2020-05-23
Deuteronomy 8:18 KJV
When it comes to God and your money: (1) When you do what pleases Him, He will bless you. Why? Because your actions prove that doing His will is more important to you than doing your own thing. “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things” (Matthew 25:23 KJV). But there’s another side to the coin. When you knowingly don’t do what pleases God, He will stop blessing you. “Take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away” (vv. 28-29 NKJV). (2) God will show you how to make more money. He taught Joseph how to prosper in the midst of a worldwide famine, and bless the needy nations around him. And when the fish weren’t biting, Jesus showed the disciples where to find a boatload of them. On one occasion, they actually caught a fish with enough money in its mouth to pay their taxes! (See Matthew 17:27). God works through unlikely channels, and He wants you to depend on Him as the source for everything you need. The Bible says, “Remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth.” The word “power” encompasses ideas, strategies, plans, relationships, and investments. Yes, God can send you an unexpected check in the mail that will solve your problem temporarily, but you should believe Him for a plan that’ll solve your problem long term.
Soul food: Heb 11:17-13:25; Mark 11:1-11; Ps 47; Prov 12:4-6
2020-05-22
Matthew 6:33 NLT
When it comes to money, the Bible teaches that: (1) God wants you to have enough to meet any size of need you may face. Think about it: Employees are mainly concerned with one thing – getting their paychecks. Employers, on the other hand, have a bigger need. They must have enough money to cover everybody’s paycheck. And here’s the good news for both employer and employee: “Your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!” (v. 8 NLT). (2) Many times God will send you to a particular place or person in order to meet your need. During a time of severe famine when people in Israel were dying of starvation, God said to the prophet Elijah, “Turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith…I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there” (1 Kings 17:3-4 KJV). And that worked well for a time – until “the brook dried up, because there had been no rain” (v. 7). God arranged it that way, because He will never permit you to depend on anybody or anything other than Him. He will dry up your “brook” in order to send you back to your true source – Himself. Here’s what God told Elijah next: “Arise, get thee to Zarephath…and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman to sustain thee” (v. 9). God used unlikely things like ravens, a brook, and a poor widow to meet Elijah’s needs. So stop trying to figure God out! Trust the One who “hangs the earth on nothing” (Job 26:7 NLT) to use whomever, whatever, wherever, and whenever to meet your needs.
Soul food: Heb 9:1-11:16; Mark 10:35-52; Ps 97; Prov 12:1-3
2020-05-21
Ecclesiastes 10:19 KJV
The Bible teaches that God wants you to have enough money to: (1) Provide for the needs of your family and help them to succeed. “If any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel” (1 Timothy 5:8 KJV). (2) Tithe, and finance His work. “‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it'” (Malachi 3:10 NIV). (3) Pay your taxes and your obligations. In answer to the question “Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” Jesus replied, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God” (Matthew 22:17-22 NLT). (4) Send His Word to the four corners of the world. “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?” (Romans 10:14-15 NKJV). (5) Help the poor and needy. “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments…Wealth and riches will be in his house…He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever” (Psalm 112:1, 3, 9 NKJV). When your reason for wanting money is to fulfill God’s will and bless others, God will honor you.
Soul food: Heb 5-8; Mark 10:23-34; Ps 93; Prov 11:30-31
2020-05-20
Hebrews 4:16 NKJV
When you have a spiritual, physical, relational, or financial need, God says He will meet it. But some of us have a hard time believing this. After all, Jesus condemned the rich man for overlooking the poor man sitting on his doorstep. And God hasn’t changed His position on that issue. Jesus told the story of a man so busy making money that he had no time for God. “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’ Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God” (Luke 12:20-21 NLT). And He hasn’t changed positions on that issue either. Jesus threw the money changers out of the temple because they were ripping people off. He went so far as to call them “a den of thieves” (Mark 11:17 NKJV). Does that mean God is interested in meeting our spiritual needs but not our material ones? Let’s be clear; your spiritual needs should always be your highest priority, but let’s allow the Scriptures to speak for themselves. When it comes to God and your money, Jesus said: “Don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” (Matthew 6:31-33 NLT). Note the word “everything.” When you’re in right standing with God, you can pray with confidence and ask Him to bless you in all things!
Soul food: Heb 1-4; Mark 10:13-22; Ps 88:9b-18; Prov 11:27-29
2020-05-19
2 Corinthians 9:8 NIV
Let’s begin by saying it again: What you believe about God and your money will determine what you believe Him for. If the reason you want more is to “keep up with the Joneses,” or brag about what you own, don’t expect God to bless your plans. The Bible says, “God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble” (James 4:6 NIV). Humility says, “Lord, everything I have is a gift from You. And everything I’ll ever need comes from You.” Before you ask God for more money, you must know that your heart motive is right. And when you know it is, you can stand on this Scripture: “Whoever sows sparingly will…reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will…reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: ‘They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.’ Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion” (2 Corinthians 9:9-11 NIV). Who does God give seed to? Sowers – not hoarders. When does God multiply your seed? When you sow it to fulfill His purposes.
Soul food: Titus 1-3; Mark 10:1-12; Ps 88:1-9a; Prov 11:24-26
2020-05-18
Psalm 84:11 KJV
What you believe about God and your money will determine how you pray and what you believe Him for. You say, “But money is the root of all evil.” No, the Bible says, “The love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10 KJV). That means if you’re a miser, God won’t give you more. “But haven’t some preachers used the Bible to enrich themselves?” you ask. Absolutely – and you wouldn’t want to stand in their shoes when they answer to God! But don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. The best way to tell if a dollar bill is counterfeit is to place it beside a genuine one. So here’s the question: Are you looking for a reason to doubt God’s promises, or a reason to believe them? The Bible says, “No good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless” (Psalm 84:11 NIV). We all agree that providing for your family, getting a promotion, educating your children, and meeting other people’s needs are all “good” things. So when you “do what is right” before God, you can expect Him to bless you. John wrote, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers” (3 John 2 NKJV). Only when our children reach maturity and demonstrate responsibility do we entrust them with the keys to the family car, right? So maturity must precede prosperity. When you demonstrate maturity, you can go to God with confidence, knowing He’ll meet your needs and bless you. Which raises the question: Are you growing and maturing spiritually?
Soul food: Jonah 1-4; Mark 9:38-50; Ps 75; Prov 11:23
