Dealing With The Spirit of Poverty, Part 3

 

Reprint: May 24, 2024

 

This is a topic that stirs a lot of folks.   The Spirit of Poverty has so infected the body of Christ that all the symptoms of this spirit become accepted as the “norm” and the mindset of poverty literally rules a majority of Christians.  Because of what God is preparing to do in the body, and the covenant of blessing that is about to be poured out for the sake of the Kingdom, it is super-critical that believers get a hold of this and get their deliverance from this spirit and its strongholds in their lives.

 

The other day, I said that I’ve heard Christians give one excuse after another as to why they live with certain sicknesses, diseases or afflictions.  After a while it gets nauseating.  Sometimes I wonder if Christians spout more doubt and unbelief than the so-called unbelievers.  If it isn’t one thing, it’s another.

 

Same thing applies to just about everything else in their lives.  I marvel when I hear Christians – CHRISTIANS !!!  The folks who are supposed to be living the abundant life – moan and groan about making their insurance payments, their house payments, their car payments, having enough money to buy groceries, etc., etc., etc.

 

What ever happened to speaking faith, pray tell?

 

What ever happened to what Jesus said?

 

Mark 11:24: “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”

 

How is it that the lack of provision for something, or the lack of health, or the presence of some ailment or affliction becomes the standard by which folks live instead of God’s Word?  Why does it become the rule in a person’s life?

 

I’ll tell you why.

 

It’s called the Almost-Enough Mentality.  We can also call it the Not-Quite-Enough Mentality.

 

You know where that comes from, don’t you?  Right.  Doubt.  Unbelief.  Unbelief becomes the yardstick by which things are measured.  People read Jesus’ statement, and then say, “Yeah, But…..”  And as soon as they add the “But” into their conversation and confession, they’ve lost any chance of having “whatsoever he saith.”

No, I take that back.  They DO have “whatsoever he saith.”  The “whatsoever he saith” is “But.”  It falls short of what they need.  It doesn’t quite meet the need.  People almost get well.  They have almost enough to pay their bills, but not quite enough.  So they continue in need.

 

Is the need the yardstick by which we measure God’s Word?  Well, what does the Word of God say?

 

Jesus said something that has been the hallmark of our walk and our life in Him:

 

John 10:10: “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

 

The apostle Paul put it like this,

 

Ephesians 3:20-21: “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”

 

In his letter to Titus, Paul writes the following:

 

Titus 3:4-7: “But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

 

Then in his epistle to the Hebrews, we read,

 

Hebrews 6:14-18: “Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.”

 

Then Peter writes in his second letter,

 

II Peter 1:10-11: “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

 

If you’ve been paying attention to these statements, you’ve seen a key word that repeats over and over again: abundantly.  It doesn’t matter what it is that the Lord does for us, whether it is salvation, whether it is healing, whether it is provision to meet needs or whether it is our inheritance in Christ Jesus, EVERYTHING He does is in and with abundance – not “almost enough,” not falling short of meeting some need, not “not quite enough” (‘Scuse the double negative, there) – ABUNDANCE!

 

There’s a beautiful word that occurs in the Greek text in each of these cases that you need to see.  It’s the word, perissoteros or perissos (its root).   It translates literally to: superabundant, excessive, superior, beyond measure, wealthy, abounding with, rich.

There!  Like them apples?  Does that sound like “almost enough,” or “not quite enough”?  Makes you wonder how in the world folks get stuck with that kind of thinking.

 

Go back for a second and take a look at these references.  Let’s put these statements in a context of superabundance.

 

Jesus said: “I have come that you might have life, breath and vitality – (the God-kind), and that you might have it excessively, beyond measure, superior, abounding in all, being wealthy and rich.”  (John 10:10b, RAC Translation & Amplification)

 

Hey, don’t look at me like that!  I’m not the one who said it.  Jesus said it.  If that doesn’t describe you, then why not?  And don’t give me that load of unbelieving horse puckey about “that’s referring to spiritual, not physical or material.”  It just won’t fly!

 

The apostle Paul wrote, “Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly – beyond all measure, excessively, abounding in everything and every part of our life – above all that we ask or think, according to the miraculous force and power that has been energized, is active and efficiently working in us, Unto him be glory in the Ekklesia by Christ Jesus throughout all our generations, in perpetuity throughout the eternity of the eternities. Amen! So be it.”  (Ephesians 3:20-21, RAC Translation and Amplification)

 

REALLY?  Above all we ask or think?  According to the power that worketh in us?

Yup.

 

See the last comment in that statement by Paul?  “Unto Him be glory in the Ekklesia by Christ Jesus throughout all generations, in perpetuity throughout the eternity of the eternities.”

 

Somebody want to tell me, please, how it is that Christ Jesus gets glory by you living in poor health?  Want to tell me how the Lord gets glory by your being sick all the time?  Want to tell me how Jesus gets the glory by you never being able to pay your bills on time, never having enough to supply the needs of others, always living in need?

Do you know what abundance is, anyway?  It’s the manifestation of love.  Stop and think about it.

 

Remember what Solomon wrote in the Proverbs?

