The Appeal of Greed

Oh, certainly not! Would any of us admit that we are attracted by or pulled towards greed? How many of us hold too tightly to money or stuff? Is your house cluttered with things you just can’t let go of? Do you become anxious when the stock market goes down, you know those big drops that happen in just a few hours? Does your dream of winning the lottery or a giant sweepstakes cause you to go out and purchase tickets beyond your budget?

Much of what I am about to share was a part of my pastor’s sermon yesterday morning. Larry Burkett wrote a whole book on “What the Bible Says About Money” and yes, it is still on my shelf. I will be using this source as well as my notes from yesterday.

Living a life free from greed is mentioned often as we read the pages of Scripture. Why would God write about this topic so much? Because each of us is inclined to be anxious concerning our finances or the things we own. If we are not budgeting, we don’t know how we will pay that next big bill, especially those unexpected ones. Can you let go of all those things you own? I mean sell them and never look back? We may conquer our greed on one level but we must be vigilant daily to not get back into the self-indulgence mode.

Our joy in life comes from only One, God and God alone!

When we become anxious, we must remember: 1. Our worry cannot change the situation. 2. There are more important things in life than what we eat or wear. 3. Worry is the attitude of pagans. We, as Christ-followers, should not be concerned about material thing as it shows a lack of trust in God. Are we pursuing spiritual matters?

In seeking spiritual matters, we must check our heart. Are we self-absorbed, thinking that we need things that we certainly can get along without? We’ve already established that God will provide our needs such as food and clothing and safe shelter. It may not be what we desire but it is enough. Greed is never satisfied! Luke 12:15 puts it this way, “Then He (Jesus) said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”

Aw, but you say that people do see what we have and determine how important we are. True to some extent, but I remember a time when someone said to me, “they are rich”. My question was “how do you know? By the things they have? They could be in debt up to their eyeballs!” We are delusional if we think we can ever satisfy greed.

When we read all of Luke 12, we see a theme arise, that of being diligent to pursue God, to learn to trust in Him only and to run from greed. God owns everything and the Holy Spirit will guide you. When you reject that guidance, you are rejecting God Himself. Where is your true wealth? In heaven, safe from theft and decay. Be rich toward the things of God: giving generously to God’s work through your local church and missions? Are you generous with your family concerning the time you spend with them and meeting their needs? Are you giving to your friends in a way that they need? Perhaps just to listen to them and lend a helping hand when needed. Time seems to be the one thing that we need to budget more closely so as to meet those needs of spending time with those we care about.

Do you ask God to help you make every decision in your life? I once had someone tell me that they “talked” to God about the big decisions but didn’t bother Him with the little ones. I liken this to what I tell people about budgeting, “save those pennies and the dollars will come.” If God isn’t in your small decisions, do you honestly think you will go to Him with the big ones? The most important decision being for you to turn your life (totally) over to the One who will be there at all times.

Are you truly content with what God has given you? That one has been a hard one for me but I have had to work diligently daily seeking His face rather than looking to one more desire to fill my life. Only a prideful person would say they don’t struggle with this. It’s been a struggle since Adam and Eve, so stay humble by always looking to God.

Finally, manage your money wisely, with eternity in mind. I am not sure where I heard this and not sure exactly how it is said but it helps get the point across: Tell me who you love and I will tell you who you are. If we budget, always keeping God in mind of whether we need, want or desire an item, we will see the needs of others more often. We will give to the needs of others with a joyful heart because we realize that it is not our own but all we have belongs to God. Where is your heart bent on this day?

Our Hope Is in Jesus

I just finished reading Job 22-24. Job is such an encouraging book for me because I have gone through much sickness and pain and sorrow in my life. It gives me hope because I can see that God doesn’t allow anything to happen in my life without His approval. Maybe that’s a hard concept for some but all you have to do is read Job 1 to see what I am saying.

We can be an Eliphaz to someone in our lives when we judge why they are going through something that is painful. We live in a fallen world that wants us to fall too. If you know Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you might be more compassionate, more caring, more loving than Job’s friends were. It is up to us to listen to the Holy Spirit; and sometimes He speaks through the Word and other times a friend will be truthful with us. We need to check ourselves to be assured that we are walking on the path that Jesus has chosen for us.

