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by
Randy Alcorn
Read between
November 25 - December 1, 2020
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. JIM ELLIOT
there’s a fundamental connection between our spiritual lives and how we think about and handle money.
Our approach to money and possessions is central to our spiritual lives.
When Jesus warns us not to store up treasures on Earth, it’s not because wealth might be lost; it’s because wealth will always be lost. Either it leaves us while we live, or we leave it when we die. No exceptions.
Storing up earthly treasures isn’t simply wrong. It’s just plain stupid.
As John Piper put it, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”
Selfish people pursue gain at others’ expense. But God’s riches are infinite. When you serve Him and others, you store up treasures in Heaven. This doesn’t reduce the treasures available to others. Everyone gains; no one loses.
You can’t take it with you— but you can send it on ahead.
Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. MATTHEW 6:20
Storing up treasures for yourself on Earth means hanging on to money and possessions rather than generously sharing them.
The less I spent on myself and the more I gave away, the fuller of happiness and blessing did my soul become. HUDSON TAYLOR
The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him. (Psalm 24:1, NLT)
“The silver is mine and the gold is mine,” declares the LORD Almighty. (Haggai 2:8)
Remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce we...
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You are not your own; you were bought at a price. (1 Co...
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God is the owner of everything,
TREASURE PRINCIPLE KEY #1 God owns everything. I’m His money manager.
A steward manages assets for the owner’s benefit. He carries no sense of entitlement to the assets he manages. It’s his job to find out what the owner wants done with his assets, then to carry out his will.
“It was realizing God’s ownership,” Jerry explains. “Once we understood that we were giving away God’s money to do God’s work, we discovered a peace and joy we never had back when we thought it was our money!”
Whenever we think like owners, it’s a red flag. We should be thinking like stewards, investment managers, always looking for the best place to invest the Owner’s money.
The more we give, the more we delight in our giving. It pleases us. But more important, it pleases God.
“God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). However, the cheerfulness often comes during and after the act of obedience, not before it. So don’t wait until you feel like giving! Just give and watch the joy follow.
God wants us to f...
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if we don’t give, we’re robbed of an important source of the joy God ...
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If you ever feel inclined to talk a young believer (including your child) out of giving, please restrain yourself.
Giving isn’t a luxury of the rich. It’s a joyous privilege of the poor.
These early Christians were dirt-poor but came up with every reason they could to give.
God uses giving to conform us to His image.
Gaze upon Christ long enough and you’ll become more of a giver. Give long enough and you’ll become more like Christ.
Giving brings freedom.
Giving breaks us out of the orbit around our possessions.
“I want you to consider making your lives one long gift to others, and why not? All you have is on loan, anyway….All that lasts is what you pass on.”
You could never pay givers enough to convince them not to give.
Giving brings us far more than it takes.
“Apart from faith in Christ, there is no explanation for such a life.”
“A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name” (Malachi 3:16).
Nevertheless, many Christians dread the thought of leaving this world. Why? Because so many have stored up their treasures on Earth, not in Heaven.
TREASURE PRINCIPLE KEY #2 My heart always goes where I put God’s money.
As surely as the compass needle follows north, your heart will follow your treasure.
God wants your heart.
He who lays up treasures on Earth spends his life backing away from his treasures. To him, death is loss. He who lays up treasures in Heaven looks forward to eternity; he’s moving daily toward his treasures. To him, death is gain.
TREASURE PRINCIPLE KEY #3 Heaven and the future New Earth, not this fallen Earth, is my home.
Where we choose to store our treasures depends largely on where we think our home is.
We move into eternity, but our stuff stays behind.
TREASURE PRINCIPLE KEY #4 I should live not for the dot but for the line.
Material wealth doesn’t make us happy.
“Millionaires seldom smile.” —ANDREW CARNEGIE
We think we own our possessions, but too often they own us.
Nothing makes a journey more difficult than a heavy backpack filled with nice but unnecessary things. Pilgrims travel light.
A. W. Tozer wrote: As base a thing as money often is, it yet can be transmuted into everlasting treasure. It can be converted into food for the hungry and clothing for the poor; it can keep a missionary actively winning lost men to the light of the gospel and thus transmute itself into heavenly values. Any temporal possession can be turned into everlasting wealth. Whatever is given to Christ is immediately touched with immortality.
