Untitled Page

INTRODUCTION:

Once upon a time on a moonless night I was winding around on a country road surrounded by ceders and suddenly a impatient deer who could not wait the the 2.1 seconds for me to pass, jumped out in front of my car. At the moment my headlights met leaping deer; my heart hit its head on my rib cage, my eye lids spread out as if I can see things better when the yoke is exposed, and something in me spilled about a gallon of adrenaline, leaving me feeling like I do after my tenth shot of espresso.
After this experience I thought about how God designed our bodies. I did not have to tell me my heart to leap, my eyes to grow wide and the adrenaline gland to kick into high gear, somehow all this happened in a millisecond. It is interesting how certain things can cause certain emotions, feelings and desires, without our permission

THE DECIETFULLNESS OF RICHES

“Other people are like seeds planted among thorns and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust about other things entering in, choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful." Mar 4:18-19

I believe that money and the stuff and woman it buys, can also be a cause that creates a effect without our choosing. Money has a way of creating feelings, desires and thought process and placing them into the depth of our soul, if we do not recognize the changes, the new found covetousness and love for vanity will easily mislead us and beguile us into trusting mere 'notes of reserve' that have no value in gold, and we'll began to feel secure when the bank is full and the job is racking it in. And yet once we are deluded we will find ourselves keeping company and becoming best friends with envy, discontentment, thanklessness and covetousness, who are moneys closet companions and follow him everywhere he goes.

Riches, porn, video games, romantic attraction and alcohol are all intoxicating in there own unique way, it is very easy to fall under their influence. Though most acknowledge the potential dangers of heavy drinking, few seem consider that money is a good bit like whiskey. Because people are ignorant or purposely close their eyes to the power and dangers of money, it has become the nail in the coffin of the church in America. Like the frog in the pot of cool water can be cooked alive by the heat slowly being raise, likewise, we have let ourselves be choked by the deceitfulness of riches. We are so used to the weeds, we cherish them and believing there are plants and blessings from God. The church is busy scattering these seeds and watering the weeds.

GOD'S COMMAND NOT TO BE DECEIVED

I would say one of the biggest problems with being deceived, is well, we don't know that we are, duh. Yet, somehow or other there must be a way to notice the process of deception, otherwise we would not stumble across such repetition: .


“Let no man deceive himself” I Cor 3:18

“Let no man deceive you with vain words”.” Eph 5:6

“Be not deceived” 1 Co 6:9

“Be not deceived”” Gal 6:7

“Let no man deceive you by any means” 2 Thess 2:3

The only way for us to not be deceived is to have a understanding of how things
really are, and yet even then it is easy to allow ourselves to be fooled, for
example the alcoholic while sober may know very well the dangers of getting
drunk as he is currently dealing with the consequences of his last binge, but
once the desire for the substance returns; he wants to be deceived! Turning
off his mind, he refuses to think about reality and seeks comfort in his best
friend Vodka. In giving into the temptation, the once sober, clear minded upright
citizen, turns in to drunkard that thinkith himself just fine.

Jesus clearly stated riches to deceiving, yet because of our covetousness and needs, we
likewise, turn off our mind, refuse to think about how evil a slave master money really is, and then try to find
security in it and once we do, we are being lured into a prison cell. Though we may be a puppet and servant of the
almighty dollar, we will still be fully confident that we are serving God and are doing quite well. This my friend, is deception.

MONEYS NOT EVIL, BUT IT IS DANGEROUS

I think one of Christians favorite things to say is “money is NOT evil, it's the love of money" but I fear they say this as a justification for their materialistic life-style. Indeed money is not evil, but it is dangerous, one of the most powerful force on earth, almost everyone is under it's influence. A sober man knows the nature of a drunkenness, but a drunk does not. The church is alright intoxicated, that is what makes it so difficult, preaching this is like rebuking a wasted drunkard.
     I've been under the influence of riches without being rich. I remember my mom asking me what I wanted for Christmas, and I could not think of anything I wanted, I was perfectly content. But once I found a job and money in the bank, my thinking, reasoning and perception of reality changed, If I did not have a good foundation I would have easily become its prey, but as I noticed the intoxication, I put a quick stop buy all the thinking I now wanted and started giving most of my money away left it found its way into my heart and burned me.

   We should treat money and possessions like alcohol. Alcohol is not evil, but it is dangerous and if we allow ourselves to fall under it's influence, it's not a pretty thing to say the least (I lived in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, I know). Some people are more likely to become an alcoholics, likewise some are wired where covetousness, greed and envy come more naturally. Is it any surprise then that Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell all and give to the poor? This is no more extreme then telling a drunk, that in order to be free, he no longer can touch the bottle!
        For the fun of it lets pretend that there was nothing to drink but beer
(some people reading this, love the thought). So the only way to stay alive was to drink.
We would still need to be careful, right? Hopefully we would drink enough to survive,
and yet not always go around drunk. Likewise, wealth and possessions
are must haves, but we must treat them as intoxicating
and understand moderation is the key.

Why do people not jump in fierce
white water rapids without a raft? Well,
maybe they wish not to be dashed upon the
rocks, like the Israeli babies by the hands of the
Babylonians. Though rapids are not evil, they are very
dangerous, the only way people can ride them, is a to have a good
quality raft, even then it is not always safe. Likewise, money is like rapids
and the boat is an eternal mindset and a kingdom perspective, which will make it
possible to ride the rushing waters without being wiped out and destroyed.

We may not think we've been duked, yet may I ask; how do we spend a majority of our time? Is not our life spent around earning money and buying possession? It all starts with getting a good education for the purpose of getting a good paying job, so that we can have a family and be financially secure. Sorry... I cannot say this is alright when I read in the bible:

" Labor not to become rich, lest ye cease from thin own wisdom, wilt thou set your eye's on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle towards heaven" -Solomon

I know I am sounding unpractical and idealistic, for we cannot live here without money and possessions, it is essential to surviving in this American economy. Yet, the bible is more blunt and straight forward then I; “DO NOT store up treasure on earth” Umm... What part of “Do Not” do we not understanding? Yet this really means is hard to understand, the one thing I know is we need to grasp is how on freaking earth we store up treasure in heaven, somehow more time needs to be spent in this.

THE NEED FOR SECURITY
    Money brings a sense of security, but it is like disappearing ink, a mirage causing us to chase the wind. It is a bottomless pit, a leech that cries more, it creates a appetite in us that is never satisfied. Oh the foolishness of trying to find our security in wealth! For dollars takes wings and fly away, riches are uncertain and temporal . To trust in it, is like putting pennies in pockets full of holes,
       The frightful reality is if we want to live by the world's economy, God just may let us! After the car brakes down, momma has a heart attack, and the 29% compound interest snowballs from those buy now pay later cards, we will find our bank account, yes our security is bankrupt and empty. Yet, what will we do? Since money is our security, we will get more education and work harder, only to go deeper in debt and loose our health.

Oh my friend, lets choose God's economy! His will is that we live simply and be conservative in providing our own and yet in giving he wants us to be liberal and generous. We are stewards who are free to live of the masters wealth, yet we are responsible to invest as much as possible into His kingdom, otherwise we are unprofitable servants. Honestly, who really believes the our money belongs to God? We don't, we may say all we have is God's, but we deceive ourselves for we live like it belongs to us.

“And he spoke a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
Luke 12:16-21

This rich man would have been praised in the church, as being blessed of God and wise for he was saving for his retirement. But the bible reads a bit different then what we hear now a days from the pulpit! Indeed, it may have been a blessing of God for the man to reap a large harvest. But it did not belong to the man, yet being a steward, if he said “The Lord has blessed me with plenty, therefore, I shell give to the poor and help those who are in need” The Lord would have likely blessed him with more and honored him.

IDOLS IN THE CHURCH

I Believe the reason the Israelites in the old Testament worshiped and served Idols was their longing for financial, relational and national security, they truly believed these sticks and stones gave them rain, love and protection from the enemies, therefore, one of the main roots of idolatry is the longing for security
     America has a different set of Idols and sadly they are stamped and approved by the church. Instead of bowing down to statues, we put our trust in good education, marriage, politics and fitness. These things are not bad, but a stick and stone were not evil either. The problem is that we put our trust and hope in these things believing they bring us security. To God it is just as stupid to believe going to college and then getting our masters will bring us financial security, as we think it is dumb to worship a statue thinking it will bring us rain.
       Oh we are but a vapor, a puff of smoke, a mist that is here and then gone, a flower that blooms and withers, a hand span is our time on earth, security is an illusion, there is none in this war ridden, cursed ball of dirt, controlled by Satan!

Why do we choose the wisdom of the world and go by its blueprint in hope that it is the key to achieving statues, wealth, health and sex. Kids start dating at 12 and are having sex at 16 and the moment they are done with high school they are off to collage, were they experience lust at first sight and get married; go into debt and start working full time job and getting a higher education on the side; only to get a divorce and get remarried and train their children to likewise. AAAHHHHHH Oh, I forgot to add... they manage to slip church in on Sunday mornings.

CONCLUSION

If you just skipped to the conclusion, count yourself blessed, for pretty much all this rambling was to point out that money is intoxicating, and the primary way not to become it slave is to continually give. We must be like a flowing river, otherwise we will become stagnant and breed disease. May we grab hold of the mindset that God prospers us not that we would advance our own standard of living, but that we would give more into His purposes. John Wesley said "Money never stays with me, it would burn me if it did, I through it out of my hands as soon as possible, last it should find it's way into my heart" People who clutch for money never have enough, and people who don't give, never have enough money to be generous. This is how it is for the man making 10,000 a year and the multi-millionaire, because both are always trying to live beyond their means. Therefore, may we rid ourselves of the belief that God blesses us with more money, so that we can buy a nicer house, Big screen TV, brand-name clothing and a new car, and a bigger TV, for the more we have, the more we will went. The pleasure possessions bring is short lived, and yet that pleasure is so addicting, we will poor our whole life into momentary thrills.