The Bible put it clearly this way:
“THE BLESSING OF THE LORD, IT MAKETH RICH, AND HE ADDED NO SORROW WITH IT” PROV 10: 22.
This is the statement of God. These are Gods words and God cannot lie (Num 23: 19). What is simply meant here is that God can bless you and you will be rich but Gods riches will not go with sorrow. This is a clear distinction between genuine riches that come from God arid false riches that come from Satan. We know that Satan can bond men with riches, indeed Satan knows the effect of this on the human race. People want to get money by all means and Satan readily provides the evil opportunity for ill-gotten wealth. Some go the extra mile to swindle, to cheat, to deceive, to steal, to rob, to defraud etc all in an attempt to get money and get rich quickly. Some others may choose the spiritual or occultic means to get money from Satan through money rituals by different forms of evil supernaturalism such as magic, spiritism, spiritualism, sorcery, voodooism and even witchcraft. All these aforementioned methods are Satanic and the obvious manifestation is that these persons may get rich but sorrow upon sorrow may befall them. For this simple reason the Bible warns:
“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 with many sorrows” 1 Tim 6:10.
What the Bible refers to here is the propensity to get rich at all costs and Satan capitalizing on this ego-centric drive can make the Christian via from the path of the Lord. Satan seeks whom he may devour (1pet 5:8) and one quick way Satan can do this much more easily is the propensity to lust after money. The lust for money is a temptation for any believer. He must be careful!
“But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition” ITim 6:9.
While the Bible warns against lust, greed and avarice and the, “I must be rich at all cost syndrome”; It dose not condemn any believer from genuinely aspiring for the blessings of God. I use the word “genuine” which also means sincerely seeking God’s blessings in your life. Now is it proper for a Christian to aspire? To aspire means to want to move up or forward in life. So if a Christian is progressive it is very good because it shows that the Christian serves a God who is progressive. I don’t see anything wrong in a Christian aspiring to succeed. Success should be seen as a good testimony of our faith as children of God. But the aspiration should be predicated on the fear of God and in accordance with the will of God. A Christian should have a genuine aspiration not necessarily being over-ambitious; he must also be industrious, hardworking and painstaking backed up with prayers. God shall cause a smile on the face of such a believer. A Christian should not resign himself to a life of failure and defeat and interpret that to be the will of God. God wants his name magnified through the testimonies of the life of the child of God (Ps 35:27).
When God appeared to Solomon in the night after he had been crowned king and he had accepted the charge of the father David to oblige himself to fear God and build the temple of God, as God had directed; God told Solomon “Ask what I shall give thee” 2Chron l :8; Solomon asked the lord for “wisdom and knowledge” (2Chronl :10). God blessed him bountifully saying to Solomon; “wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches and wealth and houour such as none of the kings have had” 2Chron 1:12.
YOUR POINT OF CONTACT
I don’t teach nouveaux riche’ principle to wealth. I even believe that nouveaux riche’ principle which is the quick rich syndrome can lead an individual to hell . God must first prove you if you would be qualified to enjoy his divine blessing of riches- because riches have become snares to some people who are not deep rooted in Christ or in the word of God. In the parable of the pounds Jesus Christ told the story of the nobleman going to a far country to establish his kingdom with the hope of returning. He called his ten servants and gave them each a pound. On his return he called them to render an account of their stewardship. It is important to note that the first servant who invested his one-pound and gained ten pounds was told by his master:
“Thou has been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities” Lk 19:17.
