Did you hear the words of that song? I want to make sure that before you walk out of here today that you get what that song said. It didn’t say that my job made the difference. It didn’t say that my status made the difference. It didn’t say my car made the difference. It didn’t say that my house or my stuff or my bank account or any of that stuff made a difference. What did it say? The Old Rugged Cross made the difference.
For these last two weeks we’ve been in this series, Back to Life, getting our lives back when our future is uncertain, when relationships are hurting, when our finances are challenging, when we seem to be spiritually stuck. And we’ve been talking about this incredible verse out of John chapter 10, verse 10. This verse that I know you know it by now. I hope you know it by heart. It says this, “The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy.” But then it says, and I want you to replace this word “I” with the word “Christ”, okay? Because it says here Christ has come. Christ has come. “ Christ has come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. “ This series that we’ve been talking about for these last couple of weeks has been focusing on this one word. And this is such an important word. This is a vital word. This is a word that if we don’t understand, then we will never truly be able to get all of the things, all of the joy, all of the peace that Christ came to give. When Christ died on that cross for your sins and for my sins, He did so, He did so, so that we could have life and have it abundantly.
More than enough. More than necessary. More than needed. More than you can possibly imagine. That’s what Christ wants to give. So when we talk about getting our lives back, we’ve got to realize that it starts at the cross. It starts with Jesus. It starts with Him in our lives speaking peace and joy and contentment and comfort. Helping us every step of the way.
Two weeks ago we had Joni Eareckson Tada who shared with us what to do when life is so uncertain, when the future is just out of control. Last week we talked about relationships. We had Tim Clinton share with us what do you do when everything is falling apart. When the marriage is gone. When the relationship is broken.
Today we are going to talk about something that is equally important. Because there’s not one single topic, not one single issue in our lives that brings more stress and more challenge and more problems and more discontentment in lives, outside of our relationships themselves, than the issue of finances. Of money, of what in the world are we going to do to pay the bills? All of us go through it. All of us have that challenge. All of us, at the end of the month and especially a couple weeks ago when it was tax day, we all sat there and looked at our taxes and realized, man, what are we going to do now? We all go through it.
And so today we want to talk about how do we get our lives back? How do we come back to life when our finances are challenging? When we don’t know what to do. When we don’t know how to pay the bills. When we don’t know what we’re going to do to make ends meet. When we don’t know what we are going to do to pay the mortgage. We don’t know what we’re going to do to make sure that we pay for college education and all of the things that are important in life. What do we do?
I want you to hear what a guy that I talked to a couple weeks ago had to say about this topic because what he said is the truth. Let’s take a look at Dave Ramsey this morning.
Q: Well, Dave, we are sitting here on the set that so many of us have seen on Good Morning America, Larry King, of course, on FOX. And from this desk I know that you’ve talked to millions of people about some important issues and as it results in and as it relates back to the finances and issues that so many of us face.
Today we want to talk about how it relates and a little bit more focused and that’s how it relates to us as followers of Christ. Before we do that though, Dave, I thought that maybe you could share a little bit kind of about your background. What brought you to this desk? How did you get here and doing what you’re doing today?
A: Well I’ve got a PhD in D-U-M-B. I’ve done stupid with zeroes on the end so that’s why I am able to relate to hurting people. Larry Crabb says that the wounded healer is the most effective. That’s us. We started out with nothing, my wife, Sharon and I, like most people. I started buying and selling real estate and I got rich, at least by a kid from Antioch, Tennessee’s standards. We had about $4 million of real estate. But too much debt in my early 20s and short story is, the bank got sold to another bank and we spent the next 2 ½ years of our lives losing everything we owned.
So I was a brand new Christian on the way down. I met Him on the way up, got to know Him on the way down. And so at the bottom of that mess, I determined I was going to learn, if I was going to be a person of faith, I need to know what the Word says about money, because apparently my plan doesn’t work. Here I sit with nothing and all these letters a. My marriage hanging on by a thread, two little babies and starting over. And that was 21 years ago.
