So ... it's been a while since I posted something - the summers in Denali just seem to get too busy ... plus this past summer was our busiest ever! But now, it is time to turn back to more important things ... to things that impact life, that can change a life, that can have a real impact.
I will do more edited postings from the book in the next post but just to bring you up to date and remind you of some basics:
Jesus, in His parables, dealt with no topic more than money ... so it must be awfully important that we have the right view of money, don't you think???
In fact, money, of all topics, is THE most talked about topic in all of God's word ... more than prayer, more than salvations, more than anything else. So, again, it must be awfully important that we have the right view of this thing called money, don't you think???
Yet, so little of what God's Word has to teach us about money is taught from the pulpit ... and much of that is wrong, especially on the topic of giving.
So ... as we begin again and anew, let me mention something that you will never master, that you will never need reminding of, no matter your age, no matter your maturity as a Jesus follower.
Remember what the apostle Paul warned us about in 1 Tim 6:10, a verse that is often itself mis-translated???
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.
There is a ton of information scattered in this verse but right off the top is that nasty "love of money." It is not evil itself as some translations incorrectly say but rather it is the root of all kinds of evil. It is just an innocuous looking piece of colored paper but oh what sway it can have on our lives. And since we deal with it every day, we are going to be tempted by that "love" of money every day also ... the temptation to love it will never go away.
And so, what must we continue to remind ourselves of about how God the Father wants us to view this necessary medium of exchange, this everyday commonplace item in the marketplace???
Money is nothing more than a tool, like a hammer, like a car, like a house, like a job and so on. All of these can be mis-used, but all can also be used to bless others in the process of viewing and using them as a tool. Never should any of them - especially money - be viewed as measures of success ... or measures of "I am better than you."
So ... how are you using that tool of money, however much He has blessed you with???