BEGGAR'S FATE
"Then the steward said within himself, 'What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg." - Luke 16:3
The fear of becoming a professional beggar should drive a man unto diligence, the fear of becoming less of a man should make everyone re-strategize unto becoming more productive. If one ends up a beggar it will never be God's fault. It is not even every form of disability that should lead to begging of alms, the world has gone beyond that stage. While we can even excuse some disabled, have you ever wondered why people who have their physique intact resort to begging, even in good health? It is an anomaly.
It may not be by choice to become a beggar but many people have found themselves in such a state, when a man refuses to be diligent in what has been committed to his hand, the fate that will stare in his face will be begging. Nothing takes away the dignity of a man more than professional begging. I am in no way talking about the act of pleading, because everyone will have to plead for a favour at one point of his or her life, I am squarely referring to those who beg as a means of livelihood.
Let it be clearly stated here that begging is not a sin, but I am sure that begging does not glorify God either. David made this very clear in Psalm 37:25, that it is very abnormal for the descendant of the righteous to beg for bread! If God says that you have power to create wealth, and you have become a beggar, you are definitely living less. At different points in the scriptures, the Lord visited beggars, who may have been confined there by fate, the power of the Lord rescued them.
This piece is meant to help the child of God glean wisdom from some beggars in the scripture, when all they had to do is to live at the mercy of people passing by; the Lord dealt with them in His mercy and took them away from such state. It will be good, if that man begging knows that, his greatest need isn't money but wisdom, it is important for the beggar who is confined to fate to know that what he or she needs is an encounter to move away from such a state.
ALMOST BEGGARLY (INITIATIVE)
"When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, 'Why do you look at one another?'" - Gen 42:1
The company you work may have decided to downsize, and you happen to be one of the casualties of that downsizing, should that then be the beginning of begging? Why have you started lamenting as if there is no hope anymore, would you not take the initiative and go and look out for the next opportunity?
The children of Jacob had resources to buy food, but they preferred to sit down in their father's compound and be looking at one another. Brother Reuben will hope that when brother Judah comes home, he may have successfully begged for grain from their neighbours, so Reuben in turn may hope to beg also to feed his family. Jacob would not have any of such idleness and lack of initiative. He wouldn't have full grown men, who were established to suddenly becomes beggars in his house.
It is possible that you have graduated for a while now and all you do is to proudly add to the statistics of unemployed, you are satisfied that you are not the only one unemployed, so you have thought to yourself that your relatives or guidance should understand with you - you feel that when you beg, they should drop something. It is important for you to understand that, you may have started acting below your potentials. The scripture says that the Lord gives us power to make wealth. Don't just sit there, act and do something.
"He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap." - Ecc 11:4
I like the idea you have in your head, I know you have business plans and if only you can get the capital to start up, you will blow so big...so you have decided to wait and 'beg' to get that big break, but what if men turn you down, don't you think you need to start doing something?
The scripture says; whatever your hands finds to do... The issue with you is that your hands have not found anything to do, your hands are slack and selective, you think some jobs are beneath you, but you haven't realised that your failure to take up that offer has condemned you into being a beggar.
Sometimes the insults people give to beggars are far weightier than the money or help they hand down. I am not implying that one be proud and not ask for favours, but what I am driving at is that, you cannot continue to be a beggar for what you will eat and what you will wear; you have the power to make wealth - there is something for sure to do! In every labour there is profit, don't fold your hands, start something, as long as it is in line with God's will and His commands.
BEGGARS MOVE (RISK)
"If we say, 'We will enter the city,' the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore, come, let us surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they keep us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us , we shall only die." - 2Kings 7:4
It is a risk not to take risk at all, it is a lazy man that fears that there is a lion outside. Few things may not be guaranteed, but faith can be the insurance a person has in order to start up with whatever has been laid in his or her mind. These four lepers who sat at the gate, understood the place of taking risk, they won't just sit and watch themselves die like that; they decided to go to the enemy's camp to seek survival.
Some of us are so conservative, waiting for the right time that will never come. Yesterday was the best time to have started, today is the second best time. Opportunities are mostly disguised in challenges, but wisdom must come to play in this matter. It is better to fail trying than not to try at all because you fear failure.
I am not saying that you should start ignoring facts and feasibility studies, but I am sure a person can still take risk in spite of some obstacles. Death sometimes may be what we fear most, and these lepers realised that, if they don't take the risk, they will be dead all the same from hunger.
"Then the LORD appeared to him and said: 'Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you." - Gen 26:2
There was famine in the land, yet the Lord commanded Isaac to sow in that same barren land. All the feasibility studies would have obviously gone against doing anything in that land, yet because the Lord said it, Isaac obeyed. In that same risk that he took, his prosperity was much more pronounced. The business may be risky to start, but if the Lord commands, it will be profitable to obey.
Faith in itself is a 'divine risk' in action, it silences the facts but amplifies the Word, it is courage in the midst of fear, it is obedience even when it is not sensible - it is taking the Word as the only insurance to keep moving. If you hear everyone, you may miss your land of prosperity. Why not just go ahead all the same.
I am thinking, that those lepers are most probably beggars and I wish you learn from their experience. I pray you understand that nothing will move until you move. I hope that Isaac's case will challenge you to start irrespective of the facts and statistics.
BEGGARS FAITH (DIVINE HELP)
"Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, 'Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!'" - Mark 10:46-47
So, this man had a genuine reason to be a beggar some would say, but he also had a genuine cause to seek for divine help. The man who has been reduced to begging should know that begging has not reduced you in the sight of God. You can pray for divine intervention in the matter that has made you less dignified. It is not God's will that you remain in that state.
It is possible for a beggar to fare better than a non-beggar, so they decided to tell him to shut up, since he was better than some who followed Jesus, they may have told him his case isn't critical. But Bartimaeus didn't think so, he felt he could get better things out of life, and he didn't even like the idea that the title before of his name was 'blind', people even called him Mr Blind Bartimaeus. All these made him to scream the more for mercy.
Dear friend, I think you need to start praying to God, regarding that thing that has or wants to reduce you to begging. Don't just say it is fate, you can have faith to change your fate. When certain things are beyond our strength, maybe your determination and all, there may be need for divine help from above. Why not cry like that man today, so you don't end up a beggar.
"And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask from those who entered the temple; who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked for alms." - Acts 3:2-3
Maybe the above passage appears a little exaggerated to you, because it stated that the man was lame from his mother's womb, how can a baby be said to be lame from the womb. Maybe he never kicked once when his mother has pregnant with him. But the fact is that, the man was never destined to walk, he was meant to be disabled all his life and maybe there were evil forces working against this man.
After a very long time of begging, the man caught up with the power of God. He even took his begging to the church, as some of us do today, we dress to the church only to meet that man working in a big organisation to see if he can give us some money. On that fateful and faith-filled day, the man encountered power and the profession that had been his life changed. Some forces may have reduced you to begging overtime and it seems everyone knows you with it, I want to assure you and encourage that you to have faith in the power of God to take you off that condition.
It often breaks my heart to see people who are disabled come to the church to beg, they don't believe that God can do anything about their case, they are indifferent and have accepted to be perpetual beggars. You need a holy anger to get out of that situation, you need to cry to the Son of David to look upon you with mercy! God is not glorified in begging. Please come to church to seek deliverance from begging.
CONCLUSION:
God does not want you a beggar, you only need to take initiatives, take risks, and where it seems too difficult, seek divine solution quick.
God is not glorified in begging.
God bless you and I love you
Akinsuroju Femi
© The Fundamentals
The fear of becoming a professional beggar should drive a man unto diligence, the fear of becoming less of a man should make everyone re-strategize unto becoming more productive. If one ends up a beggar it will never be God's fault. It is not even every form of disability that should lead to begging of alms, the world has gone beyond that stage. While we can even excuse some disabled, have you ever wondered why people who have their physique intact resort to begging, even in good health? It is an anomaly.
It may not be by choice to become a beggar but many people have found themselves in such a state, when a man refuses to be diligent in what has been committed to his hand, the fate that will stare in his face will be begging. Nothing takes away the dignity of a man more than professional begging. I am in no way talking about the act of pleading, because everyone will have to plead for a favour at one point of his or her life, I am squarely referring to those who beg as a means of livelihood.
Let it be clearly stated here that begging is not a sin, but I am sure that begging does not glorify God either. David made this very clear in Psalm 37:25, that it is very abnormal for the descendant of the righteous to beg for bread! If God says that you have power to create wealth, and you have become a beggar, you are definitely living less. At different points in the scriptures, the Lord visited beggars, who may have been confined there by fate, the power of the Lord rescued them.
This piece is meant to help the child of God glean wisdom from some beggars in the scripture, when all they had to do is to live at the mercy of people passing by; the Lord dealt with them in His mercy and took them away from such state. It will be good, if that man begging knows that, his greatest need isn't money but wisdom, it is important for the beggar who is confined to fate to know that what he or she needs is an encounter to move away from such a state.
ALMOST BEGGARLY (INITIATIVE)
"When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, 'Why do you look at one another?'" - Gen 42:1
The company you work may have decided to downsize, and you happen to be one of the casualties of that downsizing, should that then be the beginning of begging? Why have you started lamenting as if there is no hope anymore, would you not take the initiative and go and look out for the next opportunity?
The children of Jacob had resources to buy food, but they preferred to sit down in their father's compound and be looking at one another. Brother Reuben will hope that when brother Judah comes home, he may have successfully begged for grain from their neighbours, so Reuben in turn may hope to beg also to feed his family. Jacob would not have any of such idleness and lack of initiative. He wouldn't have full grown men, who were established to suddenly becomes beggars in his house.
It is possible that you have graduated for a while now and all you do is to proudly add to the statistics of unemployed, you are satisfied that you are not the only one unemployed, so you have thought to yourself that your relatives or guidance should understand with you - you feel that when you beg, they should drop something. It is important for you to understand that, you may have started acting below your potentials. The scripture says that the Lord gives us power to make wealth. Don't just sit there, act and do something.
"He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap." - Ecc 11:4
I like the idea you have in your head, I know you have business plans and if only you can get the capital to start up, you will blow so big...so you have decided to wait and 'beg' to get that big break, but what if men turn you down, don't you think you need to start doing something?
The scripture says; whatever your hands finds to do... The issue with you is that your hands have not found anything to do, your hands are slack and selective, you think some jobs are beneath you, but you haven't realised that your failure to take up that offer has condemned you into being a beggar.
Sometimes the insults people give to beggars are far weightier than the money or help they hand down. I am not implying that one be proud and not ask for favours, but what I am driving at is that, you cannot continue to be a beggar for what you will eat and what you will wear; you have the power to make wealth - there is something for sure to do! In every labour there is profit, don't fold your hands, start something, as long as it is in line with God's will and His commands.
BEGGARS MOVE (RISK)
"If we say, 'We will enter the city,' the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore, come, let us surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they keep us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us , we shall only die." - 2Kings 7:4
It is a risk not to take risk at all, it is a lazy man that fears that there is a lion outside. Few things may not be guaranteed, but faith can be the insurance a person has in order to start up with whatever has been laid in his or her mind. These four lepers who sat at the gate, understood the place of taking risk, they won't just sit and watch themselves die like that; they decided to go to the enemy's camp to seek survival.
Some of us are so conservative, waiting for the right time that will never come. Yesterday was the best time to have started, today is the second best time. Opportunities are mostly disguised in challenges, but wisdom must come to play in this matter. It is better to fail trying than not to try at all because you fear failure.
I am not saying that you should start ignoring facts and feasibility studies, but I am sure a person can still take risk in spite of some obstacles. Death sometimes may be what we fear most, and these lepers realised that, if they don't take the risk, they will be dead all the same from hunger.
"Then the LORD appeared to him and said: 'Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you." - Gen 26:2
There was famine in the land, yet the Lord commanded Isaac to sow in that same barren land. All the feasibility studies would have obviously gone against doing anything in that land, yet because the Lord said it, Isaac obeyed. In that same risk that he took, his prosperity was much more pronounced. The business may be risky to start, but if the Lord commands, it will be profitable to obey.
Faith in itself is a 'divine risk' in action, it silences the facts but amplifies the Word, it is courage in the midst of fear, it is obedience even when it is not sensible - it is taking the Word as the only insurance to keep moving. If you hear everyone, you may miss your land of prosperity. Why not just go ahead all the same.
I am thinking, that those lepers are most probably beggars and I wish you learn from their experience. I pray you understand that nothing will move until you move. I hope that Isaac's case will challenge you to start irrespective of the facts and statistics.
BEGGARS FAITH (DIVINE HELP)
"Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, 'Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!'" - Mark 10:46-47
So, this man had a genuine reason to be a beggar some would say, but he also had a genuine cause to seek for divine help. The man who has been reduced to begging should know that begging has not reduced you in the sight of God. You can pray for divine intervention in the matter that has made you less dignified. It is not God's will that you remain in that state.
It is possible for a beggar to fare better than a non-beggar, so they decided to tell him to shut up, since he was better than some who followed Jesus, they may have told him his case isn't critical. But Bartimaeus didn't think so, he felt he could get better things out of life, and he didn't even like the idea that the title before of his name was 'blind', people even called him Mr Blind Bartimaeus. All these made him to scream the more for mercy.
Dear friend, I think you need to start praying to God, regarding that thing that has or wants to reduce you to begging. Don't just say it is fate, you can have faith to change your fate. When certain things are beyond our strength, maybe your determination and all, there may be need for divine help from above. Why not cry like that man today, so you don't end up a beggar.
"And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask from those who entered the temple; who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked for alms." - Acts 3:2-3
Maybe the above passage appears a little exaggerated to you, because it stated that the man was lame from his mother's womb, how can a baby be said to be lame from the womb. Maybe he never kicked once when his mother has pregnant with him. But the fact is that, the man was never destined to walk, he was meant to be disabled all his life and maybe there were evil forces working against this man.
After a very long time of begging, the man caught up with the power of God. He even took his begging to the church, as some of us do today, we dress to the church only to meet that man working in a big organisation to see if he can give us some money. On that fateful and faith-filled day, the man encountered power and the profession that had been his life changed. Some forces may have reduced you to begging overtime and it seems everyone knows you with it, I want to assure you and encourage that you to have faith in the power of God to take you off that condition.
It often breaks my heart to see people who are disabled come to the church to beg, they don't believe that God can do anything about their case, they are indifferent and have accepted to be perpetual beggars. You need a holy anger to get out of that situation, you need to cry to the Son of David to look upon you with mercy! God is not glorified in begging. Please come to church to seek deliverance from begging.
CONCLUSION:
God does not want you a beggar, you only need to take initiatives, take risks, and where it seems too difficult, seek divine solution quick.
God is not glorified in begging.
God bless you and I love you
Akinsuroju Femi
© The Fundamentals
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