Servias Ministries Blog

One of the more subtle aspects of the ego is how it promotes scarcity.  Your ego would have you chained to the current system under the Economic Law of Scarcity.  Scarcity is the fundamental economic problem of having seemingly unlimited human wants in a world of limited resources.  Man created this definition.  However the definition is restricted to the lower state of existence at the pure physical level without regard to the unlimited resources available to those with greater revelation and understanding.  When people are scarcity-oriented, they will have pressure to walk in a lawless manner.  The current system in oppressive by nature and thus the government creates a notable infrastructure to force compliant behavior in the area of revenue collecting.  It was the same environment during the time Jesus walked the earth.  The following passage is mentioned in Mark and Luke as well (Mark 12:13–17; Luke 20:20–26 ):

Matthew 22:

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk.16 And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. 17 Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? 19 Show Me the tax money.”

So they brought Him a denarius.

20 And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”

21 They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”  And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.

Jesus is THE Pattern Son and we should take His example as the basis of our behavior.  Inherent in this event is the fact that Jesus said “Pay the tax”.  The Pharisees were subjected to Rome’s authority and were hoping for a conquering Messiah to take control and establish Israel as the authority.  They viewed Rome as lawless to their way of life and rationalized why they shouldn’t be subjected to Rome’s taxation.  Yet they walked the roads that Rome built and used other of Rome’s resources.

Today, people want to use all of the resources created by their current governments but do not want to fund the creation and maintenance of the infrastructure.  They use the argument that much of the funds are misused, etc., etc. etc.  Stop!  Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.  Pay your taxes and establish yourself above reproach.  In the current system, the gun, the badge, and the prison are the law.  Pay your taxes and sleep peaceful at night, I do.

The error in their lawless approach to evading taxes is that they don’t understand that Our Heavenly Father is greater than the current system.  He has economic solutions that surpass man’s understanding.  You are just one revelation away from having your needs met.  The problem is that you don’t seek Our Heavenly Father’s voice in the area of scarcity.  Instead, you spend much of your time trying to work the current system which is designed to keep you enslaved.  Our Heavenly Father is in the business of setting the captives free.

The Economic Law of Scarcity mentioned above assumes men have unlimited wants.  Not so.  As I spend more time with Our Heavenly Father, my “wants” decline.  Life is about building relationships and ministering to the needs of others.  Love wants to restore and reconcile.  Self-centeredness desires to divide and be condescending toward others in order to exalt itself.  The ego is the source of unlimited “wants”.  As you move toward being led by The Spirit, your needs and wants will decline.  You will desire to simplify your life.

Jesus rallied the resources of Heaven to pay His taxes:

Matthew 17:

24 When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?”

25 He said, “Yes.” And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?”

26 Peter said to Him, “From strangers.” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. 27 Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.”

The fish responded to the words of Jesus.  Peter responded to the words of Jesus.  Are we not also “aliens” in this land?  Let us not offend the tax collectors.  Let us move into the Kingdom of unlimited resources where every need is met, not to supply our old man, but to minister Love and life to all mankind.  The riches in Heaven are reserved and only accessible by those with the revelation of Love.  That is where the real treasury is at.  It will be protected from those with lawless intent.

This is the number to have been recently printed and put in the markets by the central banks.  If ISIS rebels decide to blow up Saudi Arabia’s oil pipelines, a rather easy task I have read, the price of oil could skyrocket above $200 per barrel.  How does $7-$9 gasoline in the U.S. impact the economy?  Catastrophic.  This could be the black swan event no one planned for that could cause a global economic collapse.  Stay nimble.  Keep the tanks and the food pantry full.

After Fed Chairman Yellen’s comments, someone place a half a billion into gold futures:

You don’t put this kind of cash at risk unless you know something.

Here is today’s Gold chart:

Their investment is in the black already.  Hmmm!

One aspect of dying to the flesh and expanding your Love walk is giving.  Our Heavenly Father established this most fundamental truth in the most well known Scripture in the New Testament:

John 3:16  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

The word “so” emphasized the magnitude of HIS Love for mankind.  Our Heavenly Father projected HIS Love by including every person who was ever born and who will be born.  I have found one of the greatest tests to determine how dead to the flesh you really are is whether you can cheerfully give or instead, is that voice inside of you compelling you to hold on to that resource deemed to be scarce. 

2 Corinthians 9:6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

Within this passage is a key to maturing as a Son.  We know that the love of money, also known as greed, is the root of all evil.  Thus the distribution of money or lack thereof is a general indication of your level of spiritual maturity and your revelation of Love.  Jesus’ revelation of Love was so great He gave His life for all mankind, the greatest act of giving.

Have you developed a pattern of giving?  If not, how do you expect to continue to mature when one of the greatest hindrances is not dealt with?  Jesus made the point with the rich young ruler.  Many ministries stay away from this topic in fear they will offend their donors and cut off their own source of payroll.  How can we expect to be fully pleasing when we will not deal with the one area known to be the most subtle issue of “self”?  Your ego would try to convince you that anyone approaching the subject of giving is simply out to extract your money from you.  That is where the real manipulation lies.

Years ago, Our Heavenly Father instructed me that if I give with a pure heart, HE will bless that giving EVEN if the recipient did not use the funds accordingly.  It is all about intent.  At Servias Ministries, we don’t want to pry your money out of your hands.  We simply receive gifts from willing and cheerful givers.  If you are giving nothing into the Kingdom, can you really expect to be chosen for use in the Kingdom?  If you are always receiving and never giving, your state of maturity is in question.

As a practical point, planting good financial seeds will lead to good financial fruit.  My wife and I discovered this reality years ago.  Our Heavenly Father takes pleasure in meeting the needs of those who are cheerful givers.  Giving can take on many different forms: time, possessions, money, words of encouragement, etc.

In the past, ministries used these Spiritual truths for their own agendas, apart from the intent of Love.  Does this mean that the Laws associated with giving no longer apply?  Of course not.  Your ego would convince you to steer clear of any discussion in this area.  Why?  It is one of the last and most subtle areas you must deal with before you have fully matured.

There are those who are faithful givers, some who occasionally give, and those who simply receive and never give.  Those are all indications of levels of maturity.  If you never give, I would suspect that you really question Our Heavenly Father’s ability to rally resources on your behalf.  Your eyes are on your situation and your faith has not matured to the point of believing every Word HE has spoken.  When your eyes are finally opened to the reality of how Our Heavenly Father responds to a cheerful giver, you will understand Paul’s words:

Philippians 4:19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.