Where Are The Ninety? - Money Management / Stewardship

Where Are the Ninety?

I Tim. 6:6-10, Prov. 23:5, Rom. 13:7-8

In our last message, “A ‘Trust’ Fund”, we dealt w/ the tithe…the 10% God asks us to return to Him. This message is about the other 90% of God’s money that He charges us to be good stewards of. God wants for us to be financially free, but He’ll allow us to live in a prison of our own making if we insist.

TOP 10 SIGNS YOU ARE BROKE

10. American Express calls and says: "Please, Leave home without it!"

9. You’re formulating a plan to rob the church food pantry.

8. Long distance companies don’t call you to switch.

7. You rob Peter...and then rob Paul.

6. You clean your house for the purpose of finding change.

5. You think of a lottery ticket as an investment.

4. Your bologna has no first name.

3. At communion you go back for seconds.

2. You can’t even pay attention!

1. McDonalds is your source for all your condiments.

Courtesy Brian Mavis

I decided to start off with something light because if you’ve ever experienced run-away debt you know how scary it can be. Life deteriorates into a juggling act of delaying until the last minute and then paying only the most crucial bill. The phone rings and you fear that it’s another creditor calling. You know things are really bad when you hide the car so the repo-man won’t find it.

Maybe you’ve been there. Maybe you’re there right now.

-Read Texts…

-Back to I Tim. 6…

v. 7 I have yet to see a U-Haul Truck following a hearse.

v. 8 Where does that say cars, houses, and things? It doesn’t. What two things are we supposed to be contented with? Food and raiment. Are you? Are you satisfied with these? No, that’s why we are in debt.

v. 9 This is not condemning being rich. Being rich is not a sin if the wealth does not affect your serving and living for God. But those who try for too much, too fast, will fall into temptation, snares, and will drown in destruction. Now we see major stress coming into the picture.

v. 10

Sixteen tons and what do you get?

Another day older and deeper in debt.

Saint Peter don’t you call me

Cause I can’t go;

I owe my soul to the company store.

You may be like the majority of Americans in bondage to payments of all kinds. Statistically, most people in this room have $8,000 dollars worth of credit card debt. That’s on top of cars and mortgages. You haven’t gone under yet, but you feel trapped by all those ballooning bills.

If this describes you, I’ve got good news. There is a way out. It’s not quick or easy, it requires commitment and discipline, but you can be free. You can get out of debt for good.

The problem is not a lack of money. The problem is not the amount of your income. The problem is a lack of control of your desires. God said, “Thou shalt not covet.” We have a lack of contentment…A lack of satisfaction…Most are not content or satisfied to live on the level that God has supplied you with. God supplies at one level and you want to live at a higher level. Our desires exceed our means. Our “wanter” is writing checks our “supplier” can’t cash!

The BIG remedy is not more money. The BIG remedy is not a better job. The BIG remedy is a matter of getting control of our desires. We need to concentrate on and drill into our heads:

“Save, then buy; Save, then buy…

Earn, then spend; earn, then spend.”

[Too many spend and then earn.]

MONEY - it is the most important value in American society, it is absolutely essential for existence, it is one thing almost everyone wishes they had more of, it is the subject which causes more family arguments than all others combined. Solomon, the richest man in the world, made this observation: "Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings - they fly away as an eagle toward heaven." (Prov. 23:5 kjv) Or, as a "modern philosopher" said:

"That money talks, I’ll not deny, I heard it once, it said, ’Good-bye.’"

Before we can ever hope to please God financially, we must have the right attitudes toward money:

1. "God is the ‘source’ of all our resources"- an attitude of gratitude

2. "We are the stewards of God’s property"-an attitude of faithfulness

3. "Our most important investments are heavenly"-an attitude of vision

4. "We should trust God to provide for all our needs"-an attitude of faith

With these four attitudes in our hearts, let’s look at some practical applications from Proverbs, the book of wisdom: