I have also had a struggle with this and I am far from rich,
just living from week to week, but praise the Lord He provides for our needs!! Think of this, this is what takes place many
times; to people that are filthy rich they are very seldom content, thinking
about how they can make the next dollar. And the same thing goes with plain materialism,
the more you have the more you want. Contentment
is a hard quality to obtain especially in this society that we live in.
Even in God’s community, the church, there is a struggle
with contentment. How do I know? Just listen to the prosperity preachers who
make it sound like every true believer should be rich, which is not the truth. Every true born-again believer is already rich
because of their relationship with the Lord!! Having true riches is having the Lord in your
life and seeking Him and His kingdom, not the kingdoms of this world which are
fading away.
I remember a time when I counted on the Lord for my
provisions, then I started going to garage sales and flea markets where I could
buy just about anything I wanted because people just wanted to get rid of
things that they had; the problem came when I would buy things I didn’t need
because they were so cheap. Who was I
depending on then? I am not saying that
there is anything wrong with sales if you need something, but be careful
because greed can easily take over then you may start to take advantage of
people which I am also guilty of and which I am ashamed of. Now if I go I won’t buy anything myself, if my
wife or someone else that is with us wants to buy me something that’s fine, but
not me and personally I would rather not go. I realized that I wasn’t depending on the Lord
or trusting Him to meet my needs; what a sad thing and I am ashamed of that!!
God’s Word says this in Matthew 19:23-24 about rich people, “Then Jesus said to His disciples,
‘Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of
heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye
of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’”
We all need a certain amount of money but when money becomes
your God then you have forsaken God and you need to repent and ask the Lord to
forgive you, for we can worship other gods, and money is just one of them.
Now read what Paul wrote to Timothy about this subject in 1 Timothy
6:3-19, Paul said this, “If anyone
teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is
proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words,
from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of
men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is
a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself. Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing
into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food
and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich
fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which
drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all
kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness,
and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Then Paul went on to say this
But you, O man of God,
flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience,
gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which
you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of
many witnesses. I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things,
and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius
Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord
Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the
blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has
immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see,
to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.
Command those who are
rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches
but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do
good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing
up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay
hold on eternal life.”
If you are a believer and you have money there is nothing
wrong with that, the problem comes when you start hoarding it and become stingy
and use it basically for your own gain. How
easy is it for the Lord to use some of your money, does He have to pry your
hands off of it or do you walk around with open hands and bless others with it?
Do you put your trust in God or in your
money? How you use your possessions and
money says a lot about you. And what
about tithes and offerings, where are you in that respect? If the Lord blessed you with lots of money, do
you think He may want you to bless others also?
I know this is a topic that many don’t want to hear about,
but many times it is the things that we don’t want to hear about that are the
things we need to hear about. I am not trying
to discourage you but to encourage you to honor the Lord in all things. I know we don’t always have to be preached at,
we just need a reminder at times and this is it. I am trying to encourage and bless people, not
discourage them and turn them off. I have
given you something to think about, have a super day!! May the good Lord bless you and yours!! PS don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord
for He is worthy!!
No comments:
Post a Comment