Luke 12:1-34 Discipleship: God and Your Money.

Luke 12:1-34   Discipleship: God and Your Money.

People do all kinds of foolish things to become rich. They will rob, kill, kidnap, sacrifice their integrity, and prostitute themselves for money. Many destroy their families and ruin their health in pursuit of "just a little more." All this—despite the fact that wealth can't guarantee lasting happiness, health, or security. On the other hand, money is an essential part of our lives. Those who have little or none of it will face many hardships.

God is the source and owner of all wealth. "The earth is the Lord's, and all it contains" and "He owns the cattle on a thousand hills" (Ps. 24:1; 50:10)

Money is a major subject in Scripture. There are more verses about wealth than there are about heaven, hell, or prayer. More than 2,000 scriptures mention money, and over half the parables have to do with monetary principles. Why did the Lord give us so much instruction about finances? Because it plays an important role in our lives. Understanding God's viewpoint on our possessions can prevent us from making costly mistakes.

The Word of God encourages us about financial provision. Money is not evil in itself; it is the love of money that is the problem.   God desires for us to have the money we need (Luke 6:38). We won't necessarily be rich by the world's standards. But as we are generous, the Lord provides for us. He gives us money for food, clothing, and other basic needs. Best of all, God enables us to enjoy His blessings (Eccl. 5:19-20).

The Bible warns us about the misuse of finances. Proverbs warns us not to wear ourselves out to become rich because wealth is often fleeting (23:4-5). 1Timothy 6:10  "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."

The Lord is reminding us of a very important principle. Whatever we worry about most is really our god.       In a tough situation, your first emotional response is to take control. We all want control. We want to live with the assurance that everything will be okay and that the things that aren't right can be fixed with concentrated effort. Secretly, we often think, "If I plan carefully and work hard enough, I can win." When you face circumstances that rapidly deplete your spiritual, emotional, and physical reserves, fear may make you want to cling to something strong. The question you must consider is whether your worries drive you to the arms of God or to your own resources.

The Lord warns us against Anxieties  Are you hanging on to something other than the Lord? Are you gripping some form of earthly security instead of trusting Him to help you? Remember, whatever you hold too tightly, you will lose.  4-7

The bottom line: The Lord wants you to cling to Him.  Fear Him!  Trust Him!

Whatever you are clutching for safety other than Him has become an idol to you, whether it is wealth, your giftedness, relationships, religious rituals, or your personal charm. God is not going to allow you to keep it as your source of confidence because that is a role that rightly belongs to Him. He will let you fail by trusting something else so you can see that He only is your sovereign and unfailing Lord.  He will not allow you any notions of self-sufficiency.

Whatever we hold onto too tightly we lose.  And this is a principle for your growth as a disciple of the Lord Jesus.  Luke 12:1-3 Deals with this important aspect of the Journey of discipleship.  The Lord doesn't want us to be hypocrites, and there are things that we hold dear that can turn us into hypocrites.  A hypocrite brags of his rightness with God, but God sends along things that will expose the hypocrite for what he is.  Luke 12:1-3

Then there is a challenge to own Christ above all.   8-12

And then there is the famous parable the Lord tells, that reminds us of how easily we can grasp after money and wealth. 13 -21

How many times does this guy say in these three verses "I" and "my"?, 17-19.
He is called a fool.  His brain was not working. He mistook His body for his soul. Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.

It is his soul that must live on, not his body.  He was all prepared to treat his body well, but he forgot about his soul. He hadn't prepared at all for eternity. He mistook what was important: now or eternity.

He mistook himself for God.     He never saw anybody beyond himself. It was all about what I have and me and what I'm going to do with what I have. First mistake, he never looked beyond himself. And secondly, and big mistake, he never looked beyond this life to the life to come. When a person lives that kind of life the Bible says they're a fool.

He made a decision but he made the wrong decision. And the wrong decision was this, he made a decision to keep it all for himself. He could have made the decision, my barns are full and they're running over. It's time for me to share with other people and begin to be a giver of the blessings of God. But he was centred on himself. It was all about him and not anything about God.
Is there anything in your life that you have a grip on? Is there something that you absolutely are not going to let go? Something that you know you've worked hard for it, you've got it, it's yours? Do oyu have it, or does it have you?  You may not have barns and wealth, but it has you in its grip.

Perhaps it is something other than money that has its grip on you.

Relationships.  A definite way to destroy a relationship is to tighten your hold on that person, on their emotions, on what they do, how they do it, how they look, how they dress, what they do, what they would not do, and where they go or would not go. Because you see, if you begin to smother somebody in a relationship very soon they're going to begin to pull away. No one likes to be controlled.   

