Creflo Dollar - Living In The No Lack Zone
Father, we thank you for this opportunity to minister to these your precious sheep. Thank you, Lord, that revelation knowledge will flow freely, uninterrupted and unhindered by any satanic or demonic force. And, Father, I pray that tonight you will speak through my vocal cords, think through my mind. I pray that this message will cause a turnaround in the lives of these your precious sheep. Thank you, Lord, for this Wednesday-night crew. Thank you for those who are hungry and thirsty for your Word, and I pray, God, tonight that they will be filled. Holy Spirit, invade our atmosphere, invade our thinking, invade our lives that we may see you as our strong tower. We praise you for it now. In the wonderful, mighty name of Jesus we pray, and everybody said amen.
Well, praise God. Welcome to Wednesday night Bible study, and tonight we're gonna get into something here. I'm gonna talk to you about living in the no-lack zone, living in the no-lack zone. You see, a lotta people have tried to get their needs met, and they've tried to stay out of lack through their relationship with principles, instead of having a relationship with a person. And, of course, I'm referring to the person of Jesus Christ.
And as we look at this tonight, I just wanna show you the promises of God. I want you to see him as your supply house, and whatever lack that may be knocking on your door, you don't have to fear lack. You have an inheritance. You have a promise with Jehovah-Jireh. You have a promise with God Almighty that whatever the lack is in your life, you can live, and this is what I wanna convince you of tonight, you can live in the no-lack zone, praise God.
So, let's start off with a couple of Scriptures here. And take good notes. You might wanna call your neighbors. I definitely want you to share this with as many people as you can, because in this time, with all the things that are going on, I want you to recognize you do not have to be afraid. God's, again, got you covered. Let's begin tonight in the book of Psalms 33, verse 18 through 19. Psalms 33, verse 18 through 19, and I wanna look at this in the King James and The Message Bible. Let's establish ourselves in the Word of God. Remember, when anything happens in your life, the first place we go is the Word of God.
"Are you saying to me, Pastor Dollar, that we can live in a no-lack zone? It sounds impossible". It is not. Let's release our faith to see the promises that God has made to us, and then we've gotta decide whether or not we have released our faith to take possession of those promises. Now, here's what it says in verse 18, King James, "Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him", that reverence him, "upon them that hope in his mercy; to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine". Now, this is God's promise for those who will reverence God and walk in the fear of the Lord, and I'll define that in a moment. Walk in the fear of the Lord. He said that God is going to keep them alive in famine.
Now look at this in The Message Bible. Same verse of Scripture in The Message Bible. He says, "Watch this: God's eye is on those who respect him". Now, respect, worship, walking in the fear of the Lord, you'll notice they're the same. Awe. So, "God's eye is on those who respect him, the ones who are looking for his love". Are you looking for God's love? That you know that "God loves me so much. That even in the middle of lack that he's going to be my supply house". Are you looking for his love in the middle of needing a job or needing a place to stay or needing peace? Look for his love. When God comes to provide for you to make sure that there is no lack in your life, that's his love. Look for his love. And he says, "Watch this: God's eye is on those who respect him and ones who are looking for his love. He's ready to come to their rescue in bad times".
Wow! He is ready to come to their rescue in bad times. God is ready to come to your rescue in bad times. Well, this will certainly be appropriate, then, in this time. God is ready to come to your rescue in bad times, those who respect him, and those who walk in reverence to him. He says, "In lean times he keeps body and soul together". In lean times, when there is not a whole lot there, he says he'll keep your body and he'll keep your soul together, so here you see that God is committed to making sure that you're not gonna lack no matter what's going on. That you're not gonna lack in bad times. You're not gonna lack in a time of famine. You're not gonna lack in a time of a pandemic. Here's the promise, man. You won't lack because of the principle? No, because of the person, God.
Now watch this. Go to Psalms 37, verse 18 and 19, and this time I wanna look at it in the King James, and then the New Living Translation, the King James and the New Living Translation. I am telling you there is a no-lack zone, but when we reverence God and respect him, have a deep respect for him, it's gonna be a big key here. Now, look at in King James first. Psalms 37:18 and 19. King James he says, "The Lord knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be forever", so there is a forever inheritance for the upright. "They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied".
