This would seem the opposite of the way people live today, but it can bring great peace. Do you long for things you don’t have? Does it feel like you’re the only one that can’t go on trips, repair your house or go shopping? After all, Joseph, Job and David were men of God and they had money, so why shouldn’t we too? This is the place that Satan loves to find us. But God says in Luke 3:14b “be content with your pay." 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:29 “For God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son, so that His Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” This is not our final destination.
I believe God asks us to be content with what we have to show how we trust Him by faith. This thankfulness also stops the Enemy from manipulating us by way of greed, lust, desire for power or through fear of insecure finances. If we have less, we tend to fear or covet. If we have more, we can become prideful and want more power. This can lead to forgetting generosity or enslaving others. Satan is up to a lot of evil & wants to destroy our trust in God & our relationships.
In Ezekiel 28, Satan is referred to as the King of Tyre. He was beautiful, powerful and rich but he fell away from God. Ezekiel 28:16-17 “Your rich commerce led you to violence, and you sinned. So I banished you in disgrace from the mountain of God. I expelled you, O mighty guardian, from your place among the stones of fire. Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty. Your wisdom was corrupted by your love of splendor. So I threw you to the ground and exposed you to the curious gaze of kings.” Be mindful of this…. 1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.”
This is what God would rather see …Luke 3:11 “John replied, "If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry."
1 Timothy 6:6-9 “Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can't take anything with us when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.”
Let us not be prideful if we do have much. James 4:13-16 “Look here, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we are going …..to make a profit." How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? …What you ought to say is, "If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that." Otherwise you are boasting about “your own plans”, and all such boasting is evil.”
Instead…..Colossians 3:23-24 “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.”
Philippians 4:12-13 “I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”
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