The Wealth of Money
Sermon on Wealth
The Wealth of Money (excerpt from Faith-Based Solutions: Believing Your Way to Wealth)
by Yveatte M. Moore
Psalm 23:1 says, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” I used to read that and look at all the times in my life that I did want, or lack what I needed. Then I would remember all the times I heard a preacher say that the Lord doesn’t always give you what you want, but what you need.
Hogwash!
During so many times in my life when I didn’t have enough money to pay a bill or cover an unexpected cost, I would become frustrated. To me, that was a need, not just a want. So why didn’t I have what I needed, like the verse says?
Instead of standing firm and claiming the abundance of God through those 4 little words (I shall not want), I would muddle through and dismiss the fullness of the promise.
Then there was a time when I heard a youth pastor speak about the verse in Romans 8:32, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” Wow, if you really think about that, it seems too good to be true.
Maybe you have done exactly what I did—you measured the circumstances in your life against what you read in the Bible to see if it was true. You didn’t see the reality of His promise in your circumstance, so you dismissed the Bible, maybe even dismissed God.
It takes discipline to live by faith.
Faith vs. Self-HelpNow don’t get me wrong. Faith is not a Magic Genie. Just because we choose to believe for something doesn’t mean it will magically appear at that moment. But God did say in the Bible to believe as if it already was (Mark 11:24).
Faith acts like a magnet. It pulls us to the things which God promised us, but we have to stand firm in what we believe because the evidence—our current circumstances—are very persuasive in keeping us stuck right where we are. Don’t give up believing.
That’s why it is so important to have dreams and goals along with the knowledge of God’s promise, which propel us forward. But make no mistake. Our dreams and goals must be aligned with the truth of God’s Word, and then our faith is the thing that activates the movement toward them.
It’s up to us and the level of our faith as to how fast we go. The closer we grow to God, the stronger our faith becomes. The key variable in this equation is our will.
Though it is true that lives can be changed for the better through personal development principles, all the self-help principles in the world are just rubbish and the results temporary if they are not rooted in the principles of God’s Word. Jesus said in the Bible that the truth is what sets us free.
So how do you know if the principles you are using are rooted in the truth? …Click to continue