You don't see here God declaring that you're gonna be in lack. He says you're gonna be satisfied. Now look at this in the New Living Translation. This really blessed me when I saw this. He said, "Day by day the Lord takes care of the innocent, and they will receive an inheritance that lasts forever. They will not be disgraced in hard times". I hope you heard that. You are not going to be disgraced in hard times. You're not gonna be disgraced. I know there may be a guy watching me right now, thinking, "Man, it would be a disgrace if I can't take care of my family, if I can't afford to feed my family, if I can't afford to take care of my household".
He says you will not be disgraced in hard times. He said, "Even in famine they will have more than enough". Even in famine they will have more than enough. This is a promise from our heavenly Father. I am saying to you release your faith. Take possession of this promise. This is not just a cliché. I'm not coming with a cliché teaching tonight, you know, for you to go around talking about, "I live in the no-lack zone". I appreciate you making that confession, but I want you to know this is real. That God will take care of you even in the midst of a famine, in the midst of hard times. His promise is you will have more than enough. Why? Because of him, because you look for him, and you look for his love, and you look to him.
And we are living in a world today where people are looking to everything else. They keep looking to the abilities of men, they keep looking to the abilities of government, and nobody is looking to him. I mean, what else has to happen before you realize that God's trying to get your attention? What else has to take place before you realize that God's trying to get you to look to him, to pay attention to him? He is the one that will provide, he is your supply house, and I'm telling you he has a promise. And I don't know about you, but for me and my house, we're gonna use our faith. We're gonna possess this promise. We're gonna live in this no-lack zone.
Now, I wanna take you through the Scriptures, and these first two Scriptures were just to show you God's commitment in his Word to be there regardless of the time, regardless of the situation, regardless of the circumstance. What we've got to do is we've gotta look at him. We've got to believe him.
Now, watch this. Let's look at, in the old covenant these promises that were made, and I'm going to the old covenant 'cause I wanna show you this is God's character. You know, when you really know God, you know that's who God is. God is a provider by character. He's Jehovah-Jireh by character. God, by character, is not gonna let, you know, his children and his covenant people be in lack of anything, and when you're connected with God, you're gonna find out that his character is to make sure that you don't be in lack in any time, in any way, in any day.
And that's what I want you to see. That's what I want you to grab hold to. I mean, we're looking for everybody else to take care of our lack, and God does it better than anybody. God's gonna take care of your lack better than a stimulus check. God is gonna take care of your lack better than a trusted friend. God is gonna take care of your lack even better than your job, but we've got to know this, believe this, and appropriate this into our lives so that even with the stimulus check, even with the job, even with the trusted friend that you depend on God even if those things are available. Because when those things are not available, God's gonna be the one that's still standing in your life, amen?
Let's go to Deuteronomy chapter 2, verse 7. Deuteronomy chapter 2 and verse 7. Now, this is interesting here, because, like I said, this is God's character. God's character is not to steal, kill, and destroy. God's character is to love and to give us life and to give it to us more abundantly. Now, notice here he says, "For the Lord thy God hath", past tense, "blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the Lord thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing".
Focus on that: thou hast lacked nothing. Why? He says 'cause the whole time God's been with you, and that's what I'm trying to show you, that when God is with you, the way this ended, you shall lack nothing. Why? 'Cause God's with you. That's the key: 'cause God's with you. Not because of the, you know, the life-coach ideas and, none of that. It's 'cause God's with you. You see, at the end of the day I wanna be able to say I lack nothing 'cause God was with me, and I wanna make sure that God's with me and I'm with him.
Notice something here. Go to Luke. I wanna show you something even in the new covenant. Luke chapter 9, verses 3 through 5. This is the nature of God. The nature of God is to take care of your needs. The nature of God is to take those who believe in him and deeply respect him, that his nature is that there is gonna be no lack in your life because he's gonna be with you. He assumes responsibility for the lack in your life if you trust him and if you believe him.
