Poor, or Just Broke?

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3 NKJV

This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. 1 Timothy 1:15 NKJV

The daffodils are blooming, tulips are sprouting and the fresh scent of spring fills the air, that means that Good Friday and then Easter, are just around the corner. I admit, I love seeing the little ones get dressed up for Easter, I enjoy the beautiful pastels of the season and I definitely eat my share of peanut butter filled “eggs!” But I know that’s not what Easter is really about. It’s a Holy Season, set apart to remember what our Savior accomplished for us, over two millennia ago. This year, as I thought deeply of my own hot-mess, brokenness, and what Jesus did for me, the following story came rushing back to my memory.  A story shared years ago at a ministry meeting.

Teaching on the topic of poverty, and with a heart-felt effort to connect with the kids in the urban ministry youth-group, the leader shared his family’s financial challenges due to recent employment struggles. Curious, one of the young men spoke up and asked the leader if “he had his lights or gas turned off, or if they were on food stamps”.

Shaking his head, the leader replied, “No.”

The young man sat back in his chair, cocked his head, and said “You ain’t po’, you just broke.”

“You ain’t po’, you just broke.” Such profound wisdom from such a young man.

There is a world of difference between being poor and being broke. To be broke is a temporary condition. It implies we just need a few bucks to get by, just a little help to make it through the month. To be poor is interwoven into every aspect of life. How we think, how we dress, where we live, what we eat and even, where we sleep. Poverty is a way of life. Shaping our very identity.

The Lord Jesus calls us to recognize that we are poor in spirit. Not broke. Poor. Every single one of us. Busted. Lint-lined, inside-out pockets. We don’t just need His help to get through a crisis, we need Him to give us new life. Or as Christ Himself put it, we “must be born again” (John 3:7). I know from experience that He often leverages the crises of our lives to lay bare our own poverty, not to shame us, but to heal us. He longs for us to recognize what He already knows; we are poor. Yet all too often, we stubbornly cling to the “few bucks” of goodness we have. Protesting that we aren’t as bad as the other guy, we just need a little help to get back on track. Telling Him in essence, “I’m not poor, I’m just broke.” Trouble is, He only saves the “poor in spirit”, not the broke.

Which are you?

He often leverages the crises of our lives to lay bare our own poverty, not to shame us, but to heal us.

If we’re willing… the choice is ours to make…

Becky White

One last point, sticking with the poor vs broke (money) theme… We’re not just poor, we’re a gazillion dollars in debt, with no hope of paying what we owe. And no one but the Lord Jesus Christ can (and also willing) to pay our debt. Completely. Not you, not another “god”, no one. Try as we might, hope all we want, ignore this Truth to our own peril. HE is The only Way out of the mess we’re in.

Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.  – C. S. Lewis

Father God, I am so thankful for Your tender-goodness towards me. You revealed my poverty and then caught me in Your arms as I fell to my knees in awareness of how poor I really was/am. I surrender my life to You anew (for some, it may be the first time) this Holy season, I need You. I receive new life through Your shed Blood. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Written by Becky White for my Lord Jesus, thank You …

Click here for a FREE pdf of Stony Paths, a gritty, real-world devotional to encourage you as you walk the Stony Paths of real life. You may also purchase a hard copy by following the link.

OG – “Help! I need Encouraged!”

I have decided to share a few of my OG devos from years past, in their original form for the most part. These were written right smack in the middle of a decades -long season of great trial. I’m sure you may notice a few grammar issues or strange sentence structure. Please  try to look past that, and land on the lesson He was teaching me at the time, and maybe even use it to remind/or teach you as well. The following is pulled from its pages…

For His glory and your encouragement.

Becky White


Help! I Need Encouraged!


If you’re breathing, you qualify.

To be discouraged is to lose courage. Find it in Christ and His Word.

Recall the old song, His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches over me. God’s Word says; “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies and yet not one of them is forgotten or uncared for in the presence of God. Do not be struck with fear or seized with alarm. You are of greater worth than many flocks sparrows. And in the Old Testament, “I know and am acquainted with all the birds of the mountains.”
(Luke 12:6-7b and Psalm 50:11 Amp)

”Encourage the exhausted and strengthen the feeble, say to those with anxious heart ‘take courage, fear not.’ For the Lord knows and is fully acquainted with the way of the righteous. You number and record my wonderings; put my tears in a bottle — are they not in Your book? Those who feared the Lord talked often one to another, and the Lord listened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him of those who reverenced and worshipfully feared the Lord and who thought on His name.” Isaiah 35:3-4 Psalm 1:6 Psalm 56:8 Malachi 3:16

Be encouraged, God knows your sorrow, He is aware of the path you take. He is not impotent in your situation. He is all powerful. He is the Sovereign Ruler of the universe and He loves you. He thinks on you. He has engraved you on the palm of His hand. Trials come and trials go (thankfully!). But He is faithful. Even when He allows struggles into our life you can be sure He will at the same time provide all you need to emerge as more than a conqueror. It will not always be this hard.

