This week I wanted to let scripture do the talking on some very down-to-earth issues including money, love & work.
1. Ignoring “The money issue”.
“In the morning sow your seed, And in the evening do not withhold your hand; For you do not know which will prosper, Either this or that, Or whether both alike will be good.” – Ecclesiastes 11:6
“So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd [having or showing sharp powers of judgement; astute] in their generation than the sons of light.” – Luke 16:8
“The people will curse him who withholds grain, but blessing will be on the head of him who sells it.” Proverbs 11:26
“The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.” Proverbs 13:4
“Who is the man that fears the LORD? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. He himself shall dwell in prosperity, And his descendants shall inherit the earth.” – Psalms 25:12-13
2. Becoming ‘familiar’ with those you love.
“And above all things have fervent love [having or displaying a passionate intensity] for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”” – I Peter 4:8
“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment,” – Philippians 1:9
“So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.” – Ephesians 5:28
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.” Proverbs 18:21
“Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.” James 3:10-12
3. Continually doing what you don’t enjoy
“See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.” I Thessalonians 5:15
“They shall not build and another inhabit; They shall not plant and another eat; For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, And My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.” Isaiah 65:22
” What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? …I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.” Ecclesiastes 3:9, 12, 13
“Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.” Romans 14:19
4. Watching TV
“I will set nothing wicked before my eyes…” Psalms 101:3
“The desire of the lazy man kills him, For his hands refuse to labor.” Proverbs 21:25
“I went by the field of the lazy man, And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding; And there it was, all overgrown with thorns; Its surface was covered with nettles; Its stone wall was broken down. When I saw it, I considered it well; I looked on it and received instruction:
A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest; So shall your poverty come like a prowler, And your need like an armed man.” Proverbs 24:30-34
“I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why then should I look upon a young woman? For what is the allotment of God from above, and the inheritance of the Almighty from on high? Is it not destruction for the wicked, and disaster for the workers of iniquity? Does He not see my ways, and count all my steps? Job 31:1-4
5. Staying home alone
“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24-36
“And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone…” Genesis 2:18
“And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Acts 2:42
“I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the Lord.”” Psalm 122:1
Be blessed & be a blessing.
Graham – Headed For Heaven