50 Steps to get out of abject poverty
Abject means absolutely miserable, the most unfortunate, with utter humiliation, you might have heard the phrase abject poverty, which is the absolute worst, most hopeless level of poverty you’ve ever seen
50 Steps to get out of abject poverty
Why 50? Because you only need one and one of these steps will get you or someone you know out of abject poverty. I was driving in some impoverished neighborhoods in St. Louis and Chicago when I was inspired to write about getting out of abject poverty. I have two beliefs about poverty; first it is a state of mind, not an economic problem, the economy is a symptom of the mind set of poverty. Second it is not only a community or neighborhood problem, it is more of an individual problem.
Politicians and community activist are throwing money into communities and although that does need to happen, it is not the solution to the problem. The problem is with an individual and their own thoughts. Good intending people are trying to fix the symptoms; they are trying to change the outside when we should be focusing on the root of the problem and help inspire people to change from the inside out.
When I say that the problem is people’s thinking, individual’s thinking, I am not saying that positive thinking will solve the problem of poverty. I am saying that positive thinking will help solve the problem. It all starts with our thinking. Change your thinking, change your world. Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change. As a man or woman thinketh so shall they become.
Positive thinking also needs positive faith or a positive belief system, it needs positive actions and positive thinking also needs positive words. I believe we create our individual world by our thoughts, by our beliefs, by our words and then with corresponding actions to our thoughts, beliefs and words.
It has been written; ’‘whosoever shall say and believe that what they say will come true, they will have whatever they say.†Our problem is that we can have whatever we say, but we keep saying what we have. We are the product of our thoughts, beliefs, words and actions! Think, believe, say and do what you have always thought, believed, said and done and you will always have what you have always had!
Step one: believe that God wants us rich. Wow God, ok for some it might be the universe or like in step two of the twelve step program in AA, a higher power. We need to believe that poverty is bad and being rich is good. We need to change our thinking about money. Some people believe that money is the root of all evil. They even think that is what the bible says. The bible does not say “money is the root of all evil.†The bible does say “the love of money is the root of all evil.†And in those days when they said love, they meant, when you love something more than. So they meant, when you love money more than God that is evil. Money isn’t evil; it is our attitude about money that can be good or evil. If you love money more than people, that is evil. If you love money more than family, that is evil, if you love money more than integrity, or the truth, or your customers, or the environment that is evil.
Money is good and if my attitude about money is good I can help humanity. I can do a lot more good with money in my pocket than if I am in abject poverty. So the first step in getting out of abject poverty is to believe that money is good and that we should all be rich. My definition of rich; being rich means we have more than enough! He is a God of more than enough. The earth is full of His Glory.
Step two: be grateful. Everyone has something, be grateful for it. Granted it might not be much but you can be grateful for it. Oparh says “be grateful for the scraps and they will grow.†Whatever you’re grateful for grows, they expand. Some people say that “it is written to be thankful for everything.†I don’t see it like that. I don’t think we should be thankful for everything, but I do think we should be thankful in everything. I lost my 22 year old daughter in an accident, I am not thankful or grateful for that, but I was grateful in the storm. I am grateful I knew her for 22 years, I am grateful I was her father.
There is a story about a boy named Joseph that was sold into slavery by his brothers. Then he was falsely accused and thrown into a dungeon’s prison. After being released and saving a nation and was reunited with his brothers, he told them, “what you meant for evil, God has turned into good.â€
Some people say “everything happens for a reason.†And they say “if it is meant to be it will be.†Others say “everything that happens is God’s will.†I don’t believe that. I believe we need to pray that God’s will, will be done. I believe that God can turn it into good. Sometimes bad things happen to good people and I think we can turn them into good. I believe “that every good and perfect gift comes down from The Father of Lights!â€
No matter what happens to you or what state you find yourself in, you can be grateful. If someone is in abject poverty, which I do not believe it is God’s will for them to be in that state, they can be grateful. They should not be grateful that they are in poverty, they should be grateful that they can get out of poverty. They should be grateful that God wants to “meet their needs according to His riches and glory.â€
Step two is to have a heart of gratitude. Be grateful for your spouse. Be grateful for your country. Be grateful for the flowers, air, sun, moon, stars, grass, trees, water, life, hope, your future, your body, your soul, your spirit and most of all be grateful for your future. The apostle Paul said “all things are yours.†Wow all things are yours, just receive them through faith and gratitude.
