Your Convictions About Money

The Bible talks more about money than heaven or hell. In an age where debt and greed are the norm, it’s essential that believers know what God says about finances. Reject the world’s selfish viewpoint on money and instead embrace God’s commands to tithe faithfully and live generously. For more messages from Charles Stanley, including this week’s broadcast, go to www.intouch.org/watch

God’s Messages

Dear Lord,
Today…….I am asking all my prayer warriors to say a prayer that may help others. So many people are hurting right now. Many are struggling with finances and need jobs. Some are facing foreclosure and don’t even know how they are going to make it from week to week..

Many are lonely. . Many are heartbroken. . Many are facing sickness and health is fading. . Some are dealing with difficult family members. Many have lost HOPE.. Tonight, let us put our prayers and faith together decree and declare breakthrough over our families. Financial miracles WILL take place. Jobs WILL be found. Our Bodies WILL be made whole & sickness WILL flee. Marriages and relationships WILL be restored. Family members WILL find Jesus. Heartbreaks WILL be healed. JOY WILL be restored and HOPE WILL be found. In Jesus Name. Amen!!!!!! Keep God First…….

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Well, you know, money is on most people’s minds today.
Am I gonna have enough to pay my bills this week?
Am I gonna have enough to keep my kids in college?
Am I getting further behind on my payments?
What am I gonna do about all this debt?
So when you think about money in your life, everybody has to have some, there’s nothing wrong with money and there’s nothing evil about, it depends on how we use it.
And so when I think about where it is and all the politicians today are saying, you know, we’re going to have more jobs and the implication is you’re going to have more money, things are going to be better.
It’s a promise that they can’t really and truly prove, but they’re saying it.
So what I wanna talk about is your particular personal conviction about money in your life.
Somebody says, well, now where in the world is that in the Bible?
You’ll be surprised to know how often God talks about money in the scripture, for example, over half the parables in the Bible deal with money and you wouldn’t think about that half the parables.
Secondly, there’s more in the Bible about money than heaven or hell. And there’s more about money than prayer.
And there are hundreds of verses in the Bible that deal with their personal finances.
Now, whether I were a believer or not, if somebody said to me in this book, all of those situations are true, then I think, I think I need to read it.
It just might be that it’ll be able to help me. And the truth is God’s Bible.
The word of God is the best guide for finances of any book ever written.
You, you can’t go wrong if you obey what he says.
And so when I think about that, I think about, well, this is the world’s viewpoint, the world’s viewpoint isn’t God’s viewpoint.
The world’s viewpoint could probably be described in one word accumulation. How much can I get?
How much can I have? How much can I say? For? How much can I have for the future?
What about my retirement? It’s receive, receive, receive, receive, receive. Because the primary interest is self interest.
It’s all about me and what I wanna do, what I wanna buy, what I want to have in life.
And the focus is on personal needs, personal pleasure, personal security. How do I get it?
And then how do I keep it and protect it? That’s not the emphasis of God at all.
And so that viewpoint promises what it does not promise joy, happiness, peace, prosperity, or anything else when it’s all about self is heading in the wrong direction.
So the question is, what is God’s viewpoint about money?
The world’s viewpoint about money does not promise any security whatsoever. Have it today.
And people used to say you can lose it tomorrow now have it today and you can lose it shortly today.
And so God’s word about money is very, very important.
And this is one of the messages in our series on our convictions. What are your convictions about money?
What are you, what is your belief system? How does that handle the issue of money?
And so when I think about what the Bible says about money, let’s start where God starts and that’s in the 24th psalm.
Look at that if you will.
And here’s what he says in the very first verse, the earth is the Lord’s and all it contains the world and those who dwell in it.
So what, what God’s viewpoint is this, I own it all.
He’s the only one who can say I own it all.
But that’s where the basic truth about wealth about money comes. And that is that God owns it all.
He owns all the lands, all the stars and everything in between. And so watch this.
If everything belongs to God, those of us who have the privilege of handling any part of it become automatically stewards of God’s money.
I’m not talking about just dollars and bills, but everything that He gives us.
And so when I think about the fact that God owns it all, then what is, what’s his key word?
Well, the key word for the world is accumulate, accumulate, accumulate God’s word is distribute, distribute, distribute, distribute.
And those two simple words describe where we are.
