THE WAYS OF GOD AND THE ECONOMY

Recently I have heard many pastors and preachers comment upon the current repressed state of the economy. Their advice has ranged from ignoring the evil media accounts to getting bigger in one’s hopes, dreams and aspirations to have life more abundantly as man understands abundance while occupying the planet. This is expressed in an encouraging of people to continue with their lifestyles and open businesses and of course continued giving to the houses and ministries of God. According to the reasoning of these popular men, God wants everyone to be prosperous in the things of the world. I understand it otherwise.
I have written several emails at the beginning of the year warning people of the coming effects related to credit, production, unemployment, bank and business failures, mortgage defaults, price fluctuations and a downward spiraling standard of living. These emails were greeted with comments ranging from my being negative and melancholy to pessimistic.
The people of God, to my knowledge, have never been immune from famines, droughts and afflictions of all sorts. In fact, they are events allowed by God in his conception of the world which take into account the nature of man to be excessive in his appetites for the riches and comforts of the world which fuel his passions or feelings of sorrow, hope, fear and joy which in turn fuel his seemingly uncontrollable and self righteous emotions of anger and desire to affect an outcome in the world of experience and use by extending his will based upon the knowledge of his feelings and thoughts to create financial security in the form of stored wealth, a wealth which allows him to be free of material need regardless of the cost.
The paradigm used by God in the Bible to communicate the ways of the world to men of antiquity was in His explanation of the farming cycle. This was the production cycle that allowed for men to be fed with the crops of the field. In the word of God this cycle was a seven year cycle of sowing and reaping for six years with the seventh year being a fallow year in which fields were to be neither sowed nor reaped. God’s purpose, according to scripture, was to allow for the fields to regenerate but most importantly it was for the poor and wild animals to have access to food which would grow wildly and not be protected by farmers defending their production. In the word of God; the poor will always be with you.
The modern day business cycle is not very different from the times of old. The business cycle is a seven year phenomenon of ebbs and flows of seeding finances and development of technologies designed to comfort men’s needs for sustenance, convenience and wealth. Historically the seventh year of the cycle is a contraction of production and a rebalancing of prices for goods based upon an overabundance of supply of both currency and goods.
The spiritual benefit of these times lies in an understanding of its purpose spiritually not in ignoring, avoiding the facts or increasing one’s appetite or giving. In a deeper sense it is the turning away from the things of the world and turning to God to help us in His supernatural way to mitigate our appetites under the control of reason lessening the stress on our feelings of hope, sorrow, fear and joy for the things and events in the world and bring the emotions of anger and desire under control . This can only be accomplished by offering oneself and existence as a living sacrifice to God. In other words, we withdraw our will for a time to affect anything in the world to meet our feelings of need on a material plane. In so doing we stop being limited men with limited vision to know what is in our best interests to attain the true life more abundantly which is, in the meaning of God, both faith, the ability to perceive and understand the effects of God in this world, in this life, as well as life after this life. The prosperity and abundance of God is not money or things but faith, the evidence of things hoped for the substance of things not seen, namely, God and His Kingdom which is a Kingdom of power not words or money.
I am not saying money is not important but it is not worth your soul. Placing your trust in riches as being life more abundantly is an error in understanding and if God encourages and inspires anything it is understanding. If you understand this, the purpose of economic affliction will be revealed to you. Once purpose is understood meaning is revealed. Meaning brings with it all that you need to acquire those things of which we all have need. Food, clothing and shelter have never been cheaper in modern times. Good solid companies are selling at drastic reductions in price as they reassess their ways of doing business in this particular cycle. The question you must ask of God is not why do you allow this to happen but how do I prosper materially in what is an opportunity despite evidence to the contrary. Attaching your thoughts to the thoughts of God regarding the ways of the world allows you to work in an environment where only the very productive survive. As God reveals this purpose and understanding to your current mind you will work within God’s will to realize the power of His kingdom and you will thrive because you will realize that all work is done unto Him and not men.
In the coming years, it will not require as much money to live. You will have the energy and insight to function in a rapidly changing world because once the kingdom of God, a kingdom of power is revealed to you, God will manifest Himself to you in reality as a man can perceive God and you will know peace. Knowing peace you will no longer be at war with the spirit of God. Your flesh in the form of your feelings and thoughts of need for significance and security will cease harassing you to intensely desire these things because in having God you will have everything. You will thrive in your work with energy and commitment. Your intelligence will be illuminated to make wise choices and associate with wise people. You will realize the promises and prophecies of God. You will no longer fear authority but understand how God uses authority to guide you to the purpose of His creation.
Suffer now by withdrawing your will. Heed the orders of authority as all authority is given by God. Withdraw your will to act on your feelings and thoughts for need of anything but God. Deny yourself and teach your children the purpose and understanding of these times so that they may also be prospered by God with Faith his greatest gift. Faith, a gift of God allowing us to perceive Him in the world will lead to love because perceiving and understanding God in the world removes all doubt and uncertainty which are the causes of fear.
I promise you, if you contract from the world as the farmers did with their fields you will be prospered. Contract and contemplate your ways of being to this point by recognizing and accepting your limited ability to create anything good and lasting in the world and humility will be revealed to you. God loves the truly humble. Truly humble is not deference to a perception of strength or position but a recognition of how limited we are to create anything good and lasting without God.
Pull back with the rest of creation and come to know God in the quietness of your feelings and thoughts about your ability to create in a world where everything is passing away