Simple Reason Why You're Rich

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A lot of moneyed people in church brag about how favored they are by God, and how people with financial lack aren't. And we've heard their stories a lot of times---how they are faithful with giving and how they're very generous. They enumerate people they have helped and the ways they have given to the church. So no wonder God is pleased with them.

Honestly, I am tired of hearing about them.

And you must be wondering why you've been in financial lack up to now even if you're also a giver in your own small ways and are humble and spiritual, complying with the Word, especially not letting your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Is God not pleased with you the way he seems to be pleased with the rich who brag about being prospered and favored by God?

Have you been doing something wrong?

As Lil Job, I've been wondering about all this and meditating. Are the rich really so favored and the poor rejected?

Then one day I saw it.

Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? [James 2.5]

The poor---those who lack money---clearly are chosen by God to "inherit the Kingdom." This should be clear enough that those who lack money but are still "rich in faith" and love God are the ones really favored. This should settle the issue once and for all. 

And how about the rich? Consider these two verses:

1. But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. [Luke 6.24]

2. Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. [James 5]

And the rich in church are rich solely because of this:

But the rich should take pride in their humiliation--since they will pass away like a wild flower. [James 1.10]

Here's another good version of it:

And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field.

Here's what God showed me---the rich are given riches, not because they have been found faithful or they're more favored than others or they're God's favorite, but because they still need to pass the test. They haven't proven themselves to God yet on matter of worldly possessions. Will they love their money than God?

If you're given riches, it only means you are given an exam that you must pass. It may even mean you have failed before and you're given a chance to pass the test. And one of the tests you have to pass is whether you are going to surrender your riches and share them with the less fortunate brethren in church.

If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? [1 John 3.17]

If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, [James 2.16]

And Jesus said,

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, [Matthew 25.35]

Connect all the passages above and you'd see that the rich are rich not because they are better or more spiritual than those with financial lack. They are rich because God wants them to purify their hearts, particularly, not to boast about their riches but boast in their humble position in God's eyes and share their money with the poor in church.

I remember the poor widow who gave a few cents in the offering---all the money she had---while the rich gave big amounts. Jesus said the poor widow gave more than the rich. And yet she was poor and the rich remained rich. What I notice is, the poor widow continued to give all she had, though in small amounts.

If you're rich, you're not favored. You are humbled.

And the poor who remains faithful to God despite their poverty? They don't need to be tested. Their hearts have been proven by God. They have passed the test. And now God is using them to test the hearts of the moneyed.

So, if you are rich, don't think you're God's favorite. You're just being given a chance to pass the test. I hope you do pass it.