The Evil Spirit of Poverty Revealed
Scientists behind the latest brain-imaging studies say they can now pinpoint with precision where emotions are located within our heads. In 2013 a team of psychologists published a study in which they claimed they found neural correlates for nine very distinct human emotions: anger, disgust, envy, fear, happiness, lust, pride, sadness, and shame. The question, then, becomes, if we humans can pinpoint with such precision WHERE these emotions are located in ones head, what relative capabilities do supernatural beings have in such matters? Since they have a much higher intellect than humans,its within reason to believe that they have been meticulously pinpointing, identifying with, and thus understand each human emotional state. I venture to say that they have been doing it all along.
Often I share how some (humans) are given spiritual insight by Gods grace and mercy whereby they gain experiential understanding of intricately woven spiritual aspects which occur in human affairs. In this lesson we will examine the activities of two specific evil beings. The evil Spirit of Poverty and the evil Spirit of Bondage, these two slither closely with a diabolical chemistry that`s unmatched by anything in the physical world. Their joint efforts enhance their ability to intimately identify with human emotions and behavioral patterns. Now, I pray, "LORD JESUS open the eyes of those who read the following historical examples of how these evil supernatural collaborations were working behind the scene in human affairs."
The following instance is taken from the 1900`s mainly because it specifically reveals just how swiftly evil spiritual beings identified with the manifestation of a specific human emotion upon France, Germany and America over the wealth and power held by England. The specific emotion was envy. Envy will always involve a social comparison or competition between those envious of what others possess.The evil one knew that the pain of envy is not actually caused by, in this case, the desire for the wealth and power held by England, but by the feeling of inferiority and frustration which surfaced based on what France, Germany and America believed they lacked. Its a fact that where ever a deep saturating sense of inadequacy exists those experiencing it will attempt to elevate themselves out of it by projecting their inferiority upon others. Keep in mind that Satan and his cohorts not only knew this they also knew that envy is only triggered when you feel and believe that you`ve come up short. This understanding made it easy to pinpoint the target then strike in ways most advantageous for the kingdom of darkness. The evil joint effort was a direct hit that enhanced cooperate cravings for such wealth and power.
The Spirit of Poverty is one of the most powerful and deadly forces employed by Satan. It frequently slithers undetected while wreaking havoc within every system upon the earth. So, let`s take a closer look at the specific role that the spirit of poverty played in this particular case. Oh yes this spirit was doing its thing in England back in the 1900`s. First, Its significant to understand that England achieved such wealth and power through their imperial colonial system. The spirit of poverty not only established this system but impregnated it and gave birth to the evil doctrine of a "Superior Race." Yes! this evil doctrine surfaced out of the European colonial system and has thrived ever since.
Referring to the envy of France, Germany and America, W.E.B. Du Bois elaborates on these truths (as they relate to the natural, physical, and visible aspects) in his book The World And Africa. " All these centers of civilizations envied England the wealth and power built upon her imperial colonial system. One looking at European imperialism in 1900 therefore should have looked first at the depressed peoples. One would have found them also among the laboring classes in Europe and America, living in slums behind a facade of democracy, nourished on a false education which lauded the triumphs of the industrial undertaker, made the millionaire the hero of modern life, and taught youth that success was wealth. The slums of England emphasized class differences; slum dwellers and British aristocracy spoke different tongues, had different manners and ideals. The goal of human life was illustrated in the nineteenth-century English novel: the aristocrat of independent income surrounded by a herd of obsequious and carefully trained servants. Even today the British butler is a personage in the literary world.
Out of this emerged the doctrine of the Superior Race: the theory that a minority of the people of Europe are by birth and natural gift the rulers of mankind; rulers of their own suppressed labor classes and, without doubt, heaven-sent rulers of yellow, brown, and black people." The devil is a liar!
De Bois goes on to write " This way of thinking gave rise to many paradoxes, and it was characteristic of the era that men did not face paradoxes with any plan to solve them. There was the religious paradox: the contradiction between the Golden Rule and the use of force to keep human beings in their appointed places,,,,There was the assumption of the absolute necessity of poverty for the majority of men in order to save civilization for the minority, for that aristocracy of mankind which was at the same time the chief beneficiary of culture." As stated elsewhere Satan maintains dominance upon the godless earthy system by the rules, policies, laws and ideology he employs. Ephesians 6:12 "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood..." This informs us that evil spiritual beings are operating behind the scene of the physical universe. They represent very real demonic forces that are rarely seen by the naked human eye.
Although supernatural beings are invisible to most, (again pardon my redundancy) we can discern their presence by their activities. In the above excerpt of W.E.B. Du Bois book we read of oppressed peoples, which reveals the invisible yet very real presence of the spirit of bondage. We then observe the oppressed living in slums whereby not only pointing to the presence of the spirit of poverty but also revealing the unmatched diabolical chemistry between these two evil spirits as previously stated. Furthermore when observing the presence of false education, strong emphasis on class differences, greed, and a herd of slavish and carefully trained servants in this excerpt they collectively, and strikingly resemble the community represented in the graphic image of my dream. Perhaps you can envision the demonic beings marching in sync during this era where when "men did not face paradoxes with any plan to solve them.." Just maybe you can discern why the evil spirit of bondage can say "You can`t stop this!"
