June 25. Phil Trujillo. Phil was stockbroker, who faced some hard things. Have you ever been accused of a crime? Have you ever been tried and acquitted? Have you ever been tried and convicted and sent to prison? Have you ever had to start life all over again? This story—about Phil—offers practical ideas for issues we may be facing.
Prosperity is not just a condition; it’s a spiritual truth.
Like many men, fear of failure drove Phil. His whole life, he had tried to get somebody’s approval.
It didn’t matter what he chose to do. He had to reach the top, to be the very best. In sports it was becoming a world-record-holding powerlifter. In business it was achieving financial success as a stockbroker and financial planner. Failure was not an option. It was a plan that worked well until the day his life came crashing down.
“I went from being very successful and controlling my own destiny to being out of control, alone at the very bottom. There I was, facing 12 years in prison because I made the mistake of trusting someone else’s investment due diligence. My life had been destroyed. I lost my business, my reputation was shot, and I was completely broken.”
Phil was exactly where God wanted him to be.
“I was a Christian when that cell door slammed shut, but I didn’t understand the spiritual issues that I had been dealing with all my life that were responsible for getting me there. My plan was to build my business and make the money I needed to provide for my family and live the good life. In prison I found out that God had another plan, and it began with opening my eyes to the reality that prosperity is not just a condition; it’s a spiritual truth.”
While in prison, the Lord revealed that truth to Phil in His Word. God’s financial prosperity is based upon the principles of sowing and reaping. He has commanded us to bring Him the tithe, the first 10 percent of what we earn. Like many Christians, however, Phil chose to follow the world’s path to financial success, putting himself first and God last, or out of the picture all together if nothing was left at the end of the month. He was ignorant of God’s command to test His promise.
“Moving into financial freedom requires us to be obedient to the Holy Spirit as He helps us shed the erroneous beliefs that we’ve built up over the years that have continued to negatively affect our prosperity, our health, and our spiritual life. The lies the enemy has fed us need to be revealed and replaced with the biblical truths about who we are, whose we are, and God’s promises regarding our prosperity.”
After three years, Phil stepped through that prison gate a free man with the truth, a burden, and a mission. His life is dedicated to sharing the truth of God’s financial principles that he lives by, the truth that destroys the plans of the Enemy and brings about spiritual freedom and financial breakthrough.
“God promises to prosper us if we hearken unto His voice, are obedient to His commands, and turn to Him with all our heart and soul. That is the message the Lord has called me to share, to help those whom the enemy has held captive with his lies to break free spiritually and financially.”
“‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it’” (Malachi 3:10 NIV).
Is there an area of your financial life that you are you holding back from God’s provision? Prosperity is not just a condition; it’s a spiritual truth.
Flagstar Bank. Philip Trujillo
Trujillo, Phillip. Flagstar Bank. “Crafting the right solutions for a diverse audience.” Accessed May 9, 2020. https://www.flagstar.com/commercial/homebuilder-finance/homebuilder-finance-team/philip-trujillo.html.
Based on an interview with Philip Trujillo, 2019.