DON’T PUT MONEY FIRST! On another occasion, I was holding a three-week revival for a pastor who had all kinds of programs going on in his church. This pastor had put a great deal of pressure on me to find out what it would take to meet my budget, so I would come and hold this meeting for him. But in all my years of ministry, I never required anyone to give me anything. I never told a pastor he had to give me a certain amount of money in order for me to come and preach in his church. I would just tell the Lord, and He always supplied my needs. Even though I didnt require it, this pastor guaranteed me a certain amount of money if I would hold this revival for him. After I arrived, he raised money in every service for every kind of project you could imagine, and he told me, If we have any money left over, well give it to you. He had a little money left over, not nearly what he had said he would give me, and he gave that to me. I didnt say anything about it to anyone. I just looked to the Lord to meet my needs. The pastor had me preach every Sunday morning of this three-week revival. After I got there, he also decided to hold extra services on Sunday afternoons. He said, On Sunday afternoons, we can get people from all the other Full Gospel churches in the city to come to our meetings. His plans were all mans plans and ideas. Then he told me, If we get people to come from all the other churches, we can raise a good offering. Not only were his plans and ideas his own, but his purposes were all wrong! NEVER PUT MONEY FIRST! The first time the Lord appeared to me, He told me, BE CAREFUL ABOUT MONEY. Many upon whom Ive placed My Spirit and called to the ministry have become MONEY-MINDED, and have lost the anointing. We dont want to become MONEY-MINDED and lose the anointing of God on our lives! This pastors purpose to have a Sunday afternoon meeting was to raise a big offering and get more MONEY. As we were going into the third week of the revival, he announced to the people in that Sunday afternoon meeting, We dont know whether we will go another week or not. Come tonight and well tell you. During the song service, he whispered to me, I told them that so we can get them to come back tonight. Then well tell them were going on. Just like someone was standing behind me—in fact, I looked around to see if there was anyone behind me—I heard a voice say, When you get up to speak, tell the people you are closing the meeting tonight. And you close tonight. I said, Lord, Im going to miss an extra offering if I do, and Im going home and I will be off a little extra time. It takes so much money a week to meet my budget and I have no other income. Secondly, we havent bought any Christmas presents yet, and I have a family to support. What am I going to do? I cant start another revival—not two weeks before Christmas. The Lord said to me, Dont bother about that; Ill take care of you. So I closed the meeting and I went home full of joy. The next week, the only time in all those years it ever happened, letters started coming in with offerings enclosed. (I think the most I had ever received in the mail at Christmastime was $36.) This week I received more than $300. It doesnt sound big now, but back then it was. One man wrote from California and said, Brother Hagin, the Lord laid it on my heart to send you $150. Thats not my tithe. I pay my tithes to my church where they belong. This is extra, and God told me to send it to you. Praise God—God saw me through! I felt sorry for this pastor, though. He had ulcers and had requested that I pray for his healing. I asked the Lord, Lord, what about him? Whats going to happen to him? Just as plainly as though someone were sitting behind me, the Lord said, He has never asked Me for any kind of plan for his life, his ministry, or his church. He forms his own plans, and then he asks Me to bless them. I bless him as far as I can, but I cant meet his financial needs because hes putting forth his own plans and not Mine. I didnt tell him to do a lot of the things hes doing. He just added his own plans to what I did tell him to do. He takes his plans on here and there, and I cant bless them. I would if I could, but I cant. I cant put My approval on mans plans when they are not My plans. And, you see, his purposes are all wrong. If his purposes are wrong, then his pursuits will be wrong. Plans, purposes, and pursuits! It is easy to stray from Gods plan. I believe many times thats the reason ministries get into dire financial trouble—they add to what Gods plan was for them. They may be good things, even legitimate things, but they are additions to Gods original instructions. Remember, God knows the future better than we know the past. It pays in every way to wait before Him and get His plan. So many times we make our plans and then ask Gods blessings on our plans. Its far better to get His plan, because His plan is already blessed. Get Gods plan for your life and Gods plan for your ministry. If you are a pastor, get Gods plan for your church. (Kenneth Hagin)
Posted on: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 02:53:11 +0000
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