Welcome, Family

Last week, we moved your eyes from prey to predator. This week, we're going deeper into Kingdom economics.

You've felt it. The constant anxiety that there's "not enough to go around." Not enough jobs. Not enough opportunities. Not enough success. So you're hustling harder, comparing more, fighting for a bigger piece of a pie that keeps shrinking.

But here's what God wants you to know: You're not in a bakery. You're in a garden.

And the difference between those two places will determine whether you spend 2026 fighting for scraps or planting seeds that multiply.

🍞 This Week's Bread

• ⏳ The Sign: The 2026 Scarcity Virus (And Why Cash Won't Cure It)

• 📖 The Word: The First Mandate—Escaping the Math of Addition

• 🌍 The Witness: Root, Shoot, and Fruit—Why You Can't Fake a Harvest

• 🔥 The Work: The Inventory of the Unplanted—A Resource Audit

• 🙏 Prayer Corner: Saturating the Soil for Exponential Increase

_{⏳ THE SIGN}
The 2026 Scarcity Virus (And Why Cash Won't Cure It)

Over 40% of young adults in 2026 report they're "barely getting by" financially, despite working full-time. But research shows that poverty creates a scarcity mindset that monopolizes attention and drains cognitive resources.

Translation: When you're stuck in "bakery thinking," you can't see past today's struggle to tomorrow's seed.

The Bakery Mindset:

• One pie. If I get a piece, you lose a piece.

• Consumption creates lack.

• I need a bigger slice to survive.

This is zero-sum economics. It's Egypt, not the Kingdom.

Studies show giving people cash doesn't automatically fix the scarcity mindset. The problem isn't your bank account. It's the location of your mind.

You're thinking bakery when God planted you in a garden.

The Garden Mindset:

• Infinite seeds. When I plant and you plant, we both harvest.

• Consumption creates reproduction.

• I need to plant more seeds.

Here's the math: When you eat an apple in a bakery, you have one less apple. When you eat an apple in a garden, you expose seeds. Plant five seeds and you don't get five apples—you get five trees, which yield thousands of apples over a lifetime.

God operates on garden economics. The Kingdom multiplies.

📖 _{THE WORD}
The First Mandate—Escaping the Math of Addition

God's first command to humanity isn't "survive" or "compete."

It's "Be fruitful, and multiply."

Let's break down this mandate:

1. Be Fruitful

Produce on the outside based on the seed God planted on the inside. You have a gift the world needs. Cultivate it.

This isn't hustle culture. This is Kingdom culture. You're not grinding to prove yourself. You're creating because God created you to create.

2. Multiply

God is a God of multiplication, not addition. He doesn't give you two fish and tell you to ration them. He feeds five thousand and collects twelve baskets of leftovers.

The bakery thinks addition: 1 + 1 = 2.
The garden thinks multiplication: 1 seed × 1 season = 100 seeds.

3. Replenish the Earth

God's not asking you to be stingy. He's asking you to be prolific. Create so much, give so much, plant so much that the earth is full of your fruit.

4. Subdue

The obstacles in front of you? They're beneath you. Trample the scarcity mindset. Subdue the fear that there's not enough.

5. Have Dominion

Dominion isn't dictatorship. It's stewardship. You're managing what God owns—a garden that never stops producing.

Here's the principle: God didn't put Adam in a bakery and say, "Manage the inventory." He put him in a garden and said, "Tend it, and it will multiply."

_{🌍 THE WITNESS}
Root, Shoot, and Fruit—The Biology of Kingdom Success

Trees grow in two directions at once.

The Root System (Down)

Roots grow toward gravity and away from light.

Function: Stability and source. They anchor the tree so storms don't uproot it.

Application: This is your Being phase. Before you go up (public success), you must go down (private character). Root yourself in the Word, in prayer, in the hidden place.

Bakery thinking is all about visibility. But you can't sustain public fruit without private roots.

The Shoot System (Up)

Shoots grow toward light and away from gravity.

Function: Visibility and growth.

Application: This is your Doing phase. The work you put out into the world.

But many people want the shoot (public success, followers) without the root (character, discipline, intimacy with God). They want to be seen before they're planted.

That's not a tree. That's a cut flower. And it won't last the season.

The Fruit System (Down)

Fruit grows heavy and pulls branches down toward gravity.

Function: Reproduction and service. Fruit doesn't exist for the tree—it exists to feed others and plant new seeds.

Application: True success pulls you down in humility, not up in pride. The more fruitful you become, the more you bend low to serve.

Success Definition: Discovering why you were made, developing yourself for that purpose, and deploying yourself in that purpose.

All of it happens in a garden, not a bakery.

🔥 _{THE WORK}
The Inventory of the Unplanted—A Resource Audit

1. The Scarcity Check
What area of your life is currently "bakery mode"? (Fighting for a piece instead of planting seeds.) Money? Relationships? Career? Name it.

2. The Seed Inventory
What seed has God planted inside you that you've been hoarding instead of planting? What would it look like to plant that seed this week?

3. The Root vs. Shoot Test
Are you trying to grow "shoots" (public success) without "roots" (character, prayer, discipline)? Where do you need to go down before you go up?

4. The Consumption Question
Is your consumption creating lack (bakery) or reproduction (garden)? When you spend time, money, or energy, are you eating the last apple or planting the next tree?

🙏 PRAYER CORNER

We gather to saturate the soil with the water of the Word. Join us as we intercede for:

• The Scarcity Shift: Breaking the "Bakery" anxiety and declaring Kingdom abundance over your finances.

• The Courage to Plant: Praying for those hoarding their gifts or capital out of a fear of "not enough."

• Deep Root Systems: Asking for hidden character and depth in the Word to sustain your public success.

• Multiplication Wisdom: Empowering leaders to move from the math of addition to the math of dominion.

📅 What's Next

Virtual Prayer Meeting (Virtual)
Wednesday, January 14th (8-9 PM ET)
We gather weekly to strengthen ourselves in the Lord—just like David did at Ziklag.
[🔗 Join Live] 

Virtual Bible Study (Virtual)
Friday, January 16th (8-10 PM ET)
[🔗 Join Live] 

• Forward this to someone who is stuck in the bakery

• Follow @mogakaeventsministry for the message of Christ

✝️ Final Word

You weren't made to fight over a shrinking pie. You were made to plant seeds that multiply.

Stop thinking addition. Start thinking multiplication.

Stop thinking bakery. Start thinking garden.

God's first command wasn't "survive." It was "Be fruitful, and multiply."

The garden is waiting. The seeds are in your hand. 2026 is your planting season.

In His Love,
- Mogaka Events Ministry

Come As You Are is a Spirit-led devotional for young adults hungry for God's presence. Written by Ravi Patel and Chriss Mogaka.