When Money Kills

Good morning. That was really good. The past several weeks we've been looking

through the book of Deuteronomy and we've been seeing that in the book of

Deuteronomy God is speaking to his people through Moses and God's word is

being used to shape a people for, God's using it to shape a people for himself

and he's using it to create a people who will love him and love others.

And we've talked about the fact that when God speaks, it changes his people.

And when God speaks, it is big and it is important. And so I want us, before we look

at God's word today, to just take a second, each of us individually, to pray and ask God to speak

to us today, that we would hear his voice as we look at his word and that he would shape us

into the people that he wants us to be during this time.

Father, we pray for this time together today. We pray that you would work in our hearts,

that you would work in our lives, that you would shape us into the people that you want

us to be. That as we are in this room today, that we would hear your voice and that we would

be transformed because of it. And in Jesus' name, amen.

Amen. So I have something I need to confess to you. I have a problem with money. You know,

we live in this wealthiest city on earth. We have more Rolls Royces per capita than anywhere

on earth. And you know what? That doesn't really bother me that much. I don't usually fall asleep

at night dreaming about owning a Rolls Royce. I recognize that's probably not a reality I'm ever

going to have. So it doesn't really bother me. But here's the thing that does bother me when it

comes to money. I spend a whole bunch of time hanging out with people who have a little bit

more money than me. Not billions of dollars more than me, but a little bit more. And because of this,

these people are able to take fancier vacations than me, stay at nicer hotels while they're away.

They're able to have nicer furniture and decorations in their apartment than I have.

And when we go out for meals, they can eat at a little bit nicer restaurants.

You know, I can still take vacations. I still have furniture and decorations in my apartment. I can

still eat out. But I spend a lot of time with people who can do this a little bit better than I can.

And when I look at them and I compare myself to them, it's easy for me to honestly believe in my

heart that I am poor. And that's my problem with money. I spend loads of time comparing myself to

people who have a little bit more than me, and it makes me feel like I am poor. However, the objective

facts tell me that that is far from true.

795 million people on the planet right now do not get enough nourishment to live a healthy, active lifestyle.

2.5 billion people on the planet don't have access to adequate sanitation.

Which means that literally, if you live on the streets in Hong Kong, like on the streets homeless,

the fact that you have access to public bathrooms, public showers, and public water fountains

means that you're better off than one in three people on Earth when it comes to sanitation.

We live in an incredibly blessed, incredibly prosperous society.

And by every objective standard, everyone in this room, including me, is incredibly wealthy.

I did a little research this week. There's a website called Global Rich List, and it tells you,

you type in how much you make, and it will tell you how wealthy you are compared to the average

person on the planet.

And I learned something very interesting.

Everyone here is incredibly wealthy.

If you didn't know this, Hong Kong sort of has two pay scales.

They have the pay scale for domestic helpers and the pay scale for everyone else.

The pay scale for domestic helpers is way lower.

But if you're here today and making minimum wage as a domestic helper in Hong Kong,

according to this website, Global Rich List, you're still in the top 20% of richest people

on Earth by income.

If you're making $12,000 Hong Kong a month, which from what I understand is fairly normal

for a fresh graduate from university, you're in the top 2.5% of richest people on Earth

by income, according to this website.

And to get to the top 1%, do you know how much you need to earn?

Anyone got a guess?

No guesses?

What?

$50,000?

The correct answer, according to this website, to make it to the top 1% of all earners on Earth,

you need to make $16,500 Hong Kong a month.

We are an incredibly wealthy and blessed society and people.

Even the poorest person in this room, by an objective standard compared to the rest of the world,

is incredibly rich.

I am incredibly rich.

And I have this problem, like I said, where I feel like I am not.

And I know that for me, I spend far more time comparing myself with a handful of people who have

a little bit more than me than I do giving thanks for the fact that I have more than I even need.

If you haven't figured it out today, or figured it out yet, we're talking about money today.

And we're looking at, again, like I said, the book of Deuteronomy and Moses' instruction to the Israelites about money.

And what we're going to see is that money is a good gift from God,

but it can become a curse if we let it get in the way of us trusting God.

We're going to have three things we're going to look at.

First, the curse that was a blessing.

Second, the blessing that could be a curse.

And third, our solution, remember the Savior who sets us free.

So we have the curse that was a blessing, the blessing that could be a curse,

and remember the Savior who sets us free.

First off, the curse that was a blessing.

