True riches are spiritual blessings not\nmaterial blessings. True riches are things money can\u2019t buy. True riches have\nnothing to do with how much money is in your bank accounts, 401K, IRA, or portfolio.\nTrue riches are the spiritual blessings in your heart and God\u2019s grace and favor\nmanifesting in your life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paul wrote the Ephesians, \u201cBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing <\/strong>in the heavenly places in Christ\u201d<\/em> (Eph. 1:3, NKJV). In the following verses, Paul listed six specific spiritual blessings: We have been chosen, predestinated, adopted, accepted, redeemed, and forgiven \u201caccording to the riches of His grace<\/strong>\u201d<\/em> (See Eph. 1:4-7). These are true riches. Material blessings only last as long as we are good stewards over them or we die and leave them to our heirs. Spiritual blessings aren\u2019t affected by the economy, the stock market, interest rates, inflation, or other factors. Spiritual blessings are eternal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People envy billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos thinking they\u2019ve got it made in the shade. But wait a minute. There is a lot of worry, stress, fear, taxes, and thieves that come with great wealth. Some of the richest people are the most miserable. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, Twitter, and Space X, set a record in 2022 for the most money lost by a single person in history ($180-$200 billion due to a volatile stock market). Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, lost 94% of his wealth in one day causing bankruptcy. Billionaire financier, Thomas H. Lee, was recently found dead in his office in NYC from a self-inflicted, gun-shot wound. \u201cBetter is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure with trouble\u201d<\/em> (Pr. 15:16).It can all vanish overnight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One author noted, \u201cMoney can buy you\neverything but happiness and take you everywhere but heaven.\u201d Money can buy:a bed not sleep, books not brains, food not an appetite, a house not a home,\nmedicine not health, pleasure not peace, amusement not joy, sex not love, a\ncrucifix not a savior, and a church not heaven. Financial guru Dave Ramsey says\nwe all have a disease called \u201cstuffitis!\u201d We love stuff and always want more\nstuff. Money makes a good servant but a terrible master (Mt. 6:24). It\u2019s\nnot wrong to own nice things; it\u2019s wrong when things own you and become an idol\nand a barrier between you and God. Jesus taught about proper priorities, <\/strong>\u201cDo not\nlay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where\nthieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven . . .\nfor where your treasure is, there your heart will be also\u201d<\/em> (Mt.\n6:19-21). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Does this mean we shouldn\u2019t save and\ninvest for the future? Certainly not because Proverbs 13:22 says, \u201cA good\nman leaves an inheritance to his children\u2019s children.\u201d<\/em> We can\u2019t leave a\nlasting legacy to our heirs unless we manage money wisely. Rather, it means\neverything in this life is temporary so don\u2019t let it consume all your time and attention.\nFocus on spiritual things\u2014true riches! Jesus emphasized this proper balance, \u201cBut\nseek first <\/strong>the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these\nthings shall be added to you\u201d<\/em> (Mt. \n6:33). <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Bible talks a lot about money and\nteaches us to be wise managers of God-given resources. In fact, about one-third\nof Jesus\u2019 parables deal with good stewardship. God blesses diligence and hard\nwork not laziness or wastefulness. Wealth originates from God and He gives us\nthe ability to prosper (Dt. 8:18, Ps. 75:6-7). \u201cAbram was very rich <\/strong>in\nlivestock, in silver, and in gold\u201d<\/em> (Gen. 13:2). Abraham was abundantly\nblessed in material things but he was even richer in spiritual things (faith, prayer,\nand obedience). Make no mistake, God wants us blessed in every area of life\u2014 \u201c<\/em>Beloved,\nI pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul\nprospers\u201d<\/em> (3 Jn. 1:2).God promised Abraham in Genesis 12:2, \u201cI\nwill bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing<\/strong>.\u201d <\/em>One\nof the greatest blessings is to be able to bless others. Truly, \u201cIt is more\nblessed to give than to receive\u201d<\/em> (Ac. 20:35).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some Christians have a narrow view like\nBaloo the Bear in Jungle Book\u2014they only have faith for God to meet their \u201cbare\nnecessities.