Now, there was a situation here where Jesus was getting ready to send his disciples out. In fact, start at Luke chapter 9, verse 1. Jesus is getting ready to send his disciples out, and he does something very interesting here. I wanna see if you catch it. Verse 1, "Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and gave them the power and authority to cure disease". Now look at verse 2. "And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick". Verse 3, "And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey".
So, he's getting ready to send them out on a mission. You know, you can hardly send people out on a mission right now because they're gonna worry aboutá, "Who gonna do that? Who gonna do that? And what about this"? You know, Jesus gave them authority, and he sent 'em out, and he told 'em, "Take nothing for your journey". Now, that would have got my attention. You're sending me out into ministry, and you say to me, "Don't take anything for your journey". All right, he says, "Don't take stave. Don't take scrip. Don't take bread. Don't take money". He's sending them out to ministry. He says, "Don't take money". He says, "And neither have two coats apiece".
So, don't take your coat. Don't take your purse. Don't take your bread. Don't take food. Don't take money. What is he doing? He's trying to show them that "I know how to take care of my people". Because, you know, you think, "Well, wait a minute. If you send us out without money, we're gonna lack something. And if you send us out without bread, we're gonna lack food. And if you send us out without coat, and it get cold, we're gonna lack a coat, warmth". God's trying to show 'em something. He's trying to show them that he wants to be their supply house. Now, I used to wonder what was the end of the story when he told 'em to "go out and don't take nothing with you"?
Well, go to the book of Luke chapter 22. Luke chapter 22. What's the end of the story here? Luke 22 and verse 35. Luke 22 and verse 35. Now, watch this. Here's the end of the story. "And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, scrip, shoes", coat, money, you remember that? He asked a question. "Lacked ye anything"? And they responded by saying, "Nothing. We lacked nothing". Now, folks, that's living in the no-lack zone. Send 'em out with nothing. He says, "Don't take anything for your journey". And then, Jesus said, "When I sent you out with nothing, did you lack anything"? And they responded, "We lacked nothing. We lacked nothing". Why? Because they believed in the provision and in the care and the love of the Lord Jesus Christ.
How about you? We've been trained to trust so many things, that we've forgotten to trust God, and here's a perfect illustration that they lacked nothing. So now, what do you do now? Look at the next verse, verse 36, "Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it up, likewise if you got a scrip: he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one".
So, what was going on here? He says, "Okay, you know, if you have a purse, you can take your purse up. If you have money, you can take your money up. If you got coat, you can get your coat". Why? "Because now that you know that I am the source of your supply, now that you know that I am the one that will keep you out of lack, it's okay to get your coat because you know that's not your supply. You know that's not your source. It's okay for you to get your money because you know that money is not your source, and you don't have to trust that", praise God. "You can get your scrip, you can get your shoes. You can get all that stuff now because you now know that I am the one that will supply you with whatever you need, and I am the one that will keep you out of lack. I'll keep you out of insufficiency. I just need you to trust me".
I believe that there is coming a time in your life that you will take hold of what I'm preaching on tonight, what I'm trying to teach you tonight, and you'll trust God. And on your journey you'll not have it, but when it's over with I'll ask you the question, "Lack ye anything"? And you'll say, "I didn't lack nothing. I didn't lack a thing". Why? God is my supply house. There is a zone called the no-lack zone, and we're living in the no-lack zone when we put our trust and our faith in Jesus as the one that can supply and take care of us, amen?
Now, let's go a little further here. Let's look at 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, starting at verse 9 through 12, and I wanna read it in the NLT and then The Message. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 9 through 12 in the New Living Translation, and then in The Message translation. I just want you to grab these Scriptures. Write these Scriptures down. Meditate on 'em. Put it on a piece of paper, fold it in your pocket, so every time you hear any voice saying to you that, you know, you should be afraid because of lack, you should just pull it out and say, "No, I've got a commitment and an inheritance from God that he will take care of me, and I will lack nothing. I will lack nothing".