As the Israelites are receiving the book of Deuteronomy,

they're coming out of 40 years wandering in the wilderness, in the desert.

This time in the wilderness was given to them as a punishment.

Originally, God set them free from slavery in Egypt,

and basically was going to take them straight to the Promised Land

with a quick detour to Mount Sinai to give them the law.

But the Israelites, when they saw the people of the land,

were terrified and said,

we can't go in there, we can't fight them, we can't do this.

We're not going to go.

And God said, well, the whole point is that you can't do it.

You're not supposed to do it.

I'm supposed to do it.

You're supposed to go anyways.

And they said, no, we're not going to do it.

We're out.

And God said, okay, you get 40 years in the wilderness as a punishment

for your disobedience and lack of faith.

And during this time, God, Moses uses the word humbled the Israelites.

If you look at verses 2 and 3 of today's passage,

he says,

So this humbling process involved everyone over the age of 20 dying

before they went into the Promised Land.

But it also involved God letting the Israelites hunger.

Not just like, oh, I missed a meal,

but like they were crying out like,

God, did you bring us here so that you could kill us

because we are so hungry we think we're going to die.

And this time was tough for the Israelites,

but it was good for them.

Why was it good?

Because God brought them to a place where they learned to depend on him

because they saw that there was nothing they could do to provide for themselves.

It says that God fed them with this manna that fell down from the sky every day.

In verse 4, he talks about how their clothing did not wear out,

their feet did not swell.

God provided miraculously for his people during this time

in ways that they could never have provided for themselves.

They're sort of like babies.

You know, you have a newborn baby.

A lot of my friends are reaching the point where they're starting to have babies.

And as a baby, you're completely reliant on your parents for everything.

And you know, if you have a little like one-year-old or two-year-old baby

and it walks up to their parents and says,

wow, mom and dad, look how great a life I've provided for myself.

As a parent, you're either going to laugh or cry.

Laugh because it's so ridiculous,

this idea that my baby would think that it can provide for itself.

Or cry because my baby completely does not understand or appreciate everything that I do

to provide a life for him or her.

In the same way, Israel was in a place where there was nothing they could do to say,

look how great of a life we have provided for ourselves.

Because they were utterly, completely dependent on God and they knew it.

The day-to-day life that they lived,

they could see their utter reliance on God all the time.

Despite what some people in our culture would want us to believe,

there are things in life more important than us having lots of money.

And one of the things the Bible says is more important than having money

is having this reliance and trust on God.

And God used this time in the wilderness to teach the Israelites to rely on him.

You know, a couple thousand or maybe 1400 or so years after this,

Jesus came.

He spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness.

And at the end of those 40 days, Satan tempted him.

He said, turn these stones into bread.

I know you're hungry.

You can do it.

You have this power.

And Jesus actually did what the Israelites should have done

during their time in the wilderness.

He learned to rely on God.

And he actually used this passage as his response to Satan.

He said, man shall not live by bread alone,

but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.

He refused to use his power to provide for himself.

He trusted in God.

He fought the temptation to just make it happen for himself.

And you know what happens at the end of that story with Jesus in the wilderness?

It says the angels came and ministered to him.

God provided for him because he was obedient to God.

And in the same way, God's trying to teach the Israelites through the time in the wilderness

that he provides for them.

God is our provider.

And so even though this time in the wilderness was given to the Israelites as a curse,

as a punishment for their disobedience and lack of faith,

it turned into a blessing because God used it to show them that he provides,

that he is the good father that they need.

But the story doesn't end with them in the wilderness.

No, the story moves on because God's plan is not for his people to stay in the wilderness forever.

He has something more for them,

which brings us to the blessing that could be a curse.

See, God has this amazing blessing prepared for his people.

If you look in the passage starting in verse 7, it says,

The Lord your God is bringing you into a good land,

a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs flowing out in the valleys and the hills.

And he goes on for four verses just describing the goodness of this land.

And if you look at it, the words that he uses to describe it, he says it's a good land.

God wants you to live in the good land.

It's a land of brooks of water, which is a good contrast to the desert they've been living in for the past 40 years.

It's a land of wheat and barley and vines and fig trees and pomegranates, olive trees and honey.

There is so much food here.

You're not going to have to rely on bread to fall out of the sky every day

because the land grows its own food.

And not only that, but you're going to eat without scarcity.

You're going to be able to eat not just enough to survive,

but you're going to be able to eat until you're full in this land.

Isn't that going to be amazing?

