At CCIM we have been learning to live in the manna. We do not believe that we have learned all there is to know about the Lord’s supernatural provision over our lives but in this chapter, and as we near the end of this course, I will share with you what we have found so far about God’s manna, his living provision. It has been a long hard journey, for many things within me had to die at the cross of Christ in order for a fresh foundation to be created and in order for the provision of the Lord to be established.
1. TO BEGIN, AS WITH MOST THINGS, the beginning of a healthy relationship with money and provision begins with a breaking of the faulty relationships with both money and provision. For instance, some years ago I found myself broke. My ability to provide even the most basic things for myself collapsed. And I was not only broke but in debt. Beyond broke.
In this state, the first thing I had to do was to come to terms with reality. I could not live like I had been living before this time. I had to come into limitation and I had to surrender what I wanted to do and came into only what I could do. My ego’s unhealthy attachment to money, had to die.
For instance, while there was much limitation at this time, one of the most difficult things was realizing that I could not give my children or grandchildren birthday or Christmas gifts. Now, we all love to give our children gifts. We love to pass on blessing and gifts to our loved ones. But I had to let that go (for a number of years), and in letting that go (by refusing to pretend everything was okay when it wasn’t) all pretence was removed from my financial life. I allowed it to be as stark as it was. I was not propping up the appearance or feel of my life or finances by spending or promising money I did not have.
Looking back, I realize that the pain of these limitations, and my ability to stay in the pain of it, was absolutely critical and primary to the rebuilding that was to come. To have any hope of my financial house being rebuilt, I had to allow the dishonesties of my previous habits to come to an end. Financial pretence had to die. 124
2. THE LORD THEN BEGAN to instruct me in learning to receive, “Cyndy, practice receiving from others.” This was also difficult and hard on my ego. We pride ourselves in being the ones to help others, not the ones that need help. In North America we are very self-sufficient and we easily and quickly take care of our own needs.
But God was instructing me to receive from others. Shortly after this instruction I became quite ill and unable to leave my home for some time. I shared on Facebook that I was ill and a few friends asked, “Cyndy, is there anything you need?” Now, normally, in this situation we would say, “Oh, no I do not need anything, I am okay.”
Yet, God had told me to learn to receive and I therefore used this time as practice. I replied to one of my friends, “Yes, thank you, I could use some onions.” And my friend bought onions and brought them to my home. To another friend I replied, “Yes, thank you, I am out of apples, could you get me some apples?” My ego was breaking. My self-sufficiency was being replaced with community and generosity. I was learning to receive.
The Kingdom of God works on the premise of both giving and taking, of mutual submission that comes into and under what others can do for us (our contentment in their offering). 125
3. NOW, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO NOTE that receiving from others is different than taking from others. This is a critical distinction. If we are demanding from others we exhibit a sense of entitlement, 126 and entitlement will always disqualify us from impact and influence and the true work of the Kingdom of God. Entitlement does not work out of the grace of God, but out of the selfishness of our own hearts.
It is a demanding which results in taking. And taking, breaks relationship in the long run. People get tired of being taken advantage of and presumed upon.
Can you see the difference? Taking comes of demanding. But when we receive, there has been no demanding. In fact, receiving comes only after contentment has been established within our hearts and lives. In contentment (as opposed to entitlement) we are glad to receive whatever people can offer.
Demanding and taking, oversteps what people can truly offer. Receiving, on the other hand, respects and comes under the reality of what people can give. We enter into their capacity with thankfulness. We receive what others can give, not more. This is one primary way of honouring others in the body of Christ. When we refuse to do this we dishonour others and the Lord. 127
4. A CURRENT AND GRAVE SIN in the body of Christ is an assumption of care by the Lord that crosses a line into presumption. In presumption we assume the backing of God on whatever we want, when we want it, how we want it, and in the manner we want it.
Presuming on the goodness of God is the root of all sorts of bad decision making. Establishing schools or orphanages or churches or ministries, without forethought or planning, without prayer even, all based on a good idea, the excitement of the moment, and the glory of great plans, but without the direction or timing or wisdom of the Lord, is based on presumption. 128
And then, oh, the weeping and wailing (and demanding from others) as those plans do not work out. This presuming on the goodness of God is the root of all sorts of mismanagement and poor stewardship in the kingdom of God. False motives are often hand-in-hand with these patterns.
Presumption not only has us demanding and taking from others but we come into a demanding and a taking from the Lord. In these cases we are without honour. When we have a demanding attitude of expectation towards others or the Lord, we will be thwarted. And so we should. No one likes to be presumed upon and God is the same. 129
If we are to be taken care of by the Lord, if we are to learn to live in the manna, then we must be able to receive without taking, to receive as God and others choose to give, and to be thankful in all things. To demand more than this is to break the bonds of fellowship and the simple living to which God calls us. The Lord is clear:
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33 ESV
Faulty relationship with money and God and others must be changed.
