Study Notes

I.      Love is the law upon which all other laws and principles hang (Matt 22:40)

A.    If love is not in place and working properly you will not prosper financially

1.     The NT was written as a result of what Jesus did for us; if what He did for us hangs on love, then everything that came as a result of it hangs on love as well

2.     There’s the promise of financial prosperity in the Word and then the principles necessary to unlock the promise.  The promises hang on love and the principles work by love. (2 Corinthians 9:6, 8:9-Work by and hang on love)

3.     You can get involved in the principles, but without the foundation of love in place it’ll just be form & no power; (There’ll be a lot tithing, giving, faith-talking, but no results)

4.     Faith, works by love, and it is what brings the word to pass (Heb 6:12)

a.    You’re trying to inherit the promise of financial prosperity by faith, but w/o love

B.     1 Corinthians 13:3-Much of your financial prosperity is based on the harvest of your giving; You’ll gain nothing from your giving if you’re not in love

1.     You can give 100% of your possessions and if you’re not in love, there’s no profit

a.    You can tithe and gain no benefits from it b/c you’re not in walking in love

2.     Luke 6:38-If you’re not in love this doesn’t work for your good; this hangs on love

C.    Matt 5:23-24-Jesus is shows us precedence, priority, and importance of love in giving

1.     If your brother has something against you lay your gift down reconcile with him and then offer your gift; that’s what you should do if he has something against you.  If you have something against your brother you should most definitely lay it down forgive, and then sow it

2.     Don’t sow outside the circle of love (1 Corinthians 16:14, Philippians 2:3)

3.     EX: If you told a farmer, “If you sow that seed, but don’t take care of this first, you will see no harvest from all that seed,” he’d lay that seed down go do the other first and then come back and sow it

D.    We haven’t given enough respect to the power this law and commandment of love.  Violating it will absolutely shut off the law of prosperity and the principles that you continue to apply outside of love will just be principles w/o power that yield no results

1.     As believers, we’ve trounced all over this commandment of love and then stand in holy wonderment about why we can’t prosper financially

2.     You can’t prosper financially outside of love any more than you can prosper financially outside of God

II.     Your financial prosperity is directly connected to and depending on your love to work

A.    Mark 10:17-30-The one he lacked was this commandment of love (Deut 6:5)

1.     He loved his possessions more than he loved those poor people and God and it cost him a hundred times more than what he had at that moment

2.     One of the main purposes of financial prosperity is to love God and love people and if you’re not doing that with no money you won’t do it with a lot of money

a.    If he got more stuff, he would just have more stuff to not love God with and not love people with

B.     Deut 11:13-Make the connection between your love walk & your financial prosperity

1.     13-Their prosperity began with their willingness (If you will) to love God

a.    16-17-Their poverty would begin with their unwillingness to love God

2.     18-Pay attention to yourself and make sure your in love because violating this will cost you your prosperity

a.    How many believers out there who are tithers and givers, but aren’t seeing much results of it in their lives because they don’t walk in love?

3.     18-Therefore-Because if you obey God you’ll prosper and if you don’t you won’t

a.    18-20-You should make this commandment of love very important in your life because it’s directly connected to your prosperity

b.    2 Peter 3:1-Get love up on the forefront of your consciousness and your spirit  

III.   When you welcome strive you welcome poverty and lack

A.    James 3:16-Strife and lack

1.     You don’t get the strife w/o the confusion and every evil work

a.    EX: It’s like wanting to eat a whole pie, but not have the calories

b.    Lack and poverty is included in every evil work

2.     When you chose the strife you got every evil work by default

a.    You can’t have the strife without the junk that comes with it

b.    Poverty and lack are down there with strife so don’t go down there

B.     The blessing that makes rich only works where there is unity (Psalm 133, Prov 10:22)

1.     The blessing is assigned to make you rich financially; IT makes rich-Proverbs 10:22

2.     There, where there is unity, the Lord commanded the blessing

a.    Where there’s unity there’s the blessing making rich; where’s there’s strife there’s confusion and every evil work

C.    Strife is a tool of the enemy used to rob you of your financial prosperity

1.     Genesis 13:1-18-Abraham passed the strife test

a.    Lot was rich was because he was with Abraham and Abraham had the blessing

(1)      5-Lot has flocks, herds, and tents b/c of the blessing that is on Abraham

b.    The enemy is behind this strife because he’s coming after their prosperity

(1)      Lot didn’t lose all of his stuff because he went to Sodom and Gomorrah, he lost his stuff because he left strife separate him from the blessing

(a)     He would have lost all his stuff no matter where he went

(2)      If Abraham would have went to Sodom and Gomorrah that place would have been turned around because the blessing is on him

c.     Lot didn’t pass that strife test and lost all he had (Genesis 14:12)

(1)      He should have told his herdmen to shut up then told Abraham I’m staying with you no matter what I have to do to stay here

d.    Abraham put a stop to strife; he knew the blessing works where unity is

e.    8,9-Abraham was already rich but this statement gives you insight into how he lived his life; He didn’t just start living like this that day; this was his character  

f.      14-After Abraham pass the strife test God promised to increase him more

2.     Genesis 26:12-24-Isaac passed the strife test

a.    In response to them striving over that well they dug, he just dug another one

(1)      He wouldn’t take Satan’s strife bait; Satan was after his prosperity

b.    Satan will come after your prosperity by coming after your love walk

(1)      Yes you’re a giver, yes you’re a tither, but your love walk has as much to do with prosperity as your giving and tithing

(2)      Would expect to prosper if you didn’t tithe and give?  They why do you expect to prosper when you neglect the command of love (Luke 11:42)?

(3)      People have been wondering how they’ve been tithing and giving for all these years and still they see no prosperity in their lives; My question to them is, “What place and importance does this commandment of love have in your life?”

c.     Isaac was already rich, but the way he handled this gives you insight into the life he lived; He didn’t start living like this that day; this was his character

d.    24-After Isaac passed the strife test God promised to increase him