DELIVERANCE VS. FREEDOM Munroe cited the children of Israel to illustrate his point. They were delivered from the Egyptians but then spent 40 years on what should have been only an 11-day journey, wandering around in the desert trying to reach the Promised Land (see Deut. 1:2-3).
The reason the journey took so long is that the people never learned to think in accordance with the truth. The Word says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom. 12:2).
God performed miracles every day for the Israelites. He gave them manna to eat, water to drink and health for their bodies, and He guided them on their journey day and night. He also preserved their clothing so that it never wore out.
God wanted them to focus on renewing their minds and not on the basics of food and shelter. But the children of Israel never lost the oppression of their slave mentality. They never learned to think differently, and most of them died in their deliverance.
What about you? Do you have a slave mentality where money is concerned? Are you unable to see your way past poverty as a result of having grown up with it?
Did someone teach you that God is glorified when you’re poor? Do you think you’re undeserving of prosperity? Are you finding it impossible to get out of debt?
Until you change your thinking, you won’t change your circumstances. But here’s the good news: If you’re willing to accept the responsibility of learning about your authority in Christ and the inheritance He’s promised you in His Word, you can live in financial freedom.
PROGRAMMED FOR LIBERTY The process whereby you move from deliverance to freedom starts between your ears. The Lord said to Joshua: “This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you” (Josh. 5:9). We know that Egypt is a symbol for bondage. And “reproach,” from the Hebrew text, means “shame.”
It’s time to eliminate your memories of past bondage, failure, shame, lack and despair. Here are some of the steps that worked for me:
1. Study the Word and see how much God wants you to prosper (see Jer. 29:11). Renew your mind by studying scriptures on the subject of financial abundance. Write them down on cards and carry them with you. Read them aloud and confess them often as God’s promises to you.
2. Tithe faithfully. Expect the Lord to meet all your needs while He rebukes the devourer for your sake (see Phil. 4:19; Mal. 3:11).
My first decision in taking responsibility for freedom was to begin double-tithing. (I can hear gasping out there!) I increased my giving to my church and began sowing seed into other ministries I considered “good ground.” I learned this concept from a teaching on “God’s 12 Laws of Sowing and Reaping” in Thirty, Sixty, Hundredfold by John Avanzini (Harrison House).
3. Begin seeing yourself living in abundance. You can’t have it if you can’t see it.
4. Praise God for multiplying your seed back to you. As I gave, I kept a list of my gifts into God’s kingdom. I watered my seeds with praise, listened to teaching tapes and filled my mind with the Word of God.
I did all of the above–and more. I know it doesn’t make any sense to the natural mind, but God is bigger than the natural mind, and His system works by giving.
I know you’re thinking, “If I did that, I wouldn’t have enough to pay my bills.” Well, I had this concern, too, but the Lord rewarded my obedience, and I never came up short.
Within a little more than 5 years, the Lord honored my faith and brought me totally out of debt. The money was coming in from everywhere.
God even caused my former husband to get involved with paying down the debt. I’ll never forget the day he came home with the deed to the house marked PAID IN FULL.
He is an awesome God! His way works, but it is exactly the opposite of the way the world works.
The world says you can make things happen through your own power. God says that if you turn loose and entrust your plans to Him, His power will bring your plans to fruition.
God’s power is a miracle, and it’s waiting to spring forth in your life and set you free from the destructive bondage of indebtedness. All you have to do is begin planting.
Now here’s the punch line: My former life and my days as the MasterCard queen are over. Debt-free, abundant living really is true freedom.
Jane Pierotti is a widely recognized management consultant, speaker and author of Supercharged Living, published by Charisma House. Pierotti is founder and president of Counterpoint, Inc., based in Memphis, Tennessee.
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