All right, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Verse 9 he says, "But we don't need to write to you about the importance of loving each other, for God himself has taught you to love one another". Verse 10, "Indeed, you already show your love for all the believers throughout Macedonia. Even so, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you to love them even more. Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before". Now here it is. "Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others".
You will not need to depend on others because the way you live. You're living a life of love, you're living a life that can be respected, and you're increasing more and more in this life of love and learning how to love everyone like Jesus told you to do that. He says if you'll live the life that you've been instructed to live, you don't have to worry about depending on other people to make sure that you don't have lack. Man, that's powerful.
Let's look at this in The Message translation. 2 Thessalonians 4:9-12. Nine through twelve, Message translation. 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12. All right, he says, "Regarding life together and getting along with each other", he says, "you don't need me to tell you what to do. You're God-taught in these matters". Wow, that's powerful, God will teach you how to love. He said, "Just love one another! You're already good at it; your friends all over the province of Macedonia are the evidence. Keep it up". And then, he says, "Get better and better at it". Get better and better at what? At loving one another.
And look what he says. "Stay calm; mind your own business". Ain't that something? Mind your own business. "Do your own job". Look at that. "You've heard all this from us before". So, he's not talking about just walking in love. He's not talking about, you know, well, just walking in love at church, but he's talking about do your job. Mind your own business. Be a person of character, okay? Says, "You've heard all this from us before, but a reminder never hurts. We want you living in a way that will command the respect of outsiders, not lying around sponging off your friends".
Whoa! Not lying around sponging off your friends. He says, "We want you to live in a way that other people will respect you, and not lying around sponging off your friends". You know, you go to your friends because you make them your supply house, and then people don't like it when they see you coming. And then, you get on the Internet and social media and start telling people what they ought to do and what they ought to give you and all that other kinda stuff. God's your supply house.
Now look at this, Psalms 34, in 10. Psalms 34, in 10. Now, this got my attention. I want you to look at this in the New Living Translation and then The Message Bible, Psalms 34, in 10. I wanna spend some time defining this relationship that will put us in the no-lack zone, defining this relationship that will put us in the no-lack zone. Here's what he says. He said, "Even strong lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing". Those who trust in the Lord lean on the Lord, rely on God. He's first priority. He's my first move when somethin' comes up. I go to him first. He says, "They will lack no good thing".
I think sometimes in our lives we have too many options, and, unfortunately God's at the end of that, and he is saying even lions, young lions, suffer hunger, but they that trust God, rely on God, depend on him. Take possession of relationship with him, looking for his love. He says those people will lack no good thing. And look what he says in The Message Bible: "Young lions on the prowl get hungry, but God-seekers are full of God". "God-seekers are full of God". Man, that's a powerful Scripture because what it says, to me, is that, you know, when we learn how to worship God, when we learn how to seek God and worship God and spend time with God, you know, what we become? We become those God-seekers, they that seek the Lord.
In fact, look at this: Look at verse 9, in The Message translation, verse 9 and 10, Psalms 34:9-10. In fact, go back to the New Living Translation. Let's do the New Living Translation, verse 9 and 10, and then come back to The Message, verse 9 and 10. I wanna show you somethin' here. He says, "Fear the Lord, you his godly people, for those who fear him will have all they need". So now, all of a sudden, walkin' in the fear of the Lord is pretty important because he says, "Those that fear him will have all that they need". "Those that fear him will have all that they need".
Now, he's not talkin' about the fright or the fear, the demonic fear. He's talking about somethin' that we need to know this word here "fearing the Lord" is reverencing God. It's having a high regard and a high respect, an awe for God. Those who have a high regard and a high respect for him, go back to verse 9. Those who have a high regard and a high respect for him, he says here that they will have all that they need. Fear the Lord. You'll have all you need. So now I need to make sure I know what it means to fear the Lord, to reverence God, to have a deep respect for him, to be in awe of him.
All right, now, let's go to The Message translation. All right, so what does it mean to fear the Lord? Because, all of a sudden, I can't just pass this when he says, everything you need, you will have if you walk in the fear of the Lord. All right, well, watch this. He says, "Worship God if you want the best. Worship opens doors to all his goodness". Oh, so it's worship that gives you his best. It's worship that opens the doors to all of his goodness.