Step three: Give. Come with contribution. Be a giver! Realize that you have gifts that have been given to you and you now want to give those gifts to the world. Realize “it is better to give than to receive.†It is written “Whatever you give will be given back to you pressed down shaken together and running over shall men and women give unto your bosom, for whatever you give will be given back to you.â€Â  God is a giver, be in his class, be a giver. Don’t be a taker! Don’t be greedy. Be a giver. If you are in abject poverty you can still give. Give a smile, a helping hand, give a penny, and give forgiveness. Take the shopping cart all the way back to the front of the store. This is giving back to the store. Make everywhere you go better. Give to yourself good food and exercise. Whatever you give you shall receive back. I was in poverty and as I sat in a church pew I wanted to give. I had but only one suit jacket that I had worn every day to school for over a year. I pulled off a button and gave it in the offering plate; I said a simple prayer of gratitude. I thanked God for my one suit and at that moment I gave Him my whole life as a gift. Within a week an older gentleman gave me about ten suits, they were used but very nice and expensive suits. By giving a button with sincerity I was able to receive a closet full of suits (my exact size!)
Step four: Go the extra mile. This is really step three and being a giver. Going the extra mile or living the second mile is really giving. It means even though you only have to go one mile you go a second mile. When it was written “when told to go one mile go two instead†it was in bible times when the Romans made a Jewish slave carry the belongings of a Roman soldier a mile.
The law of the land was that a Jewish slave must carry the Roman soldier’s belongings for one mile. Jewish slaves actually marked off an exact mile from their house, so if a Roman soldier told them to carry his stuff, they would know where a mile was. It was also a Roman law that if a Jewish slave insulted a Roman Soldier, he could slap the slave’s cheek. The soldier could also tell the slave to give him their coat, if he was cold. That is where we get the writings, “if he asks you for a coat give him your scarf, if he slaps your cheek turn the other, if he asks you to walk a mile, walk two.â€
Jesus was saying for us to do more than expected of us. The problem was that the Jewish people back then were so mad at the Roman’s, that after they walked the one mile they threw the Soldiers stuff down and went home. They had the attitude that the soldiers were unclean and that they should wash their hands when they got home. They told the soldiers that one day their savoir would come on a white horse and with a sword and slaughter them.
In reality what The Master wanted them to do was to treat them with compassion and walk an extra mile. He wanted them to get to know the soldier and become their friends. After the first mile, strike up a conversation. We need to do more than is expected of us. At work be early and stay late. Do more than your job requires. Be worth more than you are being paid for. Don’t say “that is not my job.†Do more than you are paid for and you will be paid more than your worth.
Step five: Get a job!
Step six: Get a job!
Step seven: get a job! I guess this is like real estate, location, location, location. Get a job, get a job and get a job! I don’t really mean, get a job, or as my friend Russell says “J.O.B.†I really mean find a vocation, or find a calling. But it means get a job until you find your calling, get a job! Do something that creates an income. When it comes to a job, put all the steps into your work.
Step one, allow God to shine through your work. Step two; be grateful for your work, bosses and customers. Step three, give, and allow your work to be your platform for your gifts. Step four, go the extra mile, or second mile living, do more than expected. Go to work with the attitude that you want your boss and company and customers to be better off because of you. You want to use your job as a platform to bless the word and to give us your gifts.
Eventually I don’t want you to have just a job; I want you to have a career, or a vocation, or a ministry, or a business or a calling. And it all starts with a job. Create more than you consume. Bring more than you take. Leave every situation better than you found it. Start at a fast food or a low level entry way job at minimum wage if you have to. Be the best there you can be. Give it your all. You will move up, if not there you will move up, it is a spiritual law! Whatever you give you will receive.
Step eight: Read great books. Leaders are readers. Read about success. Remember garbage in, garbage out. What you read about you become.
Step nine: Learn, learn from reading and learn from your mentors. You are what you read and you are who you follow. Leaders are followers. The Apostle Paul said “follow me as I follow… “You become who you follow.
Step ten: Become a mentor, become a teacher. This is back to step three and give. We all have something more than someone else. As you pursue to better yourself, better someone else along the way. It might be as simple as training the new dishwasher at work. A Cook in a restaurant taught Sydney Poitier how to read when he was eighteen years old! Mr. Poitier said “why would a young Jewish boy teach a young black boy how to read?†Sydney Poitier said it changed his life, find the story and read it
Step eleven: Change your environment. The moment you can, change your environment, move. If you are surrounded in abject poverty, or a dangerous criminal element, move. Some very bad neighborhoods are only miles away from a more positive neighborhood.
Step twelve: Change your friends. We become who we associate with. We become like the five people we most hang around with, birds of a feather flock together. Associate with people you want to become like.
Step thirteen: Stay in school. If you’re not in school, stay learning. It is ok to be smart. It is ok to stay with the status quo. It is ok to be a part of the community, the police, the government, it is ok to belong. Be a part of the herd. The enemy is as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devourer, he is always looking for the one that has strayed from the herd. Take your G.E.D. become an apprentice of a trade! Be a student! It doesn’t have to be college. Step 39 is stay out of debt. I do not encourage student loans to go to school. Some people are in debt for the rest of their lives do to student loans.
