DAY 23: DURABLE RICHES
PHRONESIS DEVOTIONAL
30 DAYS DEVOTIONAL WITH PREACHER SAM
Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness.
I had a dream in 2021 where I was beaten and I woke up with scars. That’s a spiritual attack, isn’t it? And in about three weeks later I had another dream where I was almost choked to death and in reality, I was battling with sleep paralysis for some minutes. And the causes of sleep paralysis were not what I faced prior to that time. That’s another spiritual attack, isn’t it?
Then early this year I had a dream when I was dreaming in that dream, in that dream death was planned for one of my relatives, so I woke up in that dream and was praying against death when a voice asked me if I was praying against death because I had that dream? That was a distraction for me to leave praying for what was important; the salvation of souls. That the devil gave me such dream to distract me from something really important. Then I finally woke up. What makes the difference? Since that time till now, I have grown in the understanding of who God is and what has been provided for me in Christ. So I was attacked in 2021 because I lacked a knowledge which I now have now. In fact, I woke up chuckling that the devil lost the battle this time around. Spiritual knowledge is powerful and it will save you from spiritual attack; so go for knowledge, even as you pray.
Now people, what they see as spiritual attack is either an attack on their health, or business and finances. But the real spiritual attack is an attack on your mind to be ignorant of your new creation realities; who you are and what you have in Christ.
Yesterday I said that the church shouldn’t focus more on prosperity [emphasis on the ‘more’], and the reason is not about money being discussed in the church, but the approach to the discussions. For example the teaching of giving is wrong, it looks like bribery. And what is bribery? The act of giving money in exchange for influence; that is the power to control [in this context, wealth]. The reason why we were told to give is so that God can give us much more. And the text, “Give, and it will be given to you.” (Lk. 6:38), is not a principle for giving, but about what we do to others will be done to us (Lk. 6:31-38). Context matters in Bible interpretation.
So why then do we give to God? We give because we love Him! He gave all to us so we must give all back to Him. There’s no way you believe in the gospel and it won’t show in your giving.
It is also an act of worship and must be demonstrated in honour. Therefore, it should be sacrificial yet done willingly and delightfully; not under compulsion but dutifully (Prov. 3:9; 1Cor. 16:1; 2Cor. 9:7).
Giving, not just to God now but generally, is an act of generosity, it helps our heart to put money in its place not to control you. Money is a good servant but a bad master, and God wants you to have money and not money having you.
The wrong approaches to giving has led some to either or do all these; want good things badly, want bad things and do the right things in the wrong way or with the wrong intents. And all these are sinful.
Always check your motive for giving. Does your giving lead to pride and arrogance (Lk. 18:11-12)? Or does it show how you’ve forsaken the weightier matters of law, judgement, mercy, faith and love (Matt. 23:23)? You can give all that you have to the poor, but if you have no love, you have gained nothing (1Cor. 13:3). It is high time we re-prioritised our giving. And if you are not a giver, you need to learn to practice giving.
PRAYER:
FATHER PLEASE HELP MY HEART TO GIVE WITH THE RIGHT MOTIVES AND PUT MONEY IN ITS PLACE.
DECLARATION:
FROM TODAY I PRACTICE GIVING.
Bible Reading Plan: John 20:19-21:11; Galatians 3:15-4:20; Proverbs 23
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