Class TWO
What is money anyway ?
Why is it so important to God ?
Why is God so concerned about our Money ?
What is MONEY ??
Lawful money is any form of currency issued by the United States Treasury and not the Federal Reserve System. It includes gold and silver coins, Treasury notes, and Treasury bonds. Lawful money stands in contrast to Fiat currency in which the government assigns value although it has no intrinsic value of its own and is not backed by reserves. Fiat money includes legal tender such as paper money, checks, drafts, and banknotes. (as per Investopedia)
When we look at the current item we use as money, we will see that over the years we have been kept informed as to what we were actually using.
Then in 1933 the gold standard was abolished ( I know you all heard that it was in 1971 but when the gold standard was abolished in 1933, it was exchanged for the Bretton Woods system which claimed to be a gold standard but…when France tried to exchange their us dollars for the gold….well in 1971, the idea just went away because there was not enough gold to exchange it with.
The items we use today, as seen in the picture above, shows that what is printed on the bill is what it is. It says “This NOTE is legal tender for all debts public and private”
So just to help us understand what a “NOTE” is. A note is a debt security or to be better understood, It is a LOAN PAPER. This is not backed up by gold, or silver but, by a promise to pay.
I have defined MONEY AS: the conversion of a finite life into a tangible, tradeable asset…In other words you trade hours, minutes and seconds of your finite life, that will never come back for the paper we call money.
THINK ABOUT THIS
Why the checkbook is important ?
Because, what we really believe in.. we will put our money there.
You can tell a lot about what someone really believes when you look at their checkbook.
Matthew 6:21 “21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (esv)
Think about this Coin Story..I have a silver dollar minted in 1885, and I want you to think about this, was anyone on earth NOW who was alive in 1885 ?
I really don’t think so.
So this was here first…AND who will be alive in 139 years from now ? I don’t think any of us will. BUT the silver dollar will still be here.
So do we really own
this silver dollar ???
You may have possession of it for just a short time.
But never Really OWN it forever.
Please read 1 Timothy 6:7. “7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.”
So answer this…what do you REALLY own ????
NOTHING……
Why is God so interested in Money, Possessions, Wealth ?
When we look at scripture, we find some amazing things. First of all, nearly 15% of Jesus words had to do with money, possessions or wealth.
16 out of 38 Parables had to do with money, possessions or wealth and around 2300 + verses had to do with money, possessions or wealth. This is more than double the number of verses on Faith and Prayer, combined.
(Howard Dayton compiled a list of around 2,350 verses that deal with possessions, and how to manage them God’s way).
(This listing can be found on the workbook page of this website.)
Why, do you think this is ?
The scripture seems to be clear about the inherent connection between a person’s spiritual life and their attitude and actions concerning money, possessions and wealth.
When we handle the money that God has entrusted to us by Biblical Financial Principles, we will gain a closer and more personal relationship with the Lord.
Please read…Luke 16:10-12
10 “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11 If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?
So what do you see that
God is telling us ?
1.) Be faithful
2.) be honest
Please read Matthew 6:24
24 “ No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon*. (rsvce) * mammon-money
You cannot serve God and money.
What does this tell us ?
Make a choice ……..You are either going to serve the Living God or you will serve an Idol.
We can understand more why God is so concerned about how we handle money, because He knows that when we encounter issues with money, it will burden us and cause us grief.
We will not be able to sleep and it will interfere with our thoughts and our prayer life. It may become so pervasive that we end up with physical issues and might even do things that we shouldn’t do to our bodies.
ALTHOUGH…..We use money to enhance our life, to sustain our life, to insure our finite life and to save so we can continue to do the same. Lastly we give to others so they can do the same for themselves.
THINK ABOUT THIS…You can’t give away pieces of your life, but you can convert it and then give it away. Unless you are present (like volunteering) you can’t give your life to be used elsewhere.
This may help us begin to understand why in the bible there are about 550 verses on love, and about 230 verses on faith but 2,300 + verses about money, assets and possessions.
The way we view and handle money
will affect our relationship with Christ because:
Much of what we do in our life and work revolves around money and possessions, and money is a god that can very easily compete with Christ for our love and focus.
The Lord is very specific when He speaks about the god “mammon”
MATTHEW 6:24 (24 “No one can serve two masters)
So when you look at that verse, Do you see any indication where you can you worship just a small part of the god mammon ?
Can Mammon just have a
little of your life ?
Are you willing to put all your life under Gods control ?
But leave your allegiance to the mammon god alone ?
Our complete surrender to Christ must be complete… there are two sides and you are unable to be on both…. You are 100% Christ or 100% mammon….there’s no split…Christ will not allow that.
John 10:10 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (rsvce)
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