Poverty | itsawonderfilledlife

Posts Tagged ‘Poverty’

Abundance

Posted in GOD, life, WONDER, tagged 2 Corinthians 8:8-15, abundance, abundant life, abundant living, equality, give, John 10:10, Poverty, Praying, sharing the wealth, wealth on July 10, 2012| 1 Comment »

We live in abundance!

The reality of North American life is that we live lives of abundance.

The way we often see it, abundance is about personal prosperity, wealth, and power, and we can credit where we live, resourcefulness, and opportunities.

We can, of course, also credit the God who breathed life into our lungs, and gave us our existence. In John 10:10, Jesus said, “I came that they (that means all people) may have life and have it abundantly.”

There is a dichotomy among Christians regarding abundance. There are those who pray for abundance, and there are those who pray for only their needs to be met.

I recently heard someone speak of abundance, and what he said was, “God calls us to abundant living, not just sufficient. Sufficient says we are expecting (praying) only enough for our needs, but not the abundance that allows us to be God’s hands and feet in providing blessing for others.”

I believe that 2 Corinthians 8:8-15 speaks clearly to God’s intent in proving for us abundantly:

“I am not commanding you to do this (God does not ever force himself, or his ways on us).
But I am testing how genuine your love is (God is always wanting our hearts to be in a place where we do make the best choices) by comparing it with the eagerness of the other churches.
You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor,
so that by his poverty he could make you rich (God does not ever ask of us more than He has done, He is the example).
Here is my advice: It would be good for you to finish what you started a year ago. Last year you were the first who wanted to give, and you were the first to begin doing it. Now you should finish what you started
(This speaks to those of us who start good things with great intentions but never fulfilling those intentions).
Let the eagerness you showed in the beginning be matched now by your giving. Give in proportion to what you have
(He’s not saying give beyond your means, or to the point of having nothing left). Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly (that doesn’t mean to give out of guilt, or duty, but out of your open heart).
And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have (reinforcing what He already said).
Of course, I don’t mean your giving should make life easy for others and hard for yourselves.
I only mean that there should be some equality (our God is the only god who speaks of equality). Right now you have plenty (“right now” … things can change … we can all go from plenty to want, there are no guarantees that what we have today will always be here for us) and can help those who are in need (share our abundance with those who have need). Later, they will have plenty and can share with you when you need it (not if you need it, but when).
In this way, things will be equal. As the Scriptures say,
“Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over,
and those who gathered only a little had enough.”

We DO live in abundance, but it is an abundance from the hand of God, to be shared, so that things might be equal for all.

Read Full Post »

Occupy Conspiracy

Posted in life, WONDER, tagged Adbusters, Advent Conspiracy, Occupy Protests, Occupy Vancouver, Poverty, Robin Hood Tax, We are the 99% on November 10, 2011| Leave a Comment »

It has been a few weeks since the first ‘Occupy’ protest began. A movement that is said to have been initiated by Canadian Adbusters magazine editor, Kalle Lasn (JTS Commentary, a thought proking response to one of the writings of Lasn), and is now global. In countries such as Kuala Lumpur, United States, Canada, China, Russia, Germany, the Netherlands, Brazil and South Africa (they are calling it Operation Ubuntu … personally, I think my blog post was more representative to the meaning of that word Ubuntu … just sayin’), among many others.

The participants are said to be passionate about social and economic inequality … something I would have to applaud them on.

They have been known to hold placards and shout, “we are the 99%!” I understand that what they mean is that 1% of America’s wealthiest are benefiting from the tax cuts and benefits that elude 99% of the working people in the country … hard for me to argue with that either.

Then there is the ‘Robin Hood tax’, or taxing the wealthy (banks, financial institutions) and giving it to the poor of our world and fighting climate change. I always have adored the teaching of that hooded forest fellow!

I also love that we have the freedom to public protest. If this were not the case, we would be living in a communist country. I love that we have the freedom to argue our viewpoints. If this were not the case we would have no freedom of speech. And I support and join people who work to make life better for those less fortunate.

But (you knew this was coming …), I am not sure that tent cities are the best means to attain such noble goals.

Unions have joined the protests (the wealthy unions should also be challenged to share their wealth). Some cities are looking into legal means of ending the occupations. And, in Vancouver, the original message has been lost in a drug overdose resulting in death, and at least a perception that the goal has become more about keeping the tent city than the original focus. Whatever good intentions were (and are) desired seem to be only lip service activism, and little action.

I have a better idea. One that is not just complaining about the world’s problems and it’s political leaders, but one which we, the true world’s 1% (lets look at our world more globally than simply North America. The World Health Organization estimates that one-third of the world is well-fed, one-third is under-fed one-third is starving) do all that we can, as individuals to be a part of the solution. WE are the world’s wealthy! If we, as individuals, do not make changes in how we spend our money, then we should pull up our tent pegs, duct tape our mouths, and stop insinuating that the problems of the world are the work of someone else, when they are the result of our unwillingness to alter how we live.

To me, the following short, simple, and peaceful proposition accomplishes far more for our world’s ~~99%~~ 100%.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IN0W3gjnNE%5D

Read Full Post »