With the current economic crisis, I've been trying to grasp what is actually happening, and how it effects Matthew and I. Recently I read a blog from our Pastor Mike Slaughter, from Ginghamsburg and I just had to post it for everyone. If you would like to read his other insightful blogs, his site is: http://mikeslaughter.com/blog
"Divine Economics"
Courage saints! We are going through an unprecedented time of correction. This is not just an economic correction, but at the core, a deeply moral and spiritual one. If we don't know what God is all about, we are about to find out! For much too long, those of us who are called by God's name have worsh
ipped God while we continued to serve monetary idols. A lukewarm casualness toward biblical principles has permeated even the best of American churches' participants. This is a wake-up call that has been long overdue. It is time to remember that we are not in control, and our economic dependencies will not save us. It is time to turn our attention from self to serving, from consuming to creating, from getting to giving. As I described in my book MONEY MATTERS: for all God's children, the story of Elijah and the widow remind us of the priorities for building an eternal investment trust.
"Elijah went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, 'Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?' As she was going to get it, he called, 'And bring me, please, a piece of bread.'
"'As surely as the Lord your God lives,' she replied, 'I don’t have any bread – only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.'
"Elijah said to her, 'Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: "The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land."'– 1 Kings 17:7-14
"In 1 Kings 17 we find the story of a man named Elijah, a prophet of God, who became God’s means to respond to another person’s need. Often I hear the question from unbelievers as well as Christians, 'Why does God allow people to starve? Why does God allow all the suffering in the world?' God does not allow anyone to starve. You and I are the ones allowing the starvation because we do not understand God’s perspective on money. God uses the resources of people. That’s why it’s so important that we are good stewards of the resources that God has entrusted to us. Those resources become the means to answer somebody else’s need and somebody else’s prayer. God releases heaven’s resources to God’s children through God’s children.
"When considering God’s provision, do you use the formula of human computation or the power of divine math? The biblical principles for financial freedom challenge us to live within our means. That’s a given. There’s always more to what God wants to do in us and through us, however. Remember what God said to Moses, 'What is that in your hand?' Here’s what Elijah says to this widow: 'Use what’s in your hand.' God’s word to us is to live out of what we have, out of the resources God provides.
"Our problem is that we doubt God and see only what we have. We factor human computation instead of divine math. And what do we see? 'I only have a little. I don’t really have anything, just this little bit.' We habitually forget that a little in the hands of God is a lot.
"When we look at the miracles of Jesus we see that God never makes something from nothing. When five thousand people were hungry, Jesus didn’t snap his fingers and have Big Macs fall out of the sky. It was the same when Jesus’ friends needed wine at the wedding feast. Jesus didn’t snap his fingers and make wine appear. He took what they had – water – and turned it into wine. Jesus appreciated the two pennies that the widow had to give. The miracle comes from what you have, not from what you don’t have. In the same way, when we’ve got bills to pay we can’t think that God’s going to make money appear out of nothing and spontaneously pay off our bills. God always asks us to surrender and place in God’s hands what we already have – and then we trust. Jesus takes a few fish and a few pieces of bread as if to say, Give it to me. You haven’t done a good job with it. Give it to me. Surrender your finances to God, and watch what God will do. And remember that any time you use a charge card, you’re using something you don’t have. If you had it, you wouldn’t have to charge it! God will only bless what you have.
"Think of the incredible assets that God gives us in Christ Jesus. Many have received the gift of Jesus Christ and experienced eternal life as our own. We have the Holy Spirit and all of the assets of heaven, but God will not release those assets until we surrender to the Spirit that is in us. As long as we keep acting out of our wishes and our appetites and what we want to do with our money, God’s not going to bless it. God’s not going to release the resources of the Holy Spirit. But as we surrender to the Spirit that’s in us, we are converted to the mind of Christ. Remember, there is one new birth but many conversions. There are areas of our life in which we’ve been “born again” but we’ve not been converted. We don’t know the blessing of God until we’re converted. When we are converted in our finances, we have the mind of Christ about our finances. What an incredible asset! With all of the creativity of Christ, think of the unlimited possibilities and potential." (Excerpted from MONEY MATTERS: financial freedom for all God's children by Michael Slaughter, Abingdon Press, 2006.)
