Sid Roth - God Gave Him Wealth Secrets For All Believers
Sid Roth: Hello, Sid Roth here. Welcome to my world where it's naturally supernatural. My guest Steve Foss had a prophecy in the year 2000 about the economic collapse. I want to hear about this. What did God tell you?
Steve Foss: Well, in 2000, God spoke to me about the presidential election that was coming up at the time. He told me that George w bush was going to be the next president of the United States. He was going to be elected to two terms. He said, "During this time, there would be a season of unprecedented wealth creation. We all remember the housing boom".
Sid Roth: Sure.
Steve Foss: It seems like forever now, but we remember that.
Sid Roth: Everyone could have made money back then,
Steve Foss: Wait, it was so easy, but he said the end of the bush administration, the economy would collapse. The economy collapsed. And we saw this begin to take place just as we turned. Just as September hit, we saw the trembling's before. But boy, the stuff that happened in September, October, we all remember. And in the threat of the total economic collapse. And I began to pray at that time. I said, "Lord, is this the final end-time economic collapse"? Because I believe Sid, that I know that in order for the one-world economic system to rise up, for the anti-Christ to come in. For nations to give up their freedoms, there has to be a world economic collapse. I said, "Is this that one"?
Sid Roth: Right.
Steve Foss: He said, "Not yet". It's laying the groundwork for it. The foundations of the world economic system are being shaken right now and being cracked and broken. But he gave me a credible word. He said, "There is a time of wealth creation that was going to come back. A time of prosperity, a short season that was going to come back". And he told me, he said, "You tell my people, 'get out of debt'". Get out of debt, that he's going to give us one more opportunity to get out of debt.
Sid Roth: If we don't get out of debt, what's going to happen?
Steve Foss: We're so bound up, because those who are debtors are slaves to the lenders, or subjected to the lender.
Sid Roth: Well, you know, I believe what you're saying too. I believe that we have a short window of opportunity to get our house in order. And I also believe Steve, that you are almost like an old covenant prophet. You go through the experience, to get extraordinary supernatural wisdom to help others. Now, you were warned.
Steve Foss: Yes sir.
Sid Roth: Not to get in debt. Tell me about that warning.
Steve Foss: Yeah, I feel like I'm being rebuked by my father right now, yes. 1989 God told me, "Don't go into debt". He said, "It will hinder what I have for you". But by 1994, I forgot. You know, it was circumstances.
Sid Roth: Welcome to the human race.
Steve Foss: Circumstances came up, and people, other preachers even influence the way that you think. "Oh, it's not so bad, it's okay. As long as it's done for God's purposes". Well, we were going through a struggle in our church at the time. A church split when on, and I became concerned about the finances. And so I started borrowing on credit cards and started living off credit cards. Within 8 months we were $18,000 in credit card debt.
Sid Roth: You totally forgot that word you had from God. Do not get into debt.
Steve Foss: Yeah, I forgot it conveniently. You know, you're aware it's there...
Sid Roth: I understand...
Steve Foss: But, but...
Sid Roth: But you see others doing it, so you say, "I guess it's okay".
Steve Foss: That's right, and here was the biggest thing I would say. I didn't know what else to do-which was the trap. I didn't know what else to do. And that came back to give me a Revelation later on. Well, Sid, then our economics got better. But every time there was down season, we would lean on the arm of debt. Lean on the arm of debt. Lean on the arm of debt. Lean on the arm of debt. But we thought it was manageable. We could manage it. We'll borrow now, and God will bring in the provision, God will bring it in. Well, it kept building and building until it got overwhelming. And we were doing another church. I had just planted a separate church, we did another church. And we lost our facility. We were renting, we lost our facility. And we had to start meeting Sunday afternoons. We lost 70 percent of our crowd.
Sid Roth: Just out of curiosity, were you giving money? Were you tithing? Were you doing what the Bible says to do?
