SCRIPTURE: Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning. Leviticus 19:13.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: When you take money that is not yours, that money is evil money.
The Scripture makes it clear that God delights in the prosperity of His servants (Psalm 35:27). God intends to expand His Kingdom through Kingdom wealth. There is a righteous way of making money.
Evil money or making money by dubious means, on the other hand, is not the Will of God for His children.
One example of evil money is the proceeds of stealing and cheating. That is, the proceeds of theft.
Jeremiah 22:13 says,
Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour’s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;
This involves taking what is not yours. If someone is not watching over his property and you decide to take it secretly; that is stealing. If someone mistakenly overpays you for a transaction and you refuse to return the excess payment; that is called stealing. The person who overpaid you might have made a mistake, but you did not make any mistake. You may think that it is favour, but it is not. It is pure theft and stealing.
When you take money that is not yours, that money is evil money. Anything in your possession that God did not give you or you did not earn by labour or by favour does not add to you; rather, it subtracts from you.
Cheating could arise from business or contract agreements. Entering into a business agreement with people and refusing to honour it is cheating. If, for instance, you agreed on a business deal with someone that after execution, the profit should be shared at the ratio of 70:30, but at the end of the deal, you refused to give the other person his agreed 30% and gave him only 5% instead; the 25% you kept back is stealing, it is evil money. The extra money you collected from him to add to yours will ruin your fortune and entire life. Beware!
Remember this: When you take money that is not yours, that money is evil money.
ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Refuse to indulge in every form of evil money.
2. Don’t participate in cheating or stealing.
PRAYER: Thank You LORD for showing me Your Word. I ask for the grace to overcome stealing and cheating to avoid the tragedy of evil money, O LORD, in Jesus’ Name.
FOR FURTHER UNDERSTANDING, GET THIS MESSAGE: THE TRAGEDY OF EVIL MONEY.
QUOTE: To eat alone is to die alone. By that, I do not mean money gotten out of bribery. Culled from “21 UNCOMMON KEYS TO FINANCIAL OVERFLOW” by Dr Paul Enenche.
DAILY READING: Judges 5-8
AMAZING FACT: One bee has to fly about 90,000 miles – three times around the globe – to make one pound of honey.
PROPHETIC DECLARATION/WORD: Receive the grace and discipline to stay away from every form of evil money in Jesus’ Name.
