Welcome!
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Date: Thursday, May 13, 2010
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Today: Money matters!
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Passage: 1Timothy 6:8-10a (NIV)
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8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
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While people with less money complain and worry about what they don’t have,
People with more money are unhappy because of other reasons!
That is why Jesus said:
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15Speaking to the people, he went on, “Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.” (Luke 12: 15 – The message)
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Jesus was not against money, but he was against the greed for money!
Money is not a bad thing in itself. There are a lot of good things we can do, with money. But in most cases, people use the extra money they have in the wrong way, and waste a lot
How can we know if we have the right and biblical attitude towards money?
Our attitude towards money has nothing to do with what we have or what we don’t have
You can be very rich and yet be very greedy, even for a penny!
Do you get too much attracted by those emails from Nigeria or elsewhere that says there is a huge amount of money released in your name?
Years back, I remember a Pastor back in India who got a letter or e-mail that promised him lot of money and he even went around giving advance money for property!
He gathered people in various places, and discussed about various projects to do, with the money that was (never) coming!
I don’t know what finally happened, but I am sure he lost lot of money travelling and in so many ways
Jesus made it plain and simple:
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25″Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]? (Mat 6: 25-27, NIV) ________________________________________
Paul’s theology on money is what we see in 1Timothy 6
A good number of Christians are greedy for money and pleasure
It makes us no different from others, when we do that
If we are not greedy, we will find more pleasure in giving, than in getting
The teaching on “how to become a millionaire using Christ” is what is popular and what we see around us these days
But the principle of Christ is to seek His kingdom first
If we are always complaining about what we don’t have, we will be doing that for the rest of our life
But if we will be thankful for what we have, we will be blessed
Life is more important than food, and body, more than clothes (Mat 6: 25)
For most of us, it is the other way around:
Food is more important than life and clothes, more than body
Some eat to live; some eat to die.
Some dress to cover their body; some dress to reveal!
Once we set our priorities right and biblically, everything else will fall in the right place
Let us not be “possessive” about anything, except God
God bless
BG
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God blessed us with ALL the spiritual blessings in the heavenly realm, ALL the word of God and ALL of the Holy Spirit of God, in His fullness!
All that God expects from us, is our availability
A healthy Christian will have a healthy life and doctrine
Those are the essentials, not supplements, in our Christian life