Step fourteen: Forget the past. Be redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you. Don’t follow in the footsteps of your parents, unless they were awesome. If they were on food stamps and government care, you don’t have to be. If they were on drugs and had a criminal past, you don’t have to be.
Step fifteen: Don’t have kids out of wedlock. Choose to be a family. Choose to have children with someone you love, your soulmate. Choose to be a family unit.
Step sixteen: Be a good parent. If step fifteen is too late and you have a child out of wedlock, be a good parent. Especially you fathers! Anyone can be a sperm donor, anyone can be a dad, and it takes a special person to be a father. Be a father. Be the father you never had. Give your child emotional support. Give your child guidance; tell them the right way to go. Give your child financial support, get a job! Visit them and be a part of their lives. Don’t be mean to their other parent! Take the high road. If they are doing the wrong thing by you, you do the right thing by them. You are responsible for your attitude and your actions not theirs. Turn the other cheek, walk the extra mile and give your coat!
Step seventeen: Don’t smoke. Smoking is expensive and saps away your strength. Don’t smoke! Nonsmokers have 33 % more oxygen in their blood than smokers. Life is in the blood.
Step eighteen: Don’t do drugs!
Step nineteen: Don’t do drugs!
Step twenty: Don’t do drugs! You can’t be successful if you do drugs.
Step twenty one: Avoid prescription drugs whenever possible. Prescription drugs treat the symptoms not the problem. See a doctor about using as little as possible.
Step twenty two: Realize your body is the temple of The Holy spirit, take care of it.
Step twenty three: Eat healthy. Eat plenty of vegetables, fruits and if you’re not a vegetarian eat lean meats. Limit the amount of junk food you eat.
  Step twenty four: Exercise. Whatever you give your body your body will give back to you. Exercise three to four times a week for about an hour each time. Your mind will be sharper and more creative and you will have more energy.
Step twenty five: Sleep 8 hours a day.
Step twenty six: Don’t stress.
Step twenty seven: Meditate.
Step twenty eight: Practice yoga.
Step twenty nine: Forgive. When you forgive another person, you not only help them you help yourself. Not forgiving someone is like ingesting a poison that kills you but you are hoping the other person dies.
Step thirty: Walk in love. Walking in love and forgiving helps the person walking in love and forgiving more than it helps the person loved and forgiven, forgiveness is the fragrance released from the lavender plant to the one crushing it.
Step thirty two: Be kind. Do random acts of kindness. When you are kind to others, your own body releases hormones and endorphins that heal your body and make you feel happy.
Step thirty three: Bless those that spitefully use you. Hold no grudges. When you do this the bible says that you are placing coals of fire on their heads. Coals of fire in olden time meant it was praying for the other person. Interceding for them or standing in the gap for them. It means to forgive and pray for the one that is doing you wrong. Let me talk about this “turning the other cheek.†This is not a command to be passive in life and let people hurt you. I believe you should defend yourself from violence. If someone steals your coat call the police and press charges against them, then forgive them. If someone attacks you, run for safety or if you have to, defend yourself, whichever one is best for you, then call the police. Turning the other cheek is more for the people that are trying to use you but can’t! They are trying to take something away from you, but they do not have the power. They have lied about you or are trying to hold you back, or they are trying to ruin your reputation. They can’t, they have no power over your life unless you give it to them. Don’t give it to the, turn the other cheek and move on. Let their remarks roll off you like water off a duck’s back.
  Step thirty four: Be faithful in little things and you will be masters of much.
  Step thirty five: Be good stewards of what you have. Do not waste and do not squander. Be grateful for the small things you have and you will have more to be grateful for. If you have an old car, clean it, be grateful for it, take care of it and you will receive a newer car.
  Step thirty six: Pray, ask, seek and knock. The law of attraction will send you what you are praying for, what you are asking for, what you are seeking and open the doors that you are knocking on.
  Step thirty seven: Get married. It is not good for man to live alone. Find your soul mate. Find a partner. ‘If any two shall agree together, whatever they shall ask shall be done.â€
  Step thirty eight: Do not hold grudges. Grudges only hurt you and hold you back. They keep your thoughts and words negative; we will talk about thoughts and words later. Don’t give someone else power over you attitudes and your life.
  Step thirty nine: Stay out of debt. You can’t borrow your way out of poverty you have to work your way out. Don’t get saddled with student loans, some people are in debt with student loans until they are on social security and then their checks get garnisheed. Learn a trade by becoming an apprentice. Learn everything you can about one thing and become an expert in it. Save your money by working and then buy a car with cash. If you can’t save money for a car you can’t pay for a loan.
