I am going to discuss in this article about Ten Christian Principles of Prosperity. The reference is the Word of God, So the message is correct.

The First Principle of Prosperity for the Christian is, if God is against it so are we. To many times we Christians excuse are actions by saying this is a different time and place. Circumstances are different and other lame exuses. To have true Christian Prosperity we must take on the attitude that if God is against it than we are too. We practice things that God is against and wonder why we are not blessed in what we do. Galatians 5:19-24 "Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."

The Second Principle of Prosperity for the Christian is, every sin has its origin in the heart. In Jeremiah 17:9, it says "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?" Sin originates in our hearts. We cannot blame everyone else for our sins and the deadly consequences of sin. The old adage, the Devil made me do it is so far from the truth. Yes, Satan does tempt us, and so does his fallen angels, but it us we are selves that yield to temptation and we are to blame for our own sin, not anyone else. We need to seek God's will in our lives daily, and read His Word, to help us from falling to the lusts of our own flesh.

Proverbs 4:23 says to "Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it springs the issues of life." This tells us that we need to keep a watch and pray day and night that God will keep our hearts in His hands. We must have a pure heart, in order to prosper as a Christian. This is well said in Romans 13:14 "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provisions for the flesh to fulfill its lusts."

The Third Principle of Prosperity for the Christian is, it is easier to keep the heart clean than it is to clean after it has been defiled. Proverbs 22:3 says, "A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished." When we flirt with evil or do nothing to prevent it from coming into our homes and lives, we are asking for trouble.

When we see evil coming we need to run and hide in Jesus to keep our hearts clean. Once our hearts are dirty it so difficult to clean it. In fact without turning to Jesus in repentance it is impossible to clean a dirty heart. The best thing for us to do is keep the heart clean to start with by hiding in the arms of Jesus when ever we spot evil.

Proverbs 6:27-28 says "Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be seared?" You see, playing with sin and evil has far worse consequences than setting oneself on fire or walking on hot coals with bare feet. Let us avoid sin and evil in order to be Prosperous in Jesus.

The Fourth Principle of Prosperity for the Christian is, It is not possible to fight a fleshly appetite by indulging in it. Ecclesiastes 6:10 states, "He who loves silver will not be satisfied; Nor he who loves abundance with increase. This also is vanities." When we love earthly goods to much our mind is not focused on Jesus. If we are blessed by God with abundant wealth we must use this wealth for God's glory. We must remind ourselves everyday that it is the grace and blessings of God that gives us what we have. We must be satisfied with what we have, and not lust after more and more. If we indulge in this lust, we will never be satisfied with what God has blessed us with. Great or small let us be thankful for what God has given us.

In James 1:14-15 it says, "But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin when it is full grown, brings forth death." Pretty serious isn't it. Let us turn our hearts desire over to Jesus Christ and ask him to fill our hearts with the desires that He would have us have.

The Fifth Principle of Prosperity for the Christian is, small compromises lead to great disasters. In other words little sin leads to big sins. In Luke 16:10, Jesus said, "He who is faithful in what is least, is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much."

No Compromise should be our attitude when it comes to the things of God and our relationship with Jesus. The talents and gifts we receive from God need to be used for the purpose God has given us those gifts.

When we fudge one little bit on an issue we know that there should be no compromise, than we have become unfaithful to God. Don't expect God to cause you to prosper if you cannot even be faithful to the little you have at the moment. In order to prosper we need to be faithful in all that Jesus has provided for us and entrusted us with.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, "No one can serve two masters; for he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." (mammon is money) We as Christians cannot be two faced.

We either serve God or we serve the almighty dollar, we cannot compromise and say, we will horde the money we have been left with by God for our own benefit and not the purpose it was given us for. This is greed and it leads to sin which leads to death. Anything that separates us from God is our god and like it or not we are serving and worship it. Would it not be better to worship and serve God than money and other earthly desires?

In Romans 6:16 it says "Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether it be of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness." We have our choices, compromise unto death or no compromise unto eternal life in Jesus. What do you choose?

