Tag Archives: money

Who Is Lying?

Bible Study, ,

WHO IS LYING?

“After all this had come to a head, Paul decided it was time to move on to Macedonia and Achaia provinces, and from there to Jerusalem. Then he said, ‘I’m off to Rome. I’ve got to see Rome!’ He sent two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, on to Macedonia while he stayed a while and wrapped things up in Asia.” Acts 19:21-22 (The Message).

Paul had a dream and a plan! Rome was his ultimate destination, but his first mission was to go back to Jerusalem. He had been bundled out of Jerusalem many years before by his new-found brothers in Christ because his fiery debate with the Jews had made him a hot potato (Acts 9:28-30). He had a longing to go back to the mother city in Israel and visit his church family there.

When one considers that all his travels around Europe and Asia were long, tedious journeys on foot overland and by sailing ship across the Mediterranean, he was looking at many months of travel before he reached his destination. After all his years of travelling from and back to Antioch around many of the provinces of Asia Minor and Greece, it is amazing that he still had the dream to go to Rome via Jerusalem! He was not daunted by the distance or the cost.

Before he left, Paul was to discover just how much damage he had done to the worship of Diana in Ephesus. His ministry there had made a huge hole in the pockets of the silversmiths who were cashing in on the opportunity to make money out of her worshippers.

“But before he got away, a huge ruckus occurred over what was now being referred to as “the Way”. A certain silversmith, Demetrius, conducted a brisk trade in the manufacture of shrines to the goddess Artemis, employing a number of artisans in his business. He rounded up his workers and others similarly employed and said, ‘Men, you well know that we have a good thing going here — and you’ve seen how Paul has barged in and discredited what we’ve been doing by telling people that there’s no such thing as a god made with hands. A lot of people are going along with him, not only here is Ephesus but all through Asia province.” Acts 19:23-26 (The Message).

Someone was lying. Paul had both taught and demonstrated, through the power of God, that gods do not exist. Those who were practising witchcraft in the name of Artemis (Diana) were demon-possessed, but subject to God’s power. They were no match for Paul because he evicted them in the name of Jesus. When others tried to do that, they were overpowered by the demons.

Demetrius was not really as concerned about Diana as he was about his pocket. He had his own private god to protect — money — and money talks. It was easy to get his colleagues all stirred up because the revival in Ephesus was costing them as well.

“Not only is our little business in danger of falling apart, but the temple of our famous goddess, Artemis, will certainly end up a pile of rubble as her glorious reputation fades to nothing. And this is no mere local matter — the whole world worships our Artemis.” Acts 19:27 (The Message).

What a magnificent argument! Demetrius had to prop up his greed with an assumed concern for this goddess he was “protecting.” How much power did she really have if she needed a mere mortal to bolster her up against another mere mortal — Paul? Demetrius’ lies were flimsy but his co-workers easily believed him because they were also looking for an excuse to stir up trouble against Paul to protect their own interests.

Money is more powerful than any idol because money represents the spirit of Mammon. There is nothing a person will not do to protect that god if it rules his life. He will sacrifice everything to ensure that his god remains in charge. This powerful demonic stronghold is held in place by a superstructure of lies and lies have no substance. Like everything false, money also fails in the end.

There is only one Master who will never fail, Jesus. He is the truth. Every lie will be exposed and every fool who has believed them will join the liars in their destiny.

To Hell With Your Money

Christian Life, , ,

TO HELL WITH YOUR MONEY!

“Peter said, ‘To hell with your money! And you along with it. Why, that’s unthinkable — trying to buy God’s gift! You’ll never be a part of what God is doing by striking bargains and offering bribes. Change your ways, and now! Ask the Master to forgive you for trying to use God to make money. I can see this is an old habit with you. You reek with money-lust.’

“‘Oh!’ said Simon, ‘Pray for me. Pray to the Master that nothing like that will ever happen to me.'” Acts 8:24 (The Message).