I remind myself (often!) of Romans 8:28, by saying; if He’s allowed (fill in the blank) into my life, He’s promised to bring good out of it as well. The apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians1:9 “Indeed we had the sentence of death within ourselves, despairing even of life, but this was to keep us from trusting in and depending on ourselves instead of on God who raises the dead.”

Dead lives, dead marriages, dead relationships, dead finances, dead feelings….
He is THE resurrection and THE life… Behold, He [Jesus] makes all things new.

Written by Becky White for the Lord Jesus

Devotions for Difficult Days – to purchase hard copy of DDD OG devo or click here for free pdf download

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OG Devo – “No Life Lines Left”

Please forgive the “rerun” devo. As I have walked through a bruising trial over the past month,  this verse from Psalm 62 keeps running through my mind. “When my heart is overwhelmed,  lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” He is my Rock. I shall not be moved.

‐—————

I have decided to share a few of these OG devos from years past, in their original form for the most part. You may notice a few grammar issues or strange sentence structure. Please  try to look past that, and land on the lesson He was teaching me at the time, and maybe even use it to remind/or teach you as well.

For His glory and your encouragement.

Becky White

When my heart is overwhelmed and fainting,

lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.

Psalm 61:2 NASB


One afternoon I found myself distraught over a very difficult situation in my home, feeling overwhelmed by the crisis I reached for the phone to call my *prayer partner. Knowing she would take time out of her day to listen and then pray with me. As the phone rang, I waited in great anticipation, wanting desperately to unload this burden or at least have her share it with me. But…she wasn’t home. In tears I hung up the phone and cried; “Why is this happening, God?!”

In the words of Regis Philbin I had “no life lines left”. Or in the words of Scripture, God had brought me to “a place of wits’ end” Psalm 107:27. I had no where to turn — but to God. After a brief pity-party I realized I hadn’t even talked to the Lord yet about the problem.

Sometimes our Heavenly Father has to take away all our life lines so we will be brought to the place of wits’ end. It’s there that we realize our total dependency on God — that we experience first hand His comfort and faithfulness. So often we turn to our friends or pastors or counselors before ever turning to God. Sadly, some never seek Him out. Though God has given us friends and others to lean on in times of distress, He never intended for us to turn to them at the expense of a relationship with Him.

Once I composed myself, I went to a quiet room and sat down with God. Pouring my heart out to Him and then reading a Psalm aloud. He comforted me as no human could ever do and I learned a valuable lesson. I still called my friend the next day and shared with her my situation, but now I also had the opportunity to share with her what the Lord had taught me and give glory to God for His provision.

When my spirit is overwhelmed and fainting (throwing all of its weight) upon me, You
knew my path.” Psalm 142:3a am

“You can never learn that Christ is all you need, until Christ is all you have.”

Corrie ten Boom

Father God, I have found by experience, that You truly are the God of all comfort. I would have never signed up for the classroom You used to teach me such lessons, but am so thankful for learning it. I love You, in Jesus’ name, amen.

*Jeanne Liston

Written by Becky White for the Lord Jesus

Click here to purchase a hard copy or download a FREE pdf of the devotional, Stony Paths learning to trust Him as we walk the Stony Paths of real life.

Audio only – Judges 6:12-13

If God is so good…

 “If the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us?” Judges 6″13a

Though it’s totally unscripted and not at all polished, I pray you hear real life thoughts on God’s Word and how to authentically apply it to our lives.

In His service, Becky White

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Audio Only – John 11:4

He uses our suffering

Though it’s totally unscripted and not at all polished, I pray you hear real life thoughts on God’s Word and how to authentically apply it to our lives.

In His service, Becky White

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OG Devo – “No Life Lines Left”

I have decided to share a few of these OG devos from years past, in their original form for the most part. You may notice a few grammar issues or strange sentence structure. Please  try to look past that, and land on the lesson He was teaching me at the time, and maybe even use it to remind/or teach you as well.

For His glory and your encouragement.

Becky White

When my heart is overwhelmed and fainting,

lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.

Psalm 61:2 NASB


One afternoon I found myself distraught over a very difficult situation in my home, feeling overwhelmed by the crisis I reached for the phone to call my *prayer partner. Knowing she would take time out of her day to listen and then pray with me. As the phone rang, I waited in great anticipation, wanting desperately to unload this burden or at least have her share it with me. But…she wasn’t home. In tears I hung up the phone and cried; “Why is this happening, God?!”