There is more to my journey. Before I could truly come to live in the manna a few more things had to be established in my life:
5. I BEGAN TO LEARN TRUE GRATITUDE. I moved from having an assuming air of superiority in what I had, to a humble attitude of gratefulness with all things. I learned this by coming down to owning very little. I learned this by realizing that I could demand nothing. Gratitude must be found in the small things or we will never be equipped with a pure heart that can then be entrusted with more. This is key.
We gauge our gratitude by what goes through our minds when we are gifted something. For instance, if we receive a gift and we settle into that moment (and beyond) with thanksgiving then we know that we are truly grateful. But, if we receive the gift and all we can think about are the other things we want and do not yet have, then we know that we are not yet truly grateful. We still have a covetous heart and a demanding spirit.
This covetous and demanding heart must be confessed to the Lord. If you find yourself dissatisfied with what others offer or gift to you, then you have some heart work to do with the Lord. Confess a covetous heart. A covetous spirit is at the root of presumption and demanding. A covetous heart (if left to grow) will disqualify you from receiving the blessing of the Lord. 130
Now, God is not against our prosperity. The Bible teaches that wealth is a gift from God.
“The blessing of the LORD makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.” Proverbs 10:22 ESV
But even God himself checks us:
“You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” James 4:3 ESV
Personally, this check of the Lord resulted in a deep healing of my own deepest fears regarding my provision from God. My thinking, my mindset and my entire way of being, all that believed, had to be converted to the love of God. It has been a bit of a journey to get to this point in my life where I am now very content with very little and where all that I truly need is in fact generously provided by the Lord. 131
6. I HAD TO CHANGE MY THINKING ABOUT PROVISION. God wants to provide for our needs but this only includes money some of the time. We have thought that the way to the things we need is with money. It is not always so.
I have found that food, shelter, and safety, (the basic human rights for all human everywhere) can be had without money. In the Kingdom of God when we are receiving and giving according to The Spirit and in purity of heart and motives, our needs can and will be met.
I’ll share how this works with a very simple example: Every month I need a new bar of soap. I used to think that I needed people to financially partner with me so that I could buy my bar of soap. But, what the Lord has been teaching me is that I don’t actually need money in order to receive a new bar of soap. Rather, he compels others to gift me soap, all without my ever asking.
I may be at a store and see some soap and I will think, “I am almost out of soap, I should buy some soap.” But, because I have been learning to hold off on purchases and no longer rushing to meet my own needs, I will think to myself, “Well, my soap will last another week or so, I will just wait to purchase soap.” I will not buy the soap. Then, within that next week someone will give me a bar or two of soap.
This also regularly happens with coffee. The Lord has been teaching me to not take care of my own needs. Because of this, leaving room for God to take care of me, I would hold off on buying coffee. Sometimes I would go without coffee for a time. This is easy because I have found a contentment in having or not having coffee. I enjoy it but I don’t have to have it.
Yet, often within a few days someone will gift me a bag of coffee beans. And not only will they gift me some coffee, but they will gift me the exact kind of coffee that I like best. This will also be true with the soap. I will be gifted the exact kind of soap that I like best.
Let me say it plainly: when someone gifts me soap I no longer need the money to buy soap — and yet I have soap. When someone gifts me coffee beans I no longer need the money to buy coffee beans — and yet I have coffee. I have experienced this with coats, boots, bags, purses, scarves, and more, even accommodations. As I need something, God compels someone to gift that exact thing to me.
God’s good gifts, the provision spoken of in the Bible ( Read Philippians 4 ) does not mean that we will be given money necessarily. God is bigger than this. God can provide your needs beyond and outside of money.
Imagine a table where the directors of your life gather to discuss and plan and vision forward. Imagine that around this table sit many voices.
There are the skills you have, the passion of your heart, the experiences that have shaped you, the calling of God on your life, and more. And of course money too, is one voice at the table, but onlyone. Skills,passion,experiences,calling, money, are some of the voices at the table of your life. Each one has something to say about you and what and how you do what you do.
Money is only one voice at the table. As we come into the provision of the Lord money takes its proper place. Its authority and voice is no longer exaggerated. Money follows, it does not lead. We allow calling and skills and experiences and passion to have their ‘say’ too.
Money is not the point, the provision of the Lord is the point. And provision comes in a number of ways. Provision comes by people keeping us in their homes. It comes by sharing a meal together. It comes by gifts of soap and coffee or whatever it may be.
