Thriving in the Economy of the Kingdom in the Midst of Tumult and Chaos

The COVID-19 measures have brought widespread stoppages, including the economy, in the current economic situation. Not because people are sick but because people are afraid of getting sick. That’s what fear does. It stops everything it infects. Jesus saw things like this coming in the last days and spoke of it in the gospel of Luke:

[Luk 21:26 KJV] 26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

The word fear means to expire or to separate. Doesn’t that speak directly to what is happening in the situation today? What is the solution governments are enforcing throughout the Western World? They say we must separate using shutdowns, stoppages, and extreme social distancing. We would like to believe those days are over, but clear-eyed observation informs us that we’ve moved from pandemic to endemic, and COVID is now a fact of life like the common cold, just more deadly and yes, probably of human origination. But you can’t solve the problem at the level of the problem. The underlying reality is, as the verse above insists – fear. The word for fear has the same root as “pandemic” (panic). Jesus is saying to us that this is what Satan does, and it is an inward heart problem, not an outward virus problem. That doesn’t mean that common sense should be ignored. What it does mean is that we must realize that we are facing two problems: COVID-19 and fear. Fear stops things. Fear separates. Fear is a heart issue. Fear is an unclean spirit. In Psalms 19:9, David declared the following:

[Psa 19:9 KJV] 9 The fear of the LORD [is] clean, enduring forever: the judgments of the LORD [are] true [and] righteous altogether.

The fear of the Lord is clean. Every other fear is unclean. What about COVID? What about the pandemic? What about the fear-producing changes on the political and social scene? The difference is that our society is much more prone to fear because uncleanness is running much more in-depth. Since 2009, gay marriage has become legal, among other things. In the last few years, ungodliness, debauchery, and depravity are now state-protected behaviors. That is not to pile on the LGBT community but to make the point that where uncleanness exists, fear dominates, and right now, fear is dominating the world around us. What are we to do? When the enemy comes in like a flood, Isa. 59:19 tells us that God moves in the opposite spirit to raise a standard against him. Eph. 5:1 tells us to be followers (imitators) of God. When the enemy is pushing you to adopt his measures, we are to move in the opposite spirit—moving in the opposite spirit transitions you from the economy of man to the economy of God. The economy of man operates on limited resources. God’s economy operates on the kingdom’s currency, and the kingdom’s currency is faith.

Money Moves by the Spirit:

In 2009, God told me to visit a small group meeting in Springfield, Missouri, in the home of one Wendell Lovell. This was no small thing, considering the meeting was on a weeknight and required us to leave work, drive over 100 miles to this meeting, and then come straight home in order to be ready to go back to work the next day.

At the meeting, there were two ministers, Larry Love and Mitch Clay, whom we had never met. They brought a message that I don’t remember the content of, and when it came time for personal ministry, they singled me out with a powerful prophetic word. Among other things that were said, the Father told us through Larry and Mitch that He was going to show us that money moves by the Spirit. I had no idea what that meant, but the truth of it burned in my heart, and I looked forward to God making it real to us.

Moving into the Economy of God:

Every one of us, wherever we live, is subject to the economy of man. If a factory or significant source of jobs shuts down in our town – we are affected. If terrorists fly passenger planes into the heart of the financial district in New York City, we will be affected. It seems unavoidable. We live in a fallen world where calamity and happenstance conspire to make us subject to the ebb and flow of financial systems, and at times, we suffer losses as a result. What is the answer? That answer is moving in the opposite spirit. Moving in faith and not fear. In Genesis 26, there was a famine in the land, and Isaac wanted to do what everyone else was doing; he wanted to run. He wanted to do what his father Abraham did: go to Egypt. Egypt is a type of the world. When we are tempted to follow the world’s mandates, we must use common sense, but we must also move in the opposite spirit, in faith and not fear. Fear stops. Faith surges forward.

Just as man has an economy, so God has an economy. Man’s economy is based on the currency that he sets value on. The economy of God is based on a currency that He sets value on. What is the currency of the kingdom? The currency of the kingdom is your faith. Regardless of your financial condition, if you learn to spend your faith on the promises of God, you will find yourself making withdrawals from the bank of God’s glory in your life.

How to Spend the Currency of the Kingdom:

How do you spend your faith? You spend your faith by moving in the opposite spirit, by doing with your money what the Father tells you to do. Money will do unusual things when you listen to God and do what He tells you to with what you have. Jesus said in John 5:19 that He would only do what He saw the Father do. This was a great key to His remarkable life. It is reproducible in our lives as well. You can do what you see the Father do – and when you do so in the area of your finances, you will see remarkable and supernatural results.

In Elijah’s day, there was a great dearth or famine. People were starving. They were selling themselves into slavery to survive. Elijah was directed by God to the home of a widow who was about to share her last meal with her son with every expectation that they would die afterward. She had no means of support. There was no aid society available. She didn’t have a business. She had little or no income. How did Elijah deal with her?

[1Ki 17:13-15 KJV] 13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go [and] do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring [it] unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. 14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day [that] the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. 15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat [many] days.

