How exactly does God bless us as Christians?

Copied from my WhatsApp threads on 30 July, 2024

Screenshot from X. FYI? Prof Tayo is right.

The first thing I want to get out of the way is that Professor Tayo is right—money is the reward for value creation, not religious piety. This means you cannot pray, fast, serve, Bible study, or give your way into wealth. I have done several in-depth threads on each of these before, e.g., “The RoI of kindness.” But doesn’t God bless us? Yes, he does. Elon Musk, Dangote, Odetola, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and many more are not Christians. In case you don't know, most wealthy people in the world today are either atheists or Muslims, so if it was by religious piety, Nigeria should be the richest country in the world by now. I have taught you this before- giving tithes, offerings, sowing seeds, etc, do NOT translate into wealth, but the bible is clear that God will bless the work of our hands if we obey him. So, how exactly does that happen? 🤔

The bible is VERY clear on how every single person in the bible got their wealth- whether from

1. Agriculture- Abraham, Job, Jacob
2. Spoils of war- David
3. Intelligent and detailed craftsmanship- King Uzzah, Paul
4. Consulting and diplomacy- Joseph, Solomon
5. Inheritance- Solomon, Rehoboam
6. Public Donations- The Children of Isreal leaving Egypt and many more.

Meet King Solomon- the richest man in the Bible and in History

There is NOBODY who got rich in the bible without an explanation. There is/was no sudden and/or inexplicable wealth anywhere in the bible. This shows us two realities-

1. When you see sudden and/or inexplicable wealth as a Christian, you should avoid it rather than go towards it. Now, please understand that the fact that you- personally, cannot explain something does NOT mean it has no explanation. Too many people attribute things they don't understand to spiritual and demonic forces. E.g., Someone makes some money, and we immediately assume that the person must either be doing Yahoo or has a charm somewhere. This is simply lazy thinking, biko.
2. God will bless the works of our hands, meaning you have to be doing something. I need to insert a clause here- It is indeed possible that God can cause money to come to you without you doing “anything” and in a dramatic way, like Jesus got money out of the mouth of a fish, but think for a minute, how many times did that happen throughout Jesus’ ministry? and wasn't that money for a very specific purpose? That tells you that it happens for specific reasons but not all the time.

So your chances of someone from nowhere handing $1m or a car over to you for no reason are very, very slim. By the way, I have seen this happen in real life where someone needed a car, had no money, but out of curiosity, went to price the car. After calling the owner, the person asked, " do you like the car? Yes? Then it’s yours. All without meeting or knowing the person. Everything was a phone conversation, but that reality happened only once, and that was it. It is not every day, every time, everybody thing. So again, it can happen, BUT we need consistency in these things, not one-off. What we see consistently happen in the bible that led to wealth is one of three things, and even in our present day, in my opinion, these three things are still consistent for anyone who desires wealth as a Christian. Again, non-Christians can be wealthy w/o knowing God so these things may or may not apply to them. The principles of wealth are generally universal and apply to everyone- Christian or not.

So, what are the three ways in which we can generate/ accumulate wealth? According to my study, they fall into these broad categories, and I can back them up with Scripture. Bear in mind that this is my opinion, but I believe it to be true and consistent.

1. ⁠ ⁠Industry/ Study
2. Divine leading, which may sometimes be based on existing skill/ talent
3. Alignment for present and/or future opportunities

How did I come about these? Here is a simple principle- Any wealth generation strategy MUST be consistent in practice and in outcomes, i.e. RoI, and consistent with the Bible, especially if it is going to be bible/kingdom-based; otherwise, it is probably fraud or heresy. The moment we spot any inconsistencies in practice, outcomes, or bible realities that means they are probably false/ incorrect. This may not apply to unbelievers for clarity of doubt, but it does not mean they are right.

