Money, Money, Money

Money is never enough. We keep striving and working for more. This is not new; it is from eons that we already always trying to earn money and more money.

Tom Harper explains this from a Biblical perspective.

Imagine you suddenly find $100 million in your bank account (and it's rightfully yours). What would you do with it?

Once you've celebrated, paid off all your debt, bought a couple cars and moved into your new private-island home, what would be next in life?

An Indian saint and poet, Sant Kabir Das, said thus - 

"Sayeen Itna Deejiye, Ja Mein Kutumb Samaye.

Main Bhi Bhookha Na Rahun, Sadhu Na Bhookha Jaye".

(Please God, give me enough so that I can support myself and my family, and so that no one goes hungry, not me nor any saint who comes to my home). 

Proverbs 30:8-9 also says it so well:

"…give me neither poverty nor riches!

Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.

For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, "Who is the Lord?"

And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God's holy name".

Ecclesiastes chapter 5 directly addresses this dreamy scenario of finding the rainbowed pot of gold. Here are a few points Solomon makes in verses 10 and 11:

1. Those who love money will never have enough.

2. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!

3. The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it.

4. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers!

These pithy statements are straight from the New Living Translation. And how true they are!

The main point, which is also a universal truth as we have seen, is in verse 15 "We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can't take our riches with us."

If we can't take it with us, why do we strive for more than we need?

Trusting God for just enough is a way of describing how God provides what is needed in the moment, while also requiring trust in what will come next. 

Feasting During Adversity

Psalm 23 is quite strange. After all, after having walked through the "valley of the shadow of death" God prepares a feast for David in the presence of his enemies! Can we/ you ever feast or banquet during adverse times?

The KJV devotional has this to say -

"David faced so many challenges but remained confident in the power and provision of God. He knew how God could prepare a feast; not just in a secure place but even in the presence of enemies. This illustration shows us the richness of God’s care for His people and the confidence we can have in Him. We see here that God prepares the table and does not bother to remove the presence of enemies (or adversity). This means that there are times when God allows hardships to linger, but He still provides care, sustenance, provision, and strength while we are going through these adversities.

We cannot always expect God to get rid of all of our obstacles for us, but we can be confident that even when surrounded by threats or hardships, God invites us to sit and dine at His table, enjoy His blessings, and trust that He can protect us (and help us to overcome). As our provider, He ensures that we are nourished and well cared for even when we face opposition or threats."

David leaves his story for us as a proof that God provides for our needs, even in extremely challenging circumstances. He blesses us with abundance and joy as well as protection for the adversity that may surround us, at all times. 

Rise and Shine by Janice Riley is available here. 

Sunday Quotes

How many observe Christ's birthday! How few, His precepts! - Benjamin Franklin
This year, or this month, or, more likely, this very day, we have failed to practise ourselves the kind of behaviour we expect from other people. - C.S. Lewis
I believe there are too many practitioners in the church who are not believers.- C.S. Lewis
Every man should keep a fair-sized cemetery in which to bury the faults of his friends.- Henry Ward Beecher
Beware of no man more than of yourself; we carry our worst enemies within us.- Charles Spurgeon
Sincerity makes the very least person to be of more value than the most talented hypocrite.- Charles Spurgeon
Experience tells us that each man most keenly and unerringly detects in others the vice with which he is most familiar himself.- Frederick W. Robertson
Steal the hog, and give the feet for alms.- George Herbert
The Pharisees broke Moses' tables into pieces, and, gathering up the fragments, took to themselves what part of duty they pleased, and left the rest alone.- Jeremy Taylor
More than once Jesus deliberately addressed certain issues that quickly diminished the number of onlookers. It was commitment that thinned the ranks. - Chuck Swindoll
Those who please all men at all times ought deservedly to look on themselves with suspicion. - Johann Albrecht Bengel

No devil is so dangerous as the religious devil.- Joseph Hall
Next to hypocrisy in religion, there is nothing worse than hypocrisy in friendship.- Joseph Hall
Testimonies are wonderful. But, so often our lives don’t fit our testimonies.- Leonard Ravenhill

Are You and Asset or a Liability?

Reference: 2 Timothy 2 14-26

Our world revolves around two things - assets and liabilities. We define and classify people around us with these two scales. That is of course in the material world.

In the Christian world, a similar question arises: are we an asset to Christ?

Firstly, let us understand that we are NOT a liability. We, each one of us are valuable to God. Not because of who we are or what we have done, but because of what we have cost.

Second, just because we are not a liability does not mean we are an asset. An asset is something or someone who is useful to the world, people around us and to society at large. As assets we become agents of change for the better.

Last, and following from the above, as assets we become agents of change for God. His word tells us what we need to do, how we must behave and act. How we need to build a relationship with Him as well as the people around us.

That we, become a lighthouse for Him, guiding others to Him. If our light starts to dim, we help each other to brighten it again. That we life a life of praise and thanksgiving, so others want to emulate and experience the peace and joy we are experiencing.

How can we live as an asset? The quoted verses from Paul can be used as guideline. His Word helps us develop ourselves first and the very nature of our spiritual character will show the world around us the truth which we know and have experienced.