The Rich In God (part 10)

THE RICH IN GOD IS A FAITHFUL STEWARD

"And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom His Lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?" (Luke 12.42).

A steward is a caretaker of his boss' property; a manager of his boss' business; an administrator of his boss' resources.

According to our Lord, a steward must be FAITHFUL, meaning he must be FULL OF TRUST in the person, ability, and capacity of his boss.

• A steward must be RESPONSIBLE in maintaining, enhancing, and enlarging his boss' resources. 
• He must be ACCOUNTABLE, meaning he will report to his boss what he is doing with his boss' business. 
• He must be WISE, full of wisdom, willing to learn, willing to be like his boss. 
• Last, but not the least, a steward must be CONSISTENT in being faithful, and in doing so, he gets the approval of his Boss, saying, You are worthy of my trust." TRUSTWORTHY. 

The faithful steward will be REWARDED: "His Lord will make him ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season."

"...You have been faithful over a few things, I WILL MAKE YOU RULER OVER MANY THINGS." (Matthew 25.23)

The Rich In God (part 9)

THE RICH IN GOD IS A BLESSED SERVANT.

This person keeps on serving the God Who gave him the GREATEST BLESSINGS OF ALL: The Gift of Life, physical and spiritual. Three times in the Book of Luke, chapter 12, our Lord Jesus would use the phrase, "Blessed is/are the servants..." (Luke 12 37, 38, and 43). Notice the Blessed Man's work ethic. He is ready at all times to serve His Lord. He is a responsible servant. He loves to serve even when his Lord is away. He is not a menpleaser. He does his work heartily. "Blessed is that servant whom the Lord, when He comes shall find so doing."

The Apostle Paul, who often spoke of himself as a servant/slave of Jesus, admonishes us to "...Obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God: and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men. Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. Colossians 3:22-24.

The Rich In God (part 8)

THE RICH IN GOD BELIEVES AND ANTICIPATES THE SECOND COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

"Blessed are those servants whom the Lord when He comes shall find watching...if He comes in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants...be therefore ready also: for the Son of Man comes at an hour when you think not." (Luke 12.37, 38, 40).

The Rich in God is a "double A," no, not a double agent, but a firm believer of the soon return of his Savior. He is ALERT, alertly watching for the next BIG EVENT IN HISTORY. He reads and listens to prophecies of Holy Scriptures. He knows the signs of the times, and he is anticipating the trumpet sound that will signal the RAPTURE, "the blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." (Titus 2.13).

While waiting for the RAPTURE to come, The Rich in God is ACTIVE, actively DOING his Lord's Will, enriching himself with his Lord's Words, and enjoying his Lord's Work/Ministry. "Blessed is that servant, whom the Lord when He comes shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that He will make him ruler over all that He has." Luke 12.43, 44

The Rich In God (part 7)

The RICH IN GOD IS READY TO SHINE FOR HIS SAVIOR.

He obeys Christ"s command to "Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning." (Luke 12.35). He makes all the preparations needed in order to become an effective servant of the Savior...physically, mentally, financially, emotionally, and spiritually.He will see to it that he is always ready to "let his light shine that they may see his good works, and they will glorify the Father, Who is in Heaven." (Matthew 5.16).

To shine for Jesus means to display the good works wrought by the Savior in your life so that other people may see JESUS, THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD (John 9.5)...so that other people may listen to the WORD OF GOD, because "The entrance of Thy Words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple." (Psalm 119.130).

My brother, my sister..."Ye are the light of the world." Matthew 5.14.  You are the light that dispels darkness in your home, school, office, and community. THE RICH IN GOD SHINES FOR HIS SAVIOR.

The Rich In God (part 6)

THE RICH IN GOD IS A GIVER, NOT A HOARDER.

He obeys the command of our Lord Jesus in Luke 12.33 to "sell that ye have and give alms; provides yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the Heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth."

The rich in God gives because "God loves a cheerful giver." II Corinthians 9.7. He gives because "It is more blessed to give, than to receive. Acts 20.35. He gives because he trusts God's ways and means to bless. "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." Luke 6.38.
The rich in God is not a hoarder because he knows that earthly blessings are just that---EARTHLY! very temporary. Look at this verse in Proverbs 11.24, "There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is mete, but it tendeth to poverty." The preacher in Ecclesiastes 5.13 writes, "There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun namely, riches kept to the owners thereof to their hurt."

