Build Your Foundation First GC 16 July Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 3 John 2

Never try to build a house without first laying a foundation. I don’t care how eager you are to get it finished, how excited you are about filling it with furniture and decorating it all just right—take time to put down a solid foundation first. If you don’t, that house will be so unstable, it will soon come tumbling down. That’s simple advice, isn’t it? Anyone with any sense at all knows it. Yet, in the spiritual realm, people make that mistake all the time. They see a blessing God has promised them in His Word, and they are so eager to have it, they ignore the foundational basics of godly living and pursue just that one thing. That’s especially true in the area of prosperity. Often, people are so desperate for a quick financial fix, they just pull a few prosperity promises out of the Bible and try to believe them—without allowing God to change anything else in their lives. Of course, it doesn’t work and those people end up disappointed. It’s important to truly grasp what the Apostle John was saying in 3 John 2. Notice, he didn’t just say, “I want you to prosper.” He said, “I want you to prosper as your soul prospers.” He tied financial prosperity to the prosperity of our mind, will and emotions. God’s plan is for us to grow financially as we grow spiritually. He knows it is dangerous to put great wealth into the hands of someone who is too spiritually immature to handle it. You can see dramatic evidence of that fact in the lives of people who have acquired financial riches through this world’s system, apart from God. In most cases, such riches just help people to die younger and in more misery than they would have if they’d been poorer. In light of that, it’s easy to see why God wants us to increase financially at the same rate we increase spiritually. He wants us to outgrow our fleshly foolishness so our prosperity will bring us blessing and not harm. “But, Gloria,” you say, “I need financial help fast!” Then get busy growing. Get busy building your foundation for prosperity. How? By finding out what God says in His Word and doing it. Keep in mind that the foundation of prosperity is a continual lifestyle built on the Word of God. It is doing whatever God tells you to do, thinking whatever He tells you to think, and saying whatever He tells you to say. Godly prosperity is the result of putting God’s Word first place in your life—both to hear it and do it. So start building now!Ezra 10; Nehemiah 1-2; 1 Peter 3-4As my soul prospers, I prosper in my finances and in my health. 3 John 2

Scripture Reading: Luke 6:47-49