REJECTING RICHES

Many people are poor today because they refused to be rich. They rejected God’s conditions on how to be wealthy. However, there are some that are poor because there are certain evil forces working against them.

There are several reasons why many refuse to be rich. Some fear that if they become rich, they will become targets of robbers and assassins. They fail to realise that if God gives you a car, He will take care of that car. If God builds a house for you, He will live in that building with you twenty-four hours a day throughout your life. You may say,“But I know Christians who lost their cars to armed robbers.” That could be possible, but why should you think that the evil that befell Mr. ‘A’ must necessarily befall you?

Some people have their thinking caps worn on the wrong side, and they would always conclude that any evil that happened to anybody is also waiting for them. They are always hoping for evil, whereas the Bible says, “Christ in you, the hope of glo”ry (Colossians 1:27). It did not read“, Christ in you, the hope of deat”h.It is a choice therefore, to be prosperous or not. Choose to be prosperous.

God is good, and the Bible says that God is rich. There are several Biblical references to establish the fact of Go’sd unending wealth. We will look at three examples.

1. The Earth Belongs to God – Psalm 24:1 says tha, t “ The earth is the LORD’S, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” If this is the only thing that is written in the Bible about God’s status, it means that God must be very rich. Can you imagine a man who owns all the land of Nigeria, Africa, or the world? If you have travelled across the length of Lagos to Maiduguri on road, you will understand what it means to own the whole Nigeria. Moreover, if you have flown six hours from Lagos to London or fourteen hours from Lagos to New York, then you will understand what it means to own all the land in the world.

The Bible says that God owns all the land, and its fullness thereof. This entails all that is above the earth, on the earth (its surface), or in the bowels of the earth (under the earth).

• Silver and Gold belongs to God – Haggai 2:8 says, “ The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts. ” Anybody who makes such a claim cannot be poor. Silver and gold are just two metals in the bowels of the

earth. There are lots of other metals and mineral deposits like coal, diamond, oil, and so on.

• The Earth is Full of God’s Riches – Psalm 104:24 says, “O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.” The earth is full of the riches of the Lord. No matter how rich all the human beings are put together, their riches cannot fill the whole earth. However, the wealth of the Lord alone fills the whole earth. God is not poor at all by any standard.

It is also clear that the closest friends of God were wealthy people. When Moses asked for God’s name, the Almighty God introduced Himself as I AM THAT I AM (Exodus 3:14). He went further to say, “ I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and of Jacob. ” That means that if you ask for God’s three closest friends, they are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These three people that God calls His friends were by no means poor.

Genesis 13:2 tells us about Abraham:

And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

Genesis 26:12-14 talks about Isaac:

Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him. And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.

Imagine a whole nation envying one perso–n Isaac. What about Jacob? Genesis 32:3-5 says,

And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom. And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now: And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and women servants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.

It is clear here that Jacob was not covered in rags nor was he hungry. God is also the God of the rich, and his closest friends are very wealthy. Therefore, if you become one of the closet friends of God, you become very rich. If it is evil to be rich, then it would have meant that God is evil. But God is not evil.

Birds of a feather flock together. The rich are friends of the rich and the poor are friends of the poor. When God befriends anyone, or anyone befriends God, they will become rich automatically. If it is evil to be rich, then God will not want you to be rich.

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. – 3 John 3

God wished above all else that these three things should be your portion:

He wants you to prosper

He wants you to be in good health He wants it to be well with your soul.

If you agree with God concerning everything else, how then can you turn around and say, “I don’t need prosper”ity,or say, “Prosperity is evil?” If you cannot reject good health, why then will you reject prosperity?

Many look down on anyone who is well dressed. When they see anyone riding in a limousine, they will conclude that the fellow is not going to heaven. Who told you that? When I bought a certain car, some people started complaining that I had backslidden. They thought I could not drive the beautiful and long car, and make it to heaven. I told them I will get to heaven before them. The Bible mentions that God’s first wish is that we have prosperity. Not prosperity with sickness, but prosperity with abundant good health.

