Ye Cannot Serve God and Money
By David J. Stewart
1st Timothy 6:8-10, “And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
What a sad picture above! When I saw this picture of a mom and her daughter with piles of money behind them, my first thought was how much of a liar the Devil is. That's not what the Christian life is all about folks. There is no bigger lie in this world than the lie that money will bring happiness. Money cannot buy love. Money cannot buy eternal life. Money cannot buy genuine friendship. Money cannot make a happy home or build a strong lasting marriage. Money is a BIG LIE!
I could write a large book on this subject, because there are scams and rip-offs everywhere in society today. People have become so covetous and rotten that they'll sue their own mother to get money. Lawsuits are good money. Did you know that a dog bite has a blue-book value at each insurance company? At last when I checked 15-years ago on my coverage policy, a dog bite was an automatic $30,000 settlement if you hire an attorney. So if my dog bites you, you've got $30,000 coming if you sue me. That's what my homeowner's insurance policy would pay you. That's why I DON'T have a dog.
I love an old Pink Panther movie where the police inspector asks a man in a French tone of voice, “Duz yur dog byte?” No, the man replied. The inspector reaches out to pet the dog and he ferociously bites the man's hand open. The angry and startled police inspector says, “I zought you said your dawg duz not byte?” The man calmly replied, “Zat is not my dawg.” So be careful whose dog you pet. Dogs are dangerous, honestly, they'll rip the tendons right out of your leg. My poor dad got his leg torn open decades ago by some elderly lady's German Shepherd. Dogs will kill to protect the master who feeds them well. My dad needed dozens of stitches and was messed up when he walked. I hate dogs personally. I like some cats, females who don't urinate on everything.
I see so many people getting caught up into scams, suckered out of their money, and most off all, wasting precious time that could have been used to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. The internet is a sad joke when it comes to people trying to make money, it really is. In fact, it's pathetic. If it weren't for my ministries, I would be tempted to get rid of my internet permanently. It's not something I want or need. If I must have it, I'll go down to the local internet cafe for 15-minutes a week to conduct business.
I have to admit that I am really saddened at the preponderance of gimmicks and sales scams targeting Christian websites. Greedy heathens know that churches are the best places in the world to make money, because if you have one salesman in a church of hundreds of members, you get points for every salesperson under you that you recruited. It's called a “Pyramid Scam,” in which the small percentage of corporate owners at the top become billionaires while the ten million salespeople on the bottom are fortunate if they ever break even for what they invested in study materials to learn how the game works. It all comes down to being self-motivated and being able to push marketable products.
Since Amway's products virtually market themselves, any idiot can sell them. But you're always going to be doing most of the work for pennies on a dollar. The big guys up the food chain make all the real money and live in all those mansions they advertise. It's all of the Devil. It's all based upon greedy people recruiting more greedy people to go find more greedy people, so they can all hopefully get rich. It simply doesn't work that way. Statistically, you will do a lot of work and make next to peanuts for all your hard work.
I know, I know, there's always some new and different company that people boast about that's not like the rest. I've heard it all from working in a secular workplace for over 30-years of my life. And sadly, I've even been pressured and targeted in my soulwinning ministry at church in the past. It's really tragic and sad. I sad no, and I meant no, when my ministry leader kept hounding me for the names and addresses of the people I worked with. The company only provided the names and addresses for Christmas cards. This guy almost got into a fight with me because he was so greedy. I stood my ground and he never did get those names or addresses. Shame on a so-called ministry leader who is so covetous to gain more money that he is at the point of being irrational to do so. Stay away from covetous people who want to recruit you to sell A.L. Williams Insurance, Amway, Excel Telecommunications, or a thousands other scams.
Another is Prepaid Legal Services. What a ludicrous joke. You ought to read their policy carefully and laugh your head off at them. They insure you for stuff like if your ever pulled over for carrying livestock, or if your car flips over (crazy stuff that is so unlikely to happen that they'll just get your money). And read the fine print because it says that any legal issues arising out of any conflict will require for you to HIRE ONE OF THEIR ATTORNEYS AT $200 AN HOUR. It's the age old, but true saying, you get what you pay for. And that is true my friend! Don't waste your money on stuff like this.
