God Wants Us to Submit Our Financial Priorities
(from the Book of James)
 Pre-Occupied With Money?
Let’s face it; all of us have been preoccupied at one time or another with money. But did you know that money can be hazardous to your health? It’s true; money can actually be hazardous to your health. Two medical researchers at the University of Louisville have been looking into the question and have found that '13%' of the coins and 42% of the paper money carry disease-producing organisms.' Small denomination coins and bills are more dangerous because of their rapid turnover. But worse than that, money can affect your spiritual health as well. Money often comes between men and God. Someone has said that you can take two small ten-cent pieces, just two dimes, and shut out the view of a panoramic landscape. Go to the mountains and just hold two coins closely in front of your eyes--the mountains are still there, but you cannot see them at all because there is a dime shutting off the vision in each eye. It doesn't take large quantities of money to come between us and God; just a little, placed in the wrong position, will effectively obscure our view.
 Isaiah 55:2, 3
Why spend money on what does not satisfy? Why spend your wages and still be hungry? Listen to me and do what I say and you will enjoy the best food of all. Listen now, my people, and come to me; come to me, and you will have life!
God wants us to stop viewing wealth and stuff the way that the world views it and start to see things from his perspective! But let’s face it, if someone asked us to make three wishes, what would we ask for? I bet most of the time we would focus on money. But our self centered desire for wealth is a lot different than the attitude that the apostle Paul took. Look at what Paul wished for when given the opportunity:
Romans 10:1
My brothers, how I wish with all my heart that my own people might be saved! How I pray to God for them!
Wouldn’t it be great to have a heart like Paul? Look at what he wishes for. Others! He wishes for the salvation of others! But let’s face it, we aren’t quite there yet are we?
My Life, My Problems
It’s your life, and your life comes with it’s own set of problems. When it comes to handling money, I have to admit that I am stingy and selfish. Well, God has something to say about that:
James 5:1 to 5:3
You rich people should cry and weep! Terrible things are going to happen to you. 2 Your treasures have already rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3 Your money has rusted, and the rust will be evidence against you, as it burns your body like fire. Yet you keep on storing up wealth in these last days.
We need to ask a couple of questions as we try to figure out why we are so selfish and self concerned when it comes to our money:
 Why do you think it is so hard for us to part with our wealth and possessions?
Is it because we are worried we won’t have enough for the future, or is it because we think more of ourselves than others? If these are the reasons then let’s ask ourselves a couple of questions. First, why worry? Look at what God says about our worrying:
Matthew 6:25-26
I tell you not to worry about your life. Don't worry about having something to eat, drink, or wear. Isn't life more than food or clothing? Look at the birds in the sky! They don't plant or harvest. They don't even store grain in barns. Yet your Father in heaven takes care of them. Aren't you worth more than birds?
Matthew 6:28-30
Why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow. They don't work hard to make their clothes. But I tell you that Solomon with all his wealth wasn't as well clothed as one of them. God gives such beauty to everything that grows in the fields, even though it is here today and thrown into a fire tomorrow. He will surely do even more for you! Why do you have such little faith?
 Why do we get so hung up on ourselves?
God clearly commands us to look to the needs of others. That is, after all, why we were given what we have to begin with:
Luke 16:8-9
And it is true that the citizens of this world are more shrewd than the godly are. I tell you, use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. In this way, your generosity stores up a reward for you in heaven.
1 Peter 4:8-11
Most important of all, you must sincerely love each other, because love wipes away many sins. Welcome people into your home and don't grumble about it. Each of you has been blessed with one of God's many wonderful gifts to be used in the service of others. So use your gift well.
My Life Lived His Way
Ready for a change? Want to try living life the way that God designed it to be lived? Don’t be afraid to give away the things of this world. You cannot lose your greatest treasure. Understand that God is your true treasure.
Living for Today
We've got lots of issues when it comes to money. In addition to being selfish and stingy with our money, there is another problem that we all have.
Amos 6:5
Woe to those who live only for today, indifferent to the fate of others!
We all have the tendency to think only about NOW, today, and we spend our money accordingly! Now the criminal world is filled with people who think only about today. The FBI’s ten most wanted list is filled with folks who acted rashly with no concern for tomorrow. And they do not believe that there will ever be a consequence for their actions. They are definitely living in the moment. But are we really any different? If God was developing a ten most wanted list of people who are living in the present, with no thought of their eternal future, would we be on that list? And what does God see us doing? Are we caught up in stuff that satisfies our desires for today, without consideration for the future? Like relationships, drugs, sex, thrill seeking, success and accomplishments, or even the pursuit of money and materialism? God hates that kind of shortsighted view of life:
Proverbs 10:13
You’ll find wisdom on the lips of a person of insight, but the shortsighted needs a slap in the face.
My Life, My Problems
When it comes to my handling of money, I also have to say that I am short-sighted. God has some more advice:
James 5:4 to 5:5
You refused to pay the people who worked in your fields, and now their unpaid wages are shouting out against you. The Lord All-Powerful has surely heard the cries of the workers who harvested your crops. While here on earth, you have thought only of filling your own stomachs and having a good time. But now you are like fat cattle on their way to be butchered.
