True Security

Job 31:24 "1 have not put my trust in gold or said to pure gold,
'You are my security'.”

Read Luke 12:13-21

Apply
 The rich fool thought that he could trust in his grain. Yet the grain outlasted his own life. He invested his wealth with something it could not give: security. It would always be there to make his life comfortable. But the things of this world are unstable, a pile of sand ready to collapse. God's response to him is blunt: "You fool."
"Having lots of money can be like a drug. It can make you feel powerful and giddy. It can convince you that everything is going to be okay.” 4 We think that only if we accumulate more and more we will have enough. That day never comes-'enough' is never reached.
When we trust our Lord we can stop hoarding wealth beyond our needs and become 'rich toward God.'
The only true security comes from trusting in God's care for his children. As Christians, we can be assured that God loves us because of Christ's work on our behalf. Therefore, we can loosen our grip on our treasures. We see them as temporary and God's kingdom as eternal.
1. How much money do you want left when you die? Why?
2. What does becoming 'rich toward God' look like? Does that reflect your own lifestyle? Why or why not?

Pray for a renewed heart that treats money as a mere thing, and treats God as the only true security.

Look at your long-term goals: home, retirement, children. How much accumulation of wealth is required to meet those goals? What if your lifestyle was greatly simplified-how much less would you need? Would you give away the difference?


Day Four - True Security

Copyright 1997. Redeemer Presbyterian Church of New York City

God's Ownership of His People

1 Corinthians 4:7 "For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?"



Apply:
 Everything good in our lives comes from God: our abilities, our upbringing, our educational background. We would not be where we are without countless interventions by God on our behalf. Beyond those temporary blessings, God has given his children the greatest gift of all: his only Son. The Corinthian church, and many of us today, practically ignore the full wonder of that claim.
The Gospel is a gift. Our union with Christ is all by God's grace. There is nothing we did to deserve it or earn it. In fact, we all were in rebellion against God (Romans 1:18ff, 3:23). And yet Christ died for his people, bearing their sin and giving them his righteousness (2Cor 5:21). When we forget that, according to Paul, we become prideful and selfish.
What if someone loaned us $100,000? Would we resent giving them five bucks? Would we treat all those resources as ours alone? God gives us things of this world to use on his behalf. He didn't have to. But we are his children now, he loves us and gives us what we need and what we can employ to further his kingdom, to spread his grace even more. His goodness includes giving us the joy of commitment to him.
1. Would you treat your things differently if they belonged to someone else? What if you acted as if God owned everything you have: your home, your clothes, your furniture, your money, your time?
2. What have you received from God? How is your life different because of Christ?


Pray 
Pray for a renewed, joyful heart, using the words of Psalm 100.
"Know that the Lord is good. It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture."


Do 
Think of ten big purchases that you've made in the past year or so. Discretely (or even just mentally) label them "Provided By and Belonging to God. For His Use Only.” 

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Day Three - God's Ownership of His People

Days 1 & 2 posted previously.

Copyright 1997. Redeemer Presbyterian Church of New York City

God's Ownership of Creation

Deuteronomy 8:17-18 "You may say to yourself, 'My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me. ' But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth...”
Read Psalm 50, especially 7-15
Apply God is the creator (Gen 1:1), the sole ruler and Lord over all creation. He controls all things in this world, the whole creation (Psalm 50:12). Nothing that we do takes away from God's overruling presence throughout all of creation. It is his to create, and protect, and use for his glory. So whenever we use the resources of the world, we use the resources of God's world.
That also means that "the silver is mine and the gold is mine" (Haggai 2:8). When we look at our own finances, we tend to forget God's sovereign ownership of creation. We expect him to care for us as if he owes us something. In Job 41: 11, God replies, "Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me." Or, we think that we have earned our treasures because of our own abilities (See Deuteronomy 8:17 above).
Therefore, God doesn't need our money as if he needed an income. Instead, we need him every moment to sustain us. Our worship, and the dedication of our whole lives to him, is an acknowledgment of his control over everything. It's a thank offering, a giving back of what we have so abundantly received (Psalm 50:14).
1. Do you act like God "owes" you something? Why?
2. What causes you to forget God's loving control of the world?
Pray For a renewed heart that daily remembers God's active control of the world and a thankful heart that praises his loving care.
Do How might living as if God owns everything influence: the way we shop, the presents we put under the Christmas tree, the vacations we plan, our giving to the needy?



Copyright 1997. Redeemer Presbyterian Church of New York City
Day 2 of 20