1. Theme: Breaking the Curse of Poverty

In the past two Sundays, I spoke about living a life like Jesus, and before that, about the life of freedom. Sister Bola, who went on a mission trip with us, excitedly told me that her prayers for others resulted in healing.

Poverty and sickness are both curses, undesirable things. Many worldly people understand this, but some brothers and sisters in Christ do not.

I often encounter unlucky individuals. In Singapore, I met a Christian who was diagnosed with stomach cancer ten years ago. His wife left him, and his life became impoverished and miserable. When I saw him, I told him that he was in a state of curse and needed to break through it.

In the 《Bible》, Jesus said to preach the Gospel to the poor. The healing of diseases is also clearly recorded. However, many do not know that God can bless them to become abundant in life. Returning to the 《Bible》, what is the Gospel of Jesus? In 《Matthew》, there is the concrete example of a landowner giving workers silver to work and gain abundance.

《Luke》 4:18-20 records Jesus’ words: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” The Lord Jesus said: Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing! This passage tells us—blessed are the poor! No matter what you do, you will clearly see God’s blessings come down! One of our lawyer sisters, who has been with us for a year, has not only grown in pastoral care but also had the bondage of poverty broken off her. When she first came to us, her salary was over three thousand; later, it increased to seven thousand, and soon she became a lawyer partner, with a current monthly salary of sixty to seventy thousand. Now she receives many financial blessings. She does not value finances excessively and has not abandoned God because of her abundant life but lives joyfully, serving and learning to pastor daily.

The financial turnaround of people who come to the church is very important. In life, we rarely see very poor people being very joyful; instead, they worry about many things because of money. Today, I share with everyone that the poor are blessed because they will clearly see God’s blessings on them. When I first went to Singapore, I was very poor, and God turned around my finances.

2. Scripture

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. (《2 Corinthians》 8:9)

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is that though He was rich, He became poor for our sake, so that through His poverty, we might become rich. We must recognize that we can break free from poverty.

3. Prayer:
   In the name of Jesus Christ, I declare: The matter of the Lord Jesus, my God, who was rich but became poor for us, so that through His poverty, we might become rich, my finance will be completely turnaround, my God is the God of blessing, Amen!

4. Problems Jesus Came to Solve

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn. (《Isaiah》 61:1-2)

《Isaiah》 61:1, or the scripture from 《Luke》 4, is the essence of our Gospel. You must know that poverty is not good. I have gradually come to understand that everything concerning our lives is actually spiritual. We must reject the idea of distinguishing between “what is spiritual and what is worldly.” Poverty, sickness, and bondage are all spiritual matters, and we can rely on Jesus Christ to solve spiritual matters. A person’s entire life is a spiritual matter; we must completely reject the spirit of religion.

Someone asked me, what is salvation? Many think it is going to heaven after death, but that is not the case in the Bible. For example, the woman with the issue of blood was healed by touching Jesus, and the blind received sight. Jesus said, “Your faith has saved you.” If the Gospel is a post-mortem Gospel, then do you still need to believe after you die? You do not need to believe after you die; you believe while you are alive. Salvation is not just about going to heaven but concerns every aspect of our lives. 《Deuteronomy》 28:1-11 records the various blessings that God promised, all of which concern our daily lives. The blessings God bestows are blessings accompanied by abundance.

Living abundantly is a good thing. Do not think that believing in Jesus means becoming an otherworldly immortal. What exactly is our Gospel? Is the Gospel we preach really that difficult to preach? Actually, it is not difficult at all. The Gospel concerns the things that people experience while alive. The blessings people need most when they are alive are wealth and health. If people act according to God’s word, blessings will come. Do not think that blessings are ethereal things; they are very real. People must understand blessings and curses while living in this world. A person living under a curse cannot live well, while a person living under blessings will definitely live well. Jesus came into the world to solve the problem of curses. Poverty is a kind of curse.

