Jireh – Part 2

Review

Riches are large sums of money used primarily for consumption.

Wealth is a large sum of money used primarily for growing.

• I told you last week, be careful when you can pay for what you used to pray for. And I stand by that.
• But the inverse is also valid: be careful when you’re praying for what you can just pay for—if you
  • Budget
  • Manage your money
  • Practice fiscal discipline
  • Employ sound financial planning
  • Increase your knowledge of financial matters.
  • Make use of some of the practical tools your church is offering you in partnership with George Thompson

Simple But Challenging

• The math needed to build wealth is simple.
• The practices needed to build wealth are simple.
• But the inner life development needed to build wealth is why people struggle to grow financially.

Jireh Offers Us More Than Money

What we need from Jireh is perspective.

We need Him to reveal more of Himself to us, reveal more of us to us and then rely on His grace to change the person we see in the mirror.

In the light of who He is, we see who we really are:

• Isaiah 6:1(ESV): ¹In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
• Isaiah 6:5 (ESV): ⁵ And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

But notice that the Lord does not leave us simply staring at our weakness.

• Isaiah 6:6–7 (ESV): ⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

Keep the Spiritual and Practical in Balance

Don’t Envy Ungodly People

• Psalm 37:1–7 (ESV): ¹ Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! ² For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. ³ Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. ⁴ Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. ⁵ Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. ⁶ He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. ⁷ Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!

Know How to Detect Christian “Get Rich” Schemes

Prosper Vs. Flourish

Proverbs 11:28 (ESV): ²⁸ Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.

• Prosperity is a biblical term
  • Joshua 1:8 (ESV): ⁸ This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
  • 3 John 1:2 (NKJV): ² Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

Does God want to everyone to be rich?

Here’s the response:

• He wants everyone to flourish and optimize everything He put in us
• He wants us to be wise stewards of our time, talent, treasure and temple – and if we apply time-tested principles in this area, we can set ourselves on a wealth-building path.

The purpose of wealth is to finance human flourishing.

You flourish when the good that God put in you is perpetuated, expressed and promoted in the earth.

Transition from a

• Resource
• Consumer
• Beneficiary(-in-waiting)

To a

• Investor
• Producer
• Benefactor

© Joshua D. Smith, Ph.D., 2024