Those who want to get all they can and those who want to give all they can.
Let me ask you, who do you think is the happiest?
Those who are working to get all they can or those who are working to give all they can.
Well, the picture here is that while, while on the one hand, those who are trying to keep it all, they, they have this, they have this reservoir, but those who are trying to give, they’re like a channel, it just comes through us and wherever God wants it, that’s what we do.
And so God blesses and blesses and blesses.
And uh I think about there are, there are two aspects of giving here.
One of them is encouragement that is the encouragement uh about giving.
And the second one is a warning and usually when God gives an encouragement, he gives a warning.
So I want you to turn, uh let’s look at the encouragement first of all and um let’s, let’s look at Luke Luke chapter six and uh verse 38 1 that you know well, and I want you to listen carefully whoever you are and wherever you may be listening, here’s the, here’s what the word of God says.
And when I read this verse, look at this, he says, give, watch this, give and it will be given to you.
Whatever you give is coming back, they will pour into your lap.
Good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over for by your standard of measure.
It will be measured to you in return. Look what he says, give and it will be given to you.
Now, who, who, who is this doing the talking? This is God doing the talking.
He says, if you give, I’m gonna see to it, it’s coming back to you and it’s gonna be watch this.
And this is how God emphasizes things. They will pour into your lap.
A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over for by your standard of measure, it’ll be measured to you in return.
Here’s what he says, the way you handle your money, that’s the way you’re gonna get it if you’re with it and if you’re selfish with it and if it’s all about me myself and I my three favorite friends.
If, if, if it’s all about me, I’m gonna get what I can do.
If I do it the way God says do it, I’m gonna get what God gives give and it shall be given to you.
Good measure pressed down shaken together. God’s gonna turn it to you. That’s his encouragement.
You cannot out give God for the simple reason. That’s what God said. He said.
Well, look, I own it all. And if God owns it all watch this, he controls it all.
And if I give to him adequately, as I should, as the Bible says, very clearly, we’re gonna talk about it in a moment.
If I give, then he’s gonna see to it that uh you and I are rewarded for our obedience to Him because you see giving is a matter of obedience to God.
It isn’t. What’s the church gonna do? What’s this gonna do? That’s not the issue, the issue.
Am I obedient or am I not obedient? And so here’s a word of encouragement.
Then look at God’s warning because He does have a warning about failing to give.
So look, if you will in first Timothy chapter six, a very strong passage of scripture first Timothy chapter six and notice what he says and you may be one of those persons uh whose goal is to get rich.
You’re not gonna be happy about this verse.
Look at, look at this verse, he says verse nine, but those who want to get rich fall into what temptation he fall into temptation.
Look at this and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men and women into ruin and destruction.
Think about this. The desire for money causes people to be dishonest.
It even causes them to steal and worse than that, it even causes them to kill.
Money is a dangerous item when it’s not under God’s control and in keeping with his will and purpose.
So listen to what he says.
But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many, he says many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.
Watch this. But the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil.
He didn’t say money is evil. He said it’s the love of it.
I just gotta have some more of it.
The love of money is the root of all sorts of evil and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
They just can’t get any stronger than that.
When it comes to God’s warning is here’s what happens when your attitude toward money becomes an ungodly attitude.
He says what happens? Foolish and harmful desires plunge men into destruction.
Love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, longing for it.
What happens you peer through but flee from these things, you men of God and pursue what watch this.
He says. Instead of pursuing money, you pursue what Godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.
Now, it couldn’t be any stronger than that because we have a choice.
It is my choice to be obedient to God. No, no.
Matter what do whatever he says and then trust him to provide what he promises to provide.
So a word of encouragement given, it should be given to you. Listen, this is God speaking.
Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over or emptiness, dissatisfied, unhappy because you and I know people who have, we put it this way, who have everything but they’re miserable.
And that it’s not a single verse in the Bible that says, things are gonna make me happy.
What’s gonna make me happy is the right relationship with God.
I want you to turn back to Malachi for a moment and look at this third chapter.
And, uh, in this third chapter is God’s his blueprint, his master print.
It’s his master financial plan for us.
And I can tell you this, I have been practicing this plan, uh, since I had my first job, which was $4 and I didn’t know any better and I gave, uh, 25%.
Well, you say, well, why did, why did you just give, why didn’t you just give 10% as a kid?
