The Poverty Mentality

First of all I want to apologize. I haven't been quite as good with these as I should have been. Sometimes I get home late after work, and I do my devo but have no more energy left to post something. But that isn't fair.

Secondly, God is good. I'm not chanting that in a churchy, holier than thou art way. I mean it. God is so good. He has blessed me with so much in life, and over the past few days, he's just been showing me how much he has given me, how much I am blessed with, and also how much he cares for everyone on this earth. God is always there, and He will always be there for you, He is reaching out to you, but often He is just waiting for you to reach back out to him.

Lately, Trevor's church has been speaking on the topic of Living as Royalty. That concept could take years to expand on. It's already taking a pastor weeks. And I'm not a pastor. But every week there is the same words that are repeated over and over. And those are the words that we often live with a "poverty" mentality, and not with a mentality for big kingdom living, and not one where we are already blessed and already have what we need. We focus so much on the so called "lack" in our lives that it leaves us unsatisfied and actually unable to claim the things that could be ours. I'm not saying you can speak over the lottery, "In the name of God, I speak over you that you shall be mine!" This goes way deeper than that. This blows that selfish concept away.

But after I began to hear it week after week, this assertion that a "poverty" mentality hinders our relationships with others, and with God, I began to actually notice it for the first time. I began to see it in my own life, and I began to see it in the lives of people I love. Perhaps it was almost easier to see with them, because of the very things they talked about and the lack of hope they exhibited. Perhaps it would be even stronger if I could videotape myself for a day, and see how I really talk and act. But, the thing is, I have realized that I don't have to live in a state of lack, in a state of "poverty," because I am blessed with so much more than that. It's up to me to take up that mantle of "royalty" and live like a child of God. And, to once again clarify, this doesn't mean that life will be peachy, that nothing will ever go wrong, that you will never be uncomfortable, that you will suddenly possess wealth beyond all imagining. This is an attitude adjustment, and one that I so often need. How often do I fall into the trap of the "poverty mentality?" Way too often.

I'm not sure where all of that came from. I came here tonight to discuss the verse from Jeremiah. I guess I can do that as well. =)

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,'"
--Jeremiah 29:11-14a


I think that is such a powerful verse. It is a verse full of hope, one that sustains us in times of good grace and in times of hardship. Have you ever felt like God was specifically trying to harm you, that He somehow had it in for you? I know I have. But this verse paints a very different picture. God knows the plans for our lives, and His plans are to prosper and NOT to harm us. God is just as concerned with the sparrow as He is with us, He loves us all, and we are all beautiful to Him. His plans would never be to harm us, to bring us down. He has the greatest desire to see us strive and succeed. We are loved. We will succeed. We will prosper. And that is living with a royalty mentality, and not a poverty mentality which tells us we must always struggle in life. We already have the ability to succeed. We are already loved.

And I guess this ties in after all. God says when we call, He listens. When we seek with our whole heart, He will be found by us. This isn't a God who gets "too busy" to deal with us. This isn't a God who falls asleep and forgets to make Himself available. This is a God who will give Himself to us wholly, lovingly. All we have to do is seek Him out as He reaches to us and take His hand as we look for Him with our whole heart.

Tonight, I am thinking of living with a royalty mentality, and not a poverty mentality. And I am thinking of the blessings in my life, the beautiful things and people in my life, the fresh air, the house I live in, my dear friends and family. I am thinking of seeking the Lord, and meditating on what exactly that means. I am seeking Him.

And in seeking Him, I will suddenly find that He too has been seeking me all along.

God is good.