Is Money Your Terrific Servant Or Your Terrible Superior?

Three Steps to Abundance 

Is Money Your Terrific Servant Or Your Terrible Superior?

By Bo Sanchez

Is Money Your Terrific Servant Or Your Terrible Superior?

From TrulyRichClub Wealthstrategy...
Today, I want to talk to you about Holy Money. Money can be a terrific servant but a terrible superior. The moment money controls you, it destroys you. But if you control money and use it for good, it can become a wonderful instrument of God’s love. I’d like to share with you Three Steps to Holy Abundance. And I’ll base these three steps on one of the most inspiring (to me) miraculous stories in the Old Testament.

Read it carefully……

The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.” Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”

“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.” Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.” She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring.

When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one. But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing. She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.” (2 Kings 4:1-7)

I love this story. Here was a real financial problem—And God responded to this financial problem from the mindset of abundance and not scarcity. Elisha didn’t tell this poor widow, “Just pray and read your Bible. Focus now on the spiritual, not on the material. God is more important than your two sons. Now that you’ll be alone in life, join the convent….”

That sounds totally silly, but that’s how some religious leaders respond to other people’s financial problems. They avoid it. They give spiritual solutions to material problems. They want good people to remain poor. They expect it. Because they have a hyper-spiritual scarcity mindset.

But Elisha wasn’t like that. He addressed her financial problem by giving her a financial solution: He got her into the oil business!

Love Me or Hate Me

As a spiritual leader, I get a lot of flak when I give financial teaching. One very angry religious leader asked me, “Bo, why do you talk only about money these days?” Excuse me. I don’t talk only about money. Let me clarify what my life is all about: It’s about Jesus. Beginning, middle, and end. My mission and passion is to help people love God and follow Jesus. Because money will never make you happy, Only God can do that.

BUT God has placed a divine burden in my heart to help good people prosper, to become entrepreneurs and investors, so that they can prosper others too. (Side note: Have you noticed something about successful people? You can’t be neutral about them. You either love them or hate them.

Well, I must be doing Bo’s Wealth TIPS something right because I’m making people choose—you either have to love me or hate me. Because you’re here, I’m hallucinating that you’ve chosen to love me.)

But I want to be like Elisha. When he was presented with a material problem, he didn’t go hyper-spiritual. He addressed it head-on with the mindset of abundance. I believe God thinks in abundance. The Bible says, Remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18).

Think about it: God wants us to produce wealth. In fact, in Psalm 35:37, it says that God rejoices, delights, and is happy in the prosperity of his people. Isn’t that refreshing? If you listen to some religious people, you’d think that God delights when we are poor. Sheesh.

Well, if you think in scarcity, that’s what you’ll receive—scarcity. But if you think in abundance, then you’ll receive abundance too. Because when you change your thinking, you’ll change your living. Here are three practical steps to reach abundance in your life…

Three Practical Steps to Abundance

In this story, I realize that abundance comes from what’s available, acceptable, and actionable…

1. Available

If I were Elisha, I would have just pulled out my wallet and said, “Here lady, let me give you some money…” But Elisha didn’t want to give charity. He didn’t want to give a dole-out. Because God didn’t want her to be a beggar, He wanted her to be a businesswoman. God wanted her to preserve her dignity. God wanted her to be a part of the solution.

Elisha could have just said, “You need money? Abrakadrabra…” And a treasure chest full of money would suddenly appear in front of her. But that’s not how God usually works. God doesn’t take something out of nothing—He usually takes something out of something.

To multiply food for 5000 men, God has to use a little boy’s lunch of five bread and two fish. To defeat Goliath, God had to use a stone from a young shepherds’ sling. And to build a church, God had to use 12 ordinary, imperfect, immature, power-hungry, insecure men. To create saints, God uses sinners.

God creates something out of something. So Elisha asked her, “What do you have in your house?” What’s in your possession? What can you offer? What do you have that you can use to gain abundance? And she said, “A little jar of oil.” I know you want abundance.

A lot of people do. But many people don’t get it because if you want abundance, you need to put something on the table. You need to identify your “jar of oil”. Answer this question and you make your first step towards abundance.

Tell me: What is your jar of oil? What do you have right now—a gift, a talent, a passion—that you can bring to God so He can multiply? Even if I’m terrible in math, I still remember what my math teacher in grade school told me—that zero times any kind of number—no matter how big—is always zero. For example, one hundred billion times zero is equal to zero. And one hundred trillion times zero is still equal to zero.

In the same way, God’s power, no matter how infinite, can’t do anything in your life if you don’t offer what you have. It’ll still come out to zero. Let me ask you again. What’s your jar of oil? It may be small, but that’s where your abundance will start. Thirty years ago, my friend started his small business with P150,000. Today, that business earns more than one billion pesos every year.

People who want to be entrepreneurs tell me their frustrations. “Brother Bo, I don’t have lots of money to start my business. How can I start?” And I tell them, “What do you have?

Start with that. At this stage in your life, the worst thing that can ever happen to you is to have lots of money. If you’re starting a business with lots of money, and you know nothing about business, believe me, you’ll just lose all your money. When you start a business, don’t look for what you don’t have. Look for what you have. Bootstrap. Tighten your belt. Make do. Start small.”

A Small Flickering Light

Speaking of making do: Thirty-two years ago, Light of Jesus, our spiritual family, started with 20 to 30 people. Half of those were relatives—Mom, Dad, me and my five sisters, two cousins, and three aunties! Where did we meet?

In a garage. Our entire sound system was an old karaoke. Song lyrics were handwritten by my sister Beckie on large manila paper pasted on the wall. (It helped that our songs were very short like Lululalei Lalulalulalei… Put your right hand in, put your right hand out, and shake it all around.

Do the boogie woogie and turn around, and that’s what it’s all about. I have no idea why that was a religious song, but that was what we were singing back then.) My sisters Bubu, Tina, Pinkie, and a couple of cousins were the choir. Dad and Mom were the greeters team. My elderly Aunt Sisang cooked delicious almondegas for everyone. So even if my preaching wasn’t very inspiring, at least people were inspired by the almondegas.

Yes, I was the preacher. Oh, you should have seen me back then. I was 14 years old, an awkward lanky guy with pimples and a squeaky voice wearing sandals, jogging pants, and an old t-shirt. I was as ugly as a frog. (But there were still a lot of pretty girls who fell in love with me, hoping that if they kiss me, I’ll turn into a prince.) I was preacher, worship leader, guitarist, lead singer, counselor, and healing ministry.

All of us gave our jar of oil. And God multiplied it. Today, Light of Jesus has spread all over the world. Yesterday, I came from Singapore. The last time I went there was fours years ago. Light of Jesus was 15 people meeting in a living room flat. Today, there are three Feasts in the area—two in Singapore and one in Kuala Lumpur. They too gave their jar of oil and God has multiplied them.

Is God asking you to start something? Start with what you have, no matter how small it is.

Second step to abundance…

2. Acceptable

Elisha told her to borrow empty jars from her neighbors. He specifically told her, “Don’t ask for a few.” And here was the miracle: The oil kept on multiplying UNTIL there was an empty jar. The moment all the jars were full, the oil stopped flowing. So who determined the amount of abundance? She did. NOT GOD.

Perhaps she said, “Five jars are enough.” So she ended up with five jars of oil. If she got 10 jars, she would have had 10 jars of oil. If she got 20 jars, then she would have had 20 jars of oil. We think it is God who determines our wealth. That’s not true. He simply gives us the key to His infinite storehouse and says, “Just take whatever you want.”

I liken it to a game I saw on TV. The participants were taken to a giant grocery store. With a pushcart in front of them, they were given five minutes to fill their cart with anything they wanted. There was this woman who went straight to the sardines section—got the cheapest brand (because that was what she was familiar with) and got an armload. She then rushed to the instant noodles aisle and filled her cart with it. Poor girl. She got less than P5,000 worth in her cart.

I was thinking—she could have gone to the meat section—and loaded her cart with prime steaks from Australia. That would easily be worth P100,000—and she could have sold it.

What Are You Willing to Accept?

This is what Adam Khoo calls “Level of Acceptance”. I believe your level of acceptance, not your level of expectation, will ultimately determine your level of abundance. Listen carefully. What you expect and what you’re willing to accept are two different things. Believe me, what you’re willing to accept is 10 times more powerful than what you expect. There are two things that can drive a person: hunger and hope.

And hunger is 10 times more powerful than hope. Desperation is 10 times more powerful than your dreams. One day, I was talking to a man who told me, “Bo, for a long time, I was earning P20T a month.

I had a big goal. I wanted to earn P200T a month! Ten times more! So I worked hard and prayed hard, got into tiny business, and soon, I was earning P75T! It was unbelievable. I was so happy. But Bo, that was two years ago. For some reason, I’ve been stuck at P75T. I’m very happy with my P75T.

But I wonder how I can go to P200T a month…” I told him what I’m telling you now, “The reason why you’re stuck at P75T is because you’ve reached your level of acceptance. Your income has more than tripled—from P20T to P75T. Your needs are now met. Your desperation has been satisfied. Your income jumped from P20T to P75T because of the fuel called hunger.

Now, you want to move from P75T to P100T, but you changed your fuel. It’s no longer hunger but hope. In your mind, you’re telling yourself, Wouldn’t it be nice to earn P200T? It’s a dream without desperation. Because you’re actually happy with P75T. If you want to move from P75T to P200T, you can’t just be fueled by hope. You have to be fueled by hunger. So your goal now is to find your hunger again.”

I’ve seen a lot of people whose hunger ended the moment their needs were met. But what about the hunger of those around them? I was reflecting on my own financial journey. Because I’m totally immersed in ministry work, every single day sharing God’s Love to others, I’m ALWAYS hungry. But it’s no longer my hunger.

(My needs are simple and I’ve met them a long time ago.) Every day, I feel the suffering of God’s people around me. Their hunger has become my hunger. Their pain has become my pain. Their tears have become my tears. So I earn as much as I can so I can give as much as I can.

How many empty jars will you bring before God? Like Elisha, God says, “Don’t bring a few.” Bring a lot more. I like what preacher Steven Furtick said: “If your vision isn’t intimidating to you, there’s a chance that it will be insulting to God.”

3. Actionable

When all the jars were filled with oil, Elisha told the woman, “Go and sell the oil…” Imagine if the woman said, “But I don’t have any sales skills. I’m very shy. And Elisha, if you were going to perform a miracle, instead of multiplying oil, why didn’t you just multiply money instead? It would have been easier for me!” That’s our problem. We’re addicted to easy. We’re infatuated to easy.

But much of the success you want isn’t found in the world of easy. This reminds me of a man who, one evening, was walking on the street when he saw a guy searching for something beneath a lighted lamppost. Wanting to help, he asked, “Did you lose something?”

The man said, “I’m looking for my wallet.” Both men searched beneath the lamppost. After a few minutes of finding nothing, the passerby asked, “Are you sure you dropped your wallet here?” The man shook his head and said,

“Actually, I dropped my wallet 10 meters over there,” pointing to the darkness. The other guy was shocked. “For crying out loud, what are we doing looking for it here?” The man replied, “Because it’s easier to look for it here.”

We make the same mistake. We’re looking for success in the world of easy. Here’s what I learned: The miracle of God requires the action of man. The hemorrhaging woman of 12 years had to push herself inside the crowd to touch the hemline of the garment of Jesus. The paralytic had to boldly stand up, pick up his mat, and walk. The catch of fish that almost broke the nets of Peter was done by going farther and deeper into the lake.

Even dead Lazarus had to walk himself out of the tomb. God loves action. And He allowed abundance to flow through your action. What are you willing to do to make your dreams come true?

Final Word: Travel Light

“But Bo, if the amount of abundance we receive depends on what we’re willing to accept, won’t we grow greedy? Doesn’t the Bible preach on contentment?” Oh, it does. The Bible says, Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have (Hebrews 13:5).

I want you to be content with what you have. But DON’T be content with what you can earn for others. Stop thinking of yourself. Stop thinking of your needs. Be the very best that you can be so that you can be a richer blessing to others!

Don’t love money. Love people. You need to learn how to “travel light”. Each year, I take a group for a holy pilgrimage, and in these pilgrimages, I meet the most wonderful people. In one trip, I met this fascinating woman who only brought with her one smallish pulling bag as her luggage. Almost everyone else brought two gigantic suitcases the size of refrigerators.

I also noticed she wasn’t buying too many things from the shops. So I asked her, “How did you learn to travel light?” She smiled a knowing smile. Like she was waiting for me to ask her that question. She said, “One day my house in the famous Provident Village in Marikina was surrounded by raging floods. And it destroyed my home and everything in it. Everything I worked for was gone.

I stayed up in the rooftop for 16 hours, waiting for the water to subside or for someone to rescue me. But Bo, those were the best 16 hours of my life. I went down from the roof with a totally new perspective on life. I went down a changed woman.” “Wow,” was the only thing I could say.

“Before that day, I was very materialistic. I would buy this and buy that, and there was no stopping me. But then the flood happened. Brother Bo, when the floods came and destroyed my house, I realized that I couldn’t bring up everything on the rooftop. It dawned on me—If I couldn’t bring up everything on the rooftop with me, how much more can I not bring up everything with me to Heaven?”

It was amazing how free she was from material things. May you use your money for love. God isn’t against money. In fact, He wants to give you more money. He wants to fill your barns. Honor the Lord from your wealth and from the first of all your produce; so your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine (Proverbs 3:9-10). But He gives it to you for a purpose—to love more. Travel light.

May your dreams come true,

Bo Sanchez

PS. By the way, the TrulyRichClub isn’t just about Stock Market investing. That’s only one part. In the TrulyRichClub, aside from teaching people how to grow in their financial life, I also teach people how to grow in their spiritual life. 

For what’s the use of growing in your finances if you lose your soul?

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