Growintheword's Blog

“I should have saved and sown”
Synopsis of Bible Study 11/04/09
Delivered by Bishop Walker III
We made up in our mind in our previous lesson that we will never go through the recession tithe-less. People of God, it is important to have a proper perspective of money. 1 Timothy 6:9-11: 9But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 11But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.-This is Paul mentoring Timothy. Paul simply says that we are to follow after the things money cannot buy. Never get to a point where you worship money. Never let your whole life revolve around money, because means you have lost perspective. We have to learn to manage money as well. We are supposed to be a blessing to the Kingdom.
I. I. What does the bible say about our finances
a. It is an issue of ownership. 1Psalm 24:1: 1The earth is the LORD’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. Another interesting scripture is Psalms 50:10: 10For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. – God says he has cattle on a thousand hills. God says you don’t have to worry about it, because it is all mines. He is in control of it. You don’t own it, God does.
b. Understanding the Lord’s viewpoint on our finances can prevent us from making costly mistakes. The two things Christians love the most, sex and money, we hate talking about in church.
c. The bible encourages positive use of our money. God wants us to do something with our blessings. God blessed us to multiply our blessings. We are to be fruitful and multiply. 14 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. 15 He gave five bags of silver[b] to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip. 16 “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. 17 The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. 18 But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money. 19 “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. 20 The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’ 21 “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together![c]’22 “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’ 23 “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’ 24 “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. 25 I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’ 26 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, 27 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’ 28 “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. 29 To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. 30 Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ – First of all, in the King James Version, they use the word talents instead of bags of silver. In the scripture we have one servant that was given 5 talents, one was given 2 talents, and one was given one talent. The servant that was given 5 talents, double his. The servant with 2 talents doubled his. The servant that was given one talent dug a hole in the earth and buried his. In verse 19 the lord of the servants inquired about what they had done with their talents. We find out the following:
1. In verse 20, the servant that was given five talents told his master that he doubled his talents. As a result his master said well done.
2. In verse 22, the servant that was given two talents says to his master that he doubled his too. As a result, the lord of the servants said well done.
3. In verse 24, the servant that was given one talent made excuses and got nervous and admitted to hiding his talents away. The master says he blessed him so he could make something of what he gave him. He could have taken the principle and invested it and very least, he could have lived off of the interest. Instead the master said he would take his talent and give it to the other two, because he did nothing with the talent. In other words, his master could not trust him with money or with blessings. Money is put in your hands to be multiplied.
Ecclesiastes 5:19: 19Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.-Every blessing we have is a gift from God. We have to be a good steward of it.
d. Scripture warns us about the misuse of money. Lots of us misuse money, but how?
1. Stop trying to figure things out yourself. Proverbs 23:4-5: 4Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. 5Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven-Verse 5-the problem is, we are working only to try and become rich. Now your focus is so much on money, you will forsake your family for overtime. As a result, you try to get ahead, and you lose your life. The wealth you get is so exclusive, it flies away. Your children then have to reintroduce themselves to you, because you spend all your time chasing money.
2. When we are righteous and doing what we are supposed to do, it will become our treasure. Proverbs 15:6: 6In the house of the righteous is much treasure: but in the revenues of the wicked is trouble-Make no mistake, the wicked will have treasures too, but their treasures always lead to trouble. God will bless us based on our integrity. Some people with low integrity want a high blessing. If your integrity is low, you will use the increase to support your sin. Rather than walking in the blessing God gave you, you walk in other things. Sin is expensive. Some of us don’t do the things we used to do simply because we can’t afford them any longer. For lots of us, if we could still afford our sins, we would still be in them. God gives us an opportunity to get our integrity right and to sustain the blessing. Beware of the debt trap.