Sometimes, yes, it comes as money, but only sometimes. God’s provision is not limited to money. 132
7. WE BEGIN TO EXPERIENCE AND LIVE IN THE MANNA of God. The manna, as introduced to us in the Old Testament, was God’s miraculous provision over the Israelites as they wandered in the desert. Today in our day and age, the manna of God refers to miraculous provision over our lives. It is the manifestation of renewed relationships with God, self, others, and creation. It is part of an open heaven over our lives.
There is ease of living because God’s Kingdom is an ever-present reality of our life; we are in him. Miraculous provision is part of the restoration of the Kingdom of God within us and through us as we come back into the fullness of life as sons and daughters of The King.
Looking at the Israelites and the manna and quail provided them each day, we are reminded of a few principles of manna:
* Read Exodus 16: 13-21
God took them right back to foundational principles of provision. First, we seek that sufficiency and provision comes through a day-by- day relationship with God. Sufficiency of provision comes day by day within the context of relationship with God. Jesus prayed, “Give us this day our daily bread” Matthew 6:11 and acknowledged this primary principle of God and his Kingdom.
The Lord’s provision is for each day, in the context of relationship, not for our wealth, per se, but for our contentment and for confidence to go forth in each day. In God we bravely move forward in the direction of the Lord (for he has our back). It is to settle us back into child-like dependance and trust on the Lord.
Secondly, provision is for specific days and times and places and it must be used accordingly. This principle particularly applies in ministry. When God provides manna (various provisions and money) it is intended for the exact mandate of the Lord (as the manna for the Israelites was meant for breakfast for that very day).
At Capturing Courage, when people gift things or money for ministry trips, or to myself personally, I know these things (gifts, money, provision) to be manna from the Lord. Therefore, my treatment of these things, my attitudes and responsibility, increases to match the care of the Lord; provision is holy ground and a holy trust.
For instance, when I go on a ministry trip we pray for an exact sense of where and when and the timing of the Lord. We might wait months and years to get a sense of when to be in a country and who to be alongside. Inevitably the time comes to go to a certain country and area.
Now, in our human thinking it would make sense to ‘just add in one other place nearby’, or to ‘go there too, it is so close’, or ‘go to where the most people will hear you as this would be the best use of your money.’ But no, not necessarily. For we are finding that manna belongs to God and is specifically mandated by him.
It is not to be used according to our best sense (in our human understanding), but in express obedience to the Holy Spirit. Can you be trusted with God’s money? We must listen and hear and obey God’s agenda and God’s plan for his provision.
And this leads us to another truth, we do not try to get our ‘moneys worth’ out of manna. Manna is always available. The Lord’s provision is always at hand. The work we are called to today, has its provision. The work we are called to tomorrow has its own provision. The work we are called to next month will also have its own provision.
Coming to live in the manna is about coming to live in the provision of the Lord this day, unto this day. Tomorrow will have its own manna. We make room for the manna of God by allowing him the voice to determine what that means in our lives. 133
8. OUR WHOLE BEING SHIFTS INTO A SUFFICIENCY of the Lord. Sufficiency is a deep understanding and innate trust (grown deep in our hearts) that God is taking care of us and we need not fear.
Within the body of Christ, within fellowship and the way things are to work in the Kingdom of God, we clearly perceive in this recounting of the experience of the Israelites in the desert as follows:
“They gathered, some more, some less. But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.” Exodus 16:18
Note that the provision evened out across the fellowship of God’s people.
Sufficiency is the sense of enough, no more and no less, than what is necessary at any given time. Poverty would buy many things to feel better about itself. But sufficiency, when we know the hand of ‘God with us’, does not need to purchase things to feel better, to comfort ourselves, or to find security.
Sufficiency has both the freedom to do without and the freedom to have.
We must step away from consumerism and comfort. 134 If we persist in ‘spending’ our lives on goods and products we will become increasingly numb and immune to the very real issues that are crippling our communities and nations.
Yet, we step into the Lords great care of us by allowing his love and provision over our lives, as God may determine. It takes humility to do without. And it takes humility to receive freely from the Lord.
We renounce sins of gluttony. We put aside poverty thinking. We set down want.
We enter into sufficiency and into trust and into the provision of the Lord.
Sufficiency will surprise us. It a kind of life that declares the love, trust, and goodness of God. 135
9. MANNA COMES AS A STEPPING STONE. In ministry, we step out and God provides the stepping stone. We risk forward and provision comes to us as we need it. Not a moment before. Not a moment late.
At CCIM we have learned to live in the tension of God’s directing (to go to a country) but without the provision for that country, until the very moment it is needed. Sometimes with only a few weeks before I was to fly, there would be no money for the plane ticket. Yet, we would be reminded, “We don’t need the money for the plane ticket because I don’t need the ticket today!”
Sometimes, there was no money for a plane ticket until three days before I was leaving (my last trip prior to writing this the ticket did not come through until one day prior). A few planned trips never came to be, because it was my planning and not the Lords; a few times I never went anywhere.