Q: You know, Dave, we live in a world today, and you know this, you see it all the time obviously in what you do. We live in a world where there is so much talk about finances, so much talk about credit, there’s so much talk about debt, there’s so much talk about deficits even as it relates to the government, all those types of things. There is so much uncertainty. We live in a world where people don’t know what’s going to come tomorrow, no less decades from now. In a statement, what would you say to a follower of Christ out there who is fearful, anxious, worrying about what does the future hold? Am I going to have my job next week? Am I going to be able to pay the bills? Am I going to have enough money in my retirement years? With regards to the anxious and the fearful that are out there, what would you say to them, again from your studies about what the Word of God says about finances?
A: Well, having been there myself, I think that’s a human emotion. I think it’s normal to be a little bit freaked out about things like that. And Jesus knew that. And so He talked to us pretty directly about those kinds of things. Don’t be anxious for tomorrow, you know.
But to me, the way I’ve been able to adjust to it, my wife Sharon and I, is we boil it down to one word and that’s “ownership.” It’s weird, you know. If you don’t own your house and the heat and air goes out, you call the landlord and tell him to come and fix it. Your stress level is down. But when you own it, oh the drama of the heat and air going out, you know? And so what I have to do every day, and it’s a “Dave thing” because my name is Dave and I like stuff. I have to get up every morning and I remind myself, I don’t own any of this stuff. I’m just running this business; I’m just running these opportunities, this FOX thing, this book thing, this house thing, this car thing. They’re not mine. And I’m just running them for somebody else. And boy that just kind of takes the pressure off because He kind of already knows what’s going to happen 5 years from now. I don’t, so it gives me a lot of peace to sit there very calmly in the palm of His nail-scarred hands.
Q: And so the statement there is basically, “He’s God, we’re not, so just live life.”
A: You know worry is kind of a Messiah complex. You know worry is I’m Jesus, I’m in control but I don’t feel in control. And when you quit trying to be Jesus and let Him do it, it does release it, from a very practical standpoint. Sounds kind of “churchy” but it really is. And that’s how I do it and that’s how I counsel families, you know. When they are struggling and all the drama’s there and they’re about to lose their home in foreclosure, it’s interesting to walk them through the process emotionally and go, okay the house is gone. Now what are we going to do? There’s this release. There’s a house on every corner. I can get another one. And I don’t want them to lose it. But if you can get there emotionally that it’s gone and to release it, then we can work on the problem without all the drama. Without all the worry.
Q: Well, you know that brings up a good point because so many times in life we compartmentalize everything, you know. We’ve got our church life and we’ve got our work life and we’ve got our family life, and we kind of put all those things in little boxes. And sometimes we get to the point where we think that finances are really not a spiritual topic. It’s not something that we deal with on a spiritual level. It’s a totally different issue. Obviously, what you’ve said today, that’s not true, is it?
A: Well, finances weave their way through every part of our lives. I often get criticism out there in the main stream. “ Why do you bring up all this Bible stuff having to do with money?” What’s the Bible got to do with money? And the deal is this; personal finance is 80% behavior. It’s only 20% head knowledge. And to have an intelligent academic discussion about behavior and leave out the spiritual is moronic. And so you’ve got to have a spiritual element to behavior modification. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, is where your heart is.”
So how we handle our money is an indication of how our wallet is pointed. It’s pointing at something, it’s going to go off. And it’s like our little autobiography spiritually. When we get it out we look at the credit card statement. We look at the debit card statement. We look at the bank statement. Where’d your money go? That is who you are. Jesus said that. He said that’s your value system. And so it is very spiritual not because money itself is spiritual but because it reflects, it’s a mirror of what’s going on in my heart.
Q: Well and that brings up another important point that I want to talk about today with you. It’s the issue of stuff. You talk about credit cards. You talk about debt. You talk about things. You know, stuff is one of the biggest problems that we have in today’s world because we all want stuff and we want more stuff and we want bigger stuff and better stuff. How much stuff is enough? And how do we get a hold of that where we understand that there’s a difference between contentment and the difference between desiring something that we don’t have?
A: I call it “stuff-itis.” This insatiable desire for more junk, you know. And what I’ve figured out is the more junk I own, the more repairmen I have to know. I mean it just clutters up your life. And I’ve got a bunch of junk. I’m not against junk. I don’t think money is evil and I don’t think stuff is evil. And I don’t think people who get some stuff are evil. But I think what happens is. Too many times we are trying to be something or look like something that we’re not.
