“And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” Luke 12:13-15

Pop! And with these words Jesus preemptively busted the bubble on modern man’s ideas of financial well-being. Here in Luke 12, we read of a discussion Jesus had with his followers. There was a man who, on the surface desired “justice” in the arbitration of a family estate, but in reality, like so many today, was a prisoner to materialism. Jesus, being Jesus, saw down to the root of the issue and reminded us all that our lives are not defined by dying with the most toys and that living a life of Godly prosperity is not about a life of material gluttony.

Brothers and sisters, some of you are old enough to remember that back in 1964 then-President Lyndon Johnson came to Martin County to declare “unconditional war on poverty in America.” The promise was that government programs would lift us out of the bondage of lack. This visit made Martin County famous for a while but for all the wrong reasons.

By the way, how’s that war going these 60 years later?

According to statistics compiled back in 2014 our county is still one of the poorest in the U.S., with a poverty rate of 35%. We’re definitely not winning that war on ground zero are we?

Anyway, our county is famous for poverty, and this has helped to twist our perspectives on wealth. We’ve come to believe that this is just how it’s supposed to be, to the point that we even believe God desires this type of life for us.

Friends, this isn’t Bible truth; it’s just not. When you read your Bible cover to cover you see that God has a better way of life for those who will trust in Him, and just because we live in a world that has lack doesn’t mean that God’s children have to live under that curse.

Here’s a controversial truth for you: Poverty isn’t Godly. It’s not a “blessing” from Him, in disguise or otherwise. He never intended for His people to live one day without all they would need to live a satisfying life here on this planet. Maybe this is “new” truth to you; I could see that. Why? Because while a lot of people in this area believe God wants people saved, not many believe God actively wants His children provided for materially. They either believe God is indifferent to our material needs or that He’d rather we do without from time to time so that by necessity, we will walk closer to Him like a dog on a leash, ever dependent on our next bowl of puppy chow.

Why these firm persuasions? False teaching through the years and wrong believing because of that. The truth of God’s intentions in these matters is plain in the Word, and if we will look to the Bible with fresh eyes, we will begin to see His original plan for us in this area.

 “Okay, give me chapter and verse for that brother.” Will do. How about II Corinthians 9:8? There it states, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.”

Now before you cry that this verse speaks of sufficiency of grace, not material things, I suggest you read chapters 8 and 9 to give yourself some context. The subject under discussion in those two chapters is a material blessing being prepared to go to others in need. So yeah, the “all sufficiency in all things” is most definitely talking about material things as well.

With that said, here in II Corinthians we find the true heart of God toward us concerning wealth. He desires that we always have more than enough, so much so that we can quickly and happily “abound to every good work.”

Greg Crum is the pastor of Calvary Temple in Lovely.