How difficult it was for this man who was so used to letting money talk for him, to change gears. In his world, money opened every door and bought him the power to con more money out of gullible people. They were easy pickings where the realm of the supernatural fascinated them but which they did not understand.

In God’s realm, His provision is freely given because the price was paid by His own Son. He sent His Spirit, not as a power superior to the devil to be used for people’s selfish ends, but as the presence of God Himself with and in His people. Through His people He would put His glory on display by transforming them into the image of His Son and by pouring out His abundant grace through them to meet people’s needs.

Simon failed to understand this new Way. He tried to add the “Jesus” Way to the way he was already following, not knowing that they led in opposite directions. He was on the path of greed and self-indulgence, manipulating people’s gullibility to gain popularity so that he could plunder their pockets.

The way of Jesus is the way of loving self-sacrifice, using money and resources to meet the needs of others in order to make their lives better. This demands a change of heart is so radical that only the Holy Spirit can make it happen. Peter urged Simon to change his mind so that the Holy Spirit could change his heart.

Simon tried to buy this power to use the Holy Spirit for his own ends. Imagine how powerful and wealthy he could become if he want around dispensing the Holy Spirit for a “fee”! That idea came from the pit of hell and Simon woke up from his dream with a jolt when Peter exposed his heart.

It was to Simon’s credit that he acknowledged his error and begged Peter to pray for him. There is no record of Simon after this. Perhaps God’s grace rescued him from a life of self-destruction.

What is the lesson for us in this incident? There is a trend in the church today that is a dangerous deviation from the truth. Greed and self-indulgence are marketed under the guise of the “Prosperity Gospel.” The name-it-and-claim-it movement has been sugar-coated with teachings about faith – believing God “for” whatever our hearts fancy.
This is the very temptation Jesus repudiated. “Use God’s word to get what you want,” said the devil. Satan tried to lure Jesus into manipulating God into doing what He wanted by holding him to His word. “Jump,” said the devil, “God said He’d send His angels to catch you. You’ll impress the people and they will believe you,” he hissed. “No way!” said Jesus. “Daddy didn’t tell me to do that!”

Part of this “con”spiracy is to dangle the carrot in front of the unsuspecting donkey. By “sowing seed” into this ministry, you are guaranteed a “harvest” for yourself. So the ministry grows fat and so do you. If you sow your car, house, jewellery or whatever, God is obliged to give you something better.

Is this really what the Bible teaches?

Not at all. The Bible teaches us that we have an obligation to care for our pastors, our “storehouse” – the local church, our families and the orphan, the widow, the alien and the poor. When we do that, God reciprocates by taking care of our needs. The seed we sow produces a harvest which is both bread for us and seed to sow again. The outcome is that God gets the glory for being who He is, the abundantly generous God who always keeps His promises.

Meeting the needs of others is part of our duty to God. He is not obliged to reward us but He does because He chooses to do so.

Job is another case in point. God had to strip him down to the skin before he finally understood that God owed him nothing. Job was whining about God being unfair because he, Job, had been such a good man. God confronted him in a violent way, not a gentle chat, to show him that, although he thought he knew God, he knew nothing.

God is obliged to no-one. What He does and what He gives is purely because of who He is. His favour and generosity flow out of Himself, not as a reward for who we are or what we deserve.

“It is impossible,” said Jesus, “to serve two masters.” The moment we allow greed to control us, we have changed allegiance and slipped back into the dominion of darkness where we are driven towards self-destruction.

Simon the Sorcerer

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SIMON THE SORCERER

“Previous to Philip’s arrival, a certain Simon had practised magic in the city, posing as a famous man and dazzling all the Samaritans with his wizardry. He had them all, from little children to old men, eating out of his hand. They all thought he had supernatural powers and called him “The Great Wizard.” He had been around a long time and everyone was more or less in awe of him.

“But when Philip came to town announcing the news of God’s kingdom and proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ they forgot Simon and were baptized, becoming believers right and left! Even Simon himself believed and was baptized. From that moment he was like Philip’s shadow, so fascinated with all the God-signs and miracles that he wouldn’t leave Philip’s side.” Acts 8:9-13 (The Message).

What was it about Philip and his message that caught Simon’s attention? He was a con man and was used to getting people’s attention and keeping them mesmerized by his trickery. His ego fed off the power and popularity he enjoyed, knowing full well that he was a fraud but basking in the control and wealth he gained through his lies.

When Philip interrupted his run of success, he probably thought he was just another con man like himself with superior skills that he needed to learn. So, having lost the popularity and interest of the people, he joined the new following in the hopes of learning the secret of Philip’s power. He shadowed Philip to find out how he did it. His real motive for becoming a believer did not surface until Peter and John arrived to find out what was going on.

“When the apostles in Jerusalem received the report that Samaria had accepted God’s message, they sent Peter and John down to pray for them to receive the Holy Spirit. Up to this point they had only been baptized in the name of the Master Jesus; the Holy Spirit hadn’t yet fallen on them. Then the apostles laid their hands on them and they did receive the Holy Spirit.” Acts 8:14-17 (The Message).

The scene was set for Simon to reveal his true colours. He was jubilant. He had seen for himself the secret of the power that Philip had and he had seen how he could be a part of the elite group who could dispense that power to whoever wanted it. This was better than he had ever dreamed possible!

“When Simon saw that the apostles by merely laying on hands, conferred the Spirit, he pulled out his money, excited, and said, ‘Sell me your secret! Show me how you did that! How much do you want? Name your price!'” Acts 8:18-19 (The Message).

Simon’s reaction revealed that his greedy heart had never been changed. He was still being motivated by the lust for power and money. He was willing to use his money for the opportunity to buy more power so that he could earn more money! That’s it! Bottom line!

How often Jesus used people’s attitude to money and possessions as the acid test of their inner life! The rich man who came to Him to find out what he had to do to earn eternal life was disillusioned when he was told that it was his money that stood between him and Jesus, and he walked away. Zaccheus, on the other hand, experienced true salvation which he evidenced by his attitude to his money and possessions. “‘Look Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor…'” Luke 19:8b (NIV).

We either hold and use our money as a servant or we are held and used by it as slaves. Simon’s heart was exposed. His god was Mammon, and not even “belief” and “baptism” had changed him. Who or what reigns in your heart?

As Now So Then

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AS NOW, SO THEN

“Jesus went on to make these comments,
‘If you’re honest in small things, you’ll be honest in big things;
If you’re a crook in small things, you’ll be a crook in big things;
If you’re not honest in small jobs, who will put you in charge of the store?
No worker can serve two bosses.
He’ll either hate the first and love the second,
or adore the first and despise the second.
You can’t serve God and the Bank.'” Luke 16:10-12 (The Message)

Women love to pride themselves on being able to multi-task! A fallacy except in the area of hands and mouth! However, Jesus insisted that there is no such thing as multi-tasking when it comes to loyalties. It’s either or, not both and…

Although His comments were aimed primarily at the hypocritical religious leaders who prided themselves on their loyalty to the law, but in fact were hiding their greedy hearts behind their play-acting masks, Jesus was stating a universal and unchangeable principle. ‘You can’t fool God,’ He said, ‘because, if your loyalty is to your bank account, it automatically excludes God.’

That may be absolutely true on the surface but it actually hides a far deeper and more sobering truth than just applying to this life. Our attitude to our money and possessions in this life is the preparation for our level of responsibility in the God’s eternal kingdom. The measure of our faithfulness now is the measure of what we will be entrusted with in the life to come. The NIV translation makes it even clearer, “‘So, if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches. And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?‘” Luke 16:11,12.