Now you have to be faithful to God in a little before he can extend his greater blessings unto you in terms of riches wealth,. Authority and power. These ingredients serve as tonics or intoxicants if not properly managed by a balanced mind! God will not likely pour a manna of riches on you without first proving you if you can be faithful in a little, then he can give you authority over “ten cities”. In proving you, you must start from somewhere. You must have a point of contact which may be in terms of service production or material production. God will touch that service that you render or that material you produce, then your blessings shall flow. You must graze in the wilderness before you begin to pasture. God was going to bless Isaac with riches and wealth even in the time of great famine in the word as at then. Isaac move from Canaan where he had sojourned and wanted to go to Egypt- but the lord did not permit him to go to Egypt- for that was not where God was going to bless him. He obeyed and God led him to a poor and hungry city called Gerar, where the people were lazy and were loafers. Now how many of us will believe Gods leading in this manner? You want to do what is in your mind not the mind of God. (Isaiah 55:8) “Egypt” may look to you a better place but God will say to you go to “Gerar” a poorer and an unknown city —there lies your blessing. Lets not forget the psalmist said”- the lord is my shepherd I shall not want” Psalm 23:1. Now Isaac got to Gerar he did not just fold his hands and waiting to expect a windfall as some Christians would do today; for after all God had told Isaac “Sojourn in this land and I will be with thee and I will bless thee..” Gen26: 3 Isaac had to seek a point of contact? He had to start “grazing” before “pasturing” — God was going to prove him by his hard work and faithfulness. Grazing means cattle or sheep eating grass in the field; and pasturing means a suitable graze land i.e land rich with grass for grazing animals. That means you MUST START FROM DRY LAND TO LAND OF MILK AND HONEY. While you are on the “dry land” the lord is proving you, you are working hard, the lord is blessing your labour; that is your point of contact. So Isaac did just the same thing; he sojourned in the land by divine grace, he cultivated the land as his point of contact; and God blessed the labour of his hand. You must seek from God your point of contact. (Eph 5:17)
When God blesses that point of contact, then you shall prosper.
“Then Isaac sowed in the land and received in the same year an hundred fold and the lord blessed him Gen 26:12.
Isaac had been faithful in a little: then the lord multiplied the blessing.
“And the man waxed great and want forward and grew until he became very great: for he had possessions of flock and possessions of herds and great store of servants and the philistines envied him” Gen26: 13-14.
When God begins to bless you, the “philistines” shall envy you. The philistines are your distracters! God must first prove you in a little thing then lift you when you are faithful in that little thing, by touching or blessing your point of contact. For “though the beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase” Job8:7
Now you must have faith in God to have a financial breakthrough because without faith it is impossible to please God and you cannot receive anything from him (Heb 1:6). You must lean to absolve yourself from the poverty mentality syndrome and learn to work hard. The lord shall bless the labour of thy hand and shall “Shake the heavens, and the earth and the sea and the dry land” for your sake (Hag2:6)
EXPERIENCING A GREAT SHAKING
When God shakes the heavens, the earth, the sea and even the dry lands, then I call this a great shaking from the lord. He told the people of Israel he would bring this kind of shaking to them through his prophet, – the prophet Haggai!.
“For thus saith the lord . . . .yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth and the sea and the dry land.” Hag 2:6. Now on what ground will God for once as he said bring this great shaking?
Now the house of God is the epitome of the presence of God. We know in the religions history of ancient Israel, when they had no temple built for God and God was worshiped in moveable tents; the ark of God was the symbol of the presence of God. And we know the story of Obededom in whose house the ark of God was kept-
“And the Ark of the lord continued in the house of Obededom to the Gittite three months and the lord blessed Obededom and all his household” 2Sam6: 11. David the king had to move the ark from the house of Obededom to the City of David with gladness” 2Sam 6:1 2..3. Now there is great gladness in the presence of the lord. There is no ark of God today for the modern churches of Christ; but the ark of God which is a structure symbolizing God’s presence is akin to a house built for God and dedicated to God as a place of worship where his presence dwells continually and perpetually. So if the ark of God can bring blessings, then the house of God dedicated to God can cause God to release his blessings on his people. This was exactly what God did with the people of Israel in the generation of Haggai the prophet. The people of Israel under zerubbabel the governor of Judah were reluctant to rebuild the temple of God. They delayed saying the time had not come and God sent his massager Haggai to them saying;
“Thus speaketh the lord of hosts saying, this people say the time is not come, the time that the lord’s house should be built” Hag 1:2. But the lord was not happy and what was the effect they began for flow in the poverty level. Nothing was going well with them because they had forsaken the bidding of which was to build house of God, a symbol of his presence even though God is present everywhere. But the house of God stands out as a symbolic edifice of God. The people of Israel did no longer prosper.
