Make Wealth Happen - Lessons From Esau

Written  by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

The Bible records that Esau took his family and other possessions which he had gained in the land of Canaan and moved to Mount Seir a much more spacious land for him, his family members and other possessions because the land of Canaan could no longer contain him and his brother. Both brothers had acquired so many possessions over the course of time that they had so much. Therefore, to avoid contention over resources for their flock, Esau took the wise decision of moving out of Canaan to Mount Seir. Please read Genesis Chapters 33 verse 9 and 6 verses 6 to 9.

Beloved, some questions may arise from all these. Where did Esau short changed twice by his crafty twin brother get the myriad possessions which the Bible records that he gained in Canaan?

Esau was meant to serve Jacob. He had sold his birthright for a plate of pottage and also lost the blessings of the father on account of Jacob’s deception. Yet Esau prevailed in not being enslaved to his brother. Rather, Esau acted on the words his father spoke to him - that he would live by his sword and if he ever became restless, the yoke of serving his brother would be destroyed from his life. Please read Genesis Chapter 27 verses 38 to 40. Esau indeed lived by his sword – hunting animals and also warring. This is because the Bible records that he had four hundred men with him when he went to meet Jacob. To have four hundred men at one’s command in the days of Esau and even now is no mean feat. It is a great achievement. Even Jacob who had the birthright and who also had the blessings did not have that number of men.

The implication is that Esau had worked very hard and smart with his sword to rise to the level of commanding four hundred men and even more. This is because he must have left some men to take care of the women, children and flock. Esau was a successful man. He had become a leader and he was also wealthy. How, you may ask?

Be Fruitful and Multiply

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Fruitfulness is the will of God. Barrenness is not of God. Every living thing is supposed to produce fruit. The identity of an entity can be determined by the fruits they bear, for example you can tell a mango tree by the mango fruit it bears.

Fruitfulness is a precursor to increase. Increase is a function of fruitfulness and multiplication. Therefore, fruitfulness which always births multiplication is a precursor to increase as the yield from fruitfulness leads to multiplication and multiplication leads to increase. Please read Jeremiah 29 verses 5 to 6, Genesis Chapters 1 verse 28, 9 verses 1 and 7. God demands and requires fruitfulness and increase from His creation. Fruitfulness is a command from God to His creation because every creation of God is divinely capacitated to be fruitful.

The nation and company of nations can only proceed from you if you are fruitful because fruitfulness births multiplication and multiplication births expansion. Be fruitful and multiply. It is the fruitful branch in Christ that is pruned to bear more fruit but the unfruitful branch is cut away. Stagnancy leads to retrogression and retrogression to obscurity. It is fruitfulness and multiplication that makes an individual, family, families, communities and nations expand to the North, South, East and West. Please read Genesis Chapter 28 verses 13 to 15. Jacob to whom God made this promise was very fruitful in every area of life. He bore twelve sons and a daughter and all twelve sons had many children. Jacob was also very rich in material goods and financial resources. His unique animal husbandry gave him several flocks out of the flock he kept for Laban and his sons.

By the time Jacob went to Egypt as Israel, the Bible records that they were seventy persons and by the time they were leaving Egypt as the nation of Israel, the Bible records that six hundred thousand persons excluding their dependents and other persons who tagged alongside them, described as the mixed multitude.

Allow God to Enrich You

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

A gift or present is different from a bribe and should be received with thanksgiving especially when God leads people to bless you with gifts. A number of Kings as well as other prominent people in the Bible received financial and material gifts from the people God made them to interact with. These gifts translated into personal wealth for them. The Apostle Paul commended the Church in Philippi for supporting him financially. Please read Philippians Chapter 4 verses 10 to 19, Galatians Chapter 6 verse 6 and 1^st Corinthians Chapter 9 verses 1 to 27.

Quite significant and instructive is the fact that Jesus Christ received gifts from people who supported his earthly ministry. Please read Luke Chapter 8 verses 1 to 3. However, He did not demand the gifts. The people willingly brought the gifts. This implies that the people God sends to bless you with gifts usually do so without compulsion. They simply respond to the promptings of God to bless whoever God leads them to.

The prophet Elisha also received gifts. Please read 2^nd Kings Chapter 4 verses 42 to 44 but when it was inappropriate to receive gifts, he declined to accept the gifts as exemplified in the case of Naaman. Beloved, this implies that not all gifts should be accepted especially when God says not to accept such gifts. There are times for receiving gifts and times for rejecting gifts. Please read 2^nd Kings Chapter 5 and Genesis Chapter 14 verses 1 to 24. God by His Spirit always guides His children into receiving and rejecting gifts since He knows all things.

A good number of the wealthy people in the Bible received presents and gifts from people, Kings and Queens which they translated into personal wealth. Kings Solomon, Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah are some examples. So also is Abraham. Additionally, they earned income from other activities. They did not rely on the gifts alone. King Solomon traded. Please read 1^st Kings Chapters 10 verses 21 to 29, 9 verses 26 to 28.

Make Wealth Happen 2

 Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Lessons from Jacob

After Jacob had served fourteen years in Laban’s employ so he could eventually marry Rachel, the woman of his dreams, he realized that he also needed his own financial and material resources to provide for his family. So he asked Laban for permission to go on his own. But Laban offered to remunerate Jacob for his services. So both Laban and Jacob negotiated the terms of employment. Jacob would tend the family flock for as long as he wanted but in the process, Jacob would overtime have his own flock through the process of owning all the speckled and spotted sheep, all the brown ones among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. After the verbal agreement was signed so to speak, ever crafty Laban was on top of his game again. He removed all the animals Jacob had chosen for his wages from the family flock, gave them to his sons to tend many miles away from Jacob.

Was Jacob daunted by Laban’s game? Not at all as the events which played out later indicate! Rather than cry wolf and hold a pity party, Jacob put all of his creative juices to work. Certainly, there should be a way out of the situation which threatened to not only pauperize him for life but would keep him in Laban’s employ and household for life. Was that God’s will for Jacob; to remain in the house of Laban with two wives, two concubines, twelve sons and a daughter when Laban had other sons who would contest their father’s inheritance? Additionally, Jacob had no intention of being Laban’s heir. He knew God’s plans and purposes for his life and he would not allow a crafty Laban truncate those plans and purposes in Padan Aram.

Besides, and this is very instructive; the plans and purposes of God for Jacob were much larger than anything Padan Aram had to offer. After all, God met Jacob on his way to Padan Aram and promised to give him and his descendants the land of Canaan. So what was there for him and his family in Padan Aram? Padan Aram only served certain purposes, a temporary shelter from Esau’s rage and threat to kill him; as well as a place for getting married and raising children. So while waiting for Esau’s rage to melt, he had grown from single Jacob to a family man with many children, a man who required his personal economic resources. He had to do something about his economic resources so he could eventually get out of Padan Aram. To start with, he had overgrown Padan Aram. So he set to work, make wealth happen and disappear from Laban’s servitude.