Welcome!
Today: When riches amount to nothing!
Passage: Luke 12, Psalm 46
15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ 18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21 “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12, NIV 84)-emphasis added
When a person gets really rich and does things really smart, people call him/her “wise”; but God may not be calling that person “wise”!
God warns people, not to be fools like the rich fool mentioned above
Many of us will qualify for that “decoration” from God; if not yet, we may be on the way…of being called “fools” by God!
A day is coming, when we will know, who were really wise and who were not!
Japan should be an example for us. There will come a time when none of what we have gathered can help us, except what we have in God!
So meditate on His word and pray as much as you can, when you can!
Even if your Bibles and your gadgets like computers and phones are “gone”, what is stored in you will still be there. So, store them in the “old fashioned way”!
9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.
10 I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. (Ps 119, NIV 84)
Store the word of God in your heart! There is enough “memory” left there
Delete some of the “unwanted” items and make some room in your heart
Delete the worries of daily life; there is room in the master hard drive of God
David used to do that; Apostle Peter used to do that
22 Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. (Ps 55, NIV 84)
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5, NIV 84)
Then we will be able to live by faith, not by sight (2 Cor 5:7)
What really counts is, how rich we are in Christ. That will help us when nothing else-nobody else-even the best doctors cannot not help us
If you said “yes” to Christ and are still walking with your hands in His, you are doing good; the “stock market” of God is always up!
God bless you
BG
Prayer: Lord Jesus, as we continue pray for the people in various parts of the world going through various troubles and traumas, we thank you for protecting and preserving us again. Help us to really examine our lives one more time and walk closer to you, and humble ourselves, God. Amen