Sometimes a person will hold onto goals and dreams that they have. Instead of asking God, what do You have for my life? Here's what I want to do, here's how I'm going to do it. This is my dream. Sometimes a person can hold onto their past. One of the most destructive things you can do is to grip a past, especially if in that past there is unforgiveness, bitterness and resentment. You still hold on and you just can't let it go.

And then sometimes, it's wrong ideas;  Wrong theological beliefs. This is what my father believed, this is what my mother believed, this is what I'm going to believe. I don't care what you say. This is it.
Instead of consulting with God, trusting God, he began to reason with himself, he is talking about what he is going to do. What we should always be asking is, what does the Word of God say?  Whenever you leave God out and you begin to reason only with yourself about any issue in your life, you are leaving Him out.

Why Do People Hold things too tightly?

PERHAPS THEY FEAR LOSS.
PERHAPS IT IS REALLY A FAILURE TO TRUST GOD.
Several years ago, construction workers were laying a foundation for a building outside the ancient city of Pompeii. In their digging they found the corpse of a woman who must have been fleeing from the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius but was caught in the rain of hot ashes, and killed. The woman's hands clutched jewels, which were preserved in the most excellent condition. The sad thing was she may have had the jewels, but death had her. That's the bottom line of life. Worldly treasure is not a wise investment because you can't take it with you. And that's why God won't tolerate greed from His followers. Because in the light of reality and eternity, it just doesn't make sense!

Now, you may not lose exactly what you spent your life accumulating or you may. But you will lose your joy, your peace, your contentment, your happiness. And you may lose the very things that you treasure the most in life or you thought you did. Fear of failure, fear of loss, of failing to trust God. AND SOMETIMES WE'RE MOTIVATED BY PRIDE. Some want to get rich because they just want to be known as a wealthy person. Or they want control because they want to be known as the one who did this or that. Sometimes the church itself can be the idol.  I want to be the one who made a church great!
How do I deal with it? How do you release your grip?

Recognize that something other than God is first in our life.

"Lord that thing's like an idol in my life. God, I think more about that than I do the Lord.  Jesus first above everything else.
How much time do you spend thinking about the Lord? How much time in prayer? How much time do you give reading the Word of God? How much time do you give in thinking about Him? That was the farmers problem, he didn't think about God at all! His testimony was all about himself, how great he was! There was no testimony to how great the Lord is.  I have heard a few testimonies where the person was telling me why folks should be Christians. They told me a lot about themselves but nothing about Jesus!

²¹ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."

When you are making decisions, are you asking "Lord what would You have me to do? What would You have me to say at this point?"  If you leave God out of your life and He's not number one and other things crowd into your life and they become the thing that you think about the most, worry about the most, and you are most anxious about.. hey did you notice this?

22-31

WORRY IS HARMFUL! WORRY IS USELESS! WORRY IS SINFUL! Because just like the farmer, it leaves God out and puts himself in!

1. Recognize that God cares for birds, flowers, and you!

2. Receive today as a gift—forget tomorrow's worries

3. Reduce anxiety by simplifying your life.  You only serve One person. Seek first His glory and kingdom.

"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." I Peter 5:7

Realize that pleasing God is all that really matters

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the PEACE OF GOD THAT TRANSCENDS ALL UNDERSTANDING, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

George Washington Truett was the pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas for 47 years (1897-1944). He once visited a wealthy West Texas rancher and had dinner in his palatial ranch home. After dinner, the rancher took Dr. Truett up to a veranda on top of his house, and lit up a big cigar. The sun was setting, and if you've been to West Texas, you know you can see a long way out there. The man pointed to the South toward some oil rigs and said, "I own everything in that direction as far as you can see." He pointed east toward some cotton fields and said, "And I own everything in that direction, too." He pointed North toward a huge herd of cattle and bragged, "And, preacher, I own everything as far as you can see in that direction." He turned to the West, and said, "And I own everything you can see in that direction, except the sun, of course." Dr. Truett, turned to the man and pointed straight up the sky and said, "And how much do you own in that direction, my friend?"

 

William Borden was the heir to the huge Borden Diary Products Company. His father was a millionaire when few reached that level, and there were no billionaires. Borden's mother became a Christian when attending Moody Church in Chicago, and she took her son William who was saved under the preaching of R. A. Torrey. William attended Yale University and graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary. He rejected the promised wealth of his father's company and instead chose to be a missionary. He ultimately wanted to go to the Muslims in China, but went first to Egypt to learn Arabic. He soon was sharing his faith with many Egyptians. After only three months there, the 26-year-old Borden contracted spinal meningitis and died. He was buried in Cairo. His death made international headlines. When his mother later examined his Bible she found three phrases he had written. When he first felt called to missions he wrote: "No Reserves." When his father told him he would be cut off from the family fortune if he became a missionary he wrote, "No retreats." Just weeks before he died in Egypt he wrote, "No regrets."