Principle of Abundance

Hark! The Angels Didn’t Sing

by Andy Wood on December 17, 2008

in Five LV Laws, Principle of Abundance

Sorry to be the latest to assault your traditional Nativity scene.  But this isn’t just an exercise in historical trivia.  Something happened near Bethlehem that, in my 50 years, has gone unnoticed or ignored.

Have you ever had times when, for a split second, it seems that God has “parted the curtain” between the seen and unseen world, and given you a glimpse of the Larger Story?  You can find one of those in Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus.

Setting the Scene

Joseph and Mary, both descendants of King David, had returned to their ancestral home town for census and taxing purposes.  This shuffling of the population of Israel was a massive undertaking, and caused some serious housing shortages for months.  But somebody in Bethlehem (possibly a distant cousin, who knows?) offered them shelter in the place where they kept their animals.  This was probably a cave.  We don’t know how long they were there before Jesus was born, but it was probably a little time.  It doesn’t seem as though ol’ Joe was banging on doors at midnight, hollering, “My wife’s in labor!”

On the day (yes, day) Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph were still in the cave.  The animals’ feeding trough became the infant’s first bed.

Then the sun went down, and the drama began. [click to continue…]

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Why Haven’t You Won the Lottery Yet?

by Andy Wood on December 10, 2008

in Ability, Enlarging Your Capacity, Five LV Laws, Hoarders, Insight, Life Currency, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, Money, Principle of Abundance

Why do you have the resources, abilities, relationships and intelligence that you do?  Why do you lack the brain, the pain, the financial gain that others have?

It all comes back to the Trust.

What you “have” isn’t yours any more than what somebody else “has” is theirs.  It all – even your life – belongs to God.  He purchased it completely with the death and resurrection of His Son.  But He has entrusted the management decisions to you.  Incidentally, the primary management decision you must make is what you will do with the death and resurrection of His Son!

Jesus’ story of the talents illustrates the point. (You can read my paraphrase/summary here.) Each of the servants received part of the master’s possessions to manage for him while he was away.  That represents your life and all it entails. [click to continue…]

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Thinking and Thanking

by Andy Wood on November 26, 2008

in Enlarging Your Capacity, Five LV Laws, Insight, Life Currency, LV Stories, Principle of Abundance

Oh, my Father, I enter into Your presence in the name of Jesus to express my eternal gratitude to you.

Thank You for ACCESS – the unfathomable privilege of entering directly into Your presence.

Thank You for BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE – those wonderful growth experiences that look at first like obstacles or curses.

Thank You for CHILDREN – for the ways they remind us that You are big, life is good, and pleasing You isn’t all that complicated.

Thank You for DREAMERS – those who saw the possibilities when no one else did, and who risked failure to make their dreams come true.

Thank You for EXAMPLES – for people who are just as willing to practice as they are to preach. [click to continue…]

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Building Wealth in the Land of the Clowns

by Andy Wood on November 6, 2008

in Five LV Laws, Life Currency, Money, Principle of Abundance

Isn’t it rich?
Are we a pair?
Me here at last on the ground,
You in mid-air.
Send in the clowns.

Isn’t it bliss?
Don’t you approve?
One who keeps tearing around,
One who can’t move.
Where are the clowns?
Send in the clowns.
-from “Send in the Clowns”

No, that’s not the theme song to the next installment of the U.S. Congress.  Then again…

Yesterday I introduced you to a group of Christ followers who were living in a world of mirrors.  The good people of Laodicea were living with the bling, but God had a different estimate of their true wealth.  And in His correction, He revealed some things about a completely different economy that is in operation all around us.  For review, here are the principles we looked at yesterday:

Principle #1:  The root nature of sin is a declaration of independence from God.

Principle #2:  God has a system of economy unlike the world’s system.

Principle #3:  “Economy” is the exchange of all the commodities of life.

Principle #4:  Money has a unique place in the commodities of life.

Principle #5:  It is possible to be rich in the world’s economy and bankrupt in God’s.

