Poverty Poverty can be good for you, it teaches you to trust in the Lord because you have nothing else to trust in. You haven’t got things or money or anything to fall back on or to put your trust in other than the Lord, and He somehow, someway always seems to bring you through. Right ? You wish you were rich, but you are poor and yet through all your trials and tribulations and economic shortfalls have to stay faithful in giving to others as if you were rich, because if you have love you are RICH. Jam 2:5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love him? But He never promised to give you wealth or glory or worldly power in the here and now, only sufficiency and food and raiment. Anything else is an extra which can be withdrawn at a moments notice. So don’t give me any of that church delusional doctrine that if we are true Christians, we shall be rich and be blessed in this world. Why ? Because the Bible says just the opposite. Psalms 73:12 Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches. So there it is in writing, it is basically the ungodly that prosper in this world, not the righteous. Sure the Bible has a few exceptions to this rule, but very few. Why ? Because the ungodly get rich by honouring the god of this world, the devil. And he bestows on them his temporal blessings, with the only thing he has and that’s THINGS….and money. And this is why the Lord said, You can't serve God and Mammon, things or money. It's impossible to serve both. Mathew 6:24 -25 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. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? We are not here to see how much material possessions we can accumulate before we die, like the heathen around us. For a 'man's life consisteth not of the things he possesses.' as the Good Book says. It's only the devil's people that lie, cheat and steal for things .... for that is their religion and what they worship. And though some cults called system churches around the world teach that ‘Godliness is Gain’, it is lie of the devil. Gain does not necessarily prove any kind of godliness, and could prove just the opposite King David was exposing his sheltered existence when he said, Psa 37: 25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. Why ? Because the Lord himself countered this misconception with the telling of the true parable about Lazarus, the beggar. (SEE Luke 16) So can you be poor and still righteous ? Yes. But poverty in and of itself is no sign of righteousness, it may even be a result of some pretty horrible sin or sins. So we can’t judge a person in poverty merely by the fact that they are poor. Their hearts might be right and a whole lot purer than ours. So we better tread softly among the poor. For the King might answer us saying ..... (Mat 25:40) Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Therefore 'Poverty' may seem like a total curse, but it can teach us all kinds of lessons that riches could never teach us. It can teach us real faith. Poverty can teach us not to squander what we have been given. It can teach us to be thankful for the smallest things and smallest blessings. It certainly is not our goal and our aim, or our final destination, but if we are in it, we don’t have to be ashamed, just faithfully giving while in that temporary condition. For any can be in poverty, any can be down and out, and fallen from the temporary Graces of God, for there go we except by the Grace of God. So don’t even think to look down on the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And we better take care of them and feed them and house them and give them your raiment when you can, (SEE Stolen Coat Testimony) for their God is watching us and judging us according to what we give them from our hearts. For one day it could be us !!!!! Poverty can teach us humility, true humility in looking at our fellow humans souls rather than the extend of their material possessions. For a man’s life consisteth not of the abundance of things which he possesses, as our Lord told us, its the richness of our souls. Our treasure is in heaven and not here on Earth, we have laid up treasure in the future, that’s our eternal inheritance. We have faith in the future with the Lord and in His rule rather than in this dog eat dog, competitive race for material wealth. We are suppose to be different than the heathen and are if things and money do not rule our hearts. Our faith is not suppose to be mere word games but a reality, where we trust in the Lord’s future promises, as we keep giving and giving of ourselves until the day we go to meet our Maker. We hope and wish for more funds from the Lord so we can be freer to work more for Him, but if the funds don’t come we are not going to stop giving or working for Him. Right ? We may be working for money in the systems of this world, but it is not for the accumulation of big bank accounts, but for survival to feed ourselves and our families. We work to provide, but we want more than just mere things. We want the ETERNAL and eternal life where money doesn’t buy happiness or things. Poverty may be a curse and part of the original curse to Adam and Eve, but so is riches. For welath has eaten away the souls of the rich more than t]poverty has destroyed the souls of the poor. So even if we find ourselves in poverty, we can maintain our dignity, and hold onto our principles and our FAITH. And if we find ourselves blessed, never forget from whence we came …and never, never belittle the souls that are temporarily bound by poverty's tentacles. For some day, someway the Lord will give of His riches to those that have given in this life, no matter what hand they have been dealt. For to whom much is given, much is required. And so when we see the poor, do remember that the Lord is watching to see how we treat them....whether with love and kindness and humility or with pride and arrogance. Let’s pray, it’s with LOVE. God bless and keep you faithful, faithfully loving others whether in poverty or riches. In His Service David Jay Jordan |
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