And I didn’t have any money. And that God gave me a $4 job. I thought giving him 40%.
No way. I gave a dollar and I was grateful I didn’t know anything about Ty and nobody ever said a word about Ty to me.
And then so then I, I got another paper out and I went from $4 a week to $16 a week.
God had multiplied by giving him 25%. And of course, I gave more than a child.
I don’t know how much exactly I gave them, but I’d learned a lesson and I’ve never forgotten the lesson and I can tell you I’ve been in situations and circumstances that only God could bail me out of.
Not, not debt because I’ve always avoided that.
And, uh, every single time I’ve had a need, God has been there to meet my need.
So therefore, I am fully and totally convinced and persuaded what he promises he will perform.
Now, listen to the scripture, he says in verse eight of Malachi three, will a man rob God yet you are robbing me.
But you say, how have we robbed you? And God answers in tithes and offerings. You know what that says?
If a person doesn’t tithe, they’re robbing God.
If it were not wrong, why would he use the word Rob?
Why doesn’t he use the word? Deny something that uh makes it a little bit more palatable.
Will a man rob God yet you’re robbing me?
But you say, am I we are robbing you in tithes and offerings and listen, when He says, you are cursed with a curse for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you, speaking of Israel.
But the principle applies to all of us who are Christians now.
So he says this is what I want you to do, bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, the church, the temple back in those days.
So they may be food in my house. Test me now.
And this says the Lord of host, if I open the windows of heaven and pour you at a blessing until it overflows, that’s the promise of the sovereign God of the universe who controls all things.
And we read a while ago, he owns it all. So now let’s look at his verse.
Will a person rob God? Yes, they will. He says, you’re robbing me.
What are you robbing me of tides? Now, what is a tide? A tide is 10%?
He says, you’re robbing me of both tithes and offerings. The 10% is what is what God requires.
And then the offerings oftentimes he may require more than a 10%.
Somebody says I cannot, cannot, cannot live on that. Are you saying that God’s a liar?
You say? But you don’t know how much debt I have.
Well, you may be deeply in debt and be in real trouble, do you?
It’s gonna be hard for you to believe.
But I’m telling you, I’ve seen it over and over and over again. You wanna get out of debt.
Here’s how you start start giving God 10% of your income, but there’s no way I can do that.
Just try it, just try it because here’s his promise.
He said, bring you all the tiles in the storehouse that there may be food in my house.
He says, test me now says the Lord and watch what I’ll do.
I’ll open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing until it overflows.
He said, well, how is that possible? I don’t know how it’s possible. Does that happen? Yes. Yes.
Yes, yes. Yes. God always honors his word.
And so he says, all right, some of you have not done that.
You curse with a curse for you robbing me. The whole nation. Bring the whole time.
And somebody says, well, uh I give a 5% time.
Well, yeah, that’s like saying this is a, this is a five cent dime.
No, there’s no such thing, bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house.
And then here’s what he says. He knows we’re gonna doubt. And the next word is test me.
Now in this says the Lord of host, if I will not open for you, the windows of heaven in the test, open for the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.
Somebody says, well, I just can’t do that. That’s what he said. He said, yeah.
Yeah, it’s a test and some of you won’t do it.
I have seen people in all kinds of debts and no person who’s ever tried.
This has ever come back to me and said, well, you know, I tried what you said and it didn’t work.
Not one person here, here’s the reason. This is not my promise. This is God’s promise.
And God says, if you will bring me all the ties into the storehouse here, here’s what I’ll do.
He says, I’ll pour you at a blessing until it overflows. It won’t listen.
God’s blessing won’t trickle in it. Overflows. You say, well, I’m in need, you, you’re in need.
Start tithing. Well, I just, I just, you know what, what did he say? He says, test me.
So God acknowledges that for you to start tithing is a test and you’ve not heard me say one word about giving money to the church because that’s not what this is about.
This is about you being obedient to God.
If I will tie to Him and bring to him that which belongs to Him.
He says, here’s what I’ll do. I will pour out blessings upon you.
He says, until it overflows and you know what?
Watch this, you won’t be able to figure out how it happens.
You won’t, you won’t be able to figure it out if you did. Here’s what you do.
Well, here’s what I did. I started tithing and I did this and I did that.