More on the Spirit of Poverty
The Spirit of Poverty also slithers within marriages; sinking its fangs deep into any and all of our resources while simultaneously blurring our visions and dreams. Subsequently, its venom reaches into the minds and even has the capacity to torment those authentically anointed for ministry by God. The effects as mentioned above often producing herds of obsequious and carefully trained servants. Oh yes, although shrouded in darkness from most, trust me, the spirit of poverty is notorious for not only keeping things from us, but from keeping believers from the will of God. Satan is called "The Prince of Darkness" because darkness is truly his domain. The evil one can only rule where darkness prevails, or ignorance of godly standards is strategically consistently reinforced so as to keep humankind from grasping the truth of God`s Word, His Holy will and His way. With this in mind, I pray that the light of biblical understanding penetrates through the following Illustrations and teachings.
Another reason why the spirit of poverty`s influence is ever so deadly, is based on its capacity to function as a mindset within the human mind. Consider Acts 5:1--4. "But there was a man named Ananias (with his wife Sapphira) who sold some property, and brought only part of the money, claiming it was the full price. (His wife had agreed to this deception)But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God." In context, Acts 5:1 starts out with, "But there was a man...." the "but" is used to emphasize the clear contrast separating Ananias and his wife from Barnabas and others. (Acts 4:31-37) Barnabas and the others were being led by the Holy Spirit to sell all there possessions and give all the proceeds to the church. This was done so that everyone would have all things in common and to provide for the poor. Ananias and his wife Sapphira, however, although they were believers, were influenced by the devil and therefore not led by the Holy Spirit. Through lustful eyes, they saw and listened to how Barnabas and the others were being honored and spoken very highly of in the newly founded church. They began envisioning themselves being highly honored and praised for being fully dedicated and "sold-out" for Jesus, just like Barnabas and the others. Yet unlike the others they never intended to give all the proceeds to the joint effort. Unfortunately, the evil spirit of poverty slithered into both their minds.
Once again the specific emotion providing demonic access was envy. Remember, envy always involves a social comparison or competition between those envious of what others possess. The evil Spirit of Poverty knew that the best time to strike was when Ananias and Sapphira were both experiencing the pain of envy. Get this; because evil spirits often hide behind or within other forces, in this case, remaining cloaked behind or within the pain of envy, this wicked one knew that Ananias and Sapphira were actually suffering for what they believed they lacked. This, describes, in part, how the spirit of poverty functions as a mindset within the human mind. What I mean is that "in reality" Ananias and Sapphira lacked nothing.
Here, again, was a manifestation of a deep saturating sense of inadequacy pushing husband and wife in the wrong direction. Therefore Ananias concocted a plan to only appear as if they were giving all the proceeds from a piece of property he owned to the church. In his mind, Ananias thought it would be a 'win-win!" He thought that he would eliminate the deep sense of inadequacy by holding on to some of the proceeds whereby they would have more than the others (elevating him and his wife above the others). I mean he really thought he could fake it and simultaneously make it, and his wife had the same deceitfully calculated mindset. Moreover Ananias believed he came up with this slick deceptive plan on his own. The very moment we contemplate sin, we invite the enemy in.
While Ananias thought he was talking to himself, he was not because the evil spirit of poverty was at work. This is a major reason why in Romans 12:1-2 Christians are commanded to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Old sin-filled thinking and behavioral patterns must be destroyed, by this renewal process of the mind. When Peter reveals that Satan has filled Ananias`s heart, this "filling" describes how Satan sent the spirit of poverty to inject evil suggestions into Ananias mind which complimented Ananias's distorted thought patterns. When we don`t challenge evil thoughts with the word of God, in essence, we invite evil spirits into our minds. The evil one was probably emulating Ananias`s "thought-voice." We all have a thought-voice. For example. let`s say your supervisor at work really takes you there, and although you remain calm and cool on the outside, in your mind you`re cussing him out. The cussing proceeds from your thought-voice. You see, since we often talk to ourselves when contemplating decisions, wrestling with temptations, when angry at spouse, thirsty, etc...if we know when we do this Satan knows it too. Spiritual battles are won or lost in the mind prior to being acted out.
Furthermore, the spirit of poverty also knew that emulating Ananias`s thought voice would not only cloak its own demonic mindset but more importantly this demon`s own evil set of ideas would reinforce Ananias`s deceptive plan. If the evil spirit was not mimicking Ananias`s thought-voice the evil suggestions "jellied so closely" with Ananias`s distorted sin-filled thinking patterns; so much so, that Ananias couldn`t tell the difference. Either way Ananias thought he was talking to himself. Because Ananias was a believer he probably wouldn`t consciously agree with Satan. This is another reason why I strongly suggest that the evil one impersonated Ananias`s thought-voice.