So here the scenery changes, and God has some encouraging things to say to His loveable losers: [click to continue…]

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God Has an Economy, and You CAN Be Rich In It

by Andy Wood on November 5, 2008

in Five LV Laws, Life Currency, Money, Principle of Abundance

It was the Beverly Hills of ancient Asia.  A center of wealth and high-end commerce.  A medical haven, where people came from miles around for treatment of various ailments.  If you wrote your mama and told her your job was transferring you there, she’d have something to brag about the next day.  This was some place.  And there was a church in town.

How would you like to get a personal letter from Jesus Christ, where the first thing he said was, “I know what you’ve been doing”?  That can be a little unnerving!  But that’s exactly what Jesus said to the First Church of Coolville, alias Laodicea.  He had a few other things to say as well.  Let’s peek at their mail:

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.” But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see (Revelation 3:15-18).

Looks like the guys and dolls in Lala Land had a few things to learn about wealth.

So do we.

They thought they were loaded; Jesus said otherwise.  Remember, though, that in spite of its scathing message, this was a love letter.  And in his love, Jesus gave them, and LifeVestors everywhere, a few pointers on His economy. [click to continue…]

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“What’ll You Have, What’ll You Have?”

by Andy Wood on October 9, 2008

in Five LV Laws, Principle of Abundance

Varsity Drive-In, Atlanta

Varsity Drive-In, Atlanta

If you’re ever in Atlanta (we’re here right now for the Catalyst conference) and want to check out the local cuisine, at least once you need to experience the Varsity Drive In.  I’m not talking about its suburban cousins in the outlying communities, but the original, located on the edge of the Georgia Tech campus in downtown Atlanta.  Founded in 1928, the Varsity is the largest drive-in restaurant in the world.  It covers two city blocks, and serves 8,000 hamburgers, over two miles of hot dogs, and a ton (literally) of onion rings every day.  It also serves more Coca-cola than any other single outlet in the world.

The Varsity is an eating experience that begins when you walk in the door.  It’s like a step back in time.  The order counter is massive, and behind it is the most fun and amazing collection of fast-food servers in the industry.  More than 20 Varsity employees have worked there over 20 years.  (Try to find that at a McDonald’s!)  If you want a tiny sense of what it’s like, click here and just listen.

From the minute you get near the counter, you’ll hear that famous Varsity chorus.  It sounds like chaos, but it’s actually its own delightful symphony, set to the rhythm of hurried city life.  And resounding through the melee is, “What’ll you have, what’ll you have?”

Like any landmark, the Varsity has had its share of famous patrons.  But what makes it so special [click to continue…]

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Seven Keys to Standing When the Nations are Shaking

by Andy Wood on September 25, 2008

in Consumers, Five LV Laws, Life Currency, Love, LV Alter-egos, Money, Principle of Abundance, Principle of Freedom

This site is nearly a year old, and I have never written a post I am more serious or urgent about.

There are times when our spirits and/or minds are unusually drawn in certain directions.  Ideas and concepts leap off the pages of the Bible.  Words or names get planted in our consciousness and never seem to go away.  These times, I believe, are no coincidence.  They are times in which the Holy Spirit is bringing grounded biblical truth to bear on current experience.

Simply put, He’s speaking.

I don’t have experiences like this tremendously often, which makes the times I do have them all the more compelling.  What I am about to share grew out of such a time.

As I mentioned earlier , I believe we are entering a season that for many people will be a season of restoration and change worldwide.

We are also living in tense, fearful days.  I called a banker friend yesterday and asked him, in the words of an old Randy Stonehill song, if we should go back to trading seashells and just admit we’re broke.  (He was encouraging.  But then, he’s a banker.)

I also spoke about this Sunday (Listen Here) that these are days in which anything that can be shaken will be.  God is shaking the wealth of the nations.  People are afraid.

How do we stand strong when we’re living somewhere between the faith and the fear?  How can we be in a place where we see the joy beyond what we endure?  How can we allow the Holy Spirit to shake the barnacles off of us and prepare us for a “latter glory” that will come?  How can we be lights in a world of confusion and darkness?

Sparing you the details of how I got there, there are seven things we must do, and do quickly: [click to continue…]

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Between the Ranting and the Receiving

by Andy Wood on September 22, 2008

in Enlarging Your Capacity, Five LV Laws, LV Cycle, Principle of Abundance, Principle of Increase

(How to Restore Your Losses, Part 2)

Ground Zero Construction Site, New York

Ground Zero Construction Site, New York

In the previous post I talked about the fact that at the end of Job’s saga, the Lord restored his losses.  For most of this righteous man’s painful episode, the end of the story was yet to be told about him… an important thing to remember when we encounter seasons of great loss.