He says you're going to be able to dig metals out of the hills so that you can work with it.

You're going to eat and be full.

You're going to bless the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you.

Moses says this land is going to be good.

God is going to provide it for you.

And there's something very important that we should learn from this,

and that is that money and material blessings are not bad.

They're good gifts from God for his people.

God, in this passage, wants his people to experience the abundance that he is giving them in this new land.

He's actually brought them through this difficult process so that he can bless them in this new land.

As a good father, he delights in giving good gifts to his children.

And like we said already, if you're here today, by any objective worldly standard, we are wealthy people.

Like I said, I don't feel like this is true for me a lot of the time, but it is true.

We are a wealthy people.

God has blessed us.

He's given us food to eat, clothes to wear, a roof over our heads, adequate sanitation.

Yeah, some of us might be more wealthy than others, but we are all wealthy people.

And our wealth is a gift from God.

And we don't need to feel guilty about the fact that we're wealthy,

unless maybe if we've earned that wealth through illegal or immoral means.

But God delights in blessing his people.

Having stuff, having money is not a bad thing in and of itself.

However, having wealth and abundance brings danger.

And that's what Moses is warning the people of in this passage.

He finishes describing the amazing good land that God's going to give to his people.

And then the first words in verse 11 are, take care.

God is giving you this wonderful, abundant, great new land.

Be careful.

Because this new land is going to bring temptations with it to rely on yourself

that you have never had in the wilderness.

You know, if the time in the wilderness was the time of infancy for the Israelites,

the time in the promised land maybe could be compared to a time of adolescence.

In my home, my parents provided for us.

They would make us do chores because we're part of the family.

And as part of the family, we had to contribute to the family.

And when I got to be a teenager, I felt like, you know, I'm doing chores.

I'm contributing to my family's prosperity.

I deserve to be compensated for what I'm doing for my family.

And so I told my parents, you know, my friends all get allowances for the chores that they do.

I'm contributing to our family.

I should get an allowance for the chores that I do.

My parents explained to me that I really didn't want that to be the case

because if they did that, they would start charging me rent

and charge me for the food that they fed me.

And I said, no, no, no, no.

You don't understand.

I contribute to this family.

I deserve to get paid for the work that I do.

And that led to a big argument.

That's another story for another time that I lost very badly.

But it's that attitude that I had is one that Moses said the Israelites could very easily fall into.

Where even though we're in this place of utter dependence on someone else,

we believe this lie that we are the ones providing for ourselves

and that we are the ones who are worthy of receiving everything that we have.

And that's why, just like me, as an ignorant teenager,

Israel, in this land of prosperity and blessing,

was going to face a temptation to become self-reliant.

This land, this blessing that God was giving them,

was a good gift.

But it brought with us danger.

And for God's people, for us,

a lot of times, the times when we are successful,

are actually the most dangerous times for us.

Because in the times when everything is going crazy,

we recognize our utter dependence on God.

God, I was reminded of that this morning.

We had a handful of kids' teachers downstairs call in sick very last minute.

We were scrambling to try and find teachers.

And I just reached this point where I was like,

there's nothing I can do on my own to fix this situation.

God, please help.

And he did.

He provided all the teachers that we needed for this morning.

And it was this time of everything's going crazy.

I need to rely on God.

And God came through.

But when everything is going right,

I have a tendency to believe that I can do it on my own power,

by my own strength.

When things are going well,

I believe that I am responsible for them going well.

When my life feels like it's in order,

I believe that it's in order because I have done the right things.

I have made the right decisions to get me to where I am today.

And the reality is,

I am utterly dependent on God for everything.

Yeah, I worked hard in school to get through and get a job.

But the reality is,

I had no control over whether I would be born into a family

where I would even have access to school as a little kid.

I had no control over whether I'd be born with disabilities

that would keep me from being able to do a job.

I had no control over whether I'd be born into one of those families

where 795 million people in the world lack adequate nutrition.

All of these things were things that were completely outside my control

that God provided for me.

Each of us is completely dependent on God for everything in our lives.

I mean, you can think of this,

even we can take an extreme example of someone like LeBron James.

Right?

He worked hard.

He has won NBA championships.

He, if you don't know the story,

he grew up in the Cleveland area.

He got drafted by his hometown team,

went away, played for another team,

won a couple championships,

and then came back to play for Cleveland

and said,

my goal is to win a championship for my city.

And in his second year,

back with the Cavaliers in Cleveland,

they won the championship.

