Get Rich?

Money is a gift that is given to certain people to help others in need, for each one has its own gift. When we make money our goal, instead of making Christ our goal we fall into so many temptations . Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs (1 Timothy 6:9-11). If riches were a prerequisite for salvation, the rich man would have gone to heaven. (Luke 16). He was rich, but did not realize his money was a gift from God that has to be shared with the poor to attain eternal life. What can I do to inherit eternal life, a rich man asked Jesus? Go and sell all what you have and give to the poor, then you will have treasure in heaven (Matthew 19). No one can serve two masters, either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24).

The widow who gave the coins gave the greatest according to Jesus. Jesus was not so pleased at the huge sums of money that others were giving. To Jesus the woman gave the greatest, because the woman gave out all she had and she gave from my heart. Therefore, Christianity is all about your heart and how you sacrifice your need for someone else’s need. Furthermore, it is the Christ in you that is the hope of glory. Christ is love so it is the love in your heart that is the hope of glory. Even when you have love in your heart, it is not going to be all rosy. You share in Christ’s sufferings as well as share in his glory. (Romans 8:17)

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I HAVE GIVEN MY LIFE TO CHRIST

This is a popular saying by Christians and we hear it each day. When someone is asked? Are you a Christian? The person replies Oh yes! And most of the time adds, I was born into a Christian home, I never miss church, and I am even in the church choir and so on. Wait a minute, is this what qualifies one as a Christian? Certainly not!

That statement “I have given my life to Christ is a very huge statement” which means you are walking in the footsteps of Christ and he is in charge of your whole life. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we intend to submit to Christ’s ruling in our lives that is submitting to the Holy Spirit. You live according to the spirit not according to the flesh. Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:6-8). When we are comfortable in the body that is engaging in the flesh .The Apostle Paul mentioned the acts of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-20. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. Therefore, the more the flesh is crucified, the closer we get to God, for the flesh kills but the spirit gives life.

Christianity is not about you, but it is about living selflessly by putting other people’s needs before yours. The greatest commandment that Jesus gave was love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40)

How can you say you love God when you do not love your brother or sister? You bear grudges against people; you don’t want to be friends with your neighbor who reported you to child services for not treating your child well and among others. If we love only those who have been good to us, then we have not done anything. (Luke 6:32-36). Jesus emphasized in Luke 6:35-36 that “But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful”. Therefore we need to let go and let God in our lives.

THE DILEMMA

A mother was nearing pension and she had nothing to show for all the number of years in service, then she managed to rent a house to use as a preschool. However, her daughter was struggling. She and her husband had hit a low point in their lives. Taking care of the home had become so difficult, like a whirlwind, the landlady was evicting them from where they lived. Here the mother wanted to use her house for a business entity to survive and there was her daughter needing the house to shelter her family. She was adamant at first, not wanting to give the house but eventually she let it out. She did not think of her pension plan anymore but she was thinking of the need of her daughter. She put her daughter’s needs above hers and her daughter lived there with her family. After a while, someone she never fathomed help from bought her a house even bigger than what she gave out. She lost it all for the sake of Christ, she wasn’t even thinking about gaining. However, she was able to find her life after losing it all to fulfill a need of someone. The story of the Good Samaritan that Jesus told, lays emphasis on helping people in need, irrespective of the assumptions, values and belief we may hold. The Jews were not on good terms with the Samaritans, but this man, “deviated” from the norm to fulfill a need.

Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay its head. (Matthew 8:20-21). Jesus stressed on the need for selflessness in order to follow him and that is the essence of Christianity.

In Matthew 10:39 Jesus said whoever finds his life will lose it and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

TOPSY TURVY

Ohemaa lived in an affluent neighbourhood, she had it all. She was a writer and a student, when she dropped her kids off at a very prestigious school every morning, she will quickly go to school and at her leisure time, she will write her books. This was her routine and everything was going on well. On the other hand, her husband worked in a reputable organization where he headed the marketing division. Like a whirlwind, everything started falling apart, her husband lost his job, they could no longer afford that school for their kids, they could not pay their rent and they were served with an eviction notice.  All of a sudden their lives changed, they had no place to go to. Ohemaa prayed to God for a solution to their predicament. God answered her prayer. Her mum offered her a cottage on a farm house where they could live in until they get their acts organized. She has never lived in such a house, it was way too small and archaic. Besides, she has lived in a city all her life, how could she cope with life in the suburbs. She started seeking her own solutions but it was to no avail. She definitely had no choice and she said to herself, may be that is where God wanted me to live.  Although adamant from the beginning, she began to trust the process of letting God reign. She went there with her family; her husband found another job and hope was revived. Since the neighbourhood was deprived, she set up a not for profit organization to affect lives. She started by donating items to people living in extreme poverty and it metamorphosed into a very big organization with about 20, 000 workers across the globe. God redirected her path into her destiny. Initially, she felt it was a demotion but it was a promotion.

Humble yourselves and God will lift you up in due time.

FORGIVENESS

The Lord’s Prayer mentioned that God should forgive our sins as we forgive the sins of others. We cannot hold on to the sins of others and expect God to forgive us of our sins. It works hand in hand. The story of the parable of the unmerciful servant explores further how we should forgive people of their sins so that God will also forgive us of our sins. A servant owed his master 10,000 bags of gold. He pleaded for mercy, the master had pity on him and forgave cancelled his debts. As he was going home, he saw a fellow servant who owed him 100 silver coins, he grabbed him and begun to choke him. He wanted his money back at all cost. The master heard the information of what had happened. He called him a wicked servant, and said; I had pity on you and cancelled your sins, shouldn’t you have had pity on your fellow brother as I had on you?  He called the jailers to come for him and torture him until he pays his money back. Jesus concluded, this is how your heavenly father will treat each of you if you do not forgive each other from your heart. (Matthew 18:21-25).

NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION

A man’s kids were sacked from school for non- payment of fees. He didn’t know where to turn to. He prayed to God to settle the school fees for the kids. The money for the fees was not coming. He felt God has unanswered his prayer. His kids could not go to school for three weeks. He unexpectedly had money to pay the fees. The duration of not getting the money was so long that he had already started homeschooling the kids. That was the birth of a great school. When he wanted money to pay fees, the money delayed and his talent that was hiding was unearthed. God gave him a better option.

Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that will prevail. (Proverbs 19:21).