Tom Stanley, who wrote the book, “Millionaire Next Door,” has a book out called “Stop Acting Rich.” It’s “quit putting on the dog.” That’s what we say in Tennessee. Or in Texas, they say, “big hat, no cattle.” Quit looking like you’re something when you’re not. Your life doesn’t need to be a movie set where there’s a façade and nothing back there. You need to be something before you go out and grab stuff. But then don’t be critical of other people when they get some stuff. Because I meet some very spiritual people who have an amazing amount of money. I talked to a guy the other day who has $100 million. He’s a strong believer. He’s managing it for Christ. But he bought a $300,000 car. Now is that evil? Some people would say so. But that’s like most people getting a “Happy Meal” ratio-wise. So you can’t really be judging where other people are with their stuff.
But I can always look at my heart and go, “Why am I doing this?” And if Jesus were standing here beside me saying, “This is my money, is this a good management of it?” One good management of money is to take care of your own household or you are worse than an unbeliever. So within reasonable ratios, when you are paying cash for things, which is biblical, then I don’t mind you getting some stuff. But the problem is when it gets all this debt with it and when it’s decisions made without the spouse or not doing things together. That’s not biblical. There’s not unity. There’s not communication. There’s not a game plan. That’s all a lack of management. A lack of stewardship.
Q: Well, you talked about it right there; the issues of biblical principles of how to deal with money. You mentioned cash, you mentioned about making decisions arbitrarily without talking with the spouse, the families doing things together. Just give us some biblical principles. Just some practical things that you’ve learned in your years of studying the Word of God and finding what God says about how to deal with “stuff-itis” and how to deal with finances. What are some biblical principals that a person out there can apply in their lives right now, wherever they are? Whether they’ve got $100 million or whether they’ve got $100 and what they can do to begin living their life according to the biblical principles for finance?
A: Jesus said “Don’t build a tower without first counting the cost lest you get halfway up and you are unable to finish, and all who see you begin to mock you and say this man began to build and was unable to finish.” Another Christian doesn’t pay his bills, damages your witness. You’ve got to have a plan. You’ve got to have a plan. Got to have a budget. John Maxwell says that a budget is people telling their money what to do instead of wondering where it went. Zig Ziglar says if you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time.
So you’ve got to write it down on paper, on purpose before the month begins and agree on it with your spouse.
The second thing you have to do is to learn to act your wage. You have to learn to live on less than you make. I don’t care what you make. You’ve got to live on less than that. And you know, this is woven all through the Scriptures.
And you have to learn to save money. Gotta save money for an emergency. It’s coming. “In the house of the wise there are choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has,” the Proverbs says. So save money. Don’t spend everything you make. I don’t know what that says about Congress, but that’s where we are for us.
(Rules don’t apply to them)
Yes, they are above that. But we’ve got to save money for a rainy day. Why? Because it’s going to rain. I’m positive. It’s going to rain. How can you be positive, Dave? I’m positive it’s going to rain. And you need to save to pay cash for things.
And you need to save and invest to leave an inheritance to your children’s children, which is what a godly man does. And all of that has to do with building some wealth, not for you, but in the name of the Kingdom. And you are managing it for the good of the Kingdom, which includes taking care of your own household first or you are worse than an unbeliever. Fill your own cup first then keep pouring and let it flow over into the saucer below. That’s the Havdalah service that our Jewish friends use. Fabulous metaphor for the whole thing.
So that takes us to giving. Gotta be giving. The tithe is the minimum. And it’s not, “I’m a little Christian boy scout.” A tither. It’s “God loves me, He’s crazy about me.” He says, “Hey, you want to win kid? Here’s how you win. Be a giver. It will rock your world.” And it starts with a tenth of your income. Evangelicals, you and I, we believe that goes to the local church. Years and years, hundreds and hundreds of years of teaching back that up. And then we can go into the whole teachings on that, but the bottom line is 10%. And then above that, be giving more away. Have some fun with money. It’s not yours anyway! Release it, you know. And so, have a plan. Live on less than you make. Be saving money. Be a giver. And then, of course, the one I’m known for is you’ve got to get out of debt, which makes those things happen. The borrower truly is slave to the lender.
Proverbs 17:18 says that one who co-signs for another is stupid. That’s the contemporary English version. I like that version. So don’t co-sign for other people. It’s the same thing as going into debt. See it’s all in there. We just never open the Word with the eyes of saying, “this is going to be my financial planner.” And so you’ve got to say, “Hey, dude, I’m done. I’m having plastic surgery. (Dave Ramsey is cutting up credit cards) I am not going into debt anymore.
