THERE IS ABUNDANT GRACE AVAILABLE FOR OUR EVERY NEED!
by, Matt Bomhoff
Jesus told us that if we seek to do the will of His Kingdom, we need not worry about provision:
"Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” – Matthew 6:31-33
When we choose to offer our lives to the Lord and His Kingdom, dying to our own agendas to seek after His through obedience and faith, all our needs become His responsibility, not ours (Philippians 4:19).
No Servant Can Serve Two Masters
No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon. - Luke 16:10-13
Many of us have been taught that the word Mammon in this verse means “money.” However, the word "Mammon" is of Aramaic origin, carries the meaning of “confidence in wealth” (Greek mam?nas: Strong's G3126). Historically, Mammon originated as a Syrian, pagan “god of riches” who began receiving worship in the ancient city of Babylon. Babylon gets its root from the tower of Babel, where sinful choices led to confusion (Gen. 11). In the same way, Mammon was and continues to be a demonic spirit who tries to exalt himself against the knowledge of God (2 Cor. 10:5), confusing people into thinking that they must put their faith and confidence in wealth instead of trusting in the faithfulness of the Lord and His abundant provision. His ultimate goal is convince us to make sinful choices, contrary to the word of God and commandments of Jesus. When we find ourselves thinking, “If I just had more money I would be able to be generous,” or “I need to hoard what I have or I won’t have enough,” we are being invited to serve the spirit of Mammon. Satan promises a life of comfort, security, fulfillment and happiness through riches. But He is a liar, and the father of lies (John 8:44). Confidence in the riches he offers is a sure pathway to destruction and poverty.
The Poverty Curse
Poverty is a curse, and a commodity the devil loves to traffic in. The bible describes the curse of poverty in detail:
“ …you shall serve your enemies, whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything …” – Deuteronomy 28:48
The curse of poverty can then be defined as:
1. serving your enemies 2. living in complete lack (food, drink, clothing, and everything else)
Jesus taught that when we choose to serve mammon, trusting in the false security of worldly wealth instead of the sure security and limitless resources of God’s Kingdom, we are choosing to serve an enemy who’s goal is to steal from us, and kill and destroy us (John 10:10). The bitter fruit produced from serving the god of mammon is a life of confusion, fear, anxiety and lack. Satan is the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4). His corrupt economy is all part of a kingdom that can and will be shaken (Heb. 12:27-28). But Christ came to earth bringing with Him the perfect economy of heaven, and an unshakable Kingdom (Mark 1:15). His mission was to do the Father’s will and pay the price for every sin and every curse on the cross. This includes the curse of poverty!
Christ Redeemed Us!
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed [is] everyone who hangs on a tree") … Galatians 3:13
It’s interesting to note that as Jesus hung on the cross He bore every curse associated with poverty, both spiritually and physically. Jesus was hungry - He hadn’t eaten in nearly 24 hours (Matt. 27:45). He was thirsty, crying out, “I thirst,” and refusing to drink until all things were fulfilled (John 19:28). He was stripped of all his clothes and hung on the cross naked (Luke 23:34). He had nowhere to lay his head while he lived (Luke 9:58), and if not for the kindness of Joseph of Arimithea, Jesus would have had no place of burial for His body. (Matt. 27:60). Christ became poor in every way, that through His victory our future in Him and for Him would be fully funded according to His riches in glory! (Eph. 2:10).
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. – 2 Corinthians 8:9
The enemy of our soul understands this awesome truth and has strategic lies that he whispers in our ears, hoping to convince us that the cross was insufficient, and God is not faithful to this promise. His desire is to convince us that we need to build our own empires to survive, storing up and hoarding our treasures for ourselves because God is not trustworthy. If He can’t do that, he will try to convince us to live in presumption, suggesting that we can be lazy and unfaithful, ignore the commands of Christ, and still reap the provision of heaven. This is an attempt to cheapen the grace of God. The rotten fruit of unbelief and disobedience to our King is greed, covetousness, worry, anxiety, fear, and poverty! Many, even in the body of Christ, are trapped in this cycle of lies and lack.
Grace for the Humble
But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. – James 4:6-7
Today, if your life is characterized by lack, greed, worry, or covetousness, there is good news available! The Father has prepared a way for you to access His abundant provision through obedience to Christ and faith in what He accomplished on the cross. Three times in the bible we are taught that God gives grace to the humble (Proverbs 3:34, James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5). Because of His finished work, when we come to Him with sincere, contrite hearts, eager to submit to His complete Lordship, and imitate His example as a humble servant (Philippians 2:5-11), we take our rightful place as bondservants and friends. As we put our trust in Him, and come boldly to His throne of grace, we obtain mercy for our sin of unbelief, and find grace to help in our time of need! (Hebrews 4:16) God is ready, willing and waiting to lavish His radical grace on His children who will humble themselves!
Today, let’s commit to put our faith in the Truth, and expose the lies of the enemy. Let’s humble ourselves before God, ask Him to forgive us for putting confidence in wealth, and obtain His mercy and grace for our time of need. As we do, we will find that there is abundant grace to:
• Believe by faith that He is faithful to provide all our needs, removing the fear that we won’t have enough, and the sinful desire to hoard and stash our money and possessions. (Phil. 4:19)
• Understand that giving is worship and begin giving great glory to God through radical generosity. (John 13:34)
• Wisely manage our finances, budget our income and prioritize our spending, being faithful to Paul’s command in 1 Cor. 16, that we set aside a generous sum of money for the church on the first day of the week in keeping with our income.
• Remove joyless, religious acts of compulsive, fearful giving from our life and be transformed into a cheerful, openhanded giver, full of great freedom, faith, peace and joy. (2 Cor. 9:7)
• Be filled with integrity in business and financial dealings - removing self-centeredness, covetousness and greed, and replacing it with the ability to consider the needs of others and desire that they prosper, make a profit and be blessed. (Proverbs 20:7; Philippians 2:4)
• Be diligent and disciplined in our vocations, empowering us to faithful, honest work as unto the Lord, richly blessing and benefiting our employees and employers. (Prov. 21:5)
• Understand His compassion and heart for the downcast, seeing through His eyes and giving generously to the poor. (Gal. 2:10)
• Be champion givers, radically generous like our Father. (1 Timothy 6:18-19)
• Understand His heart for Jerusalem, blessing Israel both prayerfully and financially. (Psalm 122:6)
• Be wise stewards, walking in supernatural wisdom in our investments, and faithfully multiplying what has been entrusted to us. (Luke 12:42)
• Shout “grace! grace!” to our mountain, whatever our circumstances, and watch the Lord show Himself strong on our behalf, His abundant mercy removing it from our midst, paving the way for the abundant life of destiny Christ died to give us! (Zechariah 4:6)
Suggested Resource: Aligned With The Economy of Heaven
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Matt Bomhoff and his wife Sonja are overseers at Convergence School of Supernatural Ministry in Fort Worth, Texas, a Holy Spirit driven ministry school where students of all ages learn how to seek and live in the presence of God and extend the borders of His kingdom through a lifestyle of love. The Bomhoffs have two daughters and live in Fort Worth.
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