Are We Using Wealth Or Are We Being Used By Wealth?

Very interesting that the wisdom verses for me today talks about our attitude for wealth. Are we using wealth or are we being used by wealth?

Proverbs 23:4-5

v4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint.

v5 Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.

And my daily devotion (Ecclesiastes 2 & 3) talks about the futility of our daily struggles to amass wealth and fame with our own strengths. King Solomon (who wrote Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs and a couple of psalms) found in the later part of his life that whatever he had achieved will no longer remain his after his demise, nor will they belong to his children or grandchildren if they do not obey the Lord.

So often people of the world struggle to build their fortunes and acquire fame but they fail to realize that what they did achieve will in the end be lost when the Lord is absent in their lives. We need to realize that the most important component of our life is to be at peace in the Lord. When we are completely at peace with our Lord Jesus, health and wealth will hunt us down - the Righteousness of Christ will envelope us and attract the blessings of God into our lives.

Jesus himself taught His disciples that they (and we are also included as His audience) "cannot serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money" (Matthew 6:24). When man serve Money (or wealth) he will be so consumed with that passion that he will forgo all else in order to get what he set out to receive even to the extent of his physical well-being. How sad to find people who spend the first forty years of their lives to get wealth but had to give back this wealth later to retrieve their health in the second half of their lives.

So which category would you rather be in? Love the Lord or to serve Money? As for me and my house, we would rather love and serve the Lord.

The Devil Will Have To Restore What He Tried To Steal From My Family

Two things happened to my family and I today and my wife and I had declared to the Lord that the devil tried to steal from us and now he has to restore and do that BIG time.

Incident #1

This morning when we woke up, my son discovered that our kitchen was flooded with almost 0.5 cm of water and that the water continued to flow unceasingly. Of course, that woke the entire family up and after we had washed up, I had to shut the main tap off to prevent more wastage.

Tried to call the contractor who renovated our home at around 07:30 AM but he was not answering his call and so after sending him an urgent text message to his mobile phone, I called him again and managed to talk with him at around 08:30.

He came to look at the kitchen and tried to diagnose the problem and after about 30 minutes he discovered where the fault area was. What baffled him was that the pipe that was supposed to have burst led to nowhere and also there were no welding or any form of stopper in the first instance and how after all these years (15 years to be precise) the problem surfaced surprised him as well. Finally he brought in his welding tank and after 30 minutes, managed to seal the leakage area.

Incident #2

This evening as I was about to enter the Pan Island Expressway (PIE) through a slip road near my home, a long string of cars stopped to allow some pedestrians to cross the road at the zebra crossing. Of course I also stopped and waited. Just as my car came to a complete halt, a brand new Merc came from behind and, not paying attention to t he long line of cars, collided into the back of my Honda Jazz and damaged my rear door (hatchback) as well as the rear bumper. Now my car moves with a loud rattle as the loose bumper vibrates with the engine and I have to send the car in for replacement of parts which may take up to one week.

So, am I annoyed? you bet I am and I also know who the real culprit is - the one who came to steal, kill and destroy - but he will never be able to get away because my Daddy God will deal with him and make sure he restores to us, not one for one but a hundred-fold.