Of course, it is evident, but needs repeating, that the provision of the Lord is there for the work of the Lord. If God is our ‘boss’ and our employer, then we cannot expect to ‘be paid’ unless we are truly doing what the boss would have us doing. If I go to my job at the shoe factory but refuse to settle into my specific role I cannot expect to be paid, I would only expect to be fired!
It is the same in the work of the Lord and in His Kingdom business. What is it that you are exactly to be about? You are not to do everything. Successful ministries and organizations and businesses are those that focus on one main thing. ONE main thing. What is the one main thing that the Lord is telling you to do? What is the one main thing that he has ordained for you before the beginning of time? Do that thing and nothing else. Then you will find the provision of the Lord. 136
10. Of course, WE REFUSE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF PEOPLE AND THEIR NEEDS; We must give away the gospel. As ministers of the Lord this is the biggest key of all. Where we have been extracting payment for the word of the Lord, for prayers and healing, for prophetic insight, we have dishonoured the very heart of God and the intent of his heart that gives freely.
We cannot say this strongly enough. As a pastor or as a minister of the Lord, if you are selling the gospel in any way whatsoever, you are out of bounds with the heart of the Lord and his purposes on this earth.
As ministers of the Lord, as pastors to people, as representatives of God on this earth, we must not take advantage of the needs of people. This is the core principle of giving away what we ourselves have freely received. We see this played out as Jesus overturned the table of the money changers at the temple in Jerusalem.
“Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!”” Matthew 21:12-13 NLT
Due to the sacrificial system the Israelite men were required to come to the temple in Jerusalem three times a year. Many of them came from far away. It was not uncommon for entire families and villages to travel many days for the ritual sacrifices and offerings to the Lord.
Because of this long travel the people would not bring the dove or the lamb, for instance, that would be sacrificed at the temple, (due to the long travel it may have died on the way).
Rather, they depended on the ability to buy what they needed once they got to Jerusalem.
Imagine that you were travelling to Jerusalem from a far distance. You came planning on offering your sacrifice to the Lord as part of your obedience and worship of the Lord. You understood and held dear this way of responding and walking with the God of your forefathers. This was an important and critical part of your relationship with God.
Yet, imagine that once you arrived in the city and to the temple, that the cost of the small bird or animal that you required had been taken over by the priests and exaggerated beyond all reason. While the small bird for sacrifice might cost 5 shekels in your home town, you find that the temple priests are selling that same small bird for 500 shekels.
What are you to do? You must have that small bird to fulfill your part of the religious requirements. You are stuck. You are taken advantage of; your need makes you vulnerable and the priests know it. And they charge you far beyond what you are able to pay. But you pay it anyway. Because you must. And they know this.
This, is what made Jesus so angry and why he turned over the tables in the temple. The priests knew the great need of the people and took advantage of that need for their own benefit. God was furious. His word is clear:
“Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.” Matthew 10:8 NLT
The people in your community and your congregation are desperate to know God and for God to know them. They come to church to meet with God, to come into right relationship with God, to hear from ministers of the Lord that they are loved and valued and precious. That they are okay. That God loves them.
But often, they do not receive this message. Instead, they are told they must continue to bring a sacrifice to God. They are told that prayers will happen according to their money gifts. Words of prophecy and knowledge come for a price. They are being taken advantage of. They are being scammed. Widows homes are eaten by religious leaders.
“Then, with the crowds listening, he (Jesus) turned to his disciples and said, “Beware of these teachers of religious law! For they like to parade around in flowing robes and love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces. And how they love the seats of honor in the synagogues and the head table at banquets. Yet they shamelessly cheat widows out of their property and then pretend to be pious by making long prayers in public. Because of this, they will be severely punished.” Luke 20:45-47
We must purify our hearts and our ministry. We must give away the gospel and trust in Jesus for our livelihoods. We must stop taking advantage of the spiritual needs of the people.
If you are selling the gospel of Jesus Christ in any way (selling forgiveness, salvation, blessings, healing, or prayers) you have made Jesus Christ into a prostitute and you are his pimp.
Do not exchange prayers for seed gifts. Do not demand that people tithe in order to obtain a blessing from the Lord. Do not promise wealth while taking the little that people have. Do not claim that healing comes when people give money. Do not hold off on forgiveness until people have paid their dues.