Steve Foss: Absolutely. We were radical, sowers and tithers. And we saw supernatural provision come in, but the debt was overwhelming to the provision that was coming in. And some people say, "Oh, well that shouldn't be so". But Sid, when this all broke through, when it all got said and done, I found out, I did the math. All the money I spent on interest payments and penalty payments, had I not gotten into debt in the first place. That money was equivalent to everything that I actually bought.
Sid Roth: So, somehow, you thought you had to help God out. But he actually provided, had you now gotten into credit card debt. Because then you owed all the principle because you had just been paying all the interest and penalties.
Steve Foss: By just the minimum payments, and so you kept having interest, and it kept building and building. That's what the trap was. Had I waited, God had provided. The sowing, the tithing, the offerings, all the principles worked. God had provided, had I waited and not gotten into debt in the first place.
Sid Roth: How bad did the debt get?
Steve Foss: My unsecured credit card debt was $125,000.
Sid Roth: But you know, the thing that is tragic? Is when the credit card companies came after you. Tell me about that.
Steve Foss: You know, we tried to, we got to a point where God started dealing with me, and finally I said, I was borrowing from this card to pay that card. I finally said, "No more, no more. God, I can't do this". And I cut the credit cards up and God started speaking to me about debt. But we didn't have the money to pay some of the big ones. They were due right away. I owed one company a lot of money. They turned us over to collections. I tried to work out payments with them. They wouldn't work out payments. They called us up and then started to threaten us. And I remember getting the phone call, Sid. They said, "We're suing you today". I said, "I don't have any money". And they said, "We have ways of getting money. We're going to send our people in. They're going to take your children's toys away from them in front of you. And they're going to turn to your children and say, 'your dad is a deadbeat father'".
Sid Roth: They really said that to you?
Steve Foss: They said that to me, and I'm...
Sid Roth: How could they do that to you?
Steve Foss: They were lying, but I didn't know they were lying. And Sid, I understood the pressure of financial collapse, and I know there are people, I can feel it right now, there are people right now. You're connected to what I'm saying. You're feeling it. You know what the threats are like. I was in tears. I sold my family into slavery. They're going to, what they're going to do to my children. I wasn't squandering money out there, it built step by step. I wasn't a bad person. I wasn't taking ridiculous vacations. I found myself in situations that I was making bad decisions, but I didn't realize it. And now my family was in slavery.
Sid Roth: And you know what's so wonderful? There is light at the end of the tunnel. He has been given supernatural wisdom on how to live life not being a slave to debt. I can't wait for him to tell you a bit about it. We'll be right back after this word.
Sid Roth: Hello, Sid Roth here with, Steve Foss. And I'm so excited about your DVD series, I watched this. It's called God's provision in hard times because let's face it. We are in hard times, but we don't even know what hard times are. It's going to be getting a lot worse and we have a period of time in which to get things right. And I believe God is raising up Steve Foss to teach you had to do that. But tell me again, when these credit card companies came after you. What did they say about your kid's toys?
Steve Foss: They said, "They were going to come in, take our kids toys away from them, in front of them, and turn to them and tell them your dad's a deadbeat dad".
Sid Roth: Mm.
Steve Foss: And Sid, I went downstairs, and some of my staff came over, and I was in my home just crying. Crying. I literally thought the hordes of hell, demon spirits surrounding me wanting to take my life.
Sid Roth: You must have felt like the greatest failure around when they said that to you.
Steve Foss: You know, you sit there, and just as a father, but also, I'm a preacher. I'm a minister. I'm in the nations all over the world ministering to millions of people. How did I get into this trap?
Sid Roth: And you did everything right. You tithed, you're a giver.
Steve Foss: Yes.
Sid Roth: You understood sowing and reaping. I mean you understood these principles.
Steve Foss: So, how did I get into such a trap? Why hadn't God provided?
Sid Roth: Yes.
