Throughout the Bible, there is one thing that has made the great heroes of the faith stand out and that is the fact that no matter what the threat or pressure, they always—without exception—go FIRST to God for the answer to their problem.

It is a matter of priorities, of first things first. Some very telling examples are:

• JOSHUA when faced with the five Amorite kings and their armies (Josh. 10:5-42) and then the "multitude as the sand on the seashore - along with a vast number of horses and chariots" (Josh. 11:1-14)
  
  
• DAVID when faced with the Philistines (2 Sam. 5:18-25)
  
  
• JEHOSHAPHAT when faced with the Moabites, Ammonites and the inhabitants of Mount Seir (2 Chr. 20:1-26)
  
  
• HEZEKIAH when faced with the Assyrians (Is. 36:1,2; 37:1-38)

All four leaders were faced with overpowering, overwhelming odds. In the natural, there was no way out, but when they sought God first, God heard them and gave them miraculous and supernatural victories in each case!

These are all Old Testament heroes of faith but we are told by Jesus Himself in the New Testament, in Matthew 6:33 to "SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD, AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED TO YOU ..."

All what things? For a start, miraculous deliverance from overwhelming threats and powerful enemies. And notice a very important point: we are to seek the Kingdom of God first, and then HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Righteousness is a key issue.

One of the great benefits of being born again is that we can take on the righteousness of Jesus Christ, not through our own efforts, but through the Blood He shed on the Cross. Proverbs says that righteousness exalts a nation. All of these four kings sought first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness—they had INTEGRITY.

The Value of Integrity

There is a tremendously important lesson here for us today, faced in a world that is full of secular, ungodly values. God set up commandments of right and wrong but in our society today, we make up our own values, and we are surrounded by corruption and dishonesty. Whether it is here in Indonesia or in the US, or Australia or anywhere else, ethics and morality in business, government, the media, arts, and education—wherever—are sadly undervalued and compromised.

We are to be salt and light to the world, whether we are in business, or government, or education, or the media, anywhere in the marketplace. Worldly people should be able to see by the way we operate, by the standards of righteousness and honesty we set, that we are Christians—followers of Jesus Christ.

Integrity—who you are when no one is looking—is bound up in the Word of God with prosperity. God tells us in many Scriptures that he wants His people to be wealthy and prosperous, to be able to live well, pay our bills, look after our families, and have enough left over to give to good causes (2 Cor. 9:11). But He also tells us to be righteous and holy, because He, the Lord, is Holy (1 Pet. 1:15 and 16).

Integrity means putting God first in all parts of our lives, in our thinking, in our relationships, in our business dealings. The same God who "gives us the power to get wealth" (Deut. 8:18) offers us a 1,000-fold increase (Deut. 1:11) and even commands us to be fruitful and multiply (Gen. 2:28), also tells us to walk in godliness and holiness, and the righteousness of God.

We are to balance the call to prosper with the call to walk worthy of our God in purity and holiness. We are heirs to the promises God made to Abraham that He would bless him and make his name great, so that he would BE a blessing.

We are blessed to bless others. We must keep the blessings flowing, like the Jordan River flowing into the Sea of Galilee, it is full of life. But the Dead Sea is dead because water flows in but nothing flows out.

Integrity brings us many benefits. Proverbs tells us that the righteous are as bold as a lion—we don't go around in fear and trembling—but like the mighty lion, the king of the beasts. God delights in those who have integrity (Prov. 11:20), while our integrity will even make the city we live in prosper (Prov 11:11).

People with integrity have wisdom (Prov. 2:7) and guidance (Prov. 11:3), are protected (Ps. 25:21), are stable (Prov. 10:9) and are able to pass on their blessings to their children after them (Prov. 20:7).

In Proverbs 13:22 (and also in Job 27:16 and 17), we are introduced to a vital end-time concept, what is called the "END-TIME WEALTH TRANSFER." The Bible tells us that the wealth of the wicked (or the world) is stored up for the righteous—the godly people who walk in integrity.

Vessels of Honor

God will use us—His people—as the conduits for this end-time flow of wealth as channels, or vessels. BUT, water can only flow freely through a channel or pipe that is clean and clear, and this is an important end-time message to us.

If we want to be channels for God's end-time wealth transfer, we need to be clean and pure and holy. God will not use impure vessels who will restrict and clog the flow.

And one way to be sure we are open channels is to have a daily wash in the "water of the Word." Ephesians 5:26 talks about the "washing by the water of the Word"—that means that as we move around in the world, seeing things we don't want to see, hearing things we don't want to hear, moving in a dirty world, where some of the dirt sticks, we can wash if off by a daily "bath" in the water of the Word.

