Tag Archives: Resources

Our Gifts Aren’t For Us

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Given To You By God

It’s our default setting to use all gifts, talents, and abilities for personal gain and advancement in this world! But God didn’t gift us for our own personal benefit! Your gifts, your talents, your personality and charm, and your intellect were given to you by God to manage or steward over in a way that brings Him greater glory! Are you leveraging all those things for the glory of God? Here’s what the Apostle Peter said about it: “Based on the gift each one has received, use it to serve others, as good managers of the varied grace of God. If anyone speaks, it should be as one who speaks God’s words; if anyone serves, it should be from the strength God provides, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything. To Him belong the glory and the power forever and ever.” 1 Peter 4:10-11. 

The Purpose of Your Gift

Did you notice the end of v.11? The purpose of your giftedness is, “…so that GOD MAY BE GLORIFIED through Jesus Christ IN EVERYTHING. To HIM BELONG THE GLORY…” Don’t compartmentalize your life— this is CHURCH; that’s God’s part. But, this is my WORK; that’s ABOUT ME! We can compartmentalize God right out of our life! No! God has gifted us to bring Himself glory IN EVERYTHING! In ALL of life! There is no area of your life where God does not intend to bring Himself glory! So, what motivates you? Are you motivated to live your life for God’s glory, or for your own? 

Gifts Empowered By The Spirit

God’s method is to empower our gifts by His Spirit so that He receives all the glory! This is how the exercising of your gifts, talents, and intellect brings glory to God! The only way we bring Him glory in all of life’s activities is when we exercise them under the power and control of God’s Holy Spirit! When our dependence—in the doing and the living of life—is not in ourselves or our giftedness, but on God’s Spirit! If you’re ‘speaking’ (v.11) or ‘serving’— “…it should be from the strength that God provides…” Don’t miss this crucial point in exercising your gifts in a way that brings God glory! You cannot depend on your giftedness when you speak or when you serve—or God is not glorified!

When We Fail To Bring Him Glory

You can be a gifted speaker, even speak ‘on God’s behalf,’ but if it’s not ‘…from the words God provides…,’ then God is neither blessed nor glorified by them! They are words— even ‘good words’— but they are spoken in the power of the flesh! You can serve— teach Sunday School, sing or play on the Worship Team, help kids learn Scripture in AWANA— but if your service is not done by ‘…the strength that God provides…,’ then God is neither blessed nor glorified by your service! They are deeds—even ‘good deeds’—but they are done in the flesh! I still believe that the Holy Spirit remains the greatest untapped power of the Church! It’s a power untapped because we so rarely lean on God’s Holy Spirit! We lean on our gifts more than we do the Creator and the Giver of those gifts! This has to change, Church!
 

Do You Have Financial Pride?

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Taking A Little Vacation

Will Return On November 13

Instruct Those Who Are Rich

When the Apostle Paul instructs Timothy about his finances, he does so in a way that a disciple-maker might teach his disciple or a leader in a church might preach to his people. “Instruct those who are rich in the present age,” Paul begins in 1 Timothy 6:17-19, “not to be arrogant…” People who are blessed with money tend to struggle with pride. So, “…instruct them,” Paul tells him, “NOT to be consumed with financial pride.” Let me stop there for a moment and address those of you who don’t think Paul’s words apply to you because you don’t think you’re “rich.” YES! He is talking to you! And, YES, you are rich!

Yes! You Are Rich!

Half the world’s population lives on less than $2.50 a day! If you live on more than that, you’re in the upper half of the world’s wealthy! If your household income is $37K or more, you’re in the TOP 4% of the world’s wealthy! If you make $45K or more, you’re in the TOP 1%! YES! The Apostle Paul is talking to you, and he says, “Don’t be consumed with financial pride.” How do you know if you have financial pride? Have you ever said or thought something similar to this: “If they worked as hard as I do, or if they used their brain like I do, they wouldn’t be poor.” That’s PRIDE! That’s saying, “I’m the reason I’m wealthy! I worked hard for it! I used my brain, and I deserve it.” To the Church of Corinth, Paul reminded, “…what do you have that you did not receive? But if you did receive it, why do you BOAST as if you had not received it?” (1 Corinthians 4:7)

How Can We Boast About Anything?

