I'm going to tell you what I saw today in the reading, and then you can go to the Word with it and hash it out with the Lord. I'm not trying to establish your doctrine here, I'm just trying to challenge you to think about what you're reading, and to think about why you think what you think about it.
If you read the New King James, you may not notice this paradox. This is what I read in my version: "But there will be no poor among you (for the LORD will bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance to possess), if only you will obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all this commandment which I command you this day. For the LORD your God will bless you, as he promised you, and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you." Deuteronomy 15:4-6 RSV
In the next verse, we get the paradox: "If there is among you a poor man, one of your brethren, in any of your towns within your land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him, and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be." Deuteronomy 15:7-8 RSV
It goes on to show the attitude we should have, and talks more about the release year, the seventh year.
More of the paradox follows: "For the poor will never cease out of the land; therefore I command you, You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in the land." Deuteronomy 15:11 RSV
It seems to me that some of the translators, including the NKJV, had a difficult time is accepting this paradox, so they wrote but you shall give up your claim to what is owed by your brother, except when there may be no poor among you; for the LORD will greatly bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance 15: 3-4 NKJV. This "except" just doesn't make a lot of sense. To me the opposites do make sense, because we see this kind of paradox all the time in Scripture.
God is saying that there will be no poor among you and that there will always be poor among you, at the same time, in the same chapter even. Why is this?
Considering there is an "if only" clause in that promise, I can totally see why we not only always have some poor people among us, in our nation and in the Church, we have an amazing number of poor people. Could it possibly be that we ignore clear directions given us by the Lord?
I remember how the Lord, years ago, cut loose our finances when we began to obey His commandment not to charge interest on loans (within the family~ and we take that spiritually too). I'm not sure if we've come up to the seven year release date on any debts yet, and we may not have had that revelation at the time. But I see it now, and will live up to it if it comes up [Usually, I just give expecting nothing in return]. This may be Old Testament stuff, but didn't Jesus come to fulfill the Law and not abolish it? There are principles that we may walk in and begin to experience the kind of blessing that was promised. He shows us His desires, what He loves and what He hates, and He shows us how to fulfill love and righteousness. If we would start to study the Word to find out how to do that, I think we'd find out how to get rid of poverty.
In the Old Testament, we see promises about being free from poverty, sickness, oppression, etc. In the New Testament, we are given everything we need in order to walk in these promises. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He demonstrated the same truth that was given in the Old Testament. His principles go beyond the Old Testament, go deeper and higher, into the heart and into the unseen realm. There is no reason why we should not walk in His promises, except that we don't know, we don't understand, or we don't believe.
As the Lord stated, everyone will not get a hold of His truth and promises, even though He desires that they do. But that should not stop you from getting a hold of them. If you believe God's Word and walk in it, and you demonstrate God's love to people the way Jesus did, not only will you see the effect of His promises in your life, you may also be able to help others get a hold of the promises for themselves who may not have otherwise.
Questions to Ponder:
How is debt affecting you? How is it affecting this nation?
What was Jesus getting at when He taught us to pray: "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." Matthew 6:12 NKJV
Is there any possibility that poverty is related to unforgiveness? Why or why not?
Showing posts with label prosperity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prosperity. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Thursday, July 15, 2010
July 15, 2010 When Kings Go Out To Battle
What jumped out at me today was a phrase I'd noticed before, but never thought to wonder about: in the spring of the year, at the time kings go out to battle.(1 Chronicles 20:1). I wondered what the spiritual significance of this was, and I asked the Lord about it. I was expecting to read about David's affair with Bathsheba, since the same phrase was used in that story. I looked it up: it is 2 Samuel 11:1, but this was a different account of David. In both accounts, it says that Joab went out against Ammon and besieged Rabbah, but that David stayed in Jerusalem in the spring of the year, at the time kings go out to battle. Whether both accounts are the same period of time, I do not know. It is not in the boundaries of this devotional that I do external research. I will leave this mystery for later, and you can go study it for yourself if you wish.
One thing is clear, there are seasons when we should be battling the enemy, and if we're not, then we'll surely end up devastated. Going from historical ignorance here, but not spiritual ignorance, I'd say it is quite possible that this was one particular time period in David's life. It seems, from the way he took and wore the defeated king's crown instead of dedicating the gold to the Lord-- as he had always done before-- that he was falling into pride. When we're prosperous and feel powerful and undefeatable, luxury and a feeling of complacency certainly have a way of leading us away from humility and hard work and into pride and laziness. "Let other people do it; this is my due."
In our reading, although there is great time-compression in this chronicle, it is revealing to see what happened over the census David decided to do. Pride again seems to be the open door here for the sinful choice he made. "Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel." 1 Chroncles 21:1 The consequences for this were devastating, and God's judgment brought David to a place of humility again. Pride and not fearing the Lord go hand in hand. Pride is iniquity of the spirit, and it was Satan's downfall, remember-- he is particularly attuned to it and empowered by it.
In our individual lives, pride opens the door for the devil to steal, kill and destroy. Resisting the devil requires submitting to God, and that requires humility. (James 4:7) Humility is one of the best of our weapons of warfare. In a nation's life, pride in the hearts of those in leadership (government) opens the door for satanic attack, and also God's judgment-- which falls on the people the government was supposed to bless and protect. Rather than lash out in anger, it is wise for the people in a nation to humble themselves and pray for their leadership. I've been convicted many times of not doing this seriously enough. What I read in the Word today gives me strong incentive.
