…ability to produce…Deuteronomy 8:18

^“16 He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. ¹⁷ You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” ¹⁸ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.” Deuteronomy 8:16-18

I read somewhere that if you live in the United States of America, have a loose change jar in your bedroom, and own your home, (or making mortgage payments) that you are included in the top 1% of wealth in the world.

I struggle believing that. Only because I suffer from what you would call a ‘scarcity mindset,’ or ‘a poverty stricken spirit.’

Today’s article is my attempt to consolidate quite a bit of research I have gathered concerning the ‘poverty stricken spirit,’ and to gain a new perspective, and understanding, of my new relationship in God’s family.

I will attempt to draw a clear picture, both for you, and for me, of how my ‘poverty stricken spirit,’ manifests itself in my life and mind.

Be warned… I may take a rabbit trail or two, and or, ramble a bit on certain subjects. Only because I am not completely certain of my current understanding.

This article is as much for me as it is you. When I started writing I wanted to capture my journey as it unfolded and to not edit the experience too much, so that it’s all glossy and I come off as being smarter than what I really am. The goal is to have a real conversation with you. A conversation that gets us to ‘stop and think.’

I’m not going to tackle the topic of the Israelite’s versus a born again believer, and Gods initial covenants and who they pertain to. The part of this particular chapter, Deuteronomy chapter 8, is the small part of verse 18, “…the ability to produce… wealth” with most people focusing on the word wealth.

I am stuck on “…the ability to produce…”

For me, looking at what I have ‘produced’ so far in my life doesn’t seem to add up to much.

Right there is a poverty stricken, and scarcity driven, mindset.

In 2016 when I started to write, the first topic I wanted to tackle was ‘success,’ what it was, and how to attain it. As I’ve progressed… two other topics were made evident to me, one where I feel I wasn’t being successful, and the other, where I felt I was definitely successful.

So here are the three topics… Success, The Emerging Man, and The Definite Dad. In that order.

“…the ability to produce…”

Ability.

Strong’s Hebrew concordance states this as a persons “strength, power, might.”

The Greek equivalent is “dunamis.” It’s where we get our word ‘dynamite.’ It speaks to Gods miraculous power and supernatural might. That as believers we have access to.

This brings to mind John chapter 15 where Jesus states, “…apart from me ye can do nothing.”

When I hear the word ‘ability,’ I think of skills. Like welding, driving heavy equipment, or shooting a compound bow. With those, the targeted goals are easy to identify, the skills needed readily learned, and those skills can ‘produce’ a certain degree of ‘wealth.’ I believe you are ‘successful’ as you attain each level of competency.

And my ‘poverty stricken spirit’ says, “So what?” (usually with a nose turned up, in a disgusted tone)

I feel this stems from my penchant to always be learning. I never feel like I’ve hit ‘Master Level’ in any one thing, and so I have a hard time accepting praise, and I tell myself, “anybody can do what I do,” because I am literally, an unskilled, or I should say… unschooled laborer. I have skills… but everybody has those skills don’t they?

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139:14

Uniquely me. I am made in the image of God. Gods word states about Jesus, “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.“ ~ Colossians 1:15

Through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit I am made to be more, and more, like my big brother Jesus.

An experience I had, when I was ten years old, that I wrote about in my book “When We Were Lions,” continues to come to mind as I research these topics and work to build a stronger mindset.

I believe now that it was the Holy Spirit, who placed his hand on my shoulder, and said, “That’s what I love about you,” as I was trying to pitch in the championship game, for ten year olds, from the regular mound at 60 feet 6 inches away. (I figured it out though) And then He physically moved me, and placed me, at the proper distance.

It’s funny how we, “can’t see the forest for the tree’s,” or, “our own hand in front of our face,” when we are working on ourselves, and the answer seems to be laying out in the dark somewhere. Until that is, when God has us ready to see it, and then we feel so dumb, because it was, “right in front of our face,” the whole time.

He is definitely using that experience as a ten year old kid to teach me something today… but I just… can’t… quite seem to understand… the lesson.

Stop and think to yourself, “Where am I in regards to what I understand success is, or isn’t? Where am I in my abilities, and is there anything in regards to myself that, currently, I am very definite about??”

Working on this is like grasping a large handful of soaped up marbles, I can’t quite grasp the single thing.

But I’m willing to keep trying.