God’s promise for Week 4:
“My God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Phil 4:19
Last week we looked at pride as a barrier to faith. This week we will let God examine our hearts in the area of generosity. Like in every other area of our lives, God looks through the outward acts, right to our hearts. I don’t think there are many lures greater in our lives than the lure of the love of money, and I don’t think there is any proof of faith greater than reckless generosity. I pray that this week we will let God’s still small voice be heard in this area of our lives, and when we hear it, we will trust it and obey it.
For those who want further Scripture reading each day here are a couple of suggestions:
-Read one Psalm a day and meditate on it.
-Read a chapter or part of a chapter out of Acts or Matthew or Hebrews each day, focusing on the idea of faith.
Day 22
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear…for your heavenly Father knows that you need them" (Matt 6:25)
Okay, it’s time to put our faith where our money is. Why do we find it so difficult to trust God to meet our material needs? We tend to put more faith in money’s ability to look after us than in God’s ability to do so. Some years ago, a survey was conducted to determine the most popular Bible verse of all time. The winning verse was “God helps those who help themselves�?. These words are to be found in the gospel of Benjamin—Franklin, that is. Of course, these words are not even in the Bible. The fact that these words were chosen as the favorite “Bible verse" tells us more than the fact that we need to spend more time reading the Bible! It tells of a pervading belief that it is through our own efforts, not through God’s power, that we are kept from poverty, hunger, and homelessness. Lack of faith in God’s ability to provide our material needs infects our lives, sabotages our faith, and hinders us from giving as God wants us to give: “It is a proof of your faith! People will praise God because you obey the gospel you say you believe and because you freely share with them and others" (2Cor 9:13)
As much as we hope to avoid it, God is asking us to open our pocketbooks. Not because He needs our money, but because He wants us to trust Him, and it is tangible evidence to the world around us that we believe what we say we believe when we freely share what we have. I am so challenged in this area of my life. Though I like to think that I trust God completely, often my worries and my thought patterns are centered on money: "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" (Matt 6:24). What does it mean to “serve money�" I think that serving money means more than just devoting our lives to the accumulation of it. I think it means that we put our trust in it to save us rather than in God’s power and love for us. How much time do I spend thinking about money, worrying about not having enough to make ends meet, or figuring out ways to get more? The answer to this question tells me that many times I choose to serve money rather than God. Our promise for the week does not say “my God will meet all your needs if ……" The promise is that He will meet all our needs according to His riches in glory. If ‘His riches’ include everything that is in heaven and earth, and we trust that His word is true, why are we so worried?
Prayer:
God, help me to open my pocketbook so that people around me will see that I believe what I say I believe. Amen.
In Faith:
Remember to keep praying for your “hopeless cases" (I feel guilty every time I call them that!!) and ask God to tell you if He wants you to do something this week in connection with them (like make a phone call, send a note, etc)