Jesus called the devil the "Father of Lies" not just because he told the first lie. Satan is a master of deception. He mimics, copies, emulates, and can even speak through human vocal cords. The comedian Rich Little can impersonate humans so good that if you closed your eyes you could not distinguish if the voice was Rich Little`s or the person he is impersonating. Satan is a supernatural being and his ability to impersonate is far superior to Rich Little.
This "filling" of Ananias's heart also speaks of Satan having enough time based on Ananias entertaining the sinful ideas entirely too long. This gave the evil one not only access but permission. Ananias spent so much time entertaining the distorted thinking patterns that he decided to bring his wife into the slick deceptive plan. Some scholars have suggested that Sapphira was the one who came up with the evil plan; comparing similarities of this biblical episodes with how the evil one approached first through Jezebel not King Ahab, and through Eve first, not Adam, in the Garden of Eden. Either way, Ananias and Sapphira probably thought they were only agreeing with each other to move forward with such an evil plan. As stated above the evil spirit of poverty frequently slithers undetected while wreaking havoc in marriages. Although probably unknowingly at first, in essence, by dwelling on their evil plan, Ananias and Sapphira, simultaneously entertained the evil one like a welcomed guess within there minds. This is why Eph. 4:27 tells us not to give place to the devil.
Then when Peter further interrogates Ananias saying, "...why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart?" This reveals how it was Ananias who devised or came up with the deceptive idea first. This opened the door for the devil. All spiritual warfare is waged over agreement. You see, if you don`t cast down the evil idea immediately, the evil one will swiftly add his evil flavor, with thoughts, mental pictures showing the fulfillment of unmet needs, desires, etc...which awakens the "old you" or cater to your own self-centered ways, greed, ambition, or other sinful tendencies. Then you will start to agree with the evil one (in this case agreeing with the spirit of poverty) consciously or unconsciously.The evil spirit of poverty knows that finance in marriage can often be a great source of conflict and disagreement. Little things can escalate and the future can start to seem hopeless.
The Release of the study The Marriage in (State) Baseline Statewide Survey (Schramm, Marshall, Harps, and George 2003) County residents were astonished by the statistics from the Census Bureau for (county, state). The statistics showed that 55% of all marriages were ending in divorce. Table 1 (below) Percentage of couples regarding reasons for conflict as primary and secondary (N=161)
Reasons for conflict: Regard as Primary % Regard as Secondary%
- Communication: Primary 35% Secondary 31%
- Finances: Primary 39% Secondary 54%
- Other: Primary 26% Secondary 15%
Things turned out tragically for Ananias and his wife Sapphira. The question then, becomes what should they have done? The first thing this married couple should have done was to seek God`s guidance. Obviously, they didn`t need to seek clarity about the the slick deceptive plan. They should have cast down the deceptive plan immediately. However, they did need to prayerfully consider why as believers, they both were so strongly fixated on contemplating something that was totally out of God`s will, godly standards, and their God-given assignments. Scripture records nothing about an attempt to challenge their thoughts, or if the sin-filled plan was based on something they truly felt they needed. Could it have been something that surfaced impulsively? Its a stronger probability that magnification & minimization were engaged.
Magnification and Minimization are types of mindsets and are only two of such distorted thought patterns which evil spirits often work in conjunction with. In this context magnification was employed to exaggerate the importance of elevating themselves to suppress a deeply rooted inferiority, which surfaced as they compared what Barnabas and the others were receiving, and thus there need to appear to give all the proceeds to the church. The distorted mindset of "minimizing the consequences" of dishonoring God also reveals how and why neither Ananias nor Sapphira were unable or unwilling to stop one another from moving forward with the evil plan. They should have come clean with one another, identified what was going on internally, labeled what they were feeling, and challenged it according to the word of God. The way of escape was available. They should have got down on their knees as illustrated in the graphic illustration.
The above graphic is the second vision I shared with Mr. Michael Ruolngul. His God-given abilities masterfully display the details of this personal revelation I humbly share. I entitled the work Breaking The Spirit Of Poverty`s Grip. I was not sleeping, nor was I praying. The vision just came before me. I witnessed the snake`s body slithering from out of the dark spiritual realm into the physical universe. I could see that to my left was the physical realm and to my right was the dark spiritual realm. However, within the physical realm the snake`s body appears as a chain which extended to my left, reaching to, and shackling the wrists of a young couple. I could see that the realm to my right was not of the physical realm. I knew the snake/ chain was one and the same because the slithering motions was exactly the same motion coming from both realms. The couple got down on their knees. They began to pray the Lords Prayer. When they prayed, "The Lord is my Shepard, I shall not want..." At that very moment I a huge glowing sword appeared from above, and in one swift stroke, shattered a link in the chain. The shattered link changed into the snake`s head and it`s fangs crumbled out of it`s mouth toward the ground. The sword rotated whereby providing me just enough time to read the words on the blade: JEH0VAH JIREH then it vanished, To my left, within the spirit realm the snake`s headless body was still slithering and the evil Spirit of Poverty was still clutching it`s tail. This evil spirit was furious, and although it didn`t shout out words verbally, I knew it was screaming NOOOOO!!!