Some think Jesus was poor. Was Jesus originally rich or originally poor? When did He become poor? You should know that Jesus was very wealthy when He ministered in the world. His clothes were made of very high-quality fabric, which ordinary people could not afford. Jesus also traveled around with 12 disciples, which incurred significant daily expenses. Jesus even hired Judas to manage finances, and Judas often took money from the money bag without being noticed. This also proves that Jesus was a very wealthy person. Jesus bore the curse of our poverty on the cross. I tasted poverty when I was young, constantly hoping to repay debts, which was very unpleasant.

Today, preaching the Gospel is not difficult; many people whose financial situations need to be turned around need this Gospel. Some time ago, I ministered to a brother who was very confused about financial matters. I constantly built up his faith, but when he faced his financial problems, he collapsed again. Therefore, solving his financial problems is fundamental. I long for our brothers and sisters to be wealthy. Once, when a sister was kneeling next to me praying, I said to her, “God will turn around your finances!” Sure enough, her finances turned around soon after.

This is good news to be preached to the poor! Do not preach the Gospel of poverty anymore. Someone created a term, “prosperity theology.” So today, I ask everyone, do you want to choose prosperity theology or failure theology? Do you want to choose a life of poverty or a life of abundance?

Originally, our God wants to raise up a group of people in the world to restore the beautiful image in which He created them. This image is definitely not one of poverty. Once, I ministered to a person and declared, “Brother, God will turn around your finances.” He said to me, “Impossible.” Some people also do not believe that their diseases will be healed. This is the mindset of poverty!

The fundamental solution to people’s problems is to release them from the bondage of poverty. I long to release our brothers and sisters from the bondage of poverty. Is this a sin? In Singapore, when a sister was kneeling next to me praying, I blessed her and said, “Sister, you will begin to be blessed.”

Some people say this is prosperity theology. Today, I ask brothers and sisters, do you want to choose a “successful theology” or an “unsuccessful theology”? Do you want to choose a Gospel of wealth or a Gospel of poverty? Of course, you should choose a Gospel with God’s glorious image. Today, we want to restore the Gospel of God’s glorious image. Perhaps you have accepted many concepts in traditional churches, and it is difficult to change them immediately. Some time ago, there was a very poor brother. I said, “God will turn you around and make you wealthy.” This brother said, “I still prefer to be poor.” There was also a brother who said, “How is that possible?” These concepts must be changed!

5. God Makes Rich Those Whom He Delights in the Bible

For example, in the time of Noah, he could build an aircraft carrier (Ark). If Noah was very poor and had no money, how could he build an aircraft carrier (Ark)? Abraham, Joseph, David, and Solomon were all wealthy people. Therefore, brothers and sisters must know that wealthy people are not necessarily so in love with money, but poor people will definitely be in love with money. Is a wealthy person necessarily very spiritual? I do not know. Later, I discovered that spirituality has little to do with poverty or wealth. Among wealthy people, there are those who are not spiritual and those who are spiritual. The same is true among poor people. So after we changed this concept, we began to receive the Gospel of God turning around people’s poverty, and God will begin to turn around our lives.
Some of our brothers and sisters, when they are building their careers, are not that wealthy. One brother said that he always have money when he needs it, but he is not very wealthy. The Bible says that we are more than enough.

6. Breaking the Curse of Poverty is a Key Component of Our Gospel

We must open our spiritual eyes to see the matter of poverty. In my office in Singapore, someone came to see me. At that time, I saw a team of ghosts behind this person, ghosts of various shapes. Then he sat on the sofa in my office, and I asked his friend if this person was very unlucky. His friend said yes, how did you know? A group of ghosts constantly ruins this person, how can this person prosper, everything is ruined. The Gospel of Jesus Christ breaks all curses. If a person does not prosper in anything, it is a spiritual problem. So no matter who it is, I like to take a look with spiritual eyes. When I see this person’s financial situation, I can discern their spiritual situation. When I look at this person’s physical condition, I know their spiritual situation.