Do not make the free gifts of God into a transactional event. You defile all that is holy and righteous when you do this.You defile God himself. 137
Let us recap these principles of coming into the manna of the Lord:
1. Allow BROKENNESS with money, stop propping up ego and life in any false way. Remove all pretence from your life. We stop making financial promises that are beyond us. We let our yes be yes and our no be no. ECCLESIASTES 5:10; MATTHEW 6:19-21
2. Learn to RECEIVE, but do not take! ALLOW others to give out of a glad heart. Come into THEIR capacity. Receive what may be little with much honour to the one who gives. 2 CORINTHIANS 9:7
3. ELIMINATE all and any sense of ENTITLEMENT. JAMES 4:3; PROVERBS 21:26
4. STOP PRESUMING on the goodness of God (with bad decisions). MATTHEW 6:33
5. Learn GRATITUDE and contentment with TODAY. HEBREWS 13:5
6. Change your thinking regarding PROVISION. Do not confuse money with provision. Money is only sometimes a way of provision. PROVERBS 10:22
7. Live in the MANNA – settle into TODAY, do not try to make the manna last until tomorrow, rest and trust in God’s provision for each day. Live this way. EXODUS 16:13-21
8. Come into SUFFICIENCY – be completely okay with what you have this day and KNOW that tomorrow will have what it needs. EXODUS 16:18
9. Align your life to GOD’S DIRECTIVE. Manna is for the intention of the Lord. Come to ONE MAIN THING and remain faithful in that.
10. REFUSE to take advantage of people’s spiritual needs – stop demanding payment from them, GIVE what you have been freely given. MATTHEW 21:12-13; MATTHEW 23; LUKE 20:45-47
As we recognize that we have had money-sin entwined through our ministry and life, what is the manner of rebuilding our financial house in the goodness and grace of our Lord? Here is what I suggest:
1. CONFESS all idolatry of consumerism and idolatries of money. Settle into what you have right now. Begin to experience it as enough. Find thanksgiving, gratitude, and contentment for what you already have. Hebrews 13:5;
2. DO NOT ASSUME how you are to do ministry. Some of you are to build and pastor churches. Some of you are not. Remember, our primary task is to build the body of Christ, the people. The people are the church of God. Do not look at the common model of ministry (a church with tithes) and assume this is how the Lord would have you be in the world. Tithes are NOT the only way God can provide for you. Instead, look to The Spirit and see how the Lord may lead you. Matthew 6:33
3. LET GOD BE LORD of your ministry on this earth. Follow the leading of The Spirit. In this, allow limitations to guide you. Enter into restriction – it is trying to teach you something. Surrender your plans to the Lord.
John 15:5; Proverbs 3:12
4. BEGIN SMALL. Do not do too much. Do not reach way beyond your capacity. Focus on one thing and give lots of time for that one thing to grow and develop. Refuse anything that would distract you. Be disciplined in this way. Proverbs 19:21
5. BI-VOCATIONAL WORK will be for many of you. Ministry also comes out of business. 1 CORINTHIANS 9:15-18 Some of you will be called to ministry only, such as travelling teachers as found in 3 John 1:5-8. Decide if you are in business or ministry, and then ensure you do not make ministry into a business. LUKE 16:11
6. RECOGNIZE THAT MONEY IS ONLY ONE VOICE at the table. You have many other skills and resources at hand. You are wealthy in skills, wisdoms, passions and relationships. Confess your money sin and break all unholy soul-ties with money. Make money sit down and shut up. It does not control you unless you allow it. Give over (surrender) all love of money. James 4:3
7. GIVE AWAY THE GOSPEL. The body sold, becomes about prostitution. You must double- check that you are not selling prayers or prophecies or words of the Lord. Do not sell prayers or blessings or forgiveness. Do not dishonour the body of Jesus Christ by selling off pieces of him. Ruthlessly eliminate any financial system or model that takes advantage of people’s need for God, by selling them Jesus Christ in any form. Matthew 10:8
8. LIVE A SIMPLE LIFE. The provisions you are given are to be used according to the express direction of the Lord. Remain in God. Spend time in intimacy so that if wealth were to come your way you would be ready to steward it well, according to the heart and direction of the Lord. Wealth is meant for the express heart of the Lord through your life. Matthew 6:19
9. WE MUST BE FAITHFUL with a little if we are to be entrusted with much. Can God trust
you with his resources? Can God trust you to serve his people without looking for anything for yourself? God is looking for those he can trust to steward his resources according to HIM. Sometimes this means giving away when we wouldn’t, and sometimes it is not giving away when we would. Luke 16:10
10. BE FAITHFUL WITH A LITTLE. Be faithful with a little. Become trustworthy with resources entrusted to you. Take provision seriously. Honor it well. Honor the giver of it well. It does not belong to you. How is the Lord directing you? If you don’t know, then spend more time in his presence and seek him out before you make any decisions. Your money decisions must come out of your quiet times with the Lord. John 14:31; LUKE 16:10
11. REFUSE A QUICK FIX. Refuse to race after quick wealth. PROVERBS 13:11
12. TAKE CARE OF YOUR FAMILY. We have made a grave error in the body of Christ over many decades. We have claimed that God must come before our families. But God’s way, part of God first, is honouring our spouses and our families. Do not neglect your family and expect God to care for you. This is a violation and a gross misunderstanding of how things are to work in the Kingdom of God. 1 Timothy 5:8
13. GIVE AS YOU ARE ABLE. Give according to what you have. Stop asking for things and begin refreshing others. 2 CORINTHIANS 9:7
14. SUBMIT YOUR NEEDS to the Lord in holy reverence. MATTHEW 7:7-11
As we have been seeing all through this course:
• Deep abiding gratitude precedes the wealth that brings no trouble
• Prayer precedes healing and wholeness
• Surrender precedes true success
• Trusting our very lives to God precedes miracles of living
• Attitudes of resting in God precedes enough for each day
• Faithfulness with God’s heart precedes responsibility and trust in his kingdom
PRAYER
“God, I bring all of my needs to you this day. I trust you God to provide for me. Save me from my own selfishness and fear about my life and the life of my family. I confess to an idolatry of money. But, today I cancel the stronghold and idolatry of money from off of my life and out of my thinking. I am sorry Lord. Today I say ‘No more!’ to money as god in my life. I disarm money in the name and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. I silence its taunts, its condemnations, its lust in the name of my Lord Jesus Christ.