You know the weird thing is? I have met with thousands of millionaires and I have never met one who said, “Dave, you know I made all my money with my Discover points.” Doesn’t happen. “You know, Dave I made all my money with my airline miles. That put me over the top!” Didn’t happen. Because here’s the weird thing, when you don’t have any payments, you have money. Now that’s the first layer of the borrower slave to the lender. That’s the mathematical layer. That’s the one that’s right on the surface that anybody can see.
Cause see when all the money comes in and all the money goes back out and only the names are changed to protect the innocent, you’re not living in God’s will, you’re a rat in a wheel. And you got yourself into that by buying stuff that you didn’t need with money you didn’t have, to impress people you didn’t really like. It’s time to stop that stuff because your upkeep becomes your downfall. All that junk, what we’ve always said, but it’s all there. And it’s these silly things right here (credit cards) and instead trade it off for some of this (holding up cash). And it’s Grandma’s deal. If you don’t have the money you can’t buy it. But, but, but, but….But what? Live it. Do it. It’s hard and at the start no discipline seems pleasant at the time but it yields a harvest of righteousness. Live like no one else, so later you can live like no one else. Now there’s a whole 8-hour seminar in 3 ½ minutes.
Q: Well, you talked about debt. Let’s give again some practical points, some practical things. Because there are a lot of people out there who are dealing with debt. A lot of people out there who are struggling. And a lot of people out there who are drowning in debt. So as a Christ follower, what are some biblical principles? What are some things, practical principles too that we can put into place now, that we can put into action today, to begin to get out of debt? Because we know that it doesn’t happen overnight, so what are the things that we can do?
A: Well you know physiologically psychologists tell us that the emotion of anger and the emotion of fear react exactly the same way inside of our bodies. Our heart rate increases, our eyes dilate, you get a little sweat in the palm of your hand, endorphins and proteins are released and then we name it fear or anger depending on what the situation is. And then we go with it.
And the Bible says if you want to get out of debt, you’ve got to get mad. It says in Proverbs 6:1-7, and I love the picture. “If you’ve signed surety, my son.” Which is Old English Bible talk for you got yourself in debt. “If you’ve signed surety, my son, do this. Give no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids.” Six extra jobs, baby. You’re working all the time. My Grandmother used to say there’s a great place to go when you’re broke. To work. You know, bust it. “The diligent prosper.” See all these Scriptures, how they just lay in here? It’s just fabulous.
“Give no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids. Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, a bird from the hand of the fowler.” Have you ever seen a gazelle run from a cheetah? Baby, it’s life and death. They are going. And that metaphor plays because the cheetah is the fastest mammal on dry land. And this is how you get out of debt. You run like you are running from hell. You’ve got to get mad.
And then what we do from a mechanical point of view. We say, list your debts smallest to largest. Smallest to largest regardless of the interest rate. Pay minimum payments on everything but the little one and attack the little one with a vengeance. Sell so much stuff the kids think they’re next. Put the dog on eBay. Put the cat on Craigslist. Have a garage sale. We’re going to bust stuff. Stuff’s going to come unglued. People that are around us are going to think we’ve joined a cult or gone crazy. Who cares what they think? They’re broke. We’re going to do our thing and we’re going to get our family, as for me and my house, we’re about to change this deal. It’s not working. Because, you know, it’s a sowing/reaping deal. If you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’re going to keep getting what you’ve been getting.
Q: Okay. So then talking about how to live within your means. We talked about a few moments ago, the issues of budgets. You know, so many families they find it hard to spend less than they bring in. In fact, it’s a lot easier to spend more than you bring in again. But as you know, that doesn’t last long. So what would you say to a family out there who is trying to do the right thing? They are trying to get to that point, but man, they are just struggling to get on a budget. They are struggling to spend less than they are bringing in. How do they start there? What are the points that they can put into practice in their lives and in their families to get to that point?
