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18th October 2024
FridayReflection
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'Knowing-Jesus.com'
'Scripture is given by inspiration of God'
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"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other You cannot serve God and wealth."
..... Matthew 6:24 NASB
Too often, a demarcation line is laid between the material things in life and the spiritual things of God; between what we say and do in our Christian life, and what takes place during the rest of the time.
This is often reflected in our attitude towards our material possessions.
Ones attitude towards wealth is a good indicator of ones virtue, and ones perspective on the material is a legitimate barometer of a man's spirituality.
The outward righteousness of the Pharisees, in the time of Jesus, hid a covetous and greedy disposition, and Jesus exposed this materialistic persuasion as hypocrisy, a lack of faith, a division of loyalty and disobedience towards God.
Money can certainly be put to many good uses when used in a righteous, God-ordained manner, but the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil which can cause some believers to wander away from the faith, resulting in much sadness and sorrow.
When materialism and a love of money takes hold of a life, that person's desire for money will eventually take precedence over their love for God.
When a believer's wealth starts to become a fixation in his life, he will become increasingly devoted to it, which leads to an increasing contempt for God.
When the heart of a man is set on money, the accumulation of worldly wealth, and an obsession with temporal things, then God is excluded from that life.
No one can be slave to two masters; one of the two will eventually become the dominate desire, while the other will lose its attraction and be treated with disdain.
As believers we have to make a choice: either we allow ourselves to be enslaved by greed and shackled to a materialistic mind-set, or we choose to be set free to the spirit of God in Christ Jesus.
We either remain in bondage to earthly corruption by looking to money as our source and supply, or we are set free into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
When we choose God over mammon we die to self and our selfish desires so that the Spirit of Christ may dwell in us richly and lead and guide us into all truth.
Wealth can be used for good when God is placed in His rightful position, but we need to always be on the alert lest the love of money starts to affect our thinking and infect our heart, for the love of money will eventually become our master and devastate our Christian walk.
My Prayer
Heavenly Father,
there is such a strong urge in my life to accumulate things,
to the detriment of my fellowship with You.
Keep me, I pray, from using money as my source and supply.
May I choose to trust You in every eventuality of life and seek You first in all things,
to Your praise and glory.
This I ask in Jesus' name,
AMEN.
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This is an edited version.
The full article and Bible references are avaiable on request
'Knowing-Jesus.com'
We believe that all "Scripture is given by inspiration of God,"
by which we understand the whole Bible is inspired in the sense that holy men of God
"were moved by the Holy Spirit" to write the very words of Scripture.
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