By David J. Stewart | December 2013
Luke 12:15, “And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”
Look around you. Everything around you was made by God. Things can never
make anyone happy, because we weren't created for things; but rather, we
were created for God. The Bible admonishes us as believers to “BEWARE OF
COVETOUSNESS.” Covetousness is a subtle sin that you can get caught up
into before you realize what happened. It all starts with the sincere desire
to have something nice.
Perhaps you want a home instead of renting. Certainly it's a good decision
to purchase a home, but if you're not careful you'll become obsessed with
buying a home and it will hurt you spiritually. Don't allow the desire for
things (which is in effect the LOVE OF MONEY) to draw you away from
diligently serving the Lord.
The Parable Of The Seeds
Luke 8:11-15, “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”
In the parable of the seeds in Luke 8:12-15, the Lord teaches about four different types of situations relating to salvation and discipleship. The “seed” is the Word of God according to Luke 8:11 and 1st Peter 1:23. The first group of people hear the seed of the gospel, but then the Devil removes the seed from their heart before it can spring forth in new life. These are people who hear the gospel but never get saved. They remain unbelievers. The second group of people gladly hear and receive the gospel (they are saved), but then quit growing spiritually in times of difficulty and persecution because their faith is shallow.
The third group of people hear and receive the gospel (they are saved), but never grow spiritually because they are side-tracked by worldly cares, money and pleasures. The second and third group of people are saved (i.e., they have sonship), but they do not have sweet fellowship with the Lord and have never followed on obediently in discipleship. In many cases they have simply never been properly mentored by more mature believers. One of the biggest problems in our churches today is a lack of concern about mentoring new converts.
Leading people to Christ with the gospel (i.e., Christ's death, burial and resurrection) is only one third of The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). The Great Commission includes preaching the gospel, water baptizing new converts as a public profession of their faith in the gospel, and then mentoring (“Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you...,” Matthew 28:20). The primary principle often overlooked in The Great Commission is perpetuity (occurring so frequently as to seem ceaseless or uninterrupted). That is, God intended for us to lead others to Christ, and then they go lead others to Christ, and then they go lead others to Christ, and so forth. Thank God for all the souls which are led to the Lord by soul-winning Christians, but without mentoring them, they are not going to grow in the Lord to go witness to others and the seed terminates (dies).
It is the Lord's desire for every believer to grow
in grace in the Word of God so that we bear fruit (i.e., lead others to
Christ with the gospel). Luke 8:15 teaches that believers who have an good
and honest heart bear MUCH FRUIT. God didn't save us to enjoy things in
life. God saved us to be like Jesus, and Jesus lived His life caring and
serving others.
Monsanto's Frightening Terminator Seed Technology
The bio-company Monsanto has been in the news in recent decades for many of the wrong reasons. They are the company who invented the highly questionable artificial sweetener, Aspartame (which is used in literally thousands of food products worldwide under various sweetener names). The concerns are legitimate and real, which is why any product contain Aspartame has the bold warning at the bottom which says, “THIS PRODUCT CONTAINS PHENYLKETONURICS” (which has caused brain damage, seizures and serious health problems in some people).
Well, Monsanto's latest unethical exploits involves genetically tampering with seeds. Monsanto has genetically produced seeds which terminate (die) at the end of harvest, instead of naturally reproducing “AFTER THEIR OWN KIND” as God intended for them to do (Genesis 1:12). By causing the seeds to terminate, you have to buy more seeds each harvest. This not only maximizes profits for Monsanto, but even more frighteningly, it gives world leaders incredible power to control the population through artificially created food shortages at their whim. Mad scientists are playing God with nature. No wonder Jesus foretold of famines, wars and pestilences in the End Times (Matthew 24:6-7).
Sadly, in an alarming parallel, most of our converts are terminator seeds, that is, they never bear any fruit of their own. Most people who come to Christ never win anyone else to the Lord. This is tragic. God intends for every believer to reproduce. This is only possible by sharing the gospel with the lost. The world is confused, lonely, scared and seeking for answers. As born-again Christians we have the answers in the inspired Word of God. Jesus is the solution to all your problems! Becoming a Christian doesn't make one's life any easier, but it does get better because you now have somewhere to seek refuge when troubles arise, and that is to the Lord in prayer and searching the Scriptures.
Luke 8:14, “And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.”
Americans are so spoiled rotten. It's disgusting!
I recently saw a dog food commercial on TV in December of 2013. The woman
said that it takes a lot to make her mad. Then she said she got angry when
she found out that her dog's food contains chicken by-products. What a sad
commentary upon our culture! Most Americans would never get angry over the
treasonous deindustrialization that has eliminated our good paying
manufacturing jobs. Most people would never get angry about the criminal
Federal Reserve banks that keep us broke. Most people don't care about our
funny money system in America. Literally, the government could say tomorrow
that our money is worth nothing and it would be worthless, because it has no
reserve backing it anymore.
America's Materialistic Culture
Most people don't get angry over the sexual filth on TV, nor the wickedness of Sin City, nor the teaching of the lie of evolution to our children. Yet, this woman is mad as can be because her dog has been eating chicken parts instead of prime choice cuts of meat. Isn't that sickening? Americans are spoiled. Americans don't get angry over the murder of 54,000,000 babies by abortion, but they go ballistic if you kill one small puppy or kitten. While millions of people are homeless and forgotten in our society, our animal friends are groomed by professionals, pampered with love and spoiled with gourmet foods. Save the whales, kill the children! Those crazy Americans!!!
You cannot hurt Christmas, because it's not about gifts, lights, mistletoe, food, streamers, carolers and snow, it's about being together with loved ones. Christmas doesn't come from a store, and perhaps it means just a little bit more.
Buying a home brings with it the temptation of overextending your credit in order to buy a bigger home. You'll end up in debt for far longer than perhaps God wants you to be (for many years longer). Remember, realtors are out to make money. That is their primary interest, regardless of what they say. As a rule, I've heard financiers say that no one should ever buy a home that costs more than twice what your yearly family salary is. That sounds like good advice. If you have a downpayment, then you can increase the cost by the offset of the downpayment amount.
The Bible teaches that a proper human mindset toward THINGS is to be Content WITH WATER AND CLOTHES TO WEAR. It's not wrong to have things, but it is wrong to live for things and allow them to consume our thoughts, money and time. The greatest things in life are not things.
1st Timothy 6:8, “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.” Did you read that truth in 1st Timothy 8:8, WE BROUGHT NOTHING INTO THIS WORLD and WE CAN CARRY NOTHING OUT!!!
We must constantly be on-guard against anything that clamors for our time and takes us away from God. choke you as Luke 8:14 says by th Cares of life. Luke 8:14, “And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.”
Luke 12:15, “And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”
“Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last; And when I am dying, how happy I’ll be, If the lamp of my life has been burned out for Thee.” —Charles T. Studd (1860-1931)
Revelation 14:11, “And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.”
