DEVOTION: SPACIOUS PLACE...DEFEATING THE POVERTY SPIRIT 2

Devotional - Living In The Spacious Place: Defeating The Poverty Spirit
By Minister William Witherspoon; Edited by Bishop Geoffrey V. Dudley, Sr., D.Min.

Malachi 3:10 King James Version (KJV) 10Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 New International Version (NIV) 6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

On a stormy night in August a child is born. His mother lovingly cradles him in her arms and gazes with sheer adoration into his face. She carefully considers his every feature and thoughtfully commits each one to memory. She notes his long eyelashes, fat cheeks, puffy little hands, and curly locks of hair. This is love at first sight.

While rocking the child to sleep and humming a lullaby, she pensively considers the life she is holding in her hands. She reflects on how precious he is and what she must do to take care of this precious life that has been placed in her hands. On that single thought, her smile slowly melts and turns into a stoic stare. She starts to frown as her thoughts reluctantly transition from the peaceful places in her mind to the chaotic reality of cursing bums, arguing crapshooters, gangs, gunshots, and police sirens. For now, she and the baby are currently living in a damp, dilapidated, and partially condemned apartment building.

Only moments ago in her mind, she was in a beautiful place. One might call it a spacious place. A place where she did not have to worry about where the next meal was coming from or how she would make ends meet. There were no worries of "will these food stamps feed me and the child".
The mother thinks to herself and whispers almost inaudibly "I know God has more for me than this". She reflected on how the Lord had always provided for her family despite the destitute poverty in which she had grown up. She thinks to herself and remembers that before the baby was born, she had dreamed of owning her own home, working a good job, maybe even owing her own business.

We often think of dreams as mental events that happen at night while we are sound asleep. Sometimes we errantly label a young person that has concocted and verbalized a seemingly inconceivable Idea of doing something great as being full of dreams. At first glance, we may believe that both types of dreams lack possibility, but the truth of the matter is that only one type of dream lacks possibility.

On the other hand, the young mother in our story had a dream or vision of a better life. Undoubtedly it was a cold hard fact this young mother's current living situation was hostile to the fulfillment of her dream. However, if we look at her circumstances and desires in light of Gods truth, the path leading to the fulfillment of her dream was only obscured by the overgrowth of situation and circumstance.