Money

Up to R150 000 can get you closer to the life you want. This is the SMS I received this morning. I receive so many of these messages which tell me that I am going to be so much better off by borrowing money from financial institutions. I will be able to settle debts and pay school fees and go on holidays. This is what people are confronted with daily. This is what the enemy wants us to fill our minds with. He wants us to believe that by borrowing money we are going to be better off, and people have been able to make it look so attractive. We don’t realise that we aren’t going to be better off at all. We are going to be in bondage to the company we owe that money to. How can more debt cause you to be better off?

Proverbs 22:7, The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.

As soon as you borrow money from someone they automatically have a claim on your income. You want to buy a car so you apply for finance and the car becomes yours. But technically it isn’t yours. Until you have repaid all the debt that car belongs to the finance company. In order to keep using the car you have to repay the loan instalment every month. You are in bondage to the finance company. Until the debt is repaid they have the right to a certain portion of your income.

If you borrow money so that you can go on holiday, your holiday is going to be gone and forgotten and you are still going to be repaying that debt.

Proverbs 23:4-5, Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.

Proverbs 11:28, He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous shall flourish as the green leaf.

Ecclesiastes 5:10, Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.

1 Timothy 6:9-10, But if it’s only money these leaders are after, they’ll self-destruct in no time. Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after.

The first part of 1 Timothy 6:10 in the KJV says, For the love of money is the root of all evil.

There are people who strive to have a lot of money. The word ‘millionaire’ is like a juicy carrot dangled before a donkey to make it move. The poor donkey keeps moving forward but doesn’t realise that he will never reach the carrot. The carrot dries out and withers and he still has not reached it. Just like that, if a person lusts after money, he is never going to have enough. Enough is an illusion. Enough does not exist. Money can be gone in a moment. Look what happens when stock markets crash! People lose everything they invested. Every time there a stock market collapses there are  multiple suicides. These are the people who cannot recognise that they have worth apart from what they own. Their money becomes their identity. They are a slave to the money and when the money is gone they believe that they have no more value.

Proverbs 11:4, Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.

When we die we cannot take any money or possessions with us.

Job 1:21, Naked came I from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be blessed.

Psalm 62:10, ..if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.

Proverbs 21:26, All day long he craves for more, but the righteous give without sparing.

Don’t get attached to the money you make. It might be gone tomorrow, or you might even be gone tomorrow.

Luke 6:38, Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measure back to you.

Don’t ever be afraid to give. If you give you receive, and God loves a cheerful giver.

There you are, that’s my view on money today.

Reject the enemy

Philippians 4:8 – “Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are  noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things.

The things which you have learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.”

Romans 16:20 – “The God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, Amen.”

 

Why does the bible tell you to think about good things? So that the God of peace will be with you, and He will give you victory over the enemy. We need to crush Satan under our feet because it is Satan that lies to us and causes all kinds on bad things to happen to us. Maybe not entirely true. Satan lies to us and we believe him and then we think negative thoughts that cause bad things to happen to us.

Proverbs 23:7 – “For as he thinks in his heart so is he.”

This verse tells you that what you think about is what you become. If you keep thinking that you aren’t good enough you probably won’t measure up, even if it’s to your own standards. If you think you can’t do something I can almost guarantee you that you will not be able to. One of the biggest lies the enemy tells is that you aren’t good enough. Very few people haven’t felt that way in some stage of their life.

 

John 8:44 – “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie he speak from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

 

2 Corinthians 11:14 –  “ And no wonder! For Satan transforms himself into an angel of light.”

 

1 Peter5:8 – “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

 

Therefore, if you think negative thoughts, you will become negative in your heart, you will speak negative things and you will be a negative influence on everyone you come into contact with. If you keep thinking these think negative thoughts you are playing into the enemy’s hand. Conversely, if you think positive, pure and good thoughts the God of peace will be with you. When the God of peace is with you Satan will be crushed under yout feet! That’s a victory! If thinking positive thoughts is all it takes to put Satan under your feet that’s not so hard. It’s easy! But is it? If you have been thinking negative thoughts for so many years how can you change now?

 

Romans 12:2 – “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

 

2 Corinthians 10:4-6 – “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of god, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.”

 

Once again, Proverbs 23:7 – “For as he thinks in his heart, so he is.”

What if your circumstances are really hard? What if your spouse cheated on you? Or there’s no money in the bank? What if your doctor gives you a deadly diagnosis? What if the thought that comes into your head is one that says you should get hold of a gun and blow your brains out, or take a whole bottle of sleeping pills so that you do not have to go through the pain? What then? Recognize that thought as one that doesn’t come from God. Take it captive. Isolate it. Reject it immediately.

James 4:7 says, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you..”

Resist the devil, in other words, do not entertain that thought. Don’t allow it to take up space in your mind. Do not invite it in, it has no place in your life. Those kinds of thoughts do not come from the Holy Spirit. They are straight from the pit of hell and if you take heed of them that’s where you are going to end up together with the one from whom they originate. Please do not even contemplate that God will put thoughts like that in your mind. He is a loving and merciful Father and He loves you. He does not want to harm you in any way. He went as far as allowing His only son to die so that you can have everlasting life. John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

Be aware that every thought that you have that will cause harm to yourself or to someone else does not come from  God. Look for good things to think about. Start a gratitude journal and list things you are grateful for every day. Surround yourself with positive people. Just remember that there will always be difficult circumstances but they will change. The only thing that will never ever change is God and the love He has for you.