THE KEY TO MASTERING YOUR GREED
Sunday, February 26, 2006
He who is faithful in a very little [thing] is faithful also in much, and he who is dishonest and unjust in a very little [thing] is dishonest and unjust also in much. 11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the [case of] unrighteous mammon (deceitful riches, money, possessions), who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not proved faithful in that which belongs to another [whether God or man], who will give you that which is your own [that is, the true riches]? 13 No servant is able to serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (riches, or anything in which you trust and on which you rely). Luke 16:10-13 AMP
Before God can anoint you or use you, before you can experience the best that God has for you, you need to deal with a few things. You need to get an attitude adjustment in the area of money and things; you must get free of covetousness; you must lose your fear and you must lose your greed.
Jesus said if you have not been faithful with your money and your stuff, then who will entrust to you the true riches? God is not able to entrust the true riches – the anointing and the things of the Spirit - to those who are covetous and greedy and who have made their money their god. The inescapable fact of the matter is that not one person on this earth is able to put God and their money first in their life. It is impossible. The moment you choose one, the other is knocked into last place. So if your stuff is very important to you, then you should know that God, and what He wants for you and from you, is going to be taking a back seat in your life. Your money will be in control of you. But if you put your stuff in the back seat, then you know that God will be the one in the front seat and that's Who you want in control of your life.
How do you put your stuff in the back seat? You put your stuff in the back seat by becoming a generous, cheerful giver. If you can't give anything away that God asks you to, it is too important to you. Your response to the things God asks of you will be influenced by your attitude toward your money. If you elevate money and stuff in your life, then money and stuff will dictate your choices and your outcome. If you elevate God in your life then He will influence your choices and be responsible for your outcome – and with Him you know it will always be a favorable outcome.
You have to become a giver. Your seed is the only evidence that you have mastered your greed! The dictionary defines greed as: An excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth; a reprehensible acquisitiveness; an insatiable desire for wealth. Greed is lust for money and power. Greed is not a fruit of the Spirit!
Any godly desire, when fulfilled, is satisfying and brings contentment. You need to know that any urge or desire that comes, not from God, but from the devil, is going to be insatiable. What good does it do you to get everything you think you want, but you have no peace and no satisfaction? When you are driven by ungodly desires, no matter how much you get of what you think you want, you will still be unsatisfied and you will still want more. You will mistakenly think that if you get more of what you lust after, you will feel satisfied, but it will never happen! If you give place to lust or greed in any area of your life, it will drive you. God does not drive you – He leads you. Godly desires lead you into the will of God and the satisfaction, fulfillment and peace that only God can give.
If you want God to use you, if you want to walk in peace, prosperity and fulfillment, you must make God number one in your life. You must lose your greed; you must lose your selfishness; you must lose your covetousness; you must lose your fear! Covetousness, greed, and selfishness are motivated by fear – a fear of lack; a fear of loss of control. Fear is not from God. Fear is from the devil – he controls you through your fears. God's word says in 1 John 4:18 NIV that, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."
The only way to be free of fear is to embrace the love of God. God wants us to know that He loves us and He wants us also to love others. If we believe His word that He loves us then we will also believe that He will always protect and provide for us. If we love others then we will want to be a blessing to them. We will become givers and not just takers! Faith is the opposite of, and the antidote to, fear. The only way to be free from fear in the area of money and stuff is to become a giver. The more you give, generously from your hand and cheerfully from your heart, the freer you become and the more God will be able to use you and minister through you!
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Righteous Now
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Defeating Strife
These six things the Lord hates, indeed, seven are an abomination to Him: 17 A proud look [the spirit that makes one overestimate himself and underestimate others], a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that manufactures wicked thoughts and plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, 19 A false witness who breathes out lies [even under oath], and he who sows discord among his brethren. Proverbs 6:16-19 AMP
Faith Facts
Faith is persistent
Luke 11:9-10 AMP
So I say to you, Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives; and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened.
John 16:24 AMP
Up to this time you have not asked a [single] thing in My Name [as presenting all that I AM]; but now ask and keep on asking and you will receive, so that your joy (gladness, delight) may be full and complete.
Faith is single-minded
James 1:5-8 AMP
If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him. 6 Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the