Have you ever noticed that the moves of God come in cycles?  And any move can be taken to the extreme.

Let me explain…

Look at the Faith “movement” as an example.  We know what faith is by looking at Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  Faith is calling the things that are NOT as though they ARE.

The Lord knew the Church needed an increase of faith, so the recent re-emphasis on faith teaching that began to take place was greatly needed.  But many took this movement to the extreme, becoming the “name it and claim it” gospel, and the belief that any amount of suffering is due to a lack of faith. 

I believe that God desires for us to walk in divine health and wealth, but bad things DO happen to good people sometimes. 

So, even though there are extremes on both ends, you can’t throw the whole faith movement out the window!  We should have a balanced, biblical faith.

The same goes for prosperity.  Back in the ‘80’s, we began to hear more teachings on wealth and prosperity in the church.  I believe the Lord wanted to show us that it really is okay for us to have wealth, and there are plenty of Scriptures to confirm that belief that I don’t have time to get into right now.  If you haven’t already, you can download the free report on the website and it will give you a sampling of these Scriptures.

But here’s the balance.  Now that God has shown us that it’s okay to have wealth, our next lesson is to get our priorities right so that we know what to do with our wealth once we actually have it!

Could this be why we as believers for the most part have not been immune to some of the recent economic challenges?  Could a great “shaking” be taking place to shake ourselves of any idolatry?

Maybe – just maybe – some of our beliefs in the past regarding prosperity has been self-centered rather than kingdom-centered.  Maybe it has taken us going through some financial struggles to really understand and appreciate the true purpose of wealth, and to not take any blessings from the Lord for granted.

I hope we’re getting this lesson.  I thought I understood these principles years ago, but I can honestly say that, after going through some “stuff” this past year, I am a completely different person and my attitude toward wealth and money is completely different.  I have a whole different outlook on money (and even LIFE) than I did just a year ago.  More on this later…

As always, please let me know your thoughts by commenting below…

Blessings!

Mark

The title of this post sounds simple enough, like a no-brainer, but let me explain…

A few years ago, a well-respected Christian leader spoke at my church, and he shared this story…

He was seeking the Lord on a certain decision he needed to make, but he was not receiving an answer from the Lord.  He said, “Lord, I’ve been praying and fasting and seeking You, and you’re not giving me an answer as to which way I need to go.”

Then God clearly told him that He loved him and trusted him, and that he could make the decision himself, and He (the Lord) would back him on it and bless that decision, whichever direction he took.

This message had a huge impact on me, but I took it to the extreme.  For a period of time, every opportunity that came along, I would jump on it, thinking that God would bless my efforts.  Rather than seeking Him on whether I was to get involved or not, I assumed that He was okay with it and would follow me rather than the other way around.

Well, this got me in trouble on more than one occasion…

I’m still recovering from some of my presumptions – to the point where I even questioned this speaker’s credibility over the years, even though it was hard to imagine that this person missed the mark.

But recently, the Lord showed me – it was ME that had missed the mark!

This speaker had indeed sought the Lord through prayer and fasting, and in this particular instance, God gave him the green light to make the decision himself.  I believe he was right on when he said he heard directly from the Lord that way.  It’s one thing for God to specifically tell you it’s okay to make a decision yourself on a particular matter you are seeking Him on. 

But I built an entire doctrine around that one incident, and tried to apply that to everything in my businesses and my real estate, and it backfired!

Please seek the Lord on EACH and EVERY individual business decision you need to make and on every business opportunity that comes your way, whether this particular idea is something you should get involved in or not. 

Remember, however, as you’ve heard me say in the past, don’t hide behind prayer as an excuse not to do anything.  Don’t use “seeking the Lord” as a cover-up for fear! 

I hope and pray that I’m FINALLY starting to get the balance.  God really does know best!

Stay tuned…

As always, please let me know your thoughts by commenting below…

Blessings!

Mark

I’ve always said that, as believers, we don’t operate in the world’s economy because we’re in God’s economy.  I still believe that statement, but in looking at what I and most Christians experienced in 2008, that hasn’t seemed to be true. 

Sure, bills are paid, and checks come through just in the nick of time.  We never want to take any of that for granted, but that’s not what I’m talking about here.  The fact is that many in the body of Christ are still just surviving, and frankly are experiencing many of the same financial difficulties that those of the world are encountering.

Why is that? 

Maybe it’s because God wants to teach us something.

I’ve been seeking the Lord for the answer to what it is I need to learn, and I will attempt to start sharing my ideas and thoughts on this topic in the coming weeks.  I really want you to hear my heart on this.  Maybe I’m not the only one this will speak to.

These topics may be hard-hitting and even controversial at times, but you see, we can’t just say we believe in a better year for 2009 if we don’t learn from our past mistakes and repent of our sins and shortcomings.

Since I started EPIC Wealth Strategies, I have focused on the positive message of wealth (which I still believe and will not change), but I haven’t taken the time to discuss certain key lessons and traps that we all need to be on guard against. 

Maybe God wants us to make sure we have our priorities in order…

Maybe he wants to make sure no amount of greed is still underlying beneath the surface (and it’s easy to be deceived on this one)…

Maybe we jumped ahead of God in hopes that he would follow us rather than the other way around…

Maybe the answer is…  ALL of the above (and more)!

Stay tuned.  I will be touching on all these items and much more in the coming weeks on my new blog at:

http://epicwealthstrategies.com/blog

Please check out the new blog and feel free to post your own comments to share your thoughts with others.  I will let you know as I update the blog with new entries.

Blessings!

Mark Freeman