REASONS WHY SOME PEOPLE ARE POOR
Poverty is often means “afflicted, wretched, distressed, needy i.e. one ill-treated or suffering social poverished or reduced in means but not necessary without property”. The poor are those deprived of life’s basic necessities.
God is not a poor God and He
created us in His own image of holiness, righteousness and prosperity. It is
the will of God that we enjoy financial freedom / prosperity, good health and
spiritual prosperity. God cannot force anyone to be rich or poor but He has
placed abundance and laid before us to choose from (Haggai 2:8-9). What you do
everyday / what you fail to do shows the one you have chosen and exactly that
will come to you. Wealth is a choice and poverty is also a choice.
What is Wealth:-
Wycliffe Bible Dictionary defined wealth as possession of something in quality represents riches. To have abundance of something means one is wealthy or rich. In scripture, the idea of wealth or riches is used in various ways - of things material and things spiritual (1 Chr. 29:12, Phil. 4:19). Possession of great material wealth is not condemned in the bible. Some of great men of faith are men of means, e.g Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Barnabas, Joseph of Arimathea, Philemon, etc are all well to do people.Four (4) Dimensions of Wealth Possession:- (James 2:5) i.e four classes of people
(1) Those who are rich in
things of this earth and poor in Spiritual assets.
(2) Those who are poor in this
world but rich toward God.
(3) Those people who are poor
in both heavenly and earthly.
(4) Those people who are rich
in both earthly and heavenly blessing.
N.B: God’s
prime concern is not what a man has, but how he uses the wealth he possess.
20 facts about poverty around the world today:
The absence of financial freedom has many reasons, let’s see a few1. Ignorance (Hosea 4:6)
Knowledge is power; ignorance is weakness, poverty and shame. Ignorant people don't know their covenant right in God. Once you discover whom you are as God has designed you to be, you will reject poverty, sickness and hardship. Anyone that does what he/she is supposed to do will become wealthy, rich and prosperous. Ignorance of wealth creation principles and universal laws of abundance have kept many in penury.2. Living beyond One’s Means
Most people who are poor live
their lives trying to please people who don't like them. Some use money they
don't have to buy what they don't need in order to impress people they don't
like; they engage in spending on liability more than asset. Most Ministers and
Christians, their problems are self-inflicted. They spend more than they earn.
3. Laziness (II Thess. 3:10, Prov. 26:14, 12:27, 14:23, 6:6-7, 10:4)
It is the law of the Lord that
if any would not work, he should not eat. Laziness is a major cause of failure
in people’s lives. Laziness causes people to spend their time watching
television for several hours daily and discussing issues that don't take them
forward. Laziness is a major cause of poverty. Lazy people are known with
giving excuses as their trademark. Lazy people blame others for their failure,
they are greedy, have entitlement mentality, love being idle, love to sleep,
love alcohol, sex, drugs. They don't like to pay the prize of wealth. They
don't develop themselves. They complain of money, time and other factors.
4. Eating of Seed (Gen. 8:22)
Poor people hate to sow seed.
They have several untenable reasons for not sowing seed for their tomorrow or
the work of God.
5. Trying to get Rich Quick
It is more popularly said that
more haste less speed. Wealth building is a journey not a destination. Building
wealth is like building a house where you fix a block at a time. If you
suddenly acquire wealth, you will accidentally return to poverty level.
6. Spending Money on things that Depreciate
Poor people spend on dresses,
cars, furniture, big houses, etc flamboyant while rich people spend on
seminars, training, development, books, investment, etc.
7. Poor Time Management (Psalm 90:12)
The quality of your life is
determined by the effectiveness of your time management. Time lost cannot be
saved. It is perishable and can be spent in different ways. Time management is
a skill that can be learned with practice and discipline. Time management is
really personal management, management of your daily activities and life. Time
is the raw material of live; don't waste it. 24 hours daily is a free gift to
all and it determines whether you will be rich or poor in life.
8. Bad Company (I Cor. 15:33)
To a very great extent, your
company will influence what you become in life. Two things that determine what
you become in life are people you associate with and books you read.
9. Love for Freedom
Poor people don't want to be
under the control and authority of others. Uncontrolled freedom leads to total
failure in life. Some think they know it all. They don't value the roles of
mentors in their life. Many have paid a lot for this at latter part of their
life.
10. Impatience (I Sam. 15:22-25)
A servant of God, David said,
“I waited patiently for the Lord: and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry”.
The importance of patience in life cannot be over-emphasized. There is gap
between sowing/reaping times. If you jump up, you remain up. Decide today to
grow wealth by being patient. If you appear before your time, you will
disappear soon. Your level of preparation determines your manifestation. Saul
failed to wait enough for Samuel’s arrival.
11. Prayerlessness (Matt. 7:7-12, Deut. 8:1
God gives everyone power to
make wealth. If you want to make wealth, ask in prayer. When you fail to pray
for your prosperity, you become a victim of poverty. Prayer can move mountain.
Little is much when God is in it. Prayer is a spiritual phenomenon to move
God’s hand. Believers cant do much in life if he is too lazy in divine
communication with God. John 3:27, James 4:1-2.
