What's in YOUR wallet ?
What's in HEAVEN ???
After
this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed
be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on
earth. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as
we also have forgiven our debtors. And bring us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
(Matthew
6:9-13)
Can
our need to understand God's will for our life in earth (we are not
only on earth, we are in earth, jars of clay) can it be found and
known apart from some knowledge of heaven? God's FLAWLESS will is
unopposed and uninterrupted in heaven. Can we do His will if we don't
know His will?
If
then ye were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are
above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. Set your
mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon
the earth. (Colossians 3:1-2)
If
we do this God will not fail to acquaint us with His will done in
heaven. If we don't dire things may result. Where God's will is not
pursued, the will of man and the will of Satan operate. God in Christ
does abundantly forgive, but would God rather that we cease practicing the sins of the wicked and perverse generation? Sin is the
interruption of God's flawless will. Satan first opposed and
interrupted God's will. Satan's sin was THE ORIGINAL sin. And for it
God turned Satan over into eternal opposition to Him. Every sin we
can name flowed out of Satan's presumption, his pride.
But
seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these
things shall be added unto you.
Be
not therefore anxious for the morrow: for the morrow will be anxious
for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. (Matthew
6:33-34)
If
we do not set our eyes on things above, they will be set on things
below. Certainly we see the world we live in, and in it we see the
will of man and Satan. This can be very attractive and deceptive to
our souls when we fail to seek God's will, Kingdom and righteousness.
Many of us are quite accustomed to our own will, a will to live apart
from God. God's ways are not our ways. God thinks about things very
differently that we do.
For
my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,
saith Jehovah. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are
my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
(Isaiah 55:8-9)
A
man once said, “Rich or poor it's nice to have money.” Many note
that the Bible has much to say about money. We should beware. Money
is not a major doctrine. What we do with money is part of the major
doctrine of God's righteousness.
Be
ye free from the love of money; content with such things as ye have:
for himself hath said, I
will in no wise fail thee, neither will I in any wise forsake thee.
So that with good courage we say, The
Lord is my helper; I will not fear: What shall man do unto me?
(Hebrews
13:5-6)
Of
all the evils connected to the love of money the worst may be those
done by those "supposing
that godliness is a way of gain." (1Tmothy 6:5)
But godliness with contentment is great gain: for we brought nothing into the world, for neither can we carry anything out; but having food and covering we shall be therewith content. But they that are minded to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts, such as drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil: which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
(1Ti 6:6-10)
Derek
Prince said that one of the greatest challenges to Christians is
their success. Bob Mumford says that God uses our failures in ways
essential to our discipling.
Jesus
continued, “Remember this: The sons of darkness are more shrewd
than the sons of light in their interactions with others. It is
important that you use the wealth of this world to demonstrate your
friendship with God by winning friends and blessing others. Then,
when this world fails and falls apart, your generosity will provide
you with an eternal reward. “The one who manages the little he has
been given with faithfulness and integrity will be promoted and
trusted with greater responsibilities. But those who cheat with the
little they have been given will not be considered trustworthy to
receive more. If you have not handled the riches of this world with
integrity, why should you be trusted with the eternal treasures of
the spiritual world? And if you’ve not been proven faithful with
what belongs to another, why should you be given wealth of your own?
It is impossible for a person to serve two masters at the same time.
You will be forced to love one and reject the other. One master will
be despised and the other will have your loyal devotion. It is no
different with God and the wealth of this world. You must
enthusiastically love one and definitively reject the other.” (Luke
16:8-13 TPT)
One
of the major causes of divorce is “money troubles.” They are a sure indication of a lack of contentment. If we are not content we
will want more money. That may result in greater wealth or drive us
into debt, and in either case it may result in divorce. God hates
divorce. And yet shockingly God speaks of the divorce of Himself and Israel.
(See verses on this at the end of this article.) But looking into the
scriptures we see that it was Israel who divorced herself from God by
unfaithfulness. Israel committed spiritual adultery with pagan gods.
