Abram is called the father of faith. He walked in the kind of faith that is a model to all generations—the faith that pleased God. He believed that
his covenant with God would bring him increase, and for the rest of his life he saw that increase come to him.

In Genesis 17, God again spoke to Abram regarding His covenant with him. This time God changed his name from Abram to Abraham, established the way the
covenant was to work, and declared that He would “multiply [him] exceedingly” (v. 2). The Lord would continue to increase Abraham in land, cattle,
descendants, and wealth. In fact, God
caused him to prosper in all aspects of his life.

When we grasp this relationship between God and Abraham, we can begin to better see our relationship with God today because we are the “seed of Abraham.” Galatians 3:29 says, “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according
to the promise.” Therefore, the better we know how God blessed Abraham, the better we will understand our own position in Him.

For too long, the Body of Christ has struggled with the realization that God wants to bring increase and even financial miracles into our lives. There
seems to have been an underlying fear that to want God to bring any kind of material increase was to be materialistic. This fear of financial increase
as a part of the blessing of God has been fed by people who have a misconception of God Himself.

To be materialistic means to endeavor to satisfy an emotional or spiritual need with a physical thing. No believer wants to have material things in a place
of priority over God. Material increase is fine as long as we have the things we possess, but they do not have us.

When King David fell to his darkest moment through adultery and murder, God spoke to him and said,

“…I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping,
and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more!” (2 Samuel 12:7-8 NKJV).

Notice God did not rebuke David by telling him he had too much. In fact, the Lord said He would have given David even more if he had wanted more and asked
for it.

David had sinned, but it was not the wealth or power that was the problem. God was ready and willing to increase him even further if David had wanted it.
God does not want to withhold His abundance from us,
but we must walk with Him and honor His Word for the promise of increase to come to us.