And if you listen to his interview

after winning the championship,

do you know what word you hear over and over and over again?

I.

I worked hard.

I came back.

We did this.

Lots of emphasis on him.

And you know what?

From an earthly perspective,

yes, he did work hard.

But think about the numerous things

that had to work together in his life

that were completely dependent on God

for him to be able to have that opportunity

in the first place.

If he was born with a deformed leg

or a deformed arm,

he would not have been an NBA championship.

If he was born five foot six,

none of us would have ever heard his name before.

And even the things that seem to be negatives

that are these barriers and obstacles

that he had to overcome

probably are things that in the end

helped to shape him into who he is today.

He had a rough childhood.

He probably felt this need to fight and overcome

and prove himself by becoming great at basketball

that he wouldn't have had

if he had this comfortable childhood.

All of these factors in his life

are things outside of his control

that are completely dependent on God.

And each of us here today,

however successful we are,

are completely dependent on God for everything.

For the fact that our heart is still pumping

from one moment to the next,

we are dependent on God.

For the fact that our company is staying afloat,

we are dependent on God.

For the fact that our brains are still working

and we can still do our job from a mental capacity,

we are dependent on God.

And we have little to no control

over so many of these things.

And we feel like we do.

But at the end of the day,

all of us are dependent on God

for all of these things.

And the times when we are successful

are times of great temptation

because when everything is working together properly,

it's easy to believe

that it's working together properly because of us

and to stop trusting in God.

And that's why this blessing,

this good blessing that God was giving to his people

had a great danger attached to it.

Moses is saying,

God wants to bless you as you go into this land,

but take care.

Be careful.

Because the blessing can very easily become a curse

if we let ourselves believe

if we let ourselves believe that we are the ones

who gave this blessing to ourselves

and lose sight of the fact

that we are utterly dependent on God for everything.

So what's the solution?

How do we take care?

How do we avoid falling into this trap

of believing that we are self-sufficient

and that we can do it on our own?

The solution is,

remember the Savior who sets us free.

Remember the Savior who sets us free.

Moses tells the Israelites right here,

the simple solution is remember.

Remember.

We've mentioned before,

the words remember and do not forget

occur over and over and over again

in the book of Deuteronomy.

The Israelites are supposed to remember

what God has done in the past

so that they will be shaped by that

moving into the future.

And the combination of words remember

and do not forget

actually occur more times in this chapter,

chapter eight,

than in any other chapter in the book of Deuteronomy.

Moses very clearly wants the Israelites

to remember, remember,

do not forget what God has done for you.

When I hear this word remember,

I think of the picture

that immediately comes to mind

is like second grade spelling tests.

You sit there and you spell through the word

in your mind over and over and over

until it's stuck there

so you can remember it

so that when you get into class

and the teacher says,

you need to spell math,

you can write down M-A-T-H

because in America we don't put an S on the end

because we do it properly.

And you remember how to spell these words,

but it's just a simple fact

that's in your mind

that doesn't impact the way that you live at all.

That's not the kind of remembering

that Moses is talking about here.

He's talking about

a more relational kind of remembering.

It's like if you have an old friend.

You've been through a lot together.

You have a history together.

Now you live in different cities,

but your friend is coming to your city

for a couple days.

And you have the opportunity

to hang out with this friend

and catch up with them

and you totally blow them off.

Maybe in your mind

you still remember your friendship.

You can recount the details

of what's happened between the two of you.

But in a very real sense,

you've forgotten that relationship

because you've forgotten

the importance that it had in your life

and the way that it shaped you.

This is a type of remembering and forgetting

that actually carries some weight with it

because it shapes who we are

and who we become.

Moses is saying,

don't blow off God.

Don't ignore the history

that you have together.

remember him

like you would remember

an old friend

when they come to visit you in town.

It's a relational remembering.

And he says that this is important

for your life,

for your spiritual health.

So this raises the important question,

what is it that makes us forget?

If remembering is so important

and we're supposed to not forget,

what is it that causes us to forget

in the first place?

Well, obviously,

we're talking about money today.

But money isn't really the answer,

I don't think.

No one wants money

simply for the sake of having money.

We want money for the things

that it can give us.

Money makes us feel secure.

Money makes us feel powerful.

Money makes us feel self-sufficient.

We want these things

and we grasp after money

because we think that money

can give us these other things

that we want.

And again,

money in and of itself

is not a bad thing.

The wealth that all of us have

is a gift from God.

The prosperity that the Israelites

were going to have in the new land

was a gift from God.

The problem is

that wealth brings a temptation

to believe that we are self-sufficient

and don't need God.

And when we give in

to this temptation,

we forget God,

we forget what he has done for us,

and we rely on ourselves instead

because we believe

that we're the ones

who have done this all for ourselves.

So how do we

keep ourselves from forgetting,

keep ourselves from relying on ourselves?

Moses gives the simple solution,

remember.

Which you're like,

well, duh.

Obviously,

the solution to not forgetting

is remembering.

What are we supposed to remember?

We're supposed to remember

God's salvation.

Moses, he's here.

He's describing the new land

that they're going into.

He says,

take care to not forget the Lord.

And then,

in the middle of verse 14,

he jumps in and narrates

everything that God has done

to rescue them from slavery

and bring them into this good land.

He says,

in the middle of verse 14,

he brought you out of the land of Egypt,

out of the house of slavery.

He led you through

the great and terrifying wilderness

with its fiery serpents

and scorpions

and thirsty ground

where there was no water

and brought you water

out of the flinty rock.

He fed you in the wilderness

with manna

that your fathers did not know

that he might humble you

and test you

to do you good in the end.

He goes through

and he narrates for them

everything that God

has done for them

to rescue them,

to shape them

into a people for himself.

That is what

they are supposed to remember.

If you don't know this,

the Exodus story from Egypt

is the great salvation story

of the Old Testament.

It's a time when God

took his people who were slaves

and rescued them

and made them into

a people for himself.

And Moses points the people

back to this

and says,

if you remember

what God has done for you

in the past,

it will help you

fight the temptation

to rely on yourself

in the future.

And the same is true

for us today.

Except

we have

an even greater

salvation story

that we can look back upon.

another story

of a time

when God

took his people

who were slaves

and rescued them

to shape them

into a people

for himself.

Only with us,

it wasn't slavery,

physical slavery

in Egypt.

The Bible tells us

that each of us,

as God's creation,

owed allegiance

and obedience

to God

and each of us

rebelled.

Each of us

committed treason

on a cosmic level

and as a punishment

for that,

we became slaves

to our sin,

our rebellion.

We deserved death.

And that to rescue us

from our slavery,

God sent his son,

Jesus,

God in human flesh,

to come to the earth,

to set us free

from our slavery

at great cost to himself,

at the cost

of his own life.

He bore the consequences

that we owed

so that God

could shape us

into a people

for himself.

We remember

the Savior,

remember

this great salvation.

I love,

in 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 8:9

chapter 8,

verse 9,

the Apostle Paul

sort of ties together

what Jesus has done

in rescuing us

from our sin

and the discussion

of money

into one.

and he says,

for you know

the grace

of our Lord Jesus Christ

that though he was rich,

yet for your sake

he became poor

so that you

by his poverty

might become rich.

You know,

when it comes

to material possessions,

I so often feel

this need to grab on

to everything

that I can get

and just hold on to it

as tightly as I can.

And I hold on to it

with a grasped fist

so that no one

can get it from me.

And what Paul says

is that Jesus

was rich.

Jesus had everything.

And Jesus came

and instead of grasping it

and holding on to it,

he held his hand out

and said,

here,

it's yours.

Take it.

He became poor

so that we might become rich.

He held his wealth

with an open hand

so that we could prosper

through his generosity.

And the Bible tells us

that the proper response

to that,

to that love

that he has shown us,

is that now

instead of us

grasping on

to all of the wealth

that we can get,

we grasp on

to Jesus

as tightly as we can.

And the thing

about grasping on

to Jesus

as tightly as you can

is that you can't

grasp on to Jesus

as tightly as possible

and grasp on to money

as tightly as possible

at the same time.

If you're grasping

on to Jesus

as tightly as possible,

you're going to hold

your money

with an open hand.

But we can do this

because he showed us

there's something

more important

than having all the money.

That relationship

with him

is far more valuable

than what's

in our bank account.

he sets us free

to be generous

with what we have.

He sets us free

to love the people

around us

by letting go

of his wealth

so that we can

become wealthy,

not so that we can

stockpile that wealth,

but so that we can

be generous

with our wealth

in the same way

that he was generous

with his.

So what does this look like

in real life?

Well, first,

if you're here today

and you are not

a Christian,

the first step

is recognizing

the Savior

and what he has done

for you.

