Spontaneous Wealth
May 9th, 2008 | Michael Q. Pink
Before wealth manifests itself in tangible form, it exists first and foremost in an intangible form. What we see with our natural eyes is a manifestation of something that first existed in an unseen state. The rainforest we see was once a seed we didn’t see. In our lives, everything is “twice created” — first in your mind, then in physical form. If you go through life only seeing the effect or the outcome but never discern the cause of things, you will live at the mercy or lack thereof of those who see into both worlds and move freely between them.
Wealth is first of all an internal possession. If you don’t have it on the inside, you will never have it on the outside. You can only manifest in life what you possess on the inside. Nothing more. The life you lead on the outside is a reflection of the things you believe and the truths you understand on the inside.
Some years ago in the dead of winter, I took on a new client in small Midwest town. He picked me up in the morning to take me to his office which turned out to be a rundown, clapboard house in the poor side of town. When we walked through the front door, the carpet was thick with dog hair and shredded newspaper. I thought it must be where he kept his dog when it got cold and where he stored his construction equipment. As we worked our way through piles of old newspapers and stacks of magazines we found ourselves in the room he called his office.
He sat down at his desk as I stood awkwardly looking for a chair I could clear off and be seated in. Not finding one and looking intently at him and the disaster that was his office, I asked him a question… “Can I be frank with you?”
He winced as he seemed to know what was coming and replied, “I am paying you thousands of dollars. I expect you to be frank with me.”
With kindness and directness I replied, “This place is a pig sty. There is no point in me helping you bring order to this mess. It’s a reflection of the mess on the inside of you. Unless we deal with the mess on the inside of you first, this mess will just come right back!” He agreed and we left immediately for a restaurant to have breakfast.
We spent the rest of the day at his discretion, identifying the utter poverty and chaos that was on the inside of him. His story was painful and horrific, but completely redeemable. Over the course of our time together, we rooted out the lies that he believed and planted truth in the core of his soul. It was clear by the time I left that he was ready to bring order to his outside world because it had finally come to his inside world. Despite a significant financial inheritance, this man lived in poverty on the outside because that is what he had on the inside. We can only sustainably project to the outside what we consistently have on the inside.
IMPORTANT NOTE: David Johnson has been conducting some top notch training over the phone to a select group of folks who signed up for this in March. The response has been the best from anything we’ve ever done. I’ve asked David to conduct another free teleseminar next week to talk about how this can help grow your business substantially. He will have the input of current students and a lot more new stuff to share.
We will give you all the details you need on Monday’s blog but for now, here are the choices you will have to attend this free teleseminar exclusive to folks on our coaching lists. (If you are receiving this email, you are on that list) All times are listed in US Eastern time, so please click to calculate your local time.
May 9th, 2008 at 7:14 am
This is truly an excellent piece of writing! More should be said about order in the business world!
Wow…what can I say…The Lord has spoken to me in the beginning of the year about getting my house in order and today I am being reminded of it - got totally lost in the running ahead of the year, just trying my best to keep up with the rat-race!!!
It is not about having all the cupboard doors closed so that people will not be able so see how messy the cupboards are inside..but to have everything in in order inside and outside.
Thank you so much again for an excellent article - I really want to hear more!
May 9th, 2008 at 9:32 am
Thank you and blessings to you at SAW. I do appreciate your input and revelations. I am currently trying to finish “Rich Church, Poor Church” and have Pastor Sunday’s book, “Church Shift” on my reading list (and in my possession) afterwards. In HIM, Kara
May 9th, 2008 at 10:30 am
Thank you for this article, Michael; this only confirms what God has already shown me about some people I know (and sometimes about myself). There is so much truth to this, and let me take it a step further. The Lord showed me this on a woman I know who at the time was in her late sixties and looking her age. She always wore too much make-up, especially eye make-up which really was unnecessary and made her look unattractive. I felt the Lord showing me that this woman “dressed” this way because she was trying to overtly hide what really was on the inside which was less than godly. A man that I know started a garden and was all excited about it planting tomatoes, peppers, and other vegetables. Initially he watered it and took good care of it, but eventually neglected it allowing the weeds to grow and hinder the growth of the vegetables. The Lord also showed me that this man was exactly the same in his walk with the Lord. It bothered me when I saw the weeds growing through the lack of care he had shown at one time, and I could see the weeds overrunning the real “fruit” and its potential.
