Saturday March 15
Don’t Forget Who Really Owns It All
Luke 12:13-21
13 Then one from the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." 14 But He said to him, "Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?" 15 And He said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." 16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?' 18 So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry." ' 20 But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' 21 So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."
Before we get into our study in Luke 12 today, I would like to ask you for special prayer, and your patience for these next couple of weeks. For the next couple of days, I will be extremely busy taking care of some family matters that involve my older sister, Lynda Smith, who was put into palliative care this past week. Then on Tuesday, the 18th, my son Jonathan and I will be flying to India to take care of special situation there involving both of our ministries. We need especially for you to ask the Lord for wisdom for us, and for safety as we travel.
On Saturday, the 22nd, we will fly from India to Cairo Egypt, to meet some ministry partners there and prepare for our scheduled tour to Jordan and Egypt that will take place this fall from October 14th to the 25th. We are hoping many of you will join us on this unforgettable journey to places where some of the most powerful revelations and miracles of God in the Bible took place. For more information on this tour, click on this link: https://www.gpartners.org/tour
I hope to be back home in Sneads Ferry NC by Friday, March 28th. It will be extremely difficult to post daily chats during this time while I’m away, but I will post updates on our travels when I can. In the meantime, please continue to pray for my grandson Luke, who will continue to be in PICU in the Roanoke hospital, for the next couple of weeks dealing with a terrible infection. When they are assured that it is gone, Luke will be going through major surgery to replace everything in his brain and body to keep the pressure off his brain. I believe that this will be his 31st surgery on his little brain. Your prayers and support for all the above are always very important and appreciated!
Luke 12 begins with Jesus giving us two “beware” statements. In verses 1-12, He tells us to “beware of hypocrisy”. In verses 13-21, He warns us to “beware of covetousness”. Both of these two sins can destroy our Christian witness and our lives. Yesterday we learned from Colossians 3:1-7, that “covetousness is idolatry”. Covetousness is the sin of putting other gods before and between you and the LORD God! This is the very first of the Ten Commandment in Exodus 20:2-5; "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me”
The sin of idolatry was the number one sin that brought God’s judgment and harshest punishment upon the nation of Israel and sent them into captivity. Jesus told the story of the rich farmer who forgot that it was God that gave him his wealth and that when he died, he would leave it all behind. When we are committing the sin of covetousness, we are forgetting that God is the owner of everything and we are only His stewards over it. “The earth is the LORD'S, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1).
We are also forgetting it is God who gives us breath, time, and skills to get wealth. God warned Israel in Deuteronomy 8:17-20, that after He had blessed them for their obedience, they would be in danger of forgetting Him and they would: “Say in their heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.' And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth”.
We should take the command that Paul gave to Timothy seriously: “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life” (1 Timothy 6:17-19).
Please Lord, don’t let us ever forget that You own it all, and anything we have is a gift and blessing from You, and You gave it to us to give to others and bless them. Amen!
God bless!
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