I strongly recommend that part of putting God first in our lives, is to put Him first in a very practical way each and every day—by getting up and committing the first part of our day to Him, to prayer, and to the reading of His Word.

Not only does the Word wash us and cleanse us, it also leads us and guides us. We need to get quiet before Him, so the "still small voice" (1 Kin. 19:12) can come through. The Bible tells us that He will instruct us and teach us in the way we should go (Ps. 32:8); He will teach us to profit (Is. 48:17), and that we will hear a voice behind us saying, "This is the way—walk ye in it" (Is. 30:21).

In the book of 1 Samuel, chapters two and three, the future priestly and prophetic giant Samuel is seen as a young child and young man, growing in stature and favor with both God and with men. What set him apart right from the start is that he sought God, saying even as a small child: "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening" (1 Sam. 3:9).

It goes on: "Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and let nothing he said prove false. All Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a confirmed prophet of the Lord." What comes next is very significant, indicating how God normally communicated with Samuel: "The Lord continued to appear in Shiloh, because there He revealed Himself to Samuel BY HIS WORD" (1 Sam. 3:21).

If we are prepared to put God first, and listen to Him, He will also reveal Himself, just as to Samuel, to us "by His Word," in other words, through the Holy Bible, the revealed Word of God. The Book of John tells us: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word WAS God" (John 1:1).

Joshua was told by God to meditate day and night on the Word of God, and he would prosper and have "good success." This promise to Joshua, as he waited to lead the Israelites into the Promised land, is also to us today—that if we seek God first, put Him first in all parts of our lives, and pray and read His Word, we will be like Joshua and have prosperity and "good success" (Josh. 1:8).

The End-Time Wealth Transfer

In Proverbs 10:22, God tells us that He wants to give us wealth, and to add "no troubles" to it. But every promise of God is conditional, and that is if we walk in His ways of righteousness and integrity. Personality and talent can get you to the top—but only character, which is the outworking of integrity in our lives, will keep you there!

God is planning a massive, unprecedented end-time harvest of salvation. You can see it starting, I believe, in Indonesia. I was in Jakarta earlier this year for the Transform World event, and during the Global Day of Prayer, over 100,000 Christians came together, worshiping God in the national stadium. Amazing! Incredible! Unprecedented!

C. Peter Wagner, who was in Jakarta for that event, had this to say recently on the subject of the "end time wealth transfer":

"God is poised to release enormous, unprecedented amounts of wealth for the advance of His Kingdom here on earth. I believe that the timing for this is NOW upon us, and that we must take steps to be prepared for this great transfer of wealth in every way possible ... my sense is that we are not talking just seven or eight figures, but nine and 10 figures".

10 figures? What is that? Seven figures is a million—1,000,000. 10 figures is 1,000,000,000. I think that is called a billion—spelt with a "B." We are talking about the thousands of millions being transferred across to God's people!

And why not? God owns the entire world, everything in it and the "fullness thereof," so why shouldn't He release this kind of wealth to His people to carry out His work in building His Kingdom?

Why haven't we seen this so far or at least not very widely? I believe it is because He knows that He cannot trust us with that sort of money YET. He is starting to raise up a new breed of Christians in the marketplace, who can handle the billions, without letting it destroy them.

These are the people who understand that great wealth must be balanced by absolute integrity and righteousness—that God will not release unprecedented wealth to carnal, worldly Christians.

He is raising up a new wave to end-time marketplace warriors, who will understand the principle of biblical economics—the people who will understand that as we sow, so shall we reap—people who will put God in first place every time in their business and personal and family dealings, who will, like Paul, say: "This ONE thing I do: I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:13).

When we hear that voice of God, that still small voice behind us, it is not saying "Here is A way" ... the voice is saying: "This is THE way—walk ye in it." It is THE way—not the comfortable, convenient, easy way, the way of the short cut and the white lie, but the narrow way, His way that leads unerringly to the blessings and the peace that passes all understanding.

We have to understand that money is value neutral. There is nothing wrong with money as such, or owning money as long as money doesn't own us! The Bible tells us that it is the love of money—making an idol of money—that is at the root of all kinds of evil (1 Tim. 6:10), not money itself. The Bible talks about God and money—we cannot and must not worship money as our God, but we can and should worship God WITH our money.

He gives us the power to get wealth, and teaches us how to profit, how can He be against money? Jesus even sits in the temple watching people putting their money into the treasury (Mark 12:41).

The Bible teaches us how to handle money. It is like a seed that we sow, and if we sow in a fertile field and fertilize and water it with faith and prayer, and that includes praying in tongues, because God says that praying in the Spirit is like "living water" flowing out of our inward parts (John 7:38), we will reap (Gal. 6:7). If we sow meanness and selfishness that is what we will reap; if we sow friendship we will reap a harvest of friends, and if we sow money we will reap money. This is a fundamental law of biblical economics. It works and it works every time—the harvest WILL come, IN DUE SEASON, if we keep the faith and don't give up (Gal. 6:9).

Your "due season" may be a short time or a long time (ours was 13 years)—but God's promise is that we WILL reap if we "faint not." It is an unequivocal promise!

Putting God First

Jesus, who we understand from the Bible to be both the Power and Wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:24), says these words in Proverbs 8:17-21, 35: "I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently (in other words, put Me first) will find Me, RICHES AND HONOUR ARE WITH ME, ENDURING RICHES AND RIGHTEOUSNESS, THAT I MIGHT CAUSE THOSE WHO LOVE ME—WHO PUT ME FIRST—TO INHERIT WEALTH THAT I MIGHT FILL THEIR TREASURIES."

The Great Commission is to make disciples of ALL nations (Matt. 28:19), to go out into ALL the world and preach the gospel (Mark 16:15), and to be His witnesses in Jerusalem (in your own city), in all Judea and Samaria (in our own and neighboring nations) and to the ends of the earth.

“This Good News of the Kingdom will be proclaimed in ALL the world, as a testimony to ALL nations. And then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14).

To go to ALL nations in ALL the world, to witness to the end of the earth as a testimony, is no small order. It is a great order, the greatest order ever given, and it is given to us here in Asia, in Indonesia, wherever God has placed us.

To obey this order will take a new breed of men and women, people who are not afraid to step out into new and untried territory, to get right out of the boat and walk on the water, to bring God into the marketplace, our business, our school, our family and to have the courage to stand up for Him and to put Him first in every single smallest part of our day.

We must build integrity and righteousness into the very fibre of our being, so that when God begins to pour out the great transfer of wealth—the 10 figures, the billions—we are able to stand up under the test. It is starting. I can see it here and in other parts of the world; in the US, in Europe, in South America and in Russia and the Ukraine.

God is doing a new thing, as He says in Isaiah. He is opening a great door of opportunity, but, as Paul says, there are many adversaries. There is the devil to tempt us and our own greed and selfishness and lust to take us off course.

God will only pour out the great wealth transfer through clean and holy vessels—vessels who make integrity and righteousness the very foundations of their lives, and who can be trusted with the trials and temptations that come with the awesome responsibilities of great wealth.

Let us pray this prayer right now, in faith and trusting obedience:

FATHER GOD, WE UNDERSTAND THE GREAT AND AWESOME RESPONSIBILITY THAT YOU HAVE PLACED ON US, BY CALLING US TO BE YOUR CHILDREN, AND TO GO OUT INTO ALL THE WORLD TO OBEY YOUR GREAT COMMISSION.

WE THANK YOU FOR TRUSTING US ENOUGH TO GIVE US THIS COMMISSION, AND IN TURN, WE TRUST YOU AND OBEY YOU IN EVERYTHING YOU SAY TO US.

HELP US TO LIVE OUR LIVES IN ABSOLUTE RIGHTEOUSNES AND INTEGRITY, RESISTING THE CORRUPTION AND THE TEMPTATION THAT SURROUNDS US EVERY DAY IN SO MANY WAYS.

ANOINT US TO TAKE OUR PLACE IN YOUR GREAT MARKETPLACE MINISTRY. HELP US TO UNDERSTAND THAT OUR WORKPLACE IS OUR PLACE OF MINISTRY, AND THAT YOU HAVE CALLED US TO THAT MINISTRY AS A SACRED AND HOLY APPOINTMENT.

THANK YOU FATHER THAT YOU HAVE CALLED US TO “DO BUSINESS” TILL YOU COME, TO TRANSFORM OUR SOCIETY AT ALL LEVELS AND ADVANCE YOUR KINGDOM ON EARTH UNTIL YOU COME AGAIN IN THE FULLNESS OF YOUR POWER AND GLORY.

GIVE US THE WISDOM AND INTEGRITY TO HANDLE THE GREAT WEALTH YOU ARE PLANNING TO TRANSFER TO YOUR PEOPLE IN THE MARKETPLACE, AND GIVE US THE STRENGTH TO DO ONLY YOUR WILL AND TO RESIST THE TEMPTATIONS OF THE EVIL ONE THAT SO EASILY COME WITH WEALTH AND POWER.

I RIGHT NOW COMMIT TO PUTTING YOU FIRST IN MY LIFE; I UNDERTAKE TO SEEK YOU DILIGENTLY EACH DAY, TO READ YOUR WORD, AND TO MAKE TRUSTING AND OBEYING YOU MY FIRST AND ONLY PRIORITY.

IN JESUS' NAME.

AMEN