NOVEMBER 17

BREAKING THE CURSE OF POVERTY

MATTHEW 6:25-33


“(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. (Matt. 6:32)

The battle here is in the mind. God has already defeated poverty for us in Christ. We are blessed because we are in Him. To be able to partake of the blessing that is rightfully yours, you’ll have to overcome some soul trouble. The soul is the life of the flesh. It’s our mind, will, and emotions. John said, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper, and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” (3 John 2). It seems that we need to get it in our mind – which is part of our soul – before we can get it into our wallets.

You’re going to have to change the way you think about money and stuff. First, you must give up ownership. Ownership is God’s part of the relationship. Stewardship describes our part. According to Psalm 24:1-2, the earth and everything in it belong to God. Second, tithing is a “must.” The tithe isn’t giving back to God His part, because we realize that it all belongs to Him. Third, when we get it right with what we have, with what we already have – meaning we’re good stewards – He’ll allow us to steward over more. James 4:3 reveals, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” The moment we lose sight of the ownership issue, we have become covetous and cut off the blessing. God wants us to think right about money. “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matt. 6:24). If we fall in love with our money, we won’t be able to do what He wants us to do with it.

“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (I Tim. 6:10). It doesn’t say that money is the root of all evil; it says that the love of money is. There are people who don’t have a dime that are sinning all the time. Therefore, having money isn’t the problem.

The next step in the process of getting free from poverty is to fill your soul (mind) with what God’s Word says about prosperity and provision. You’ll need to begin changing your mind with the Word of God. It’s called renewing your mind. Prosperity begins on the inside and works its way out. Your soul begins to prosper the moment you believe and act on God’s Word. Proverbs 22:9, Psalm 22:9, Psalm 35:27, and Psalm 1:3 are great examples of scriptures you should be thinking about and speaking. Get a concordance, or search through your Bible, and find some scriptures on your own. If your thoughts were previously formed with lack, they can now be filled with God’s abundance! By appropriating what Jesus already did for you and acting on His Word, you’ll break the curse of poverty in your life. (BN)