THE BLESSED OF THE LORD

The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it. – Proverbs 10:22

The above passage of the Bible is simple to understand. It tells us that there could be wealth with sorrows. In 2 Kings 5:1, the Bible says that Naaman was a very wealthy man, but had an incurable disease. So it is possible to be rich and be sick. There are some sicknesses and diseases that money cannot cure. There are a lot of rich people that doctors have told there is nothing more to help them with.

In Ecclesiastes 5:11, the Bible says,

The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.

It is possible to be rich and not be able to sleep. The abundance of the rich can deny them sleep. So money can buy a very expensive bed, but cannot buy sleep.

According to 2 Kings 4:8-17,

And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this isan holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither. And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there. And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him. And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among mine own people. And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old. And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door. And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou

shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid. And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.

The Shunammite woman was a great and wealthy woman. She was so wealthy that she could build any house she wanted. But she was barren. It is possible to be rich and have a very important need that is left unmet. It is possible to be rich and sick. It is possible to be rich and have insomnia (an inability to sleep; chronic sleeplessness). It is even possible to be rich and not be able to eat. I pray for you that the type of wealth that will not allow you to sleep will not come to you, in the name of Jesus. If there is a desire in your heart for so long, may the Almighty God fulfil it today, in the name of Jesus.

Above all, it is possible to be rich and not have any sorrow. Ecclesiastes 5:19 says,

Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.

God can bless you in such a way that you are rich and you are able to eat of the things that you have. You have wealth and you are able to enjoy it. I know what that passage is saying. I had a friend who was so rich that when he died, in one of his bank accounts in far away Australia, he had $256,000,000 (two hundred and fifty six million dollars). This did not include money in many other continents – England, USA, etc. On one occasion, he forgot that he deposited

£8,000,000 (eight million pounds) in the bank. But sadly, the only food this man could eat is milk. He could only drink milk. I do not presently have such an amount of wealth, but I can eat any delicacy I want. Am I not blessed? Definitely, I am.

Genesis 29:34-35 tells us of how wealthy Abraham was:

And he said, I am Abraham’s servant. And the LORD hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses.

Abraham was very rich and was without sickness. He was strong enough to produce a child at hundred. That is the kind of the blessing the Almighty God will give you.

In Genesis 21:1-6, in the house of Abraham, there was laughter continually. It was a house full of laughter. In the name of Jesus, not only will your house be

wealthy, but it will be full of laughter. Malachi 3:10-11 says,

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.

Here the Bible says that when you return your tithe, God will bless you and banish devourers. All manners of devourers were silenced in my life and family when I keyed into the principle of tithing. Wealth with devourers is frustrating. I pray for you that every kind of devourer in your life and family are hereby banished in the name of Jesus.

There are two kinds of wealth:

1. Wealth with sorrow
2. Wealth without sorrow

The reality of wealth without sorrow shows that there is a converse to it. Every coin must have two side–s head and tail. You cannot tell the story of God completely if you look at only one side of God.

One side of God says that he is love. The other side says He is a consuming fire. One side of Him says that Jesus is the Lamb of God. The other side says He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. One side of God says He is the Price of peace. The other side says He is the Lord of Hosts, mighty in battle.

You have to consider both sides. If the blessings of the Lord makes rich and adds no sorrow, what does the curse of God do? Whenever God curses a man trouble begins for the man. In 2 Kings 5:20-27, we see the story of Gehazi:

But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, as the LORD liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him. So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well? And he said, All is well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the

prophets: give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments.

And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bare them before him. And when he came to the tower, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed. But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whencecomest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither. And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants? The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.

As a son of the prophet, the wealth Gehazi received was enough to make him rich for a lifetime. But he got something extra for him and his generations – the leprosy of Naaman. This was because the man of God, Elisha, pronounced a curse on him.

Mind the way you chase money. Be careful how you are seeking wealth. If you want money by all means, you will have it, but you will also have some sorrow with it. If you want wealth at all costs, you will get some serious trouble with it.

1 Timothy 6:10-11 says,

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

Those who pursue money at all costs end up with sorrow of all kinds. If you want to be rich by stealing, inflating prices, by defrauding others, cyber theft, lying and false accusations, etc., you will get money. But you will get the curse of God along with it.

When we moved to the camp ground newly and we started building, some people exploited the church. I did not know there are different kinds and sizes of wood. I was not a builder, and had never built a house before then. They decided to exploit my ignorance. They made money, but when God moved, it was sad. One of them was travelling to Shagamu; the bus had an accident, and he was the only one that was badly injured. God did not allow him to die, so he could learn

the lesson. The other person’s wife was in a crowd; a car lost control, ran into the crowd, and hit her only. She was in the hospital until the man had spent all the money he stole from the church.

When we started building the current auditorium, one of my daughters came to me and told me she supplies granite. She offered us the exact price and promised to use her own trucks to deliver them. I was so grateful. She fulfilled her promise. Along the line, we did not know that the drivers were stealing some of the granites. They would load the truck, divert it somewhere else, and sell. They delivered less than what we bargained. One day, all the six trucks for delivery refused to start. They brought in the engineers and they serviced them. But they refused to start.

My daughter sensed that something was wrong and started querying the drivers. How could all six trucks break down at the same time? They even refused to start even when the engineers have done everything. She discovered that these drivers had been stealing God’s granite. She found out how many trucks of granites were stolen. She came to the church and paid for all the granites they stole. When she got home, all six trucks started! I wonder what would have happened to those drivers. Many people, in an attempt to prove that they are wise become fools. In an attempt of trying to do a quick one, they pronounce a curse on themselves.

God is interested in the way you chase money. Therefore, be patient to prosper in a righteous way because the pains that come with acquiring wealth by unrighteousness is too great to bear.

Make a commitment to prosper God’s way and say the following prayers with all your heart.

Prayer Points

1. Father, I want to do your will. Give me grace in the name of Jesus.
2. Father, I do not want the kind of wealth that will bring me curses, in the name of Jesus.
3. Father, forgive me for stealing from you – in tithes, offerings, first fruits, etc. – in the name of Jesus.
4. Father, my life is open for your blessings, in the name of Jesus.
5. Father, whatever I have done in the past that has attracted your curse

upon my life, forgive me, in the name of Jesus.

• Father, grant me the grace to repent in the name of Jesus.

• Father, let every curse that is existing in my life turn to blessings, in the name of Jesus.
• Father, from now on I will do your will. Bless me so much so that others will come and ask me what the secret of my success is.
• Father, make me a testimony of unlimited greatness, in the name of Jesus.
• Father, remove every selfishness in me, in the name of Jesus.
• Father, clothe me with the garment of patience to wait for your time, in the name of Jesus.