I can't stand greedy people, I really can't. I love them in the Lord; but I disrespect them for selling their soul for the almighty dollar. I stay away from people who are always thinking about money. They are like the Bubonic Plague to me. If they have one house, they think about owning two. If they have two houses, they think about owning three. They'll beg, borrow, and steal to get ahead in life. They never have enough. Certainly there is nothing wrong with desiring something nice, or something new; but it ought not consume our mind, nor should it every be something that would cause us not to be content as 1st Timothy 6:8 teaches. You could lose your health tomorrow. Your legs and arms could be gone by next week. How would that change your life? Amen, when Jesus returns every believer is PROMISED a new glorified perfect body just like the Lords. The Lord's body was able to defy gravity and ascend, defy physics and walk through walls, and yet Jesus ate and enjoyed a meal with His disciples. That sounds like a pretty neat body to me. Put my order in! Of course, I'm just being funny about putting my order in... I already have my body; but 1st Corinthians 15?:52 says it will BE CHANGED, and mortality shall put on immortality. Amen and amen!
g
I detest professionals who prey upon the ignorance of the little guy who doesn't know enough to really know what's going on. It happens every day a thousand-fold all across America. What you don't know can hurt you. The professionals can hurt you financially and still feel good about it, because in their warped and evil thinking, it was your responsibility to know that information, and they have no obligation to tell you. Realtors are terrible about this.
I once sold my home and was presented an estimate of the amount I would receive at the closing before signing. I looked over the itemization and the Realtor didn't think I would notice that she had charged me for Property Taxes for the upcoming year; but I had already paid the taxes for that year. I always pay early, upfront, and never wait until the last minute. That's just me. I don't like owing anybody a penny. I want to be honest in the eyes of the Lord. She didn't mention the taxes, so I did. She thought she had me by saying that I needed the Property Tax receipt from the Tax and Revenue Building. She freaked out when I went down stairs and pulled the Property Tax Receipt out of my car's glove-box and put it into her hand. She was so mad. She thought she would have kept some money on the side for herself. What I didn't know almost cost me.
In every so-called professional field, including your local friendly automechanic, they will cheat you, and nickle-and-dime-you-to death.
I recently returned a
I recently ordered about $20 worth of food and waited 15-minutes while it was being prepared. She handed me the food in a bag and said have a nice day. I said, I haven't paid for it yet. She said, "I'm glad you were honest about it." I said, "I wouldn't enjoy my food knowing God was mad at me if I didn't pay it." She gave me the strangest look. A few days earlier I had given a Gospel of John to one of the other women who works there. I strongly felt that this particular employee was either testing me, or hoping I'd take the food without paying so she could discredit my testimony and tear my name down. It always pays to be honest, and don't forget that. Never accept free burgers from your friends at a MacDonald's Drive-Thru. You don't have to get you friend fired either. What I do if they give me extra food and I find out after the fact is go back into the restaurant and say there was a mistake and I'd like to pay for this. Lately I've had so many people try to give me free cases of pop under my cart, or
God condemns that kind of covetous attitude (Hebrews 13:5). People want money for one main reason, that is, so they can have more things in life. No thanks! Wicked people love money; Godly people love Jesus Christ. The above photo was taken from part of an ad trying to lure women into making money at home on their computer, so they can be with their kids. But there's a lot of things they don't tell you (that I will). Here's some things you should know about all these money-making online scams being paraded all over Christian websites, targeting Christian moms...
k
I Stayed Busy As Kid Working
People just don't care about their neighbors anymore. When I was a kid, I was taught by my parents to rake leaves and shovel snow for my elderly neighbors for free. I enjoyed doing it because they were my neighbors. I used to rake lots of lawns in the fall for money, shovel snow and unshovel cars in the winter, paint fences and clean out garages in the spring, and have lemonade stands in the summer; and then go buy ATARI video games and fireworks for the 4th of July and New Year's Eve with the profits. I've always loved collecting and looking at fireworks. I'd love to visit Beijing, China where they make all these fireworks.