6.1 One of the Roots of Poverty: The Mindset of Poverty

Why are there poor people in this world? Because there is a mindset of poverty; logic is in their mindset. Today, if all the money of the wealthy is divided equally, after five years, there will still be some poor people and some wealthy people. When I chat with people, when I have a yo-yo in my hand, I exchange it for another thing, and then I exchange it for a house. This is so strange. When I was in college, I had a classmate who was in economics, and he made a simulation program to simulate how people become poor. After ten rounds, after a hundred rounds, the poor are still poor. The problem of the poor is still their own problem. If your mind is poor, you cannot be wealthy. Among us, I have put a lot of effort into blessing our brothers and sisters. The effect of a person’s life comes from the heart; what you think in your heart becomes your life.

The root of poverty is the mindset of poverty! If a person’s mind is poor, they are poor. We must now break the mindset of the poor in us. If a person’s mind has the idea of poverty, they cannot become wealthy. Today’s poverty or wealth is the result of a series of choices. People’s wealth is due to a wealthy mindset.

Greed is because of the poor concept in the heart. Knowing how to sow, giving out will become wealthy. Not because of greedy wealth, it is those who sow who become wealthy. You must guard your heart above all else, because everything you do flows from it. The church is a place to distribute blessings. The root of poverty is spiritual ignorance. It is impossible for people who do not know God in their understanding to be wealthy. Dare to invest, only then will there be returns. We must now break all these curses of poverty.

6.2. The Second Root of Poverty: Spiritual Ignorance

Some time ago, I communicated with a sister and asked her to consider investing in real estate, but she told me that she was afraid of her husband divorcing her if he found out. Actually, we must know that God will bless our finances; do not be afraid. Because people’s finances are all blessed by God, clearly God brings blessings because of our spiritual investment.

I know a real estate developer who came from poverty. He said, “Whenever I make an investment, I need a lot of determination.” It is like when we buy a property, we also need a lot of courage.

6.3. The Third Root of Poverty: Lack of Financial Knowledge

Do you know? We must update the ideas in us and to do practical things. Do not think that we can build airplanes by just reading the Bible every day. How can we make airplanes if we do not learn new knowledge every day? I am afraid no one would dare to sit in such an airplane. A very powerful brother told me that his mother’s spiritual state is a spiritual “giant,” but practically a “dwarf.” She does not know how to invest.

To manage tangible and intangible assets, just like our hearts are intangible assets, and what we own outside are tangible assets.

6.4. The Fourth Root of Poverty: Not Prospering in the Spirit

Take time to become strong in the spirit. I hope everyone prospers in the spirit so that wealth is true wealth.

7. True Wealth and False Wealth

True wealth does not decline. The story of 《Dream of the Red Chamber》 is a story about the decline of a large family. Wealth does not last three generations is a common saying in China. There are many such stories.

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. (《Revelation》 3:15-18)

Have spiritual vision, see farther and deeper. Do not think that we are amazing if we have money. It is God who makes us wealthy. God makes us wealthy not for our enjoyment but to let us know the meaning of living, which is to let you become a blessing to more people. Start to be on fire, do not be lukewarm. Being zealous for the Lord is a characteristic of Chinese Christians. Becoming wealthy is not a very difficult thing. God has made Singaporean Christians wealthy, but they are lukewarm. If God breaks your curse, then continue to serve God like me.

Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you. (《Deuteronomy》 28:47-48)

Why does wealth and poverty constantly cycle? It is precisely because many people do not know who they are when they are wealthy. We have to leave this world sooner or later, and we cannot take anything away, but because we serve God, God makes us wealthy, so we must be more zealous.

8. Conclusion: Poverty Turns into Wealth

Do not forget what it means to live as a person. Do not forget that after a person dies, worldly things are like joss paper. Do not forget God when you are wealthy, and still serve God with all your heart and strength. Those among us who are poor are blessed, and those who are wealthy must not forget God’s grace. Arise! God wants you to be a vessel of this era. If you are willing to be a vessel used by God, God will definitely turn around your finances.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I believe that you will break the yokes of poverty, and that when I become wealthy I will keep serving you. I will become a blessing to more people. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen!