FROM LOSSES TO GAINS
Luke 12:15 AMP "And He said to them, Guard yourselves and keep free from all covetousness (the immoderate desire for wealth, the greedy longing to have more); for a man's life does not consist in and is not derived from possessing overflowing abundance or that which is over and above his needs.".
The world measures a person's success by his or her material wealth and it also determines our social status amongst our peers and society. This is the driving force behind the criminality in society. The world loves a person as long as they can receive some material wealth from such a person and everybody wants to feel loved.
The scriptures says in Proverbs 14:20 AMP "The poor is hated even by his own neighbor, but the rich has many friends." The rich are not short of friends most of whom do not truly love them but are attracted to their wealth. This is one of the reasons why an over -attachment to material things makes one vulnerable to emotional and spiritual manipulation.
Some preachers tend to accommodate the excesses of the rich in their congregation for the fear of loosing out on their largess. This is not a demonstration of true love as these persons easily violate biblical principles for living and pay dearly for it , an example is the case in 3 John 1:8-10 NLT "So we ourselves should support them so that we can be their partners as they teach the truth. I wrote to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be the leader, refuses to have anything to do with us. When I come, I will report some of the things he is doing and the evil accusations he is making against us. Not only does he refuse to welcome the traveling teachers, he also tells others not to help them. And when they do help, he puts them out of the church." The truth of the gospel couldn't be preached in this local church because of the censorship by Diotrephes: he was rich and controlled what came in and out of this church, it was his will and not God's will that was being done. There are many of such persons in the church of Christ who have gagged up the minister and turned the church into a personal theater to display their arrogance and presumptuousness. This was what led to Job’s downfall.
Prophet Job fell into Satan’s trap because he always sought for prominence among God's people due to his immense material wealth : he lost all of it in less than a week until he was rebuked by Elibu the teacher of God's word in Job 36:8-9 AMP "And if they are bound in fetters [of adversity] and held by cords of affliction, [Ps. 107:10, 11.] Then He shows to them [the true character of] their deeds and their transgressions, that they have acted arrogantly [with presumption and self-sufficiency]." self- sufficiency is the tendency of placing oneself above correction, and this is all Satan needs to pull a person down, such persons battle constantly with depression ,loneliness and the fear of loosing all (Rev.3:17). This is typical of those who abuse the rights and privileges given them by God . That's why the scriptures says in Proverbs 11:28 AMP "He who leans on, trusts in, and is confident in his riches shall fall, but the [uncompromisingly] righteous shall flourish like a green bough." Marriages hinged on material wealth tend to suffer tremendously as they are easy prey for the enemy. The just shall marry by faith and remain married by faith which comes from constantly hearing God's word. This is what keeps a marriage going and not money. We can't love our spouses and money at the same time, it is absolutely impossible. You either love one and hate the other.
Love is the fulfillment of the law of God and compliments our faith, thus when a believer in Christ places more importance on acquiring wealth than on the mission of saving souls he or she gets exposed to the enemy and suffers losses. God wants us to come to the point where the loss of material wealth doesn't matter anymore ( Acts20:23-24) . We should be willing to sacrifice anything for a better fellowship with Christ ( Philippians 3:8) .
The joy of being committed to serve the lord shouldn't be hampered by an over -attachment to anything especially if we have suffered any loss of property (Hebrews 12:1) because of the futility of clinging to things that are subject to depreciation and decay ( prov23:5, Matthew 6:19-20). Jesus said in Lk 12:15 that a man's true worth isn't measured by how much wealth he or she has acquired but by the honour God has placed on him or her. Some of the most influential persons on earth do not have much but wield more influence than the rich . The lord desires that nothing competes with him for our affection (Ps 73:25). When Job made God his first love, he began to experience a recovery and received more wealth than he ever had (Job 42:12-13) :his losses were turned into everlasting gains and so shall it be to you as you read this now in Jesus name. Prayer /counseling +2348098536911, +2348035536911
Email :Michaelbensonajayi@gmail.com
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