God's finances (Part 1)

 BY Argie Simonis

Did you know that Jesus in His teachings spoke more about money and finances than about Heaven and hell combined?

His parables are presented in the Gospels, mainly of Matthew, Mark and Luke, with Luke taking the lead. The most well known are:

- The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14–30, Luke 19:12–27)

- The Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:16–21)

- The Parable of the Shrewd Manager (Luke 16:1–9)

- The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (Matthew 18:23–31)

- The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19–31)

Why, then, did Jesus place so much emphasis on money? The key is in His words here:

"He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?" Luke 16:10-11

Here the Lord is talking about money, which Ηe mentions as the least. God values people and people value money. When we adopt the values of God, then people take their true place and we see them in our hearts through the eyes of the Lord, as precious and important.

I will list some fundamental principles, which when applied will radically change the way we manage our finances and bring blessing and freedom to our lives.

The first big step toward financial blessing is recognizing that God is your source. As long as you believe that the ability and talents you have is what makes you prosperous, then you will find it very difficult to be faithful to this least that the Lord speaks in His parable. If you are in a hurry to think that you are self-made and that God did not give you wealth but you acquired it through hard work and sacrifice, I will say the following:

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no ficklenss, neither shadow of turning." James 1:17 

The Lord is the source of all that you have. He is your creator who gave you life, He gave you all the wisdom and abilities you have, and He is the reason you were born into the most prosperous age in human history.

James tells us in his letter:

"But will you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?" James 2:20

Just as faith is dead without works, applying faith in financial prosperity without knowledge in managing the finances and the spiritual laws that govern it, this faith will be fruitless.

"And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:" 2Cor. 9:8

Paul emphasizes here that when we are good stewards, when we help to meet the needs of others, the Lord will give us favor and provide us with abundance so that "may abound to every good work." The Church has taught on the principle of offering and the promised blessings of God based on the law of sowing and reaping, but I believe that this only touches the surface of what the Word of God teaches on finances. The spiritual side of stewarship must be complemented by the practical side.

Let me be more specific here and speak with an example. To be good stewards, we must be in agreement with God regarding the purpose of money:

"But you shall remember the LORD your God: for it is he that gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers, as it is this day." Deut. 8:18

The first thing we see here is that God does not rain money on us, but gives us the power to create wealth. This of course requires action on the part of the administrator. There are some practical things we need to do here, in the now, if we want to see financial success.

God wants you to prosper more than you want to. As long as you honor God with your finances and apply His own principles, your life will change, you will gain financial freedom and you will be able to be a blessing to many others.

It is important that the spiritual and the practical must work together in order for you to experience true abundance.

It is equally important to realize that the money you have does not belong to you:

"The earth is the LORD's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." Psalms 24:1

You are a steward of what the Lord has entrusted to you. He geve you talents and abilities. He blessed you with a job, gave you health and strength, made you find grace in front of other people, brought associates, customers and helpers on your way. The Lord has given you everything you need to prosper and it is up to you how you will manage the finances entrusted to you.

The mentality of the owner, to believe that what I have belongs to me, leads the person to try to do everything on his own and adds stress and worries to his daily life. The mindset of the stewart, however, liberates and helps us to receive God's blessings. These blessings are independent of our performance or whether we "deserve" them or not.

Abraham was not blessed for his business abilities, nor for his integrity, but because the Lord promised:

"And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing:" Gen. 12:2

The blessing was not based on his performance, but on the grace of the Lord that made him rich. The Lord is your source and as Abraham did, you must recognize that the money you have belongs to the Lord. Only then will everything the Bible says about money and finances begin to work in your life. This will free you from the trap of being a slave to money and will open the horizons in front of you to experience a prosperity that you have never seen before.

Recognizing God as your source does not mean that you sit at home and do nothing. The Lord has done His part, He has already blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heaven (Eph. 1: 3), but we must do our part as well. We must work and the Lord is the one who will bring the increase. This is where the law of sowing and reaping comes into play. As the Lord has given the land to the farmers to sow it, gives it rain and makes its harvest grow, gives him health and strength to be able to work, the same way His blessing prosperes us and the foundation of this prosperity is to see yourself as the steward of the Lord's property!

Υour finances are the least you can put your faith in the Lord. If you can not trust God with your finances, how will you be able to trust Him with your life?

I hope you were blessed with this message, which is just the tip of the iceberg. It will be followed by a deeper study on the subject, as well as practical applications that comes with the theory.