From 2 Timothy 3:1
PEOPLE WILL BE LOVERS OF MONEY
PEOPLE WILL BE LOVERS OF MONEY
There
has never been a time in history where I don't suspect that folks liked
having a few extra bucks in their pocket... even a lot of extra
bucks! There has likely never been a time when bad people didn't go to
great measure to swindle folks out of their money so as to feed their
greed. There has likely never been a time when folks didn't steal, rob,
and even kill for money. But then there is today. Even "good" people
can't seem to get their mind off of the dollar. I'm going to be brash
enough to say this because I believe it the absolute truth.
Money has become the idol of many even more today than any other time in history. We spend our life amassing stuff that our money has purchased for us. We work towards making even more money so that we can either buy new stuff or replace the stuff that we've worn out in time or the stuff that is now obsolete thereby we justify buying new stuff. We do so love our stuff. Oh now... we're smart though! We can easily justify it because we are master's at religious speak! We tell ourselves that our stuff don't own us... we'd give it up in a minute if God ever asked us to! Now... since God ain't asking that must mean God don't want my stuff therefore it's all good! See... that might help us sleep a little better every night and all but I'm sort of thinking that God isn't going so easily buy into that excuse.
I think of the lottery going on here in Georgia. It's a really large sum of money and what's a dollar? One dollar and I have a chance at winning like 174 million bucks! I can afford a dollar and could even justify it in the sense that I know how much of our money goes to helping others and the like. I can sit here and think of all the good I could do with that sort of money... churches I could build... people I could feed... homeless I could help... Bible I could buy and give away... and I could do all of that from my brand new million dollar house on the million dollars worth of property. I could deliver it in my new vehicle and if they were on an island I could take the new boat. I'd look good too because the new clothes would fit just right and the new shoes are comfortable so if I had to walk a little ways that would be okay... as long as it wasn't too far. If it was to far then I would just hire someone to take it to.... get the point?
Here's the thing though because doing all of those things would be very good and the people that know me personally would be the first to tell you that were I to come into that sort of money then the majority of that money would go to doing just that sort of thing... BUT... I don't need the lottery for that if it is God's will for me to do that. Look... I remember a lot of the tele-evangelist that you see on TBN, Daystar, etc... remember them when they were just getting on the television. I know many pastor's that have huge mega-churches now and I remember back when they were in a church where it was all that they could do to pay the electric bill every month. I remember the humble ways and I remember the joy they had when someone slipped them an extra 100 bucks to go to their grocery fund. I know that many of them saw miracle after miracle when God always seemed to provide for them without them having to announce to the congregation that if they didn't get some help soon they were going to faint from hunger. God provided because God is where their faith was. Their congregation didn't grow because they spent a bunch of money... it grew because they were faithful and worked hard and God blessed them and blessed them. But like the children of Israel, when God prospered them... all the sudden their testimony is about how they did this or they did that and their ___________ program worked great and God becomes less and less their reason why. Many will get God in that discussion with an honorable mention but then get real... a sentence or two about it being "all God" and then the next 15 minutes about what all they did to make this happen. Now, we have a bunch of wealthy preachers that have set up kingdoms around themselves. In many ways now... they bow to money. That's their focus and that's what drives them.
Smaller churches have to guard themselves too because I can look as humble as can be and I might just fool you into believing every word I saw. Thing is though... God knows the motive and God knows our heart. Money owns many of us. Look at the amount of time we spend working. Why? We need the money. Why do we need the money? I've got to pay the bills! Why do I have to pay the bills? I've got stuff that I have to pay for! Now here is the sticky part. How much stuff am I paying for MUST I HAVE? Most everyone of us is going to run ourselves into a bit of a corner if we answer that honestly.
Think I am being too legalistic? I mean God wants you to have nice stuff and all! Okay... test yourself. Find someone that is in real need... probably someone in your church. Take ten of your most prized possessions and give it to them. Yeah... I know. You will if God tells you to do that and since God ain't telling you... you are comfortable hanging onto it! Okay... fair enough. You haven't heard God tell you this and you wouldn't want to do anything without Him telling you to. I'm very good with that and I agree with you totally. Let God guide you in everything! Especially in your giving.
