Kingdom Economics I  

Greetings!

Are you the kind of person that likes to watch the finance programs on TV -- like the weekend block of shows that appears on Saturdays on Fox News?  You know -- like Bulls & Bears, Cavuto on Business, Forbes on Fox, etc.?

Guess I've always been interested in economics.  I'm NOT an economist, but like many of my family -- aunts, uncles, cousins -- I was in banking, both consumer and international investment for several years.  Unlike other members of my family, I chose not to make the world of finance and economics my career, and it simply was not the realm God called me to.  Yet, I thank the Lord for the years I did spend in banking and the things I learned in the process.

Oddly enough, my father was the island banker for many years at Saint Paul Island, Alaska, although it was an unofficial job he took as a means of helping and ministering to families.  My cousin, Lowell Argue, was the President of First Chicago for several years -- among his many banking positions.  My cousin, (and Lowell's sister) Joan Gering, was with Wisconsin First National for much of her financial career.  (Correct me if I'm wrong on the bank, Joan.)  Another cousin, Annette Darlington, was with Rainier National Bank in Washington for most, if not all, of her financial and business career, and both of her daughters are in banking.

And on and on it goes.  There are many more family members who've been in the financial arena as bankers, stock brokers, investment consultants -- you name it.  It just seems to have been a significant part of our family heritage.  Anyway, I've always had an interest in the world's economy, and particularly our nation's economy; and I've been a stock-watcher of sorts and watched the trends in various industries and financial sectors.

I've said all that to say this: the world has an economic system.  That system has some very basic underlying rules and functions.  Violate those rules and you can suffer various rather unpleasant consequences.  Take advantage of those rules and functions with understanding and wisdom, and you can create a sizeable estate for yourself and your family.  Learn to invest wisely, and you can become a blessing to your family and many, many people along the way.

What's unfortunate is that our society tends to program folks with a poverty mentality -- the "Beast" mentality -- that keeps people in debt, keeps them subservient to the system, trains them to become "dependents" instead of "providers."  We have a credit-based society that has put millions of people in bondage to credit-card debt, struggling with interest rates (that amount to extortion) to make ends meet while they try to meet certain societal "norms" in "keeping up with the Jones."  People are enticed to live beyond their means, and debt is painted as "easy monthly payments."

I refer to this as "the Beast mentality" because it comes out of an understanding of what it means to "take the Mark of the Beast."  Today and Friday, I want to lay a foundation for you in helping you understand some basic spiritual concepts in economics.  By the help and grace of the Lord, I will try to show you the difference between what the world sees and operates in and what God intends for His people.  I'd like to show you why Christians have been programmed with the same mentality -- by the Enemy, of course -- so as to keep them from prospering as God intends, and in the process keep the Gospel from accomplishing what it is supposed to do: namely, evangelize and transform the world!

OOOPPPSSSS!  Just realized I hadn't poured my morning coffee yet.  The French Press has been steeping, and if it sits too long in that glass carafe, it cools off.  The French Press I have here at the office is glass, whereas the one we have at the house is one of those Nissan insulated stainless steel pots.  I get used to the fact that I can go back to the French Press at home nearly an hour after it has steeped and the coffee is still piping hot.  Hang on for a second while I pour my cup.  Better get yours, too.

The world has an economic system and a way of operating that Jesus refers to as "Mammon."  God has an economic system which preceded the world's, and when we operate within that system we have blessing, abundance, and true prosperity available to us, no matter where we begin.  It matters not whether we begin to utilize God's Kingdom principles at the very bottom of the so-called "economic ladder" or whether we begin employing those principles with some resources already at hand.

A few years ago, Dr. Leroy Thompson wrote a book titled, YOU'RE NOT BROKE, YOU HAVE A SEED.  In it he relates how he began his life in abject poverty in the Louisiana bayous.  Reading God's Word, he discovered some very basic Kingdom principles which he -- despite his utter lack of money for even basic needs -- began to employ.  Today the man is extremely wealthy; and he regularly and consistently applies Kingdom economic principles to his daily life.  What Dr. Thompson learned along the way was that money itself can never be the objective of prosperity and abundance.  Ahh, but wait.  I'm getting ahead of myself.

What gets most people's thinking skewed is that the world's economic system is based -- at its core -- in sound, Godly, Kingdom principles.  Satan has perverted it -- just like he perverts everything else -- and twisted it to entice people into financial and economic servitude.  As we go through this series of discussions on Kingdom Economics, my purpose and objective is to show you what I've learned personally, what I am currently learning through experience, where and how Satan has corrupted and distorted our thinking, how the Body of Christ has suffered as a result, and where God is taking His people.

Sound like a lot?  It is.  The Body of Christ has been consistently cheated year after year, generation after generation and century after century by the lies of Satan -- and more specifically by the Spirit of Mammon.

