Financial Peace and Contentment

You know what I think about during the holiday season? Money and gifts. I can't rest or enjoy anything else until I have budgeted for the season three or four times over and I know exactly what everyone is getting. Does that seem absurd? Some people actually start saving for next year's Christmas right after Christmas. What about the rest of the year? I know that money can't buy happiness and all that good stuff, but I still seem to hoard and budget myself to death at times, and it's always for birthdays, Christmas, and a few of the other holidays. I never seem to be content with the amount of money in the bank when I know I have to spend some of it.

Money is great, you should have a savings account and retirement fund, but it shouldn't be a priority. More than likely folks out there believe that as long as they give the 10%, maybe a hair more, that they can spend and do whatever else they want to with their money. God gave it to us right? I've been there! Don't twist up what I'm saying here, I do have a point I'll get to in just a minute. I also believe that we are entitled to spend on some of our desires. The hard part is trying to balance it all. If we're raging in our hearts for more, more, more, that doesn't leave a lot of room to be thankful for what we have. Nor does it give us the peace we need to walk out His will.

"Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it.  So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight for the true faith. Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life." 1 Timothy 6

Is he saying not to have anything to do with money? No. The point is that chasing after money is a trap. We are counting on our own talents and resources to establish ourselves for a fruitless cause. My favorite part of the scripture is, "Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth." If we're never content we have no peace. If we have no peace we aren't trusting God to meet our needs. God always has our best interest in mind, so we can trust him with everything. My prayer is that  you and I would reflect on those things we have which are of eternal value this holiday season. What if we all woke up tomorrow and our bank accounts were liquidated? What would we have then? Only the things that can't be shaken. Happy Holidays to all!

Stop the Steamroll

I'm not sure who reads the blog, but I know there are a lot of people who land on this site. People from all over the world. Somebody, somewhere, sometime will stumble upon one of these pages at the right time. That's all that matters. This week I'm writing about something we all deal with whether we understand what is happening or not. Most of us who are somewhat mature in the Lord understand it, almost to the point to where it gets old and we brush it off. No matter how mature you are, you will have to continually fight this battle and continually be on guard. For those of you who are new to the faith, and would like insight into how the enemy operates, and how to beat him, this is for you too.

It doesn't take much for us to feel beat up, worn out, frustrated, and unhappy. After a while we tend to get used to feeling that way, not because we like it, but because we don't know how to fix it. For us Christians we tend to think it's just the way life is, after all we're free and we're new creations. What could be wrong? It can't be the devil, I know how he operates and I'm tired of people mentioning that! The problem is that the devil is cunning, unsuspecting, and will slow walk you right back into those old patterns of thought without you realizing what's happening. Before you know it you're agreeing with some of it, you're confused, and most importantly you're moving away from God. When we're moving away from God our whole life is out of balance. And then, it's steamroll time. Don't be steamrolled. I want to share a few insights into how and why this happens and of course how to say enough is enough and put an end to it.

The name devil is the greek word diabalos and is derived from two greek words dia, which means through, as when referring to penetrating something all the way through and balos which means to throw. When these words are put together to form the word diabalos, it paints a vivid picture of the devil as one who repetitiously throws accusations at the mind, striking again and again until he ultimately penetrates the mind with his slanderous lies and relationship destroying insinuations. Hopefully you've heard the scripture, "neither give place to the devil." Other translations use "foothold" instead of place. The word place is the greek word topos, which describes a specific place, like on a real geographical map. The word topos is where we get the word topography. This is important because it tells us that the devil is seeking a specific place and entry point through which he can enter our minds and emotions and stir up trouble.

The devil is referred to in Ephesians as the "commander of the powers of the unseen world", and in Revelation he is called the "accuser of the bretheren". The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy, said Jesus in John 10:10. I'm not going to break bad on scriptures here, I want to emphasize the point that the devil is a destroyer and remains unseen other than the physical and emotional affects the person being tormented manifests. Taking it a step further, this happens to us all. I've gotten so bombarded with thoughts that I've literally been worn out. I give the enemy an entry point somehow, by offense, jealousy, disobedience, etc. I get so caught up in my own stuff, I don't realize what's happening, until I've had enough!

Which brings me to the conclusion. The Bible is called the sword of the Spirit for a reason and it's not because you're supposed to pick it up and swing it around as such. The words contained inside of it are a spiritual force, from THE spiritual source. I learned a while back that for every negative thought there is a scripture that destroys it. When you have had enough of the steamrolling, you need to get mad, stand up, and start quoting scripture. I'm not talking about passive Bible reading. Jeremiah 20:9, "But his word was in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary from holding it back, and I could not." A fire! When you read the Word in times such as this it needs to be fire and spoken loudly. Quote some of your favorite scriptures and tell the devil he's out of here! That's the transforming, creative, life giving force of the Word. When you mean it and speak it. If you choose to do nothing, you will continue to live in torment. Take the stand. It's God's Word and no lie or accusation stands a chance against it. Below is as example,

The Lord is my Shepherd and I shall not want! He goes before me and levels the mountains, He breaks down the gates of bronze and the bars of iron, the mountains melt like wax before the Lord. Shouts of deliverance and praise resound in the tents of the righteous. He is my rock and my redeemer. I will stand still and see the salvation of the Lord and I will never be snatched from His hand. I go in and out always finding pasture. I demolish every argument and pretension that sets itself against the knowledge of God and I take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. My name is written in the Lambs book of life and I can claim every promise. I'm a living stone, a spiritual house, who flourishes in the courts of my God and I will never be put to shame. I dwell in the shelter of the Most High and rest in the shadow of the Almighty. The Lord is my deliverer and I will be delivered. 




Greek word study taken from Rick Renner, Sparkling Gems. For further study on the devil's schemes check out Neil Anderson.