Recognizing that

although we

are rebels

against God,

that God

sent his son

to rescue us

to pay the price

for our rebellion

against him,

that he became poor

so that we might

become rich.

And the way

to receive that gift

is through trusting

in him

and placing

our faith in him

to rescue us.

If you're here today

and you are

a Christian,

it's about

holding our money

with an open hand

because we're

holding on to Christ

as tightly

as we can.

Remember,

everyone in this room

is wealthy.

I'm not talking

to people above

a certain income level.

All of us

have earthly wealth.

And I think so often,

like Chris said,

we in the church

talk about how

we should be generous

and give,

especially to the church,

and then don't talk

about what else

we should do

with the rest

of our money.

And it's so easy

to just say,

this is my stuff,

you don't worry about it

because it's mine

to worry about.

But what this passage

teaches us

is that everything

we have

is a gift from God.

Like Chris said earlier,

we are stewards,

he is the true owner.

And so yes,

generosity,

giving to the church

is important

because it allows us

to do stuff

to reach out

to the people around us

and to do ministry.

But,

what about the rest of it

that doesn't go

in the offering plate?

How do we have

an attitude this week

that says,

everything I have

in my bank account

and in my house

is a gift from God

to be used for him?

You know,

the Bible does say

providing for our families

is something God

wants us to do.

Using your money

to provide for your family

is a good thing.

Using your money

to make your spouse

feel valued

is a good thing.

But then what else?

What if we used

our money

to invite another family

over for dinner

and cook them a meal

so we could get

to know them

and find out

how we can do

a better job

loving the people

around us?

Whether it's people

from church

or people from

our apartment building

or from our work.

Just using our resources

to help build relationships

so that we can know

how we can love

the people around us.

Even for those of us

who don't have

lots of disposable income,

cooking a meal

for two extra people

is not that expensive.

And what if we said,

we're going to use

the resources

that God has given us

to invest

in building relationships

this week

so that we can be light

and salt

for God

and his kingdom?

What if we just

went into conversations

with eyes and ears

looking for the needs

around us

and a heart that says,

I want to use

what God has blessed me with

to be part of helping people

with the needs

that they have.

I think even that

small attitude change

would be a huge step

towards recognizing

that what we have

is a gift from God

not for ourselves.

and at the end of the day,

whether or not

we use our resources

to love others

is a reflection

of whether we truly believe

these resources

are from God

or whether we believe

they're from ourselves.

If we believe

that they're from God,

we can be generous

with them

because just as he has

provided for us

in the past,

he will continue

to provide in the future.

If we believe

that our resources

are completely from us

and our self-sufficient

hard work,

we're going to

stockpile them

because we never know

when our luck's

going to run out

and when we're going

to need them

in the future.

So the curse

can be a blessing.

Poverty can be a blessing

if it draws us to God.

The blessing

can be a curse.

Prosperity and riches,

although a good gift

from God,

can be dangerous

if they draw us

away from him.

At the end of the day,

the question isn't

about how much money

we have in our bank account

but about who

we are relying on.

Are we relying

on ourselves

to provide for ourselves

and take care

of ourselves?

Or are we relying

on the Savior

who gave up

his riches

and became poor

so that we might

become rich

and calls us

to do the same

for the others

around us?

We're going to close

in prayer in just a minute,

but before we do that,

I want us to just take

one minute to reflect

and think,

this coming week,

what's one

tangible way

that you can use

the resources

that you have

to demonstrate

a reliance on God

rather than on yourself?

In this coming week,

what's one tangible way

that you can use

the resources you have

to demonstrate

a reliance on God

rather than reliance

on yourself?

God, I confess

that so often

when it comes to money,

I feel the need

to hoard and stockpile

personally

because I don't rely

on you.

I confess

that I feel poor

even though you have

blessed me with so much

and that I don't

give you the thanks

that you deserve

for the blessings

that you have given me.

God, I pray

that we as a people

would be

people who remember you,

people who remember

the things that you

have done for us

and remember the importance

of our relationship

with you,

that as we remember

that it would make us

generous,

that as we remember

that it would help

shape us into a people

who love you

and love others,

that you would help us

to be a community

of people

who shows the world

around you

through our actions

the amazing love

that you have for us

and that lives

would be transformed

because of our

generosity.

I pray that you would

protect us

from relying on ourselves

and help us

to have a constant

reliance on you

to provide for us

and care for us.

We thank you

that you're good.

We thank you

that you love us.

In Jesus' name,

amen.