money

IF YOU GO INTO MINISTRY expecting to make a great amount of wealth, then you do not understand what ministry is. Ministry is about reaching out to the hopeless, speaking for those who have no voice, and reaching the lost and dying by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ so they may inherit eternal life. Ministry is about winning souls for Jesus Christ. “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost,” Luke 19:10.

IF YOU GO INTO MINISTRY expecting to make a great amount of wealth, then you have lost the purpose of what ministry is about. “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many,” Mark 10:45, Matthew 20:28. We lay down ourselves, our ego, our desires, our will in exchange for picking up our cross, dying to selfishness, and following His Will, giving our lives in service to Him, and going forth to tell others about Jesus Christ and who He is. “He must increase; I must decrease,” John 3:30. “And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me,” Luke 9:23. Note the words “Let Him Deny Himself.”

THE WORD “MINISTER” on its own means “servant.” MINISTERING TO (SERVING) OTHERS is a calling.

IF YOU GO INTO MINISTRY JUST SO YOU CAN GET WEALTHY AND MILK PEOPLE DRY, then your ministry is built on the foundation of self and on things that will collapse when the storms come. IF YOUR MINISTRY IS BUILT ON SELF, THE LOVE OF MONEY, EGO, GREED, AND BUILT WITHOUT CHRIST BEING THE FOUNDATION, your ministry will eventually collapse.

“Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head,” Luke 9:58. There isn’t a bible verse that says Jesus lived in mansions while He on earth, and there’s isn’t a bible verse that shows Him demanding payment before or after He ministered to people. There isn’t even a verse that shows Jesus demanding money for His ministry. You will find Jesus preaching repentance and bringing hope to the hopeless, healing the sick, teaching crowds of people, delivering those who were possessed. He is Savior and Lord, and we see Him in the Scriptures as ministering to those who cried out to Him, those who recognized their need for salvation. In those same Scriptures, we see Jesus overturning the table of the money changers for taking advantage of those who were purchasing animals they needed to make sacrifices, “Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. ‘It is written,’ he said to them, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers,'” Matthew 21:12-13.

I will end this post with these words from the book of Jude Verses 10 and 11 and 2 Peter 2:11-13, “These men, however, slander what they do not understand, and like irrational animals, they will be destroyed by the things they do instinctively. Woe to them! They have traveled the path of Cain; they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam; they have perished in Korah’s rebellion,” and “Yet not even angels, though greater in strength and power, dare to bring such slanderous charges against them before the Lord. These men are like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed. They blaspheme in matters they do not understand, and like such creatures, they too will be destroyed. The harm they will suffer is the wages of their wickedness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deception as they feast with you.”

Linda A. Knowles

Having God’s favor upon your life is priceless. You cannot put a price on His favor because it is so costly, and yet God lavishes His favor upon His true children because He is the God of Goodness. He gives good things to His children, but did you know that if you grudgingly obey you can forfeit the blessings/rewards He has for you? Let me explain this way: The Word of God states, in Deuteronomy 6:7, “Love the LORD Your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your strength.” Note the words ALL of your heart and ALL of your soul, and ALL of your strength. ALL of your being must desire to do the task you are doing for God. ALL of your being must be upright and pure before God while you are obeying Him.

IT REALLY IS A MATTER OF THE HEART.

“Amaziah did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, but not wholeheartedly.”

2 Chronicles 25:2(NLT)

Amaziah did what was pleasing to God, but he did so reluctantly. He had paid for troops to come from Israel to help him go up against Edom when a man of God came to Amaziah and told him God would not give him victory if Amaziah used the troops from Israel no matter how well he did at fighting. Amaziah’s heart attitude was not blameless. He complained about the money he had paid, “But what about all that silver I paid to hire the army of Israel?” God had sent him a warning through the man of God in order to let Amaziah know God was not with the troops of Israel, and instead of giving thanks to God for the warning or thanking the man of God for giving him the message God had for him, Amaziah complained and said, “But what about all that silver I paid to hire the army of Israel?” The man of God told him, “The LORD is able to give you much more than this.” He reluctantly obeyed God, taking the warning the man of God had just given him, and he discharged the Israeli troops

Amaziah may have done what was right and obeyed, but in his heart, he was grudgingly compliant. By the way, Amaziah did go into battle and win. After having the victory in the battle, he had taken the idols of the people of Seir and he set the idols up as his own gods and bowed down before them, offering sacrifices to them. By worshiping these idols, Amaziah angered God. When you are obeying God halfheartedly, you are opening the door to other sins. Amaziah may have done what was right, but in obeying God halfheartedly, it was a slippery slope and his heart led him right into idolatry.

Are you obeying God with ALL your heart? Have you ever done something God told you to do and you did it reluctantly simply because God told you to? When we do not put our whole heart into obeying God and doing His Will, then we will find ourselves exhibiting ungodly behavior such as complaining about having to do His Will or complaining about His perfect timing. We can find ourselves exhibiting anger because when we do God’s will halfheartedly, we resent having to obey Him.

Obeying God is not just about doing what is right. It’s about loving God. How you obey God and how you do what He tells you to do matters. Do you truly love Him with your WHOLE heart? Will you love Him with your WHOLE heart as you obey Him and do His will?

Don’t Forfeit Your Blessing By Grudgingly Obeying God.

PRAYER: Sovereign LORD and KING, You are worthy of my best, not my leftovers. You, O God, have been very good to me. Thank You for all You have done in my life, for providing for me, and for being my protection. I’m sorry for obeying You halfheartedly and for being reluctant in carrying out the tasks You have set before me. Forgive me for these sinful attitudes of the heart. Forgive me, Father, for offending You, and I ask that You cleanse me of these sins as only You can do. I bow my heart in surrender to You and ask that You take control, giving me new desires and attitudes pleasing to You. I ask that You, O God, rule and reign in me. Show me what I need to change in my life and what I need to get rid of. Take me along Your paths of righteous because what You approve of and have to say is the only thing that matters. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Linda A. Knowles

“Love the LORD Your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your strength.” -Deuteronomy 6:7(NLT)

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