3. You have to be careful about debt no matter where you are financially. We hate debt! Debt is not our friend and is an enemy to our destiny. Romans 13:8: 8Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.-The scripture says owe no man anything. The problem in the recession was that we wanted to give more, but we were in so much debt, we were prisoners to the debt. We were in debt before the recession and after the recession started, we got in incredible deeper. We were borrowing money from one card just to pay the minimum payment on another card.
a. We go into debt to try and impress people that don’t even like us. Ex-TSU’s homecoming is this week. People will go into debt to get stilettos and outfits just to walk around for 2 hours. Tennis shoes and jeans ain’t good enough for us. Proverbs 22:7: 7The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.-We have become slaves to debt.
b. There is a difference between good and bad debt too. Good debt increases in value. Lot’s of people made money off of our debt during the recession by buying houses that we lost for example. We have to look at good debt and bad debt. We have to buy things that will increase in value. You buy a car for $50,000 and it depreciates when you drive off of the lot. How do we set ourselves up for what’s coming up? In the recession we wish we could have cashed some of those experiences in. Good debt is student loans. Tithe off of what you live off of and job that you will get will give you more than enough money to pay off those loans. We have to cut those credit cards up. Going through airport, we have to decline buying those T-shirts. You get in debt and it takes years to get out of it.
II. God shows us how to acquire wealth
a. By working-2 Thessalonians 3:10:10 Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.”- If a man doesn’t work, he shouldn’t eat according to this scripture. Many people lost good jobs during the recession. If you can’t find a job, you are supposed to take your gifts and get your hustle on (legitimate hustle)! Ex-Bishop explains that he sees healthy people on side of road with sign saying they want money for food or what not. He explains that it is a shame, because here is a healthy person on the side of the road that has just given up. He explains he may or may not bless that person with a hand out. The reason is, he explains that at least the person could have a squidgy or something and wash people’s windows. The difference is at least the person with a squidgy is willing to work for the hand out. God will bless you if you at least do something. You got to be doing something to get to something else. Learn to make it happen for you. If you don’t work, you don’t eat. Bishop says the work ethic he has today is largely because of the work ethic placed in him by his father.
b. By Investing-It is important for us, because we shout and holler favor, to have life insurance, wills, and etc… You got to learn how to multiply what God gives you and make wise investments. For example, Rule 72. -The rule says that to find the number of years required to double your money at a given interest rate; you just divide the interest rate into 72. For example, if you want to know how long it will take to double your money at eight percent interest, divide 8 into 72 and get 9 years . Ecclesiastes 11:1-6: 1 Send your grain across the seas, and in time, profits will flow back to you.[a] 2 But divide your investments among many places,[b]for you do not know what risks might lie ahead. 3 When clouds are heavy, the rains come down.Whether a tree falls north or south, it stays where it falls. 4 Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant.If they watch every cloud, they never harvest. 5 Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb,[c] so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things. 6 Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both. –
1. Don’t put all your money in same place. Proverbs 22:7: 7The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
2. While you work, try to put back something. You don’t know what is going to happen to your money. Proverbs 22:3-4: 3 A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences. 4 True humility and fear of the Lord lead to riches, honor, and long life. – How many had loved ones die without insurance. The people at the church didn’t know if we were grieving or just mad. Proverbs 13:22: 22A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. – Leave an inheritance to your children. You have to leave something on record for this to happen. Our will and everything stating how we want things done when we leave here should be in place. You don’t know what is going to happen from one minute to the next. We could leave here in the next moment. Do you want a government official to tell what is going to happen to your children or your estate? You got to put something back and you have to put it in writing. People even leave diamonds for their church now days. If you can, leave something behind to bless your church too.
c. By Giving-This really challenges us. There are givers and their takers. Luke 6:38: 38Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.-It’s like a person collecting leaves in a plastic bag. It looks full, but when you press the leaves down and shake the bag, you end up with more room. God says he will press it down to give you more room, so he can give more back to you. Give more of what you expect back. If you want more love, give more love. If you want more respect, give more respect. If you want more money, give more money.
d. By saving-Every dollars add up every day over time. Proverbs 21:20: 20There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up -Foolish people just spend money. Many of us struggle in this area, because we don’t save.
