I need help with my financesWhen Jesus died on the cross, not only did it set us free from sin but also from lack, shortage and poverty. Learn the principles of Biblical Economics and begin to experience God's provision in your life.
How to receive a flow of abundance
Recorded at Transformers Christian Church
The levels of Divine Prosperity and how to move into them.
Recorded at Transformers Christian Church
Jesus came to give us an abundant life. The New Living Translation says a rich and satisfying life. The Amplified Bible says have and enjoy life in abundance (to the full, till it overflows…). The life He came to give us is a rich and satisfying life in every way: physically, spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, socially etc… It’s rich and satisfying because it is overflowing with God’s blessing. In this article, I’m going to focus specifically on the abundant life Jesus wants us to enjoy impacting our finances. What does this sort of life look like? A glimpse into the ministry of Jesus gives us some idea.
In Luke 5, Jesus used Peter’s boat as a platform from which to preach to the people on the shore of the Lake. When He finished, He instructed Peter to put out his fishing nets to catch a load of fish. Peter was reluctant because they’d already been fishing all night and had caught nothing. But in a gesture to honour Jesus, Peter & his brother Andrew put out a net. Within moments they caught so many fish that their net began to break. Realizing they were going to need help, they signalled to their business partners, John and James to come in their boat and assist them with the catch. The load of fish was so large that both boats began to sink.
Just imagine how extraordinary this scene would’ve appeared! Here are four blokes who had been up all night trying to catch fish and had finished their shift empty handed. Now, Jesus tells two of them to put out their nets and all of a sudden every fish in the vicinity experiences an overwhelming urge to swim right there!
But why did Jesus let it persist until their net was breaking? Didn’t He know when the net was full? Couldn’t He tell that there were enough fish in the net already? Why did He allow so many fish to be caught? Didn’t He see the two boats that were so full they were on the verge of sinking? Why bring so many fish? Because He is the God of abundance; He came to give us an abundant life – a life that overflows with His blessing.
How can we experience this abundant life? There are three things I want to bring to your consideration
The following audio file goes into greater detail on Abundant Living. It’s a free download so help yourself.
Recorded at Transformers Christian Church
There is no greater way to live than operating under the rule and reign of the Kingdom of God! The benefits are truly out of this world. Less stress, more joy; less sickness, more health; less lack, more provision; God’s Kingdom is always healthy, vibrant, abundant and stable. This is not the case for those outside the Kingdom. In fact, life without Jesus is anything but predictable.
In Jan 2015 for example, Business Day Australia published the results of a survey of 25 leading economists in the nation who were asked to predict the trend of interest rates for the year ahead. All 25 were unanimous in their prediction that the Reserve Bank’s cash rate would not change for the entire year. Less than two weeks later, the Reserve Bank cut its rate by 0.25 and then lowered it again 3 months later. We live in a world where the economy is uncertain and unpredictable – even for the experts. This is in stark contrast to God’s Kingdom. Nations can rise and fall, economies can grow or collapse – but God’s Kingdom remains the same.
When we talk about money, God’s priority for us is not financial security but financial freedom. Financial security is all about playing it safe and insulating yourself from failure. What’s wrong with that? I hear you say. God wants to be our security; He wants us to live in peace and joy knowing that He is leading and guiding us. This doesn’t mean we can’t save money but we don’t do it from a base of fear. It’s a good thing to save money but always keep God as your security – not your money because money makes a poor God.
On the other hand, Financial Freedom is when you’re unhindered by the pressures and demands of your budget or financial projects/goals. It’s being able to enjoy everyday life without the worries and stresses of the world we live in. It doesn’t mean that you have no pressures – Jesus said that we would have pressures in this world (John 16:33) – but experiencing financial freedom means that we are unhindered by them.
Financial freedom is not dependent on the sort of job you have, how much money you have in your account or even your earning potential through work. Your income is not dependent on where you work but Who you work for. When you’re part of the Kingdom of God, your job is your assignment and God is your provider. God calls some to be CEO’s and others to be cleaners and if you’re doing what God called you to do then you can trust Him that you’ll be well looked after as you carry out His assignment.
Financial Freedom is when you have more than enough to be able to meet all of your commitments plus plenty leftover to be able to bless others. “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” 2Co 9:8 NKJV
The following 2 part series goes into greater detail about Experiencing Financial Freedom in an Uncertain Economy.