God has given us our brains, our opportunities, and our resources! He’s given us EVERYTHING we have! How can we boast about it? And, as if to emphasize that point, Paul adds this: “…don’t set your hope on the uncertainty of wealth…” Don’t be consumed by financial DEPENDENCE! Don’t DEPEND on it! Wealth, Paul says, is uncertain! It can’t be trusted! The wisdom from the book of Proverbs puts it like this: “Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle” (Proverbs 23:5). In other words, just look at money, and it’ll fly away! Avoid living an insignificant life! Don’t waste your life! The sin of “consumerism” draws its strength from financial pride and financial dependence!

Finding Your Significance

Set your hope on God, Paul says— “Instruct those who are rich, not…to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy.” God is the giver of the gifts we enjoy! But He never intended that we should enjoy the gifts more than the Giver! Our significance is wrapped up IN HIM, not in the stuff He has lent to us! So, be consumed with Him! We overcome the consumerism bug by being consumed with God and with others! He continues in v.18, “…do what is good, to be rich in good works…” Be consumed with serving others with the gifts God has blessed us with! And, “…be generous, willing to share…” Paul adds. There is really no worse testimony about the sufficiency of Jesus than a stingy, Scrooge-like Christian. Jesus said, “FREELY you have received, FREELY give!” (Matthew 10:8)
 

Avoiding An Insignificant Life

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A Desire For More Stuff

Let me share something with you that you may not know about the average 5-year-old in America— the average 5-year-old in America has 250 toys! Yes, I said 250 toys! Now, let’s apply some math to that. A 5-year-old has only lived on planet Earth for roughly 250 weeks. So, that 5-year-old has grown up getting 1 new toy every week—on average—for their entire life! That’s just the AVERAGE! Some have 500 toys! Others have 1000! And why are we surprised that they are rarely satisfied? That they are always wanting more? We’ve trained them to be “consumers,” haven’t we? We’re a culture that’s consumed by a desire for more stuff!

The Stuff We Don’t Have

We’re constantly exposed to commercials that advertise all the stuff we don’t have and tell us that we need it! “Our friends went to Best Buy on Black Friday and got a new 70” Smart TV, and our puny 55” TV just doesn’t cut it anymore”— that’s the general mindset of the average American! You take a ride in your friend’s new car and you love that new car smell! You get back in your old car and it smells like french fries and damp, moldy soccer cleats! You walk through SAMS, Target, or COSTCO and you see all this new stuff that you NEED! You didn’t know you needed it until you got there and saw what you were missing! Now, I may be exaggerating a bit, but not by much!

Stewards of God’s Estate

If we’re followers of Jesus, we can’t tolerate that selfish consumerism controlling our lives! We must see ourselves— as Scripture tells us— as faithful “stewards” of God’s resources! We “manage” a portion of God’s “estate” that He’s entrusted to our care! How are we doing with that? If you live your life like you think you “own” your stuff, you’ll waste it all on building your own “little kingdom”— you’ll live an insignificant life! For the one claiming to follow Jesus, we should not fear failure as much as we should fear success at something that really doesn’t matter in light of eternity! We need a constant reminder from God’s Holy Spirit that NOTHING we have is truly our own! It all belongs to God! And whatever He’s given us, He’s trusting us to manage it well for Him or to leverage it in a way that builds His “big kingdom”! That’s how we avoid an insignificant life!

How To Beat Consumerism

In the Apostle Paul’s first letter to Timothy, he instructed him to: “Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good reserve for the age to come, so that they may take hold of life that is real” (1 Timothy 6:17-19). Here’s how I would paraphrase Paul’s challenge: You beat consumerism by denying your flesh and by chasing a new passion! It’s not just enough to deny your flesh; you need to live for a new passion! To the rich, he says, don’t be arrogant (v.17). So, a key to avoiding the insignificant life is to renounce the financial pride that can overtake us! Remember, it’s not ours!

Do I Really Own My Stuff?

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Are You An Owner Or A Steward?

You don’t want to be on the wrong side of that question! If you don’t listen to the Word of God—when it comes to your finances & your stuff—you’ll forfeit something. God will oppose you as long as you live like an “owner” of YOUR stuff rather than a “steward” or a “manager” of HIS. The prophet, Malachi, was inspired by God’s Spirit to write: “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed ME! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse” Malachi 3:8,9.   Clearly, God means for us to understand that our resources are not ours to use however we may wish!