Why do we always want to live in the moment? Is it because we don’t believe there is a heaven, or because we can’t resist the temptation of the moment? Before the days of airplanes, a certain man was shipwrecked in a terrible storm on the South Pacific Ocean, and found himself on the shore of a beautiful island. The native islander seized him, and lifting him to their shoulders, they carried him to their village and set him on a crude bamboo throne. Little by little, he learned that it was their custom once each year to make some man a king; king for a year. He LIKED it ...until he discovered what happened to all the former kings. Soon he discovered that every year when his kingship was ended, the king was banished to one of the remote islands, where he starved to death. Did they intend to banish him? Absolutely. Did they know which island would be his? They chose one that was so far away that he could only see it from the top of the highest mountain. The sailor did not like that, but he was a smart man, and he was king; King for a year.
He realized that he had a choice to make. He could live the life of luxury like a king, like all of the kings before him... OR he could do something different. He could put his carpenters to work making boats to get to the island of exile, put his farmers to work transplanting fruit trees to the island, command his farmers to grow crops over there, and masons to build houses over there. That was his choice to make. Live like a king in every sort of luxury for a year, and then starve to death at the end. Or spend his year preparing for the place he would go next. It would be a hard, and exhausting year, but he would be banished... not to a barren island, but to an island of abundance. When it comes to our disbelief in Heaven, we simply need to remember that God does make us distinct promises!
1 Peter 1:3, 4
Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is so good, and by raising Jesus from death, he has given us new life and a hope that lives on. God has something stored up for you in heaven, where it will never decay or be ruined or disappear.
When it comes to our temptation to live in the moment, we have to remember that living like that can have a very long term effect on our relationship with God!
1 Timothy 6:9, 10
But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and are caught in the trap of many foolish and harmful desires, which pull them down to ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil. Some have been so eager to have it that they have wandered away from the faith and have broken their hearts with many sorrows.
My Life Lived His Way
Ready for a change? Want to try living life the way that God designed it to be lived? Stop trying to create heaven here on earth. You are sacrificing a better future. Remember that your paradise will be with God
Learning to Wait
One of the biggest reasons we have problems with money and materialism is the fact that we cannot seem to wait for anything!
Psalm 5:2, 3
You are my King and my God. Answer my cry for help because I pray to you each morning you listen to my prayer, as I bring my requests to you and wait for your reply
But how often do we actually wait? Doesn’t our culture reinforce the notion of instant satisfaction, instant gratification? How many home shopping shows are there? These shows just reinforce that we can get everything that we want, all the things that will supposedly make our lives better, as quickly and easily as we can pick up our phones. But God wants us to learn how to delay our need for instant satisfaction:
Lamentations 3:25, 27
The LORD is good to everyone who trusts in him, so it is best for us to wait in patience... To wait for him to save us ...and it is best to learn this patience in our youth
My Life, My Problems
Finally, when it comes to my money, I also have to say that I am impatient. Let's hear what God has to say about that:
James 5:7 to 5:11
My friends, be patient until the Lord returns. Think of farmers who wait patiently for the spring and summer rains to make their valuable crops grow. Be patient like those farmers and don't give up. The Lord will soon be here! Don't grumble about each other or you will be judged, and the judge is right outside the door. My friends, follow the example of the prophets who spoke for the Lord. They were patient, even when they had to suffer. In fact, we praise the ones who endured the most.
Why is it so hard for us to be patient about our desires? Is it because our culture does not accept delayed gratification, or because we’re afraid satisfaction might not be available later? Let’s take some time to pray about these issues. Pray that God will either help you live in His Kingdom here on earth, rather than the culture of 21st century America, or that God will help you to see that ultimate satisfaction awaits us in heaven and is available to us now.
My Life Lived His Way
Ready for a change? Want to try living life the way that God designed it to be lived? You may sometimes need to put off the temptations of this world to experience true bliss with God. You need to focus on the fact that God is worth the wait. It’s hard for us to admit that we are already slaves to something:
Matthew 6:24
You cannot be the slave of two masters! You will like one more than the other or be more loyal to one than the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
When we think of slavery, we often think of our history as a nation and the conditions that slaves used to live under. But when our every thought and desire is connected to something and virtually controls our decision making, we have to admit that we are now slaves to that as well, and we are just as obligated and possessed. But God has Good news for you. Imagine a freedom from the slavery of materialism and a new life. Good promises you that he can give you a new master. A master that will love you and care for you like money never could:
1 Corinthians 7:21, 24
Were you a slave when God called you? Well, never mind; but if you have a chance to become a free man, use it. For a slave who has been called by the Lord is the Lord's free man; in the same way a free man who has been called by Christ is his slave. God bought you for a price; so do not become slaves of men.
What Would Happen If I lived My Life the Way That God Wanted Me to Live?
Imagine a life in which you were not a slave to a ruthless, uncaring and uncompromising master like worldliness and materialism, and were instead the adopted child of the Master of the Universe. What would that be like? How different might it be? are you going to spend the money you have on the things of God, or the money God gave you to begin with on the things you want for yourself? It's your choice... | 