Steve Foss: And I finally turned around and my staff left, and I stuck my head in the couch, and I said, "God", I said, "I have sold my family into slavery. I made the choices to get into debt. I choose to". And the Lord spoke to me, and said, "Finally, you have taken responsibility for your actions". You see Sid, what I always said was to people, "I didn't know what else to do: I didn't know what else to do". And what God showed me was, what I was really saying is, "God, you didn't show me something else. God, you didn't provide. God, it's your fault I went into debt. Because you didn't provide, I looked to credit cards". And the Lord spoke to me, "Did you ever go hungry"? I said, "No, sir". He said, "Were you ever on the streets"? I said, "No sir". "Had they ever come and take your car away"? I said, "No sir". He said, "You didn't give me time because you saw a potential financial problem in a few weeks, you reacted in fear now. And you learned to credit cards. You didn't wait until the last moment. You didn't wait until the last day".
Sid Roth: In effect, credit cards became your God.
Steve Foss: They did.
Sid Roth: Your source.
Steve Foss: My source. And credit cards, money: credit cards became my source. And I started looking, God (and this is the scary part), you start looking God as the one that provides the source, because my answer and so many others are like this. My statement is, "If I only had more money. If I only had more money". But, that's not actually true because when you look at money as the answer to your problems, then that becomes your God, instead of God being the answer: money is simply a servant. You see, God said, "You can't serve God and money". You'll love one, and hate the other. Whoever you look to as your source, as the answer to your problems, that is your God. That's the one you love. And without knowing it, I was looking at money, I was looking at credit cards, I was looking at borrowing, that's going to be the answer to my problems. That wasn't the answer. God was the answer to all my problems.
Sid Roth: You know one of the things you addressed in God's provision in hard times is what so many people miss in the principle of sowing and reaping. You've seen on television, someone has said, "If you will sow $1,000 into this ministry, you will get every, so much money back". And you've done it, and in many cases, it hasn't worked. Well, the law is a law, from God, it is a true law. But there is something we're missing.
Steve Foss: Well this is it because we've majored on biblical finances and teaching on tithing, which is absolutely irrefutable: and in giving and receiving. But there are, it's not just that. It's how we spend money. It's what we look to money for. Not just a sense of our source. But what about a sense of value. See, when we look to money to give us a sense of value. How many of us feel better, when we have a nice new car? We want to go show everybody the new car because it makes us feel better about ourselves. We buy designer clothes that maybe we can't afford because it makes us feel better about ourselves. The neighbor gets a plasma TV screen, so we go a plasma, $5,000 television. We couldn't really afford that, but it makes us feel better, because now we're, it's the illusion of wealth. Because we get a sense of value in America from our illusion of wealth. I had some friends from New Zealand epitomize this to me. We're driving through southern California. And he was there for 2 weeks, and he said, "Steve, I drove around, and I said, 'look at all this wealth'"? He said, "Then it hit him". He said, "Look at all this debt"?
Sid Roth: Mm.
Steve Foss: It's an illusion of wealth. Why? Why do we have to have the bigger house? Why do we have to have the fancier car? Why do we have to have the fancier clothes? Because of how it makes us feel about ourselves. It's trying to raise our sense of value. But our values come solely from our relationship with God. That's why Paul said, "I've learned to be content in all things, whether I have much, or whether I have little".
Sid Roth: So, why do people sometimes miss it when they give money in sowing and reaping thing to a particular organization?
Steve Foss: Well, there's 2 different realms. One, because they have holes in their pockets. They still, they want to give through sacrifice, what they're supposed to get through obedience. I'm going to say that again. They want to give through sacrifice, what they're supposed to: they want God to fix, they want to live a debt free lifestyle. They still want to have all of it, keep up with the Jones.
Sid Roth: I see your point.
Steve Foss: Right? But they want to just give an offering, so God provides all of those things. No, we've got to: he's not going to keep funding our flesh. But the other thing is too. There have been promises made that were wrong. We've made sowing and offering, the answer to every problem: but it's not. When preachers say, "If you give $1,000, and God's going to fix your marriage". Well, sir. Why don't you love your wife as Christ loved the church? Why don't you humble yourself?
Sid Roth: So, you're talking about the area of character is left out of sowing and reaping.
Steve Foss: Absolutely.
Sid Roth: That's what you're saying.
