I was sitting in the cardiology office yesterday and reread chapters 3 and 4 of "Your Money Counts " by Howard Dayton.
Here are some notes from chapter 3, that I highlighted.
Dayton says this is the most important chapter of his book......
Scripture teaches us that there are 2 distinct parts to the handling of money; the part God plays and the part that we play.
God's part is the foundation for contentment .
In scripiture God calls himself by more than 250 names.
The name that best describes God in the area of money is Master.
One of the MOST important parts of this study is "how we view God " because it determines "how we live".
God's part in 3 crucial areas ownership, control, and provision.
1) Ownership - God is the sole owner of everything.
Psalms 24:1 1 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it,
The world, and all who live in it;
Leviticus 25:23 - 23 "'The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers.
Haggar 2:8 - 8 'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the LORD Almighty.
Psalms 50:10 - 10 for every animal of the forest is mine,
And the cattle on a thousand hills.
The Lord is the creator of all things, and He has never transferred the ownership of His creation to His people.
Colosians 1:17 - 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Recognizing God's control over everything is critical in allowing Jesus Christ to become Lord of our money and our possessions.
Ownership or Lordship?
If we are going to be true fo;;owers of Christ, we must transfer the ownership of our possessions to the Lord.
Luke 14:33 - 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
A vivid example
Genesis 22:2 - 2 Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you."
Author Larry Burkett observed, "When we acknowledge God's ownership, every spending decision becomes a spiritual one."
Lord, what do You want me to do with Your money?
Spending, saving are equally as spiritual as giving decisions.
2) Control - the second responsibility that God has retained is ultimate control of every event that occurs upon the earth.
Several of the names of God recorded in the scriptures Master, Almighty, Creator, Shepherd, Lord of lords, King of kings.....
I chronicles 29:11-12 - 11 Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power
And the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
For everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, LORD, is the kingdom;
You are exalted as head over all.
12 Wealth and honor come from you;
You are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
To exalt and give strength to all.
Psalms 135:6 - 6 The LORD does whatever pleases him,
In the heavens and on the earth,
In the seas and all their depths.
Daniels 4:34-35 - At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever.
His dominion is an eternal dominion;
His kingdom endures from generation to generation.
35 All the peoples of the earth
Are regarded as nothing.
He does as he pleases
With the powers of heaven
And the peoples of the earth.
No one can hold back his hand
Or say to him: "What have you done?"
Isaiah 45:6-7 - 6 so that from the rising of the sun
To the place of its setting
People may know there is none besides me.
I am the LORD, and there is no other.
7 I form the light and create darkness,
I bring prosperity and create disaster;
I, the LORD, do all these things.
Romans 8:28 -
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
The Lord allows difficult circumstances for 3 reasons
A ) To accomplish His intentions
Ex: Genesis 45:5,8
b) To develop our character
Godly character , something that is precious in the sight of the Lord is often developed in the midst of trying times.
Romans 5:3-4
c) To discipline His children
When we are disobedient , we can expect our loving Lord to administer
Discipline to encourage us to abandon our sin.
Hebrew 12:6, 10-11
3) Provision - God's part is that He has promised to provide our needs.
Mathew 6:33 - 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Genesis 22:14 - God is spoken of as "Jehovah-Jireh" which means ;the Lord will provide. He takes care of His people and He does not need a prosperous economy to provide for them.
God is both predictable and unpredictable. He is absolutely predictable in His faithfulness to provide for our needs. What we can not predict is how God will provide. He uses various and sometimes surprising means of meeting our needs. He is utterly reliable.
Timothy 6;8 tells us that our needs are food and covering. There is a difference between needs and wants.......He has not promised to provide our wants.
1Timothy 6:8 - But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
2 Samuel 12:7-8 -
7Nathan then said to David, "
(A)You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel, '
(B)It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul.
8'I also gave you (C)your master's house and your master's wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these!
Getting to know God - develop an awe for the master creator
Isaiah 51: 13 -
13That you have
(A)forgotten the LORD your Maker,
Who
(B)stretched out the heavens
And laid the foundations of the earth,
That you
(C)fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor,
As he makes ready to destroy?
But where is the fury of the
(D)oppressor?
Do NOT shrink Him down, try to fit Him into a box with human traits and
Limitations.
Lord of the Universe - Lord's power is incomprehensible to humans
Isaiah 40:26 -
)Lift up your eyes on high
And see
(B)who has created these stars,
The
(C)One who leads forth their host by number,
He calls them all by name;
Because of the
(D)greatness of His might and the strength of His power,
(E)Not one of them is missing.
Lord of the Nations - Lord's role and position relative to nations and people.
Isaiah 40:21-24 -
21(A)Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?
Have you not understood
(B)from the foundations of the earth?
22It is He who sits above the
(C)circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like
(D)grasshoppers,
Who
(E)stretches out the heavens like a
(F)curtain
And spreads them out like a
(G)tent to dwell in.
23He it is who reduces
(H)rulers to nothing,
Who
(I)makes the judges of the earth meaningless.
24Scarcely have they been planted,
Scarcely have they been sown,
Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth,
But He merely blows on them, and they wither,
And the
(J)storm carries them away like stubble.
Isaiah 40:15,17 - Behold, the
(A)nations are like a drop from a bucket,
And are regarded as a speck of
(B)dust on the scales;
Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
17(A)All the nations are as nothing before Him,
They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless
Lord of the Individuals - he is intimately involved with each of us as individuals.
Psalms 139:3-4,16(NIV)
3You
(A)scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O LORD, You
(B)know it all.
16Your
(A)eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in
(B)Your book were all written
The
(C)days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
Matthew 10:30 -
30"But
(A)the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Jeremiah 32:17 -
17'
(A)Ah Lord GOD! Behold, You have
(B)made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm!
(C)Nothing is too difficult for You,
In summary, God's part is the owner, in control of every circumstance,
He has promised to meet our needs. God created the world and holds it together in able to perform His responsibilities and keep His promises
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