Don’t Fall for Fake News

WHAT OUR SOCIETY has begun to call “fake news” is all around us.

No matter what opinion one person has, you can see someone else confidently declaring that the complete opposite is true. They can spout facts and figures, list statistics, quote experts, and twist them all around to mean whatever they choose.

Fake news can be found around every corner, even among Christian circles. However, there is only one truth, and that is found in the Word of God.

God’s will for you is to be rich. We see that in Proverbs 10:22, where Scripture tells us, “The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.” But there is a tremendous amount of pushback against the idea that prosperity is a good thing, that it comes from God, that Jesus paid for it, and we can live it through faith in our lives today.

It’s like we see fake news declaring, “Money is evil!” in every headline. I honestly felt like I had arrived when I saw a popular YouTuber trying to expose my teaching as false! Honestly, I get it. The truth that God wants you rich is scandalous! But it’s still true.

The abundant, extravagant, overwhelming, excessive provision of God is found throughout the Word of God, in both the Old and the New Testaments.

 Let’s look again at 2 Corinthians, where it specifically mentions God’s grace toward us and the abundance available for us to do His will.

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8

When we’re talking about being rich, we’re talking about having our needs met and having extra. Enough that we can be a blessing. The question for us is, do we believe that? Are we willing to believe what the Scripture says? Or are we going to swallow the lies that the world is trying to force-feed us through fake news and misinterpreted Scripture?

The truth that God wants us to prosper financially is a hard concept for many of us to accept because we view truth through the lens of our own experiences, rather than taking God at His Word. We see poverty everywhere. We’ve experienced it, or are still experiencing it, ourselves. However, looking to experience to define truth is just another example of accepting fake news.

Sometimes, when you ask people why they won’t believe God for healing, they’ll often give the answer of, “I’ve never seen it.” Or perhaps they mention a family member or friend who has died. They have elevated their experiences over God’s promises and use them as a way to back-up their unbelief.

You’ll often see that same mindset on the subject of financial prosperity. They don’t believe God wants them to prosper because they never have. But here’s the truth: if we want to see the Word of God manifest in our lives, we’ve got to believe what the Word says over what we feel or experience. God is our provider, and He proves that over and over again in Scripture.

 We need to stop defining truth by our experiences and start defining truth by what the Word of God says. To repeat and emphasize what Carlie often says, “Our physical condition does not determine our spiritual position.”

In other words, whatever is going on in our lives does not change the Word of God or who we are in Christ. Our experiences do not alter our inheritance as saints, God’s promises toward us, or God’s abundant nature. The Word of God does not change based on our opinions or personal experiences. God’s Word is true. Always.

 We can believe the Bible, even when our experiences say otherwise because it is Scripture, and our experiences are not!

Natural vs. Spiritual Truth

 Before we more deeply address the issue of believing God for financial increase, we need to continue to address the issue of spiritual truth. Natural circumstances may define your situation in one way, but what is the truth according to the Word of God?

 Let me use healing again as an example. Say you are experiencing a symptom of sickness. Natural, physical “truth” says that you’re sick. However, spiritual truth is that by the stripes of Jesus, you were already healed (1 Peter 2:24). If you also believe the foundational spiritual truth that God truly wants you well, you won’t allow room for doubt.

Often, we don’t necessarily question God’s nature but His willingness. We may believe, in general, God wants us well. But this time? This time, too? With this health issue, also? Yes. This time. Every time. God wants you well.

 Every time someone came to Jesus for healing, He healed them. He had a healing ministry. And as Jesus said to Phillip, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father” (John 14:9). Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God doesn’t change. He always wants you healthy and whole.

 Similarly, Jesus became poor at the same time He bore your sickness and the punishment for your sin. He did this so you and I could experience the riches He has for us. This is the truth from God’s Word, yet it offends so many people: believers and unbelievers alike.

For many, this scandalous truth isn’t troublesome to their belief system as a result of thinking it’s a false doctrine. It’s actually offensive to them because they simply haven’t experienced this truth in the natural world, in their own personal circumstances. If someone is poor, they think this promise is untrue, as though God’s promises come to pass automatically.

Salvation doesn’t happen automatically: we must believe and receive Jesus as our Savior. Our bodies don’t experience health simply because we were born again. We must first believe Jesus wants us healed. In the same way, experiencing the financial prosperity that God desires for us requires believing and receiving.