Now, that's not singin' a slow song. That's not what it means to worship God. To worship God is to reverence him. It is to honor him. It is to reverence him, to honor him, to have a deep respect for him, to have an awe, A-W-E, for him. It is to be so impressed with him. It is to go to him with such an attitude of gratitude, to be so grateful and thankful for not just what he can give us but just who he is and what he has done. And when you can live this way, it's like with Abraham. Abraham so honored God that, when God told him to take his son, "Your only son and to sacrifice him", Abraham, the Bible says that they went up to worship God.
What were they doin'? They were actually goin' out to just do what God told 'em to do because they respected him, they worshiped him, they honored him enough that they knew. They went way past what God was tellin' them to do. They knew about his power. They knew about his love. They knew about who he was and his nature and they had a deep honor and respect for him. I'm not talkin' about wearing a Christian T-shirt, saying, "I'm a Christian" today. I'm talkin' about you have moved from this casual relationship to a relationship of worship, a relationship of honor, a relationship where you're spendin' time with him, and he's spendin' time with you, a relationship where, even in the midst of hard times, there's a peace that passes all understandin' that comes over your life, and you're just swimming in the presence of God.
That kind of relationship, the Bible says, will give you God's best and will open up the doors to all of his goodness, yes. Somebody says, "Well, praise God. You supposed to make sure I don't have no lack, so how come you're not doin' it"? "Well, I'm done with you". "Well, come on, man, you didn't even get started". Talkin' about a real relationship.
I'm talkin' about one where your honor and your respect and your gratitude is so big for God that you find yourself walkin' in this peace all the time because it's like, "Yeah, I know this is happening, but my God hadn't let me down yet. My God has not let me down yet. I'm stayin' with him. I'm stayin' with him. And if he doesn't do another thing for me, he's already done enough for me to reverence him, respect him, honor him, lift my hands toward him and declare, 'Oh, God, who is like unto thee? Who is like unto thee? Who can heal like you can heal? Who can deliver like you can deliver? Who can set free like you can set free'"?
And think about it and have a flashback of the times that he lifted you up out of the pit, the times where he healed you when the doctor said you were gonna die, the times where he met your needs, and you didn't know where the money was gonna come from. How great thou art. He said the guy who worship God, who fears the Lord, who walks out of reverence and respect, he'll get God's best, and the doors to all of God's goodness will be open, not because I do this to get the doors to open. It's because this is real.
And I don't know about you, but it's time to move from religion to relationship. It's time to move from fake to real. It's time to move from trusting the world to trusting God. It's time to move from trusting what you can see and what you can hear, and trust what the Word says, and trust what he's already done, and trust that he will be there even though you don't see it, don't hear it, and don't know which way it's gonna come from. It's like the wind. You don't know which way it's gonna come. That's what I'm talkin' about tonight. Praise God.
Now, here's the problem. Hosea 4, in 6. Here's a problem. You know, if I don't say these things, if I don't teach these things, then people won't know, and I'm not up here, you know, tryin' to get involved in a popularity contest and I'm only gonna say and teach what, you know, people wanna hear, those itching ears. I'm not doin' that. I'm just saying that how can you have faith about somethin' you don't know about? How can you take possession of somethin' you don't know about? I mean, how are you ever gonna believe God to be the one to make sure there's no lack in your life, and it's not been taught? You didn't know. You hadn't heard. You ain't read the Scriptures. It's just somethin' that people just don't talk about in their church, and, yet when times like these hit, man, isn't it good to know there's a God you can trust to take care of you throughout any famine or pandemic or hard time?
Look what he says in Hosea 4:6. We can definitely take from this. He says, "My people are destroyed for what they don't know". Scripture says, "lack of knowledge". People are destroyed because of what they don't know, lack of knowledge. You know, people have a lot of things to say, but they're destroyed because of what they don't know. I say this to some of my young ministers that, sometimes, you know more than what you understand, and, you know, just 'cause you know a thing, do you really understand it? And I think it requires really some experience in life to see if you really understand the thing that you say you know. But here's the one thing I understand is that, if people don't have the knowledge of certain things, then they're kept back because of what they don't know, because they don't know. So that's important that we know that God is our supply house.
