At this very moment, hundreds of millions of people are figuring out ways to get a little more money. If you could tap into their brains you might hear them thinking, "If only I had a million dollars, all my troubles would be over.
Countries go to war over money. Unions and managers fight over the control of money. Marriages are blown apart because of money. People commit suicide over money. Money plays an important role in our daily lives. We dream about it at night and fuss over it during the day.
Sonia and I gave our seven year old grandson an envelope containing fifteen loonies for his birthday. He poured them from the envelope into his hand and spontaneously shouted to his father, "Daddy, I'm rich, I'm rich, I'm rich." Early in life young children discover the power of money.
Many of you remember the first time you went on a solo shopping trip with money in your purse to purchase a gift for your parents or an item clothing. Having sufficient money to buy what you needed felt wonderful. I'm giving this series of three or four messages for the following reasons.
1. God does not want His people living under the curse of poverty. The wise man talks of the two fold danger associated with money. He prayed, "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 dishonour the name of my God." (Proverbs 30:8-9 NIV)
2. I want you to understand God's purposes for money so that His power and glory can be shown to the people of the North Shore.
3. I don't want to see any of you arrive at your 60th birthday without two nickels to rub together. I don't want to see you go through life not knowing where your next rent cheque will come from. In the past two weeks I've had calls from strangers wanting our church to pay their rent. One person's rent was $900.00 a month and their income only $1,050.00.
4. I want to impart a vision of an inheritance that is given to your grandchildren so that they can be free from the curse of debt.
5. This message is for those who want to live to please God and bring honour to His name. This message is for those who know and believe that life is more than toys and trinkets, more than fun and fantasy.
This series is not about how you can be filthy rich and drive a Fararri, own a Lear Jet and a luxury yacht. It's not about buying expensive clothes, jewels and doing the cocktail circuit every night. I am not passing judgment on the ownership of the above things.
6. These messages are for those who say, "I want my life to make a positive impact on this world because I have a sense of mission in my life. I can identify with the last moments of Jesus life. The Bible says, "Knowing that all was now completed . . .Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." (John 19:28-30 NIV)
Those are penetrating words, "Knowing that all was completed." Everything the Father sent Jesus to do was completed? If we fail to understand God's purposes for money we may not be able to say on our death bed, "Father, the work you sent me to do is finished."
Financial Freedom is a commitment to God's purposes for money. Financial bondage is an immediate consequence of misunderstanding God's purposes for money. God's purposes for money are not to provide security, establish independence, or create power and influence.
NOTE: The following information is adapted from The Men's Manuel Vol II, published by the Institute of Basic Life Principles.
I. God Gives Money To Provide Our Basic Needs Food, clothing and shelter, are necessary to maintain life.
If you spend your money on designer labels and Starbucks cappuccinos, don't come crying to God if there isn't sufficient rent money.
God demonstrates His loving care by providing the resources for our basic needs. (Matthew 6:26, 28-30 NIV) ". . . Having food and raiment let us be therewith content." I Timothy 6:8 There are five reasons why God commits to meeting our basic needs.
1. God Supplies Our Basic Needs To establish daily dependence on Him Since the beginning of time, mankind has attempted to become independent of God. There is within each one of us a desire to be self-sufficient so that we can be our own boss. We tend to pray: "Give us riches for our future needs," or "Give us this month our monthly paycheck." God taught us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6: 11).
2. God Supplies Our Basic Needs To deepen our love for the Lord When we fail to recognize our need for a person, we tend to lose our love for them. Jesus said, "Without me ye can do nothing." (John 15:5 KJV)
When the Israelites were in the wilderness, God taught them to look to Him for daily food. The manna came at the same time every day and they only gathered what they needed for that day. All of us, rich or poor, must recognize our daily dependence upon God.
3. God Supplies Our Basic Needs To develop a spirit of gratefulness Gratefulness is a delightful by-product of contentment with our basics. We begin to lose our contentment when we compare what we have with what others have. Expectations then dominate our focus. To the degree that our expectations increase, our gratefulness decreases.
4. God Supplies Our Basic Needs To teach us to live within our means Contentment with basics equips us to resist the continuous barrage of advertising telling us that can't enjoy life without the newest gadget. A contented people feel wealthy because they know that they already possesses more than they need for daily living. ". . . Godliness with contentment is great gain" (I Timothy 6:6).
5. God Supplies Our Basic Needs To help us enjoy our possessions Have you learned to enjoy the things that God has given to you. Thank God for the car you will ride home in. Thank Him for the frig that keeps your food fresh, the stove that cooks it, the simple plate that its served on and the rust free fork you eat with.
Let's focus on what God has given us and not on what we do not have. God warns us not to be covetous but to ". . . be content with such things as ye have. . ." (Hebrews 13:5) True financial freedom comes to those who know that God meets our basic needs.
II. God Uses Money To Confirm Direction In Our Lives.
If we think that we should buy a car but do not have the money for it, we can safely assume that until God does provide the funds it is not likely His will for us to buy a new car. If we have half of the funds needed for a new car, and a car is urgently needed, we can assume that God wants us to buy a lower priced car.
To get a driver's license, we must learn to recognize all of the road signs. To be in a leadership position, we must learn to recognize God's signals through the provision or lack of finances. There are four reasons why God uses money to confirm direction.
