Let me give you an example of a wrong thought that entered my mind early in our ministry. It caused me to walk in bondage in an area for about two years.

Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.
(1 Peter 1:22)

It is amazing how the enemy of our soul works so hard to keep us in bondage by our thoughts. That is why the Bible has so much to say about renewing our minds or restoring our souls. Notice that you do not restore your spirit. Why? Because your spirit was born again.  Your mind, however, has to be renewed or restored.

God wants our souls (mind, emotions, and will) to prosper with the abundance of the Word so we will know how to cast down vain or ungodly imaginations and bring every thought into obedience to Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).

A wrong thought can become a stronghold, like a castle or fortress, in your mind and eventually run—or ruin—your life.

Let me give you an example of a wrong thought that entered my mind early in our ministry. It caused me to walk in bondage in an area for about two years.

I have shared with you before how the devil told me that Happy and I had made a mistake in leaving our jobs and going into the ministry. He said, “How are you going to live?” Soon after, the Lord took me to Matthew 6:24-33 and I found out that God would take care of us if we would always put Him first.

From that day on, He has been the Source Who meets all our needs.

I came to realize that God uses men to bless us on this earth. According to Luke 6:38: “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”

The deceptive thought the devil spoke to me was to avoid rich people, because they might think we were after their money.

I had observed a few unpleasant situations where ministers were puppets in the hands of rich benefactors, so I decided I would keep my distance. I did not have a problem with people who did not have money; I knew they would know we were not befriending them for their finances.

Let me say at this point that before we were in the ministry, I never had a problem with whether or not people had money. In fact, I had many wealthy friends. I also had middle-class friends and some that were poor. They were all the same to me. Their financial status was of no importance to me. I just liked them for who they were.

One day a minister and his wife came to town for a big crusade.  While they were setting up, I was visiting with his wife. She said something like, “It seems that the poor people follow our ministry—not many wealthy people.”

I came to attention and said, “Well, we don’t need the rich.  The poor support us just fine.” Her next statement shot through me like an electrical shock and it changed my thinking from that moment on. She said, “Yes, Jeanne, but we have to be careful not to be a respecter of the poor.”

My heart was pierced by the Holy Spirit.

God Is No Respecter Of Persons
I thought with alarm, “I have been a respecter of the poor!”  The Bible says that we are not to be a respecter of the rich, but God does not want us to be a respecter of the poor, either. He does not want us to be a respecter of persons, period.

In fact, Leviticus 19:15 says, “Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.”

I left that crusade a changed person on the inside. When I got home, I repented to the Lord for my wrong thinking and my wrong attitude. Rich people are God’s people, too. They can love Him just as much as anyone else can.

Some of them work hard to obtain what they have in this life, while others are born with it—but it should not make any difference to us either way. I think many of us, at one time or another, have had wrong thoughts about the rich.

The truth is, however, if it were not for the rich supporting the preaching of the gospel, I don’t know where many ministries would be.

I am sure the offerings of the wealthy helped feed Jesus and His disciples many times as they labored to spread the gospel. We also find in Matthew 27:57 that a rich man named Joseph of Arimathaea gave his own tomb for Jesus’ burial.

In 2 John 1, John addresses the epistle to the “elect lady.”  Elect lady refers to a lady of means, who was well thought of in the church. So thank God for the rich as well as the poor.

We need to get our thinking in line with the Word of God. God, and not rich people, is still my source and always will be. However, I can honestly and gladly say that I am not a respecter of persons where money is concerned. The devil has lost yet another battle in my walk with God!

Source: Learning to Trust God’s Faithfulness
by Jeanne Caldwell
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers