11/23/14 - MASTERING YOUR MONEY - PART 1

MASTERING YOUR MONEY

Does God Want us Poor?

Def.

The state of being without material possessions or wealth. Scripture indicates that poverty is contrary to God’s intention for his people, and that those who are poor and destitute are to be treated with special consideration and compassion.

 

I.                   WHAT IS POVERTY

1.      Govt. Def. USA

 

2.      World Bank

Although the World Bank established the most widely held and understood definition of poverty in strictly economic terms, the World Bank has also described poverty as follows:

Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time. Poverty is losing a child to illness brought about by unclean water. Poverty is powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom.

Courtesy of Compassion International: http://blog.compassion.com/how-do-the-poor-describe-poverty/#ixzz3JSQEC0Z6

 

3.      Poor Describe Themselves

A survey conducted in Niger in 2002 by the Office of the Prime Minister asked the poor of that country to describe poverty. Their answers provided the following:

·         Dependence was mentioned by 40 percent of the respondents, with some noting that a poor person always had to “seek out others” or to “work for somebody else.”

·         Marginalization was noted by 37 percent, who defined a poor person as one who was “alone,” had “no support,” did “not feel involved in anything,” or was “never consulted.”

·         Scarcity was included in the poverty definitions of 36 percent, who used statements such as having “nothing to eat,” a “lack of means to meet clothing and financial needs,” a “lack of food, livestock and money,” and “having nothing to sell.”

·         Restrictions on rights and freedoms were associated with poverty by 26 percent of the respondents, who stated that “a poor person is someone who does not have the right to speak out” or “someone who will never win a case or litigation against someone else.”

·         Incapacity was mentioned in connection with poverty by 21 percent, including the incapacity to make decision, to feed or clothe oneself, or to act on one’s own initiative.

Only 36 percent of the poor in this survey described poverty in terms of material lack [scarcity]. Here, the poor described the experience of poverty primarily in terms of suffering relationships and lack of belonging, dignity and freedom. Similar descriptions were found in a major World Bank study published in 2000, Voices of the poor: Can anyone hear us?

 

 

4.      Bible Definition

 

There are 178 uses of the word poor in Scripture. Although there are a few exceptions, the term poor in Scripture means economic/material poverty. Review the following verses and notice the characteristics: insufficient food, cannot afford, cannot support himself, debt and shabby clothes.

·         “Then the poor among you may get food” (Exodus 23:11)

·         “If . . . he is poor and cannot afford these” (Leviticus 14:21)

·         “If one . . . becomes poor and is unable to support himself” (Leviticus 25:35)

·         “Pay him his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it” (Deuteronomy 24:15)

·         “[T]he poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb” (2 Samuel 12:3)

·         “[T]he infant of the poor is seized for a debt” (Job 24:9)

·         “Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare” (Proverbs 20:13)

·         “[G]o, sell your possessions and give to the poor” (Matthew 19:21)

·         “For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem” (Romans 15:26)

·         “Suppose . . . a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in” (James 2:2)

Courtesy of Compassion International: http://blog.compassion.com/the-meaning-of-poor-as-used-in-the-bible/#ixzz3JSPII7A0

 

 

II.                CAUSES OF POVERTY

 

1.      Human Sin (Not that all who are poor are sinning-It’s the origin)

 

Gen 3:17-19

¹⁷ Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. ¹⁸ Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. ¹⁹ In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”

 

Compare with

 

Gen 2:8-17

⁸ And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. ⁹ And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. ¹⁰ And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. ¹¹ The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; ¹² And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. ¹³ And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. ¹⁴ And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. ¹⁵ And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: ¹⁷ But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

 

2.     God’s Judgment Brings Poverty

 

Deut 28:47-48

⁴⁷ “Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, ⁴⁸ therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you.

 

Amos 4:6

⁶ “Also I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities. And lack of bread in all your places; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the Lord.

 

 

3.      Idleness brings poverty

Pr 6:10-11

⁶ Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, ⁷ Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler, ⁸ Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest. ⁹           How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? ¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep—¹¹ So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, And your need like an armed man.

 

Pr 10:4

⁴ He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.

 

Pr. 14:23

²³ In all labor there is profit, But idle chatter leads only to poverty.

 

4.     Unrestrained Behavior leads to Poverty

 

 

Prov 6:26

²⁶ For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: And the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.

 

Prov 21:17

¹⁷ He who loves pleasure will be a poor man; He who loves wine and oil will not be rich.

 

Prov 23:21

²¹ For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: And drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

 

Prov 28:19

¹⁹ He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread: But he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough.

 

5.      Lack of discipline brings poverty

Pr 13:18

¹⁸ Poverty and shame will come to him who disdains correction, But he who regards a rebuke will be honored.

 

Pr. 21:5

⁵ The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, But those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.

 

6.     Debt Brings Poverty

Mt 18:23-25

²³ Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴ And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. ²⁵ But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made,

 

Prov 22:26-27

²⁶ Do not be one of those who shakes hands in a pledge, One of those who is surety for debts; ²⁷ If you have nothing with which to pay, Why should he take away your bed from under you?

 

7.      Oppression brings poverty

Judges 6:1-6

Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years, ² and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains. ³ So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. ⁴ Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey. ⁵ For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it. ⁶ So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord.

 

James 5:4

⁴ Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.

 

III.               GOD’S COMMANDED RESPONSE TO POVERTY

 

1.      Punishment for Oppression

Ezek 22:29-31

²⁹ The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully oppress the stranger. ³⁰ So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. ³¹ Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God.

 

2.      Punishment for Refusing to Help

Prov 21:13

¹³    Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor Will also cry himself and not be heard.

 

3.      Jesus came for Poor

Luke 4:18

¹⁸    “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed

 

4.      Give Liberally

Deut 15:7-10

⁷ “If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother, ⁸ but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs. ⁹ Beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,’ and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing, and he cry out to the Lord against you, and it become sin among you. ¹⁰ You shall surely give to him, and your heart should not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your works and in all to which you put your hand.

 

5.      Relieve Them

Lev 23:22

²² ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God.’ 

 

     

IV.               THE KINGDOM AND ETERNITY

 

Isaiah 35:1-10

The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; ² It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, Even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, The excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, The excellency of our God. ³  Strengthen the weak hands, And make firm the feeble knees. ⁴ Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God; He will come and save you.”

⁵ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. ⁶ Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, And streams in the desert. ⁷ The parched ground shall become a pool, And the thirsty land springs of water; In the habitation of jackals, where each lay, There shall be grass with reeds and rushes. ⁸ A highway shall be there, and a road, And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, But it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, Shall not go astray. ⁹ No lion shall be there, Nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it; It shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there, ¹⁰ And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, And come to Zion with singing, With everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

 

REV 21:1-17

THE WHOLE CHAPTER OF REVELATION 21 NEEDS TO BE AVAILABLE ON SCREEN ONE VERSE AT A TIME AS I PROMPT IT