Prosperity Test I

‘He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’  Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods’ Luke 12:17-18.

Every time you get an increase or a breakthrough and you are wondering what to do with it, be sure heaven is also wondering what you would do with it. That is the prosperity test. And like every other test, people can either fail or pass the prosperity test. The man in Luke 12:16-19 shows us clearly how to fail the test. Failing the prosperity test is simple – believe that ‘the more’ is always for you. To fail the test I believe that the increase God gives is always for me. Let me explain, using a scale of one to ten, let us peg your income and livelihood at five. God increases your income to six. Many people would immediately increase their livelihood to match up. Then you attend a program like the God Will Do It Again service and experience the floodgates of heavens. God gives you a break through and your income increases to eight. What we do mostly is we step up our livelihood. Then God increases you again to nine and you step up again. Then after a while heaven says, wait a minute why is this child always asking for breakthroughs? What has he done with the one we gave him? It is a sobering question for me and for you because if you will check how much God has blessed you even as 2014 draws to a close, can you really account for it? Don’t be quick to say it is not much, get your bank statement and do the math.

If you check Luke 12:16-19, this man used the words ‘I – Me – My’ over ten times. It’s all about him. ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops’. Who says they are your crops? The problem we have is that we see what we are in custody of as belonging to us. I have shared with you how God led me to give away my car. Assuming as I was driving that car that day and the Holy Spirit said give this car to this person. Assuming I felt the car was mine would I be able to give out? Assuming my wife thought the car was ours would she be able to agree with me? There is nothing you have that was not given to you. So why would you be proud because you have money? The money is not yours! If the owner asks for it what will happen? Sobering! God needs us to understand this because it affects our response. However, regardless of how we respond, heaven also responds. If you respond properly, heaven also responds. If you don’t respond properly, heaven also responds.

Prayer: Father, help me hold loosely to stuff and tightly to You, in Jesus Name.