Now, let me show you somethin'. So what's the problem then? "Pastor Dollar, there are Christian people who, they've heard this before", and some of you may say, "Well, I've heard something like this before. My pastor taught the same thing this past Sunday". So what is it? What is it that the enemy is gonna use to try to stop you, you the covenant people of God, you the Christian, you the believer, from living in this no-lack zone? Well, look at Joshua chapter 18. Joshua chapter 18, verse 2 and 3. Joshua chapter 18, verse 2 and 3. This is so, so very important. A little Scripture here, but I think you need to see this. He says, "And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance".
I believe that, you know, God meeting your needs and being your supply house, that's somethin' that every Christian has inherited. I think that's somethin' that you have a right to. But look at verse 3, "And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, 'How long are you slack"? Underline the word "slack". "To go to possess the land which the Lord God, your Father, hath", past tense, "given you". Now, look at all of the things that God hath, past tense, given us. And he says they didn't get it because they were slack to go to possess the land. It was somethin' that had already been given, but they were slack to go and possess the land.
All of your needs have been met, but are you slack in possessing it? God has already had provisions so there's no lack in your life, but are you slack in takin' possession of it? Let me give you a definition of the word "slack" so you'll follow what I'm saying. To be "slack" means to be slow to move. It means to be slow of heart to believe, slow to move, slow of heart to believe. You're just kind of, like, listenin' to this, but do you believe it, and are you slow to believe? It means idle, inactive, slothful, sluggard, easily influenced, and changed. It's really dull of perception. Your perception is dull, and you know you'll never receive it. Why? You're slack.
I mean, when I hear somethin' from the Word of God, I wanna be quick to believe. When I hear what God has already made available and what God has already provided and what God has already supplied, I wanna be quick to believe it. I don't wanna be slack, praise God. "Well, you never know". That ain't what I wanna do, no. When I find out that God Almighty wants to open the doors to everything that I need, I wanna be quick to believe it.
When I find out that my personal relationship with him have a whole lot to do with what he can do in my life, I wanna be quick to believe that. But, unfortunately, ladies and gentlemen, there are lots of Christian people who do one of these two things: Either they let what they've learned in the past slip, or they're slow to believe it. They're slow to receive it. It's kind of like their channel-lookin'. "Let's see what's gon' happen". No, man, you gotta believe God, and you gotta make your mind up you gon' believe God right now. In fact, you wanna make your mind up and believe God rat now, R-A-T, quick as a rat. You wanna believe him rat now. I believe that my God will allow me to live in this no-lack zone. In fact, say this out loud where you are. Say, "No more lack. Because of Jesus, no more lack", praise God.
Man, I feel the anointing here. These chairs might start talkin' to me after a while. Praise God, I'm tellin' you, in the name of Jesus, you don't have to settle for it. You can make a decision to walk out of it. Now, let me show you this real quick. So, "slack", they were slack. Let's read verse 2 and 3, again, now that you know what "slack" means. Joshua 18:2, "And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance". They had not yet received it. Why hadn't they received it? It was already made available. They had not yet received their inheritance. Bring it up to today.
They have not yet received their healing. They have not yet received their provision. They have not yet received Jesus. They have not yet received provisions that the Lord... see, and I'm gon' tell ya somethin' right now. One of the biggest problems in our world today is we want what Jesus has already made available, but we don't want Jesus. "We'll take what he's made available, but we don't want him". "Oh, yes, Brother Dollar, no more lack, but I don't want Jesus". "Oh, I'm healed, but I don't want Jesus". "Oh, I believe that I can prosper and all these things, but I don't want Jesus". That's not how that works, and you're gonna have to understand that. And then he goes on.