A: In writing, on purpose, before the month begins, and both spouses agree. If you are doing that, you are going to start to feel like you got a raise because there is always this waste when there’s not an intentional game plan. If you are not pro-active with the money, money just flows from those who don’t manage it to those who do. Universal principle. So you’ve got to be like, I work for a company and my job is to make everyone of these dollars behave. Every time a dollar tries to leave, you say, “Who are you and where do you think you are going?” Every one of them has to have a name and once we are doing that, then we take care of our own household first. So food, lights and water, shelter, transportation, basic clothing. We do those things before we do anything. You didn’t hear Master Card or Discover Bondage on that list, until later.
We are going to take care of family first, if things are struggling. Then we work our way down and do as best we can. Now if it’s tight, well there’s only two sides to this equation-the outgo and the income. I’ve got to get the income up and the outgo down. You may have to amputate the Tahoe. Get rid of that $473 car payment. All of a sudden there will be room in the budget. Sell the stupid thing. It’s a car. It is not your identity. And if you’ll drive like no one else now, later you’ll get to drive like no one else.
Q: Well you talk about the budget, things are tight, income, outgo, those types of things, let’s talk about the life of a generous follower of Christ. You know, you talked about earlier that it’s important to give. It’s important for the tithe. As a pastor, I know, it’s important for the tithe. The Bible is very clear about that. You know there are people out there, there are families out there that say, you know I can’t afford to tithe. What would you say to them?
A: Well, number one is you don’t ever need to give out of guilt. And you don’t ever want to give out of some Christian duty. We have a word for that. It’s called Pharisee. You want to be giving because you trust that your Father in heaven who is crazy about you has a plan for your life and He says, “Hey, kid, maybe you don’t understand but here’s how it works.”
Now, the tithe is off the top. In an Agrarian culture, Proverbs, all through Proverbs it says first fruits, first fruits, first fruits, the tithe. Offerings, they come from surplus so a family that’s struggling is probably not giving any offerings. They’re probably not participating in the building program. They are not doing any of that. They can’t. Their job is to take care of their own household but the tithe is off the top. So we tithe. We operate our family. We get ourselves under control. Then the offerings can come in the later years. It’s giving like no one else, so later you can give like no one else.
But the tithe is essential. And the reason is, is this. My friend, my good friend, this Orthodox Jewish Rabbi, Rabbi Daniel Lapin. And he says that your opportunities come to you because of you. It’s not random. It’s not the lightning strike and all of a sudden---oooooh--- if you’re a jerk, you don’t have opportunities. If you’re selfish, you don’t have as many opportunities. If you‘ve got an anger problem, you don’t have as many opportunities as unselfish, giving, loving people have. They’re the ones that get promoted, that you want to be in business with, and that’s how you make money in the real world. And the weird thing is that when you start giving, you move from jerk to less selfish. I did. I’m a better guy because I’ve been giving for 25 years, like a crazy man. And it’s changed my heart. It’s changed who I am. God know that and so that’s why He says to give.
And so it’s not some kind of mystical thing. If you give, it’s going to come back. Poof, you know, all of the stuff. That’s not the deal. But the weird thing is you will tend towards prosperity over the long haul because it changes your heart and you are more attractive in the marketplace.
Q: Well all of these things we’ve talked about today. All come back to the point that these are literally, they are Biblical principles. They are spiritually important for the life of a follower of Christ. And we know as followers of Christ that one thing we want to do; we want to make sure that our children know Christ. We want to make sure that our children grow up loving Christ, and walking with Christ. I mean we as parents. I have four children. I want to do everything I can to make sure that my kids are doing the right things according to the Word of God, according to Scripture.
Today we have established the fact that in how we deal with our finances, it is an issue of our faith. It is an issue of being Biblically accurate, walking according to the Word of God. And Deuteronomy talks about and tells us to make sure that we place it on the doors of our households that we talk about it when we go to bed at night, when we wake up in the morning. That in our households, making sure that we are preparing the next generation. And that’s an important statement.
Today, how can we as Christians make sure that we are doing the right things in our own homes, in our churches? To make sure that the next generation and then the generation after that and the generation after that are following the principles that will lead them to the type of life that you are talking about? We live in a world, as you know, the iPods, and the iPads, and the iPhones, and the cars and the $300,000 car. All of those things are just constantly coming at us from every direction. What can we do to make sure that we pass on to the next generation that this is how God wants us to live?
A: Well, I mean there is only two ways that kids learn. Those of us who have had them know that. We can teach them and they’ll do some of it. But they’re going to do what we do. You are the product of your dad. I’m the product of my parents. My wife’s the product of her parents. Your kids are the product of you and your wife. And they are going to do what you do.
