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How God Unveiled secrets about Managing Finances
I would love to share with some of the principles I have learnt from the bible about managing finance, especially from the book of Mathew 6:24
The spirit of mammon –Mathew 6:24
The
Spirit of Mammon: What Money Seminars Will Never Tell You
There
are books galore that teaches people about how to make money. however i took to myself to study on the management principles that are outlined in the Bible. These principles have been helping me so much in dealing with money.
Scriptural
principles for the way we use money are very much connected with the whole of
our Christian life. You may have other areas of your Christian life pretty much
sorted out, but if you haven’t sorted out how to handle money according to
biblical principles, then your whole life is going to be out of alignment with
where God wants it to go. Have you ever had the experience of driving a car where
the front wheels are badly out of alignment? It’s really hard work. You have to
concentrate hard, and wrestle with the thing, as it’s always trying to pull in
one direction. But when the wheels are aligned correctly, the car virtually
steers itself. Your life may be very spiritual in other areas, but if you are
out of line with Gods principles for handling your money, money issues are
always going to be a struggle. This question of handling money is a
discipleship issue that some Christians never get right, and they wonder why
their Christian life suffers.
I’ve
always thought it a bit strange that in the Christian church we have taught
people lots of basics about how to become a disciple of Jesus, but have we have
missed out one of the things Jesus talked most about. We teach people about the
importance of the scriptures – how to read them study them, and apply them to
their lives. We teach them how to pray, how to serve. But we don’t talk much
about the one area of our lives that has the power to be the greatest blessing,
or the greatest hindrance in our walk with Jesus. It’s the thing that messes up
disciples more than anything else: how to handle money.
Where
do so many Christians learn about handling money? Not from the scriptures or
from teaching in Church. No, they hear it from parents, who may be working from
Godly principles, or they may not. They learn from books they read, and columns
and articles in the newspaper written by secular economists. They learn from
attending seminars on how to make money through property investments, and how
to handle the stock market, and how to get rich quick by investing in this and
that. If they don’t learn that way, they either learn through losing money or
worse still, they don’t learn at all.
I came to know that you can
learn a lot from secular money seminars, but there are some things that the
people running those seminars will never tell you. Here’s the first thing
you will never hear at a secular money seminar
1. The
Spirit of Mammon.
In
Matthew 6:24 Jesus says "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate
the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the
other. You cannot serve both God and Money”. (Matthew 6:24)
What I
have read to you comes from the New International Version. This verse is not
translated well, for the word that is translated “money” in the NIV is not the
word Jesus used. He used an Aramaic word “Mammon”. What Jesus actually said was
“You cannot serve God and Mammon”. Mammon is not money.
The
word Mammon is more than money. When Jesus used the word “mammon” he was
identifying Mammon as a personal and spiritual entity. Mammon is the dangerous
and seductive spiritual power behind money. When Paul writes to the Ephesian
Christians he says this: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but
against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark
world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly
realms.”(Ephesians 6:12) The Apostle Paul says we are to wage war against these
spiritual powers. Mammon is an evil, spiritual power that enslaves people
through the medium of money. It’s the evil spirit behind the misuse of money.
Jesus says we will either hold on to God and hate the evil spirit of Mammon, or
we will hold on to Mammon and hate God. Note that it’s not hating money,
but the evil force behind it that enslaves men
and women through it. You can’t be neutral on this subject. It’s a choice of
whom we serve through our money – will we use our money to serve God or Mammon.
Money
itself is neutral. It’s neither good nor bad. But there is an addictive, seductive,
spiritual power behind money that uses it to corrupt and seduce, and in some
cases, to destroy people. This evil power, which Jesus identified by the name
Mammon, makes a bid for our hearts. For when it gets us, it sucks the milk of
human kindness out of our being. So what do we do? Do we stop using money? Of
course not. We all have to use money every day of our lives. It’s part of the
way our society operates. But we need to recognize that behind every bit of
money we use there is a spiritual reality that Jesus alerted us to. Unless we
really understand that, we will never be able to live as Jesus wants us to. So
recognize that there is a rival god that is competing for your heart. And that
competition comes through money. That’s why Jesus had so much to say about
money. Do you realize that apart from talking about the Kingdom of God, Jesus
had more to say about money than anything else?
If you
want a spiritual understanding as to why the whole world is in a financial mess
right now, it’s because this incredibly powerful evil spirit has been hard at
work in the lives of some people of influence. This spirit of Mammon has been
at work in the hearts of bankers who have offered mortgages to people who
haven’t had a hope of meeting their mortgage commitments. The whole sub-prime
mortgage mess in the United States is a result of this powerful spirit. The
spirit of mammon has been at work in the hearts of fund managers who have acted
irresponsibly with other people’s money. The spirit of mammon has been at work
in the hearts of the directors of some of the world biggest companies. These
directors have chased excessive profits and fat bonuses, and the damage they
have done to the companies they have been entrusted with has been immense.
The
spirit of mammon produces one thing in the hearts of men and women, whether
they are rich or poor. The product of the spirit of mammon is greed. And greed
is a sin. Whenever you see the results of the sin of greed, you will find the
spirit of mammon has been at work.
Have you
ever wondered why some people get uptight when preachers and teachers begin
talking about money? It’s because we are entering into a spiritual realm where
we are treading on the territory of one of the most powerful evil spirits in
the spirit realm. This is spiritual warfare territory. When you go to a secular
seminar on money, they don’t start with a warning and say “Now what we are
going to be talking about is so spiritually corrosive, it could destroy your
soul.” They don’t say “We are now going to dabble in an area that is controlled
worldwide by one of the most powerful evil spirits in the spiritual realm”.
But
Jesus knew this. Jesus was so aware of the dangers of this evil power that he
said that we couldn’t be His disciples if we are under the control of the
spirit of Mammon. This evil spirit is so powerful it can keep people out of the
Kingdom of God. In Luke’s gospel we read of a very rich young man who came to
Jesus and asked Him what he had to do to be saved. Jesus told him “Sell
everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me." Now Jesus didn’t say that to every person who
wanted to follow Him. Why did he say it to this young man?
Because
Mammon had him in its grip. You know the story. The young man couldn’t do it.
He missed out on being a follower of Jesus because of the power an evil spirit
had over him through money. Yet Zacchaeus is the exact opposite. He broke the
power of Mammon over his life by giving away a whole heap of money, and because
of this, salvation came to his household. He had turned from worshiping Mammon
to worshiping Jesus. I’m spending a long time on this today, because if you
don’t understand that we are dealing with spiritual powers here when we talk
about money, you are going to miss the whole point of the next few weeks
teaching.
2. How
Does The Spirit Of Mammon Operate?
Our
society is built on the free reign of the spirit of Mammon. I dont know so much about the western society but here in Africa, our society is built around a desire for more. And in the last few years, through
global television and advertising, i have learnt that this desire have been exported to our kids. It’s only in the last few months, through this
economic crisis, that I have seen this whole edifice begin to collapse. And
what has been the solution? Governments have been pumping millions of shillings into economies to generate spending. Here are some examples of the way the
spirit of mammon operates.
Advertising
In
the media there was a company adverting its product and they developed a
way of laying out their stores to market jewelry. In their glossy advertising
they have a slogan they often use that that makes it so easy for the spirit of
mammon. They have a gorgeous woman on their advertising material wearing some
very expensive jewelry, and the slogan says “You deserve this”. It doesn’t say
“Can you afford this?” It doesn’t say, “Do you need this?” It says, “You
deserve this”. It doesn’t matter if you can’t afford that car, or that holiday,
or that lounge suite or that diamond ring – you deserve it”. What’s behind
that? It’s the spirit of Mammon that says “instant gratification”. “You have to
have this now.” “Your life will not be complete or fulfilled without this”.
Recognize where that comes from. It comes from the pit of hell, and it has one
object – to enslave you and put you in bondage.
Credit
Card Debt
Now I have asked a few friends of mine on this, I want to say some things that are going to get some of our bankers uptight. I came to realize that If
you have a Credit Card and you are not paying the whole lot off each month when
it’s due, then you are wasting 20% per annum of the money the Lord has
entrusted you with. If you can’t afford to pay off your Credit Card, you are
living way beyond your means and living an out of control life. probably 75% of people
who have a Credit Card, including Christians, are living beyond their means in
the debt trap.
You can’t imagine anything worse than being broke. But there is something worse
than being broke. It’s being in bondage. Some of you are in a spiritual bondage
to some small pieces of plastic and it’s tearing your life and your family
apart. Do you think that’s the way God wants you to live? Of course not. It’s
the Devil and his evil angels that want to keep us in bondage. Proverbs 22:7
says “The borrower is servant to the lender”. If you are in debt on your Credit
Card, you are being owned by someone else. People who are in debt on their
Credit Cards are living with an ongoing sense of failure and condemnation. It’s
a bondage that Satan uses to destroy our relationship with the Lord. People are
living in a constant state of fear and hopelessness. The spirit of Mammon is
having a field day with a whole bunch of people, including Christians, who have
allowed their lives to get out of control. Here’s another example from my
country. I suspect this is true in other nations as well.
