Bible About Money

Parable of the Shrewd Manager

Cross Reference. The Parable of the Talents His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’ — **Matthew 25:23**

Management as a service. We are to be servant-leaders just as Jesus was the Good Shepherd [John 10:11]

35 Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning.
36 Then you will be like servants waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once.
37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds on watch when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve and will have them recline at the table, and he himself will come and wait on them
Luke 12:35-37

Maranatha

We are entrusted with the wealth of God, His Word, wisdom and teachings, psalms, parables, proverbs, promises and prophecy, as His property managers and temporary stewards, the shepherds of His holy flock, until the day Christ finally returns. Maranatha.

⁴¹Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?”
⁴²The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time?
⁴³It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns.
Luke 12:41-43

Lord, let us be mindful, watchful and faithful for the things that the world considers the littlest and least, the lost and last

“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.

If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?”
Luke 16

The Sheep and the Goats

40 And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’
Matthew 25:40

references & reflections

[1] https://bibleaboutmoneyfinance.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/e0211-2016-11-13parables239-shrewdmanagerluke16_1-172811.13.201629.pdf

Paul’s Prayer for Power Ephesians 3 #1

Lord Jesus, please help us receive wisdom by Your Name and allow the Holy Spirit to enter into us while we attempt to understand and remember Paul’s prayer to the Ephesians and the revelation of the mystery of Christ:

14 For this cause, I bow my knees unto the Father our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16 That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man;
17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that [you] being rooted in love,
18 May be able to comprehend with the Saints what is the breadth, the length, and depth, and height;
19 And to know the love of Christ, which [surpasses] knowledge, that [you] may be filled with all the fulness of God.
Ephesians 3:14-19

Parable of the Rich Fool

Fear, greed and excessive need is like an all-consuming fire..

Abide in Christ!

Defeat greed’s fire by receiving the free gift of God’s grace in our Lord Jesus Christ!

God’s grace overcomes our greed!

What’s at the end of our lives?

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own all the things you have prepared?’ So it is for the one who continues to store up and hoard possessions for himself, and is not rich [in his relationship] toward God.”
Luke 12:20-21

We cannot take the things of this earth into our next afterlife – either earthly possessions consume us like fire, or we are able to overcome greed’s fire by the free grace of God in our Lord Jesus Christ!

Jesus wants us to invest into Him a deep spiritual relationship so that we may become rich in mercy, wealthy in hope, firm in faith, prosperous in peace.

Have you begun asking the Heavenly Father how to be rich in your spiritual relationship, and started receiving rewards He has prepared for you above in Christ Jesus?

Arbitrary possessions keep us away from God

One of the multitude said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” He said to them, “Beware! Keep yourselves from covetousness, for a man’s life doesn’t consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses.”
Luke 12:13–15

The context of Jesus’s parable begins with a typical-looking tort, argument, petty squabble, between brothers over family inheritance, status, structuring of wealth estates echoing similar situations in times of Old Testament history (e.g. between brothers’ birthrights and blessings, spiritual inheritances, Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, Esau and Jacob, Joseph and his brothers…)

So what’s the big deal? Sounds like the elder brother is just asking for his fair share of the family fortune, right?

Jesus sees things with eyes of eternity. Truthfully, the brother is being rather selfish and acting petty in his complaint over small matters. If only he could have realized the true treasure before him, Christ Jesus Himself, the Son of God manifested in the flesh, right in front his very eyes!

Aren’t we asking too little from Jesus in terms of fairness, justice, and riches? Jesus is offering all of us the promise and reward of eternal life!

Christ is willing to give us: a seat at His Holy table, an everlasting heavely inheritance, invitation to best banquet feast, the wedding supper of the Lamb [Matthew 22:1-14, Revelation 19:9], True gold, white stones with new names, membership, and new citizenship as members in New Jerusalem the Kingdom of God!

Beware that you take home a lesson, that you learn from this brother’s mistake and not repeat the curse and cycle of covetousness. Don’t forsake the free gift of everlasting life in exchange for some simple temporary thing of the world that soon vanishes with a breath of time, as Esau abandoned his own inheritance, blessing, and birthright for one bowl of soup [Matthew 4:4, Hebrews 12:6].

Our stakes are set even higher now that the Kingdom of God is at hand, now that matters of eternity are now part of the equation: our heavenly estate, spiritual gifts, and inheritances as children of Christ Jesus.

