EscapeYourPoverty

This has been much more difficult to understand because it is not tangible or visible in the same sense as material wealth. There is Treasure in Heaven; this I believe. Does Treasure in Heaven have its polar opposite, Corruptness or Imperfectionness in Hell? Perhaps Heaven is the treasure that is set aside for those who love and follow their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Perhaps Hell is the treasure for those who love and follow Satan. Unlike Absolute Poverty and Absolute Wealth on earth, each person will inherit Hellish Treasures or Heavenly Treasures (in an absolute sense) after standing before the judgment seat of Christ… our just rewards (Matthew 25*31 - 46). Both “Treasures” are as far apart as Heaven is from the Hell. I suspect both Treasures are full and complete, and they do not increase or decrease over time or use. It might be that we have unrestricted access to Heavenly Treasures today, and that we Treasure Up as much as we give away. Here is another idea We were at Absolute Spiritual Poverty before answering the call to follow our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus. We went to Absolute Spiritual Wealth on the day we chose Jesus Christ over the world cuz God’s view of us THROUGH CHRIST JESUS makes us worthy of such treasures. Now it is up to us to give these Treasures away every day as we live and reveal Christ’s calling to others in Absolute Spiritual Poverty. The Treasure in Heaven is composed of all we received from God through Christ Jesus, and that is what we are to give away freely and without expectation. John 15*1 - 8 and Romans 11*13 - 24 offer wonderful perspectives on how we are influenced and driven by these spiritual treasures. Christ is the vine or tree and we are the branches that are grafted in. The nourishing sap of the tree replenishes us and we begin to produce fruit that the tree is known for. This nourishing sap pushes life’s old ways out of us; for some people, it is a very quick process, and it is a slow process for others. Christ says, in John 15, that the Father is the gardener and that He prunes every branch so that it can be more productive… he is cutting out bits and pieces of our old way of life until all the remains is a life that is holy and acceptable to Him through Christ Jesus. Producing the fruits of the Spirit is inevitable when you are constantly feasting on the nourishing sap of The Vine… Christ Jesus. Perhaps the nourishing sap of Jesus Christ is the Treasure in Heaven, available to us in full abundance!!! We have unlimited access to it because we are in Christ Jesus. He is our every spiritual need. All that He blesses us with is all that we can and should bless others with: love, faith, mercy, grace, giving without expectation, compassion, good works, long-suffering, goodness, meekness, self-control (See Galatians 5*16 - 26). It is not limited to these. Our Father in Heaven desires qualities in us that please him: love, faith, mercy, grace, giving without expectation, compassion, good works, long-suffering, goodness, meekness, self-control (See Galatians 5*16 - 26). Our actions and words are driven and inspired by these good treasures that are stored in our hearts. These character qualities or commodities are not the actions and words themselves, but fuel what we do and say. As you can see, I do not have a firm grasp on the ideas behind Treasures in Heaven. There will be more videos where you will see me stumbling and fumbling around trying to figure things out as I go. I do not have all the answers. Candidly, I seem to have more questions than answers. I share them here to see if the ideas make sense to other people and to gain better perspectives by reading and listening to those who are willing to share their ideas with me.

