The purpose of money, wealth, and riches is TO SERVE AND MINISTER UNTO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, HIS CHURCH, AND HIS KINGDOM
>>This is HOW TO LAY UP YOUR TREASURES IN HEAVEN WHERE THIEVES
CANNOT BREAK-IN AND STEAL, OR WHERE MOTH AND RUST CANNOT CORRUPT!!
>> A true believer in Christ Jesus must be single-minded in laying
up all his/her treasures in heaven with all his money, possessions,
wealth, and riches!
>> Money is meant for doing good and nothing else! Money is not
for storing up or accumulating!! It is for scattering and/or giving away
freely!!
Proverbs 11:24
Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything. (NLT)
Proverbs 11:24
There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty. (NKJV)
There are two types of people in the world who are classified according to how they handle money!
1) STINGY PEOPLE
2) GENEROUS/BENEVOLENT PEOPLE
>>The former MISS SO MUCH FROM GOD!! In fact THEY MISS GOD HIMSELF!! They withhold or hold on to what should have been given away by faith, love, and obedience!! This type of people don't trust in God, instead they trust in money!! They don't believe God, but they believe in themselves!! They don't live by faith, because money is their "god"; they worship at the secret altar of "god money"!! It's quite painful for them to give, but they delight in money accumulation!! They always give unwillingly and sparingly!! It doesn't matter whether they are born again or not, they have one common denominator: THEY LOVE MONEY MORE THAN GOD, ANYONE, OR ANYTHING ELSE!! Don't you ever dare to mess with their money!! They will break any relationship in favour of money! Money is all that matters to them!!
Ecclesiastes 5:10
(New International Version)
"Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless."
>> THEY LOVE MONEY AND THEY CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH OF IT
>> THEY LOVE WEALTH AND THEY ARE NEVER SATISFIED WITH THEIR INCOME!!
>> They live very miserable lives of perpetual dissatisfaction and lack of true happiness, joy, and contentment in life!
This type of people choose money over
relationships!! This often destroys their marriages, families,
businesses, etc. And this is because God is not with them, and also He
is not in everything they are doing! They have no blessings of God and
satan is free to steal, kill, and destroy whatever good there ought to
be in their endeavors!!
>> These people are dissatisfied and they always complain, blame,
criticize, and condemn others! They are the hypocrites our Lord Jesus
mentioned in Mt 7:1-5!! They're experts in dealing with specks in other
people's eyes, without first taking out the planks/logs out of their own
eyes!!
>> Enough has been said about these people, but as an addition,
these people can never LAY THEIR TREASURES IN HEAVEN AS JESUS, OUR LORD,
SAID;
Mt 6:19-21 NIV
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and
vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
WHERE IS YOUR HEART??!!
>> This is the absolute truth from Scripture!! WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS, THAT'S WHERE YOUR HEART IS!!!
>> If your "monies" are heaped up in bank accounts, YOUR HEART WILL BE THERE ALSO!!
>> Your heart CANNOT BE WHERE YOU HAVE ACCUMULATED YOUR MONEY, AND AT THE SAME TIME BE WITH GOD!
>> This is why Jesus told you to lay up all treasures IN HEAVEN!!
And your heart will also be with God in heaven!! This is to say YOU
CAN'T LOVE GOD AND MONEY AT THE SAME TIME!!
Amplified Bible-Matthew 6:24
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be
devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [money,
possessions, fame, status, or whatever is valued more than the Lord]."
>> YOUR HEART WILL ALWAYS BE WITH HE WHOM YOU LOVE AND SERVE!!
>> Don't be deceived, MANY BELIEVERS ARE DECEIVED INTO THINKING
THEY LOVE AND SERVE GOD WHILE THEY'VE LAID UP TREASURES ON EARTH!!
They've so much cash stashed away for future financial guarantees and
security, and they claim to serve God while in fact they are idolaters!!
(lovers of money, wealth, and riches and secret haters of God!!) When
for example you give just a tenth of your income and keep the 90 per
cent, do you mean to say you love God with only 10% of your earnings??!!
How much did God give to save you??!! How much did Jesus give to save
you??!!
>> The widow in Mark chapter 12 will stand in judgement with many
in our generation, and she will condemn them for their idolatry,
selfishness, love of money!! The Bible says:
Mark 12:41-43 (NIV)
41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.
43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
>>Many rich people threw in large amounts.
>>But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins,
worth only a few cents.
Here we see two kinds of giving: 1)THE MANY RICH GAVE LARGE AMOUNTS OF
MONEY!! 2) THEN THE POOR WIDOW GAVE TWO VERY SMALL COPPER COINS, WORTH
ONLY A FEW CENTS!!
When Jesus saw this he said;
“Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
>>How can this be? Two small copper coins worth only a few cents
given by the widow were more than LARGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY GIVEN BY MANY
RICH PEOPLE!! This was Jesus' assessment of their giving!! Why? The
reason was THE HEART THAT GAVE!!! The poor widow LAID ALL HER TREASURE
IN HEAVEN! She gave, out of her poverty, EVERYTHING SHE HAD!!-ALL SHE
HAD TO LIVE ON!!
>> The poor widow's giving was God-pleasing because HER HEART WAS
WITH GOD!! HER HEART WAS ON GOD! HER HEART WAS WHOLLY FOR GOD! SHE
TRUSTED GOD MORE THAN EVERYONE OR EVERTHING ELSE!! SHE HAD TOTAL TRUST
IN GOD!! HER HEART WAS WHERE GOD WAS!! Such a heart IS THE TYPE THAT
PLEASES GOD!! With such a heart you have power with God in prayer, in
giving, in preaching, in teaching, in doing good, in hospitality
ministries, etc The godly principle of benevolence abides in such
hearts!! IT'S THE HEART OF TRUE GIVERS! It's the type of heart that
distinguishes between the ABEL AND CAIN GENERATIONS OF WORSHIPPERS AND
GIVERS!! It's the heart for God, with God, in God, by God, and for God's
praise, honour, thanksgiving, and glory! GOD ABIDES IN SUCH HEARTS! GOD
FILLS SUCH HEARTS WITH HIMSELF!! SO SUCH LOVERS OF GOD ABIDE IN
CONSTANT, NEVER-ENDING FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD IN CHRIST JESUS THROUGH THE
HOLY GHOST!! SUCH LOVERS OF GOD, BELOVED SAINTS NEVER LACK ANY GOOD
THING BECAUSE THEY CONSTANTLY LIVE AND WALK IN HIS PRESENCE, POWER, AND
GLORY!! These are the ones who worship God in Spirit and Truth!! This is
why these saints never lack!!! God is their treasure! They are
single-minded in laying up their treasures in him by scattering and always giving freely!!
English Standard Version-Prov 11:24
"One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want."
Aramaic Bible in Plain English-Prov 13:7
"There are those who enrich themselves and have nothing, and there is one who makes himself poor and possesses an abundance."
"There are those who enrich themselves and have nothing, and there is one who makes himself poor and possesses an abundance."
>> THE POOR-WIDOW-TYPE-OF-GIVERS MAKE THEMSELVES POOR
AND POSSESS ABUNDANCE!! Abundance in God!! Abundance of God!! Abundance
from God!! Abundance with God!! Spiritual Abundance!! Eternal
Abundance!! Incorruptible Abundance!! Enduring Abundance!! True
Abundance!! Hallelujah! Glory to Jesus!!
>>Do I need to talk about generous givers? No! Some other day!! God bless you!!;
Parable of the Rich Fool-Luke 12:13-21
13 Then someone called from the crowd, “Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father’s estate with me.” 14 Jesus replied, “Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?” 15 Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” 16 Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. 17 He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ 18 Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods.
19 And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’
21 “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”
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