What Is It?

When the Israelites first laid eyes on the miraculous bread from Heaven with which God fed them for 40 years, they asked,  "Man hu?" a Hebrew phrase meaning "What is it????" that ended up as "manna" in our Bibles. There are divisive issues in the church that, perhaps, could be diminished by a good dose of simple semantics. As in, explaining "What IS it?"

Among those divisive biggies? The message of "prosperity."

For many years, the majority of Christians were from the lower strata of society. In a word, most were poor. Then came preachers who latched on to God's truth that we are the head and not the tail (Deuteronomy 28:13), that the founding fathers of the Judeo/Christian faith were blessed in great measure in worldly goods (Abraham and Isaac to name two). And voilá, the birth of the "prosperity" message.

Though founded in truth, in principles set forth in God's Word, somehow along the way it got a little skewed—so much so that Dad Hagin, founder of Rhema Bible College, found occasion to call a meeting of the minds to rein in his followers/leaders with regard to the way the prosperity message was being disseminated. His heart was grieved that so many had made blessings the emphasis, rather than the Giver. If only all had taken his rebuke to heart there might not be such a backlash today against this reality of this truth.

If the Bible says something, it is true. God did say He gives us the power to create wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18) and that He takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servants (Psalm 35:27). That is a divine truth. But a focus on the gift rather than the giver causes a diminishing of truth, obscures the fact that prosperity means more than just monetary wealth.

Prosperity, specifically monetary prosperity, as defined by most in western culture, is something totally different in other societies. In many countries, accepting Christ is a direct ticket to poverty and persecution. To profess Christ is to be banned from higher education, civil service, and other well-paying positions. Not to mention having a target painted on your back. Major news media tend to remain mum on the thousands upon thousands of killings simply for their being a Christian; an ignoring, perhaps, of facts that do not promote their woke agenda? In many countries, to be a Christian means your goods are confiscated, a trip to jail promised, and life is precarious at best.

That is not to say that God's provision doesn't encompass finances. It does. I have lived that reality all my life.

My mother, the oldest of three siblings and the one of whom God had spoken great things to Grandma before her birth, ended up being the proverbial black sheep, with a penchant for a way of life that did not glorify God. Thankfully, she did eventually turn her life around and away from the sins that so easily beset her. And yet her story cannot be told without mentioning this astounding fact: even in her days of deepest darkness, Mom tithed. Come you-know-what or high water, she never failed to honor God and give to Him the ten percent He said was His.

While her two younger siblings valued the worth of education, one receiving a doctorate of jurisprudence and the other a master's, somehow Mom missed the education-is-important gene. She "only" got her licensed vocational nurse degree, and that largely due to the prompting of her second husband. Despite it being a humble degree, it turned out to be a tremendous blessing. You see, my dear mother earned the dubious distinction of being widowed not once, not twice, but three times. That "little" degree made the difference between our small family starving and having enough—even if it was barely enough.

Now, there is a vast gulf between the pay of an LVN and that of a registered nurse. One of mom's brothers offered to help defray the cost of continuing her studies, but, alas, despite her obvious financial need at having been widowed yet again when the offer was made, mom stuck true to her gene deficiency with regard to learning. She opted to refuse that generous offer. And yet … she always had enough.

"Janine," she told me once, "I always make sure I give God His tithe first. I have tried to pay my bills first and give Him the tithe after that, but when I have done that, I always run out of money! But if I pay God's tithe first, I not only have enough for my bills, but I end up with a little extra! Even though it's the same amount I started out with! Giving the tithe first makes all the difference!"

Bottom line: since my childhood I have lived the actuality that giving to God results in having enough of what we need. Maybe not rolling in dough, but enough to have needs met.

I have had friends fuss at me saying, "Janine, God wants us, not just our money!" Yes, that is true, God does want US, hook, line, and sinker—but there is something other worldly, something that taps into the spiritual, when we give to God. In Mark 9:41 Jesus promises a reward to anyone who gives anything, however small or insignificant, in the name of the Lord. In Malachi 3 God promises to rebuke the devourer on our behalf if we give Him our tithes. My mother, even when estranged from God, honored Him with her worldly goods. That tenuous connection kept her tethered to God, a link that grew until eventually it drew the prodigal home to her Heavenly Father. There IS something that happens spiritually when we honor God with what He has bestowed on us. The money of which we are stewards on this earth represents the sweat of our brow, our life's blood. It does not come easy and there is a human tendency to hang on to it, so to give it to God first shows a willingness to honor Him above all else, to give Him the glory due His name. And astoundingly, God will bless those that honor Him with their earthly possessions.

God will supply our needs when we put Him first. In response to their generous giving to him , Paul told the Philippians, "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19). There is a direct correlation between giving to God (which we do by giving to His church and His ministers) and having our needs met. Godly prosperity, though, means more than merely rolling in dough.

Deep joy in life does not necessarily come via "filthy lucre." If that were true, there would be no addiction, broken homes, or suicides among the affluent. How will He supply those needs? David wrote, "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures" (Psalm 23:2). Since sheep need healthy pastures to feed on, that is where their loving shepherd takes them. As God's spiritual sheep, we can rest in the fact that He will most certainly lead us to pastures that are rich in the exact nutrients that we need, nutrients that might not be monetary. It might be a needed job, food on the table, a clean bill of health, a harmonious family ... all those things and more comprise a state of joy and peace not related to bank rolls.

Some of our precious brothers and sisters in the Lord living in countries that suppress Christianity can only expect pain and loss when they profess Christ. To them prosperity might be defined as all they need in jail. It might be comfort during and after being tortured, warmth when there is no coat or blanket in a cold jail cell, a feeling of fullness when deprived of food and water. All these are things our brethren in persecuted countries have asked us to pray for. To them, in the dark confines of persecution, that is prosperity.

I love the story of Bro. X (name omitted, just in case) a pastor from a far Eastern country, whom we were privileged to hear speak in person. In his homeland, no one can aspire to the office of pastor unless they have been imprisoned for 2 years. Only with that badge of honor can they be considered worthy to mentor God's sheep. He also told us about a time when he was imprisoned, led many to the Lord, and in the course of perusing Bible truths, touched on tithing. He told his new converts in prison that they didn't have to worry about tithing while in prison, but the prisoners thought otherwise. They were so hungry for God, so on fire for Him and desirous to shower Him with their love, that they found a way to tithe even in prison. The only thing they got there was water, so all the believers began to tithe their water to the minister, Brother X. Where there's a will, there's a way.

And the resulting blessings may not always come in greenbacks. At times, abundance might be measured simply by the scope of joy bestowed on us as we travel through the valley of the shadow of death.

Jesus said, "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full" (John 15:11). While happiness hinges on externals, joy is derived from that deep inner well in our spirit in which Jesus dwells. Joy does not depend on things; it depends on knowing the Giver of joy. When we exalt Him, honor Him, He extends HIs hand of fullness to us and gives us exactly what we need.

So yes, there is such a thing as prosperity, but it might not come wrapped in all the trappings in which the world defines it. God's prosperity—that joy that comes from knowing Him and His fullness, that joy that comes with the certainty that God will provide all that I need for this journey in life because I put Him first, that joy that will carry us through the darkest days of our lives, that is a prosperity worth having.

"See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; in that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statures and his judgements, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it" (Deuteronomy 30:15-16).

"But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:6-7).

"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth" 3 John 2).