With the strong arm of my Lord Jesus Christ I reach back into my past and to that point where money first took root as idolatry in my life and I uproot every bit of it. Carefully but completely I remove all of money as idolatry and stronghold and I say ‘No more’. I unwind all the chains of money as idolatry and stronghold from off of my life and I declare every link severed. I cancel the authority, assignments, and curses of the enemy that have been in and over and through my life because of money as god and stronghold. Today I say ‘No more’ in the name and the blood of my Lord Jesus Christ. I declare that all things connected to money as god must go to the place where the true Lord Jesus Christ would have it go.
I entrust myself to you God, fully and completely and I declare a new dependance on your leading and guiding and provision over my life. Enter me into sufficiency and into your manna; your great provision and care of my life. Thank you God. With all glory and honour to you Lord. Amen and amen.”
APPLICATION
Closely tied to living in the manna is living out a heart of love in this world. As part of our application I share a timely message by Ralph Harris, President of LifeCourse Ministries, lifecourse.org
“Does it seem to you that the primary motivators in life today are fear, guilt and anger? I think that motivation has crowded out what God intended — the motivation of love. It’s happened to the church, too.
We seem to want to be motivated by crisis, by calamity, by a good cause and a good appeal, by a big need, or by a big kick to our backside. I know the church doesn’t really want that, but it seems like it does. And I sure don’t like it. It’s not that we shouldn’t be motivated by a sudden event, it’s just that we can become addicted to the energy and appeal of the moment. And there is something much better, something more true and constant, something given by God Himself. The church was made for it. You were too.
God’s love produces confidence and daring and assurance and peace and rest and hope and, well, everything we need for life. God’s very being is love, so if we, His sons and daughters, attempt to do much of anything apart from love, we fumble and act unnatural. We feel it, too. Like something’s seriously out of whack in us. And it is. When the behaviour of the Corinthian Christians went seriously crazy, the apostle Paul pointed them back to the love of God because it is the prime motivator — it rescues and refreshes and compels the people of God. 2 Corinthians 5:14
God’s love works. That’s the New Covenant way: God in us, and God toward people and God toward situations that would involve Him in us.
I’m reminded of what love did to the Macedonian Christians not long after God first lived in them. God gave an amazing grace to these people who lived in “extreme poverty” such that in their joy they gave what little they had so others could hear the gospel. The Macedonians were in love with God, having first been won-over by His love for them.
And that love “welled up in rich generosity”. 2 Corinthians 8:2 Do you get the combination? They hit the big time! God was in them toward some kind of brilliant display — in this case, giving.
There’s no need and there’s no room for laws about your money, because you’re ruled by the grace and love of God in you, not law. Laws hijack love, stuffs it in a closet and tell it to “Shut up! You’re too sloppy and unreliable!” and instead offers you method, calculated and loveless measurement, and ultimately, condemnation. That is not the grace-based, New Covenant way. That is not what the Macedonians had. They had the love of God Himself, and that, or rather He, moved them.
Paul then wrote to the Corinthians that they, too, should “excel in this grace of giving. I am not commanding you (I have no law!), but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others” 2 Corinthians 8:8, (parenthesis is Ralph’s). Was it a test of whether they would give or be stingy misers? No! It was a test of love — love was the issue — and Paul was concerned about how love was issuing forth from the Macedonians.
