Simple Salvation Church of God
Prayer Request: THE UNLIMITED RICHES OF GOD'S RESOURCES
Subject:
THE UNLIMITED RICHES OF GOD'S RESOURCES (Jun 18, 2008)
Prayer Request:
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| Subscribe Unsubscribe Change E-mail View Archive The Unlimited Riches of God's Resources Pastor Mark Stephens Jun 18, 2008 |
THE UNLIMITED RICHES OF GOD’S RESOURCES
You and I serve a God that is able to help in a time of need. You cannot ask or think above what God can do. In today’s economy this is just as true as it was when the economy was doing well. Also, it is just as true as it was when God said it to the writers of the Bible!
Ephesians 3:30 says, “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”
We limit ourselves when we say God will not bless us like He blesses someone else. God is not like that. He will bless anyone that believes His promises. God is not a respecter of persons (Romans 2:11). He does not have favorites. He is able to do exceeding abundantly for anyone who will not limit Him.
We limit God because we do not think He can or that He will do anything for us. We are looking at our circumstances. The mortgage is passed due and your facing foreclosure. The power company is about to turn your lights off. The repo man is stalking your vehicle. We are failing because we fail to look beyond our limits. We fail to recognize the limitless abundance of God.
We limit God without even realizing we are limiting Him. We allow God to bless us in some areas of our lives but not others. One of the hardest areas for most people to receive abundance of God is in the area of finances.
Many times we preachers began to talk about money folks immediately began to tune him out because they think, “Oh, it’s just another preacher wanting my hard earned money. Those guys are just in it for the money.”
Money is important to God. He doesn’t need your money nor mine. He has streets paved with gold. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Jesus said to put your treasure in a heavenly account. He said to store your treasure in heaven by giving to the work of the ministry.
Matthew 6:20-21 says, “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
Jesus did not want us to trust in uncertain riches. You are to put your trust in Him. God is more than able to meet your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).
God is the source of your money supply, but money comes to you through someone’s hands. God does not have a heavenly printing press to make a sheet of Benjamin Franklin’s (100 dollar bills) and rain them down from heaven.
It is sad to see money stand between somebody and God. Too often folk will love the things of the world, and the things money will buy, instead of loving God and loving people. When one loves their money more than they love God or people, they have messed up priorities.
Money is not bad. The love of money is bad. 1st Timothy calls it evil. Money is necessary to live in this world. Even Jesus had to pay taxes. He had to have a treasurer to carry the money bag (John 13:29).
Jesus apparently had money. He was not a poor man as some have suggested. He had money for Judas to embezzle (John 12:6). He had enough money that the disciples thought Judas was going out to help the poor when he was on his way to betray Jesus (John 13:27-29). Jesus was not poor until He made Himself poor on the cross. Jesus’ poverty on the cross enables us to acquire spiritual and earthly riches to fulfill the purposes of God in our lives (2nd Corinthians 8:9).
Money is not what is important. It is what you do with the money that is important. The reason you should allow God to bless you financially is that it takes money to spread the ministry of Jesus Christ around the world. When you are blessed financially, you can be generous in helping others.
We need to change our way of thinking about money. We need to understand that the unlimited riches of God’s glory applies to our finances as well as to everything else we need. Money allows us to accomplish what God has called us to do. Money is important to help fulfill the will of God for our lives and our mission to serve others.
God allowed David to gather the resources to build a temple for the Lord in Jerusalem. God had David make the preparations for the temple his son Solomon would build. This temple was a magnificent work. It was built with an abundance of silver, gold, brass and the finest of cedar wood.
“And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates, and for the joinings; and brass in abundance without weight; also cedar trees in abundance: for the Zidonians and they of Tyre brought much cedar wood to David” (1st Chronicles 22:3-4).
God provided an abundance of the supplies necessary to build the temple. This temple was where He could come down and dwell in the presence of His people. His glory would be in the innermost parts of this temple. God adorned this temple with valuable gold and silver. David describes the extensive wealth he made available for the temple.
“Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the LORD an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and thou mayest add thereto” (1st Chronicles 22:14).
Keep in mind that this is David’s gift from his treasure. Just the value of the gold alone was over $38 billion. The silver would be over $7 billion. Quite some offering don’t you think? David’s generous gift to the Lord far surpassed the generosity of the wealthiest billionaires of our time.
When we talk about no limits, we must remember the whole thing is not about money. It is about our mission. If you don’t comprehend that, you will run off and try to build yourself a fortune. The main point should be about doing the work of the Lord. David donated the best resources available in the world to build the temple.
“Moreover there are workmen with thee in abundance, hewers and workers of stone and timber, and all manner of cunning men of every manner of work” (1st Chronicles 22:15).
David provided timber in abundance to build the temple. We often do not thing of these things as money. David had to spend his money or wealth to obtain this timber. Wood cost money today. If you build a church, I can promise you that when you go to The Home Depot or Lowe’s, you will pay for your material.
Jesus said the fields are ready for harvest and to pray for laborers (Luke 10:2). We need laborers in the work of the ministry. How are these laborers going to live? You have to pay them for their services. You need money to do that. We can’t just walk up to them on Friday and say “God bless you and keep you” and expect them to continue to work.
It is difficult to understand the limitless nature of God. It takes time to reprogram our minds and eliminate the misconceptions we have about God. Have you ever heard someone say, “You never know what God is going to do. Sometimes He will bless you and other times He will not.” These people that say these things are limited in their understanding of God. They are blind to the Bible promises. The Bible has been given to us to equip us for service and to guide us through the difficulties of life.
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2nd Timothy 3:16,17),
We are to use the Bible for our doctrine and to keep us in line with what God has in mind for us. God wants us to be corrected from our misunderstandings about Him so that we can be profitable in His service. The result of understanding the will of God in our lives is a life that is dedicated to doing good works for others. God’s priority is to help others. We must always keep that in mind when we are trying to understand what God wants us to do. God wants to give us the resources we need to accomplish His purpose of helping people.
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THE UNLIMITED RICHES OF GOD\'S RESOURCES
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