Honor God With Your Money.
Just Do It, Part 17
People love money. Now, there's nothing particularly wrong with money. It can be a great and necessary resource. The problem arises when we become obsessed with it. Money doesn't last forever, and it can't actually fulfill us. But we can use money to make an eternal difference.
“We cannot find security in material things, but we can use them to make an eternal difference. ”
Scripture:
James 5:1-6
Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.
Highlights:
• To use money in a way that leaves God out can be spiritually fatal.
• We should hold onto money loosely.
• Everything on this earth has an expiration date; including you and your wealth.
• “We esteem a man for his wealth and not for his soul.” - Lucius Seneca
• Until a person has an encounter with grace, they’ll live this life like this is all there is.
• We can’t hold onto something we’re bound to lose…any security that money gives us is short lived.
• There’s a difference between the lifestyle I’m capable of living and the one I need to live.
• We should use money to bless rather than exploit others.
• The injustice towards his helpless people is so offensive to God, that his heart burns with compassion for the oppressed and yet is like a raging fire toward their oppressors.
• When God blesses us with money, he’s positioning us to help meet the needs of those who can’t fend for themselves.
• Giving always requires sacrifice and risk.
• When the church is truly living up to its potential as his body that’s where God does his most radical work, both in us and through us.
• God has positioned us to be radical givers.
• “He is the richest man in the esteem of the world who has gotten the most. He is the richest man in the esteem of Heaven who have given the most.” - F.B. Meyer
• We cannot find security in material things, but we can use them to make an eternal difference.