Just how exactly do we check ourselves? To whom do we compare ourselves to? The answer is quite simple. So simple, in fact, that some will reject such a suggestion. Read the Bible from cover to cover each year, asking God to show you daily what you need. Be prepared for Him to show you your sin, to repent and work on not repeating that sin. As we are reading the Word of God, we will see Jesus in a new light. We will have a better understanding of why He came to earth, died for us and rose again in victory!

God is faithful! He gave us a manual to live our lives by, to guide us through each day towards righteousness. “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Rom 3:22-24)

My pastor is preaching on Joshua and recently spoke about the Israelites going from fame to shame to fame. Isn’t it like that in our lives as well? To repent means to acknowledge our evil behavior and to turn away from doing it again. According to Ephesians 4:28, when we turn away from our sin, we must have another plan to take the place of such behavior. Believe me, I know it is easy to fall back into the same sin again but I also know what a compassionate God we serve. He will forgive us when we come before Him in repentance. But, it is up to us to look at filling that behavior with something that is pleasing to the Father.

Anyone who has read my first book, “Faithful Hope” will understand that I struggle with something that most people would find rather silly. But, it is my sin. If I do not fill that with something that brings glory to God, I can become quite the sinner, for one sin can take me on the downward spiral to another sin, to another and so on. Fill that repentant sin with something to glorify God!

If you need encouragement to help you read through the Bible, get a copy of “Faithful Promises of God”. It will also help you to apply some of God’s Word in your own life. God is faithful! “…put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Eph 4:24

So Help Me God…

Have you ever wondered where or why we use “so help me God” when taking an oath here in the United States? Or why our money has “in God we trust” on it?

As you read through the Bible, you will start to note rather quickly that our founders knew their Bible pretty well. If you have any understanding concerning our Constitution and the laws that were set up during the time that this country experienced birth pains, you will recognize that our founders based many of our laws and the Constitution on Scripture.

If you are using my book, “Faithful Promises of God”, to read through the Bible, you’ve, no doubt, already ran across the importance of picking Godly leaders. That includes a national leader, a local leader, a Pastor and a Godly husband (which leads the family and set the tone). History is important and that is why we need to read the Old Testament as well as the New Testament.

When we read “they did what was right in their own eyes” or “he did evil in the eyes of the Lord”, we need to realize that there are consequences to our behavior. And those consequences often affect many people around the sin.

“They rejected His decrees and the covenant He had made with their fathers and the warnings He had given them. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them and although the Lord had ordered them, “Do not do as they do,” and they did the things the Lord had forbidden them to do.” (2 Kings 17:15) Now, let’s think about this one verse in Scripture that is full of how to apply it to our lives today. Have we rejected God as a nation? Have we rejected Him in our personal lives? Do you follow the Bible? Yes, yes, I understand that “all have sinned” but do most Americans even know what the Bible says, let alone try to live lives pleasing to the Lord? Do we have many who feel worthless? Is the United States of America, which was founded on Biblical principles, continuing to follow the laws set up, especially concerning immigration? Are we as a nation, doing things that the Lord has forbidden?

When our country’s higher powers take out “so help me God” and no longer have people swearing their oath on the Bible, is that rejecting God? Although our forefathers formed much of our government after the Bible and this country was founded on Christian principles, it was intended to run as a Christian nation. Yes, we welcome other religions to practice their faith but the founders intended the government to be a Christian based nation. And anyone coming into our country is expected to follow our laws, not make up their own laws or bring their laws in from the country they came from.

“Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established, the authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgement on themselves….Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.” (Romans 13: 1-2, 5) We may not always like what the laws are but according to this Scripture, we are to obey those laws. Thankfully, our government is set up in such a way that we can speak out and work to change such laws.

Please note that this is not meant to be divisive but rather to get many people to read the Bible and also to grasp what our forefathers were basing the new form of government that we now know as the United States of America on.

As always, I welcome any comments from you. If you cannot write a comment here, please go to A Fae Original on facebook. But in the meantime, I challenge you to stay in the Word!