My 21-year-old was home from college the other day and the plate was passing and I got ready to put the tithe check in and she leaned over and tried to look at the tithe check. And I’m like, that’s none of your business. And she kind of laughed and we sent it on down. In a few minutes she said, “I just want to tell you I really appreciate you. You know for my whole life I’ve sat beside you and watched you do that. I can’t help but do that.” That’s how they are going to do it. They are going to do what we do.
A godly man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children--is money. Solomon built the Temple with David’s money. Is money, but it’s also character. But it’s most importantly, character. Character of Christ. And that’s a character that saves, lives on less than he makes, lives with a plan, works. These are character qualities that are Biblical that weave themselves in a very practical way into our everyday lives and have everything to do with money.
And so today we’ve heard a lot of great truths right from the Word of God, of how to deal with the stuff of life. How to deal with those issues when finances are challenging, when we don’t know what to do next. How do we get our lives back?
Let me read for you a passage in Matthew chapter 6. In Matthew chapter 6, verse 19 and following it says this. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moths nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” And listen to verse 21. You know this verse. Listen to this. It says, “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Now we’ve read that verse many times. You’ve read it. You’ve heard it. It’s an important verse and it tell us, hey listen, whatever is important to us inside is really kind of who we are. Where we put our efforts, where we put our money, that’s who we are as a person. I heard this week, someone say that people get a lot of money and turn into jerks, it doesn’t make them jerks. It just shows that they can afford to actually be the jerk that they‘ve always been. It’s an issue of where we are in our hearts.
But I want to share something out of this verse that’s a little different then maybe you’ve ever caught before. Because in that verse where it says “for where your treasure is,” when you look into the Greek of what that word treasure is, it’s the word Thesaurus. It means this, listen to this, this is really good. The place in which good and precious things are collected and laid up. The place in which good and precious things are collected and laid up. In other words, what are the things in life that we are collecting? What are the precious things to us? What are the things that we consider to be so precious and so important and so vital and so good and so real that man we just grab a hold of them and we store them. We collect them, we lay them up. That’s what that verse is talking about. What are the good and precious things that define you?
I remember when I was just out of college. It was in the mid 80s. I graduated in 1984 and I remember, and Shari, you remember this because you make fun of me all the time about this. But there was a time when I had to have the right kind of jacket and it was the kind of jacket, you know, the Miami Vice jacket. You know, that Sonny Crockett look. How many of you know what I’m talking about? In the mid 80s. Man I had the jacket, you know. And the shirt underneath, the T-shirt, that went underneath the jacket and the linen or the cotton pants, man, that were always wrinkled. I cannot figure out why that was so cool. But, man, the linen pants, you know. And the right shoes. And I had to grow my hair a little bit longer in the back so it would hang over the top of that jacket. And man, I would put that stuff on and I was it. You know I was cool. I thought I was so cool. I thought it defined me. And you know, man, Sonny Crockett. You look at him and he’s so cool and so we try to, and because I put the clothes on I can be just like him.
And then I got a little bit older and I realized that stuff is so unimportant. It means absolutely nothing. Now I’m a lot better in a T-shirt and a pair of jeans and a pair of old shoes. And I’m much more comfortable that way. Because the stuff doesn’t define us. The good and precious things that we place in our heart is what defines us. That’s what makes us who we are.
There’s a great passage in I Timothy I want to read to you. I Timothy chapter 6. I want to use the New Living Translation. It says this, “Tell those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money which,” listen, “will soon be gone. But their trust should be in the living God who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and should give generously to those in need. Always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them.”
And listen to verse 19, I love this verse, “By doing this, they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of real life.” Getting our lives back. The stuff the world tells us that we have to have. The commercials, the ads, the neighbors. All of the things that we have to buy and collect and store up and hold because we think it’s important. We get this model of something that is so cool and unfortunately the next year that company knows that if they come up with a new model that’s exactly like the old one with a few more buttons, we’ve got to get that one, you know. And then the next year, the next one comes out and because its got a few more buttons we’ve got to get that one. And it’s this constant cycle of storing up all this stuff. And this stuff that we think defines us when we realize and understand that what Christ is telling us is this; store up the stuff that makes a difference, the treasures in life so you can get back to real life.