That’s why the Macedonians gave – they were in love! They didn’t give motivated by an appeal to sacrifice, they didn’t give to make sure their tithe was on time, they didn’t give because others were in need, and they didn’t give because it was the right thing to do.
They gave because they were in love, and that made their giving “acceptable”. 2 Corinthians 8:12 Their gift wasn’t acceptable for any other reason but love that brought it forth.
( By the way, God’s love might compel you to actually give nothing sometimes. Are you okay with that? )
The foundation of the New Covenant is that you have no covenant to keep — Jesus took care of that — you have the Holy Spirit in you to notice and to follow. And He loves you! Love is His primary evidence in you.
I want believers to know and be motivated out of a burgeoning love affair with God. .. So let me sum it up: If we’re not behaving well and doing good, it’s because we’re missing God’s love. If your giving lacks, if your service is stunted or reluctant, if there is gossip in the church and “sin in the camp,” go get some of His love.” 138
I was in Mozambique travelling with the inviting pastor, his wife, and my translator,Whisky, by name. By train and truck we moved from one church and it’s village to another and then another. Over many miles and to nine churches and communities we visited the three weeks I was in the country.
In one very hard, dry, meagre part of the country we met and visited with a blind man. He was an intelligent person and it was good to chat and visit with him under one of the shade trees. We learned that because he was blind it was hard for him to have work and we noticed that his clothing was quite ragged with many holes.
Later in the day I observed Whisky going through his own belongings to find a pair of pants and a shirt to give to this man. Now, Mozambique is the third poorest nations in the world, Whisky only owned a few pairs of pants and only a few shirts himself (I know this, I saw the room that was his home). Yet, he freely and eagerly gave what he had to this man. Even though Whisky had very little he recognized that he had more than this other man had, and so he gave.
I witnessed this kind of generosity (that flowed out of relationship with God) in everything Whisky did and every way that he interacted with people. It is the way of sufficiency and generosity once we have known the love of the Lord.
Whisky did not give out of pity or out of abundance but out of love for the man, and out of an awareness that in relationship with God that he himself would be taken care of; he did not have to hoard the little that he owned. He had the Holy Spirit in him to notice and to follow and this is what Whisky did every day of his life. It is what you can do too. If you have never invited the Holy Spirit to lead and to guide you, do so today.
“Holy Spirit, I invite you to lead and to guide me. Help me to notice you and to follow you.”
SUMMARY – LIVING IN THE MANNA
Money is to be governed by love 2 Corinthians 5:14; 2 Corinthians 9:6-7; 2 Corinthians 8:2, 12; 1 Chronicles 29:9
Give away the gospel 1 Peter 4:10; Matthew 10:8; Luke 6:38; Proverbs 11:25; Hebrews 13:16
Look to God Matthew 6:33; Proverbs 16:3; 2 Corinthians 9:8-10; 1 Timothy 6:10; Psalm 37:4
Enter in and receive well Luke 10:__; 1 Timothy 6:7-8; Romans 12:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Come out of false motives James 4:3; Colossians 3:23; Luke 16:10-11; Hebrews 13:5; Matthew 6:19-21
We want wealth by the Lord’s hand only Proverbs 10:22; Exodus 16:17-18; Proverbs 21:20; Philippians 4:19; Matthew 6:31-33
Your family is your first ministry in the Lord 1 Timothy 3:5; Psalm 128:3; Genesis 2:24; Exodus 20:12; Colossians 3:19; Ephesians 5:21; Malachi 2:16; 1 Timothy 3:12; 1 Peter 3:7; 1 Timothy 5:8
124 Principle ONE: Remove all pretence from your financial life. We stop making financial promises that are beyond us. We let our yes be yes and our no be no, in terms of money and our way in this world.
125 Principle TWO: Receive from others. Allow self-sufficiency to die. This is a humility to accept help, it is a low posture that is glad and respectful of what others are able to offer. We come under their capacity.
126 Definition of Entitlement: “the belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment” from google search
127 Principle THREE: We receive, we do not take. This is the basis of Jesus’ instruction in Luke 10. He tells his disciples to enter into a town, to find the house of peace and to enter into the hospitality found there. To settle into where you sleep and with what you are fed. The “Not looking around for something better” as Luke 10:7, tells us. It is the ability to recognize and value generosity and the fellowship of the saints in all its forms. Then, able and willing to accept these generosities as they are offered to us. This would be applied to our tithing practices as well. We do not demand a tithe. We trust that God is providing for us. We do not only work for the ‘envelope’ of cash that comes our way at the end of a service. Do not be the pharisee that eats the widow’s homes. Mark 12:38-40
128 Definition of Presumption: behavior perceived as arrogant, disrespectful, and transgressing the limits of what is permitted or appropriate. from Google
129 Principle FOUR: Stop demanding or presuming on the goodness of God (or others). We need to understand the addictive nature of money. God actually calls his people to a simple kind of living, that leaves room for his glad heart and care unto us. Our demanding or presuming on the goodness of God (or others) breaks relationship with both others and God. We must respect the principle of a cheerful giver, and allow others space to give cheerfully, or not, as they choose.