Let's begin by laying some basic Scriptural foundations.  These are laws of economics: Kingdom Laws.  Because God's people have been so effectively programmed with fear, doubt, unbelief, lack, need, insufficiency and poor health; and made to believe that the only real blessing we get from God is spiritual, I intend to be very liberal (this is the correct use of the word....Hehehehehe....!) in drawing from the Word so that your understanding is clear.  God's Word is thorough on this subject, and it is only by and through ignorance of God's Word that Satan has kept Christians -- and the world at large -- hung up with a "make do" mindset where lack and insufficiency are the rule of the day.

Here's the first set of Scriptures.  These Scriptures clearly demonstrate the heart of the Lord for His people.

III John, vs. 2: "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth."

Proverbs 10:22: "The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it."

Psalm 112:1-3: "Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.  His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.  Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever."

Proverbs 8:13, 17-18: "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. .... I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.  Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness."

Proverbs 22:4: "By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life."

Ecclesiastes 5:19: "Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God."

Philippians 4:19: "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

II Chronicles 22:11-13: "Now, my son, the LORD be with thee; and prosper thou, and build the house of the LORD thy God, as he hath said of thee.  Only the LORD give thee wisdom and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel, that thou mayest keep the law of the LORD thy God.  Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the LORD charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed."

II Chronicles 26:5: "And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper."

Psalm 1:1-3: "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."

Deuteronomy 8:18: "But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day."

Psalm 35:27: "Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant."

OK.  There you have a tiny fragment, a representation of the heart of the Lord concerning His people and His desire for them to prosper, to live in abundance, and to enjoy wealth and riches.  And we've only scratched the surface.  But let's be clear.  The desire of the Lord for His people to live the abundant life, to enjoy wealth, riches, prosperity, health, strength and long life comes with some very basic requirements.

Is there any question in your mind at this point that the heart of the Lord is for His people to prosper, to enjoy a long and healthy life, to enjoy an abundant life filled with not just spiritual, but material blessings?  The lie of Satan, you see, is that the only thing we get from Jesus is "pie in the sky, in the sweet bye and bye."  The Enemy delights in painting a picture of poverty, of need, of lack, of insufficiency, of poor health, of 

As we begin to delve into this series in depth, we'll come back to these Scriptures so that you can see some very specific applications.

There are spiritual laws that govern our ability to live prosperously.  There are also traps set for us by the Enemy to keep us from enjoying that abundant life.  Let's lay out the next set of foundational Scriptures to draw this picture.  We'll begin with what Jesus said concerning our motives and objectives.

Matthew 6: 25-34: "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?  Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

"Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?  And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

"Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?  (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."

You see the picture, I'm sure.  The first priority of ALL Kingdom principles is to seek first the rulership of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the earth.  When we put Him first and foremost in every area of life, He guarantees you provision for everything!

But, wait.  There's a lot more.

Matthew 19 relates the story of the rich young ruler who came to Jesus.  Here's a man who had kept the law and the commandments, and had accumulated much wealth for himself.  The problem was that his wealth still left him wanting for something he couldn't identify.  Jesus tells him, "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions."

Matthew 19:23-26: "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.  And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.  When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?  But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible."

Sounds contradictory, doesn't it, when compared to Deuteronomy 8:18 or Proverbs 10:22 or Ecclesiastes 5:19?  If it's so difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven (please take note of this phrase for future reference), then why on earth would the Lord cause His people to be rich?  Doesn't seem logical, does it?

Let's keep going.

Mark 12:41-44: "And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.  And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.  And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living."

Is the picture any clearer for you?  OK.  One more, and we'll quit for today.

Luke 12:16-21: "And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?  And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.  And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

"But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?  So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

We're really just scratching the surface with these pictures, but you do no doubt understand that it isn't wealth God is speaking against: it is the motivation of the heart.  Jesus wasn't saying that it is hard for a person who has wealth to enter the Kingdom -- and we'll get to this picture on Friday -- He was saying that it is difficult for a person who is focused on money and possessions to enter the Kingdom.

In the temple, Jesus commented on the wealthy who gave out of their abundance and the motivation thereof by highlighting the woman who gave the very last that she had.  Those who carelessly and publicly cast in their financial gifts had no heart towards God in their giving.  There was no trust or dependence on God manifested in their giving.  The poor widow, on the other hand, demonstrated her complete trust in the Lord for His provision by giving her last money.

Did Jesus take notice?  You bet!  Think that woman ever had a financial need from that day forward?  I'd venture to say not.  We'll pick it up here on Friday.  Don't forget.  These are just some basic foundations.  We have to lay these foundations for you to understand Kingdom Economics.  My conviction is that once you understand how God's economy works, it will permanently change the way you live.

Lack is not supposed to be everlasting: it is a temporary situation until you can grow some Word seed to meet the need.  God has given us the two things we need to get whatever we desire: Dominion and Seed.

Bless you.

Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
700 South 6th Street
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
(509) 837-4657

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