God's foundation for financial success

This study guide is designed to help you understand and do the word of God practically. It contains questions to stir you into thought and a section of prayer & confessions: 

GOD'S FOUNDATION FOR FINANCIAL SUCCESS

Wednesday, 21st September 2022

Good Morning!

For anything to be built at all, it must have a foundation. The foundation is the ground or base upon which something is built. If the foundation is weak, then the structure, no matter how nicely built and decorated, is susceptible to destruction over time. So, the firmer a foundation is, the longer the building will last.

The Lord Jesus said this much when He talked about a house that was built on sand and another that was built on the rock.

He said the winds blew against them, the storm rose against them, and the rains fell hard upon them, while the house built upon the sand fell because it had a faulty foundation, the house built on the rock kept standing after all the trouble. The house built on a solid foundation was built to last:

Luke 6 verses 47 to 49 – The Message

These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on. "If you work the words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who dug deep and laid the foundation of his house on bedrock. When the river burst its banks and crashed against the house, nothing could shake it; it was built to last. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a dumb carpenter who built a house but skipped the foundation. When the swollen river came crashing in, it collapsed like a house of cards. It was a total loss."

You notice that the problem was not with the storm for the same storm hit both houses; the problem was with the foundation.

There is a foundation for financial success that God has put in place, if you don’t build your finances on it, you would experience the ups and downs associated with economies.

But God doesn’t want this for you; hence, He gives us the right foundation to build our finances on. While this is true for every person, its relevance is even more for people in the uncertain waters of business. The Bible states:

Psalm 107 verses 23 to 24

They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.

Here, the Lord typifies economic activity with great waters; as His people plunge in it with their diverse vessels for business, rather than be run over, the wonderful news is that He has a plan for His people to see His wonders therein.

What is God’s foundation for one to thrive financially? It is primarily the principle of the tithe. What is the tithe? It is a tenth of all one’s increase. Now, it is not just 10%, but it is the first 10%, for it is a statement establishing God as first in your affairs.

The tithe is not necessarily 10% of all that you have, rather, it is 10% of your increase or profit; that is what belongs to God. This should not be surprising to you, because He - God, is solely responsible for the increase:

1st Corinthians 3 verses 6 to 7

I have planted, Apollos watered; but GOD GAVE THE INCREASE. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

Because God gave the increase, the Bible says categorically that the tithe is His:

Leviticus 27 verse 30

And ALL THE TITHE of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, IS THE LORD'S: it is holy unto the Lord.

He gave the increase or profit; thus, He has rights over it; but ALL He asks for is the tithe as a mark of your honour to Him:

Proverbs 3 verse 9

Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase.

As a matter of fact, when you analyse it, you’d conclude that by the tithe, you deliberately introduce God into your affairs. This is the intent of God in the tithe:

Malachi 3 verses 10 to 12

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. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.

The import of the Lord’s statement here is, ‘give me the rights into your affairs by taking that which is mine to my house and see what I would do. By the time I am done, the nations of the world would call you blessed, because you shall be a delightsome land’.

Have a solid foundation for your finances so that you would be able to keep standing no matter what the unstable financial climate throws at you by consistently tithing, and at the end of the day, you would not only survive but also thrive. Amen!!!

*Meditations*

Why do we say the Lord has rights over your increase or profit?

If you went into partnership with a big man who gave all the initial investment and ensures that you make profits and all He asks for is 10% of the profit, but you always wait till after you have done every other thing and struggle to give him his 10%...

What kind of honour would you say you have for this man?

If you were the big man, at what point would you take action?

What kind of action would you take?

*A Confession & Prayer:*

Father, I thank You that You want me to see Your wonders as I engage in life, particularly in the marketplace. I thank You for the increase, and I recognise that the tithe of ALL my increase is Yours. I choose to operate in Your principle of tithing and fortify myself against the financial storms of life. Amen!!!

Culled from a devotional