“Now therefore thus saith the lord of hosts consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring little, ye eat but ye have not enough, ye drink but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it unto a bag with holes” Hag 1 :6. Oh friend you see why some Christians labour and labour in vain! They refused to support Gods building plan and so God allows the canker worm to eat from them. They may fast and pray yet they rigmarole in the spiritual arena of poverty. The lord is vexed with you, because you have refused o uplift his presence. God’s house is Gods presence; it is the modern symbol of the covenant ark of God. Please uplift it, God will surely uplift your life and change your situation. God so much delights in the building of his house. Do you know after the prophetic instructions of Haggai the messenger of God, the lord stirred the spirit of Zerubbabel the Governor of Judah, Joshua the son of Josedech the High priest and the remnant of the people of Israel “and they came and did the work in the house of the Lord of hosts their God” Hag 1:14. This caused great joy in the heart of the Lord, and the lord sent his messenger back to the people assuring them, “I am with you”. (Hag 2:4) And for a little while he was going to bring upon them a great shaking that would bring about financial prosperity on the people of Israel for” the silver is mine and the gold is mine; saith the Lord of hosts”(Hag 2:8). 1 believe and I recommend that if you want a shaking financially in your circumstances, contribute towards uplifting the presence of God; Do something to uplift his name; do it prayerfully; contribute generously in cash and in kind towards the house of God. He can bring a shaking in your situation; for remember God does not change (Mal 3:6) He brought a financial shaking to the people of Israel for uplifting his presence through the building of his house. He can do so again with any believer who has faith in Gods financial provisions.
WHAT IS A SHAKING? It is good to understand what a divine shaking is. It is a serious divine intervention by God. God will bring about a divine shaking to show his might and power. Do you know that the temple Solomon built which was a “divine house’ for the lord was noted through archeological findings to have lasted about four hundred and twenty years.
The temple was pillaged by Nabuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army and Israel went into Babylonian captivity as prophesied by the prophet Isaiah (2kg25:9, 2Chron36: 19, 1sa45 :45:1). The Lord brought Israel freedom from Babylonian captivity through the king of Persia-king Cyrus. The rebuilding of the pillaged and destroyed temple after many years of captivity was to be done by Zerubabbel of the tribe of Judah. He had a commission to rebuild temple. God raised the prophets Haggai and Zecharia to encourage
Zerubabbel who was the governor of Judah. But after he had started the rebuilding with the remnants of the Jews from captivity, they abandoned the and this obviously grieved the Lord; and the blessings of the people shut up. Haggai the messenger of God was sent by God to the people to• reawaken their consciousness to arise and build; they accepted and in reciprocity, God was going to bring about in short while a shaking in four-dimensional levels.
“I will shake the heavens, and the earth and the sea and the dry land” Haggai 2:6. When God shakes the heavens what happens? The supernatural is released from heaven. Supernatural events begin to follow. When the earth is shaken what happens? The lords anointing flows on the surface of the earth making it fruitful and replenishing; farmers rejoice grazers rejoice and hunters have many games to carry home. When God shakes the dry land what happens? The dry land is a land without resources when God shakes it He releases an anointing into the land to be a rich land, no longer a poor land: that is a land that flows with rich mineral resources. And when God shakes the sea what do you expect? The seas become rich with sea creatures, good for food for the people. The sea will be rich with fishes —and fishermen bring home bails of fishes. What a wonderful God who reversed financial blessings for Solomon, that in Solomon’s time, money became as plentiful as stones in Israel. (2Chron 1:15). “And the king made silver and gold at Jerusalem as plenteous as stones.” 2Chron 1:15.