We need to save 3 months of income and put it aside for an emergency. What would you do if your tire blows s out? You have to have a budget. Get that brown bag principle and put it in place. Put the money you saved for each expense and a separate bag. When you get ready to going shopping for example, if there is no money in that bag, you can’t go. If you look at that bag marked entertainment and you don’t see much money, then you know you can just go to the movie, but you can’t buy anything. You might have to get creative and by a sprite and put it in your purse or your coat so you don’t have to buy anything. If you have $5 and you stop at Walgreens to get a sprite and some chips. Before you know it you are at $2. You have to put your money in your check. For some of us, if we gave you $50 tonight, you wouldn’t have anything to show for it this time next week. We have to start saving. You have to make your money account for what it does.
III. The Lord guides us to how to use our money
a. God promises to meet our personal needs. Philippians 4:19: 19But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. – It is God’s desire to take care of us. Gods wants to do that, because we take care of his work.
b. To carry on God’s work. and scripture. When we talk about tithing, it is take care of God’s work. Our responsibility as Christians according to Mark 16:15 is to take the gospel in all the world. Mark 16:15: 15And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. We have to have a passion in investing in that which changes the life of God’s people. The world invests millions of dollars to get their message out. They will spend 3 million dollars on a 30sec add so that you will drink more Bud Light. They will spend millions to get our children to wear certain things. We have to invest in the Kingdom like the world does so we can get the message out. We have to try and tell people that they don’t have to live like they do. God has a better plan for them. Truthfully, you have to think about your goal.
c. For God given goals. Our goals hold us accountable. Ex- In 3 years we want to be out of our apartment and in to a house. We want something to show for the money going through our hands. Our friends come over and ask us if we want to go on this road trip. We are facing a decision at this point. Do we want the road trip or do we want the house? At this point, the house is holding us accountable to our goal. Our decisions are prompted by our goals.
IV. God used money to accomplish a purpose
a. To train us. Samuel 2:6: 6The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. -God takes us thru extremes to see where our discipline is and see if we will be consistent.
b. To test us. Deuteronomy 8:11-18: 11 “But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today. 12 For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, 13 and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful! 14 Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. 15 Do not forget that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry. He gave you water from the rock! 16 He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good. 17 He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’ 18 Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath.- God made blessings out of stuff that we didn’t know was going to bless us. He was trying to do us good in our latter end. We sit up and talk about our skills (verses 17-18). God says, but we better remember that it was the Lord God that gave us this wealth. We don’t have anything unless God gives us the skill or power.
c. For our testimony-2 Corinthians 9:6-12 (MSG): 6 -7Remember: A stingy planter gets a stingy crop; a lavish planter gets a lavish crop. I want each of you to take plenty of time to think it over, and make up your own mind what you will give. That will protect you against sob stories and arm-twisting. God loves it when the giver delights in the giving. 8 -11God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done. As one psalmist puts it, He throws caution to the winds, giving to the needy in reckless abandon. His right-living, right-giving ways never run out, never wear out. This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God. 12 -15Carrying out this social relief work involves far more than helping meet the bare needs of poor Christians. It also produces abundant and bountiful thanksgivings to God. This relief offering is a prod to live at your very best, showing your gratitude to God by being openly obedient to the plain meaning of the Message of Christ. You show your gratitude through your generous offerings to your needy brothers and sisters, and really toward everyone. Meanwhile, moved by the extravagance of God in your lives, they’ll respond by praying for you in passionate intercession for whatever you need. Thank God for this gift, his gift. No language can praise it enough! – The King James Version says God ministers seed to the sower. God gives us for a purpose. It is so we can be a blessing. When God blesses us, we should give praise to him. Every time God blesses us, we must be a blessing. When we tell God thank you, he turns around and says you are welcome.
This message tonight was simple. God wants to multiply, provide, and give seed for an assignment. You can blow it or do what he meant for you to do and that’s what multiplies it. We must be good stewards of our blessings.