Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Bibile Money Matters

Article taken from biblemoneymatters.com.

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” - Matthew 19:26

Israel was losing the war against the Syrians. God’s prophet Elisha was dying. All seemed bleak.

King Joash visits the dying Elisha. Joash begins to weep. He knows Elisha’s death will prove a great loss to Israel.

“Get a bow and some arrows,” Elisha tells Joash.

“Put your hand on the bow,” Elisha says. The king does this and then feels the prophet’s own wrinkled hands wrapped around his.

“Open the window eastward.” Joash does.

“Now shoot!” Joash shoots.

“The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance.” Elijah tells him. The arrows represented the Lord’s deliverance in Israel’s battle against Syria.

“Take your arrows and smite upon the ground,” Elisha tells the king. The king smites the ground three times.

Elisha becomes angry. “You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.” (2 Kings 13:19).

Do you limit God’s blessings like Joash did? Do you smite the ground a measly three times when a whole quiver full of arrows is available to you?

God has made us joint heirs with Christ. He offers us innumerable blessings and promises. Yet we are content to live on crumbs when a banquet table full of spiritual delicacies is spread for us.

We wallow in despair when God offers us joy. We live in anxiety when prayer can bring us peace. We feel lonely even though God is always with us. We tremble in fear when faith could help us stand. We struggle to endure when Christ offers the gift of long suffering.

God’s promises are exceedingly great and precious. Grab them. Claim them for your life.

Don’t limit God. The Lord of the impossible is waiting for you to call on His name. Will you call on Him now?

My Reflections on this reading.......

When we make an honest effort, then GOD will step in and do the rest.

We all have our own personal situations regarding our finances. There was a time when I HATED to look in our account; I HATED seeing the account in red. I didn't want to see the results of my constant spending because I then would feel ashamed. I couldn't see how I was failing so much. I just figured GOD would get us out of whatever situation I got us in. I would just pray and then hope he would act.

I didn't realize how being responsible with money corresponded to being responsible with all other matters within the church. Isn't finances apart of running a church successfully? Wouldn't I want someone who was responsible with their OWN money to run a company I owned or was an investor in? Of coarse I would! Wouldn't anyone! Bills would need to get paid; up keep to the church would need to be managed; taxes paid; supplies for the church such as fans, chairs, books, toiletries (tissue, towels, etc), and other things. Being responsible is a vital part of being a leader; in fact it's a job requirement.

I then understood what Jesus meant by his parable of giving out the talents to the men. When one of the men didn't do anything but bury his, he got nothing because he did nothing. The others went and made more (responsibly) of what the Lord gave and as a result, the Lord increased their talents. I realized that is what I needed to do. I needed to be responsible and find ways to increase what the Lord has given me. Now that didn't mean I should go out and get a job, but rather DECREASE our bills and spending! Yep, DECREASE bills and spending. This was done by turning out lights in rooms I wasn't in, turning off the t.v./computer when it's not is use, having limited cable or no cable instead of premiun cable, etc.

I soon started picking out items in the store with care and then right before I got to checkout, I go through my cart and go through EVERYTHING. I ask myself":"Do I need this item?"; then I ask " Do I need this now or can it wait?"; then I ask " can I get this cheaper somewhere else?". Once I ask myself that, then I determine whether to purchase it or not. And trust me I have put back many items that I really wanted to buy. I mean some really nice stuff.

So in all, it took me a long time to get where I am regarding money. It took a lot to become responsible. Looking back I'm glad that the LORD took me through the pit, so I could learn to be a good steward of my family's finanacies. Besides, It's nice to be able to offer help to others, when they have a need.
Remember " To Get A Blessing, First, Be A Blessing" ( Uncle Bill-my pastor)

1 comment:

Destiny said...

Great post and thanks for sharing!!!