In the words of Regis Philbin I had “no life lines left”. Or in the words of Scripture, God had brought me to “a place of wits’ end” Psalm 107:27. I had no where to turn — but to God. After a brief pity-party I realized I hadn’t even talked to the Lord yet about the problem.

Sometimes our Heavenly Father has to take away all our life lines so we will be brought to the place of wits’ end. It’s there that we realize our total dependency on God — that we experience first hand His comfort and faithfulness. So often we turn to our friends or pastors or counselors before ever turning to God. Sadly, some never seek Him out. Though God has given us friends and others to lean on in times of distress, He never intended for us to turn to them at the expense of a relationship with Him.

Once I composed myself, I went to a quiet room and sat down with God. Pouring my heart out to Him and then reading a Psalm aloud. He comforted me as no human could ever do and I learned a valuable lesson. I still called my friend the next day and shared with her my situation, but now I also had the opportunity to share with her what the Lord had taught me and give glory to God for His provision.

When my spirit is overwhelmed and fainting (throwing all of its weight) upon me, You
knew my path.” Psalm 142:3a am

“You can never learn that Christ is all you need, until Christ is all you have.”

Corrie ten Boom

Father God, I have found by experience, that You truly are the God of all comfort. I would have never signed up for the classroom You used to teach me such lessons, but am so thankful for learning it. I love You, in Jesus’ name, amen.

*Jeanne Liston

Written by Becky White for the Lord Jesus

Click here to purchase a hard copy or download a FREE pdf of the devotional, Stony Paths learning to trust Him as we walk the Stony Paths of real life.

Remember?

Your eyes have seen what the LORD did. Deuteronomy 4:3

“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children. Deuteronomy 4:9

Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Deuteronomy 5:15

Be careful not to forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 6:12 Deuteronomy, chapters 4, 5 and 6 BSB

“Remember what your eyes have seen the Lord do.”  In reading through this Old Testament book, those words grabbed my attention. “Remember what your eyes have seen.” Reading further, I noticed that theme repeated several times. In context we’re reading about the ancient Israelites, but as always, we must apply His Word to our own lives as well. So, I asked myself; “What have my eyes seen the Lord do, what was my “land of Egypt” that required deliverance and am I remembering?” The question caused my thoughts to tumble back in time to a church service, some 43 years ago.

Pushing the yellow polka-dot stroller as I walked along High Street in the Short North area of Columbus, I arrived at the store-front church that was adorned with a large bygone-era lighted cross. The old country-style church embedded in an ultra-urban setting, was affectionately called, Old Time Religion Hall. Once inside, I pushed the stroller, and my now awake young son, down the narrow hardwood-floor aisle, lined on both sides with bare wooden pews. Also, from a bygone era. Adjusting the stroller to fit snuggly beside me, I slipped into the pew and exhaled even as I breathed in a still unfamiliar, but an amazing and soul-deep peace. His peace.

Rising to my feet with the rest of the small, mostly elderly congregation, we sang songs like Amazing Grace, Peace in the Valley, and Old Rugged Cross. Songs that were unfamiliar to me, but with words that clearly articulated what had happened in my life just a year earlier. So new to this “new” life, I was stunned that someone had penned the words of my own heart, not yet realizing that millions had gone before me as new creations in Christ.

I was also, utterly unconcerned at being the lone teenager in the gray-haired crowd, or who might hear my very off-key singing. Loudly and with great enthusiasm, I belted out the words, “Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; Was blind, but now I see.”   Tears were a common occurrence as I took in the reality of the miraculous deliverance from a life of rebellion, heartache, and anything but peace. A gift that Jesus Christ had purchased for me with His Blood. So undeserved.

Remembering what my eyes have seen … not to necessarily remove my difficulties, but to walk me through them. And through them He has walked me! Not over, or around, but through.

What do you need to call to mind, what can you purposefully remember? What has the Lord done that your eyes have seen? Remember … thank Him, and then share it!

Precious Lord and Savior, though words can never adequately express our profound gratitude, we simply bow in worship and say, “Thank You.” We love You, Lord. Be gloried in and through our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen

Written by Becky White for my Lord Jesus.

My Story

Audio Only – Genesis 50:20

When Life isn’t “fair.”

Though it’s totally unscripted and not at all polished, I pray you hear real life thoughts on God’s Word and how to authentically apply it to our lives.

In His service, Becky White

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Audio Only – Proverbs 3:5

A short montage of thoughts on Proverbs 3:5

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding.

Though it’s totally unscripted and not at all polished, I pray you hear real life thoughts on God’s Word and how to authentically apply it to our lives.

In His service, Becky White

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Audio Only – Philippians 4:8

What are you thinking?

Though it’s totally unscripted and not at all polished, I pray you hear real life thoughts on God’s Word and how to authentically apply it to our lives.

In His service, Becky White

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