Jesus resolves the curse and cycle of covetousness between brothers “inherited sin” responding with the Truth in an important teaching point, lessons hidden in a parable: Pearls of Wisdom

He spoke a parable to them, saying, “The ground of a certain rich man brought forth abundantly. He reasoned within himself, saying, ‘What will I do, because I don’t have room to store my crops?’

He said, ‘This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns, and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.”‘

“But God said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared—whose will they be?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
Luke 12:16–21

Jesus wisely responds with a parable revealing a deeper spiritual truth, regarding riches that the world offers opposed to God’s heavenly riches in a righteous relationship with Jesus Christ.

Christ cares about the condition of our souls more than anything else in the world. After we exit our earthly existence, material possessions are also left behind to be divided as another stranger’s inheritance.

Compare Solomon’s observance on worldly work and rewards, which he with sardonic nihilism calls a “chasing after the wind.” Now one more than Solomon is here:

Christ Jesus, the Author of Salvation and Judge of the Living and Dead, who has the right and power to demand our very souls this instant, recalling them back like life in terms and analogy of a loan —

Let’s begin a new chapter then in life, being rich in our soul’s relationship with God! Storing up treasures in faith and good works going to His Heavenly Kingdom.

Ecclesiastes

Futility of Work by King Solomon

26 To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
Ecclesiastes 2:26

References & Reflections

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Rich_Fool
[2] https://www.peterdehaan.com/the-bible/the-book-of-ecclesiastes/

Heart of Wisdom, Numbering Our Days

10% of Christ’s teachings concern the topic of money.
There is a purpose Jesus spoke about greed so often.
There is a reason “Thou Shall Not Covet” is the Tenth commandment of the Old Testament [Deuteronomy 5:21, Exodus 20:17]
Why, God? Lend us your wisdom

“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
Psalm 90:12

Jesus says “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” — Luke 12:15

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. [Psalm 90:12]

Today how many of you would consider yourself content with your current financial situation?

Would you consider yourself to be a somewhat greedy person?

Of those of you who say that they are “content” (not greedy), how many of you are currently in pursuit of more things?

Which of the 3 statements describes you?

I’m willing to bet many of you would say, “I’ve got too much!”

And you’re in the process of getting more: What sense does that make?

How then can we truly say ourselves satisfied and count our hearts content with what all we have?

Indeed, inside all of us do we feel a deep desire, a need, an internal struggle to pursue a higher calling, something greater than the only offerings of this world!

Abiding within each alive and breathing soul is a God-shaped vacuum in our hearts, being born again as children in the image of Christ’s creation.

He has hidden within our hearts eternity — the treasure chests of everlasting life [Luke 12:34, Ecclesiastes 3:11, Psalm 119:11].

Imagine! Eternity.

His Holy Word, Wisdom, His perfect presence, power, precious and priceless Truth, the treasures and gift of everlasting love living inside each of us forever.

All money’s greed, fear, doubt, debts, doom, uncertainty, worry, anxiety, attachments, false sense of security, problems, ignorance, the blind mindless, endless consumerism and the resource curse critically comes from a condition of the heart: all money issues are God and Christianity issues at its core.

So the solution for our soul is the Sovereignty of God, the Wisdom of Jesus makes are soul whole! Christ’s care cures the heart’s hole, in its missing space we find fulfillment [ Matthew 5:17-20] in His amazing grace, awesome power, and all-abiding love.

Jesus is our sole sufficiency; Jesus is our heart’s joy and contentment! [2nd Corinthians 12:9; Philippians 4:13, 19; Nehemiah 8:10]

Tragedy begins when we start filling the room and emptiness in our hearts, “broken cisterns that cannot hold water,” [Jeremiah 2:13] with just stuff, placeholders, possessions and the other temporary material things of this world…

True treasure then begins with an accurate understanding, reverent, awesome [Hebrews 12:28-29], high and holy view of God:

The Fear of the Lord.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge
Proverbs 1:7a

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Proverbs 9:10

I will praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this full very well.
Psalm 139:14

Praying in peace and humility before the Lord, I ask you and for my own good to:

Receive the wisdom and the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit Who [Ephesians 3:14]
Helps us put off any past attachments for material possessions which steal and carry us away, and
Heal our hearts by turning our souls heavenward toward the name of our Lord Savior Jesus Christ! [Philippians 3:14]

Let us close together in the Lord’s prayer

“Pray, then, in this way:

‘Our Father, who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.

‘Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.

‘Give us this day our daily bread.

‘And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors.

‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

Amen.’

Matthew 6:9-13

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“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
— Psalm 90:12