Trouble with Riches

Thursday 14 July
READ: James 5:1-6
MORE LESSON: I Tim. 6:9

King Solomon (the richest king who ever lived) in his attempt to express his view about the importance and worth of money said that money is a defence and it answers all things (Eccl. 7:12, 10:9).

Money is the universally accepted medium of exchange, be it Naira, Dollar, Pound, Euro, etc. With good amount of money, one can do a lot of good things. The Bible says God gives us power to get wealth, and truly speaking, some people have enjoyed this “power” to an extent that they have so much more than can be counted. A good example of this is Abraham and Lot as expressed in Gen. 36:7. But to my amazement, the rich always contribute very little when it comes to issues that do not concern them. A popular author, Vance Packard, says that the USA has at least 800 people worth more than 100 million dollar. How much do they give to the church and charity? Less than 2%!

There was this story told by a man who while on a visit to Haiti, saw a poor elderly woman at a missionary station walk miles for a meal, which she shared with a young girl. He said, “The very poor are much more generous than the very rich”. Right from the Old Testament prophets until now, many of the rich have exploited the poor. Apostle James in our text today warns that the wealth of those who oppress the poor “will be a witness against them and will eat their flesh like fire (James 5:3).

Silver and gold belongs to and must be used to serve God and humanity. But a great percentage of the rich people are very strong and can hardly part with what they have without any hope of return. Realising this, we should honour the wealthy who are generous and pray for the stingy and mean ones that they will be as lavish as they can out of their abundance. Every rich believer should share testimony with rich believers in Macedonia as stated in II Cor. 8:1-6, specifically, vs 4-5 say, Praying us with much in treaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.

Rich believers must first give themselves to the Lord in full surrender and serve Him actively with their possessions. Using your money to spread the Gospel, take care of your priest, the needy in your assembly and the neighbourhood is a must for you. You must also not rob God in tithes and offerings; bring all, ten percentage of all earnings belong to God whether you are in business or you are a civil servant. In addition, you must give pledges, mission offering, building offering, prophet's offering, Sunday offering, first fruit, etc.

PRAYER/ACTION
* Today I receive the power to give generously in my assembly, in Jesus’ name.
* Father, let Your Gospel spread through me, in Jesus’ name.
* I receive the heart to minister to the saints’ need, in Jesus name

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, thank You for making me Your battle axe against all satanic onslaught in my generation, in Jesus' mighty name.