Question and Answer with Pastor Chris Oyakhilome:

Question 3 – Albertina (UK): Why is it that every time God blesses me with money, I lose something else? I recently got a refund on my university fees, and we have since lost 2 cars worth that much. They both just ceased and were written off. There are other small things of the same nature that happened in my life, or is it just coincidence?

Answer 3: You said when God blesses you on the one hand, you lose something about the same value on the other hand, and you want to know why. Well, there are two important things: one will be self-examination. I’m going to look at that with you. And then, the other will be dealing with the situation yourself.

First, from the perspective of a self-examination, because the Bible says for us to examine ourselves; it says let a man examine himself. So I’d like to read something similar to you from Haggai 1:3-10: “Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord. Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house. Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.” You know, when you read this, you just understand her situation in those days with the children of Israel. He said, “You’re earnings and putting it into bag of holes.” This happens to many people. They can see the blessing of God, for God is actually showing them that He is for them, so they get blessed but they keep losing. And, like the gentle man said, or a lady here, “I get blessed by God and then I lose just as much. What is wrong?”I said the first part of it is from the perspective of self-examination: what are you not doing right? Now, for these people who are earning and putting it in a bag with holes, getting blessed and losing the blessing, God said the reason is “my house that is lying waste.” He said you’re concerned about your own things; what about the things of the house of God? So, the first thing you do is take the things of God seriously. Become a partner with God and his number one job of reaching others; don’t just be concerned about you and your family. You’ve got to become concerned about the things of God. That’s very very important. So, support the work of the Lord; now, if you study further on this particular chapter, Haggai 1, where we were reading, if you keep reading on until the end of it, you’d find that the prophet got the people to reconcile their behavior with God, and they changed their attitude and decided that they were going to build the work of the Lord – the house of God. And so, the blessing will flow continually, rather than earning and putting it into a bag with holes.

Now the second part of it is this: let’s assume that this was all right; let’s assume that you are doing this right; there’s another part, and I want to read to you from the book of Malachi: “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.” [Malachi 3:8-11] Now, look at that. He said, “bring ye all the tithes and offerings into the house of God,” and then he says “I’ll pour you out a blessing.” If we assume that you’re handling this part properly, you’re giving into the work of the Lord, you’re concerned about the things of God and then you’re participating like this as you should, and yet the devourer is there, then there’s something you’ve got to do.

At the time of this writing in the book of Malachi, the Bible lets us understand that Jesus hadn’t come, Satan had not been defeated and God had to rebuke the devourer himself; the devourer is Satan, and he is behind all the waste. He’s called the waster; he is behind all the waste and all the destruction and all the losses that we experience. He’s behind it; he is remotely behind these things, and he hadn’t been defeated yet, so God had to be the one to rebuke that devourer. Today, when you fulfill your part, you have the authority to rebuke the devourer. So, if you are participating in the things of God and you’re supporting the work of God, giving to the work of the Lord, even as you should in your tithes and offerings, then you can stand against the devourer yourself. Don’t wait for God to say something to the devourer; you are the one to do that. You’re the one today. But, it will not work as long as you are a lawful captive; now, mark those words – a lawful captive.

I’ll just read you a little portion from the New Testament, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” [2 Corinthians 10:3-6] Now verse 6, which is very important, “And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.” You see that? That’s a principle. It shows that God can take action or the word of God will work on your behalf when your own obedience is fulfilled. You cannot rebuke the devourer when you are in disobedience. See that? You’ve got to function according to God’s word if you’re going to function in authority as well. So, if the devourer is going to listen to you, you better be listening to the word of God yourself. That’s what it’s all about.

source: http://www.pastorchrisonline.org/topicalblog/qatranscripts/2012/07/13/episode-12-question-3-on-financial-wasteloss/#more-313