1. ⁠ ⁠Industry/ Study- We see the case of Daniel and his friends at the University of Babylon. They were not just magically invited to sit in the king’s court. They studied and attended classes like every other person. We also see their consecration in refusing to eat food offered to idols. Their consecration was laudable and excellent, but if they hadn't taken their studies seriously, other people would have been selected by the king, even though they also ate the idol food. Our holiness, modesty, virginity etc, are all good and outstanding, but if you don't study/ work hard, you WILL be poor/ broke. It is the same way being a virgin does not guarantee or translate to marrying a good husband or wife or a happy marriage. Both of you can be virgins, and the marriage can/will still end in divorce/ abuse, while people who have had sex with everybody under the sun, even done multiple abortions, can/will still have happy marriages. Your holiness does not guarantee or translate to wealth. Daniel and his friends studied hard, and God blessed that study. The result was that They were ten times better and were appointed to serve in the king's courts. We also see the case of Joseph and the strategy outlined after he interpreted the dream. I dont have time, I would have shown you how the strategy Joseph gave to Pharaoh contained exchange rates, foreign policy, leadership, economic & inflation stabilization and many more. Joseph was not just a dreamer; he had studied well, and God blessed that. This means your area of study/ work can be a wealth generator if you know what to do and how to do it. For example, who are your field's richest and most successful people? What areas did they focus on? Can you get into that space? I once asked some people this question- if you were invited to a meeting with the national person of your field, for example- the Chief Justice of the Federation, if you are a Lawyer, can you hold your conversation? Let the Holy Spirit breathe the depth of this one to you. Amen
2. ⁠Divine leading especially in an area where you already have skill and craftsmanship. Elijah and the widow at Zarepath is a good example, there is also Elisha and the widow who was in debt but let us use the case of King Uzziah. The Bible says he was marvellously helped. Did you ever wonder what he was marvellously helped to do? It was to invent, build and sell weapons of war. Exactly what the US and Israel do today/ invent, build and sell weapons of war to other nations. FYI? The US is the largest weapons seller. God gave him- King Uzziah- the idea of creating weapons. Wild right? In case you are doubting it, sees 2 Chron 26:15 KJV; “And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong”. God can give you ideas & strategies that when you develop them, they will unlock wealth, especially cuz you will be marvelously helped by God. Now, whether or not Christians in 2024 should be inventing, building or selling weapons is another matter for another day, but hopefully, you get the point. In each point, I have shown you the principle, the example and the outcomes in the bible to show the consistencies in these things. Notice how none of them sowed anything- offerings, tithes, seeds, service in the temple, prayers, fasting, etc. In fact, the people who got results from the “religious activities” were the outliers, not the norm.
3. Last but not least? Divine alignment for present and/or future opportunities. What do I mean? The year is 2024, and let’s assume that in the year 2026, there is going to be a property for sale, and because of the circumstances at that time, the selling price would be less than usual/ normal. So, what God does is create an overflow so we can borrow more pots, i.e. begin to cause your cash flow to increase. The idea is for you to save so you have something, but many of us miss it, and we squander the resources. And then, in 2026, the land goes up for sale, but you cannot buy it because you don't have money, forgetting that you have gotten the money and spent it. We see the example of Prophet Elisha asking the widow to go abroad to borrow pots and then begin to fill them. Notice how the oil did not stop flowing until she ran out of pots? Notice how she kept storing the oil in pots? She was storing it. That is how God expects us to store our overflow and, if possible, borrow “pots” to store the oil where we can. When you have an overflow, it is time to save. If you are truly a person of faith, you cannot spend money anyhow, especially during an overflow. That is not the time to change your car, buy a new phone or take that vacation. It is the time to head to the bank and increase the saving limits on your account, it is the time to ask for USD dominated investment options that you can keep your money in. See, there might be an opportunity in the future that God has prepared, and you will miss it if you don't save.

Sometimes the overflow “ends” because we have run out of pots

If you have read to this point, thank you. I hope it blessed you. As always, you can share the thread for those who want to. This matter is deep and I can only pray that beyond all I can write, the Holy Spirit can speak more to your heart. It is God’s will that we have enough and to spare and by the grace of God, we will.

Remain blessed.