Student
Loans
Students
are now borrowing huge amounts of money to get an education. In my country only
one in 10 students are debt free. In total, however i dont know much about others countries yet, I believe it must the same.in some countries i believe that students do owe more
than 7 Billion dollars of debt. if they have to pay back, The average male graduate will probably take 14 years to pay back their loans and the
average female 28 years. Through successive Government policies, the spirit of
Mammon has been let loose on a whole generation, and I believe we are going to
pay a big price for that.
However i have learnt that not all debt is evil. Some of us have mortgages on our homes, and
perhaps are paying off a major item like a car, or furniture. But its good to ask ourselves why we have the debt we have. If we are honest with ourselves,
many of us have been seduced into believing the lie that we have to have
everything right now. The generation before mine knew what it was to practice
delayed gratification. If you couldn’t afford something, you didn’t buy it. You
saved up until you could afford it. But we now live in an age of instant
gratification, where we have to have everything now, even if we can’t afford
it. That value system is giving the spirit of Mammon an open door into our
lives.
.
3. How
do we break free from the Spirit of Mammon?
You may
not be in debt, but still be captured by the spirit of Mammon. You may have a
little money or a lot, but still be consumed by the desire for more. The spirit
of Mammon can control our lives no matter what the size of our bank balance.
Let me give you three ways to break the power of Mammon.
The
Solution from Jesus
Just
after he talked about the power of the spirit of Mammon, Jesus said “Seek first
the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added
unto you” (Matthew 6:33). Jesus is not saying we should be without all these
things, but that God, and His purposes, and His Kingdom, have to come first.
He’s talking about a change in priorities. Jesus is promising that if we put
God first, He will see to it that all the financial and material things we need
will be added to us. Have you proven that in your own life? Have you ever been
in a position where you didn’t have the financial resources, and had to trust
God? Next week, I’ll tell you about an experience Lyn and I had where were
discovered the truth of what Jesus was saying.
The
Solution from the Apostle Paul
“Now he
who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase
your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.”(2
Corinthians 9:10) Next Sunday I’m going to talk about the God who is our
supplier. This week, try praying a prayer like this – “Lord, I believe you are
my supply – not the banks. Not my employer. You are my provider. And so, as my
provider, I affirm my trust in You”. People, it’s time to stop trusting the
Banks and finance companies so much, and trust God a whole lot more. When we
turn to the Lord to supply our financial needs, we break the power of the
spirit of Mammon over our lives.
Here’s
another way to break the power of Mammon:
Make
money and use it for the Kingdom
God has
given some of you the ability to make a lot of money. You know that that money
has great power and is a powerful force that could corrupt you. But it is a
victory for the Kingdom of God when you take that money and use it for Kingdom
purposes. The Christian church and missions have been hugely blessed by people who loved God,
had the ability to make a lot of money, and used that money to advance the
Kingdom. I I have couple of friends whom i would love to thank and appreciate them for the great work that they have done in extending Gods Kingdom . I Thank God for
those Christians friends who have the ability to make money through their talents and skill, and I always pray for them,
that the Lord will give them more Blessing for the work done for the sake of the
Kingdom.
And a final
way I believe is powerful to break the power of Mammon is by:
Give
Every
time we meet together for worship as Christians we take up an offering. Now you
may think that is just a boring part of the church service where you can talk
to your friends, read the newsletter, think about what you are having for
lunch, or listen to music that is being played. People, it’s much, much more
than that. Every time we give to the Lord in that offering we are thumbing our
noses at Satan. We are making a declaration to the spirit world that we are
free from the spirit of Mammon. Every time you give some of your possessions
away, or give money to the poor, or give to the church, or in some way advance
the work of the Kingdom with your money, you are breaking the power of the
spirit of Mammon over your life. Every time you exercise generosity, you are
displaying the character of God in your life, and breaking the stranglehold of
the spirit of Mammon.
Every
time you give gladly and generously, you are declaring you are free. It’s a
declaration every week that you are serving God, not mammon.
its good to “Gain all you can, save
all you can, give all you can”. For the whole of his life he practiced that. We
rob money of its power over us by generously giving it away.
It’s
Gods purpose for you to be free. What is the next step you need to take for
that to happen? I came to understand that one of the ways is by putting a
budgeting plan in place. and making yourself accountable to
a wise Christian brother or sister who will help keep you on track.
It also takes the power of God to break the power of the Spirit of Mammon by giving in a way that you
never have before. All of these are very practical issues with spiritual
implications for your life. If the Lord is speaking to you right now then do
what He tells you to do.
much Love to you all
Thanks for reading I am still in the season of discovering more secrets from God and will keep you posted.
David