1. God uses money to confirm direction to build our faith and vision. Faith is discerning what God wants to accomplish in and through our lives. "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark . . ." (Hebrews 1 1:7).
We can be certain that if God gives us clear direction that is confirmed by Scripture, He will provide the necessary money to carry out that direction. In contrast to faith, presumption is deciding what we want to accomplish and trying to get God to give us the money to do it.
2. God wants to confirm direction to show us who is the lord of our life. It is easy to claim that Jesus Christ is the Lord of our life. However, His Lordship is only confirmed when we are obedient to the prompting and limitations which He places on our daily decisions. A person who has unlimited funds will find it more difficult to detect God's leading through finances.
That is why God gives special warnings to the rich. "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God. . . " (I Timothy 6:17).
3. God wants to confirm direction to teach us patience Patience is an essential quality for maturity in life. It is so important that God assures us that it is worth going through deep trials in order to obtain it. (See Romans 5:3.) Waiting for God to provide funds is a sure fire way to perfect patience. "Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing" (James 1:3,4).
4. God wants to confirm direction so we can concentrate on true riches. Paul discovered that things compete with eternal riches. Things can obscure the priceless knowledge of our inheritance in Christ.
Paul's testimony was: "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ" (Philippians 3:7-8). If you want the blessing of financial freedom, expect God to confirm direction by the granting or withholding of money.
III. God Gives us Money to Give to Christians.
Christians are to be, "Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality." (Romans 12:13) A greedy eye indicates that we are filled with spiritual darkness. (See Proverbs 28:22; Matthew 6:23) A generous eye, indicates that we are filled with spiritual light. (See Matthew 6:22; Proverbs 22:9) God has four purposes in Christian generosity.
1. God's purpose in Christian generosity is to unite Christians In the early Church, the Jews had no social dealings with the Gentiles. When a severe famine caused Jewish Christians to suffer, the Apostle Paul urged the Gentile churches to collect an offering for these Jewish Christians. That offering was an important means of tearing down barriers between Christians and building bonds of genuine Christian love. "At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need." (2 Corinthians 8:14 NIV)
2. God's purpose in Christian generosity is to show the mark of a Christian The mark of a true Christian is a zealousness for good works. This is one of the purposes for which Christ redeemed us, "Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Titus 2: 14) .
God gives special desire and power to generous Christians so that they are able to multiply their good works. "God is able to make it up to you by giving you everything you need and more so that there will not only be enough for your own needs but plenty left over to give joyfully to others." (2 Corinthians 9:8 TLB)
3. God's purpose in Christian generosity is to initiate spontaneous thanksgiving. Giving to the needs of fellow Christians means that many will thank God. Spirit-directed gifts not only meet practical needs, but result in an overflowing tide of thanksgiving to God and to the giver.
"Yes, God will give you much so that you can give away much, and when we take your gifts to those who need them they will break out into thanksgiving and praise to God for your help." (2 Corinthians 9:11 TLB) Praise and thanksgiving are the bases of dynamic, growing Christians and churches.
4. God's purpose in Christian generosity is to multiply the potential for giving God likens giving to planting a harvest. "But remember this-- if you give little, you will get little. A farmer who plants just a few seeds will get only a small crop, but if he plants much, he will reap much." (2 Corinthians 9:11 TLB) The potential multiplication of planting and harvesting is seen in this diagram.
IV. God Gives us Money to Illustrate His Power.
God wants to demonstrate His reality and supernatural power to the world. He often does this through the miraculous provision of money. When a Christian prays about a special financial need, and an unexpected and unsolicited gift is handed to him by one who did not know about the need, the supernatural power God is demonstrated.
"Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." (Malachi 3:10 NIV) There are five reasons why God likes to show His power with money.
- God shows His power with money to cause Christians to trust Him Read the biography of George Muller, the stories of how God supplied ships for Youth with a Mission. Listen to Bill Gothard tell how God supplied hotels, land and buildings in answer to prayer. They never borrow a nickel. They say, "God send the money if you want us to look after this asset for you."
- God shows His power with money to mock the false gods of our age. One of the false gods of our day is money. It has become an idol because people expect from it what only God can give. As the world seeks after money, God wants to prove that those who seek after Him will not lack any good thing. Seeking after God involves building our lives, motives, affections, and activities around Him and His will for us.
- God shows His power with money to purify our lives and motives A prerequisite in experiencing God's supernatural power is actively seeking Him with a pure heart and unselfish motives. God has warned us that if we regard iniquity in our heart, He will not hear us. (See Psalm 66:18.) The need for God's miraculous intervention in our financial affairs is a powerful motivation for us to examine our own lives.
- God shows His power with money to bring non-Christians to salvation. When Christians are in right relationship with the Lord and each other, and are experiencing God's miraculous provision in their lives, non-Christians are drawn to Christ and to the local church. This cause-and-effect sequence is well documented in the early Church. The greatest explosion of church growth occurred when the believers demonstrated God's supernatural power. (See Acts 5:12-14.)
- God shows His power with money to glorify God God is glorified when His people praise Him for His mighty acts. He does great things for us so that we can report them to each other and to our children and our grandchildren. "And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me" (Psalm 50:15).