 

Proverbs 13:22:  “A bountiful, gracious, joyful, kind and loving man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children; and the wealth and substance, the force, power and strength of the unrepentant and condemned sinner is laid up for the just and righteous.”  (RAC Translation & Amplification)

 

Proverbs 19:14:  “House and riches are the inheritance of fathers...”

 

Let me pause for just a second.  I know some folks will wonder why in the world I’m on this topic of discussion.  The answer is simple.

 

We are on the verge of the greatest outpouring of wealth in the history of the human race.  Many of God’s people are about to see wealth and riches on a scale they would have considered unimaginable.  And that’s where the issue lies.

 

If these same folks haven’t dealt with the Spirit of Poverty in every area of their lives, this great transfer of wealth will result in their destruction.  It is absolutely critical that God’s people be responsible stewards of the riches of His Kingdom — and that’s a whole lot more than just money.  In fact the money is really the smallest part of it.

 

Yes, the money will enable visions to be fulfilled and ministries to go forth that have been hampered year after year after year, but without a sense of what God is doing and saying, along with deliverance from the Spirit of Poverty in every area of their lives, much of the wealth will be squandered and lost.

 

My Dad said to me on several occasions in the last couple years of his life, “Son, I’m sorry I don’t have a great inheritance to leave to you.”  My response to him was that the rich heritage he left me in the Lord more than compensated for the lack of a material inheritance.  That’s not to say that Dad was poor, or that he didn’t leave me a material inheritance, but it was nothing like he thought he was responsible to leave.

 

So why would he feel that way?  It’s because of love.  I have that same sense of responsibility towards my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and the Lord helping me, they will all be left with a rich spiritual heritage – AND houses, lands, goods and money.  It’s the desire of my heart.  I love my kids, my grandkids, and my great-grandkids.  I want them to have the best in life.  I want them to be able to make a difference in this world for righteousness.

 

The second half of Proverbs 19:14 reads, “…and a prudent wife is from the Lord.”

 

Brother, can I ever shout AMEN, to that statement!  That word, “prudent,” comes from the Hebrew, sakal, which amplifies to read, circumspect, intelligent, wise and teaching.  No word could better describe the gift that God has given me in my Bride of nearly 35 years, Della!

 

Poor and poverty-ridden folks don’t make a difference.  Neither do folks who are always sickly, suffering disease and walking and living in poor health.

 

Why?

 

Because if you are always in need, you don’t have the wherewithal to meet the needs of others.  You don’t have a storehouse from which to supply others.  Wealth and riches and abundance are not for your personal consumption, even though you do benefit.  They are the supply from which you meet the needs of those around you.  It’s how the Kingdom of God grows, prospers, and multiplies.  It’s how ministries are able to reach out and meet the needs of a dying and desperate world.

 

If you’re like me, growing up in traditional church circles, you’ve probably heard just about every “prosperity” teaching making the rounds.  Some of it is absolutely right on!  Some of it is absolute nonsense.  Where do you separate the fact from the fiction?

Just as in those principles which, when violated, bring poverty, so also are there principles which, when practiced, absolutely bring prosperity.

 

Last week, I said that poverty begins in one’s mind – in their thinking, their attitudes, and their behavior.  Prosperity does too.  In the same way that poverty is not a lack of money, prosperity is not the presence of lots of money or a big bank account.  Prosperity is – in no uncertain terms – the blessing of the Lord.

 

Prosperity begins with giving.  OK?  Hey!  Don’t look at me in that tone of voice!  I kid you not!  In order to prosper, you have to have a whole mindset of giving – and I don’t just mean giving money.

 

Remember the rich man that came to Jesus?  His question was, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”   Jesus told him to honor the Lord God and keep His commandments.  This guy was persistent.  So he says to Jesus, “All these have I kept from my youth up.”

 

Jesus looks at the rich guy and says to him, “Sell all you’ve got, and come and follow me.”

 

OOOOPPPS!!  And we’re told that this guy goes away, “sorrowful, for he was very rich.”

 

Here’s the problem.  This guy didn’t have lots of material goods, the material goods had him.  He never figured out that had he obeyed and done what Jesus asked of him, he’d have been so rich, he and his heirs would never have been able to spend the wealth.  Let me explain.

 

Actually, let’s hold it here for this week.  I’ve got some personal stories to share with you and I think I’ll save them for next week.

 

For those of you who’ve participated during the past three years in our Monday night Healing Prayer Conference Call, this is just a reminder that the calls have resumed on a once-a-month basis, the first Monday of each month.  If you have a need for healing, or you have friends in need of healing, here is the number to call: (712) 775-7035.  The Access Code is: 323859#.

 

At the same time, in case you are missing out on real fellowship in an environment of Ekklesia, our Sunday worship gatherings are available by conference call – usually at about 10:45AM Pacific.  That conference number is (712) 770-4160, and the access code is 308640#.  We are now making these gatherings available by Skype.  If you wish to participate by video on Skype, my Skype ID is regner.capener.  If you miss the live voice call, you can dial (712) 770-4169, enter the same access code and listen in later.  The video call, of course, is not recorded – not yet, anyway.

 

Blessings on you!