12. Procrastination
Procrastination is a thief of
time and one of the greatest obstacles to prosperity. Execution is everything.
Every procrastination works negatively on your life and finances. Where you are
today is because of how you used your time in the past. What you need to do
today, don't keep it for tomorrow.
13. Curses (Gen. 49:1-5, 3:13)
The spiritual world controls
the physical world. Some people are poor because of seed of curses placed on
them either as a result of their personal or generational offenses committed.
Find out the cause of poverty in your life and destroy it. Potential without
proper application lies wasted.
14. Lack of Clear Vision (Hosea 4:6, Hab. 2:1-4, Prov. 29:1
Some people die poor as a
result of lack of a specific vision of their life. Men without goal are like
goats. It’s a sharp vision that will give life a sense of purpose/plan. Vision
always gives birth to provision, and without this no provision and life can end
in abject poverty. Missionary are real and always go ahead of merely visionary.
Turn your vision to mission is antidote for poverty.
15. Contentment with Average and Inability to take Risk
Average is the worst of the
best and best of the worst. Where better is possible, good is not enough. Many
who suppose to be hero of our generation died in obscurity due to complacency
and fear of taking the risk. But unknown to them that the greatest risk in life
is not to take any risk at all.
16. Unseriousness and Carefree Attitude
Some failed and died poor as a
result of lack of passion in what they do as profession. No one succeed in life
without being passionate in his or her work. When you stop passion, you stop
earning. If you hope to succeed, you must be passionate about your purpose in
life. The degree of your passion about your purpose in life determines the
degree at which you will be accepted.
17. Disobedience to God (Isaiah 1:19, Deut. 28:1-5)
Some are poor in life as a
result of their hardened heart and willful disobedience to God. Even when they
discover the mind of God on their journey, they failed to cooperate with God
and His word.
18. Negative Confession and Mindset
Our heart is the engine room of
the Holy Spirit to dwell and affects us positively. Due to bad foundation, some
have lost to negative confession and poor mindset. Richness starts from the
heart. If your mindset is poor, your life shall also be poor for as a man think
in his heart, so shall it be.
19. Pride, Conceit and Arrogance (James 5:6)
Pride is the downfall of some
people. Arrogant people count themselves good and know better than anyone. If
at all they have charisma and potential to be rich, they couldn’t because of
their character. God didn’t look on them for anything great but He resists them.
20. Giving Up Too Soon and Quick
Some are poor because they lack
persistence, endurance and continuity in their dealings. They concentrate on
failure than success. Don't treat your failure as a foe but as a friend.
Failure can become your best teacher and trainer; it all depends on your reaction
and action towards it.
Make First Attempt In Learning
Under Real Experience. Don't give up too soon; don't take up failure too
personal. Everybody fails e.g. Abraham Lincoln failed 14 times in business,
politics and family before he became the best American President ever. Albert
Einstein failed Mathematics in school. The inventor of light failed 50,000
times before he succeeded. The result of football at half time is not final
score. Failure doesn’t mean you will not succeed, it only means you
have to work smarter.
Conclusion
God whom we claim we are
serving established in His word that He is not and can’t be a poor God. The
mindset of God must be injected to our mindset and work seriously in
elimination of above named factors that are epistemology and foundation of
abject poverty in life of man. Deal with it because poverty is serious sickness; reject it because it is not in personal project of God for you. At
end if balance proportion is in place, poverty shall turn to prosperity and we
shall be heavenly conscious and still be earthly relevant. Refuse to live/die like poor Lazarus but have the good mindset like prosperous,
wealthy and Holy Father Abraham.
See you at the top.
See you at the top.
Author Pastor C. A. Olanrewaju
HYPOCRISY IN THE LIFE OF CHRISTIANS
SHUN HYPOCRISY
Lesson: Matt. 6:2-8, 16-18, Mark 7:6The Christian life demand truthfulness and transparency. God is
straightforward in His dealings with us without being crafty and cunning.
It is devil and his cohorts that have the nature and exhibits deception and craftiness. God did not call us to an inconsistent Christian life but to live that is patterned after Christ. It is a life of sincerity in all spheres of life; business, academics, ministry, marriage, office, street, government, market place, sport, etc.
It is sheer hypocrisy to practice Christianity only on Sundays when we go for worship services or when we see other Christians around us. The hypocrites are deceivers who call on God in vain, their hearts are far away from God; they indulge in showoff promoting their personality than the image of God. They want to show people that they are holier and closer to God than anybody. This type of lifestyle cannot be steadfast or stable in faith; it is an environmental Christianity that is influenced by the prevailing circumstances. In other words, let us learn how to shun hypocrisy in prayer, almsgiving, fasting and other works of faith. Don't try to impress people in any of these areas but live to please God.
It is God that will reward you and not man. “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ, but he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality (Ref. Col. 3:23-25). It is also written in the book of Matthew 23:28-29 that “Even so, you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness; woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you build the tomb of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous”.
Brethren, shun hypocrisy and be sincere to God and men.
Author; Sister Jumoke Okunsolubo
Quarterly Bulletin
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