mammon – MarinaMorrison(aka)EdenStillwater'sInspirations

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, bids us to ask ourselves whether we are serving God, or serving money/riches. Mammon, it is called in the Bible.

As I read the message, I recalled a conversation I had recently, about someone being refused a meal because they wouldn’t give up their personal information and register. They were told the reason was that if they didn’t register, the church couldn’t get paid for the meal by the government. Jesus tells us, in Matt. 6:24, that we cannot serve both God and money. Either we will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. This is very true. We prove it. I don’t think there’s a Christian that hasn’t experienced this conflict in one way or another. And, the love of money will definitely cause conflict in your life. With it comes debt, deceit, stress, all kinds of stumbling blocks.

Some of us who have held down two, and sometimes three jobs, just to make ends meet, know what a cruel Lord money can be. Work, work, work; and there’s still nothing left over, and still no chance of getting ahead. Some of us have fallen into the prestige and power trap. We sold ourselves to the “up and coming crowd;” the “Haves.” Some of us got caught up in the money trap because we tried to replace our self respect and/or dignity with stuff, stuff, and more stuff. We have to be very careful with our attitudes about money/mammon, because mammon is a very sneaky adversary. I say that, because the spirit behind it and the world’s ideas of wealth, are at work for the powers, principalities, and hosts of spiritual wickedness in the heavens. In reality, it is only sidewalk. It’s what the streets in Heaven are paved with.

Solomon said that money answers everything. It does. It pays the rent, puts food on the table, fills the car with gas, etc. But, money is to serve us; not vice versa. Keeping our attitudes about it in line with God’s Word, and practicing good stewardship/management, are the keys to staying free of bondage to it. There’s also that checklist of things like pride, fear, greed, and the like, to reckon with. We can easily fall into the money trap by way of these.

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eden08122015

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us the we need to check our motives from time to time. It’s easy to get caught up in the “keeping up with the Joneses” game; easy to get caught up in all the right things, but for the wrong reasons.

The Bible tells us that we cannot serve both God and Mammon (money). Yet, the Bible also tells us that money answers everything. No, that isn’t a contradiction. Money does answer everything in this world. We need it to survive in this world. There’s rent to pay, bills to pay, we need food and clothing, etc., etc., etc. The world operates on money. The reason it’s called currency is that it keeps the economy flowing, The economy is part of life in this world. It’s the base from which society operates. However, in God’s plan, money is to serve us. We are to master our money, and not vice versa.

When we master our money, being good stewards in regards to tithing, giving, being financially responsible, etc., we are serving God with our money. God knows we have to have it to survive down here. But, God is till God over us, and over our money. God sends the supply; He is the source. The money is just a resource to be used as needed.

It’s easy to get caught up in the competitions for titles, in the race to “fit in” with the affluent crowd, and the putting on of all kinds of airs. That’s when you know it’s time to recheck your motives, and time to line yourself back up with God’s will for you and your money. I’ve known people who had to cut up the credit cards and take on a second or even third job because the clothing bill maxed out the cards…because it just wasn’t acceptable to be seen wearing the same outfit or even the same piece of clothing twice. What kind of people are you hanging around with? And what are you trying to prove? That’s living by the world’s standards; not by God’s. And, right there, you are serving Mammon-which also, in, and according to the world, signifies affluence. Yes, God does want you to have that beautiful dress, girlfriend. He doesn’t want you to be enslaved to a second or third job to get it, though. That’s why we have things like budgets, savings, and the like. Don’t get so caught up trying to “fit in,” in this world that you become a slave to it’s standards. Remember, you are the head, and not the tail. You are the master over the money; not vice versa. Make it serve you, so you don’t end up serving the wrong god.

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Tag: mammon

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