The word teaches us that "the righteous live by faith, that is, trusting God to meet our daily needs.
The word teaches us to not be moved or shaken from the faith because of how bad things
look.
The word teaches us two of the Greatest Commandments: Can
you recite them? Read Matthew 22:37-39?
The world teaches us to love money and to want more of it if we
are to show the world that we are successful.
The word teaches us that the love of money is the root of all evil.
Money is not evil but the love or obsession with it is.
The world teaches us we deserve better than what God can
provide in this life.
The word teaches us to be content with such
things as God has given us.
The world teaches us to seek financial independence. Being
wealthy is not a sin.
Many of the saints of the Bible were very wealthy. But, the world
teaches us to be independent of God. It teaches us to seek money, money, money so that we can be self-sufficient and to think we do
not need God anymore. The world teaches us, "We are a god!"
The word teaches us that we own nothing of our own. Everything
belongs to God. God gives us the necessities of life; food, shelter,
and clothing as he promised in His word. He meets all of our
needs.
The other things available in life are wants. He promises to give
us the desires of our hearts but he expects that our desires line up
with His desires. If our desires are selfish, sensual, and worldly
then our own desires hinder blessings from God.
It's like what Zig Ziglar calls "Stinking Thinking". "We need a
check-up from the neck up."
What is our relationship to money from God's viewpoint? We are
stewards on this earth. We are caretakers or managers of what
God has given us to operate within this earth. Our jobs and the
income that we bring home are not ours.
It’s God's. We are stewards of God's provision and He expects us to manage his possessions well and to
return to Him a percentage of the increase based on our God-given ability. Read the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30.
How do we give back to God?
We give to God when we bless others through our charitable
giving toward the needs of others.
James 1:27 Amplified Version says, "Pure and unblemished
religion, as it is expressed in outward acts in the sight of our God
and Father is this: to visit and look after the fatherless and the
widows in their distress and to keep oneself uncontaminated by
the secular, world.“
Worship God with the giving of the first fruits of your labors and
live off of the rest. God provides the seed for the sower. We'll
discuss the "Laws of Sowing and Reaping" later.
Even our bodies are not our own. "What? know ye not that your
body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you
have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a
price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit,
which is God's. I Corinthians 6:19-20
The world tells us that if we are going to be successful we must
show everyone how successful we are by having just the right
job, the right house, and the right car.
The word tells us that you can tell those who are God's by the
fruits that they bear.
Does this mean the material things that they have acquired? No, it
means that your very life reveals where your values are, it reveals
whether you love God with all of your heart, might, and soul.
It reveals whether you do love others as you love yourself.
You will see the fruits when you see that person spending his or
her life giving of themselves to helping others instead of spending
every waking moment only thinking of themselves and what they
want.
The world says to get all the riches that you can get - buy all of the
property that you can, put as many houses and hotels on the
board of life as you can so that you can collect money from every
poor, less fortunate nobody that comes your way.
There is nothing wrong with owning property or charging rent but
when you are obsessed with getting more at the expense of others
then you are doomed to a life of misery.
The word says to "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His
Righteousness and all of these other things shall be added unto
you."
The word also tells us to store our treasure in heaven, not on this
earth. Is it wrong to have wealth?
No, but we are not to put any importance on that wealth because
it is not ours and it will be taken away from us.
We are to build our true treasures in heaven, not on this earth.
(Matthew 6:19-21, and 33).
The humanistic philosophy says that we are our own god and that
we shape our own destiny independent of God.
The theory is that with money we can solve all the world's
problems.
Our own governmental leaders think that they can solve the
world's problems by writing more laws and giving more money to
our enemies.
They do not even have a clue that the change must come from
within each individual.
More laws and more money are not the cure for what ails the world.
The humanistic society wants to get rid of the church as we know
it because the church gets in the way of its religion (Mannon).
They just do not realize that the church is the only thing that is
holding everything together.
If the church were to be taken out of this world they don’t realize
what a horrible place would be to live in.
The word says for us to KEEP OUT OF DEBT. "...and owe no
man anything, except to love one another." Romans 13:8
(Amplified Bible).
"Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the
lender" Proverbs 22:7.
"Evil men borrow and "cannot pay it back'! But the good man
returns what he owes with some extra besides" Psalms 37:21.
"Do not withhold repayment of your debts. Do not say some
other time, ' if you can pay now" Proverbs 3:27, and 28.
"The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends
whatever he gets" Proverbs 21:20.
"Develop your business first before building your house"
Proverbs 24:27.
"Steady plodding brings prosperity; hasty speculation brings
poverty" Proverbs 21:5.
"It is more blessed to give than to receive" Acts 20:35.
"Instruct them . . . to be generous and ready to share . . . so that
they may take hold of that which is life indeed" 1 Timothy 6:18,
and19.
"He who loves money shall never have enough.
The foolish of thinking that wealth brings happiness!
The more you have, the more you spend, right up to the limits of
your income." Ecclesiastes 5:10, and 11.
"No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the
one, and love the other, or else he will hold to one, and despise
the other. You cannot serve God and riches" Luke 16:13.
"Judging a man by his wealth shows that you are guided by the
wrong motives" James 2:4.
Webster's definition of success - the degree or measure of
attaining a desired end.
And according to Scripture, the desired end for us is to become
faithful stewards.
"Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to get along
happily whether I have much or little. I know how to live on
almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of
contentment in every situation, whether it be a full stomach or
hunger, plenty or want". Philippians 4:11-12.
The foundation of our contentment is knowing the part that the
living God plays in our finances. He has promised to provide for our
needs.
"All mankind scratches for its daily bread, but your Heavenly
Father knows your needs. He will always give you all you need
from day to day." Luke 12:30-31.
Our basic needs are the necessities of life - food, shelter, clothing.
A want is anything more than a need. A steak dinner, a new car,
and the latest fashions - they are all wants.
"and if we have food and covering, with these we shall be
content" 1 Timothy 6:8.
"The earth belongs to God! Everything in all the world is His! He
is the one who pushed the oceans back to let dry land appear."
Psalms 24:1.
"Everything in the heavens and earth is yours, O Lord, and this
is your kingdom." 1 Chronicles 29:11.
To be content, you must recognize that God is the owner of all
your possessions.
If you believe you own even a single possession, then the
circumstances that affect that possession will be reflected in your
attitude.
If something favorable happens to the possession, then you will be
happy: but if something bad occurs, you will be discontent.
The issue in scripture is how to handle faithfully all God has
entrusted us.
The faithful steward is responsible for what he has, whether he
has much or little.
He can be wasteful and negligent whether he is poor or wealthy.
The word steward can be translated into three different words:
manager, supervisor, and overseer.
The Scripture position of a steward is one of great responsibility.
He is the supreme authority under his master and has full
responsibility for all his master's possessions and household
affairs, even the raising of children.
As we examine Scripture we see that God, as Master, has given us
the authority to be stewards.
"You God have put him, man, in charge of everything you made;
everything is put under his authority" Psalms 8:6.
Our only responsibility is to be faithful. "moreover it is required
in stewards, that a man be found faithful" 1 Corinthians 4:2.
As Christians we have been taught much about giving, but little
about how to faithfully handle our money. However, God is not only concerned with the amount we give but also with what we do
with our entire income.
In fact, He is interested in all that we have and what we do with
what we have.
By giving a small percentage, many Christians feel that they can
bypass all other responsibilities and do as much as they please
with the remainder of their money.
The worldly Society says: “You will find happiness and peace as
you accumulate enough wealth to support your desired standard
of living.”
The Scripture teaches: that you can be content in every
circumstance as you follow the scriptural principles of
how to handle your money and possessions.
"My Brethren, count it all for joy when ye fall into divers
temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh
patience." James 1:2, and 3.
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give
thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NKJV
AMEN.