God Owns It All

In my last post, I challenged you with Scripture that makes it clear that God owns ALL of it! He doesn’t just get our tithe & offerings; and, the rest is ours to spend on ourselves! He owns it ALL—Deuteronomy 10:14; Haggai 2:8; 1 Corinthians 10:26. As stewards, we are responsible for managing the portion of HIS “estate”—that He has entrusted to us—the way that HE wants it to be managed! We don’t have the freedom to do what we want with it! Our responsibility is to spend it the way He directs us! We have to get this right, Church! You’re the STEWARD of your stuff, not the OWNER! Repeat that out loud! You need to convince yourself of that! Here’s what you need to do—you need to do an AUDIT of your finances! And, if God’s Spirit shows you that you’ve been living like an owner instead of a steward, you need to “repent.”

Change Your Mind

To “repent” literally means to “change your mind” about something. If you’ve not been obedient, in this area, you need to repent & change your mind about the way you’ve been living! And, I would challenge you to make it a matter of prayer, every day, to release your stuff back to God! Talk to Him every day, about it, and, give it all back to Him. And, how will you know if you’re making progress? Well, you’ll begin to experience freedom from greed, first of all! When it’s part of your mindset that none of your stuff is really yours, you’ll also begin to experience a freedom from the anxiety that a love of money can bring. It all belongs to God anyway; and, He’s promised to take care of you! So, your dependence transfers from your IRA to God, right? 

Don’t Wander From The Faith

The Apostle Paul warned Timothy, his son in the faith, with these words: “But godliness with contentment is a great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out.  But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains” 1 Timothy 6:6-10. Catch the gravity of Paul’s warning to young Timothy? He tells him that the way he looks at his money & his stuff has a direct correlation to his relationship with God! And, if he gets it wrong he’s in danger of “financial apostasy”; or, wandering from the faith! Don’t do that!

God’s High Regard For His Name

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A Humanly Impossible Situation

There’s a great Bible read, in 2 Chronicles 14, about a “good” king named Asa. That’s significant because Israel & Judah had a lot of “bad” kings.  Asa, however, “…did what was good and right in the sight of the LORD his God…” v.2 says.  But, as God often does, in the lives of His saints, He uses “trouble” to grow their faith. In v.8, we read that “…Asa had an army of 300,000 from Judah bearing large shields and spears, and 280,000 from Benjamin…”; and, then “trouble” shows up! It says that “…Zerah the Cushite came against them with an army of one million men and 300 chariots…” Do the math! Judah found itself in a mismatch; a humanly impossible situation!

It Is Nothing For You To Help

And, what was King Asa’s response? “Asa cried out to the LORD his God, and said, ‘LORD, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O LORD our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O LORD,  You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!’” v.11.  Why is it our tendency to make prayer our last resort? It is our general predisposition to try & work things out in our wisdom 1st.  We have this penchant for gritting our teeth; and, trying to work things out in our own strength! Only after we’ve exhausted all human resources do we finally pray about it! 

A Prayer That Get’s God’s Attention

Why?  Are we afraid we’re bothering God? Maybe we’re waking Him up? Scripture says, “…He never sleeps, He never slumbers…” (Psalms 121:4-5) I want to challenge you to go back to v.11 and reread Asa’s prayer.  Asa provides us with a model prayer for getting God’s attention! While his prayer was about his “circumstances,” it wasn’t really about his “circumstances”! It was a prayer about GOD! It was a prayer expressing concern for God’s Glory! “This battle isn’t about me God,” to paraphrase Asa’s prayer,  “It’s about YOU! There’s no one besides You!  You help those without strength!  We depend on You!  Your NAME is at stake here! Don’t let a mere mortal hinder You!”

His Glory Is Magnified In Our Weakness

God DOES NOT help those who help themselves! You’re deceived if you think that statement has any basis in Scripture.  It’s s human LIE! A fabrication! God helps those who are weak & depend upon Him! Asa understood that God’s ultimate purpose in everything He does is to magnify His glory! And His glory is magnified when weak, needy people admit that they are weak & needy; and go to Him for help! He is glorified when we confess our weakness, and we turn to Him where He can show Himself strong on our behalf!

God’s Glory: Our Greatest Concern

So, how do you define God’s “Glory”? It’s kind of like His “BEAUTY.” God’s glory is in the “BEAUTY” of His perfection; in His character; and His moral excellence! “God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone” James 1:13. God’s highest purpose is to preserve & display His infinite, awesome greatness & worth. That’s His GLORY! There is NOTHING of higher value! If God should have a greater affection for anything He created, He would be unjust— He’d be an idolater!  So, here’s the principle— King Asa prayed right because his greatest concern was for God’s GLORY; not, for victory in this battle!  Our prayers should always be a request for God to bring GLORY to Himself through His answer! His GLORY, through the answer, is more important than our need! May we humbly accept this truth!

Do You Have Financial Pride?

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-This Is A Real Problem!

When the Apostle Paul instructs Timothy, about his finances, he does so in a way that a disciple-maker might teach his disciple; or, a leader, in a church, might preach to his people.  “Instruct those who are rich in the present age,” Paul begins, in 1 Timothy 6:17-19, “not to be arrogant…” People, who are blessed with money, tend to struggle with pride. So, “…instruct them,” Paul tells him, “NOT to be consumed with financial pride.” Let me stop there, for a moment, and, address those of you who don’t think Paul’s words apply to you because you don’t think you’re “rich.” YES! He is talking to you! And, YES, you are rich!

-Yes! He’s Talking To You!

Half the world’s population lives on less than $2.50 a day! If you live on more than that you’re in the upper half of the world’s wealthy! If you’re household income is $37K or more you’re in the TOP 4% of the world’s wealthy! If you make $45K or more, you’re in the TOP 1%! YES! The Apostle Paul is talking to you; and, he says, “Don’t be consumed with financial pride.” How do you know if you have financial pride? Have you ever said, or thought, something similar to this: “If they worked as hard as I do; or, if they used their brain like I do, they wouldn’t be poor.” That’s PRIDE! That’s saying, “I’M the reason I’m wealthy! I worked hard for it! I used my brain & I deserve it.” To the Church of Corinth, Paul reminded, “…what do you have that you did not receive? But if you did receive it, why do you BOAST as if you had not received it?” (1 Corinthians 4:7)

-All Things Come From God!

God has given us our brains, our opportunities, and, our resources! He’s given us EVERYTHING we have! How can we boast about it? And, as if to emphasize that point, Paul adds this: “…don’t set your hope on the uncertainty of wealth…” Don’t be consumed by financial DEPENDENCE! Don’t DEPEND on it! Wealth, Paul says, is uncertain! It can’t be trusted! The wisdom, from the book of Proverbs, puts it like this: “Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle” Proverbs 23:5.  In other words, just look at money and it’ll fly away! Avoid living an insignificant life! Don’t waste your life! The sin of “consumerism” draws it’s strength from financial pride and financial dependence!

-Finding Your Significance!

Set your hope on God, Paul says—“Instruct those who are rich, not…to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy.” God is the giver of the gifts we enjoy! But, He never intended that we should enjoy the gifts more than the Giver! Our significance is wrapped up IN HIM; not, in the stuff he has lent to us! So, be consumed with Him! We overcome the consumerism bug by being consumed with God & with others! He continues, in v.18, “…do what is good, to be rich in good works…” Be consumed with serving others with the gifts God has blessed us! And, “…be generous, willing to share…” Paul adds. There is really no worse testimony, about the sufficiency of Jesus, than a stingy, Scrooge-like Christian. Jesus said, “FREELY you have received, FREELY give!” Matthew 10:8

 

 

Avoiding An Insignificant Life!

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Next Post July 5th!

A Little Vacation Time

-A Culture Of Consumption!

Let me share something, with you, that you may not know about the average 5-year old in America—the average 5-year old, in America, has 250 toys! Yes! I said 250 toys! Now, let’s apply some math to that. A 5-year old has only lived on planet Earth roughly 250 weeks. So, that 5-year old has grown up getting 1 new toy every week—on average—for their entire life! That’s just the AVERAGE! Some have 500 toys! Others have 1000! And, why are we surprised that they are rarely satisfied? That they are always wanting more? We’ve trained them to be “consumers”, haven’t we? We’re a culture that’s consumed by a desire for more stuff!

-The Stuff We Don’t Have!

We’re constantly exposed to commercials that advertise all the stuff we don’t have; and, telling us that we need it! “Our friends went to Best Buy, on Black Friday, and, got a new 70” Smart TV & our puny 55” TV just doesn’t cut it anymore”—that’s the general mindset of the average American! You take a ride in your friends new car & you love that new car smell! You get back in your old car and it smells like french fries & damp, moldy soccer cleats! You walk through SAMS or Target or COSTCO and you see all this new stuff that you NEED! You didn’t know you need it until you got there & saw what you were missing! Now, I may be exaggerating a bit; but, not by much!

-Managing God’s Estate!

If we’re followers, of Jesus, we can’t tolerate that selfish, consumerism controlling our lives! We must see ourselves—as Scripture tells us—as faithful “stewards” of God’s resources! We “manage” a portion of God’s “estate” that He’s entrusted to our care! How are we doing with that? If you live your life like you think you “own” your stuff, you’ll waste it all on building your own “little kingdom”—you’ll live an insignificant life! For the one, claiming to follow Jesus, we should not fear failure as much as we should fear success at something that really doesn’t matter in light of eternity! We need a constant reminder, from God’s Holy Spirit, that NOTHING we have is truly our own! It all belongs to God! And, whatever He’s given us, He’s trusting us to manage it well for Him; or, to leverage it in a way that builds His “big kingdom”! That’s how we avoid an insignificant life!

-How To Beat Consumerism!

In the Apostle Paul’s 1st letter, to Timothy, he instructed him to: “Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good reserve for the age to come, so that they may take hold of life that is real” 1 Timothy 6:17-19. Here’s how I would paraphrase Paul’s challenge—You beat consumerism by denying your flesh & by chasing a new passion! It’s not just enough to deny your flesh! You need to live for a new passion! To the rich, he says, don’t be arrogant (v.17). So, a key, to avoiding the insignificant life, is to renounce the financial pride that can over take us! Remember, it’s not ours!

 

Do I Really Own My Stuff?

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-Or, Am I A Manager?

You don’t want to be on the wrong side of that question! If you don’t listen to the Word of God—when it comes to your finances & your stuff—you’ll forfeit something. God will oppose you as long as you live like an “owner” of YOUR stuff rather than a “steward” or a “manager” of HIS. The prophet, Malachi, was inspired by God’s Spirit to write: “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed ME! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse” Malachi 3:8,9.

-God Owns It All!

Clearly, God means for us to understand that our resources are not ours to use however we may wish! In my last post I challenged you with Scripture that makes it clear that God owns ALL of it! He doesn’t just get our tithe & offerings; and, the rest is ours to spend on ourselves! He owns it ALL—Deuteronomy 10:14; Haggai 2:8; 1 Corinthians 10:26. As stewards, we are responsible for managing the portion of HIS “estate”—that He has entrusted to us—the way that HE wants it to be managed! We don’t really have the freedom to do what we want with it! Our responsibility is to spend it the way He directs us! We have to get this right, Church! You’re the STEWARD of your stuff, not the OWNER! Repeat that our loud! You need to convince yourself of that!

-Do A Financial Audit!

Here’s what you need to do—you need to do an AUDIT of your finances! And, if God’s Spirit shows you that you’ve been living like an owner instead of a steward, you need to “repent.” Literally, to “repent” means to “change your mind” about something. If you’ve not been obedient, in this area, you need to repent & change your mind about the way you’ve been living! And, I would challenge you to make it a matter of prayer, every day, to release your stuff back to God! Talk to Him every day, about it, and, give it all back to Him. And, how will you know if you’re making progress? Well, you’ll begin to experience freedom from greed, first of all! When it’s part of your mindset that none of your stuff is really yours, you’ll also begin to experience a freedom from the anxiety that a love of money can bring. It’s all Gods anyway; and, He’s promised to take care of you! So, your dependence transfers from your IRA to God, right?

-Don’t Wander From The Faith!

The Apostle Paul warned Timothy, his son in the faith, with these words: “But godliness with contentment is a great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out.  But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains” 1 Timothy 6:6-10. Catch the gravity of Paul’s warning to young Timothy? He tells him that the way he looks at his money & his stuff has a direct correlation to his relationship with God! And, if he gets it wrong he’s in danger of “financial apostasy”; or, wandering from the faith! Don’t do that!