"As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life." Amen!
1 Tim. 6:17-19
"God, give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God."
Prov. 30:8-9
1 Tim. 6:10 says, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." This verse seems to imply that salvation can be lost. What else can it mean to "wander from the faith?" I do believe salvation can be lost. You can also look at the parable of the sower that Jesus told. Some seed springs up for a time and then dies. Why? This verse explains the primary reason; the love of and the worship of money. Some people might start out loving God, and then start to worship money instead of God, and so loose their salvation or "wander from the faith."
Check out this passage in Hosea 2, where God is talking about how He blessed Israel, but they then forgot about God, so he took his blessings back.
"She (Israel) has not acknowledged that I was the one
who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil,
who lavished on her the silver and gold—
which they used for Baal.
9 “Therefore I will take away my grain when it ripens,
and my new wine when it is ready.
I will take back my wool and my linen." Hosea 2:8-9
and my new wine when it is ready.
I will take back my wool and my linen." Hosea 2:8-9
If God blesses us and his blessing causes us to forget about him, he will then take that blessing away. People often ask, "why do bad things happen to good people?" This might be a primary reason. Maybe God blessed someone because they were good, but then that blessing caused them to forget about God and turn bad or to sin in some way, so God then takes that blessing away. As Job said, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, but blessed be the name of the Lord."
On a side note, in the case of Job, most think he was relatively perfect and there was no reason for God to cause him to suffer. But if you analyze what Job says in the book of Job, it's possible God let him suffer because he was too prideful. "Pride comes before a fall." When you read how he defends himself to his friends, that there could be no reason for him to suffer, one could conclude that he was a bit overly confident in his own righteousness. Of course we all know "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Maybe Job was relatively blameless, but he was not perfect, because only Jesus was. So perhaps he was a bit overly prideful, and God allowed his sufferings in order to humble him.
I have heard many times that the topic that Jesus spoke on the most was money. Why? Because money can be so tempting to all of us. It is so easy for our flesh to rise up and for us to become greedy and want all the things that money can buy. It is so easy for us to trust in money to take care of us rather than God. And then we can make it an idol. It is so easy for us to think about money and things we want to buy with money rather than scripture and Jesus and saving the lost. We need to always be careful of that. Jesus said "You cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve both God and money." Whatever we think about the most reveals ultimately what we serve. So you can ask yourself, do you think money and stuff more, or God more?
I know personally how strong the pull can be to worship things and money and stuff. I have always had a bit of a shopping problem, which I might have inherited from my mom. :) But we all have to constantly remind ourselves of what is most important in life. God is most important, not money. Never money. It's nice to have money, but it should be never be our number one focus. Yes we have to make money to provide for ourselves and others, but if we love it too much or think about it too much, we might make the 1 Tim. 6:10 verse true for ourselves about wandering from the faith due to a love of money. Don't wander from the faith. Don't loose your salvation due to loving money. Focus on God first and foremost always. Amen.
This is all also why the "God wants you to be rich" teaching is so, SO false and so incredibly dangerous. God does NOT want you to be rich. Especially if being rich will cause you to forget about God and lead you into pride and sin. Some people can handle great amounts of money and not worship it, but most people cannot, which is why God DOESN'T most of us to become rich. So if you aren't rich, or as rich as you might want to be, that might be why. God might know that if he let you become rich, it might be too easy for you to worship it. Joyce Meyer often says "Who can God bless and it not become a problem for them?" Because any blessing from God can make us prideful, and so God is careful about who he might bless. "God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble." If we are humble, God will bless us. If we are proud, he most likely will not bless us very much.
We all know the verse, "It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven." Why? I think it's because sometimes when we hoard money, we might then ignore all those around us who are in need and our heart might become more and more callous and unloving. I have always thought this verse was interesting, "Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered." Prov. 21:13 As in, when we ignore those around us who need money, even homeless people that walk by your car, God might ignore you when you cry out for help. "Give and it will be given to you, pressed down, shaken together and running over." But if we don't give to others, God might be less inclined then to give to us or to bless us. Also Paul said "My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." But who did he say that to? He said it to the Philippians, who had just given him a large generous gift of money. When we give to others, God gives back to us. But when we don't give to others, God may not give us as much.
The focus in the prosperity gospel reaching is all wrong. The focus with that is always on one's self, praying for your own blessing or for God to give you money. But our focus should always be on others and giving to them, because the more we give to others, the more God will give to us. Amen.
And it's important to note, giving doesn't always have to be money. It can also be time, effort, talent, writings like this etc. Any way that you try to invest in others is giving. The church focuses too much on just giving money when they should mention all the other ways we can give to others such as: tutoring kids, taking sick people food, giving away clothes or other things you don't use, making things for people, writing, making videos to educate people about the Bible etc. There are a hundred different ways we can give. :)
I digressed again lol
And back to the topic of money. :) Saving up some money can be good, so that we won't become a burden on other people, but saving too much might not be biblical actually. Think of the story of God raining down mana from heaven for the Israelites. He told them to not gather more than they needed for each day and if they did, it became moldy and not edible. That could have been an illustration for us in regards to not hoarding too much money now. We are to ask God for our daily bread, as Jesus said in the Lord's prayer, but we should not expect too much beyond that from God. God will meet our needs, but not necessarily all of our wants. Why? Because if he gives us too much, we might then forget about Him. :( Which would be the worst thing in the world of course.
I personally have always felt conflicted about saving money in general. It can be good for emergencies, but if we save at the expense of ignoring those who need money, how can we say we love others? Something to think about.
May God bless you all! But more with peace and joy rather than money, unless you can handle it lol :) God bless!
And here are some other great verses on money:
Deuteronomy 8:17-18
"Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth."
Proverbs 23:4-5
"Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. (meaning take a break) When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven."
Luke 12:15
"And Jesus said to them, 'Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.'"
Ecclesiastes 5:10
"He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity."
1 John 2:15-17
"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever."
Ezekiel 7:19
"They cast their silver into the streets, and their gold is like an unclean thing. Their silver and gold are not able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it. For it was the stumbling block of their iniquity."
(This verse might refer to us Americans.) :(
1 John 3:16-18
"If anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth."
James 2:14-17
"What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead."
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