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| JAMES LESSON #69 How do you think God feels about someone who�s �rich?� Is it �ok?� Is it wrong? Is it �self-indulgent?� No No and more No. There is nothing �wrong� with being rich. Money is not the issue- your �heart� and your walk with the Lord, is the issue. Your �journey� consistently winds around two things: Your relationship with God � and your relationship with everyone around you. The �law� says � �Love your neighbor as yourself � and Love the Lord your God with all your heart.� James was addressing rich people who were not at all loving God with all their hearts, and not at all loving their neighbor as themselves. However- poor people can do exactly the same. A person can be so poor that all they think about, all they strive for, all they pour their energy in to � is �getting rich.� They ditch God and go for the gold. They manipulate and mess over their friends � to make an extra buck. It�s not about �rich and poor� � it�s about the heart. Look at Proverbs 30:7-9 If you check out verse 1 you�ll see that the person asking the questions here is a man named �Agur.� In verse 7 he says to God, �Ok � this is what I want. Verse 8 � Keep me away from deceit � don�t make me rich � don�t make me poor � let me find �middle� �just give me what I �need� � Why? Verse 9 �Because I don�t want to become �self-sufficient�- I don�t want to start thinking �I�m all that � when I�m not all that� � I don�t want to get lured into �complacency� in my �dependence� on You. I don�t want to have the cards stacked so well that I don�t see my need to pray � I don�t see my need to �ask� � I don�t see my need to �be included in all that you are.� God � it�s about �how I live in relation to You.� I don�t ever want to get to the point where �things� have come between us. Matthew 6:19 One of the greatest temptations when we �have a lot� is to lose sight of our �heart need.� Because our �tangible needs� are being met � we �think� we�re �ok� and fail to recognize our need for God. It�s really easy at that point to walk �independent of God-� a horrible mistake. Many of us spend half our lives �making money to �live� � only to spend the other half of our lives, �spending money to stay alive.� What�s with that? What is it to �lay up treasures in heaven?� -The word �treasures� there in the Greek is: �thesauros� and it means �the storehouse of the mind where the thoughts, feelings or counsels are laid up � and the word �heart� is �kardia� which means the �seat of the desires, feelings, affections, passions, impulses, etc. So what�s it saying? If you�re driven by greed it will end up in nothingness. You will spend your entire life reaching to gain, and gain nothing but a heart that�s empty. If you store up �truth� � �relationship� ��intimacy with God� � your desires, feelings, affections, passions and impulses (etc.) will all be �seeking to know Him more.� The result? A deep, intimate relationship with God. What this is saying? � What you value most � will be seen in where you spend your time, where you spend your money, where you spend your energy..what you�re �about.� Take a self check- Where does your heart stand in this picture? Are your �treasures� being built, without God? Flip to James 5. What�s with these rich people? READ verse 2-3 James is pointing out that they�ve been �all about me� in �the last days.� He�s saying � �you�ve had your day.� � wrong choice. Instead of letting go of �my way,� �my desires,� �my plans,� �my empire,� �my position,� �they�ve been building on all of those things. James is saying- �You�re going to hit the wall guys!� �It�s over!� You�ve got closets and drawers full of �stuff� � and yet, you go out to get more. There are people all around you who are in need � who have very little- �What are you thinking?� Some one approaches you in need? You offer them �the leftovers� � is that �loving your neighbor as yourself?� Turn the tables a minute- is that what you�d want in that situation if you were the one asking for help? James is saying � wrong wrong and more wrong! If you�re going to give � give the best you can give- Don�t go out and get and get and get, just to get and get and get some more, when you already have so much �stuff� you don�t have any room to put anything else. Don�t go there! Your focus is in the wrong place. Look at Matthew 6:24-34 �mammon� is �riches� � You can�t spend your life seeking after God � and building your financial �empire� at the same time. It doesn�t work. Your heart will be divided. It�s not about �you� � when it comes to �being you� � it�s about being �included� in God�s plan � it�s about being �directed� into His purpose- Don�t be �anxious� � why? It�s about Him �doing� � and you �being� � totally dependent. God will supply all your needs � not, all your �wants.� If you �seek to know Him more� �all the other stuff will fall into place in your life. Look at I Timothy 6:6-10 � Notice that it�s the �love� of money � not �money� that is the root of all sorts of evil. James is warning the early Christians not to allow �money� to become the focus of who they are and what they are about. He�s showing them what becomes of a man who pursues wealth. Look at Psalm 73:1-17 There are those who teach that if you�re a Christian you should live like a king- you should be �prosperous.� Wrong. James doesn�t teach that at all. In this passage in Psalms you see a guy pretty upset internally- He�s really churning. He starts off pointing out �the pure of heart � and God�s response to that kind of a heart-� note that. Then he goes into this testimony of his own battle over seeing someone else who seemingly has it made in the shade � Not only do they have it made in the shade, but they work at making life oppressive for everyone else. His heart struggles over this. �Look at verse 13-14 He�s questioning � In vain I�ve kept a pure heart-I�ve washed my hands in innocence..for what? To be stricken all day long and chastened every morning? Then he says � �If I had actually SAID those things I would have messed over my family �� I didn�t�but I sure thought about it a lot �until�- Until what? Until I stood before God Himself � Got right into the �sanctuary of God� - Got into the Word � Got into prayer- and man oh man, did I ever get a clear perspective on life! Why? Because it was there, I saw their end- Look at Psalm 73: 25-28 He didn�t fall in the temptation of being envious, jealous, angry, resentful, etc. Why? Because He made God his refuge � watched Him supply need after need after need � experienced His �care� �and in doing so, remembered to �PURSUE GOD� � and �PURSUE RIGHTEOUSNESS� � James tells them to do the same � and to be �patient and endure� � Why? Because the Lord is coming. When He comes, He will judge. Where do you fit in this picture? If it�s not �riches� is it �position?� If it�s not �position� is it �status?� Look at your checkbook � Look at your social life- Look at how you spend your time � Look at where you expend your energy � After you do, answer the question, �What�s my passion?� Are you �all about you?� � or are you �all about knowing Him more?� If it�s �all about you,� �what�s distracted you from pursuing Him? When you �do unto others� � are you doing as you would want it to be done to you, should the roles be reversed? When you expend energy for others, do you give like you�d hope they�d give to you? When you love others, do you love in the way you�d hope they�d love you? When you spend on others, do you spend as though you were spending for yourself? When you listen, do you listen like you want to be listened to? �and the list goes on. God asks the question: What are you �all about?� -a glance at your time in the last week will answer that question -a glance at your checkbook in the last month will answer that question -a glance at your interactions with others in the last week will answer the question God�s next question: Did you know you needed me? Did you follow your agenda or mine? Lay not up treasures for yourselves� �pursue� �relentless seeking as if urgent to find�. Are you in �pursuit� of nothing? Or.. Are you in �pursuit� of God? Where�s your focus? More tomorrow, Loving you, �Copyright Jim and Robin Hibschman 2001 |
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