Luke 19:13 “So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’”
Kingdom thinking will lead us to break the poverty mindsets over people and help them to create their own wealth. Yes, we want to feed the poor, but kingdom thinking will take us one step further in how we can create a business or prepare them to work in high-level jobs in order to feed themselves and become prosperous for the sake of the Kingdom of God.
In helping others to feed themselves through creating prospering businesses we can give them the ability to have a longer life-span, have less sickness as well as less suffering that poverty brings. By helping others help themselves we can also bring in the Gospel and see their spiritual lives altered and prospering as well.
Kingdom thinking leaders are able to use their influence to help transform people spiritually, financially and civically for kingdom purposes. We realize God is the One who gives the ability, but He often works through secondary means and, we, the Body of Christ, are the secondary means.
Kingdom thinking will cause people to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness according to Matthew 6:33. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
What are “these things” that will be added to us? Reading through the list we see that it is talking about our clothing (shelter), food, health as well as things concerning our future prosperity. In all of my travels in 100 different countries of the world I find that these are the basic things people worry about. So what is the answer? Put His Kingdom and His righteousness first, before all other things in life!
Secondly, kingdom thinking will get people who are seeking His kingdom to use what is available. We see this principle coming out in John 6 where Jesus asked Philip: “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” Jesus only did this to test Philip because He already knew what to do.
What was Philip’s response? “Eight months wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” (vs.7) This is the way Satan works. When God calls us to do something, Satan is always there to show us what we do not have in order to discourage us from doing the Lord’s will. However, we read that there was another disciple who mentioned a boy with “five small barley loaves and two small fish,” but then he said, “how far will they go among so many?” (vs. 9) We read that in the hands of Jesus it was enough and He fed a multitude of people. Jesus used what was available, thanked His Father and had plenty for everyone.
I was trying to teach this principle to my oldest daughter when she wanted to go on a short term mission program to Morocco. She needed $1500 for the trip. I was asking her what she had available. At first she thought she did not have anything, but I reminded her of her artistic talent. She is a great artist (must be from her mother’s side) and she had drawn a picture of the heads of a number of animals. In that art piece there was a space and I suggested she draw the face of an Australian Aborigine man, which she did.
I told her what we would do is make 100 T-shirts with that art piece and put a text ‘SAVE THE HUMANS’ on the top. I reminded her that we are constantly talking about saving the animals, but what about saving the humans especially when it comes to the abortion of babies.
I invested $500 and we made a 100 T-shirts and sold them for $20 each. Out of that we made $2000 and my initial investment was paid back and she had $1500 for her mission trip to Morocco. And she learned an important lesson to use what is available.
Kingdom thinking will help people to realize that they have available more than they think they have, and with God’s favor – it can meet the need, even feed a multitude.