May we continually examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. Thank you for your insights, Michael, and may the Lord continue to infuse His wisdom on you.
May 9th, 2008 at 10:40 am
How much money did Jesus need to make?
The Gospel of Prosperity frightens me. Materialism and its attendant lifestyle is the way of the Beast. Materialism and pursuit of more stuff leaves its pursuers empty and spiritually vacant. More is not always better.
In fact, I believe it was Jesus himself who eschewed material things.
Something about the chances of a rich man getting into heaven were equal to the chances of fitting a camel through the eye of a needle.
But I am no religious scholar, so what do I know? Evidently not much.
That said, I think the real riches in life come from things that money can’t buy. And no amount of fancy cars, big houses, trophy wives, or anything else obtained with money can make a man truly happy.
May 9th, 2008 at 10:58 am
I started reading the article was pulled in by the first paragraph concerning how the man reacted to your statement. Then, in the next parts of the article, I gained a little deeper insight into who you are. You commitment to spend time with him listening and encouraging was a good investment. A person can knowingly or unknowingly disclose matters that show on the exterior reflecting what is going on on the inside.
There are many matters that impact us internally. We have traumas that can stir us to the point of desperation and have to work through them. Most of us who have this going on are open to someone with a compassionate approach who will take time to help us work through them. Some matters take a lot of counsel while others are healed with a reminder of a biblical truth about Jesus. A simple statement can open the eyes of our understanding and touch a tender part that has been injured in some major or minor way.
I was reading Mark 7:13ff and include this part of that passage: “And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, “thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.” All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”
I plan to spend some more time studying this passage. I have preached using this passage and find comfort that God’s grace is sufficient to redeem us from the curse of the law and will set us free from those troubling and disturbing internal attitudes and thougts.
May 9th, 2008 at 11:25 am
“foot” Let me be the first to invite you to go back over Michael’s last several blogs…He doesn’t preach the “Gospel of Prosperity” nor does he promote materialism. While those things most certainly do exsist and we as Christians needs to guard against them - that’s not what is being talked about here. There are hundreds of entries that are full of wisdom. I’ve learned SO much the last few weeks!! Go check it out!
May 9th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Thanks Lorisa for correcting a common misunderstanding! It helps me to know there are so many of you who have taken the time to really hear what is being said over the long term and grasp the role of finance in the kingdom.
Foot asks the question “How much money did Jesus need to make?” That question is loaded with opportunity to expound, but let me say that He had enough that He kept a treasurer and that in addition to that, He came here owning it all anyway. Furthermore, He often circumvented the need for money…. Someone needed healing, he didn’t call for and pay a doctor - He healed them. He was speaking to a crowd of around 10 - 20,000 of which there were 5,000 men and He decides to buy them lunch. What would that cost someone today? If it were catered, it would easily be $300,000 - $600,000. That would have been a lot of coin to carry around so Jesus simply circumvented the system and multiplied a boy’s lunch.
He had more than money at His disposal and even when that was requested, He easily produced it, even if from the mouth of a fish.
My bottom line, this message is not about the toys you own. It’s about the purpose of wealth and using it as a tool to advance the kingdom.
May 9th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
I would like to know more on how to ‘clean up’ my self on the inside; I would like learn more on how to change those things that cause me and my husband from obtaining the real things that God has for us, and wants to give us.
Can you help?
May 12th, 2008 at 5:59 am
This is an absolute fact and I couldn’t agree more and this is biblical also “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he”. We can actually carry this all our lives without realizing it and one of the manifestations is what you saw in that office. Thank you so much for this insight.
October 2nd, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Wow! Really good article and so true. Thanks for sharing. It is really helpful and also much appreciated.