130 Confess to God your covetous heart “God I come before you today in the name and the blood of my Lord Jesus Christ. I confess to you my covetous heart. I see that I am not settled or content in what I have today. I always want more, and even when I get more it is not enough. I am sorry. Today in the name of my Lord Jesus Christ I renounce this sin of covetousness, “No More!” I reach back into my past with the strong arm of my Lord Jesus Christ and where covetousness first took root in my life I uproot it, carefully and completely, leaving nothing behind. I unwind the chains of a covetous spirit from around my being, heart, mind, spirit, and body. I declare shattered every link. I cancel the assignments, authority and curses of the enemy that have been due to this sin. Today I say ‘No more” and I declare that all these things of a covetous spirit must go to the place where the true Lord Jesus Christ chooses them to go. And today, I receive from the Lord, a heart of gratitude and of contentment and a deep awareness of the sufficiency of the Lord. I enter into a trust relationship with God in a whole new way. Amen and amen. With all glory to you Lord. In the name and the blood of my Lord Jesus Christ.”
131 Principle FIVE: Have true gratitude, and a heart of deep contentment for the little things. Another way to put this: live in sobriety. Sobriety applies to our financial life as much as our sexuality or relationship with alcohol. To live without gluttony, is to live a chaste life when it comes to money, spending, and possessions. Live a simple life, withhold looking for the next thing, learn to stay in gratitude.
132 Principle SIX: Do not confuse provision with money. Money is only sometimes a way of provision. Confess to God your covetous heart (as on the previous page) and submit, surrendering to God’s ways of supplying your needs. Leave space for God to take care of you.
133 Principle SEVEN: Manna cannot be spread thin to ‘other’ places and people — we do not try to ‘get the most’ of the manna, we trust the Lord for manna for other places and people at another time
134 “God I come before you today confessing to an idolatry of comfort and an unholy soul-tie with consumerism. I have believe that more things will make me happy. I have agreed to the lie that possessions will secure me in this world. But you are showing me that this simply is not so. Today, in the name and the blood of my Lord Jesus Christ I confess and renounce an idolatry of comfort and all unholy soul-ties with consumerism. Today God, I shift my trust and my sufficiency to you and you alone.
I reach with the strong arm of my Lord Jesus Christ back into my past where this idolatry of comfort first began and I uproot it fully and completely, carefully yet leaving nothing behind. I unwind the chains of comfort from around my being, heart, mind, spirit, and body. I declare every link severed. I cancel all authority, assignments, and curses of the enemy that have been in or over or through my life because of this idolatry of comfort. Today I say, “No more!” I declare that all things of an idolatry of comfort must go to the place where the true Lord Jesus Christ choose it to go.
To any unholy soul-ties between myself and consumerism I declare these broken in the name and power and blood of my Lord Jesus Christ. To anything of myself that I have given over to consumerism I reclaim back unto myself fully and completely. To anything of consumerism that I have taken unto myself I remove it carefully but completely, sending it to the place where the true Lord Jesus Christ has chosen it to go. I sever all unholy soul- ties between myself and consumerism in the name and the blood of my Lord Jesus Christ.
I bring myself into the love, trust, and goodness of God. I restore my life in the love, trust, and goodness of God. I bring my finances into the love, trust, and goodness of God. I reckon my life unto the manna of the Lord. For his glory and for my future and delight. In the name and the blood of my Lord Jesus Christ, with all honour to you God, Amen.”
135 Principle EIGHT: Enter into sufficiency. Allow the Lord to bring you into his love, trust, and goodness
136 Principle NINE: Manna is for the Lord’s plan and work, a stepping stone to his purposes in this world. The ‘payment’ of God to his workers comes after they have proven they are trustworthy workers, able to focus and stay on-task with what the Lord is asking of them. This is why CCIM does not help with orphanages or schools or church buildings or anything else that many others would have of us. To ‘work’ in these things would dishonour the Lord and the exact work that he has in and through us, and we would in the end, become impotent and useless to the body of Christ.
137 Principle TEN: We give away the gospel. We give away healing and prophecy and words of knowledge. We give away freedom and wisdoms of God.
138 This is a transcript of a video, “Your Money & The New Covenant: LOVE WORKS,” by Ralph Harris, President of LifeCourse Ministries, lifecourse.org and is for those who might rather read than watch. To see the video, click http:// youtu.be/XzZZdSRGQus. Cited here with permission.
=> We finish our learning with Chapter 89: The Robe, Ring, & Sandals
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