The implication of Jesus’ statement is that what we have now is a trust from God, on loan as a test of our stewardship. The many parables He told about money and possessions all point to this same truth. In this life God entrusts us with His property in order to train us to use it wisely and to prepare us for our role in His eternal kingdom.

Why does God use something as ‘worldly’ as money to test the level of our spirituality? Why not love, or any of the other fruits of the Spirit? Why not the number people we have won to Jesus, the number of people we have discipled or even the spiritual gifts we have used faithfully and increased?

God is smart! He knows that our attitude to our money and possessions is the most accurate test of our love for Him. Nothing ensnares our hearts as much as the love of money. Where our treasure is, there our hearts will be. In this life only, we have opportunity to safeguard our treasure by investing it in the kingdom of God. Once we leave here, our apprenticeship is over.

Take Abraham, for example. God gave him a son after twenty five years of waiting – probably even longer – and how he must have treasured that boy! And then, of all things, God said, ‘Kill him!’ Abraham could have refused. ‘God, are you crazy? Why give me a son and then demand him back in such a cruel way?’ But Abraham never flinched, never questioned, never hesitated; He did what he was told. What was his core attitude? Trust!

Isn’t that also the heart of our attitude to our money? After all, money represents our security. When we have money, we feel safe in spite of all the evidence to the contrary. When we let go of our trust in our bank account and place it in the security of God’s faithfulness, we are set free to use our money instead of our money using us. It is a good servant but a bad master.

We cannot change the truth. As now, so then. If we want to enjoy the place in God’s kingdom reserved for us, we must decide now who we will serve and who will master us. Beyond the grave is too late.

Rich Toward God – The Outcome

Christian Life, , ,

RICH TOWARD GOD – THE OUTCOME

“In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of life that is truly life.” 1 Timothy 6:19 (NIV).

It is quite shocking to realise that God has chosen the way we use our money, of all things, to be the measure of our spirituality in this life, and the level of our function in the life to come. What do I mean by that?

Jesus told many stories about men and money. In fact He seems to have a fixation about money. One of His stories illustrates this principle. In Luke 16:1-8, a shrewd manager was about to be fired for mismanaging his master’s property. He cut deals with the master’s debtors to ensure that he would have friends to take care of him when he was out of work. The master commended him for his foresight,

Jesus was not suggesting that dishonesty is the way to go. As He often did, He used contrast to teach the principles of the kingdom. This man used dishonesty to his advantage. In God’s kingdom we are to use generosity to determine our place in God’s eternal scheme of things. That might sound mercenary, but, once again we learn that God always confirms the choices we make.

This how Jesus concluded His story: “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will be dishonest with much.

” So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?” Luke 16:10-12 (NIV).

Jesus also had issues with the religious leaders because they used their religious piety as a cover for greed. He constantly warned His disciples that their focus was not to be on money and possessions. Their heavenly Father has pledged to take responsibility for those things if they took care of the affairs of God’s kingdom. They were not to be like the pagans whose whole purpose in life is to pursue ‘things’.

He taught them that their hearts would always follow their treasure. Generosity towards people in need is the way to put our treasure in the safest place where it can neither be stolen nor corrupted. Treasure in heaven, deposited by generosity and good works, guarantees that there will be a credit balance for us in our time of need.

He also warned that it is impossible to serve two masters. Serving one cancels out serving the other. God and Mammon, the powerful attitude of greed that characterises the dominion of darkness, are irreconcilable enemies because they represent the dispositions of two opposing kingdoms.

Riches are to be the servant, not the master. When we are rich toward God, we understand the responsibility God places on us to steward our resources to make the lives of others better where we have the power to do so. God has given us a way to do it which takes care of those who are our responsibility and frees us to use the rest to take care of our own needs without guilt. Because He teaches us to work in percentages, whether we have little or much, we will always have enough. When we are faithful with the ‘little’ God gives us now, He will be free to trust us with the ‘much’ in the life to come.