“There is one who pretends to be rich, but has nothing; Another pretends to be poor, but has great wealth.” – Proverbs 13:7 

Notes: 

There are two different lessons we can learn from the passage above: 

1. There are those that have an outward show of wealth that is used for the purpose of power and prestige, but yet there remaining liabilities (debt) exceed their assets. Therefore, they actually have ‘nothing’. Then there are those that live a poor (frugal) life, have no debt, give much to the Kingdom of God, and are “wealthy”.
2. The second way to look at this passage is in terms of spiritual wellbeing.  Those that have gained wealth and do not realize their need for God are actually those that are miserable, poor and blind. Jesus says this to the Laodicean church in the book of Revelations: 

‘Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,” – Revelations 3:17 

Willing to Take the Challenge?   

Those that pretend to be rich, both physically and spiritually, have a root of pride.  Being ‘poor’ (humble) solves this problem, as James tells us: “Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” -James 3:5.  James is simply restating what Jesus taught when He said,” Blessed are the poor (humble) in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God.” 

There is nothing wrong with being prosperous. However, scripture tells us it is what we do with our prosperity that matters. 

To sum it up: Work hard, earn all you can, trust God, live frugally, and give all you can