I used to buy fireworks early in the year and enjoy just looking at them quite often, wondering what it would do and look like. Trying not to light them all off until the 4th was a challenge. I used to put on a little fireworks show display and I planned it for months, for other people and my family to see on the 4th of July. I kept my fireworks in the garage since they were flammable to prevent any accidents in the house. I enjoyed putting on a little fireworks show every year, with my own earned money from raking leaves and shoveling snow. I studied all the colors on the labels, studied all the lettering. This was in the days before the internet and even credit cards. I sometimes snuck out to light off a few fireworks in the alley on a cool fall night. It was great to be a kid back then in the 1970's.
My how times have changed. Now you're considered a terrorist for lighting off any type of explosive device, such as an M-80 or Cherry Bomb. Every kid used to have a whole drawer full of 'em. They came in plastic bags by the gross (144 pieces). I remember buying a whole gross for $72. I really miss those days. I hope there's fireworks in Heaven that I can light off myself. It's no fun watching other people light off fireworks. I want to light the fuses, arrange the displays, and get some of those “B class” mortars. Common class C fireworks are stuff like snakes, firecrackers, and bottle rockets; but the mortars are the professional tubes that shoot up a wrapped package loaded with a charge (or colors). Wow are they the loudest!!! I love 'em!
I always had money because I worked as a kid. I had a blast (pun intended). I had a lot of lemonade stands and made lots of money selling fresh homemade lemonade. That was before the 1980's when the rough kids moved in and kicked my lemonade stand over and the drive-by-shootings began. The face of our neighborhood changed and it was goodbye Charlie. The days of Andy Griffith are over my friend. Now it's the crack cocaine pimp on the corner selling a different kind of lemonade. It got so bad that I finally moved away from Chicago. I was reading in the Chicago Sun-Times about drive-by-shootings twice a week in the local neighborhood... and I mean HOOD! When all of the local apartment buildings deteriorate into section-8 rundown crack houses owned by slum lords, it's way past time to move.
The good ole days when neighbors used to look out for neighbors doesn't exist anymore in any medium to large American cities. The problem is ownership of property. Ridiculously high taxes have driven decent landowners away and have brought in gang-infested slumlords who survive on government section-8 and welfare tenants. Since they don't own anything, and have no stake in anything, they couldn't care less about anything. You don't spray paint gang signs on your own property. Punks destroy other people's property as a sign of protest between the haves and the have-nots. There's an economic war raging in America today. 40,000 Detroit, Michigan residents have their water turned off because they simply cannot afford to pay it. Third world countries with cities like Manila in the Philippines are thriving compared to America these days. It looks like a nuclear bomb went off in America in many cities. They look like abandoned dumps, because that is exactly what they are. If I were a king in charge, I would give those vacant homes to the poor and let them have them free. You watch how they would flourish. I would eliminate all foreign imports, except building supplies we need to make our own stuff. I would rid this nation of unemployment. No foreign outsourcing by ANY corporation.
There are plenty of jobs and jobs have never been the problem. The problem is that the jobs have been treasonously relocated to foreign soil to force Americans to beg for our government to take care of us economically. Mama! Uncle Sam my butt, he's our mother now too!!! Uncle Sam is not supposed to be our pimp, slaving us out .
Hebrews 3:13, “But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” The deceit is that if sin is tolerated, then it will harden one's heart, a family, a church, a city, even a nation. This is why abortion, pornography, lying politicians, banks swindling people's homes, the thieving Federal Reserve scam, homosexuality, cursing in God's name, idolatry, covetousness, fornication, drunkenness, and public nudity are commonly accepted sins in American culture today and most people just don't care. These are awful sins, exceedingly sinful, which bring the judgment of God (Romans 1:28-32); yet THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES (Romans 3:18).
