Your mind and your emotions have been programmed. You've been handed a script, an operating system. You've been programmed by your upbringing. By your parents. By your peers, culture, entertainment, education, advertising.

One of the deepest levels of programming in your life revolves around scarcity. What do you do when times are hard? How do you feel? How do you respond when the bills come and you can't pay them? How do you feel when you gaze into the future to plan your career, your living situation, your relationships?

Anybody hearing me today who's a survivor... who's been through hell... you figured out how to make it. You fought and scrapped and lived hand to mouth.

Maybe you took from others. In my family tree, there were 5 siblings whose parents abandoned them. The oldest was 11. They lived in a car, and ate ice cubes dipped in ketchup from packets they took from McDonalds.

That lasted till an aunt and uncle who were in retirement took them in and started over with a family.

One of the deepest levels of programming in your life revolves arounds scarcity. Fear. Insecurity. Worry. Anxiety. Anger. Bitterness. Grasping. Coveting. Greed.

I'm telling you you've been programmed a certain way. How you react to the threat of scarcity is one of the deepest levels of instinct and feeling and habits of heart and mind a person can have.

We're going to be in several places in Scripture today, but here is the main one:

"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." (2 Corinthians 9:8)

Paul is saying there is...
No time, no place, no situation, no circumstance
No financial need, no lack, no shortage, no poverty
No problem, no illness, no loss
No heartbreak, heartache, addiction, or dysfunction
No bad news, perplexity, confusion, or doubt
No assignment, duty, calling, homework, or job
No relationship, conflict, failure, trial, temptation, or trouble
No chemical imbalance
No family of origin chaos
No locational limitation
No iron wall, bamboo curtain, or glass ceiling
No regret, no despair, no enemy
No economic downturn, no international conspiracy, no intergalactic Death Star
No demon, no devil, no demonic attack, no diabolical oppression, no satanic ruse, no devilish abuse
No wiles of the devil...

But that God has already sent down the line all the blessing and provision and abundance you need to rise above, to thrive, and be more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus.

Always having all sufficiency in all things.

Abundance...

That's your testimony.
That's your invincibility.
That's your birthright as a royal child of God.

Welcome to Part 13 in our series called Giant Steps. Have you been encouraged? Have you been set free? Have you been blessed in this series?

My topic today is: Step Up to an Abundance Mindset

It's the opposite of a scarcity mindset. The opposite of worry, anxiety, poverty, cynicism, envy, and fear.

Jesus is inviting you to this new way of thinking today.

And to be really clear, this is about your financial life, your generosity, and your giving.

Take a breath... because all of that is mainly about how you think about God and yourself in relation to God.

If it is true, that abundance is your testimony and abundance is your birthright, because God is that generous and that good, then how should you think about your finances? About your retirement? All that?

How should you feel about God, inflation soars, and income dips?

And where is God in all that?

The first story happens 900ish years before Jesus.

"A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, 'Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.'" (2 Kings 4:1)

Definitely a huge problem. Agonizing for this young widowed mother. And financially devastating.

"So Elisha said to her, 'What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?' And she said, 'Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.'" (2 Kings 4:2)

This is for everyone who says I don't have much to start with. I don't have skills. I don't have connections. I don't have money. I don't have degrees. I don't have the right personality, or looks, or whatever.

The prophet didn't ask what she didn't have, the prophet asked what do you have?

This is so important that I'm going to mash a story inside this story.

Jesus and the Crowd
In this story, Jesus has been speaking to his disciples when a massive crowd of thousands of people starts coming up the hill to hear him.

"Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, 'Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?' 6 But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do. 7 Philip answered Him, 'Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.'" (John 6:5-7)

Do you think that Jesus thinks they will solve this problem by buying enough food? No, because the next line says he's testing Philip.

And don't miss that line that says he himself knew what he would do.

Philip didn't know. The other disciples didn't know. The people didn't know.

And let me just tell you that when Jesus stands up to do something incredible for you, you're not going to know either. He knows. You don't. This is where faith comes in.

Philip does the math. He says it will cost 200 denarii to feed this crowd. That's 10 months worth of wages.

He says that not even that much money would be enough so that every one of them may have a little. Do you say those words at the end of that verse?

How can you say "a little" in the presence of the One who flung the stars in place?

The One who spoke into nothing and something came into being.

How can we say in the presence of the Christ of God, that everyone may take "a little"?

He said this to test Philip. And Philip didn't do so well.

With God, a little becomes much.

Philip was focused on the vastness of the need.

But then comes Andrew, another disciple.

"One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, 9 'There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?'" (John 6:8-9)

In this one verse, you have two terms that indicates smallness. You have a lad which means small boy. And then you have two fish which are small fish.

Philips focus was the vastness of the need. Andrews focus was the littleness of the supply.

This is how a scarcity mindset works. You compare the bigness of the need to the littleness of the supply, and the sky is falling. It's how you were raised. It's how you were trained. How you were programmed.

Here's the lesson:
With an abundance mindset, you will bring Jesus into your financial situation.

Philip looked at the big need. Andrew looked at the tiny supply. And neither of them looked to Jesus.

They felt overwhelmed. Afraid. And like giving up.

Have you ever felt that way? Especially in your finances?

"Pastor, you don't understand the debt I'm in."
"I'm in debt."

Well so was that woman... let's go back to the story.

The creditors were coming to take away her sons. All she had was a small bottle of olive oil.

"Then he said, 'Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. 4 And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.'" (2 Kings 4:3-4)

The only logic that works here is the supernatural logic of faith.

Her problem is debt, but the prophet says go borrow. Only the supernatural logic of faith can make sense of this.

Do not miss the fact that the prophet of God urged her to think big. He said, Do not gather just a few.

And then he tells her to pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones. What kind of logic works here, the only logic that works here is the supernatural logic of faith.

So she said that to her kids. They gather the vessels. They arrange them all over her tiny little house.

She asks for a bucket number one and starts pouring. To her surprise, the oil just keeps flowing.

You do know by the way the good olive oil today costs about four times the price of a gallon of gas. This is valuable stuff.

Bucket number two. The oil keeps flowing. Number three, number four. Number 10, number 20. Number 40, number 50.

The only logic that works here is the supernatural logic of faith. And...

The only limit on her blessing was the measure of her faith to create capacity for God to fill.

"So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. 6 Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, 'Bring me another vessel.' And he said to her, 'There is not another vessel.' So the oil ceased." (2 Kings 4:5-6)

Don't you think she wished she had sent her sons to the next 20 farms?