So what does this have to do with finances? How is it related to the issue of when finances are challenging and we don’t know what to do? Well it helps us to understand and realize what Christ is telling us, what Dave told us, that it is a matter of the heart. It’s a matter of the heart and who owns your heart.
You heard Dave talk about the ownership issue and how that when you don’t own something, the stress level goes way down. It’s way down because you just pick up the phone and tell them to fix it. Listen, our lives with God are exactly the same way. When stuff is broken, when the challenges are too great for us to deal with on our own and handle on our own, what do we do? We go and get the answers from the One who has all the answers, the One who owns the cattle on a thousand hills. We go to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and He’s given us the answer right here. This is what you do.
Does God own your heart? In your life, what are the good and precious things that you are collecting and you’re storing up because it’s a matter of the heart. I love what it says in I Corinthians chapter 6 and in the last part of verse 19 it says this, “You are not your own.” You know what that says in our language today? You don’t own anything. You got nothing! You are not your own. Then the verse goes on to say, “for you were bought at a price.” What is that price? It is the price that was paid on the old rugged cross when Jesus was nailed to that cross and He bled and died for you and me. The price that you and I should have paid. The blood that you and I should have shed. The embarrassment that we should have been under. We are the ones that should have been on that cross. That we were bought at a price. Why? Because Christ loves us.
That verse goes on to say, “therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit. “ Your body and in your spirit because where your treasure is that’s where your body is. That’s where your spirit is. That’s where your heart is. And then it goes on to say, just in case we miss it, “which are God’s.” It’s all God’s.
Finances challenging? They are for all of us. There are days when we all wonder, how are we going to do it? What are we going to do next? Where are we going to turn? It happens to each and every one of us. We are, none of us, are immune to that. So what do we do? We realize that we were bought at a price. We are not our own. It all belongs to God and we just say, “God, here it is. God here it is. God here it is and what would you have me do now?”
My question for each of you today is this. And it’s an important question. It’s an important question because it comes right out of the Word of God. What are the good and precious things in your life? Is it a car? Is it money? Is it your house? The kind of clothes that you wear? The kind of jewelry that you wear? What are the good and precious things that are important to you? I would submit to you today and the Scripture clearly tells us today, don’t worry about the stuff. Don’t let that stuff get you. Don’t put your heart there. Lay up your treasures in heaven where moth and rust cannot corrupt, cannot destroy. Because where our treasure is, that’s where our heart is also. And I want you to know this issue of ownership that we have talked about today, it all comes back to one important statement. Who owns your life? Who owns your heart? Is Christ first and foremost in your life?
Matthew tells us very clearly, listen, “Seek first the kingdom of God. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things,” all these issues, all these challenges, all these problems, all these things that seem to always get us down, all this stuff, hey, it will be added to you but do what first? Hey, God, I give it all to you.
So today I ask you. Is that what you are doing?
With our heads bowed and our eyes closed this morning, with no one moving around, with everyone focused on one very important truth, am I seeking first the Kingdom of God? Am I seeking Him above all else? Am I seeking the God who loved me so much that He sent His son to die on the cross for me? Is that the God that I’m pursuing? Is that the God that I’m working to try to find more about? Is that the God that I’m giving my life to? Is that the God that I gave my heart to?
You may be here today and you’ve heard all of these things. And all of things are important. They apply whether you are a follower of Christ or not. The issue of finances, all of it, we all deal with that stuff. But let me talk to you. If you walked in this room today and you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you can’t seek Him first. You can’t give it all to Him. You can’t lay up treasures in heaven until you have accepted the gift of heaven. Jesus Christ came to this earth and died on the cross for your sins. He was buried for you and three days later he rose again for you. And the Bible tells us to accept that gift that He gives, that gift of forgiveness that He wants you to accept, that He wants you to enjoy, the life that He came to give. To get that, you’ve got to confess with your lips that Jesus Christ is Lord. You’ve got to believe in your heart that you are a sinner and that He’s the Savior and that He paid it all for you.
In a moment, I’m going to invite you if you are here this morning and have never given your heart to Christ, today to come to this altar, to pray with one of our pastors and say, “God, I’m sorry. God, I’m a sinner. God, thank you for your forgiveness. God, save me today.” And He promises that He’ll do it.
