Does Our Father Want Us Rich?

But I have [your full payment] and more; I have everything I need and am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent me. [They are the] fragrant odor of an offering and sacrifice which God welcomes and in which He delights. And my God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:18-19

I was raised in a Full Gospel, you better tithe and offer kind of church. Every sermon somehow revolved around us giving money to the church. The sermons would typically go like this, give and God will multiply your seed a hundredfold. The scripture used for this preaching can be found in Mark 10. But what was amazing to me is that no one was a multi-multi-billionaire. I mean if it were true that if we gave a dollar, then we would receive $100 back, there would have been a ton of people making billions. So either the preaching was wrong or the Bible was wrong, and I choose to believe that it was the preaching. 

Look at Jesus’ life, was He super rich? Did Jesus have a huge home or His own private boat to travel on while He preached, Matthew 8:20? Did He have His own pure breed donkey to ride upon to show people that He was blessed by God, Matthew 21:2? Was Paul, John, or Peter super rich? Did they have huge homes and massive amounts of worldly things? They didn’t and yet every one of their needs were fully met by our Father and they had far more than a hundred fold of what they had when they first started. They had more fellowship, more love, more faith, more hope, more joy, more power, and more peace. They had so much peace they could be imprisoned and sleep like babies, Acts 12:7-8. They had so much that when the jail doors miraculously flew open, they stayed so that the jailor wouldn’t be killed, Acts 16:27-28. They raised the dead, healed the sick, made trips to Heaven, and all without money and worldly possessions.  

If you believe that our Father wants a bunch of rich worldly people, where is the example of Him doing with the Apostles or Disciples? Did all of these people who were giving so much over all of the years just not have the faith to receive it? Or, is our riches not of this world? The people in Acts sold everything that they had to share with each other and they did not become super wealthy because of it, Acts 2:45. They actually became so poor that Paul had to raise money for them as he traveled, 1 Corinthians 16:3. We are in this world, but we are not of this world and neither are our riches, John 17:14.