Let me start with the gospel Jesus preached: In Luke 4:18, NLT, we read, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.” And right here, we see why Jesus came to earth, to bring us Good News, the Gospel. Yet, over time, we’ve watered down His message. We have made the Gospel solely about salvation. Jesus didn’t do that. No! He addressed the very real issues that people face. The very first of which is poverty. Much of human suffering is driven by poverty.
Let that sink in. Much of human suffering is driven by poverty. Poverty causes all sorts of evils. People will do many things to survive: sell their bodies, steal from those around them, murder those who have what they want, and so much more. Wars are often fought over who has what. The Apostle James wrote, “Where do wars and fights come from among you?” James 4:1, NKJV. Then, he says, “Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you?” James 4:1, NLT. Evil begins within. And that evil can and is motivated by evil desires that begin because of the poverty mindset: “You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.” James 4:2, ESV.
When the Apostle Paul said, “the love of money is the root of all evil”, 1 Timothy 6:10 KJV. He wasn’t saying we shouldn’t have money. He was stating a practical reality: people will do evil to get money. Yet, the Church, instead of recognizing that practical reality, has used what the Apostle Paul said to dissuade believers from seeking wealth. And in doing so, we have acted foolishly, very foolishly.
The Bible is a book about obtaining wealth. What?!!!, some of you might say. Yes, the Bible is a book about getting, keeping, securing, and possessing wealth. How can I say that? What scriptures can I use to support that position? In Genesis 22:14, Berean Literal Bible, Father Abraham receives a powerful revelation of God’s name: “And Abraham called the name of that place ‘YHWH Yireh,’ as it is said to this day, ‘On the mountain of YHWH it shall be seen.’” That is the first of many revelations of God’s name — Jehovah Jireh — I Am the Lord, Your Provider.
God, after the fall of mankind, reveals Himself as Jehovah Jireh to Father Abraham, and enters into a covenant of faith with Father Abraham. That is after Father Abraham receives this message from God: “I am El-Shaddai; walk before Me and be blameless.” Genesis 17:1, Berean Literal Bible. El Shaddai means God Almighty. In the Hebrew, El Shaddai is God saying, I Am the Big Burly One, the Almighty God who overthrows everything and everyone else. No one can stop or oppose Me or My purposes. And nothing can stop me. Isn’t that comforting? Father Abraham’s revelation of God brought him great wealth. In Genesis 13:2, HCSB, we learn, “Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold.” Throughout his life, God revealed Himself to Father Abraham as “I Am the Lord, your provider”.
In Matthew 1:1, Weymouth New Testament, we read, “The Genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” That’s where the Gospel of Matthew starts. Notice, he doesn’t start with Jesus as the Son of God like the Gospel of John. Rather, Matthew starts with Jesus as the son of King David and Father Abraham. Why start there? Remember who King David knew the Lord as “My Shepherd”. Remember who Father Abraham saw the Lord as “My Shield and My provider”. Genesis 15:1 ESV, Genesis 22:14 KJV. When Christ came the wise men “presented to Him gifts [fit for a king, gifts] of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” Luke 2:11, Amplified Bible. From birth, Christ had great wealth. Do we truly understand who He was, what He had, and what He did? No. I think we have missed this side of the Messiah through the demonic poverty mindset that has shrouded who Christ was and is, and what He did.
What did Jesus do? The Apostle Paul highlights Jesus’s work at the cross in 2 Corinthians 8:9, NLT. “You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.” The Corinthians knew the grace of Christ in this area. We don’t. We don’t see Christ making mankind rich. Rather, we have preachers and ministers who will minimize what Jesus did by spiritualizing it. On the preceding verse, those ministers will say things like, “that’s talking about spiritual wealth” or “we can’t really think Christ came to make us rich”. Then, the bait and switch, “it’s spiritual not natural wealth”. No! It’s unbelief disguised as pseudo faith. Gnosticism (a heretical sect that spiritualized everything) by any other name is still Gnosticism.
The lie of the poverty mindset has pervaded the Church. So much so, we ignore who Jesus is, what He did, and why He did it. To end the lack brought into our world through sin and Satan. Prior to mankind’s fall, there was no lack. None. After mankind’s fall, mankind has only known lack. The Lord Jesus brought a different revelation. Not of a kingdom that would one day come. No! But of a kingdom that He brought with Him when He came. And in that kingdom, if we enter into it, has no lack. Rather, it has abundant, supernatural provision. Do you see it?
Yes, we must change our mindset to see what is plainly revealed by nature: “Look at the birds…your heavenly Father feeds them.” Matthew 6:26, NLT. “Consider the lilies of the field…even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” Matthew 6:28, 29, ESV. Remember, King Solomon was the epitome of human wealth and wisdom: he “made silver and gold as plentiful in Jerusalem as stone. And valuable cedar timber was as common as the sycamore-fig trees”. 1 Chronicles 1:15, NLT. Jesus was pointing out humanity’s value not diminishing humanity’s worth by limiting God’s provision. Rather, Christ revealed the Father’s nature as provider just like His fathers, King David and Father Abraham.
In truth, the Church hasn’t sought the kingdom, preached the kingdom, or demonstrated the kingdom. Rather, we’ve obfuscated the kingdom through false ideologies containing seeds of the flawed ideas of demonic thinking. Demonic strongholds have ruled the minds of millions. And today, the Church idolizes the world rather than the world recognizing God’s supernatural power within the Church. Isn’t it time we change that? Let’s leave behind the dead religion of the poverty mindset that has governed the Church for centuries. And let us cloth ourselves with the mind of Christ who actively saw and engaged in the provision of His Father.
“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10, KJV. Amen.
Let us pray!
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