Maybe you’re here today and you are a Christian but you’ve gotten off track. You’ve gotten away from God. You’re not living for Him the way that you should and today you realize, you understand, man, my focus is off and I’ve got to focus on Him. I’ve got to seek first the kingdom of God. Today you just need to come to the point, the realization, God, I’ve gotten off the path but I want to come back to you today.
In a moment we are going to open this altar. If you want to come down to pray that prayer, you can do that. But for all of us here today, you might be here and your finances are in shambles, or maybe you’ve been doing things the wrong way. Maybe you’ve been laying up the wrong kind of treasure. Maybe you’ve been focusing on the wrong kinds of things, storing up the wrong kind of treasures. And what you’ve heard today from the Word of God, what Dave has shared with you today, what I’ve shared with you today, has spoken to your heart. It convicted you that we’ve got to change. We’ve got to get a grip on this. We’ve got to go in a different direction here.
If God has convicted your heart today on how you deal with this stuff. With no one looking around, I just want you to slip your hands up. God spoke to me today on how I deal with this stuff. Just slip your hand up. All around the room. God’s convicted me today and I’ve got to change. I’ve got to change.
When you leave today they’re going to hand you a form that’s got a lot of information, a lot of Scriptures, a lot of resources that you can connect to that can help you do that. To seek first the Kingdom of God.
We are going to sing a song right now, “Holy Spirit, Rain Down,” and I’m just going to ask you, as we sing this song, and in a moment when we stand, I’m just going to ask you, our pastors are here. If you want to meet Christ today, come to this altar. If you want to get your life back on track with God and start seeking Him first, I want you to come to this altar. Kneel here today. You want to come for baptism. I’m baptizing tonight. I’d love to have the honor of doing that. If you want to join our church today, whatever your need is, whatever you are hearing from God today, as we sing this song, “Holy Spirit, Rain Down.” He’s done it in this place today. But ask Him now to do it in your heart in this moment, at this hour. As we all stand, and as we sing this song, Holy Spirit, rain down.
Lord, today we thank you for speaking to our hearts, Lord. We know that today’s an issue that speaks directly to all of our hearts because we all have challenges, we all have difficulties in dealing with the issues of money, in dealing with the issues of stuff and so, God, I pray today that the words that you have shared with us through your Word today, will be ones that stay with us, that continue to speak to us and will lead us, Lord, in the right paths and in the right direction. That you would help us to seek you first in everything, God.
Lord, I know there are people in this room today. There are people at Dan River Church this morning that are meeting right now who are having the challenges and the struggles and they don’t know what to do. God, I pray that right now you would bring peace into their lives. Speak peace to their hearts. The Philippians 4:7 peace that passes all understanding, God. We pray for that in the lives of all of those right now who are wondering what to do next. How do I get my life back? God, I pray that you would minister to them.
God, I pray that today you would minister to those in our midst who are in the hospital, Lord. Tiffany England and Alvin Gunter and Kenneth Reynolds and Jettie Wright and Patrick Hudson, Juliannia Thaxton, Bob Godsoe, Mildred Smith, Roscoe Brewer, Barbara Rogers, for the family of Reva Arnold. Lord, all of them, Lord today are seeking your hand and your healing hand in their lives. And I pray that God you would do that. That you would touch them this morning. Lord, I pray for one young man in our church this morning, Drew Holmes, who leaves very soon to go to basic training as he begins his career of serving our nation. God, I pray that you would be with him, protect him and guide him.
God I just pray that in this place today, that the feeling that we’ve had, the presence we felt would go with us from this room today. Continue to speak to us in everything that we do. And, God, for that we are grateful. We are grateful for that incredible, incredible gift that you gave of the old rugged cross because it made the difference in my life, made the difference in the lives who are here in this place. Lord, help us to take that message out to the world. In Jesus’ precious name we pray. Amen.
Before you leave this morning I want to remind you of two very important things; tonight, a night of worship, a night of praise. This incredible choir, this incredible orchestra, they have worked so hard to share with us tonight, to lead us in worship. Please come back and be a part of what’s happening here. I know that it will be a blessing to each and every one of you. Also, as you leave today, out in the lobby, Marc Ivey has a CD out there, Duke Westover has his book out there and we just want you to know we are so so grateful that you have chosen to worship with us today. God bless you. We’ll see you back tonight.