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Is Poverty Ever From God?

July 10th, 2008

Reading Level: Gratifying

In most realms of religion, there seems to be a prevalent concept that poverty makes a person more pious.

The added deduction from this concept is that God sends poverty on His people to teach them or purify them. There are several possible reasons for the development of this line of thought. First, difficulty does often cause a person to reach out to God, to someone greater than himself, resulting in character growth. Hence, people assume God sent it. Scripture actually says that God works to bring good out of evil done to us (Gen. 50:20; Deut. 23:5; Rom. 8:28). A second possible reason for the development of this poverty concept is the misquoting of the Scripture about money. Scripture actually says that the “love” of money leads to all kinds of evil, not wealth itself.

God expresses that poverty is destructive to people, a trait contrary to God’s nature.

Though more examples could be given, these two make it clear that poverty is not a type of “learning tool” sent by God. God says,

Poverty is the ruin of the poor (NIV). [Another translation-] The destruction of the poor is their poverty (NKJV Pr. 10:15).
[The context of this quote is speaking about laziness...] and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man making you helpless (AMP).

In contrast to the idea of poverty being from God, the traits of ruin, destruction, and other harm are listed in Scripture as having their origin in satan. Pay particular attention to Jesus’ description of the contrasting life God gives. Immerse Yourself in the Full Healing Contemplation Here »

Make Room for Restoration

May 30th, 2008

Reading Level: Leisurely

In my recent post called, “Break Out of the Rut,” we discussed how rarely we implement the great ideas or input that we come across and how to break out of the rut of life and make real progress. I came across a great article by Caroline Jalango on how to make room for all the positive changes we want to achieve by identifying and removing what hinders constructive changes.

Here is an excerpt from Caroline’s article along with a link to the full post on her website.

“You want to be loved, to be at peace, have wonderful relationships, look and feel good, find a better job, be respected and recognized for your work, make more money, grow your business, advance your career and so forth — but have you ‘emptied out’ the unproductive aspects in your life to make room for your new desires?

If you haven’t, what’s currently taking up the much needed space in your life? Emotional clutter, baggage, tolerations, hang-ups, fixed perspectives, belief systems, attitudes, excuses, fears, or debilitating habits can occupy a large part of your life and prevent you from

Immerse Yourself in the Full Healing Contemplation Here »

Break Out of the Rut

May 28th, 2008

Table of contents for Break Out of the Rut

Break Out of the Rut
Break Out of the Rut Part 2

Reading Level: Leisurely

On a scale of 1 to 10, implementing being 10, how often do you act on new, valuable knowledge that you hear compared to the number of times you let that knowledge merely slip away?

We all come across good input from time to time of things that would greatly improve our lives, quality input on one’s finances, relationships, or physical-emotional-spiritual health. Usually, we feel great excitement at the thought of the possible benefits from that new knowledge yet, all too often, the knowledge that comes our way is allowed to slip away because it is easier for life to stay in a rut.

Just as it is always easier to swim with the current than against it, just as it is definitely easier to go downhill than to a higher plain, it is undeniably easier to stay in a rut than drive over the bumps in the road to get out of the path you’ve been in. We can even be good listeners, eager learners, and have willing spirits with a desire to succeed, but all the right attitudes will still not cause one’s life to prosper if all we ever do is listen, and we never act on that knowledge. Immerse Yourself in the Full Healing Contemplation Here »