In a 2016 Time Magazine article, we read about how lottery winners fared after winning those millions. What about people who receive a sizable inheritance? I’ve read horror stories of families fighting over inheritances, many often contesting wills. Add theft into that and what do you have? It’s all about money and people wanting more of it. So, what would you do if you were given a million dollars?
Papa has been teaching me over the last few years about stewardship with money. Honestly, most of my life, I’ve not been good with it. Because of that, I was in debt up to my eyeballs. And, like many people, I was living paycheck to paycheck. Even after several times around the mulberry bush, I still didn’t get it. Unfortunately, I had to learn the hard way.
Let’s go back to the lottery winners for a moment. I’ve heard that over time, many of them struggle and end up broke within a few years. The Time Magazine article expounds upon that so I’ll let you read it. I’ll make a couple of observations here. First off, people who are not used to having a lot of money have no clue what to do once they get it. Secondly, because people think things (cars, houses, grown-up toys, etc.) are a big deal, their focus is on the “now,” not on the future. And thirdly, everyone around those people reveals their greed, which often surprises the lottery winners. People’s true colors tend to be displayed when it involves lots of money.
I was listening to a teaching by Marios Ellinas from the Access conference in New Zealand with Ian Clayton, Karl Whitehead and Marios as the conference speakers. The teaching itself is part of the conference set and is titled “Access.” What struck me about this teaching is how honor is so important in dealing with finances. I hadn’t thought of it in that way before. Yet, I think back to how I have dealt with finances. Sometimes, I walked in honor but other times, it was fear that ruled.
In this teaching, I received revelation that might answer one of the reasons our financial system functions the way it does as well as why we each struggle with finances. The most important aspect of this is to look at the spiritual laws set in place. It doesn’t matter if you’re a believer or not. Once you tap into these spiritual laws, you reap the benefits of them. To learn more about them, get Ian’s teaching titled “Being in the Spirit.”
Two of those twelve laws include the “Law of Sowing and Reaping” along with “the Law of Abundance.” (The rest are listed in Ian’s teaching.) Each law carries a precedent that’s been set into the foundation of the universe. For example, let’s look at the Law of Sowing and Reaping. In our world, we often call that “karma.” What is karma? It’s when you do something, you get a return on that investment (good or bad). More often than not, karma has a negative connotation. Not long ago, there was a video shared on Facebook of some driver doing illegal and stupid things on a busy highway. Within a few seconds, he loses control of the vehicle and wrecks his truck. And, it was all caught on tape by a driver watching the whole situation unfold. The video was labeled “instant karma.”
News flash #1: The twelve laws operate whether we believe them or not. That includes when we don’t know about them. But, people who understand them can learn how they operate and then tap into the benefits of those laws. The twelve spiritual laws are like the law of gravity where it doesn’t matter what you do, you’re bound by that law.
Do you remember the parable of the talents? (Matt. 25:14-30) Marios discusses that story in the “Access” teaching. He also quotes the scripture from Luke 12:48 where it says “to whom much is given, much is required.” As he was talking, I got a mini-download or and understanding of how this is functioning in our society. (Drum roll please…)
I hear so much in the news about how the United States sets up laws that allow the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer. There seems to be a lot of blame shifting in the political arena of how and why this happens. Let me propose to you an alternate reason… at least one of the twelve laws reasons. It has to do with wrong mindsets. When you look at the the story in Matthew 25 where the master goes away and leaves his servants with money to invest it, we see what each of those servants does. Upon return, the master gives the servants the same measure of what they received from those investments. In a nutshell, the master asked them to do business for him while he was away. As a boss, wouldn’t you reward the person who brought you the most money with more responsibility? Uh… heck yeah! I don’t know of anyone who would do that for the person who didn’t invest anything.
Our society has bowed down to a spirit of poverty. I’m killing a sacred cow here but I believe in order to get past it, we need to see it for what it is. Look at the number of people on various forms of assistance – assistance that requires nothing from the recipient in return for money and/or food. Until we get over that mindset of allowing others to do for us, it will be very difficult to step into the gravitational pull of the truths in the twelve spiritual laws. The more we go around saying “I can’t do that because I don’t have the money,” the more we stay in that mindset. I’ve actually done this next thing myself, not even realizing it… “I would love to go to dinner with you but I only have $10 in my bank account.” My conscious mind was thinking “I just want them to know I can’t go to dinner” but my unconscious mind was actually saying “Maybe they’ll buy me dinner if I tell them how much I have.” This seems to be an innocently honest situation but after I went back and looked at a couple of these instances, I had to repent. Why? Because I was functioning out of a poverty mindset.
For years, I came up short financially. I did OK but because I hadn’t learned how to manage finances, live within my means, and generally use good common sense concerning money, there was never an over abundance. There would be times I’d want to do something special, like attend a conference or go on a retreat when I couldn’t go because of my finances. I admit, I allowed the “poor me” familiar spirit to whisper in my ear. And, I listened.
A poverty mindset often functions out of one or more of the following: 1) That’s too expensive! No one should ever have to pay that much! 2) Look for the cheapest version of anything they want to buy. 3) Christians should give to other Christians freely. After all, Jesus gave everything away so why shouldn’t we give our services away? 4) When faced with receiving governmental assistance, often stay in that place rather than believe there could be a way out. 5) A belief that if they could just have more finances, everything would be OK. 6) Deep inside, hope that others will care for them. And, the list could go on. This is only a start.
Now, let’s look at the story of the talents a bit more. If you’ll notice, when the master returned, he called his servants asking for a report. Those who knew what to do with the resources, were given more resources because they had something to show for their diligence. The one who didn’t was functioning out of a poverty mindset. Basically, the master rewarded and gave more responsibility to those who brought resources. These servants were functioning out of the twelve spiritual laws. They tapped into a law (maybe without even knowing it) where they understood the protocol of multiplication. It was “I’ll take what I have and make more with it.”
Look at the rich people in the world. Why do they have money? More than likely, many figured out how to tap into spiritual laws set into place from the very beginning. There are those who have a lot of money but are some of the unhappiest people on the earth. Money has done nothing for them probably because their intent was greed, which isn’t a kingdom mindset. The intent of the heart can produce interesting results.
Now, think of how many people you know are near the opposite end of the spectrum, where finances don’t seem to be abundant. If you give these people money, they haven’t had the practice of managing a lot of finances and eventually lose it, as noted in the article I mention above from Time Magazine.
News flash #2: Until we learn how to manage what we have, it’s going to be difficult to know what to do with more. The reason there’s such a big gap between the lower and middle classes all has to do with mindsets – mindsets about provision. Making laws to help close that gap hasn’t helped people either. The reason? You give people something they don’t understand how to handle and chances are, they’re going to mess it up because they haven’t learned responsibility. We must have a shift in thinking and then practice new mindsets. This involves not listening to familiar spirits that entice us to think the old way.
I’m on this journey in learning how to be responsible with what I currently have so that it opens a door for more… more of Him… more of everything. In this article, I speak out of experience, both the stupid and the smart. Honestly, I had no idea I’d been functioning out of a poverty mindset until about 2013. It was revealed to me during my times with Papa. Even while writing this blog post, I found another area that needed attention. Before going any further, I took a break and repented.
It’s taken me nine years to gain freedom of some “stinkin’ thinkin'” about finances. Meanwhile, I’ve had to walk some pretty rough things out. For quite some time, I had very little. I made a choice to get out of debt and put my resources towards that. That also meant that I got rid of all my credit cards and decided if I didn’t have cash, it could wait. I’ve also had to learn to live within my means. Meanwhile, I started spending more time with Papa and gained some strategy on smart ways to increase finances. This was my test to see if I could be given more responsibility. Out of that, Healing Frequencies Music was birthed. I’m learning how to manage that business while continuing to grow in what Father is teaching me.
I have to mention that being a giver is an important factor in understanding the Law of Abundance and the Law of Sowing and Reaping. And, it’s probably one of the only reasons I didn’t completely crash financially, even when I was doing some stupid stuff. When I didn’t have finances, I gave time. I sowed into other’s lives as I believed the Holy Spirit led. I love that Marios talks about honor as part of the equation, too. You’ll need to get the teaching set and listen to what he has to say. It’s very powerful!
I truly believe that if we want to close the gap between the rich and poor, we need to help the poor understand The Law of Abundance and The Law of Sowing and Reaping. We need to get out of our old mindsets and put on the mind of Christ. Until we learn how to use what we have wisely, there’s no way we can be trusted with more. We’ll simply squander it like most of those lottery winners end up doing.
My personal example? Like I said, I’ve done some really stupid stuff financially. After making the decision to change my thinking about provision in general, setting my eyes on the things of the kingdom realms, things finally began to change. I had to do a bunch in the natural to line up with what I was hearing in the spirit…. no more credit cards (unless I could pay them off each month), learn to live within my means, and get rid of the poverty mentality! Within nine years, almost all my debt (yeah… something about student loans) was paid off. And, I didn’t immediately think “Yippee! I get to go out and buy some things I’ve wanted on more credit.” I started setting money aside, in a savings account and adding to it each month. I put myself on a budget where I have separate checking accounts for various purposes. I have one account that’s for groceries, gas, clothes, little surprises for myself, and other daily expenses. When it’s gone… it’s gone. It’s rare that I borrow from another account to supplement these expenses.
What I find amazing is how I have more money available for use now than I’ve had in several years. And, I make about half the income (because of a job change) than I did before. Try to wrap your head around that one! Here’s a little story from the spring of 2016… I was so excited when I walked out of my accountant’s office completely overjoyed that I could pay her that same day for my 2016 taxes. It’s the first time EVER (since she became my accountant in 1994) that I’ve been able to do this. She thought I was a little too overjoyed but she didn’t understand how much this meant to me. It was freedom in the fact that I could pay a bill all at once and didn’t have to be on a payment plan. It was truly liberating.
The next piece of this equation has to do with giving and honoring those you’re in relationship with. Do you remember what I said above about giving of my time? For me, this is about honor. For several years, I was part of a prophetic training school in Canada. At the end of each year, they have a conference, which I attended. When they asked for volunteers, I jumped in. Yes, we were given free entrance to the event but for me, it was more than that. At one conference, they had a guest speaker who had lots of books to sell. I agreed to take care of all his sales while dealing with my own, since I also had a vendor table. Now, I was only required to work a certain amount of hours to cover my entrance fee. However, I know what it’s like to rotate people in and out of a bookstore at a conference. There has to be some consistency which is probably why the year before, I agreed to be at the registration table through the entire conference. I like things running smoothly and if I can honor those putting on a conference with my time, I’m happy to do it. (Murray Dueck, you are the bomb!)
Long story short… there are many times in my life where I really didn’t have the finances to give to a ministry or minister. But, if I knew that I could do something to help them, I offered my services. I would venture to say that giving of your time is part of the Law of Sowing and Reaping. Although I wasn’t operating out of it in one area (because of a poverty mentality), I was in another area. I wanted to give so I gave myself. That in turn has opened doors for me to gain more freedom in the overall area of finances.
Please understand that I’m not pointing anyone out. I’ve been there so the finger points back at me. If you’re living off provision where you depend on other sources (in this world) to meet your needs, you’ll want to get off that merry-go-round in order to see increase. Finances may not be available to give but you can give of yourself. What is it you do that could be of help to someone else? Maybe it’s taking the neighbor kids for an hour or two to play with your own kids while the parents go out to eat. There are always lots of highways that need cleaning up. I’ll venture to say this and sorry if I hit another sacred cow but here it is… If you have time to sit in front of the TV or play games for hours every day, you have time to give of yourself. If there’s a lack of confidence to do anything, consider getting some healing so you can walk in who you’re meant to be.
CONCLUSION:
As I stated before, if people step out of the poverty mentality and align themselves with The Law of Abundance and The Law of Sowing and Reaping, I believe the large gap between financial classes (rich vs the poor) would diminish greatly. It’s all a mindset. The problem? It takes time and most people aren’t willing to walk through the process and give up too easily. Why? Because it requires giving up stuff, including tangible items as well as thoughts and habit patterns we get stuck in. I encourage you not to be one of those people. If this is your tendency, spend time on the Father’s lap in the garden of your heart. It’s from this intimate place where we learn who we are in Christ. If you don’t have a good earthly example of a father, allow healing from those memories to wash through you. If you need some assistance with cleaning stuff up, contact Moed Ministries.
Blessings to all! I speak freedom from old mindsets concerning finances over everyone who reads this. As paradigms begin to shift, I speak a release of provision!
Del
© 2017 by Del Hungerford