Why are evil people rich and many christians poor?

Hey, guys. So today I want to talk to you really quick about a word I just felt from the Lord and it was stirred up by an article I just read or a guy talking about this article. And the stat said that the poorer a country is, the more religious they are. Okay? The opposite is true, that the richer a country is, the less religious they are. Okay? And I want to talk about why this is. I want to talk about what the article talks about, the reason for this being. And primarily I want to talk about what I believe God thinks about this and what God, how God sees wealth, how God sees all of these issues. So the two big things here is the poorer a country is, the more religious they are, and the richer a country is, the less religious they are. Now, if you've been following me at all, you understand that I'm a Christian and I'm passionate about seeing God's church come to life and who they really are. And that's creators being born in the image of God, the creator of the world. We are creative by nature. We create things on the earth. We have the power to create life and abundance and transformation in people's life. We have the power to bring health. God said, go heal the sick. But Jesus talked about wealth almost as much as anything else. I don't know what the stats are, but he talked about wealth more than most people realize he did. He talked about it a lot, okay? He gave mandates both. He would tell people, you can't follow me unless you give all your stuff away. But then on the other hand, he's condemning a guy that hid his money and did not multiply his wealth. Okay? In the parable of the talents, okay, but the first reason. And again, I talk about this subject. I'll talk about this subject as much as I possibly can. I go preach it places all over the country many times a year. And I want to talk about money because it seems like voodoo in the church sometimes. Sometimes, yeah, we talk about tithing. We talk about all these things, but it's still. And if this is you, I totally under hear you and I want to talk to you. If this is you, where you feel sometimes there's this tension of, you know, being a Christian and having to struggle and all this stuff. And then I, on the other hand, it's making money and growing income, but you feel like the two are in battle against each other. I want to talk about that because I think that's what this article is talking about as well. The first theory that the article brings up as to why this stat is true, is just simply the fact that the less you have, the more suffering you have, the more stress you have, the more you need to cope with those things. And get it literally said an outlet. And that's religion. So religion, I get more dependent on religion the less I have, okay? And then rich people, you know, the people who are really rich don't need much. They don't need an outlet, they don't need money. Now, that's exactly what the word of God says. Okay? So I'm just going to go ahead and say that because for us to have a healthy understanding and much less truly see wealth generated for the sake of impacting the world, we have to first understand that there is a massive battle going on in our world in terms of finances in the spiritual realm, okay? Because Paul the Apostle literally said, God, give me neither riches nor poverty because if I'm poor, I'll steal. If I'm rich, I'll deny you because I won't need you. Okay? So, you know, go living in that tension. So first off, we are called to understand that we must have a healthy perspective of finances. Otherwise, why are we doing this? Why are we working this job 9 to 5, trying to move up, trying to create? Why are we doing this? Why did Paul say that? But then he's also working a job while he's on the mission field, not just relying on the sheer power and faith of God. Why is he working a job creating more income when Jesus literally got money out of a fish's mouth? Jesus literally told, you know, in one journey to the 72, don't go. Don't bring any money. Just go and live off of, you know, the missionary money. Why did Paul do ministry and a job? Because there's power in growing income and there is power in the vehicle of business that allows you to disciple, allows you to grow, allows you to expand, influence and increase in helping people. Paul literally said, don't take any money from you guys because I'm creating money. Okay, so let's talk about the next thing. And before I jump into this next thing that is really critical, I want you to understand the church has the power to bring life. We are called to create. The second thing that I want to, that the article addresses and that I want to talk about from God's perspective is the article says that religion takes all your control away. Okay, so why are the countries that are poor most religious? Well, the theory may be that because you're religious, you have an inherent belief that you're not in control of anything in your life. Everything in your life is controlled by outside forces. In the end, God is sovereign. If he wants us to have money, we'll have money. If he doesn't, we don't. If he wants me to die early, I'll die early. In the end, God is control. I have no control. So. And to an extent, that is true, but God gave us authority on earth, okay? God gave you and I authority on earth. We're not waiting on God. God is waiting on us, okay? God is waiting on us to see revival in our day. God is waiting on us to create what he wants us here. He's calling us into a place of creator, of thinking, of making things as though they are, you know, building his church, expanding on the earth, growing the kingdom of God, you know, increasing in number. You know, God is calling us to steward our health so that we have longevity. You know, God is calling us to steward and multiply our resources so we increase our impact on the earth. God is calling us to learn and grow so that we increase in our faith. Okay? So the idea is that people feel victimized. And so why don't. Why are the poorest countries, you know, I'm not saying that everybody is called to riches. I'm not saying that anybody's doing anything wrong. But I am saying there's a demonic. There's a spiritual war going on when it comes to poverty. When people are in poverty, there's a spiritual war that's going on because Jesus is not a God of lack. In fact, the word of God literally says that if you are called by my name, if you seek me with all your heart, you will not lack. Okay, so what is it? What is this? What's the point of all this? Well, one is just to understand. First off, the poorer you are, there is a mandate on you. You do not have to stay stuck where you're at. The poorer you are, I believe the greater opportunity to influence and to create, okay, because you have more dependence. But what that looks like is the spirit of God residing in you. The same one who created the world is calling you to dream with him. What could happen if you truly allowed the voice of God to come and direct your every move? Okay? And then the richer you are, this is a strong warning to people. The more you have in riches, the more dependent you must become. Or if money is your God, if money controls you, if you're more focused on money than you are on building his kingdom, doing what God's calling you to do, being with God, you will quickly Fall away, and you will no longer be following Jesus. Okay? Disciple of Jesus is following Jesus. A Christian is a disciple of Jesus. So I hope that makes sense, and I hope that gives you both direction and encourages you, because as the children of God, we have the ability to increase, okay? And we have the ability to also let wealth overtake us. So. So I hope that helps. I hope that encourages you today. But I want to just end with this. Let every day, especially if we talk about real estate, we talk about investing. I'm personally focused on real estate, but also ministry. I steward ministries. I steward. We're looking at even going to Africa soon. We haven't shared that, but, you know, there's a lot that we're balancing. And if we're not careful, we get in the weeds of everything, get in the weeds of business, get in the weeds of ministry. And it can feel like we're not doing what God's called us to do, because you get in the admin side, you get in the stats, you get into all kind of stuff that seems separate from the church. But if you understand Paul the apostle working a business, Solomon, you know, it's okay to have things as long as things don't have you. But the most important thing, you know, Solomon, a man of great wealth was born from David, a man of prayer and intimacy with God. So your number one thing is to be in the place of prayer every day as much as you possibly can, okay? And come back to that. Lord, what am I doing today? What is your focus today? Out of all the things I have on my plate, out of all the things that are going on, God center me in the purposes of God, of your purposes for my life and my family's life. You want your family to be blessed, you want your nation to be blessed, you want yourself to be blessed? Dive straight into the word of God. Be completely and utterly dependent upon Jesus, but listen to his divine strategy for your business and your wealth and your life. I hope that makes sense. I hope that helps. And if you have any other opinion besides what I shared, I'd love to hear it. If you just like the opinion I had, let me know. I try to just share what I feel like the word of God is saying to me and what God is saying to me. But in the end, we're all on our own journey. We're all working through our own things. So. All right, God bless you. Have a wonderful day.