What happened here? Because she obeyed God, this woman came out of the economy of man and into the economy of God.

Another Example:

In the early church days, there was a great upheaval in Judea and Jerusalem. A civil war was brewing. The entire region would be decimated within a few years by war and brutal persecution. In modern seasons like this, it is always attended by financial downturn, recession, or depression. It was no different in the days of the early church. Yet it is remarkable that in the midst of such societal upheaval and an economy struggling under the enemy occupation of an invading army, the people of God were entirely out of debt:

[Act 2:44-45 KJV] 44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all [men], as every man had need.

Now, this does not mean we are supposed to start a hippy commune and live out of a common purse. No. What it does mean is that these people were doing with their money what God told them to do with their money, and the result was they were debt-free, living in the blessing despite all the turmoil in the world around them.

Lay the Money at the Apostles’ Feet:

In Acts 4, we see further detail regarding how the people of the early church addressed the issue of debt and money:

[Act 4:33-35 KJV] 33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. 34 Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them and brought the prices of the things that were sold, 35 And laid [them] down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.

This is a dynamic that is available to us today – if we understand that money moves by the Spirit and do with our money what the Father tells us to do. What did the Father tell these believers to do?

1.) They liquidated their surplus and were devoted to caring for those in need.

2.) They invested in the furtherance of the kingdom.

When they did this, something unusual happened – they were all out of debt. Supernaturally, miraculously they were brought out of the economy of man and into the economy of God.

How Important is Money to God?

Is the distribution made among the early church believers just an anecdote made to tell the story of the early Christians thoroughly? Was God involved in all of this, or was it just a byproduct of something more important that God was pursuing? We see an indication in Acts 5:1-5:

[Act 5:1-5 KJV] 1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira, his wife, sold a possession, 2 And kept back [part] of the price, his wife also being privy [to it], and brought a certain part, and laid [it] at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back [part] of the price of the land? 4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. 5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.

This passage of scripture is frequently taught but what we do not see is the fact that Ananias died inadvertently because he got in the way of something God was doing in the financial situation and personal economies of the people of God. God was moving so powerfully and so strongly in this area of the life of the early church that when this man presumed on what was happening, he lost his life. This is a measurement of just how invested and passionate God is that you live the life and life more abundantly that Jesus promised in John 10:10. This is the power of the redemption that Jesus bought for us – which specifically includes our personal financial circumstances:

[2Co 8:9 KJV] 9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

Conclusion:

How do we step out of the economy of man (subject to fear) and into the economy of God (walking in faith)? There are two verses that apply in answer to that question, but first, remember that action is required on your part. If you want something different, you must do something different. If you want what you never had before, you must do what you never did before. In Luke 17:20,21, Jesus tells us that the kingdom doesn’t come with observation. The kingdom and the economy of the kingdom are engaged in your life by your actions, not by your doctrines or opinions or wishful thinking. You must do something – and you must do something in the very area that represents your need. If your need is financial, then it is in the area of finance that you must determine what pressing into the kingdom looks like and do that.

Pressing into the kingdom is actuated in your situation by two things: 1.) Giving to the poor and 2.) Giving out of your penury (or deep poverty). When I began to press into these things, the Lord told me this:

“When you give of your surplus to the poor, you close up the breaches of your personal economy…. When you give our of your penury (or deep poverty) to the ministry, you open the doors of blessing for increase and financial breakthrough”.

Prov. 19:17 He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and that which he has given He will repay to him (AMP).

There is more New Testament precedent for giving to the poor than there is for tithing to the church. It is the scandal of modern church culture that the poor and the needs of the poor are drastically marginalized in favor of other line-item budgetary considerations. Every seven years, the Levites were to take the money brought into the temple and give it to the poor. That represents just under 15% of the income of the temple and the Levites altogether. What you make happen for someone else, God will make happen for you. Many people tithe and give sacrificially to their church or other ministries but do not give to the poor. They don’t see results, and they wonder why. It is because giving to the poor validates what you give to ministry and the church in the kingdom. Give to the poor of your surplus, and God will provide for you out of His surplus. What you make happen for others, God will make happen for you.

Having given to the poor, you are now eligible to give out of your penury (or deep poverty). This is what the widow with the two mites did. Her giving was of a character that got the attention of Jesus.

[Luk 21:1-4 KJV] 1 And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. 2 And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. 3 And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: 4 For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.

Notice that this woman gave into the treasury that JESUS WAS LOOKING INTO, waiting on her gift. She was giving into the ministry and not just giving into a need. She wasn’t saying, “The temple doesn’t need my money…” She was not giving a percentage – she was giving an amount that actually created a personal crisis for her. The end result was a benefit and breakthrough and a lasting testimony that reaches us today. Learn to give not just to a need but to an anointing. When you give into an anointing, you partake of that anointing.

You can’t solve the problem on the level of the problem. If you want to master the law of sowing and reaping, you must ascend above it into the law of love. Jesus did what He saw the Father do not out of obedience as a servant but out of love as a son. As you apply these truths and find out what they mean personally to you – your financial breakthrough will come, and debt will be eliminated in your life in a radical way.