The word rich amongst many believers has become almost a dirty word. Many think that being rich is borderline sinful because money is the root of all evil. But this is not correct. Money is not the root of all evil; the love of money is the root of all evil. We all need money to some extent to be able to buy/sell and interact in our world. The problem is when we become obsessed with money – that’s when we’re moving into dangerous territory.
Furthermore, who said it's wrong to be rich? In fact the bible says ‘For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich’ (2Co 8:9 NKJV ). Some people respond to this by claiming that Jesus made us spiritually rich. Well yes, that is true but that’s not what this verse is primarily speaking about. If you read this verse in the context of the entire chapter, the discussion is about money and collecting an offering that was promised. So when it says that Jesus became poor that we might become rich, it’s talking about financial/material increase.
The word rich used in the scripture is the Greek word ploosios which is almost always used to describe someone with significant net worth (check out how ploosios = rich is used in the following verses: Luke 12:16; 16:1; 16:19; 21:1. In every case it is talking about financial/material abundance.). In other words Jesus not only died for our sins but according to 2 Corinthians 8:9 He also died for our lack.
God wants us to live a prosperous life; that’s a life of fruitfulness in every area – physically, emotionally, intellectually, socially, financially. But if we’re going to be prosperous then we’re going to have to establish a prosperous mindset. And the first step in establishing a prosperous mindset is to destroy strongholds of pauperism. This means destroy thoughts of not having enough, barely getting by, always doing it tough. If we stay in a place where we believe we will barely get by then we’ll experience barely getting by. The pauper mentality affects us all in different ways and we must be diligent to identify and destroy this debilitating way of thinking.
What are the characteristics of a pauper mentality? Firstly, Paupers supply for themselves. What’s wrong with that? you may say. Paupers don’t see God as their provider or supplier; they see themselves as their own provider. If they’re going to get anything in life it’s going to be through their own hard work and determination. Paupers will often say things like ‘I can’t afford that’ or ‘Do you think I’m made out of money?’ The reason they say things like that is because they don’t see supply coming from anywhere else except their own hard work and so they become defensive and protective of everything they get. The bible says that God will supply all of our need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Phil 4:19). God’s supply is not dependant on the sort of job you have, how smart you are or how much you get paid; God’s supply is dependant upon His riches – and He’s very, very rich in every way!
Now, there have been many people that have done well through their own efforts but the level of success God wants to bring our way is so great that it would be humanly impossible for any individual to achieve without God’s help. If you think you’ve been successful without God then you haven’t seen how much more God has for you in terms of success with Him. If we’re going to reach these levels of success then we’re going to need to change the way we think and recognise that God is our supplier. We can give just as easily as receive because we recognise that God provides over and above anything we can earn.
A second characteristic of a pauper mentality is Paupers are governed by price. They’re always looking at the dollar value as the bottom line of any transaction. If God is our supplier, we don’t need to be intimidated by the price tag of anything. This doesn’t mean that we’re always going to pay exhorbitant amounts for things; in fact, living the prosperous life brings you under God’s favour and so you will experience many great financial deals. What I’m saying is that when we get a glimpse of the life God desires for us to live, we won’t worry about the cost because whatever it is, our God is more than able to supply it.
Paupers however, struggle to get past the price tag. They will often say things like
If you choke at the price of things then you’ll never live at the level God desires to take you. I remember one time I was choking over the cost of something that I wanted to do and the Lord spoke in my heart ‘What’s wrong? Don’t you think I can afford to pay that?’ I had spent so much time thinking what a big amount it was that I lost sight of how much bigger our God is. We need to eradicate the way of thinking where we’re governed by the price and start seeing that God is our supplier so that we can do anything He tells us to do.
The two messages below go into a lot more detail about how to destroy the pauper mentality and establish a prosperous mindset.
Recorded at Transformers Christian Church
Part 1: Understanding Heaven's EconomyEvery kingdom and every nation has an economy: a way of managing their wealth and resources. Heaven also has a way of managing its resources but heaven’s economy is vastly different in its operations to the economies of the world. Every need that man will ever encounter has already been addressed by the Kingdom of Heaven. But how does it operate and how can we access it? Discover the keys to understanding Heaven's Economy in this five part series.
When you're connected to Heaven's Economy, God's blessing automatically flows into your life. What then are the keys that can enable us to connect to Heaven's Economy?
God not only desires that we connect to Heaven's Economy but also flow in it. Explore some principles that will enable you to do so in this third part of the series.
Where does tithing fit into God's plan to prosper us? Is tithing found in the New Testament? What is its significance?
How to give when flowing in Heaven's Economy. How to harvest in Heaven's Economy.