COUNTING YOUR POSSESSIONS
Pastor Bankie
COUNTING YOUR POSSESSIONS.
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Heb 11:1. NASB
(vs 1b, AMP…faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses.)
Many times I hear people look over their lives, and they have regrets because they have very little to show for all the years they have laboured and for all the money they have earned. Some have been quite foolish in that they wasted much resources. Others yet there are who have not done such but still do not have much physically to show. I am not writing to the prodigal ones; my message is for the weary people, who are regretting, howbeit subtly, all the good works they have done. Good works can be tiring, and that is why we are warned about not getting tired.
"And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." Gal 6:9 KJV
Some have given out heavily.
Some have passed on marvellous opportunities to earn money for the sake of righteousness.
Some have pursued the call of God, and in the midst of their friends and brethren, they often are looked upon as not having succeeded. Success is thus being counted in what material possessions they have acquired.
Let me be blunt – it is worldliness to look at your life so, and to judge anyone so. The truth is that those are moments of backsliding.
Listen to the verdict of the Lord Jesus.
"…for ones life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." Luke 12:15 NKJV
Has your life been successful or not? You CANNOT determine that by looking at the things you have acquired or failed to acquire.
We are either Christians or we are not. We either trust the Lord Jesus that He is right always in His words or we are simply carnal Christians. Looking at your possessions as a sign of your success or failure is pure carnality. It is called sowing to the flesh.
A person of faith perceives as real fact the things that are not revealed to the senses.
Your walk with God may be unseen to the eyes, but it has a real value and is more an indication of success than material possessions.
Have you spent your time and energy to be a blessing to people? Then you have real treasure in heaven. There is a reward.
The Lord has His own assessment of riches. There was a church that had a lot of money; the church building was richly built like a Saudi mosque; the people were well to do and were proud of it. When the Lord Jesus looked at them and gave his verdict, it was not what they thought it would be. You guessed right; it was the church in Loadicea.
"Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich… " Rev 3:17-18 NASB
So, forget counting your success in life by the kind of house you can now afford and the kind of car you now drive or the value of your investments. You may just be poor as far as the Lord can see.
Or maybe you have been telling yourself that you are a failure, yet the Lord makes the heavens rise at your coming.
My brethren, heaven is real, and judgement is coming.
Have we spent all our energy on the things that do not satisfy because we have backslidden into carnality? How well are we preparing to face the judgment seat of Christ that we must all face one day. Or must the Lord send persecution to wake us back into reality? Have we become weighed down by the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches and the lust of other things? Have we forgotten to keep our eyes on the things above?
Let us learn true riches. Don’t lay up treasure on the earth and then be poor towards God.
Houses and cars and investments are good. But they are add-ons, tools to be used and not to be acquired as a sign of success.
Rejoice in whatever condition you are in right now as long as you can there-in do the will of God!
When assessing your life, learn to do it correctly.
Have you increased in your confidence in the Lord or you have begun to panic when the banks or stock market sway. Your panic is a sign of where your faith or treasure is.
Have you descended to rejoicing more at the acquisition of an ipad-3 or a trip to Europe more than when you hear a good Word? Don’t tangle your life with things that are just grass.
How many mouths have blessed you? Is it just the contractors that work on your never-ending material addition that are happy you are alive?
Who are the people who are praying for you to be alive? How many mouths are blessing you? How generous have you been to those who cant help you back?
Have strangers and those in need placed their blessing on your home in recent years? Because therein they found shelter or were fed?
How did you fare the last time your faith was tested. Did you compromise your testimony so as to get the job?
Assess prayerfully – am I really rich or the Lord thinks I am poor? Will the Lord say to me on that day, "well done, good and faithful servant"?
