Weekday Devotionals
Scarcity vs Abundance…Your Mindset Matters! By Rick McCotter
Let’s start with some definitions.
Scarcity Mindset- there is not enough for everyone, therefore I must compete for everything I want or need; the focus is always on what I’m lacking. I never have enough.
Abundance Mindset- there is more than enough for everyone, therefore I will collaborate with others so everyone can share in the blessings of Abundance; the focus is on what I already have more than “the more” is that is coming.
Our Mindset / Perspective is more powerful than you are probably aware of. Most of the time we go about our daily lives and make decisions out of our beliefs…. are paradigms…how we see the world. I had a mentor tell me this: “we see the world as we are, not how it is”. Think about that for a moment. That’s a deep concept to wrap your mind around, but, could that be true? I believe it is and you may start to see that our Mindset/Beliefs, affect our View of what is really going on in our life.
Now we have clear definitions as well as a better understanding of the power of Mindset (what our mind is set/focused on). One other important concept to embrace is this; everything you now own or will have in the future is not yours, it’s just on loan to you. You won’t take any material possessions with you at your death; someone else will become the owner; the real owner of all your stuff is God because he allowed you to have it. Therefore, store up your treasures in Heaven where moth and rust cannot destroy them. Matthew 6:20
Let’s get practical and describe what this looks like in the real world of our lives. I’m going to give you a practicum of my personal experiences with these Mindsets.
For the most part, I’ve lived most of my adult life in the Abundance spectrum and my wants and needs have most always been more than adequate. For me the foundation of Abundance is simply this, God is more than enough! Every Christian is extremely wealthy in two areas: Forgiveness of Sins and External Life. That is more than enough Abundance. But God does not stop there. God says to Seek First his Kingdom and his Righteousness and all the other things you need and some of your wants he will give you. Matthew 6:33
Here is what I call the MAGIC TO ABUNDANCE. Step 1. Seek God! How? Develop a personal, intimate and experiential relationship with Him by spending time alone with him in prayer, listening and reading his word, the Bible. Step 2. Seek Righteousness. How? Jesus said if you love me, obey me, do what I have shown you and told you to do, follow my commandments. So, for me, I seek righteousness by knowing what Jesus requires and then allowing the Holy Spirit within me to work that out in my life. I can’t do it in the flesh. The Flesh has no power to influence the spirit so don’t get stuck trying to do it in the flesh; it’s not possible. What is possible is allowing the Holy Spirit to influence our flesh (our thoughts and desires), so that righteousness is now worked out through our flesh.
And all the other Things will be added unto you. So yes, we love the other things too! Money, Nice car and place to live, vacations, toys and entertainment. All of these Wants are good things for us to have, enjoy and share with others; but, God has never given me all the wants I desire because they would not be good for me. I want God’s best for me and that often means some of the things I want are not God’s best and I must be willing to surrender those to the Lord and be ok with that.
To Summarize the Abundance Mindset for me, it has given me the highest quality of life I could ever have. Here are those qualities that I enjoy every day: God is more than Enough, God provides for all my needs and some of my wants, I have Peace, No Stress, Worry or Anxiety about the present or future, my Sins are gone, I have Eternal life forever with Jesus, I have great relationships with others, I have all the financial resources I need to do what God wants me to do with HIS money and I have LOVE!
After knowing how awesome the Abundant Life in God truly is…. why would we even want to talk about Scarcity. With that said, I’ll say this; Scarcity gives you the exact opposite of Abundance in God. We don’t have to live there nor should we; God created us to live a life of Extreme Abundance in a relationship with him and produces Fruit to feed to those that are starving to find the purpose of life…. Knowing and Loving God!
- Rick
Let’s start with some definitions.
Scarcity Mindset- there is not enough for everyone, therefore I must compete for everything I want or need; the focus is always on what I’m lacking. I never have enough.
Abundance Mindset- there is more than enough for everyone, therefore I will collaborate with others so everyone can share in the blessings of Abundance; the focus is on what I already have more than “the more” is that is coming.
Our Mindset / Perspective is more powerful than you are probably aware of. Most of the time we go about our daily lives and make decisions out of our beliefs…. are paradigms…how we see the world. I had a mentor tell me this: “we see the world as we are, not how it is”. Think about that for a moment. That’s a deep concept to wrap your mind around, but, could that be true? I believe it is and you may start to see that our Mindset/Beliefs, affect our View of what is really going on in our life.
Now we have clear definitions as well as a better understanding of the power of Mindset (what our mind is set/focused on). One other important concept to embrace is this; everything you now own or will have in the future is not yours, it’s just on loan to you. You won’t take any material possessions with you at your death; someone else will become the owner; the real owner of all your stuff is God because he allowed you to have it. Therefore, store up your treasures in Heaven where moth and rust cannot destroy them. Matthew 6:20
Let’s get practical and describe what this looks like in the real world of our lives. I’m going to give you a practicum of my personal experiences with these Mindsets.
For the most part, I’ve lived most of my adult life in the Abundance spectrum and my wants and needs have most always been more than adequate. For me the foundation of Abundance is simply this, God is more than enough! Every Christian is extremely wealthy in two areas: Forgiveness of Sins and External Life. That is more than enough Abundance. But God does not stop there. God says to Seek First his Kingdom and his Righteousness and all the other things you need and some of your wants he will give you. Matthew 6:33
Here is what I call the MAGIC TO ABUNDANCE. Step 1. Seek God! How? Develop a personal, intimate and experiential relationship with Him by spending time alone with him in prayer, listening and reading his word, the Bible. Step 2. Seek Righteousness. How? Jesus said if you love me, obey me, do what I have shown you and told you to do, follow my commandments. So, for me, I seek righteousness by knowing what Jesus requires and then allowing the Holy Spirit within me to work that out in my life. I can’t do it in the flesh. The Flesh has no power to influence the spirit so don’t get stuck trying to do it in the flesh; it’s not possible. What is possible is allowing the Holy Spirit to influence our flesh (our thoughts and desires), so that righteousness is now worked out through our flesh.
And all the other Things will be added unto you. So yes, we love the other things too! Money, Nice car and place to live, vacations, toys and entertainment. All of these Wants are good things for us to have, enjoy and share with others; but, God has never given me all the wants I desire because they would not be good for me. I want God’s best for me and that often means some of the things I want are not God’s best and I must be willing to surrender those to the Lord and be ok with that.
To Summarize the Abundance Mindset for me, it has given me the highest quality of life I could ever have. Here are those qualities that I enjoy every day: God is more than Enough, God provides for all my needs and some of my wants, I have Peace, No Stress, Worry or Anxiety about the present or future, my Sins are gone, I have Eternal life forever with Jesus, I have great relationships with others, I have all the financial resources I need to do what God wants me to do with HIS money and I have LOVE!
After knowing how awesome the Abundant Life in God truly is…. why would we even want to talk about Scarcity. With that said, I’ll say this; Scarcity gives you the exact opposite of Abundance in God. We don’t have to live there nor should we; God created us to live a life of Extreme Abundance in a relationship with him and produces Fruit to feed to those that are starving to find the purpose of life…. Knowing and Loving God!
- Rick
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