The Judas Factor

When I consider the subject of The Crisis of Mistrust, and that crisis being our lack of trust in God where money is concerned, I think about the following scripture:

NLT | ‎Jn 12:1-6   

1 Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead.  ‎

2 A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him.  

3 Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.  

‎4 But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said,  

‎5 “That perfume was worth a year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.”  

‎6 Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself.

Here’s the questions I would have asked Judas that day.  Judas, do you know Jesus?  Judas, do you believe in Him?  Judas, do you love Him?  Judas, do you love Him more than money?  

Let’s do something right here.  Pastor Cory, do you know Jesus?  Yes, He is my Savior!  Cory, do you believe in Him?  I sure do!  Cory, do you love Him?  That’s a stupid question!  Sure I do.  Cory, do you love Him more than money?  

How we answer that last question is very, very important.

Psalm 24:1 (NLT)

1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.  The world and all its people belong to him.

Everything is His! The question should be, are we asking Him what He wants me to do with it?  Give it to the church, the poor, to His grace?  You just have to listen.

Let’s define Stewardship and Grid-lock

Stewardship is the conducting, supervising, or managing of something, especially the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care.  What has God entrusted to you? I would say everything you have and anything that’s coming.

Grid-lock is a situation in which no progress can be made.  Disagreements about funding have caused legislative gridlock in Congress.  Is there a gridlock on funding from your end concerning what God needs it for?

We Are Wealthy

In my opinion, just about every one of us is wealthy.  We have at least one car, a roof over our heads, a cell phone, and something to eat.  Oh, and we have water!  I have been in circumstances in which any of the above would have been a blessing.  The bottom line becomes, it’s all about surrendering our heart to God. The Webster dictionary defines the word surrender this way:  “To give up completely, to yield to the power, control, or possession of another.”  That “another” in the Christian Life is God.
Who is really in control of your possessions and money?