Are you content

Are you content?

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  
I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”
                                                                             Philippians 4:12,13.
Are you content with what you have?
There is what I and many Christians consider a dangerous teaching circulating in evangelical Christian circles. That of “name it, claim it.” it sometimes goes by “seed faith.”
Simply put the teachers of this as my pastor puts it, “blab it grab it” doctrine, teach that if you give to God’s ministry (quite often a code for their particular ministry) God will give you back ten, a hundred, or even a thousand fold over what you gave.
They treat God like a sugar daddy or super banker giving unbelievable interest on what you give.
Many espousing this doctrine go further saying if you don’t receive the increase your faith is weak. If that’s the case then there are many Christians including pastors who’s faith is weak. Because by far the majority of Christians are not wealthy and when they give to God they don’t get the ten, hundred, or thousand fold increase.
The apostle Paul wrote,
“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” 
                                                                                                                     Philippians 4:19.
Notice Paul states “And my God will meed all your needs”
The people he was talking to had helped him out and he was giving them a blessing stating God will give them their needs. Not necessarily make them rich.
Now there is nothing wrong with being rich. There are many wealthy Christians that help with the spread of the gospel. However Paul writing to Timothy warned,
“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.” 
                                                                                             1 Timothy 6:10.
It is precisely the love of money that have caused people to wander from the faith.
The writer of Hebrews states,
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”  
                                                                                   Hebrews 13:5.
Our faith must be in God not in money. Wealth comes with its own set of problems and as the apostle Paul said,
“Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
As Christians we need to be always striving to do better even in the area of wealth but the acquiring of wealth should not be the primary thing in our life. It should not pull us away from God.
I have known a lot of people over the years that have worked long hours to try and get the nice house and all the toys that go with it.
When it’s come to a choice to get more overtime to earn more money they have chosen it over going to Church and serving God.
Many Christians today are like non-Christians, they are heavily in debt and striving to make ends meet.
We as Christians need to heed the words of the writer of the book of Hebrews who said,
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”  
                                                                               Hebrews 13:5.
Think about it.

Two Masters

You can’t serve God and man

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.  
But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money”
                                                                                                    Matthew 6:19-24.
Let me make it clear from the outset being wealthy is not a sin. Having a lot of money earned honestly is not a sin. The Apostle Paul makes it clear
“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.” 
                                                                       1 Timothy 6:10
Here in the above scriptures Matthew 6:19-24,  Jesus is talking about greed. Like is said, money and riches in themselves are not bad. The church needs wealthy people to help in the spread of the gospel.
It’s what you do with your money. Don’t hoard it for the sake of hoarding it.
There’s a very famous story of a miserly woman in the late eighteen hundreds. She had substantial wealth enough to pay doctors to help her sick son. Yet the son died because she didn’t want to pay out the money and was looking for a charity hospital to help him and save her money.
While this is an extreme case it is what Jesus is talking about.
Some people put their trust entirely in money. Proud they are self sufficient. Thus quite often they miss the blessings of God.
You can always tell where a persons heart is.
Over the years that I’ve been in church work I’ve met people that are earning an excellent base wage but work long hours of overtime to get the extra they want to buy a new toy, be it a $500 dollar cell phone, half million dollar house or a fancy car.
They work so much they can’t enjoy their toys.
While they claim to love God they are so absorbed in making money that they don’t have time to serve Him.
The Apostle Paul noted in his letter to Timothy,
“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.” 
                                                                                           1 Timothy 6:10
 Jesus made it clear “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money”
We all need money but my cousin use to say “you can’t go anywhere without it. But you can’t take it when you go.”
We all as Christians need to take a long hard look at were our treasure is. Is it hear on earth or is it in heaven?
Do we really need all the toys of this world?
Or could our time be better spent serving God even if it’s only in a small way.
Please think about it?