Steve Foss: Absolutely. And so, what would happen is, sowing and reaping is a vital part, and it is a vital part. But there is, it's how we live our lives. You see, God said, in Deuteronomy 28, "If you obey all these commands, then these blessings will come upon you and overtake you". It wasn't just the command of tithing, it wasn't just the command of an offering. It was all the commands of character, commands of living for God.
Sid Roth: I want you to be debt free. I want you to prosper. I mean, prosper so abundantly in bad times. That's why I love this series. And we'll talk about supernatural ways of God having you prosper in tough times when we come back. Don't go away.
Sid Roth: Hello, Sid Roth here with, Steve Foss. I hope you're enjoying this interview as much as I am. Steve, what is God's definition of biblical prosperity?
Steve Foss: I believe biblical prosperity is that you have everything you need to be most effective to fulfill God's purpose for your life, and enough to be a blessing to somebody else. It doesn't mean that everybody needs to drive a rolls Royce and have a mansion. It's what you need to be most effective. It's not what you need to barely survive. See, some people think, "Well, all I need to pray for is, 'God just put a little roof over my head, and a little, clothes on my back, and a little food in my stomach'". That's actually a selfish prayer because God said we're to feed the hungry, and clothe the naked, and show hospitality to strangers. We have to have enough to fulfill what God has for us to do most effectively and enough to be a blessing to somebody else.
Sid Roth: And as you said, "It's following the principles that God has outlined".
Steve Foss: You know, God gave me this incredible Revelation, but told me to do this series 2 weeks before the September economic collapse. He said, "Film this and do this dvd series. Do this right now and lay these principles out". Because when we get the principles laid out in here, the floodgates of heaven are opened wide. It's automatic. We don't have to beg God for the finances. We don't have to beg God for the supernatural provision. It begins to flow.
Sid Roth: You know, it's something that I learned, that I never realized. There really is not a shortage.
Steve Foss: There is no lack in the world today. There really is not. It is a great deception. Because of everything, God (think about this), God knew how many people were going to live on this planet. God knew what we were going to need resources wise for energy, and everything. Don't you think God preplanned to put it in the earth, what was needed? Of course, he has. There's enough wealth on the planet right now for every man, woman, boy, and girl: each to have $12 million dollars.
Sid Roth: That is so phenomenal, say that again Steve.
Steve Foss: I got 5 in my family...
Sid Roth: How much?
Steve Foss: $12 million dollars. There's 5 in my family, my share is $60, million. You know, there is enough, that we have the ability to grow enough crops, there is enough oil. There is enough energy. There are enough resources, but because of sin. Because of hoarding, because of control, because of political things that go on, and economic things going on, there become shortages that are not real shortages. And shortages are used to drive up prices, to call people into bondage. Don't you remember in the 1970's? We, had run out of oil?
Sid Roth: I remember the lines.
Steve Foss: I remember the gas lines. And in the early 1980's, I remember the gas lines. Sitting on a line, only getting gas every other day. Well, how is it that 30-40 years later, we're not having those lines now?
Sid Roth: No.
Steve Foss: It's because it was not a real thing.
Sid Roth: It's contrived.
Steve Foss: It's contrived. There is, enough wealth and resources on this planet, but God has planned for that to be in the hands of his people for the end-time purposes.
Sid Roth: I love the way you teach on supernatural provision. Give me an example.
Steve Foss: Well, there's this lady, a dear precious lady. She was in her 80's at the time. Had never even graduated high school: I think only got to 6th grade or something. And God would give her dreams, and in these dreams, she would dream chemical formulas. So she would wake up, never taken chemistry, and write down all the symbols that she saw. Then she took them to a chemist.
Sid Roth: She never took any advanced courses.
Steve Foss: Never took any advanced math, any advance chemistry: didn't even know what these symbols meant: took them to a chemist. The first one she took, turned out to be this wonderful formula, chemical formula. The man said, said it was wonderful and awesome. They patented it and sold the rights to it for $60,000. But then she came up with another one, that was an additive, a fuel additive. And she was offered, millions and millions of dollars by opec countries, because they didn't want it to be released out there. God gave supernatural ideas. Supernatural creative ideas. And that's what God is going to for us. We are not bound to the economic ups and downs of this society and of this life because we live in God's economy.
