You realise that poor people today are richer than rich people were then?
Someone with a house, multiple electrical appliances (which do the work of slaves), free schooling, a medical system, etc....
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Would you rather be (financially) rich?
- Thread starter dysert
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You realise that poor people today are richer than rich people were then?
Someone with a house, multiple electrical appliances (which do the work of slaves), free schooling, a medical system, etc....
- Jul 21, 2016
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Rich is better than poor. I understand that we are supposed to be poor in spirit, but I have had problems keeping a positive bank balance all my life, so to me, money in the bank is always better than being overdrawn.
Yes, I am a monk. No, I have not taken a vow of poverty. It would be nice if I could win the PCH Lottery and get a few million. But that is NOT going to happen. But it would be nice if I could pay all of the bills, and have money in the bank, and have a cushion in case of an emergency.
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I would like for my family & I (me, Mom & my Stepfather) to be well off financially where we could get completely out of this mountain of debt we seem to be swimming in and, I know this is a selfish reason for me but, the reason has a 30+ year history:
I'd like to be just rich enough to be able to have my "dream" drum kit: A dead-perfect replica of the blue sparkle Ludwig double-kick drum/double-bass drum exactly like the one that Ronnie Tutt used from September 14, 1970 in Mobile, AL until the Fall of 1974.
I'd like to be just rich enough to be able to have my "dream" drum kit: A dead-perfect replica of the blue sparkle Ludwig double-kick drum/double-bass drum exactly like the one that Ronnie Tutt used from September 14, 1970 in Mobile, AL until the Fall of 1974.
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JesusYeshuaisLord
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To OP
I would love to not have to worry about money! Always counting to make sure you've got enough money gets exhausting. God however, made me learn this: What your flesh craves, He takes away. When that happens, it's hard but it's for the best.
I grew up in a family where I didn't need to worry about money, we weren't rich but life was not hard, not for me anyway.
God used a family situation to break away the chains money had on me. For some years, I could no longer rely on money for comfort (the amount of comfort I was used to), He didn't take it all away but He still teaches me day after day to look to Him for everything I need and I'd rather have that than have extra money.
God does value the spirit and the heart and He always fills those holes of the heart with Himself.
When life is frustrating I do miss my old lifestyle but God gives me so much more, I gotta keep my eyes on that. Craving for money is one of the symptoms of a root problem in the soul. All cravings of the flesh are. God patiently tackles all these cravings in my life and I am grateful to Him for that. Blessed be His name forevermore!!
I would love to not have to worry about money! Always counting to make sure you've got enough money gets exhausting. God however, made me learn this: What your flesh craves, He takes away. When that happens, it's hard but it's for the best.
I grew up in a family where I didn't need to worry about money, we weren't rich but life was not hard, not for me anyway.
God used a family situation to break away the chains money had on me. For some years, I could no longer rely on money for comfort (the amount of comfort I was used to), He didn't take it all away but He still teaches me day after day to look to Him for everything I need and I'd rather have that than have extra money.
God does value the spirit and the heart and He always fills those holes of the heart with Himself.
When life is frustrating I do miss my old lifestyle but God gives me so much more, I gotta keep my eyes on that. Craving for money is one of the symptoms of a root problem in the soul. All cravings of the flesh are. God patiently tackles all these cravings in my life and I am grateful to Him for that. Blessed be His name forevermore!!
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goodman528
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Yes, of course I would prefer to have enough money so I never have to worry about money again. But after I get that money, then what?
Life is to live in the grace of God. To appreciate the sacrifice of Christ and enjoy the promise of everlasting life [John 3:16]. To follow in the examples set by Christ and to live right by him. To build relationships, family, friends, neighbors, and strangers. To love and be loved.
So what are you going to do if you won the lottory right now? Enjoy more quality time with your family? Volunteer to help others less fortunate than yourself? Sincerely smile at everyone because you are happy? Do you really need to have won the lottory to have these things?
Life is to live in the grace of God. To appreciate the sacrifice of Christ and enjoy the promise of everlasting life [John 3:16]. To follow in the examples set by Christ and to live right by him. To build relationships, family, friends, neighbors, and strangers. To love and be loved.
So what are you going to do if you won the lottory right now? Enjoy more quality time with your family? Volunteer to help others less fortunate than yourself? Sincerely smile at everyone because you are happy? Do you really need to have won the lottory to have these things?
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Hello,
Isn't the topic on Financial Riches quite a controversial subject in Christianity today?
