The Spiritual Laws of God-Poverty Part 2

January 20, 2023

The Spiritual Laws of God-Poverty Part 2

What does the Bible say about poverty?

Over and over again the Lord makes it known to us that He expects us to help the poor, the widow, the fatherless, and the ones that suffer lack, Psalm 68:5. Almost every verse of Scripture regarding poverty has a blessing or curse attached to it. He gave us His Word so that we would have a clear understanding of His rules and regulations on how we are to live our lives as believers of Jesus Christ.

There are so many ways that every single one of us has the ability to help our brothers and sisters in times of need. It doesn’t have to be financial assistance but you can help with providing a meal, clothes that you no longer use, a ride if you can, prayer, and even a word of encouragement. The main thing that you want to make sure is that you are helping out of the goodness of your heart.

The fact of the matter is that we have all experienced difficult times at one point in our lives but by the grace of God you made it through. There was someone along the way that assisted you through those challenging moments. The Lord expects us to treat others as ourselves, Mark 12:31. If you have something that you can afford to give to another person in need, do it.

If you are on the flip end of the spectrum and you are the one that is living in poverty, you can get yourself out of that hole. If you follow God’s spiritual rules and principles surrounding poverty, He promises you blessing after blessing. If you don’t have money, do whatever you can to help those that are less fortunate than you.

The Lord knows your situation and will bless you where you are because He looks at the posture of your heart.

Some of the ways you can be a blessing to others that doesn’t require money are:

Praying for those that need prayer
Praying with others when they need you to
Giving an encouraging word when someone is going through a trying time
Be a listening ear when someone needs you to listen
Share a meal
Give a ride when you can

Eventually you will see the Lord bring you increase in areas of your life and when He does, you want to share what you can with others that don’t have anything. When He can trust you with the little bit that He provides you with, He will continue to trust you with more. It is also important that you allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you on who you need to give a helping hand to.

He will put a nudge in your spirit when the opportunity presents itself. It is then up to you whether or not you listen to the Spirit of the Lord. The will of God is that every one of His children live a life in abundance, John 10:10. Unfortunately because of several different circumstances that is not always the case.

One of the things that I had to learn the hard way is that the Lord will never and I mean never go against His Word. He takes it very seriously to the point where He places His Word above His own Name, Psalm 138:2. That is why it is imperative that we get into our Bibles and read, understand, and study it.

A lot of people that are living in poverty are because they are disobeying God’s spiritual laws that surround poverty in one way or another and don’t realize it. The Lord’s Word depicts it plainly in Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”

If you are living your everyday life in lack, oppression, and in constant struggle, this can be a clear indication of the spiritual laws of God being violated. Keep in mind that poverty is another one of the enemy’s tactics that he uses against believers of Jesus Christ. How? If you are always focused on not having enough money to pay your bills, pay for rent, pay for food, etc. you will not have any time to focus on the Lord.

That is exactly what the devil wants, to keep you distracted! It is our responsibility to know what the Lord’s spiritual principles and decrees are because they govern both the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. Believe it or not, they are put into place for our protection.

I am going to go over two of God’s spiritual laws in regards to poverty.

Proverbs 19:17

“He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, And He will pay back what he has given.”

This verse of Scripture written by King Solomon led by the Holy Spirit is very informative. He is letting us know that when we give or lend to the poor it’s as if we are lending to God. God loves every single one of us tremendously and He particularly looks after those that cannot help themselves. This includes the poor, the widow, and the fatherless. As Christians we are the Lord’s vessels here on earth to spread His amazing love.

When we lend a helping hand to the ones that need it, we are showing them the love of Christ. A lot of people that are facing difficult times don’t know the love of God and may even blame Him for their adversity. So when you approach them with kindness and compassion, it is the perfect way to introduce the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

What an amazing feeling to know that you are doing something that the Lord views as you doing it directly for Him. That is how much he cares about the less fortunate. His promise to you is that He will pay you back what was given out. If you don’t believe this guarantee, try it and watch how the Lord will give you a double blessing for being obedient to His Word.

Proverbs 22:16

“He who oppresses the poor to increase his riches, And he who gives to the rich, will surely come to poverty.”

The book of Proverbs is such a powerful book jam-packed with wisdom. King Solomon who was the writer of Proverbs asked the Lord to give him insight and understanding to lead God’s people when he could have asked God for anything, 1 Kings 3:9. You can see all of the wisdom that the Lord imparted in him throughout all of his writings in the book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs.

In this particular passage of Scripture we can see that the Lord through Solomon is giving us advice when it comes to poverty. There is no doubt about it; God is making it definitively clear that those that oppress the poor or “act towards or treat unjustly” for their own personal gain will surely come to poverty.

This is not saying that you are not to want to build your business or have savings in your bank account to support your family. What it is referring to is if you have way more than enough to supply all of your needs and you choose to keep it all for yourself, your outcome shall surely be poverty. Especially if the Lord has placed it in your heart to help someone that He has put in your path.

What a remarkable testimony would it be if you were obedient to the Lord’s voice when helping someone out that really needed it, and you find out that the exact amount that you gave them was what they had been praying for? You could be the only one that they will ever come across that can show that God is real and is still in the business of blessing His children and answering prayer!

The last part of this verse of Scripture states, “…And he who gives to the rich, will surely come to poverty.” What this part of the passage means is that if you are making it your priority to spend your money so that you can help other people that already have money get richer, you are a prime candidate for poverty. An example of this is spending thousands of dollars just to have a name brand item.

This goes back to wanting to store up riches here on earth with material things that will not be able to go with you when you die. Why not make it your mission to store up riches in heaven that will last for eternity by doing things like: helping the poor, spreading the gospel, winning souls for Jesus Christ, sharing your testimony, etc.

There are several Bible Scriptures pertaining to poverty that you can meditate on that I will list below:

Proverbs 6:10-11 “A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep—So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, And your need like an armed man.”
Joshua 1:8 “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
Proverbs 24:33-34 “A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest; So shall your poverty come like a prowler, And your need like an armed man.”
Proverbs 10:4 “He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.”
Proverbs 13:8 “The ransom of a man’s life is his riches, But the poor does not hear rebuke.”
Proverbs 21:13 “Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard.”
Proverbs 22:7 “The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower is servant to the lender.”