WHY TALK ABOUT MATERIAL WEALTH? Why should us disciples of Christ better understand material wealth in all its forms? So we can alleviate the suffering of people we encounter. The elect of God are far better able and suited to satisfy the needs of the people we meet and see… “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13*2 Sharing blessings in material form (giving wealth away WITHOUT expecting something in return) is a huge part of alleviating the suffering of others. We impact more people in bigger ways when we give more of our wealth away. But first, we must be able to add to our wealth today so that we have wealth to give away tomorrow… after all; it is nigh impossible to give away something you do not possess! Absolute Poverty and Absolute Wealth are as far apart as the East is from the West. Wealth, in its simplest form, is the collection of stuff you possess or can say that you own. Poverty, in its simplest form, is the absence of wealth. People are always moving between absolute poverty and absolute wealth in that we always receive pieces of wealth, exchange one form of wealth for another, or giving away or consuming some pieces of the wealth we own and or possess ABSOLUTE POVERTY~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ABSOLUTE WEALTH Where do you fit in between the two extremes? ABSOLUTE POVERTY You possess nothing: no clothes on your back, no food, no drink, no shelter… you are an unprotected infant in the material world! ABSOLUTE WEALTH You own and possess everything Mother Earth and mankind have to offer… and everyone else is in absolute poverty until you decide to give your pieces of wealth to them… because they have nothing to exchange with you. I am not sure any person will ever experience absolute poverty (though some may get very close to it), and I am very confident that no individual will ever achieve absolute wealth!!! BUT… We all have our collection of pieces of wealth, and the size of our collection determines where we sit on the line between the two absolutes. Wealth (and its absence) measures the amount of worldly possession we can say belongs to each of us. We trade pieces of wealth, not pieces of poverty. We exchange a piece of our wealth for a piece of another person’s (or company’s) wealth. At other times, we give a portion of our wealth away without an exchange; we do not give away our poverty because poverty is the absence of wealth. We call it "giving" or "donating," being charitable and being generous. We also consume some pieces of our collection of wealth, and no other person can possess it after we consume it… food is a good example There are two major categories of wealth: Essential Wealth and Abundant Wealth ESSENTIAL WEALTH! What are the essential things all people must have to survive? Water - clean and consumable; Food from the ground, the sea, and the air; Shelter for protection from the elements; Heat during cold times; Shade from the scorching sun; Medical and dental care; Clothes that are adequate for the weather These essentials are universal. These are the pieces of wealth people needed 10,000 years ago to survive. We, like our ancestors, still need them today. ABUNDANT WEALTH is everything that is not essential for survival (food, water, clothes, etc.). We now have more than we need to survive. There are people who lack Essential Wealth in the United States of America. There are far more people that have the Essentials plus some Abundant Wealth. Quick Review... Absolute Poverty is the absence of any material wealth... no food, no shelter, no clothes on your back... NOTHING AT ALL Absolute Wealth means that you own and possess everything in the world, and that everyone else is completely dependent on you. Essential Wealth are the things our ancestors needed centuries ago and we still need today to survive: food, water, shelter, clothes, etc. Abundant Wealth is the extra pieces of wealth that are considered essential in nature Us disciples of Christ can always give our pieces of wealth to other people to alleviate their suffering. We are called to do this, and... you never know when you may be tending to the needs of angels!!!

Good day to all and thank you for watching this channel’s first video. Who is this channel for? Disciples of Jesus Christ. Followers of Jesus Christ. Siblings in Jesus Christ. We believers in Christ Jesus are immersed in a world of earthbound wealth, yet we are to be seeking treasures in heaven at all times. What is this channel about? Poverty and Wealth - both spiritual and material Bring perspective to followers of Christ on how to deal with the polar opposite relationship between treasures in heaven and material wealth. Why? Most people do not want to live in poverty, either spiritual or material. We need to recognize the line that runs between absolute poverty and absolute wealth, and that we are always moving in one direction or another. We can decide how we will move between the two extremes. My brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus… Each of us lives somewhere between absolute poverty and absolute wealth. It is imperative for us to escape spiritual poverty and build up our heavenly treasures every day we are in Christ Jesus and on this globe we call Earth. Our salvation depends on Christ Jesus. We are expected to be about our Savior’s business. Yet, at the same time, we must have some earthbound wealth while we serve the Lord Jesus Christ. How much essential wealth (food, water, shelter, clothes, etc) should we possess? Is it possible for disciples of Christ to possess too much earthbound wealth? This channel will dig into these and related questions with the goal of sharing the answers. We need to understand the differences between poverty and wealth. We need to explore and discover how to move from poverty to wealth; how to “treasure up our treasures in heaven” and how to be alive in Christ Jesus without being controlled or influenced by the earthbound wealth that surrounds us. Many-a-times, it will look like there is an opposing relationship between spiritual treasures and earthbound wealth… and that is the “WHY” behind this channel! We will explore and discover what the Word of God says about building up Spiritual treasures. We will explore and discover what the Word of God says about earthbound wealth… and we will look at the different types of earthbound wealth we can possess. We will look at the dynamic nature of earthbound poverty & wealth and see how we are constantly changing our position between absolute material poverty and absolute material wealth. We will seek out good definitions of poverty and wealth. Some of the things we use to measure ours and other peoples’ wealth are currency; commodities like gold and silver; stocks, bonds, real estate, businesses, salary and wages, etc. This will enable us to recognize that we are always playing a Macro level Poverty-Wealth Game and that all of the Micro Level Games we play affect our Macro Level Games. It is not easy to work all this out and master the skills and character needed to continually treasure up treasures in heaven while being immersed in a world of earthbound poverty and wealth. How do we get these two opposing forces to work together? How do we build our Treasures in Heaven? How do we play each of these Micro Level Games? How do our Treasures in Heaven and our earthbound possession interact and affect each other? That’s what we’re gonna explore and discover together on this channel!!!