He says, "So they had not yet received. And Joshua", verse 3, "Joshua said unto them, the children of Israel, 'How long are you slack?'" He said they hadn't received because they were slack, slow, in some cases, just too lazy to get in that position. That should not be the testimony of born-again people, that we're quick to believe what God has established for our lives. Now, look at Deuteronomy chapter 28, in verse 7. Deuteronomy 28, in verse 7. Praise God, man, I hope you gettin' somethin' out of this. I'm excited about it. Deuteronomy 28, in verse 7, says this: "The Lord shall cause thine enemies", now, stop right there.
Lack is an enemy. Insufficiency is an enemy. Debt is an enemy when it is allowed to oppress you. And you know what oppression is? Oppression is when you no longer have the right to determine your future. And some people are in debt so hard they can't even determine their future because they're a slave to debt. And I want you to see it like that. And I want you to understand it. "Well, Brother Dollar, I don't agree", whatever. It's like I told you before. It's one thing to know a thing. It's another thing to understand it because of what you know. You have little nice little sayings, little nice little principles, and then you start livin' it out. It's like, "Woo, I didn't see that". "The Lord shall cause thine enemies", and I'm telling you, when you have needs and you got a job and you got trouble on top of trouble on top of trouble, lack is an enemy. Lack is an enemy. Insufficiency is an enemy.
You know, one of the reasons, and you know, like it or don't like it, but I gotta say it. One of the reasons that, you know, blacks and Hispanics are more susceptible to the COVID-19 virus, it's not just premedical conditions, but it's a lack of ability to be able to get those things to deal with those situations. It's a lack of ability to maybe buy the healthy foods or lack of ability to have the money to go and get the medical checkup early enough to deal with things, the lack of ability to get certain supplements, the lack of ability to do certain things, and that lack now has put certain ethnic groups in a position where they're more susceptible to thing.
Don't tell me poverty is a friend. Poverty is not a friend. Poverty is a curse. Poverty is not a friend. Poverty is a curse. Lack is a curse. Insufficiency is a curse. Why? It stops you from doing what other people who have provisions can do. And I believe that God can take up the slack where that is concerned. And I hate seeing it. I hate hearing that, and I wanna declare war on that in the name of Jesus. I hate seeing that my people are overweight and suffering with high blood pressure and heart attacks and men having prostate problems, and women with high rate of breast cancer because, in a lot of cases, they just can't afford the health care. They just can't afford the nutrition, or in the situation where, you know, just so stressed out, and all of that's hitting their health.
And I just want people know the bottom line to a lot of this, and I am saying that, if you don't know how to deal with... no, not havin' a job, but if you don't have the money to pay the rent and if you don't know how to get those provisions, I'm telling you right now, let's start with Jesus and not sit around sponging off of other people. Let's believe him 'cause other people will let you down. Governments will let you down. Stimulus packages will let you down. Listen, let's trust him. It's almost like, "Hey, hey, man, how about Jesus? How about... you've tried the rest. Now it's time to try the best, and Jesus is the best. Have you ever considered him? Let's try him".
And so what happens? When we let all these people talk us out of a relationship with God that took care of our grandparents, that took care of our parents, that allowed their cabinets to be stay filled with food, not because they made the money to do it, but somehow their relationship with God never allowed that lack to dominate their lives, and Big Mama was somehow always ready to put somethin' on that table. That's all I'm sayin', man. "I've never seen the righteous forsaken", the Bible said, "nor his seed begging bread".
I really believe that all of this stuff goin' on is tryin' to get our attention. You know, when everything was closed up, it was like, you know, now that the movies are closed, and now that the restaurant is closed, and now that the workout centers are closed, and now that the bowling alleys are closed, you know, when they were closed, I know they're open now, but when they were closed, you would think, you know, people say, "All right, God is like, 'Can I talk to ya now'"?
And I wonder, what did you do with that time? What'd do you do with that time? And even now, it's not too late. Can you make a decision of quality to spend some time with God? Let him speak to you. You speak to him. Let him lead you, and you follow him. Let him tell you what to do, and you say, "Yes, amen". What has to fail around you in order for you to finally give up and say, "I yield, God, I yield", "Show me what to do"? What has to happen? Don't wait until it's too late. Don't wait until everything's just all messed up and bummed up. How about now?