Dr. Myles Munroe of blessed memory said, “Poverty is the lack of creativity, and not the lack of resources.” This means that poverty is the lack of ability to produce something. When Jesus said that we will always have the poor among us, but not always have Him in John 12:8, He didn’t mean that we should count ourselves among the poor, but that there will still be people among us who do not use their minds to create wealth.
Jesus’ statement does not contradict God’s agenda for man’s prosperity. Like I discussed in my message on fruitfulness, God commanded us to be fruitful, multiply and so on to enjoy dominion on earth and that fruitfulness in the Hebrew meaning is about being productive. Fruitfulness in this sense is not about having so many kids because Abraham who had only one legitimate son would have failed in this aspect.
John wrote the mind of God concerning prosperity in 3 John 2 when he prayed for the brethren, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”
The earth is the Lord’s and all its fullness (Psalms 24:1). In Haggai 2:8, God said, “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine…” Further in Psalms 50:10, He said, “For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.” These Bible passages among others tell us that God is wealthy.
The Bible teaches us that God is the source of wealth and He desires that His sons and daughters should be wealthy. For this purpose, He breathed into man made from dust and man became a living soul.
“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Genesis 2:7
This breath of life from God activated the positive will as well the emotional and intellectual capacity of man. There was a transfer of God’s prosperity traits. One may ask why everyone on earth is not wealthy since God released His prosperity traits to man. Man lost this glory through the disobedience of Adam and Eve, however, Jesus Christ came to restore the lost glory.
God gives His children the ability to make wealth as written in Deuteronomy 8:18 – “But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.” This ability comes in the form of supernatural blessing, wisdom and guidance.
This power is released to those who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. One’s constant relationship with God through Christ guarantees the flow of creative ability as we cannot achieve anything in life without Him.
“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” John 15:5
God wants His children to prosper so that they can promote His kingdom and be His channels of blessing – “Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad.” Zachariah 1:17
To be fruitful or productive, there is need for you to be and stay connected to the source of wealth. What Jesus does is to transform your life to begin to think, act, feel and talk like God by the power of the Holy Spirit.
What makes one prosperous is neither salary nor education. In fact, there are PhD holders who are not productive and are broke. God is the source of wealth and He is always in the business of making His children all-round rich.
“The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.” Proverbs 10:22
God’s blessing makes one to be prosperous in his or her body, soul and spirit. So prosperity goes beyond having big amounts of money in whatever form. With a prosperous soul you can create wealth and move out of poverty forever. Without sound health, you cannot enjoy life. Man is a spirit, living in a body and has a soul. The soul or mind is made up of the will, intellect and emotions. Prosperity starts from the mind and you need to put it to work.
How we can Create Wealth
Be Expansion Minded
“Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.” Job 8:7
Think big and start small. You can start thinking big by thinking on Job 8:7. What idea do you have? How can you bring that idea to fruition? Where do you see yourself with that idea in the next 5 – 10 years? Great! Start with that little savings and explore partnership opportunities. Start with one service, product, outlet and so on, while you evaluate your enterprise for growth and expansion as time goes on. Remember, Adam failed because he was already an adult when he was made.
Be Creativity Minded
I urge you to look around; what solution can you proffer to the problems facing humanity? The journey to invention or creating a product or service starts with identifying a problem to solve. Those who solve problems add value to people’s lives and become rich. Engage your mind in creative thinking. Your level of prosperity is determined by the capacity of your mind. Strive to be original in your thinking and do something new and different concerning that business to compete favorably and carve out a niche for yourself.
Engage the Holy Spirit as you think concerning that wealth creation endeavor. He is available to teach you all things and reason with you. The Holy Spirit releases wisdom to those who request and He can show you the relevant books to read. You can engage Him by praying in the Holy Ghost.
“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” John 14:26
“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord.” Isaiah 1:18
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” James 1:5
In addition, go for knowledge. Study and meditate on the word of God. God can reveal a strategy to you from the Bible to make you have footprints on the sands of time in a particular business. Read books, journals and articles; attend seminars or webinars; and listen to tapes and podcast on your line of business or conceived enterprise. There is so much information available online. I urge you to start investing in knowledge to create that desired wealth.
Be Business Minded
Are you always in the category of consumers? Start thinking differently and move out of that category to the company of producers. Income means ‘something coming in’; what is that you are doing to bring in money or diversify your earnings? Take a look at your shopping list, what proportion of it is classified as liabilities. Go for assets that can generate more money. Acquire a skill and start providing services; invest in a viable business – real estate, fast moving consumer goods, manufacturing, agri-businesses and so on. Think as a job creator and not a job seeker. God is interested in enlarging your coast and blessing the works of your hands. Do you have one?
“The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.”Deut. 28:12
I always thought of creating jobs and wealth to contribute to reducing the rate of youth unemployment in my society. With this motivation, I founded a youth entrepreneurship development non-governmental organization and I have been running with the vision by God’s grace. We have impacted thousands of youth over the past eight years.
Be Positive Minded
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:2
From this scripture, it is our responsibility to renew our mind. We can do that by thinking in line with what God says. The Almighty God does not think negatively. His thoughts are not influenced by worldly happenings. So be positive in your thinking. Leave behind the old tradition of thinking and doing things. Do not let the global or your country economic meltdown or your gender, race and circumstance influence the way you think. Avoid giving excuses and think possibility and success always. There are negative thoughts that affect your life and endeavors thereby truncating your prosperity. If all the Israelites saw themselves as grasshoppers, they would not have entered the promised land. I urge you to consciously eliminate that grasshopper mentality.
“And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” Numbers 13:33
“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…” Proverbs 23:7
Be Generosity Minded
God blesses us so that we can be a blessing to His kingdom, ourselves, family relatives, friends and the society at large. Money is known as currency because it is generally accepted as payment for goods, services and debts. So it is meant to flow as current. The more you wisely scatter financial wealth in building churches, sowing to crusades and outreaches, giving offerings, giving to the needy and so on, the more you enjoy financial prosperity.
“There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.” Proverbs 11:24
You can as well give your time and physical service in church and winning souls to Christ thereby promoting God’s kingdom – “If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.” Job 36:11
Remember, as you sow your finances and so on, you begin to grow; and as grow, you begin flow; and as you flow, with time, you begin to overflow in wealth. It all starts with sowing.
Like I said earlier, for you to prosper, you must have a relationship with God, the source of wealth, through Jesus Christ. Say this prayer of salvation if you are yet to give your life to Christ.
Sunday Omori
HEM Int'l 