I believe that the the controversy on Financial Riches/Material Wealth is part of a larger scheme in the grand deception of the devil. To realise what the perfect will for God is for us, I think it behoves us to go back to the beginning of everything, since our God is the same yesterday, today and forever. There, we see the Original desire of God for man.
Genesis 1:28-30 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
It is clear from the passage above that Poverty, Lack and Powerlessness were never in the original plan of God for mankind. Through Adam's sin, humanity forfeited God's blessing and the curse of sin gave birth to the poverty and powerlessness on humanity's side and empowered the devil with wealth, riches and power that should have been ours. Now, the bible tells us.
1 John 3:8 This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.
So if the fall of man is part of the work of the devil then it stands to reason that Christ came to restore to mankind the blessing God originally gave to mankind which the devil appropriated to himself which included dominion and abundance. And that is why Christ says.
John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.
The fullness of life is, without a doubt, a life which God originally intended for mankind which is outlined in Genesis 1:28. More so, If Abraham was super rich and he is the father of our faith and a friend of God forever then isn't it sorely unfair if God wants us, his Sons and Daughters, to be poor? Of course God can't ever be unfair or a respecter of persons! It is therefore, highly unscriptural to imagine that God wants his children to live in poverty, powerlessness and lack. So, since the Bible never contradicts itself, what do the verses you have quoted as warning people to be rich truly mean?
Let's begin with Mathew 19 , Mark 10 and Luke 18.
Mathew 19:23 "Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Now, no statement could be as clear as that. Jesus unequivocally stated that it was hard for someone rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Yet why did he say this? When we unravel the reason why, then can we understand the heart of his message. There are two popular view for this. 1. He said it because riches/material wealth are an impediment to salvation. Conclusion, it is better to be poor. 2. He said it because people trusted their wealth for salvation since at that time popular view was that wealth = God's approval. Conclusion, salvation by human resources is impossible.
Option 1 is already debunked in my preface. Poverty has never been part of God's plan for mankind. And there is no place in the bible that praises poverty or equate it to piousness. Instead, God says of those who give to him.
Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Malachi 3:10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
Does any of the verses above say, 'give and be poor, then you will be much closer to me'? No, both verses say give and it shall be given back to you in abundance (wealth/riches). And since when the bible says give it refers to your tithe which is material then it stands to reason that what you get back is also material. And the next verse confirms it. Anyway, now we will try to see if option 2 holds water. Did People at that time used to think that Wealth brought people closer to salvation? I believe that both Jesus and his disciples' responses allude to this fact.
Luke 18:26 Those who heard this asked, "Who then can be saved?"
'Who then can be saved?' is the response recorded in all the three gospels featuring this scene in Jesus' ministry. Extrapolating the thought behind the statement, we can make out their whole question, 'if it's hard for a rich man, who then can be saved?'. From there we can see that it was the disciple's opinion, as well as the popular opinion, that the rich had the highest chances of being saved; such that if they couldn't be saved, then what chances did the poor have? No doubt the religious leaders of that day had something to do with this erroneous opinion that encouraged the rich, including the rich young man, to trust more in the security of their wealth than in God. It is this opinion that Jesus sought to correct. And rightfully so, Jesus comments.
Mark 10:27 Looking at them, Jesus said, "With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God."
'With people' clearly means by human resources which includes for the most part, material wealth. So, it is without a doubt that option 2 was the reason behind Jesus' comment in Mathew 19:23.
He said it because people trusted their wealth for salvation since at that time popular view was that wealth = God's approval. Conclusion, salvation by human resources is impossible.
Now, this conclusion brings us to the question, why did Jesus Christ as the rich man to give away all his wealth if God wants his children to be prosperous and without lack? The dialogue he had with him reveals our answer.
Mark 10:18-21 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’a]
20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
What an interesting choice of commandments we see in the Lord's list. Now, there's one thing that's clear, there was not a single word of Jesus Christ that was random. So what's the connecting factor in the list of commandments Jesus mentioned? And why did Jesus tell the young rich man that there was ONE thing that he lacked? There was no way that just one more commandment could make the list into the complete set of 10 commandments, there was at least four more commandments missing. Unless there was a different deeper grouping that the Lord was looking at.
Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’a]" 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’" 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
The verse above, I believe, is the key. There, Jesus sums up the whole ten commandments into two commandments- 1. Love God and 2. Love your neighbour as you love yourself. Now if these two commandments encompass the whole Law then we should be able to group/ categorise the ten commandments into two bundles based on the two commandments Jesus highlighted. If one does that apart from any external interference, it should be very obvious to what category the commandments in Jesus' list in Mark 10:19 fall. Yeah, you are right 'love your neighbour as you love yourself'. What's more glaring is the fact that ALL the first four of the ten commandments that make up the first and most important category of 'Love God' were missing in Jesus' list! In consequence, it becomes clearer than daylight that the 'one thing' that the young rich man was missing and that was the other category of the 10 commandments, the commandments on loving God. This young man could not love the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul and with all his mind, he only loved his wealth that much. He had another god beside the Lord and that was his riches. And that is why Jesus, filled with love for him, sought to correct him by asking him to lay his wealth aside and let God take up first place in his life and then he would be in perfect obedience with the law.
This here, beloved, is the real issue. What takes up first place in our lives? It's not that money or wealth is evil, its that for many of us, both rich and poor, money is our god. We cannot trust God and hold him to his word. In fact, unlike many wrongly believe, had the young rich man obeyed Jesus, his great wealth would not have dwindled away by giving it all to the poor, the wealth would have actually become one hundred times multiplied by the blessing of the Lord ! How do I know this, well, Jesus says it so in the next verses.
Mark 10:29-30 So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother a]">[a]or wife or children or b]">[b]lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, 30 who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.
Isn't the topic on Financial Riches quite a controversial subject in Christianity today?
I believe that the the controversy on Financial Riches/Material Wealth is part of a larger scheme in the grand deception of the devil. To realise what the perfect will for God is for us, I think it behoves us to go back to the beginning of everything, since our God is the same yesterday, today and forever. There, we see the Original desire of God for man.
Genesis 1:28-30 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
It is clear from the passage above that Poverty, Lack and Powerlessness were never in the original plan of God for mankind. Through Adam's sin, humanity forfeited God's blessing and the curse of sin gave birth to the poverty and powerlessness on humanity's side and empowered the devil with wealth, riches and power that should have been ours. Now, the bible tells us.
1 John 3:8 This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.
So if the fall of man is part of the work of the devil then it stands to reason that Christ came to restore to mankind the blessing God originally gave to mankind which the devil appropriated to himself which included dominion and abundance. And that is why Christ says.
John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.
The fullness of life is, without a doubt, a life which God originally intended for mankind which is outlined in Genesis 1:28. More so, If Abraham was super rich and he is the father of our faith and a friend of God forever then isn't it sorely unfair if God wants us, his Sons and Daughters, to be poor? Of course God can't ever be unfair or a respecter of persons! It is therefore, highly unscriptural to imagine that God wants his children to live in poverty, powerlessness and lack. So, since the Bible never contradicts itself, what do the verses you have quoted as warning people to be rich truly mean?
Let's begin with Mathew 19 , Mark 10 and Luke 18.
Mathew 19:23 "Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Now, no statement could be as clear as that. Jesus unequivocally stated that it was hard for someone rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Yet why did he say this? When we unravel the reason why, then can we understand the heart of his message. There are two popular view for this. 1. He said it because riches/material wealth are an impediment to salvation. Conclusion, it is better to be poor. 2. He said it because people trusted their wealth for salvation since at that time popular view was that wealth = God's approval. Conclusion, salvation by human resources is impossible.
Option 1 is already debunked in my preface. Poverty has never been part of God's plan for mankind. And there is no place in the bible that praises poverty or equate it to piousness. Instead, God says of those who give to him.
Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Malachi 3:10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
Does any of the verses above say, 'give and be poor, then you will be much closer to me'? No, both verses say give and it shall be given back to you in abundance (wealth/riches). And since when the bible says give it refers to your tithe which is material then it stands to reason that what you get back is also material. And the next verse confirms it. Anyway, now we will try to see if option 2 holds water. Did People at that time used to think that Wealth brought people closer to salvation? I believe that both Jesus and his disciples' responses allude to this fact.
Luke 18:26 Those who heard this asked, "Who then can be saved?"
'Who then can be saved?' is the response recorded in all the three gospels featuring this scene in Jesus' ministry. Extrapolating the thought behind the statement, we can make out their whole question, 'if it's hard for a rich man, who then can be saved?'. From there we can see that it was the disciple's opinion, as well as the popular opinion, that the rich had the highest chances of being saved; such that if they couldn't be saved, then what chances did the poor have? No doubt the religious leaders of that day had something to do with this erroneous opinion that encouraged the rich, including the rich young man, to trust more in the security of their wealth than in God. It is this opinion that Jesus sought to correct. And rightfully so, Jesus comments.