The Sixth Principle of Prosperity for the Christian is, those who do not love the Lord will not help serve the Lord. John 5:18-20 says, "Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath but also said that God was His Father, making himself equal with God. Then Jesus answered and said to them "Most assuredly, say unto you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel." The so called religious leaders had no love of Jesus in their hearts. They had no intentions of serving the Lord. In fact they wanted to kill Him. For a Christian to prosper we must have a true love of Jesus. Then and only than will we have a true desire to serve Him.

We see in Proverbs 25: 15-16 that "by long forbearance a ruler is persuaded, and a gentle tongue breaks a bone. Have you found honey? Eat only as much as you need. Lest you be filled with it and vomit." As we serve Jesus from true love of Him we must remember to use our tongues for his service and glory. Whatever Jesus provides for us let us not get greedy and engorge ourselves. Let us just take what we need and share with others. Let's let our love of Jesus lead us to serving our Lord and He will bring us to Prosperity.

The Seventh Principle of Prosperity for the Christian is, our sinful habits do hurt those who follow us. Romans 14:7 Says, "For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself" and 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 says, "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own, but each one the other's well being." What we do may not be wrong to us, but are distressful to our weaker brothers and sisters in Christ. And definitely the sinful habits we have will hurt others. Our sinful habits can be a bad testimony to others causing them to fall. In order for us Christians to prosper we must be ever vigilant in making sure our conduct and habits does not hurt those who look up to us and follow us. Check yourself through God's word and prayer every day to make sure you are not causing a weaker brother or sister in Christ to stumble.

The Eighth Principle of Prosperity for the Christian is, it is not possible to fight a fleshy temptation with a fleshly weapon. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ." How can we fight fleshly temptations with a fleshly weapon? Both are from the devil himself and we will fail miserably every time and not prosper. We must turn to God's word and prayer to be equipped to battle fleshly temptations as they come.

Memorizing scripture verses and using them to battle a temptation when it hits us is a highly effective, never failing weapon. We add prayer and a close walk with Jesus and we can win over the temptations all the time.

A word of warning though is we must always remain humble and make sure that we are using the weapons of God to battle the temptations and not for our own personal gain. 1 John 4:4 Says this. "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." That is right, by turning to Jesus through His Holy Spirit who dwells in the hearts of every Christian we can be victorious over fleshly temptations and prosper in the Lord.

The Ninth Principle of Prosperity for the Christian is, We lose our freedom of choice when we choose our actions. The consequences of our choices are inevitable, incalculable, and up to God. I have learned in my years of travel and living in different countries and different states that this is so true. We have the freedom to do whatever we will, however every action we choose comes with a consequence, which is in God's hands. Once we make a decision or choice we no longer have the freedom to choose when we choose what we are going to do. In order to prosper we must seek God's will and say as Jesus said, "Not My will by Thine be done." Then we are truly free to prosper. In Proverbs 5:22 it says "His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, and he is caught in the cords of his sin." and in Proverbs 20:17 "Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel." and finally Proverbs 9:17-18 "Stolen water is sweet, And bread eaten in secret is pleasant. But he does not know that the dead are there, That her guests are in the depths of hell." Making the wrong choices can bring deadly consequences. Making the right choices by seeking God's will in your life will bring prosperity beyond your wildest imaginations.

The Tenth and final Principle of Prosperity for the Christian is, God balances guilt with blame. When we accept the blame for actions, God by our repentance and confession, will eliminate the guilt. 1 John 1:9 says "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. When we go astray, and we most assuredly will, we can turn to God, and confess our sins. He removes the guilt of our sin. He cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

When we repent and confess our sins, we then can become prosperous in Jesus. It may not be money, or riches, or it may be that too. But poor or wealthy with the right attitude of the heart, we Christians can prosper beyond human understanding. We must remember not to cling to earthly wealth. We cannot take it with us. As The writer of Ecclesiastes wrote when he looked upon all the wealth he had accrued. "Vanities, all is Vanities." Or useless everything is Useless.

With out the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Everything is Useless, and our efforts are in vain. Only through Jesus can we prosper and have meaning in our lives. Do you know Jesus? If not would you like too? Is He calling you to Him? Don't resist His Spirits bidding. Come to Jesus and Prosper with everlasting life. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life."

Give yourself a reality check. Make sure Jesus is your Lord and Savior. Romans 3:23 says "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Romans 6:23 says "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord." Say yes to Jesus.

©Copyright 2004 by Leonard Pagel and John C Thomas Sr.