Question:  How do you think about money?  How does God?

Where did you get the things you have?  From God (1 Cor 4:7), the giver of every good gift (Jas 1:17).  He grants us life, breath, and all things (Acts 17:25), including the ability to make money (Deut 8:18).

What about ownership?  “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it” (Psalm 24:1; 50:12).  All you have is really God’s.  Your house—it’s God’s.  And your car:  God’s.  Your bank accounts, investments, electronics, books, clothes, jewelry, collectibles… God owns it all.  Even you belong to God—you were bought with a price (1 Cor 6:20).

So if it’s all from God and belongs to God, what’s our role?  We’re stewards, caretakers.  Our job is to use all we have (time, talents, treasure) in ways that please the Owner—so when he comes back he finds us faithful (Luke 12:41-48).  That’s what a good steward does.

What about giving to God’s church?  The Macedonians set the bar high:  though severely impov­er­ished, they gave gen­erously, freely, gladly, beyond their means (beyond?!) (2 Cor 8:1-5).  So you don’t have to be wealthy to excel in giving (Luke 21:1-4).  In fact, loss of wealth may be just the medicine we need so we can learn to give with bold generosity.  Jesus said it’s more blessed to give than receive (Acts 20:35).  Con­ventional wisdom says stock­pile goods for yourself (Luke 12:16-21); God’s wisdom says work to gain in order to give (Eph 4:28).

God’s charge to his church is to be content with food and clothing (1 Tim 6:8), content whatever your circumstances (Phil 4:11), content with what you have (Heb 13:5).  Why?  Because the Lord will never leave or forsake his children.  God may blow away our creature com­forts, but he will not leave us.  And if we have Christ, we have enough!

Goshen Family, in light of all these urgent and liberating Bible truths, join me in praying that God will guide each of us so that, by the end of 2017, we’ll see his provision of funds to reach or exceed our annual ministry budget!  Our budget is a prayer goal adopted in faith to fund the spreading of Jesus’ love, teaching of God’s truth, and blessing of countless lives.  We adopted our budget together in prayer, and now we need to pray, plan, and prioritize to reach the goal God gave us.