THE PROSPERITY TEST OUTLINE

Genesis 41:25-36

INTRODUCTION: The Prosperity Test is “What will you do when you prosper?” We in the

United States of America are taking The Prosperity Test every day because as a nation we are

very prosperous. We need to learn how to be good stewards of the prosperity our Lord has

entrusted us with.

I. LET GOD BE FIRST!

When last did you receive some unexpected money? Did you even think about giving a

thanksgiving offering to the Lord’s work? We are one of the top ten nations of the world in

income and many are only two months away from bankruptcy. Our average credit card balance

today is 7,130 dollars. We are told in God’s Word to always put our Lord first in our giving!

Genesis 41:50-51. Genesis 41:14-38. When the good times roll be sure to set aside some of

those blessings for when things won’t be so good. Genesis 47:20-26: the first 20% of all their

gains now belonged to Pharaoh. When we give to the Lord, He will not accept what is left, He

wants our first fruits! Malachi 3:6-12: the store house in Israel was the temple of God. Today

our bodies are the temple of God: 1 Corinthians 16:1-2; 2 Corinthians 9:6-11. We must learn to

put our Lord first in our giving!

II. LEARN TO WAIT ON GOD!

Isaiah 40:31 KJV. Proverbs 28:20. We must learn to wait on the Lord! The problem with

many Americans today is that instead of learning to wait on the Lord and giving Him the first

fruits of His blessings; we have believed the lie that we can get ahead by putting ourselves and

others ahead of the very One Who has given us the increase. We use the eighth wonder of the

world, compound interest against ourselves: Proverbs 22:7. Compound interest works only for

those who are willing to wait. Many today hate the word “budget”. We need to learn to make

financial decisions not on how we feel but on the facts of life. Joseph developed such a good

budget in the prosperous seven years, that he wound up saving the lives of all those around

him in the seven years of famine.

III. LIVE BELOW YOUR MEANS!

We must learn to live below the means our Lord has entrusted to us as His stewards:

1 Timothy 6:6-8. Don’t be deceived by this world’s promises that the more you have the more

content you will be: 1 Timothy 6:9-10. Remember, a pursuit of money and things instead of a

pursuit of God can deceive you and lead to your destruction: Matthew 13:22. Money seems to

make us secure but truly only our God can make us secure in this life and the one to come.

When we learn to live below our means and put God first and save some of our surplus in the

good times, when the time of need comes we are prepared not only to help ourselves but

others also and thereby glorify our God who has given us all our blessings. If we are going to go

from our God given dream to our God given destiny we must pass the Prosperity Test! We do

that by leaning to put our God first. We do that by learning to wait upon the Lord. We do that

by learning to live below our means: 1 Corinthians 4:7.