This morning awaking from a dream, I realized it was to be the subject of my writing today.  We live as we receive.  Think about that for a moment.  If you have nothing but the clothes on your back, what do you think about?  What will I eat, what will I drink, where will I stay?  But if you have plenty, then what do you think about?  Well, let’s see; how can I get more?  And so it goes, we live as we receive.
   If you have abundance, you still won’t be satisfied until you have more.  If you have a good job, then chances are you have a relatively nice place to live, versus someone who is barely eating, who lives in a dingy flat.  If you are poor, you still want more.  It’s a universal thing, rich or poor, we always want MORE.  If you live in a shanty, you will strive to furnish that shanty, because you don’t want to sit on the floor, right?  You will try to get a bed of some sort and maybe a table and chairs.  If you are not poor, you will furnish your home with nicer things.  And if you are like some who live in abundance, you will perhaps have more than one dwelling.  And of course, you’ll want to furnish your homes nicely.  Add to that cars, boats, recreational vehicles, ATV’s, you name it.
   In my dream, I saw a very poor family who lived in a shack and had one child.  They were not real well dressed.  I didn’t see the inside of the shack, but I can only imagine it was sparsely furnished, because they didn’t have much.  Then I saw another family who had thirteen children.  Why so many kids?  I don’t know, I didn’t ask, it was just a dream.  But this family had plenty on every front.  They had a big home, nice cars, and the inside of that home was very nicely furnished.  They had every up-to-date gadget you could think of.  I saw in reality they were no different from the poor family: the poor family wanted more, and so did the rich family.  As the rich family got more money, they bought more stuff, as did the poor family.  They both lived as they had received provision.  Only rarely do you see a rich person who has much, living in a shack.
   In the dream I was out on a boat with this rich family.  Kids everywhere, and apparently someone had dropped something overboard.  The water was not real clear, but kind of murky, and I have no idea how deep it was.  Anyway, the father dove into the water to retrieve whatever it was that was lost, and at this point I didn’t know what that was, but in he went after it.  I only remember him coming up after what seemed to be a long time with something that looked like a white sock with stripes on it.  No clue how he saw it under water, or how deep he had to go to find it, but he sought until he found it and came up with it in his hand and everyone cheered that it had been recovered.  In the next scene I saw the father on his knees in a private room on the boat (big boat!) and heard him say only one word: FATHER! 
   You see, I saw what this rich man did that was different from the poor man:  he gave thanks to his heavenly Father for that which he had lost and recovered.  It made me realize he could have easily went to the store and bought another sock for his child, yet he was a good steward of what he had, and gave thanks unto God for that which he had been provided, and God saw fit to just keep giving him more.  Without a doubt, from the very beginning of his family, he had been on his knees a lot giving God thanks for what he had been provided.  As he received more, he accumulated more.  God doesn’t have a problem with you having “more”.  But He does have a problem with the “more” having YOU.
   After waking up I considered also the following:  Deuteronomy 26:11, And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.  Notice the latter part of the verse, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.  In other words, don’t spend all your money on yourself and your family, set some aside for the Levite (servant of God), and the stranger (poor) among you.  Why?  Well do you think God gives you abundance so you can spend it all on yourself, or do you think that perhaps God gave you abundance so you would have plenty for your own family AND plenty to give away to others in need?  The servant of God who is a true servant of God doesn’t have time to hold down a regular job like others, he or she serves God full time, and their provision must come from others’ giving unto them.  That’s the way God set it up.  And the poor?  They have nothing much to begin with, so they are in need.

    Can the poor give their way to abundance?  I’m not really sure, but I do know this, you can give exceeding thanks unto God for what He HAS provided and give your way unto even more, because I did it.  Bottom line here?  We live as we have received.  Everyone receives from God, rich or poor, good or bad, for He makes His sun to rise on the just and unjust.  But it seems there are always those who rise to the top, who have more than most.  You can tell that by the way they live.  They have nice homes, nice cars, and lots of nice stuff.  But life isn’t about stuff, for even evil people can have stuff.  And, as I saw in the dream of the father who dove into the water after a sock. already had LOTS of stuff.  The real issue took place after he recovered the sock, he was in a private room on his knees giving thanks unto the HEAVENLY FATHER for what He had given him.  Now, THAT’S why this particular man had abundance.  And if YOU will have abundance, that’s how you too will get it.  And as you are receiving, please be sure to give, as the Lord Jesus said in 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.
As the title of the article says, we live as we have received.  We all want to live well, and that is how God would have it, for He did not create us to live in poverty, as He proved by placing Adam and Eve in the nicest place on Earth, the Garden of Eden.  Had He wanted them to be poor, He would have stuck them out in the middle of the desert and told them to eat sand, but He didn’t, did He?  Adam and Eve received well, and until sin came on the scene, they lived very well indeed.  The Lord Jesus stated in John 10:10; The thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.  Now that you know the LORD would have you to receive well, so that you might live well, what will you do?  Will you give thanks unto Him and share with others, or will you consume it all upon your own lusts?  Do consider carefully, for it may determine whether you will have “more”, or not!