1 John 3:16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
17 But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?
18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.
Here is that corner. Now you have heard Him. Ponder this and test yourselves in your "love" of money. As the next verses say.....
19 We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him
20 in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.
21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;
22 and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.
23 ¶This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.
24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
Money has become the idol of many even more today than any other time in history. We spend our life amassing stuff that our money has purchased for us. We work towards making even more money so that we can either buy new stuff or replace the stuff that we've worn out in time or the stuff that is now obsolete thereby we justify buying new stuff. We do so love our stuff. Oh now... we're smart though! We can easily justify it because we are master's at religious speak! We tell ourselves that our stuff don't own us... we'd give it up in a minute if God ever asked us to! Now... since God ain't asking that must mean God don't want my stuff therefore it's all good! See... that might help us sleep a little better every night and all but I'm sort of thinking that God isn't going so easily buy into that excuse.
I think of the lottery going on here in Georgia. It's a really large sum of money and what's a dollar? One dollar and I have a chance at winning like 174 million bucks! I can afford a dollar and could even justify it in the sense that I know how much of our money goes to helping others and the like. I can sit here and think of all the good I could do with that sort of money... churches I could build... people I could feed... homeless I could help... Bible I could buy and give away... and I could do all of that from my brand new million dollar house on the million dollars worth of property. I could deliver it in my new vehicle and if they were on an island I could take the new boat. I'd look good too because the new clothes would fit just right and the new shoes are comfortable so if I had to walk a little ways that would be okay... as long as it wasn't too far. If it was to far then I would just hire someone to take it to.... get the point?
Here's the thing though because doing all of those things would be very good and the people that know me personally would be the first to tell you that were I to come into that sort of money then the majority of that money would go to doing just that sort of thing... BUT... I don't need the lottery for that if it is God's will for me to do that. Look... I remember a lot of the tele-evangelist that you see on TBN, Daystar, etc... remember them when they were just getting on the television. I know many pastor's that have huge mega-churches now and I remember back when they were in a church where it was all that they could do to pay the electric bill every month. I remember the humble ways and I remember the joy they had when someone slipped them an extra 100 bucks to go to their grocery fund. I know that many of them saw miracle after miracle when God always seemed to provide for them without them having to announce to the congregation that if they didn't get some help soon they were going to faint from hunger. God provided because God is where their faith was. Their congregation didn't grow because they spent a bunch of money... it grew because they were faithful and worked hard and God blessed them and blessed them. But like the children of Israel, when God prospered them... all the sudden their testimony is about how they did this or they did that and their ___________ program worked great and God becomes less and less their reason why. Many will get God in that discussion with an honorable mention but then get real... a sentence or two about it being "all God" and then the next 15 minutes about what all they did to make this happen. Now, we have a bunch of wealthy preachers that have set up kingdoms around themselves. In many ways now... they bow to money. That's their focus and that's what drives them.
Smaller churches have to guard themselves too because I can look as humble as can be and I might just fool you into believing every word I saw. Thing is though... God knows the motive and God knows our heart. Money owns many of us. Look at the amount of time we spend working. Why? We need the money. Why do we need the money? I've got to pay the bills! Why do I have to pay the bills? I've got stuff that I have to pay for! Now here is the sticky part. How much stuff am I paying for MUST I HAVE? Most everyone of us is going to run ourselves into a bit of a corner if we answer that honestly.
Think I am being too legalistic? I mean God wants you to have nice stuff and all! Okay... test yourself. Find someone that is in real need... probably someone in your church. Take ten of your most prized possessions and give it to them. Yeah... I know. You will if God tells you to do that and since God ain't telling you... you are comfortable hanging onto it! Okay... fair enough. You haven't heard God tell you this and you wouldn't want to do anything without Him telling you to. I'm very good with that and I agree with you totally. Let God guide you in everything! Especially in your giving.
1 John 3:16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
17 But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?
18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.
Here is that corner. Now you have heard Him. Ponder this and test yourselves in your "love" of money. As the next verses say.....
19 We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him
20 in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.
21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;
22 and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.
23 ¶This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.
24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
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