One thing I left hanging was that Job was required to participate the process.  Make no mistake about it: this was a man who was intimate enough with God to be honest with Him about his feelings and pain.  But something changed between the ranting and the receiving.  I have a feeling the same may be true of you and me, too, if we want to see our losses restored.

1.  Recognize God as a God of purpose.
“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted,” Job said (Job 42:2, ESV).  Job acknowledged not just that God had a plan, but that His intentions and purposes are good.  He also submitted to that purpose – even when he didn’t have answers. [click to continue…]

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Oh, Those Golden Lippers

by Andy Wood on July 10, 2008

in Consumers, Five LV Laws, Life Currency, LV Alter-egos, Money, Principle of Abundance, Tense Truths

RollsTense Truth:  God has established clearly-defined principles of life management that can make me prosper, and my tomorrow better than today.  Yet for his own good purposes, God will allow me to suffer in order to further the gospel, transform my character, and mature my faith. Regardless of the what the circumstances of the moment suggest, God is for me, and will reward faithfulness, to some degree in this life, and to a much greater degree in the next.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Mention the word “prosperity” to American Evangelical Christians and you’ll get one of two responses.  The first is a kind of entranced smile – a brightened countenance very similar to the sheer delight we used to see from people at an Amway meeting.

The second is that uncomfortable, “what do you mean by that?” kind of look, suggesting that money is the world’s curse, and that people who have it must be materialistic swine or should somehow apologize or feel guilty.

So which are you?  “Amen?”  Or “Oh me?”  Or maybe, like me, you vacillate from one to the other.

The challenge with all this is that the Bible categorically promises success to people who live according to principles or laws that God has established.  “Everything he does will prosper,” the psalmist said in Psalm 1.  And check out those blessings mentioned by Moses in Deuteronomy.

That said, the Bible also deals with the apparent contradiction of that – the prosperity of the wicked.  Those mirroring psalms – 37 and 73 – both deal with that.  The wicked does have his day, the psalmist concludes, but God has a way of sorting things out in the end, when it matters most.

Meanwhile, in the New Testament, Jesus didn’t promise a life without tribulation.  On the contrary, He said we would have it, despite what people uniquely in America sometimes promise.  Our rewards are presented mostly as heavenly, post-life promises.  But even in places, such as here, there is the declaration that God has obligated Himself to meet all our needs.

So which is it?  Suffering in this age, followed by our eternal treasure in heaven?  Or timeless principles that work in the age to come, but also may be claimed, believed, and acted on here?

Yes.

Does God want you and me to be rich?

[click to continue…]

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The LifeVesting Principle of Abundance

by Andy Wood on July 3, 2008

in Five LV Laws, LV Cycle, Principle of Abundance, Waiting

GrapesGod has established an ordered world based on eternal principles found in His word.  I’m not talking about so-called “principles” that preachers invent to make people feel good, then try to attach a random Bible verse to in order to sound legit to the church crowd.  I mean truths, grounded in His character, that apply to many different situations.  That’s the difference between a rule and a principle.  “Don’t commit murder” is a rule.  “Value life” is a principle.

That said, to the degree that we align our lives with God’s principles, we experience the fullness of God’s purpose in creating us in the first place.  And the root from which every other principle springs is that everything begins with, and culminates in, the glory of God.  You and I were created for his glory – to express His image, extend His life, and execute His will.  And in order to fulfill that purpose, we were given the awesome gift of one lifetime.

That’s it.  No Plan B.  No second chances as a toad or platypus.  You get one shot, with no guarantees of how long exactly that will be. But with that one lifetime, you receive the opportunity to produce consequences affecting your future, in both time and eternity.

LifeVesting is about understanding the possibilities and taking action in the direction of the compelling future and eternal reward that can be yours.  It revolves around five biblical principles.  You can find them expressed in a variety of images – agriculture, business, family relationships, even fishing.  But the principles are consistent, regardless of the metaphor.  Today I’d like to briefly explain the first one.

[click to continue…]

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