Septermber 9 2012 How To Be Wise With Your Wealth

/ Great Plains Community Church/

HOW TO BE WISE WITH YOUR WEALTH
James 5:1-6

God is not opposed to wealth. Many of the greatest believers in the Bible were wealthy. But God is opposed to the misuse and abuse of wealth. James deals with “The Four Key Aspects of Wealth.”

I. The wrong uses of wealth -- avoid these!!!!

Issue # 1: The Accumulation of Wealth

Don’t hoard it.

Vs. 3 - You have hoarded wealth in the last days.

Results: (Vss 2-3)

Your wealth has rotted.

Moths have eaten your clothes.

Your gold and silver are corroded.

Whatever I accumulate will deteriorate.

Issue #2: The Appropriation of Wealth

Don’t steal it.

Vs. 4 - The wages you have failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you.


Issue #3: The Allocation of Wealth
Don’t waste your money.

Vs. 5 - You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence.

Issue #4: The Application of Wealth.

Don’t abuse it.

Vs. 6 - You have condemned and ruined innocent men, and they are powerless to stop you.

II. The Right Uses of Wealth

1. Right Accumulation: Save money faithfully.

Proverbs 21-20 - The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets.

Keys to Saving:

• Learn to live on a margin.

• Learn contentment.

Valid reasons for saving:

1. Prevent impulse buying.

2. Allows us to help others.

3. It gets your money working for you.

2. Right Appropriation: Make money honestly.

Proverbs 13:11 - Wealth from gambling quickly disappears, wealth from hard work grows.

Proverbs 14-23 - Hard work brings a profit, mere talk leads to poverty.

How much money can I make? No set limit.

Qualification: As long as it doesn’t hurt:

Your health, My family, Other people, My spiritual life

3. Right Allocation: Spend money wisely.

Proverbs 21:5 - The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.

The Key: A budget of planned spending.

4. Right Application: Give money generously.

Proverbs 11:24-25 - It is possible to give away and become richer! It is also possible to hold on too tightly and lose everything. Yes, the generous man shall be rich. By watering others, he waters himself.

Matthew 6:20 - Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.

1 Corinthians 16:2 - On every Sunday, put aside something from what you have earned during the week, and use it for the offering. The amount depends on how much the Lord has helped you to earn.

October 10 2010 Making Fulfillment More Than A Word

/ Great Plains Community Church/

Making Fulfillment More Than A Word

(Matthew 6:19-21 - "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.)

Four Principles of Fulfillment

1. Decrease

(Matthew 6:19 - "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.")

2. Development

(Matthew 6:20 - "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.")

(Ecclesiastes 2:11 - Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.)

3. Decision

(Matthew 6:21 - "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.")

(Colossians 3:2 - Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.)

4. Determined Faith

(Matthew 6:20 - "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.")

(Job 3:15 - Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face.)