and get back the joy of the Lord in my heart.  What must I do?”

Prov 28:13
13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
KJV

God is telling us that we need to confess that sin so that we “shall have mercy.”  A good confession of committed sin is threefold. First, the sin must be exposed in your life.  It is the Holy Spirit’s job to expose sin in your life.  When we cover it, the Holy Spirit uncovers it. When we uncover it, He covers it, and when He covers it, it is gone; it is forgotten forever, never, never to be brought up again.

But not only must that sin be exposed in your life; that sin must be expressed. That is, you must confess that sin. You must name that sin. You must tell God exactly, precisely, what it is that you did. Then, Sin must be expelled from your life. It must be forsaken. We must be finished with that sin in our hearts and in our minds.

Click on the link below to hear a message on how you can enact God’s plan for prosperity in your life.  God wants you to be prosperous.  Turn your life over to Him today, and be the prosperous, victorious, Christian, that God wants you to be.

Amen.

TRUE RICHES (Proverbs 13:7)

Everybody wants to know how to be wealthy God’s way.  In our messages over the next couple of weeks, we are going to find out about how to be wealthy. As a matter of fact, many of you may be wealthier than you realize, and some of you may not be nearly as wealthy as you think that you are.  Today, we will put everything in perspective as we talk about “True Riches.”

Now, I know, when I’m talking to you about money, I’m talking to you about something very pertinent—something that every one of us is interested in, and we ought to be. Somebody once said, “The most vital nerve in the body is the one that runs from the heart to the pocketbook.” And sometimes we seem to be so sanctified, but yet when it comes to money, we’re not really as sanctified as we act like we are.  I found a poem that describes the way we often are.

I once knew a Baptist; he had a pious look,
He had been totally immersed, except his pocketbook.
He placed a dollar in the plate and sang with might and main,
“When we asunder part, it gives us inward pain”
—AUTHOR UNKNOWN

Now, I believe there are some like that today, who really tend to love the Lord, at least outwardly, but inwardly there’s another love, an inordinate love for the material things of this world.  So, we’re going to be talking about true riches, and the measure of a man is what that man thinks about money. You tell me about money, and I’ll tell you something about your character. I’ll also tell you something about your faith. Stewardship is that area of life, not only where man makes money, but where God makes men. So, we’re going to be talking about this matter of real riches, or true riches.

Click on the link below to hear a message on the different kinds of riches that God’s Word tells us about. Some riches are not riches at all. 

Amen.

 

LIFESTYLES OF THE RICH (James 5:1-6)

Does the Bible say that it is wrong to be rich?

Contrary to popular belief, the Bible actually does not condemn money.  A great many people have the viewpoint that there is something dirty about money, and those who make it.  They call it “filthy lucre.”  This is not what the Scripture says, even though you can find those words in the Bible. 

What the Scripture does say is that “… the love of money is the root of all evil …” (1 Tim. 6:10).  The key portion of that statement is the love of money.  Not the money itself, but the love of money.

The problem is not in the coin itself, or the dollar bill that you hold in your hand.  The problem is in the hearts of men and women.  It is the love of money that is the root of all evil. 

To know that this is true, think of all of the very wealthy Biblical characters.  Abraham was a man of great wealth.  Joseph was wealthy.  David was wealthy.  Solomon was wealthy beyond imagination.  If it was the money that was the problem, then God would not have blessed these men with these riches.  

Listen to this podcast to hear how the book of James does not condemn people just because they are rich but because of their wrong relationship to their riches.  James is concerned with how they get their money and what they were doing with it after they get it.  These questions are applicable to all of us.