Healing and financial prosperity are both contentious topics in the Body of Christ because they are both areas where humanity seems to want something experiential to confirm the Scripture. God, however, wants us to stand on faith alone.

 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. 3 John 2

The word “prosper” in this verse means to have a financial abundance. Prosperity of three kinds is mentioned here: in your soul (mind, will & emotions), in your health, and in your finances. Isn’t it interesting that healing and financial prosperity are mentioned together?

It’s tragic that soul prosperity is where many Christians draw the line.

We need to accept that it is also God’s will for us to be both healthy and rich. If we don’t accept this, but instead look at our circumstances to define His will for us, we are missing this spiritual truth. Without this confirmation deep inside us, we won’t be able to receive and see the blessing in our lives.

Take Deuteronomy, for example. Here He shows us how He provided for the Israelites even in the midst of a dry, barren desert.

He humbled you and let you suffer hunger, and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. Deuteronomy 8:3 MEV

The Word of God is what gives us the power in this life to prosper. Instead of speaking it out, however, many people speak words of unbelief and then wonder why they aren’t seeing financial blessings manifested in their life.

 Have you ever said something like, “I just can’t get ahead,” or “I’ll never be wealthy,” or “Money doesn’t grow on trees”? Our mouths can be our own worst enemy. (And just for the record, what’s money made of? Paper. And where does paper come from? Trees. We’ve been lied to: money does grow on trees!)

Let’s look again in Deuteronomy at God’s provisions for His children.

Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your feet swell these forty years. Deuteronomy 8:4 MEV

When God provides for us, He does it thoroughly. And His supply doesn’t run out. While the children of Israel wandered in the desert for forty years, their clothes endured. Even their feet didn’t swell. How much more of a covenant with God do we have now because of Jesus than they had back then?

God Commands Your Blessing

There are two types of Christians: those who are born again, are blessed, and believe it and those who are born again, are blessed, but don’t believe it.

It really is that simple. If you are born again, you are blessed. And the blessing of the Lord makes one rich. He adds no sorrow to it.

In Deuteronomy, Scripture describes God’s blessing on you as a commandment.

The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. Deuteronomy 28:8

He commands it. That’s a strong word. When God commands something, it is done. No questions asked. He speaks and worlds are formed.

This verse in Deuteronomy is saying that your wealth has been commanded by God. He is commanding blessings over your life. Even before you existed, before you were a twinkle in your parents’ eyes, God commanded blessings over you and everything you put your hand to do.

 Wealth Is Part of Your Blessing

 Earlier, we discussed that God wants you rich because He loves you. We looked in Genesis 22:14, where God is called Jehovah Jireh, which means “provider.” He’s a good Father who loves His children and provides for them.

God wanting you rich is also simply a part of His blessing. Riches, or financial prosperity of any kind, is never mentioned in the Bible as a curse but always as a blessing.

 From day one in Genesis 1:28, God’s entire purpose for mankind was for us to increase with abundance. Having our needs met and more has always been a blessing from God. Not having our needs met was always described as a curse.

The same goes for healing. Being healthy and whole is always described as a blessing, while sickness was considered a curse. These blessings and curses are listed very clearly in Deuteronomy 28.

It doesn’t matter if you’re reading in the Old or New Testament, richness is considered a blessing. The only exceptions are when man began to put more trust in their wealth than in the God who had given them their wealth, like the rich young ruler. That young man didn’t have wealth; his wealth had him. His heart was too wrapped up in trusting his money, so he couldn’t do what Jesus asked (Mark 10:17-22). If he had sold all of his possessions and followed Jesus, I believe everything he sacrificed would have been restored to him.

 So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.” Mark 10:29-30

Judas is another New Testament example of a person who put his trust, his love, in money rather than in the God who blessed him with it. He regularly stole from Jesus’ ministry funds and, ultimately, betrayed Him for thirty pieces of silver.

His heart didn’t understand the source, or the true purpose, behind God’s blessing, so he abused and misused it.

Those are examples of people who have a wrong heart toward finances, but we should look to God’s perspective to ensure we don’t fall for the fake news’ perspective of focusing on the negative.

