As I conclude the series, “Money Talks,” it has been interesting to hear all of the testimonies that are already coming in from people who have decided to honor God by putting Him first in the area of their finances. The only way to put Him first is to begin to tithe (give Him [the church]) the first 10% of what you make. II Corinthians 9:6-7 talks about giving and the attitude that should accompany it. It’s amazing what can happen in our lives for the good when we obey the Word of God. If our money isn’t right, the other areas of our lives won’t seem to be right either. When we get it right with our money, everything else will work itself out. God wants to be first in every area. In Exodus 20:3 the first commandment God gives says, “You shall have no other gods before me.” Anything we put before God immediately takes a position that belongs only to Him. Whatever keeps us from doing what He asks is a violation of the first commandment. In the area of money there seems to be a block or an unwillingness to trust and submit; to be obedient to God’s Word. The Bible says to trust Him in this area and see if He won’t open the windows of Heaven and pour out a blessing you can’t even contain (Malachi 3:10-11).

Just a Thought,
PSS
Legacychurch.com

In life, one of the major decisions we make is who or what takes first place. For some, it’s family, and for others it’s their job or their children. Still, for others, it’s their hobbies or sports. Bottom line: it’s OUR decision. Even though the above mentioned aren’t bad, the question remains: should they be first place in our lives? I believe the answer is a definite “no”. God and His ways should always take precedence and come first. If God is first, everything else will fall into place. If He’s not, nothing will fall into place. Again, it’s your choice.

Prioritizing God should be reflected in our finances. The first step in making that happen is to return the tithe to Him. The first portion, the tenth, of what you earn is His, and we should return it to Him. We return a tithe and give an offering. When we do, we place God in His rightful place in our lives; first. When that happens, every other area of our lives will start to straighten out. The choice is ours. Choose this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Just a Thought,
PSS
Legacychurch.com

Serving God or mammon…who will you serve?

From Matthew 6:24, Jesus said, “You will either serve God or mammon, but you can’t serve both.” Mammon is the god of riches, stuff, and materialism. Mammon speaks to us and is a spirit that is in the world today. It represents a prideful, arrogant spirit of humanity that says, “We don’t need God, we can do it on our own.” God is our source; He is the one that gives us security, identity, hope, happiness and a future. These are the things that only God can provide. Jesus never told anyone that the answer to their problems was more money! The decision to serve God or mammon lies directly with us. One indicator that reveals who we serve is whether or not we tithe. If we tithe, we are saying God is our source. If we don’t, we are saying mammon is our source. We can’t serve both. So we either serve God or we don’t. So the next time that you get paid, you can choose to serve God or mammon.

Just a Thought,
PSS
Legacychurch.com

In our society, we have replaced obligation and responsibility with rights and privileges. People are fighting for their rights, what they deserve and what they want because they perceive something is unfair. In doing so, we do not take care of our obligations and responsibilities. It’s unfortunate that our society has moved towards this line of thinking. Excuses are abundant, from our President, who is always quick to blame someone else, to the attitude that it’s “never my fault,” to the herds of companies that don’t do the right thing with other people’s money. This attitude is destroying our country. “Responsibility” comes from the root word “response,” which means “constituting a reply or a response.” In essence, to be responsible means an action or reply is demanded!

You hear the saying, “pay your fair share,” and what we need to ask ourselves is who determines what is fair? We should take responsibility for our lives, our decisions, and do the right thing every time. If we seek to do that, everything will get better and healthier for the next generation. A failure to do so will doom our society and things will get worse instead of better.

Just a Thought,
PSS
Legacychurch.com

Have you ever thought about the statement, “Things happen for a reason?” I think sometimes people think like this as a way to absolve themselves from any responsibility for what happens. At other times, it could be a coping mechanism to help them through a tough or hurtful situation. I believe that, for the most part, things do happen for a reason.

One mom said, “Everything happens for a reason, but sometimes the reason is because you’re stupid and make bad decisions.” I wonder why people have a hard time taking responsibility for their actions and decisions and want to lay it off on someone or something else. Sometimes people use this reasoning to blame God or to justify some decision they have made that didn’t work out. Again, maybe this is a coping mechanism to keep their sanity through a difficult time.

Taking responsibility is the first step towards change and becoming healthier as a person. To accept the things we have done and the choices we have made and leaving them in the past is the only way we can truly be better and live better.

Just a Thought,
PSS
Legacychurch.com