(Perhaps sexual adulteries too as pagans “worshipped” their gods with sexual orgies.) Israel
was not content with God for THE MANY MATERIAL BLESSINGS He had
bestowed on them. Nor were they appreciative of THE MANY DELIVERANCES
HE HAD GIVEN THEM FROM THOSE WHO WOULD HAVE DESTROYED THEM. So they
separated, that is, they divorced themselves from God. What did they
think of the riches with which God had blessed them? I dare say they
thought “They
are NOT ENOUGH. The pagans seem to have something more, something
better.”
Could Israel have instead done as Jesus later taught the disciples
and used the riches God gave by blessing others generously and
hospitably? The world forgets and more than a few believers forget
that death is an appointment all must keep. No one takes their mammon
to heaven. So many are afraid for their lives and think money the answer.
If
therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who
will commit to your trust the true riches?
(Luke
16:11)
What are true riches? They are not money, food, clothes, houses. These temporal things
that we need can be ours if we seek
first God's kingdom, and his righteousness.
But
seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these
things shall be added unto you. (Matthew
6:33)
If
we do not seek ye first his kingdom and his righteousness we will be as the gentiles (the pagans). They seek what God promises to add to
our earthly lives. To seek means to look for something. But one
does not often find what they look for easily or immediately. Jesus
says later:
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8)
Effort,
persistence, and patience (asking, seeking and knocking) are
needed when things of value are desired and pursued. The pagan
(gentile) values food, clothing, houses and money. He worships them,
seeks them and finds them. We are to value God, His Kingdom and His
Righteousness. When we do we
find them and
God adds to
us what the gentiles need! We need them too. But can we see that the
unbeliever worships him/herself?
For
after
all these things do the Gentiles seek;
for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these
things. (Matthew
6:32)
Yet
these things they seek, the things we need, cannot provide them or us
with true riches. No one has the peace of God, of the Kingdom of
Heaven by having money, food, clothes or houses. But trusting God our
Savior, Father and Protector we have peace, and seeking Him, His
Kingdom and righteousness all we need is added
to us!
G4369
προστίθημι
prostithēmi
pros-tith'-ay-mee
From
G4314
and G5087;
to place
additionally,
that is, lay
beside,
annex,
repeat:
- add,
again, give more, increase, lay unto, proceed further, speak to any
more.
Total
KJV occurrences: 18
Eleven
of the 18 times G4369 προστίθημι
is
used in the NT it is translated add or added. In the remaining 7
verses we find:
Mark
4:24 - given
Luke
17:5 - increase
Luke
20:11 - sent
Luke
20:12 - sent
Acts
12:3 - proceeded
further
Acts
13:36 - laid
Hebrews12:19
- more
Be
not therefore anxious for the morrow: for the morrow will be anxious
for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. (Matthew
6:34)
And he said unto his disciples, Therefore
I say unto you, Be not anxious for your
life, what ye shall eat;
nor yet for your body, what ye shall put
on.
For
the life is more than the food,
and the body than the raiment.
Consider
the ravens, that they sow not, neither reap; which have no
store-chamber nor barn; and God feedeth them: of
how much more value are ye than the birds!
And
which of you by being anxious can add a cubit unto the measure of his
life?
If
then ye are not able to do even that which is least, why are ye
anxious concerning the rest?
Consider
the lilies, how they grow: they toil not, neither do they spin; yet I
say unto you, Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one
of these.
But
if God doth so clothe the grass in the field, which to-day is, and
to-morrow is cast into the oven; how much more shall
he clothe
you, O ye of little faith?
And
seek
not ye what ye shall eat, and what ye shall drink, neither be ye of
doubtful mind.
For
all these things do the nations of the world seek after: but your
Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
Yet
seek ye his kingdom, and these things shall be added unto you.
Fear
not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you
the kingdom.
Sell
that which ye have, and give alms; make for yourselves purses which
wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no
thief draweth near, neither moth destroyeth.