1st Corinthians 5:9-11
1st Corinthians 5:9-11, “I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.”
The Bible has MUCH to say about money and how we're supposed to deal with it. You won't like most of this I'm sure. For the sake of this article I want to focus on 1st Corinthians 5:9-11. In Verse 10 the Apostle Paul says (I'm paraphrasing here)... “Look, I wrote to you before and told you not to associate with fornicators, extortioners (people who prey upon others), covetous (”
pleonekes (“holding more, that is, eager for gain” ) “ ”
harpax “rapacious”
The purpose of this picture is to lure women into internet businesses at home, so they can spend time with their kids while working at home. I have a better idea, forget the business altogether and be a homemaker.
The Bible teaches for Christian believers to be content with food and clothing. This certainly goes against everything taught on television and in our materialistic society these days. The Bible plainly warns in 1st Timothy 6:8-10 that living for money causes people to err from Christianity, and to ultimately pierce themselves through with many sorrows (that is, you will be brokenheart).
Jesus plainly taught everyone in Matthew 6:24 that a person CANNOT live for God and money. It seems so obvious and yet hardly anyone believes it. You have to make a choice. We must all make a choice. We must all choose whether to serve God or money. It's one or the other.
Men have been trying to outsmart God for thousands of years since the beginning of mankind, doing things their own self-righteous way. When Adam and Eve sinned, Adam went and made aprons from fig leaves to cover their nakedness; but God rejected Adam's self-righteous attempt and instead killed an innocent animal to provide clothing for Adam and Eve. The innocent slain animal represented the Lamb of God, slain for our sins.
Hardly anyone really listens to what the Lord said. teaches in Matthew 6:24, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” The above photo speaks 1,000 words of deceit. Truly a picture paints a 1,000 words.
There are certain truths which have become so self-evident in our society that that are completely ignored. One such truth is that the love of money is the root of all evil. This one statement is probably repeatedly amongst the top 100 statements in America. It's just like the term “government corruption”; we've heard it so much that it doesn't phase people anymore. The most diabolical evil crimes being committed by Wall Street's Washington D.C. gang is swept under the carpet as government corruption. In reality, they are blatant treasonous criminals who have hi-jacked the courts. Instead of justice, it's now “JUST US.”
I am NOT a REVOLUTIONARY, I am a RESTITUTIONALIST; that is, I do not want violent overthrow of government, I want to see our federal government restored to once again follow the U.S. Constitution and our Bill of Rights.
Who is running America?Have you ever asked that question?
Under the doctrine of Parens Patriae, "Government As Parent", as a result of the manipulated bankruptcy of the United States of America in 1930, ALL the assets of the American people, their person, and of our country itself are held by the Depository Trust Corporation at 55 Water Street, NY, NY, secured by UCC Commercial Liens, which are then monetized as “debt money” by the Federal Reserve. It may interest you to know that under the umbrella of the Depository Trust Corporation lies the CEDE Corporation, the Federal Reserve Corporation and the American Bar Association, the legal arm of the banking interests.
Now you know who is running America!
You might want to take exception to the name on the marquee at the entrance to 55 Water Street:
??? . . . "Tower of Power" . . . ???
Gerald Celente—Speaking of the globalist suckups, corrupt corporate leaders, sellout Washington D.C. politicians, and the Wall Street white shoe boys—said concerning their stealing, hypocrisy, and blatant abuse of government power:
“Do you know what 'justice' means? It means 'JUST-US!' ”
“The real rulers in Washington are invisible and exercise power from behind the scenes”
—Felix Frankfurter, U.S. Supreme Court Justice during the FDR administration
[
Matthew 6:24, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
l
p[
“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” — Albert Einstein
The Sevenfold Sin of Those Who Do Not Win Souls (video by Dr. John R. Rice)
"In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."
—2nd Thessalonians 1:8