Consider the love story of Ruth and Boaz. He was a rich man—a good, godly man—and the fact that Ruth ended up married to him was an obvious blessing. Even today, Christian women use the tongue-in-cheek phrase, “Finding my Boaz” to describe finding a financially secure, godly husband!

Also, in the New Testament, the Good Samaritan was obviously a rich merchant. If he wasn’t wealthy, he would not have been able to provide for the man who was robbed and beaten.

Somehow, though, we’ve twisted wealth around to be unholy or disgraceful. Many Christians believe you should be ashamed of having money. Some are proud to be living in poverty, in worn clothing, and hungry, as though it is a badge of honor. However, poverty does not bring glory to God.

The Spiritual Dyslexia of Religion

 Instead of seeing God as a Father who wants to bless and provide for His children, religion says that sickness will teach you something, or that it’s even God’s will for you to be sick. I’ve heard some say a person’s sickness may bring honor to God.

But God is a healer. “Healer” is one of the seven redemptive names of God. Jesus’ ministry was a healing ministry. He was always on His way to heal someone or on His way back from healing someone. He healed everyone who came to Him.

It’s the same with wealth. Instead of viewing wealth as godly, as it equips you to help more people, it’s considered selfish and worldly.

 There are religious people who doubt God wants you well, and there are religious people who doubt God wants you rich. They see poverty as righteous and sickness as holy. Religion is like spiritual dyslexia. They read a scripture and get the meaning backward. They take promises in the Word of God call them evil.

 Religion flips everything upside down.

Doesn’t that sound like something the enemy would do? Take a promise from God and twist it to look like something not from God?

Isaiah 5:20 says, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil.” In the next verse, it goes on to say, “Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes.” Religion will convince you it’s wrong to be wealthy. That you’re more holy if you’re poor. When you compare this to what the Bible actually says, it is clearly the language of the enemy.

 Jesus said it is the thief, the enemy, who comes to steal, kill, and destroy. The enemy has been stealing from you, but Jesus came to give abundant life (John 10:10).

 Our God is always about abundance.

This does not mean if you are experiencing lack at the moment, you are cursed. Galatians 3:13 assures us that Jesus redeemed us from the curse. For the born-again believer, there is no curse. Jesus paid it all.

The point I hope you take deep into your heart is that richness is a blessing from God. It’s always a blessing. But we won’t learn to live in that blessing if we do not reject the fake news and accept the scandalous truth. We must know and believe the true will of God regarding His blessing of wealth for His children.

 Poverty Isn’t Holiness

Having abundance is a blessing. If poverty was holy, then the homeless would be the most righteous among us. And if you’ve ever lived in want and lack, you know what I mean. There’s nothing fun or blessed about it.

My wife and I started out with very little. I remember asking Carlie’s father for her hand in marriage. His first question was, “How are you going to provide for her?”

I told him the Lord would provide, and He said, “I know the Lord is going to provide, but how are you going to provide for her?” I realized I had to get busy! It was time for me to put my hands to labor. I started doing extra odd jobs to earn money.

 When we got married, I worked as a youth pastor, and Carlie worked at a church coffee shop. To say things were tight is being generous! We’d go to the supermarket with only enough money to buy cereal or coffee. Pick one. We couldn’t afford both.

 I remember thinking, Man, am I going to spend the day tired or hungry? It was either food or coffee. That was a big decision to make. I had to pray about that one!

Without money, our choices were drastically limited. And I suppose I can’t speak for anyone else, but at no point did that feel like a blessing to me!

Wealth Is Not Selfish

 God not only wants our needs met, He also wants us to have an abundance. However, that is not a truth many easily accept. When Scripture speaks of riches, many believe that is only referring to spiritual wealth. They feel that it is selfish to accept that God wants us financially wealthy.

 Truthfully, it’s the opposite.

 The scandalous truth is that it is actually selfish to not believe God wants us to have resources. If God gives us extra, that equips us to be greater givers. God told Abraham, “I’m going to bless you and make you great. And you’re going to be a blessing to many” (Genesis 12:2). That mirrors the same sentiment we see in 2 Corinthians.

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8

 Believing God for riches is a godly thing to do. Believing God wants you poor is selfish. With less, you will do less for others. You can help some, but your impact can be greatly magnified with wealth. More resources means more help to more people. You’ll be equipped “for every good work” so that you can show His love to more of the people He cherishes.