For
where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Luke12:22-34)
Verses
RE divorced Israel:
Thus
saith Jehovah, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement,
wherewith I have put her away? or which of my creditors is it to whom
I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities were ye sold, and for
your transgressions was your mother put away. (Isa 50:1)
They
say, If a man puts away his wife and she goes from him and becomes
another man's, will he go back to her again? will not that land have
been made unclean? but though you have been acting like a loose woman
with a number of lovers, will you now come back to me? says the Lord.
Let your eyes be lifted up to the open hilltops, and see; where have
you not been taken by your lovers? You have been seated waiting for
them by the wayside like an Arabian in the waste land; you have made
the land unclean with your loose ways and your evil-doing. So the
showers have been kept back, and there has been no spring rain; still
your brow is the brow of a loose woman, you will not let yourself be
shamed. Will you not, from this time, make your prayer to me, crying,
My father, you are the friend of my early years? Will he be angry for
ever? will he keep his wrath to the end? These things you have said,
and have done evil and have had your way. And the Lord said to me in
the days of Josiah the king, Have you seen what Israel, turning away
from me, has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under
every branching tree, acting like a loose woman there. And I said,
After she has done all these things she will come back to me; but she
did not. And her false sister Judah saw it. And though she saw that,
because Israel, turning away from me, had been untrue to me, I had
put her away and given her a statement in writing ending the relation
between us, still Judah, her false sister, had no fear, but went and
did the same. So that through all her loose behaviour the land became
unclean, and she was untrue, giving herself to stones and trees. But
for all this, her false sister Judah has not come back to me with all
her heart, but with deceit, says the Lord. And the Lord said to me,
Israel in her turning away is seen to be more upright than false
Judah. Go, and give out these words to the north, and say, Come back,
O Israel, though you have been turned away from me, says the Lord; my
face will not be against you in wrath: for I am full of mercy, says
the Lord, I will not be angry for ever. Only be conscious of your
sin, the evil you have done against the Lord your God; you have gone
with strange men under every branching tree, giving no attention to
my voice, says the Lord. Come back, O children who are turned away,
says the Lord; for I am a husband to you, and I will take you, one
from a town and two from a family, and will make you come to Zion;
And I will give you keepers, pleasing to my heart, who will give you
your food with knowledge and wisdom. And it will come about, when
your numbers are increased in the land, in those days, says the Lord,
that they will no longer say, The ark of the agreement of the Lord:
it will not come into their minds, they will not have any memory of
it, or be conscious of the loss of it, and it will not be made again.
At that time Jerusalem will be named the seat of the Lord's kingdom;
and all the nations will come together to it, to the name of the
Lord, to Jerusalem: and no longer will their steps be guided by the
purposes of their evil hearts. In those days the family of Judah will
go with the family of Israel, and they will come together out of the
land of the north into the land which I gave for a heritage to your
fathers. But I said, How am I to put you among the children, and give
you a desired land, a heritage of glory among the armies of the
nations? and I said, You are to say to me, My father; and not be
turned away from me. Truly, as a wife is false to her husband, so
have you been false to me, O Israel, says the Lord. A voice is
sounding on the open hilltops, the weeping and the prayers of the
children of Israel; because their way is twisted, they have not kept
the Lord their God in mind. Come back, you children who have been
turned away, and I will take away your desire for wandering. See, we
have come to you, for you are the Lord our God. Truly, the hills, and
the noise of an army on the mountains, are a false hope: truly, in
the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel. But the Baal has taken
all the work of our fathers from our earliest days; their flocks and
their herds, their sons and their daughters. Let us be stretched on
the earth in our downfall, covering ourselves with our shame: for we
have been sinners against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from
our earliest years even till this day: and we have not given ear to
the voice of the Lord our God. (Jer 3:1-25) If thou wilt return, O
Israel, saith Jehovah, if thou wilt return unto me, and if thou wilt
put away thine abominations out of my sight; then shalt thou not be
removed; and thou shalt swear, As Jehovah liveth, in truth, in
justice, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves
in him, and in him shall they glory. For thus saith Jehovah to the
men of Judah and to Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow
not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to Jehovah, and take away the
foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of
Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn so that none
can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. (Jer 4:1-4)
