The Bible says there are things that will disqualify you from ever having success!
The following eight things will kill every business deal, and God will guarantee you poverty if you practice just one of them.
1. Idolatry. Idolatry is defined as the worship of a physical object as a god, or immoderate devotion or attachment to something. The first commandment says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” Exodus 20:3. Not rock stars, not movie stars, not athletic stars; just the Bright and Morning Star, Jesus Christ.
Idolatry is the inordinate devotion to anything other than God. How much time do you spend watching TV. Who gets prime time in your life? Who or what is the lord of your life? Who or what has influence over your life?
Consider the god of intellectualism. 1 Samuel 15:23 says, “for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” Who is stubborn? The man or woman who will not change his/her opinion, even when the word of God says he/she is wrong. The opinion has become their god. When you refuse to hear the word of God and stubbornly stick with your unbiblical opinion, you are in intellectual idolatry.
2. Laziness. If there’s a great book on the work ethic in the world, it’s the Bible. The Bible says, “Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work” Exodus 20:9. God worked, and some of you ought to try it. 1 Timothy 5:8 says that he who does not provide for his family has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel unbeliever.
If you’re a Christian, you ought to be the best worker in your company. When your boss gets ready to lay people off, he wouldn’t dare think of letting you go because he can’t do without you.
3. Waste. Proverbs 18:9 says, “He also that is slothful lazy in his work is a brother to him that is a great waster.” How much money, how much food, how much time do you waste? The average American throws enough food out the back door every day to feed a family of 5 in another part of the world. Jesus fed 5,000 out of one boy’s sack lunch and then he commanded the disciples to pick up the leftovers. Why? Because waste is wrong. Waste leads to poverty.
Do you waste time? To waste time is to waste your life. You have 168 hours per week. You can’t get more, and you don’t have less. You can’t put time in a bank, and you can’t stop it. The Bible says to redeem you time Ephesians 5:15. Squeeze the juice out of every minute and you’ll have an exciting life.
4. Borrowing. I’m talking about things that bring poverty according to the word of God. Proverbs 22:7 says that the borrower I servant to the lender. Every bank you borrow from makes you a slave. Every credit card you have in your pocket makes you a slave. One of the quickest ways to financial success is plastic surgery—cut up your credit cards!
5. Stealing. Theft brings poverty. Zechariah 5:3 says, “This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off,” and that means financially. God says if you’re a thief, he’ll bless you with poverty. Do you steal form your employer? Do you steal on your expense account? Do you borrow things permanently? You’re a thief, and God says he will cut you off.
6. Crooked deals. The sixth thing that will cause poverty is the crooked business deals of the father. Proverbs 17:13 says that if a man pays back evil for good, evil will never leave his house. If a father returns evil for good, evil will follow his children all the days of their lives.
7. Anti-Semitism. An anti-Semite is someone who hates the Jewish people because they’re Jewish. You will never succeed as an anti-Semite. You don’t have to agree with the Jewish people. You don’t have to let them run over you in a business deal. But if you hate them because they are Jewish, if you hate them because they are wealthy if you hate them because of their brilliance, God will cut you off.
God told Abraham, “I will bless them that bless you and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” Genesis 12:3. That is still God’s foreign policy statement concerning the Jewish people around the world.
All the Old Testament prophets, the disciples, Joseph and Mary and Jesus Himself were Jewish people! It’s not possible to be a Christian and not love the Jewish people!
8. Refusing to tithe. Tithing is God’s financial plan for world evangelism and your personal success. Tithing is what he church did before bingo!
When you participate in any of these eight things, God just reaches over and turns your tap off! You can work as hard as you want to, but you’re not going to get ahead; you’re not even going to catch up.
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