Sid Roth: Whatever happens to the economy, we can prosper.
Steve Foss: We can prosper. There is always people who prosper in any economy. It should be the children of God. God has promised if we follow the principles. Yes tithing, yes sowing seeds: but it's more than that. It's the value that we place on money. It's the position we put it in. It's how: are we operating one the world system of debt and borrowing and leverage? Or are we operating under God's system? And so when once we get these things right, the windows of heaven open up. The prosperity of God flows. And I am living proof. I went from total debt of well over $350,000 including my mortgage to 100 percent debt free, including my house paid for. We buy nothing on debt. Everything is paid for cash.
Sid Roth: Steve, I am reminded, and even at awe of the supernatural wisdom that was downloaded to him in a vision. Tell me briefly about that.
Steve Foss: Well, I had this encounter on it. It was reading scriptures: Ephesians 1:17, 18 and 19. A spirit of wisdom and Revelation and insight, and mysteries and secrets: and a deep intimate knowledge of God. I kept over and over and over this. Waves were coming over me, when all of a sudden, I was talking to my roommate about it. And I kept becoming overwhelmed. And finally, I saw this scripture floating in the air. Not from behind, or in front. But from within the very words themselves, the visible glory of God. And I collapsed on my knees. And I started crying, "I see it, I see it". And God said, "Through my word, you'll see me. The impartation of wisdom, supernatural wisdom, and Revelation". And this thing that God spoke to me, "That which I've given you..." (because I've traveled the nations of the world, ministered to millions around the world.) they've asked me from such a young age, "Where did you get this wisdom from"? I said, "It's from this supernatural encounter from God". But the Lord spoke to me. He said, "I want you to pray this for my people"
Sid Roth: Would you pray this impartation right now?
Steve Foss: Absolutely: absolutely. You need it right now. Father, in the name of Jesus, (just lift your hands to receive this). Father, in the name of Jesus, I release the spirit of wisdom and Revelation. Of insight into mysteries and secrets in the deep and intimate knowledge of you, by having the eyes of their understanding flooded with the light and the knowledge of the glory of God. God, reveal yourself to them let that wisdom come upon them right now, in Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. And you know, I believe, I know, we have to have this wisdom right now. We're going to receive this wisdom. God's going to give you, ideas. He's going to show you where you're doing your finances wrong. That's why this series is so important. He's going to show them where there are not lined up with the principles of God. Where they can get it right, so that the floodgates of heaven can open wide for supernatural provision, regardless of what is happening in the economy.
Sid Roth: Is there going to be a great wealth transfer at this moment in history?
Steve Foss: Absolutely: absolutely. In fact, it is going to be so overwhelming, so shocking, that that powers (because there are powers that be behind the scenes right now, God is showing me) that are trying to manipulate this world economy, in this crisis, to actually transfer the wealth to themselves. But God's going to come in and flip that on its head, and there's going to be an unbelievable, and unprecedented wealth transfer into the hands of God's people who have the principles right. And the reason that's important: because if you don't have the principles right, it's just going to flood out like holes in your pockets.
Sid Roth: You have to remember Steve, that opened up the floodgates of heaven. He admitted he was wrong. And that's the first step to having intimacy with God. Everyone wants intimacy with God. Not everyone is after religion and tradition. But everyone wants intimacy with God. Everyone has a void inside of them that they can't get enough love from things and people, and events. It only comes from God, and got wants to transfer his love to you right now. If you admit to God, that you have made mistakes and say, "I'm sorry". Some of you have made financial mistakes. Some of you have made moral mistakes. Every mistake that you've ever made, tell God that you're sorry. You don't have innumerate them. He knows what they are. You know what they are. And believe that the blood of Jesus, the Messiah, is enough to wash them all away. And then believe the Creator of the universe wants to take up residence inside of you. Messiah, in you: the hope of glory. Never lose sight of that. God lives inside of you if, by your mouth, you make him your Lord. Do it now.