Many Christians conclude that Jesus was poor, and so we must walk in His footsteps. That does not represent the Bible. The Bible says about Jesus in 2 Corinthians 8:9;

For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

In heaven no one could be compared with Jesus in wealth. The floor of His Father’s Kingdom is of the purest gold. He then put aside all that wealth and came into the world as a poor man. He did that so that He could be accepted by the poor and He might lift them out of the dust of poverty. He did not become poor so that we can be poor. Whatever Jesus suffered is so that we can have the opposite.

He died so that we may live. He was beaten so that we may be healed. By His stripes, we were healed (2 Peter 2:24). He descended into hell so that we may

not go there. He thirsted so that we may not thirst. If you do not want the wealth that Jesus’ poverty purchased for you, then you must reject His salvation that his death also purchased for you. You must also refuse the health that His stripes purchased for you.

Promises of Wealth

Isaiah 45:3 has this to say about God’s promise of unfathomable wealth:

And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.

What does God mean by the ‘treasures of darkness’ and ‘hidden riches of secret places’? Until the discovery of crude oil, how many people knew the ‘black gold’ was hidden under the earth, where no one could see with naked eyes? What about diamond? Where do you get it from? What about gold and silver? The Almighty God is saying here that He will give you oil, diamond, gold, silver, and other mineral deposits as possession. You may have difficulty in believing this, but God owns all these things and can give it to whoever he wishes.

The reason why many are where they are today is because they are afraid to go higher. They simply pray, “God, just give me the money to rent one bedroom apartment”. If you want to die poor, you will die poor. However, let me emphasize that poverty is evil. Do not let anybody deceive you that poverty is good. The Bible says in Proverbs 10:15 that

The rich man’s wealth is his strong city: the destruction of the poor is their poverty.

Proverbs 14:20 says,

The poor is hated even of his own neighbour: but the rich hath many friends.

In addition, Proverbs 22:7 says,

The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.

If you decide to be poor, then you will be a slave throughout your life. This means that poverty brings hatred to you. You may not have offended anybody, but because you are poor, your neighbours will hate you.

James 4:2 says,

Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

This is the reason why many are poor: Instead of asking God to give you your benefits, you look at those riding big cars and feel they are not going to heaven. Who are you to determine who goes to heaven and will not? Rather than ask to be dressed like the lilies of the field, some prefer to wear rags.

Many people do not ask because they are not willing. In Isaiah 1:19- 20, the Bible says:

If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

Some people think that the land referred to in the above text is in heaven. There is no land there. The land referred to here is on earth.

The Israelites rejected prosperity at one time. Numbers 29:5 says,

And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? It is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.

God gave them an opportunity to have a land flowing with milk and honey. He asked them to go and take it, but they refused. Since they did not want the land flowing with milk and honey, God gave them a barren land; a land where they could neither farm nor find water to drink.

If you refuse wealth, do not blame God. If you remain poor, the choice is yours. God is good. His friends are rich. He has good thoughts towards you. He wants you to prosper. Poverty is a curse, and causes destruction. God wants you to choose one of the two– wealth or poverty. If you are willing and obedient, you will arrive at your destination and eat the good of the land. If you refuse, then do not blame God.

Prayer Points

1. Father, destroy everything in my mind hindering me from receiving your prosperity, in the name of Jesus.
   1. Father, make me your close friend from today, in the name of Jesus.
   1. Father, give me a revelation of my wealth, in the name of Jesus.
   1. Father, banish any satanic bird that steals the revelation of your word from my heart, in the name of Jesus.

• Father, help me not to struggle with your will of prosperity in my life, in the name of Jesus.
  • Father, give me my portion of the ’es arritches, in the name of Jesus.
  • Almighty Father, prosper me indeed, in the name of Jesus.