  Step forty: Watch your words. You will create your world with your words. Don’t say what you don’t want, say what you do want. You will create your world with your words. You can have what you say but you keep saying what you have. Affirm “I am rich!†Speak only positive things about your life. Even God “calls those things that are not as though they are!†The apostle Paul said that “God spoke the world into existence and with that same spirit of faith we speak our world into existence!†Proverbs says “death and life are in the power of the tongue.â€
Step 41: Have faith. I don’t mean faith like a religion. I mean faith, like in your belief systems. Believe you are worthy to be rich. Believe you are good and created for greatness. Believe that God wants to “bless you according to His riches and gloryâ€!
Step 42: Guard your thoughts. As a man and woman thinketh so shall they become. If you mix your faith with your words and thoughts they will become a reality. Think and imagine yourself with what you want. God will give you the desires of your heart. Don’t focus on your poverty and problems, focus on the solutions. Imagine yourself with that great job and with the things and lifestyle you want. The bible says “whatsoever things you desire believe you receive them and you will have them!†Whatsoever things! You need to ask!
Step 43: Your actions need to match your Words, thoughts and beliefs. All four must be in harmony and congruent with each other. The apostle James said “faith without actions is dead!†Act like you are rich. What is one thing all rich people do? They all spend less than they make. If they spent more than they make, they would not be rich they would be bankrupt, and some do become bankrupt for that reason. Spend less than you make. Save money and invest money in your future. Max out your 401 k at your job.
Step 44: Ask or pray. James said “you have not because you have not asked!†It is also written that God will grant what you ask and if you ask for bread or a fish, He will not give you a stone or a snake. He will give you whatever you ask.
Step 45: Ask with the spirit of giving. James also said you ask and don’t receive. Why? You don’t receive because you ask with maliciousness. Maliciousness means to harm another! As step 30 says walk in love. The apostle Peter said for husbands to love their wives or they would not receive answers to their prayers, for faith works by love. God answers the prayer, we receive the answer by faith and faith works by love.
Step 46: Be single minded. James also said When you ask, “ask in faith or else you are a double minded man is unstable in all his ways and will not receive anything from the lord.†Be focused on what you want. When you ask for it in love and to help humanity believe that you receive it and you will have it. Let your thoughts, words, faith and actions all agree that the thing you asked for is yours!
Step 47: Be patient. Patience is the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. Be patient and know that the thing you asked for is yours’s and will manifest itself in the natural physical world. The farmer does not plant and then pull the seed out of the ground every day asking it why it isn’t growing. He believes in the seed and he is patient for it to grow. It takes five years for your thoughts, words, faith and actions to become a reality in your life. That is if your thoughts, words, faith and actions are all saying the same thing and are in agreement with each other. Jesus said “Whosoever shall say and believe what he says shall come to pass he will have whatever he says.†Remember faith without actions is dead and faith works because of love.
Step 48: Have hope. Hope is vision. Hope is for the future. You have to hope that tomorrow is better than today. You have to hope that God wants good things for humanity. Faith creates hope into a reality. If you hope, your faith will turn that hope into today’s reality.
Step 49: Have faith. Faith takes the things that are real to God but not yet real to us and makes them a reality. The apostle Paul said that “God spoke the worlds into existence and with that same spirit of faith we speak our world into existence!â€
Step 50: We must allow our inner man rule our life. The apostle Paul said that we are Spirit, soul and body. He called our spirit or our heart our inner man. He said that we should clothe our outer man with our inner man. Our inner man is where faith dwells. It is where God dwells and where the love of God dwells. In an apple seed is apple life. Apple life is in the branches of an apple tree. An apple tree bears fruit, it bears apples! He is the vine we are the branches. The apostle John said that we have the seed of God in us. Jesus said that we had the God kind of life in us. We are instructed to bear fruit we are instructed to bare the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love, faithfulness, longsuffering, patience, kindness, gentleness, hope, goodness, forgiveness and every other good attribute that can be named. Our outer man should be a manifestation of our inner man. We should clothe our outer man with the fruit of the spirit.
Don’t try to become rich, realize you are rich. Don’t try and get out of poverty, realize you are out of poverty. Say affirmations. I am rich; I am strong; I am healed; I have a good job; I am worthy; I am blessed; I am a victor and not a victim; my favorite, I have not received a spirit of fear but of love power and a sound mind. Realize that “every good and perfect gift comes down from the father of lights and He will never turn His back on you. Realize that “he wants to bless you according to His riches and glory.†“I am†and “I will†are the strongest affirmations!
Don’t expect the government to get you or others out of poverty, only you can! You have to work and think your way out! It starts with a regular job and then apply these and other principles to your life. It is simple but not easy. Follow the golden rule and treat others as you would want to be treated. Understand the whole picture and realize you are a part of the whole universe. Realize everything you do is connected and affects everyone else. If you sell a sandwich or a coffee to a doctor you are a part of her healing the sick. Everything you do, do as a gift to God and to all of humanity.