Mark 10:27 Looking at them, Jesus said, "With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God."
'With people' clearly means by human resources which includes for the most part, material wealth. So, it is without a doubt that option 2 was the reason behind Jesus' comment in Mathew 19:23.
He said it because people trusted their wealth for salvation since at that time popular view was that wealth = God's approval. Conclusion, salvation by human resources is impossible.
Now, this conclusion brings us to the question, why did Jesus Christ as the rich man to give away all his wealth if God wants his children to be prosperous and without lack? The dialogue he had with him reveals our answer.
Mark 10:18-21 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’a]
20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
What an interesting choice of commandments we see in the Lord's list. Now, there's one thing that's clear, there was not a single word of Jesus Christ that was random. So what's the connecting factor in the list of commandments Jesus mentioned? And why did Jesus tell the young rich man that there was ONE thing that he lacked? There was no way that just one more commandment could make the list into the complete set of 10 commandments, there was at least four more commandments missing. Unless there was a different deeper grouping that the Lord was looking at.
Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’a]" 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’" 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
The verse above, I believe, is the key. There, Jesus sums up the whole ten commandments into two commandments- 1. Love God and 2. Love your neighbour as you love yourself. Now if these two commandments encompass the whole Law then we should be able to group/ categorise the ten commandments into two bundles based on the two commandments Jesus highlighted. If one does that apart from any external interference, it should be very obvious to what category the commandments in Jesus' list in Mark 10:19 fall. Yeah, you are right 'love your neighbour as you love yourself'. What's more glaring is the fact that ALL the first four of the ten commandments that make up the first and most important category of 'Love God' were missing in Jesus' list! In consequence, it becomes clearer than daylight that the 'one thing' that the young rich man was missing and that was the other category of the 10 commandments, the commandments on loving God. This young man could not love the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul and with all his mind, he only loved his wealth that much. He had another god beside the Lord and that was his riches. And that is why Jesus, filled with love for him, sought to correct him by asking him to lay his wealth aside and let God take up first place in his life and then he would be in perfect obedience with the law.
This here, beloved, is the real issue. What takes up first place in our lives? It's not that money or wealth is evil, its that for many of us, both rich and poor, money is our god. We cannot trust God and hold him to his word. In fact, unlike many wrongly believe, had the young rich man obeyed Jesus, his great wealth would not have dwindled away by giving it all to the poor, the wealth would have actually become one hundred times multiplied by the blessing of the Lord ! How do I know this, well, Jesus says it so in the next verses.
Mark 10:29-30 So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother a]">[a]or wife or children or b]">[b]lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, 30 who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.
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Continuation
Its not about give and be poor now but then you will have eternal life when you die. Its about letting God be first place in your life by allowing him into your pockets, and then what you give him, he will multiply for you so that you become 100 times richer than when you gave.
So that's why I said, when I began that the controversy on Financial wealth for Christians is part of a grand scheme by the devil. The liar wants honest God loving christians to hate financial wealth and associate it with evil so that they stay poor. For rich Christians, he wants them to hoard their wealth and trust in its security thus effectively replacing God as number one in their lives. Yet this scheme is not about just money, the devil uses our families too. If you love your family ( brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children) more than God, then your family becomes your god and they become a tool for the devil to you as a weapon against you. The devil uses the gifts God gave mankind for their enjoyment in this very fashion- Food, Sex, Wine, Pleasure... If any of these become the main object of your life then they have effectively become your idol, another god to you before the one True Living God. Yet these things in themselves are not evil, just like the way financial wealth is not evil. Trust God enough to surrender everything into His hands and then you will realise that the Lord God does not take away, He multiplies.
In conclusion, the Lord our God wants us to be happy, fulfilled and in abundance. To have the fullness of life. The devil will tell you to seek these things out no matter what, and that consequently makes whatever you are searching for your god above the Living God. Yet Jesus Christ gives the secret to truly having it all.
Matthew 6:33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
Its not about give and be poor now but then you will have eternal life when you die. Its about letting God be first place in your life by allowing him into your pockets, and then what you give him, he will multiply for you so that you become 100 times richer than when you gave.
