Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not (James 4:2).
The spirit behind debt who is the spirit of mammon stirs up wars, conflicts, divisions, fighting and hatred. He feeds on the unforgiveness of the flesh, and its pride that manifests in demanding that what it wants is what others owe it. Through such unforgiveness and pride, he puffs up the flesh which cannot be satisfied.
The flesh, in seeking to satisfy not only its desire to be given what one wants, but to satisfy its unforgivness and pride. This blinds such persons who live by the flesh, or who succumb to it, in the case of the true Christian, into thinking that it is perfectly legitimate to expect from others what one wants. Such a person thinks he is entitled to demand a return for that what he gives to other because he thinks he has been generous in lending what he has.
It is because many Christians have such thinking that they think usury is legitimate. They think that because the lender has given a service, he is entitled to charge usury. They think that the borrower is the master, and the lender is the servant for they think that lender is generous in lending money. No, whether the lender is generous is not the issue. The issue is that the lender has spiritual power over the borrower because he is the one with the money, which the spirit of mammon is behind, seeking to seduce, blind, and enslave. Unlike what many in the modern Church think, the rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender (Proverbs 22:7).
It is precisely the belief in one's heart that one is entitled to what one has, including one's money, such that one is entitled to charge interest on lending money, that the spirit of mammon seeks to blind people by. It is of covetousness, thinking that what one has is one's own, when it belongs to God and God alone (Psalm 24:1). Such covetousness manifests in the belief that one has been righteous and generous by giving money to others, or by lending money.
1 John 3:7 says: "But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" It means that if a person has earthly possessions and sees another in need, but does not help him, that person has no love, not merely unloving, but devoid of all love. This verse is not in anyway implying that if a person gives what he has to others, or lending money, he is being generous and righteous in doing so.
A person who is righteous will of course, lend money to those in need, and give to the poor where he can, but simply because one does such things does not mean one is righteous and generous. Jesus did not praise those in the Temple who gave much money to the Temple for they gave out of their wealth, but praised the widow who gave out of the abundance of her heart (Luke 21:1-4):
And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”
The matter is the manner of spirit in which one gives, whether one only gives out of one's abundance, in one's covetousness and pride, and as such, thinking oneself so generous in giving out of one's abundance.
The issue is the heart in which one gives, not the act of giving. One's actions of giving and lending to others means nothing if one has not love or righteousness, for "if I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:3).
Those who lend and give possessions out of their abundance do so out of covetousness. They give only to puff up their flesh. They think that their money is their own, and so do not and cannot forgive those who owe them debts. This debt stirs up wars, conflicts, divisions, fighting and hatred owing to unforgiveness which is a fruit of covetousness and pride.
Such people desire and cannot have. As such, they war and fight, thinking they are justified in doing so, because they are blinded in the covetousness and pride, which the spirit of mammon thrives on.
The spirit behind debt who is the spirit of mammon stirs up wars, conflicts, divisions, fighting and hatred. He feeds on the unforgiveness of the flesh, and its pride that manifests in demanding that what it wants is what others owe it. Through such unforgiveness and pride, he puffs up the flesh which cannot be satisfied.
The flesh, in seeking to satisfy not only its desire to be given what one wants, but to satisfy its unforgivness and pride. This blinds such persons who live by the flesh, or who succumb to it, in the case of the true Christian, into thinking that it is perfectly legitimate to expect from others what one wants. Such a person thinks he is entitled to demand a return for that what he gives to other because he thinks he has been generous in lending what he has.
It is because many Christians have such thinking that they think usury is legitimate. They think that because the lender has given a service, he is entitled to charge usury. They think that the borrower is the master, and the lender is the servant for they think that lender is generous in lending money. No, whether the lender is generous is not the issue. The issue is that the lender has spiritual power over the borrower because he is the one with the money, which the spirit of mammon is behind, seeking to seduce, blind, and enslave. Unlike what many in the modern Church think, the rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender (Proverbs 22:7).
It is precisely the belief in one's heart that one is entitled to what one has, including one's money, such that one is entitled to charge interest on lending money, that the spirit of mammon seeks to blind people by. It is of covetousness, thinking that what one has is one's own, when it belongs to God and God alone (Psalm 24:1). Such covetousness manifests in the belief that one has been righteous and generous by giving money to others, or by lending money.
1 John 3:7 says: "But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" It means that if a person has earthly possessions and sees another in need, but does not help him, that person has no love, not merely unloving, but devoid of all love. This verse is not in anyway implying that if a person gives what he has to others, or lending money, he is being generous and righteous in doing so.
A person who is righteous will of course, lend money to those in need, and give to the poor where he can, but simply because one does such things does not mean one is righteous and generous. Jesus did not praise those in the Temple who gave much money to the Temple for they gave out of their wealth, but praised the widow who gave out of the abundance of her heart (Luke 21:1-4):
And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”
The matter is the manner of spirit in which one gives, whether one only gives out of one's abundance, in one's covetousness and pride, and as such, thinking oneself so generous in giving out of one's abundance.
The issue is the heart in which one gives, not the act of giving. One's actions of giving and lending to others means nothing if one has not love or righteousness, for "if I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:3).
Those who lend and give possessions out of their abundance do so out of covetousness. They give only to puff up their flesh. They think that their money is their own, and so do not and cannot forgive those who owe them debts. This debt stirs up wars, conflicts, divisions, fighting and hatred owing to unforgiveness which is a fruit of covetousness and pride.
Such people desire and cannot have. As such, they war and fight, thinking they are justified in doing so, because they are blinded in the covetousness and pride, which the spirit of mammon thrives on.
Comments
Post a Comment