The world craves money and sees abundance primarily in terms of riches and wealth. God certainly wants financial blessings for the believer but also wants us to understand that this includes prosperity in all areas of our lives, not just in our bank accounts. Few people understand the link between obedience and living the abundant life Jesus died to give us. Disobedience to God’s law governing abundance results in poverty, both spiritually and physically.

Obedience to God Allows Him to Bless Us

Much has changed from the Law of Moses to the grace of Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament, obedience meant strict observance of a long, exhaustive list of rules and regulations. The focus was on doing. “Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings” (Isaiah 3:10). In the New Testament, obedience now means trusting in and relying on Jesus, and having faith in His finished works; the focus is on believing.

God is committed to abundantly blessing His children. He’s so serious that He sent Jesus to shed His blood and die on the cross so that we could enjoy abundance on every level. In the war against an enemy who wants to establish poverty on the earth, the blood of Jesus—and our faith in it—is a weapon we can use in these last days. Knowing and confessing what His blood accomplished empowers us to keep the devil in his place as a defeated foe.

The points where Jesus’ blood was spilled are significant; each place where He was wounded purchased something for us. The blood He shed from His back when He was whipped purchased our healing and delivered us from sickness, and the blood from the crown of thorns placed on His head purchased the blessing and delivered us from the curse. The hands represent man’s economic capability and strength; we receive money with our hands and also take in the harvest with them. The blood that flowed from His hands when He was nailed to the cross purchased our right to live in abundance, and they delivered us from poverty and lack.

God Wants Abundance, Not Lack, for Us

Living with insufficiency was never God’s will for us. This started in the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve’s disobedience caused them to be poor first on the inside, then on the outside. It took Jesus to make things right again. “The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)” (John 10:10, AMPC).  

When mankind fell spiritually, the reflection of his fall was seen in the physical realm. This is where lack and shortage spring from. If a man disobeys spiritually, poverty reflects that disobedience. This is an important point: our obedience to God by faith connects us to the abundant life, but our disobedience to Him connects us with lack and blocks our productivity.

God Doesn’t Want Us Broke and Struggling

The curse of lack and insufficiency starts with wrong thinking; to move from poverty back to abundance, we must therefore change how we think. As long as we think it’s okay to tolerate it because it’s just part of life, we’ll never do anything to get away from it. Changing our way of thinking and obeying by faith changes that. “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land” (Isaiah 1:19).

It's not God’s will when we run into insufficiency and start living paycheck to paycheck. We see His will in the garden of Eden before man sinned. Before Adam and Eve disobeyed, there was more than enough, plants and flowers grew in abundance, and there was plenty of everything; afterward, shortages resulted, and man had to toil by the sweat of his brow.

Our thoughts are powerful and can either keep us in bondage to insufficiency or move us into more than enough; as a man thinks, so is he. We’ve got to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. There won’t be any abundance on the outside until we change our poverty mentality and spirit on the inside, first. Our minds have become numb in this area; we have to take a stand and refuse to tolerate it.

Poverty Begins on the Spiritual Level

What exists in the physical realm springs from the spiritual realm. The Bible says to guard your heart, for out of it come the issues of life. If we want to see God’s will specifically in our finances, and in other areas of our life as well, we need a healthy spiritual life. We’re solely responsible for that, and can’t blame anyone else for our poverty.

The devil is trying very hard to keep us ignorant of God’s will because he knows that as long as we continue to disobey God in some area of our lives, we’ll stay poor and in debt. The last thing Satan wants is for God’s abundance to show up in our lives; our abundant living should overflow into the lives of others. The Christian who obeys God’s Word and knows how to handle money is blessed so that they can bless others. “And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. As the Scriptures say, ‘They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.’ For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God” (2 Corinthians 9:8-11, NLT).

Religion has convinced us to take a vow of poverty. We’ve got to get away from the mindset that says Christians are supposed to be broke, busted, and disgusted. God wants to fully supply us for success and prosperity. Knowing this lets His abundance flow into our lives.