The rich in God promotes God's Kingdom, provides for his family, supports God's Ministry and His ministers, and extends help to those in need.

The Rich In God (part5)

THE RICH IN GOD PRIORITISES GOD'S KINDOM.

Since Jesus, the King of Kings entered his life, and God's principles and promises permeate his life, God is now Number One among all his priorities. Food, shelter, clothings, material things are important, but nothing, no one takes that place. GOD IS TOP PRIORITY!

If you know the KING of the Kingdom as your personal Lord and Savior, you will someday see and enter into His Kingdom. John 3.3, 5

If you place GOD FIRST, then He will do His part. "ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED UNTO YOU." (Luke12.31)

Remember Proverbs 8.17 & 21: "I love them that love Me, and those that seek Me early shall find me...That I may cause those that love Me to inherit substance, and I will fill their treasures."

The Rich In God (part 4)

THE RICH IN GOD DEPENDS SO MUCH ON HIS GOD.

Let us observe Luke 12:30 and 31. The Lord Jesus declared that "your Father knows that ye have need of these things"..."all these things shall be added unto you.""

 What things? Food, shelter, clothings...material things... GOD KNOWS THAT YE HAVE NEED OF THESE THINGS!

Can God provide these things? Notice verse 28, "If then God so clothe the grass which is today in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how much more will He clothe you, O ye of little faith?"

Trust Him, seek Him, Depend on Him. He will provide the food for you...He will give you the clothes...He can give you a good job using the wisdom and the skill you have acquired...He will provide opportunities so you can multiply your resources...He may even give bright ideas toward a productve life...He can even use other people to bless you, even people whom you have not seen or met,... and so much more. DEPEND ON HIM.

The Rich In God (part 3)

THE RICH IN GOD IS MUCH BETTER THAN THE FOWLS OF THE AIR.

The Lord Jesus said, in Luke 12.24, "Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn, and God feeds them. How much more are you better than the fowls?"

When we worry so much, when we focus much on the trivial, the ordinary, and the earthly, we lower ourselves to the level of the fowls of the air.

Proclaim this to yourself: I AM MUCH BETTER THAN THE BIRDS! I FOCUS ON TRUTH, RATHER THAN THE TRIVIAL. I THINK EXTRAORDINARY, RATHER THAN COMMON AND ORDINARY.

The Rich In God (part 2)

THE RICH IN GOD FOCUSES LESS ON CLOTHINGS.

Luke 12. 21, 22." So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. And He said to His disciples,...take no thought for your life...neither for the body what ye shall put on."

The Lord is saying, "Do not worry so much on food and clothings; I am going to feed you. I am going to clothe you. I will provide for your needs."If God so clothed the grass...how much more will He clothe you, O ye of little faith?" Luke 12.28

Let us focus and set our affections on things above: God and His righteousness, His Will, His Word, His Work. Let us focus on faith, hope, Love and God will do His part. He will provide for you. He will provide the food and the clothes, or He will provide you the job, or He will provide the people to help you.

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me, all the days of my life." Psalm 23.6

The Rich In God (part 1)

THE RICH IN GOD WORRIES LESS ABOUT WHAT TO EAT.

Luke 12.23-30, "The life is more than meat...seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of a doubtful mind...Your FATHER knows that ye have need of these things."

We worry so much on what to eat. Advertisements abound, inviting us to eat this and that, thus, creating in us an insatiable craving for more food.

The rich fool in the parable of Jesus (Luke 12.16-21) said to himself, "Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry." But God said unto him, "Thou fool, this night, thy soul shall be required of thee...So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

It is not evil to to think and prepare and to eat food. Well, in fact, food is good. But when eating and drinking permeates the life, we begin to worry more and more about what to eat...Then it becomes a god...and we are not rich in God.

In addition, please do not blame God when certain health problems occur. Health problems such as obesity, high blood pressure, artery blockade, diabetes, and many more, are all connected with man's insatiable appetite for food.

The rich in God worries less about what to eat.