I still want more revelation about the time kings go out to battle. It was in the spring. To me that says it's the time when things that have already been planted and established are beginning to bud (spiritual or natural, and it's a different time for everyone). That means that another harvest is on its way, and each harvest should be greater than the last (for a natural example-- a harvest from an apple orchard). Satan wants to keep us and our life efforts from bearing any fruit; if there's something established in our life that he hasn't been able to destoy, he's going to want to keep the harvest from happening: "nip it in the bud." Every spring, it's the same. The bully wants to create a famine for us if he can. If we're proud and lazy-- or simply don't have a clue -- we'll lose the fruit of our labors. This was to be our provision, our offering to the Lord, and a blessing to the poor.
You know spring is a reality, therefore you need to understand the season and go out to battle. The person who has the initiative can take the high ground, or choose the most strategic battlefront. Why wait for the devil to barge in and take what's yours (by the blessing of God and the work of your hands)? You know he's just going to keep doing the same thing until he realizes it's futile. So don't be proud, lazy or stupid! Pick up your Sword and go out against him.
One thing is clear, there are seasons when we should be battling the enemy, and if we're not, then we'll surely end up devastated. Going from historical ignorance here, but not spiritual ignorance, I'd say it is quite possible that this was one particular time period in David's life. It seems, from the way he took and wore the defeated king's crown instead of dedicating the gold to the Lord-- as he had always done before-- that he was falling into pride. When we're prosperous and feel powerful and undefeatable, luxury and a feeling of complacency certainly have a way of leading us away from humility and hard work and into pride and laziness. "Let other people do it; this is my due."
In our reading, although there is great time-compression in this chronicle, it is revealing to see what happened over the census David decided to do. Pride again seems to be the open door here for the sinful choice he made. "Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel." 1 Chroncles 21:1 The consequences for this were devastating, and God's judgment brought David to a place of humility again. Pride and not fearing the Lord go hand in hand. Pride is iniquity of the spirit, and it was Satan's downfall, remember-- he is particularly attuned to it and empowered by it.
In our individual lives, pride opens the door for the devil to steal, kill and destroy. Resisting the devil requires submitting to God, and that requires humility. (James 4:7) Humility is one of the best of our weapons of warfare. In a nation's life, pride in the hearts of those in leadership (government) opens the door for satanic attack, and also God's judgment-- which falls on the people the government was supposed to bless and protect. Rather than lash out in anger, it is wise for the people in a nation to humble themselves and pray for their leadership. I've been convicted many times of not doing this seriously enough. What I read in the Word today gives me strong incentive.
I still want more revelation about the time kings go out to battle. It was in the spring. To me that says it's the time when things that have already been planted and established are beginning to bud (spiritual or natural, and it's a different time for everyone). That means that another harvest is on its way, and each harvest should be greater than the last (for a natural example-- a harvest from an apple orchard). Satan wants to keep us and our life efforts from bearing any fruit; if there's something established in our life that he hasn't been able to destoy, he's going to want to keep the harvest from happening: "nip it in the bud." Every spring, it's the same. The bully wants to create a famine for us if he can. If we're proud and lazy-- or simply don't have a clue -- we'll lose the fruit of our labors. This was to be our provision, our offering to the Lord, and a blessing to the poor.
You know spring is a reality, therefore you need to understand the season and go out to battle. The person who has the initiative can take the high ground, or choose the most strategic battlefront. Why wait for the devil to barge in and take what's yours (by the blessing of God and the work of your hands)? You know he's just going to keep doing the same thing until he realizes it's futile. So don't be proud, lazy or stupid! Pick up your Sword and go out against him.
Monday, January 11, 2010
January 11, 2010
I saw a difference between those whom the Lord prospers or makes wealthy, and those who try to make themselves that way by ungodly means. God blessed Isaac by giving him a hundred-fold return, and he became very wealthy. Genesis 26:12-13 The Philistines envied him and wanted him to go away. These same people had stopped up the wells his father had dug. They feared these men's power.
The Psalms portion describes the greedy wicked who oppress the poor and helpless in order to gain wealth for themselves. God is not ignoring this. "Indeed you note trouble and grief, that you may take it into your hands; the helpless commit themselves to you; you have been the helper of the orphan." Ps 10:14 God responds to people's cries for help. He also responds to intercession. Ps. 10:12,15
Many people who are poor and who feel helpless, whether they have been oppressed or not, often want to take down the rich who they see as the oppressor, rather than turning to the Lord. They cannot discern the difference between oppressors and people blessed of the Lord. I believe the Lord will make the distinction clearer and clearer in these times. Helping the poor will certainly be one of the marks of God's Kingdom blessing.
Although your enemies may try to project on you the motivations and methods that they themselves walk in, and may try to "stop up your wells" of creativity and the flow of Spirit life and power because of jealousy or competition, don't give in to the pressure! Humility is agreeing with the Lord, not quitting because people misunderstand.
You might be interested in contemplating how today's passage about Jesus ties into this!
The Psalms portion describes the greedy wicked who oppress the poor and helpless in order to gain wealth for themselves. God is not ignoring this. "Indeed you note trouble and grief, that you may take it into your hands; the helpless commit themselves to you; you have been the helper of the orphan." Ps 10:14 God responds to people's cries for help. He also responds to intercession. Ps. 10:12,15
Many people who are poor and who feel helpless, whether they have been oppressed or not, often want to take down the rich who they see as the oppressor, rather than turning to the Lord. They cannot discern the difference between oppressors and people blessed of the Lord. I believe the Lord will make the distinction clearer and clearer in these times. Helping the poor will certainly be one of the marks of God's Kingdom blessing.
Although your enemies may try to project on you the motivations and methods that they themselves walk in, and may try to "stop up your wells" of creativity and the flow of Spirit life and power because of jealousy or competition, don't give in to the pressure! Humility is agreeing with the Lord, not quitting because people misunderstand.
You might be interested in contemplating how today's passage about Jesus ties into this!
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