So that's why I said, when I began that the controversy on Financial wealth for Christians is part of a grand scheme by the devil. The liar wants honest God loving christians to hate financial wealth and associate it with evil so that they stay poor. For rich Christians, he wants them to hoard their wealth and trust in its security thus effectively replacing God as number one in their lives. Yet this scheme is not about just money, the devil uses our families too. If you love your family ( brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children) more than God, then your family becomes your god and they become a tool for the devil to you as a weapon against you. The devil uses the gifts God gave mankind for their enjoyment in this very fashion- Food, Sex, Wine, Pleasure... If any of these become the main object of your life then they have effectively become your idol, another god to you before the one True Living God. Yet these things in themselves are not evil, just like the way financial wealth is not evil. Trust God enough to surrender everything into His hands and then you will realise that the Lord God does not take away, He multiplies.
In conclusion, the Lord our God wants us to be happy, fulfilled and in abundance. To have the fullness of life. The devil will tell you to seek these things out no matter what, and that consequently makes whatever you are searching for your god above the Living God. Yet Jesus Christ gives the secret to truly having it all.
Matthew 6:33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
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NeedyFollower
Well-Known Member
Yes ..I am well aware having been immensely wealthy and "successful" in the eyes of the world prior to becoming a student of Jesus . My family of course thinks I live in a dilapidated home without the modern conveniences but I know that I am still rich even in temporal things ..for example ..I now have running water and a refrigerator . It is without question that had I had all of the modern conveniences back when Jesus walked the earth , people would be lined up coming to view running hot and cold water. Paul said to charge those who are rich in this world not to be high minded , etc.
It is sad that in this country I would not be allowed to adopt children because my home and income is not adequate but destitute children in other countries would gladly and thankfully live with me .
Our education is a godless system designed to keep people on the hamster wheel and provide enough distractions to keep them from seeking the Lord and praying for others . The system works like this : Two incomes , children given to the world to raise so we can work and have nice "stuff" . We bring money to the "church " so that the pastor can also have nice stuff and afford to give his children the world . Israel did the same thing ..see Pslams 106 ..they sacraficed their children to idols so they could have rains and crops .
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NeedyFollower
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Ha ! Well I have spiritually "adopted" a few believers and many , many unbelievers for no one else is praying for them . My situation is difficult in that my wife took our children and continues to live a wealthy lifestyle . ( I do not blame her ..I would not have wanted anything to do with a godly woman when I was still carnally minded . ) Anyway ...the home in which I live would not be considered safe nor livable by social services ..No AC and central Heat ..but would have been considered a mansion I am sure in Jesus' day . My concern is for my wife , biological children and my wife's husband , his wife and children and my whole family ..not to mention the whole world seems lost and distracted and caught up in THIS life .
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If you don't mind my asking (I don't want to be too personal), how did you go from being "immensely wealthy" to living in a "dilapidated home"? And if it was your choice, why did you choose that? Thanks.
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NeedyFollower
Well-Known Member
Well ...It was and it wasn't my choice ...It kind of chose me . When I repented my wife understandably thought I had lost my mind . She asked for everything and according to scripture , I gave it to her . I had some financial obligations but could not longer do the same sort of work . ( Business development ..advertising and marketing . ) I did cashier work , manual labor , etc. I could have hired a lawyer and divided all of our assets but how is that loving my wife ? The scriptures said to love your wife like Christ loved the church and Christ loved the church when we did not love Him ..so unlove is no reason for a divorce..or at least in my mind of remarrying ..this brings up an interesting segue though not part of the OP ...I have heard about couples drifting apart or no longer having anything in common ...probably a good reason for non Christians but for Christians ? Christ had nothing in common with us and gave himself for us . He gave expecting nothing in return ...How lovely our saviour !
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NeedyFollower
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No brother I am no different than you are and my hope is exactly the same as yours ..Jesus Christ . If my hope ever becomes in what I do , have done , what I am doing , etc. , then I am lost but that is also a subtle way that the enemy can deceive us . ( Spiritual pride....the old " Look at me .... I am very holy and humble , etc. ..What a snare that one is !! ) I try to be brutally honest as much as I am able (though self deception is amazingly hard to detect ) so that my trials can potentially help others who also go through various trials as we are promised . ( Think it not strange the firery trials which are to try you for these same trials are accomplished in your brethren. )
Anyway ....these trials chose me when I repented ..I did not know I would lose my children nor even my wife but I did what love would dictate and through that I am learning that Love and sacrifice are the same word. Love , sacrifice , faith , duty , patience , wisdom , meekness , humbleness of mind , longsuffering . These all belong in the same column ...I might add tears and anguish for my wife and children currently perish eternally . I hope you never have to go through this but we all have our own cross to bear . ( I think about our dear brothers and sisters losing their whole families to Boko -Harran and other terrorist groups because of their faith .
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