March 4, Monday ~ Giving up the Spirit of Poverty

DAY 17: Giving up the Spirit of Poverty

Today, we are being asked to give up the spirit of poverty. I appreciate that Ressler took the time to distinguish between living in poverty and living with the spirit of poverty. There is fear embedded in living with the spirit of poverty. Will there be enough for me in my little corner of the world?  Should I tuck a little something away just in case God doesn’t come through in time or in the fashion that I want?

The parable of the servants and the bags of gold in Matthew 25 reminds us of what a spirit of poverty looks like. “…‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground.” (Matthew 25:24-25)

There is fear and darkness in the hiding of that bag of gold. Matthew 6 tells us that we need to keep our body in the light so that we can be as healthy as possible when we serve God. We can do that by living generously and, I want to add, in a spirit of hospitality. When we do that as a church, we can focus on effective ministry. Ressler reminds us that, “Effective ministry starts with being faithful to [God] and trusting in [God’s] supply.” (page 63)

Step into God’s generous spirit and claim God’s ample supply. Be gracious and don’t be afraid to extend hospitality to everyone. There is plenty.

At any point if you are feeling overwhelmed by this content or just want to have a further discussion about the topic, feel free to contact pastormattbridges@gmail.com or wendy@encompassthespirit.com