#49 Identity in Finances: Introduction
God says that the rain falls on the just and the unjust (Matt. 5:45). For our reading benefit, we could easily say the "money falls on the just and the unjust." I cannot tell you how many times I have heard a believer ask, "Why is it that God allows the ungodly to prosper, while Christians suffer with little?" The answer is found in reviewing the end-times. The way one spoils a rich kid is by allowing him to get sick from spoiling himself. As we look around at the end-times, we see an entire world prospering, but only for a season. As with all spoiled children, people of the world only focus on others to get what they want, in order to spend it on their own pleasures.
"You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures" (James 4:3).
Typically, God avoids supporting anything that gets in the way of true dependence on Him. Money has a way of leading people away from God, NOT to Him. God uses all things to lead each of His children to call out to Him - not one's banker. Believers are being awakened to the reality that their fight in life is not against flesh and blood, but the powers of darkness and the principalities of the air (Eph. 6:12). So many Christians today are deceived into thinking that what they see is what they are to battle. As the Lord draws near, we can be assured that our battle with the world, the flesh, and the devil will intensify. Worldly ideas of pop psychology will increase as the primary solution to our troubled minds. More rapidly than most of us realize, the questions people ask are based on worldly fables called philosophies of man. God is calling each of His children to call upon Him and He will deliver according to His divine Truth and Will.
Fear of confronting the enemy has held most believers back from boldly going before the throne of God regarding the temptations and afflictions of the enemy. God's greatest servants have always shared an appreciation of the magnificent power of prayer and the complete victory over Satan's kingdom available to all believers, through the mighty Person and work of our Husband, Jesus Christ.
The book of Ephesians is the New Testament manual on spiritual, biblical prayer. Get to know this book like a handbook. The believer's emphasis in prayer must be upon a biblical and sound doctrinal approach. The Word of God recognizes that we encounter the three faces of Satan-the world, the flesh, and the devil. When a person becomes born-again... read more here
Identity in Finances: Introduction. Copyright � 2014 IOM America. Permission to reproduce for educational purposes. Please keep author's name intact.
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, � Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
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