No, you didn’t. You, you took gun at his test, you obeyed him. And here’s what he did watch this.
Not only will he provide what you need and not only will he show himself strong and plentiful.
Then I will rebuke the devour for you so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground.
No, will you have the cast? Its grape says, here’s what he says.
Not only watch this, not only comes with obedience that which I have required, but I’m gonna protect you.
He said, I’m gonna protect your crops.
In other words, what he’s saying is this when you put me to the test and you give me the time that belongs to me because I own it all.
And that’s what I’m requiring you to give back. Here’s what’s gonna happen.
You’re gonna find God protecting you. Watch this.
God isn’t begging for money because He needs it because remember where we started, God owns it all.
He owns it all. So it’s not that God needs anything.
He wants us to love him and obey him and follow him because that’s the wisest way to live and it’s, it’s the life He has for us.
And so when you look at what the world’s doing versus what God says, I can tell you, God is not gonna come up short anywhere, bring you all the towels in the storehouse.
Here’s what I’ll do, put me to the test and see what I’ll do.
You know what this all boils down to a choice between two words.
Obey disobey. That’s my choice.
You said well now, but you just don’t know my circumstance.
I heard that so many times, let me ask you, I don’t need to know your circumstance.
Listen, God knows your circumstance and think about this God placed in His word, knowing all the circumstances that will ever begin to exist.
And he says, here’s what’ll happen. You do what I’ll tell you and I’m gonna bless you.
In fact, I’m gonna bless you in such a way. Other people are gonna be wondering about it.
But you know what if you obey Him, you trust him, you do what He says.
He is going to bless you personally and protect you personally.
No matter what happens to everybody else, that’s his promise.
He didn’t, he didn’t make this promise to Americans or some other nation.
This is a personal promise to the people of God. So let me ask you a question.
Are you a toddler? Let’s put it this way.
Do you want God’s best for your life? You believe God tells the truth.
He owns it all he asks for a tithe. He promises to run over with goodness and protection.
Watch care and blessings in your life. It’s a matter. Do I believe him or do I not?
And I can tell you in all of these years, he keeps his word every single time he does.
So maybe you’ve never heard a message on tithing before and you’re sitting there thinking, I don’t, I don’t, I don’t think I can do that.
Remember what God said? He gave you a warning. He says it’s gonna be a test.
He knew that you would have your own way of working your finances, but he knew you weren’t gonna be happy.
I think about how many people get divorced over money and people lose their jobs over money and people lose relationships about money and don’t pay off their debts.
In other words, when you and I obey God, we’re gonna have enough, we may have more than enough.
We’re gonna have peace and happiness and contentment in our life.
And most of all, we’re gonna be living in a relationship of obedience to our heavenly father.
It is a choice we make.
And my prayer is that you’ll make a wise choice that you say, well, I’m not a Christian.
Well, the first choice you need to make is this, you need to acknowledge that you were created by God and that He wants you to have the best, which means the first most important decision in your life.
You trust Him as your personal savior. You ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins.
You surrender your life to Him.
And when you surrender your life to Him, you surrender your whole life to him and ask Him to save you.
He said, if you confess Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart, that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved, your eternal future will be set and then ask the Lord to give you the desire of your heart to obey Him in every area of your life.
You cannot lose obeying God.
And that’s my prayer for you that you obey Him and wherever you are financially, you go home today and you say, ok, Lord, I can’t get this to work.
Watch this. When I look at what I owe and what I need to do, I can’t get this to work and then go back to Malachi chapter three and that one word, I’m gonna test you.
So you have to decide what just think of how simple this is. You have to decide.
Am I willing to believe the God who created this whole universe and keeps it going?
Am I willing to believe the word of God? That’s absolutely true.
Am I willing to believe all that or do I think I’m smart enough to do this without him and you’re not smart enough to do without him?
And you know, I think about sometimes people say, well, you know, I, I think I, I don’t, I just don’t think I have to do all that.
You don’t have to, but if you’re wise, you’ll choose to and father how grateful we are that you made it so simple.
If we can count to 10, we can tie and if we really want to be obedient to you, you’ve promised to run over our cup full overflowing.
And so we just come today to say thank you.
Lord for giving us clear direction, simple instruction and give us the wisdom, dear father to obey you and watch you work.
And we pray this in Jesus name.
Amen.