There was a time, several years ago, when my husband and I came to realize that some of our beliefs about "prosperity" were totally against the teachings of Jesus. We came face to face with the reality that we needed to ask God to forgive us for trusting in other people’s interpretation of Scripture; for trusting in our giving "to God" so we could receive from Him; and for trusting in confession of Scriptures to make things happen.

We had come to believe if all was fuzzy and warm that we were in right relationship with God. We believed we had to do and say all the right things in order for our lives to run smoothly. We thought that God’s ultimate concern was for our comfort in the flesh, and for us to have all the best possessions. We thought that if there were any painful things come our way, it had to be from Satan. Not so!

God’s ultimate purpose is that we enter into His rest so that we can have fellowship with Him. The reason He made us was for Himself. But when Adam and Eve came into the knowledge of good and evil, they became aware of themselves and their own abilities. Ever since that time we humans have found it so easy to be wrapped up in the natural realm, governed by the knowledge of good and evil.

The Greek word for believe means, "entrust one’s spiritual well-being to Christ." We are creatures of flesh and blood, so it is only God’s Spirit Who can effect the transformation of the human spirit. A similar Greek word for belief and faith means, "reliance upon Christ for salvation." Satan’s aim since day One has been that we rely on the knowledge of good and evil, rather than trust in God. The enemy of man’s soul is delighted when he can trick us into operating in the realm of the knowledge of good and evil. After all, that is where he can pull off the greatest deception to trick us into being self-righteous.

Sometimes God uses tough love to show us that His desire is that we leave our own ways and allow Him to bring us to a place of trust in Him.

The process through which Jerry and I came to the knowledge of the truth was definitely not a "fuzzy and warm" one. All our prosperity beliefs were completely undone by a merciful and loving God.

God allowed my health to be stripped from me, almost to the point of death. It is a long story, but, in short, God turned my trust toward Him. It was His mercy that took me through, not spared me from.

Two years later God allowed us to be totally stripped financially, being left with only the basics. We discovered that the "giving to God" and confessing Scripture was useless against what was happening. Again we saw that God’s mercy was at work in our favor.

Some may say, "How could sickness and financial destruction be to anyone’s benefit?" But it was, for us! And we thank God every day for showing us that He is all we need.

If Jerry and I had seen Satan as the author of our difficulties, we would have greatly pleased him. He would prefer that we be comfortable, rather than see us trust in God.

With no place to look but up, we began to understand that God wants nothing from our hands. He wants only our whole-hearted worship, and that we love and take care of one another in our life on this earth.

Matthew 6:33 tells us that if we seek God’s reign (not ours) and His righteousness (not our own), He will meet our needs.