In my next blog update, I will challenge us to look at the life practices and disciplines essential for living within our means and achieving true financial freedom.
God bless...
"Divine Economics"
Courage saints! We are going through an unprecedented time of correction. This is not just an economic correction, but at the core, a deeply moral and spiritual one. If we don't know what God is all about, we are about to find out! For much too long, those of us who are called by God's name have worsh
ipped God while we continued to serve monetary idols. A lukewarm casualness toward biblical principles has permeated even the best of American churches' participants. This is a wake-up call that has been long overdue. It is time to remember that we are not in control, and our economic dependencies will not save us. It is time to turn our attention from self to serving, from consuming to creating, from getting to giving. As I described in my book MONEY MATTERS: for all God's children, the story of Elijah and the widow remind us of the priorities for building an eternal investment trust."Elijah went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, 'Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?' As she was going to get it, he called, 'And bring me, please, a piece of bread.'
"'As surely as the Lord your God lives,' she replied, 'I don’t have any bread – only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.'
"Elijah said to her, 'Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: "The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land."'– 1 Kings 17:7-14
"In 1 Kings 17 we find the story of a man named Elijah, a prophet of God, who became God’s means to respond to another person’s need. Often I hear the question from unbelievers as well as Christians, 'Why does God allow people to starve? Why does God allow all the suffering in the world?' God does not allow anyone to starve. You and I are the ones allowing the starvation because we do not understand God’s perspective on money. God uses the resources of people. That’s why it’s so important that we are good stewards of the resources that God has entrusted to us. Those resources become the means to answer somebody else’s need and somebody else’s prayer. God releases heaven’s resources to God’s children through God’s children.
"When considering God’s provision, do you use the formula of human computation or the power of divine math? The biblical principles for financial freedom challenge us to live within our means. That’s a given. There’s always more to what God wants to do in us and through us, however. Remember what God said to Moses, 'What is that in your hand?' Here’s what Elijah says to this widow: 'Use what’s in your hand.' God’s word to us is to live out of what we have, out of the resources God provides.
"Our problem is that we doubt God and see only what we have. We factor human computation instead of divine math. And what do we see? 'I only have a little. I don’t really have anything, just this little bit.' We habitually forget that a little in the hands of God is a lot.
"When we look at the miracles of Jesus we see that God never makes something from nothing. When five thousand people were hungry, Jesus didn’t snap his fingers and have Big Macs fall out of the sky. It was the same when Jesus’ friends needed wine at the wedding feast. Jesus didn’t snap his fingers and make wine appear. He took what they had – water – and turned it into wine. Jesus appreciated the two pennies that the widow had to give. The miracle comes from what you have, not from what you don’t have. In the same way, when we’ve got bills to pay we can’t think that God’s going to make money appear out of nothing and spontaneously pay off our bills. God always asks us to surrender and place in God’s hands what we already have – and then we trust. Jesus takes a few fish and a few pieces of bread as if to say, Give it to me. You haven’t done a good job with it. Give it to me. Surrender your finances to God, and watch what God will do. And remember that any time you use a charge card, you’re using something you don’t have. If you had it, you wouldn’t have to charge it! God will only bless what you have.
"Think of the incredible assets that God gives us in Christ Jesus. Many have received the gift of Jesus Christ and experienced eternal life as our own. We have the Holy Spirit and all of the assets of heaven, but God will not release those assets until we surrender to the Spirit that is in us. As long as we keep acting out of our wishes and our appetites and what we want to do with our money, God’s not going to bless it. God’s not going to release the resources of the Holy Spirit. But as we surrender to the Spirit that’s in us, we are converted to the mind of Christ. Remember, there is one new birth but many conversions. There are areas of our life in which we’ve been “born again” but we’ve not been converted. We don’t know the blessing of God until we’re converted. When we are converted in our finances, we have the mind of Christ about our finances. What an incredible asset! With all of the creativity of Christ, think of the unlimited possibilities and potential." (Excerpted from MONEY MATTERS: financial freedom for all God's children by Michael Slaughter, Abingdon Press, 2006.)
In my next blog update, I will challenge us to look at the life practices and disciplines essential for living within our means and achieving true financial freedom.
God bless...