\u201d Paul wrote, \u201cMy God shall supply all your need according\nto His riches in glory by Christ Jesus\u201d<\/em> (Phil. 4:19). He will also\nsupply some of our wants so long as they are in alignment with His will. El-Shaddai is not the God of barely enough; He is the all\nsufficient One\u2014the God who is more than enough! Jehovah-Jireh is our provider\nand He promised, \u201c<\/em>No good thing will He withhold from those\nwho walk uprightly\u201d<\/em> (Ps. 84:11). Jesus came to give us an abundant life not a mediocre life (Jn.\n10:10). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus preached about the blessings of God\nbut He also warned against hoarding and greed. \u201cTake\nheed and beware of covetousness, for one\u2019s life does not consist in the\nabundance of the things he possesses\u201d<\/em> (Lk. 12:15).Then He told the Parable of the Rich Fool (a hoarder) to\nillustrate His point: \u201cThe ground of a certain rich\nman yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, \u2018What shall I\ndo, since I have no room to store my crops?\u2019 So he said, \u2018I will do this: I\nwill pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops\nand my goods. And I will say to my soul, \u201cSoul, you have many goods laid up for\nmany years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.\u201d\u2019 But God said to him,\n\u201cFool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those\nthings be which you have provided?\u2019 So is he who lays up treasure for\nhimself, and is not rich toward God<\/strong>\u201d<\/em> (Lk.\n12:16-21). <\/p>\n\n\n\n His possessions gave this fat cat a false\nsense of security. He thought, \u201cIt\u2019s time to recline, dine, wine, and shine.\nI\u2019m going to retire early and live high on the hog.\u201d Notice he didn\u2019t say\nanything about sharing, giving, or helping the less fortunate. It was all about\nhoarding things for himself. You see, we are not called to just be containers\nof God\u2019s blessings; we\u2019re called to be channels of blessings to others.Someone\nsaid, \u201cMoney is like manure\u2014pile it up and it stinks, but if you spread it\naround, things grow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A man was walking on the beach and found a\nbottle. He opened it and out popped a genie to grant him one wish. So, he\nwished for the stock page of the newspaper dated one year later. Poof, he got\nit, and thought he\u2019d get super rich by investing in all the most profitable\nstocks. Then he turned the page and saw his own obituary. \u201c<\/em>For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his\nown soul?\u201d <\/em>(Mk. 8:36).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Have you ever wondered why the Dead Sea is\ndead? Because it continually receives but it never gives. The fresh water of\nthe Jordan River flows into the Dead Sea but it doesn\u2019t flow out. The salt\ncontent is so high no marine life can survive. It is a stagnant cesspool. The\nSea of Galilee is fed by the same source and is teeming with marine life because\nit has an outlet. Are we channels of God\u2019s blessings or just containers? Are we\nDead Sea Christians or Sea of Galilee Christians?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus said, \u201c<\/em>If you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to\nyour trust the true riches<\/strong>?\u201d<\/em> (Lk.\n16:11) What are true riches? True riches are\nthings money can\u2019t buy\u2014peace in your mind, harmony in your home, joy in your\nsoul, right standing with God, forgiveness of your sins, health in your body, receiving\nprayer answers, having your name in the Lamb\u2019s Book of Life, helping others in\nneed, seeing God\u2019s favor in your life, and having a clear conscience. So, let\u2019s\nbe rich toward God and lay up treasures in heaven. Remember, hearses don\u2019t have\nluggage racks or trailer hitches. You can\u2019t take it with you so seek after true\nriches which are eternal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" True riches are spiritual blessings not material blessings. True riches are things money can\u2019t buy. True riches have nothing to do with how much money is in your bank accounts, 401K, IRA, or portfolio. True riches are the spiritual blessings in your heart and God\u2019s grace and favor manifesting in your life. Paul wrote the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":661,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=658"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":663,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658\/revisions\/663"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}