The Ability to Obtain Wealth

Great day.

Um today we're going into one of my absolute favorite scriptures, um, Deuteronomy 8 and 18.

All right.

As we dig in today, hope you got your notes.

Alright.

So um I'm going to be referencing quite a bit.

Um, and amen.

Here we go.

So, if I can get on my nose together.

So, reading the scripture first Deuteronomy 8 and 18.

Um, just speaking about the ability to obtain wealth.

Um, but it's so much more in here.

A lot of times when we think about wealth, we think about resources.

Uh, we may just think about money, but there's so much more, and just to break down the emphasis of what God intends and the foundation of the word.

So um the scripture mentions, but thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant, which is he um who swear unto thy fathers as in as it is this day.

Now, um, I'm gonna reference quite a bit, you know, just referencing the Hebrew.

So this uh context actually means remember, receive, develop, produce, and establish.

That's my short version.

We'll go through it later.

Um, ultimately, here we're not talking about simply that God will give you money, He's um pretty much teaching us that you have a capacity to produce wealth, and that capacity is connected to your covenant promise.

Now, I mentioned a few words before: remember, receive, develop, produce, and establish.

Here, the word um remember in Hebrew, I'm not gonna try to pronounce it correctly, but it means therefore, but you shall remember.

Now, think of this as an essence of a command.

Um, this root word means to remain, to call to mind or to bring something into remembrance.

This is very significant because if we're kind of bringing back Old Testament, Moses does not begin the wealth um conversation here with money, right?

He brings it with memory.

Again, bring it to mind.

Why is that?

Because the greatest danger is prosperity.

Um, prosperity isn't property, excuse me, poverty.

Right?

Prosperity is not poverty.

I would even like to add it's not a poverty mindset.

All right, it is not forgetting the source.

Okay.

Our source is our Lord and Savior.

Our source is to understand that God's ways are higher than our ways.

Our source is to understand that every good and perfect gift comes from God.

So here in Deuteronomy 8, it's addressing that people who are about to move from the wilderness into abundance.

Moses essentially warns them hey, when you have those houses you didn't build, those vineyards you didn't plant, you know, that food you didn't produce, that increase that you didn't start with, listen, don't let that increase cause you to forget God.

And today you have your way of applying that today.

So the first principle of biblical wealth is your wealth must never become greater than you remembering God.

Amen.

You keeping him first, him being that source.

And so, as well, gives, he gives is a very important tone.

And in the Hebrew, that means to put, to give, to put, to set, to grant.

Now, um, grammatically, we understand that God presents himself as a giver, but I want you to notice a distinction um here as we're looking into the text with the Hebrew.

God does not necessarily hand Israel a finished fortune.

All right, a lot of times when we think, hand, hey, give me this, give me that, give me um something that, and we're thinking about getting it to tangibly just go into use.

Now, he gives them something in which they can produce.

Context is very important.

So God has given us the ability, he's given us different opportunities in which we can produce.

We hear us to to man our territory to operate in domain and authority.

So this word is extremely important because we have to exercise this very important piece called power, right?

And it's his power, but it it means um carrying such a meeting as strength, ability, capacity, force.

Again, once again, we see the word produce or resources.

So if we kind of roll back into text, that this uh this connects to the word because we're expected to be productive um in strength.

And even in that aspect of the word, I forget, is it lexing lexion?

They produce with the strength of the soil.

Let me get that right.

I think I got it right.

Thank you.

And this gives a powerful teaching distinction.

God um does not only give wealth, he gives the capacity to create wealth.

So we don't want to mess that up.

We don't want to miss it.

So you have the ability to, but it's the capacity.

So, which means he gives you the ability to think, he gives you the ability to learn, he gives you the ability to communicate, he gives you the ability to lead, he gives you the ability to build relationships, to solve problems, to organize, to create, to sell, my favorite, to steward resources and as well the ability to recognize an opportunity.

So many times we have opportunities that come right before us, and then we miss it because generally we're thinking about our capacity.

But amen, I lean to God, not my will, but your will.

And so this is one of also one of the very, very important reasons that we should be proactive in prayer even before our day starts, because when an opportunity comes, we need to be sensitive, sensitive to be able to recognize an opportunity.

Okay, so blessings aren't merely just what is in our hand.

Blessing is also the capacity God put on the inside of us.

All right.

And so just in closing out, to make together, just in the um the Hebrew, the text uh today really just drew to me.

It means to do, to make, to accomplish, to produce, to prepare, to acquire, to bring about or to fashion.

And this is where I could challenge um the way that my people I'm generally reference prosperity as we're kind of digging into text and going into prayer about even how we look at things when we're praying, how we look at what God's Word has for us.

This does not mean um communication like in a passive wealth kind of way.

This is productive wealth, meaning it should once again produce something.

Um, but as we think in closing the word, because I don't want to go over, God supplies the capacity.

You must engage the capacity.

So you have your part to play in it, right?

There's an action component attached to this scripture.

Um, you cannot ask God for wealth while refusing to develop the capacity he has given you.

Right?

It don't, it doesn't work together.

You cannot pray for increase while refusing to learn.

You cannot ask God to multiply or for multiplication while refusing to manage what he has already put in your hands.

Our father is a great steward.

So we're he's looking at us.

How are you stewarding what I gave you?

And we look in the context of the word, God always is, he's never calling us to be stagnant.

He's calling us from glory to glory, from faith to faith, from strength to strength.

He's calling you up to the next level.

So if there's an area in your life where you say, Man, I'm sitting still, I love the aspect that he's not gonna water down his word lest he's loving, he's sovereign, he's kind, but he's calling you higher.

We cannot ask God to establish something through um something um while you're refusing to build.

Yes.

Can't ask that you cannot ask God to establish something while you are refusing to build.

He's doing a work in and through you.

So just in a clear aspect, the wealth just referencing the Hebrew, I think it's pronounced Hey H A Y I I.

I could have messed it up.

I loved how it was spelled.

This means um, no, excuse me.

This means, well, it's broader in range, excuse me.

It's broader in range than the definitions that we think about.

So wealth means to have strength, to have might, the ability, the efficiency, um, resources, force, or army.

And when I thought about that, that kind of brought a lot of joy to my heart because this same word can also describe wonderful words like valor, again, capacity and resources.

And so this can help kind of shape our understanding coming out of this call of how things um change when we really understand.

So, wealth is also the power to get wealth.

So, when you think about the word wealth itself, think about the power to get wealth.

And again, before we spoke about the capacity, and again, so when God gives you the capacity to produce substantial resources, right?

So think about it being plentiful.

Um, think about as well, not only sowing good seed, but uh reaping good harvest, it encompasses production on the in a capacity and resources.

So again, we you see a level of continuation, but there's also a concept for leadership.

Um, and just so when we think about leaders, um, think about as well you being a change agent, right?

Because again, he has given you the ability to obtain wealth.

You on the other side of this phone in any area that looks like dry land, he's saying, hey, another person can have little money today, but hey, and possess um an enormous uh discipline of wisdom and leadership and skill and courage and resources and um productive capacity.

And then when that capacity is developed and properly stored, it can produce resources.

So there's nothing that God can't do.

And as we're leaning forth in prayer, just standing forth in what we're believing God for, just believe that when his purpose is established, amen, it is an overflow as we went into yesterday.

So make sure you take a hold of what God has for you and not miss the opportunity.

I yield as we go into prayer.