THE FOUR GREATEST TESTS: Part four of four

Test of Stewardship – The quest for great treasure.

The greatest tests: 1) Self, 2) Priorities, and 3) Time। Now the final test. The perfect treasure--where can it be found? All your life you’ve been on a treasure hunt. You’ve been searching for a perfect person and a perfect place. Jesus is that person, and heaven is that place. If you are a Christian you have already met that person, and you are already headed to that place.

But the primary problem is that you are not living with that person nor are you living in that place। Even your church involvement might seem more duty-bound than glory-energized। You might be one of those people who find the subjects of stewardship and generous giving to bring more feelings of guilt than anything else। God’s plan is for you to get such joy from your giving that you become giddy। Paul gave us God’s standard on our attitudes in giving (2 Cor. 9:7) “Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” A survey of the Bible shows that the Bible has more to say about stewardship, property/wealth management and giving than it has to say about heaven or hell. The Bible gives us 500 verses on prayer, and even less on faith, but more than 2,350 verses on money and possessions. The Lord knew (Matt. 6:21) “…where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” and He knew that the battle is not for our stuff but for our hearts।
Unfortunately many preachers try to challenge us to live up to this great test by asking us to give। But perhaps their motivation is to have greater offerings so that bills can be paid and church business can be done। The truth is God doesn’t need our money। Our stuff already is His; he’s just allowing us to manage it. So how are you doing? He doesn’t invite you to give for His benefit-- it is for yours!

Financial disagreement is the primary subject of all household arguments. Yet the Word of God has powerful solutions. I would recommend writings by authors such as Howard Dayton, Andy Stanley, Dave Ramsey, and Randy Alcorn. Our local Bott radio station (KLTE-FM 107.9) carries a nationally syndicated call-in radio show called “Money Matters” weekdays at 2:30 p.m. which is a great source of help. Their website is ।">http://www.crown.org/।

Several churches in this area have groups that are associates with Crown Ministries or Financial Peace University। The truths that they teach can turn your guilt into joy, and turn your family arguments into victorious testimonies of blessings and deliverance। The average giver in most churches today doesn’t tithe (give 10% of their gross income)। In fact it’s more like about 1।5%। Our parents and grandparents’ generation was giving 3।6%। We are failing this test. Yet this is the one area in all of life where we actually get to put God to the test. Imagine what could happen in our community if we began to improve our grades on this fourth test!

What?!?! You thought we were to never (Luke 4:12) “…PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST”?? That is true except in this one subject. And we are part of the test. When God challenged us to bring (Mal. 3:10 ) “…the whole tithe into the storehouse” He continued by challenging us to “test Me now in this," says the LORD of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows” Does God actually make you wealthy and trouble-free because of your “faith” gifts like many of the television preachers like to say?? No, and it angers me when they spin lies like that which make promises God never intended to honor.
What God does say about this kind of faithful giving is 1) there will be blessings that you cannot seem to contain, and 2) you are likely to be entrusted with greater responsibilities (see Matt. 25:20-23; and Luke 16:10-12)। What we have seen in the Crown Ministries ten week course is that after following the principles learned there for three years, families had 1) erased more than $25,000 in consumer debt, 2) managed to add $10,000 to their savings, and 3) experienced dramatically changed stress levels in discussions about money. Why? The Bible really is the perfect blueprint for daily living. So why not put the Lord your God to the one solitary test that you are allowed to administer to Him? He laid down the challenge। As Jeremiah describes faithful living under the Lord’s great plans, (Jer. 31:12-14) “He will turn your sorrows into joy!”
May the generosity of God overwhelm your hearts until you all become generous givers. Not because your church or God needs your money, but because you need to know God’s power and blessings unleashed in this way. I hope that you are greatly relieved as you now have the solutions to the four greatest tests of your life.

THE FOUR GREATEST TESTS: Part three of four
Test of Time
Peter F. Drucker wrote “Until we can manage time, we can manage nothing else।” The first test was the test of self and the second test was priorities. This week we examine the test of time. Time is a great analysis for the value of your efforts. Everyone would like to believe that he or she will leave a legacy. But the truth is that few really achieve the greatness that people remember for generations. So how can we be sure that we make a difference that stands the test of time

Remember that time is the one commodity that cannot be replaced। Money can be replaced। Fortune magazine noted that a retirement account invested in the top 500 companies' shares would have dropped 37 percent during the last 12 months। However, many people are already beginning to slowly recover those losses। Your days, on the other hand, were numbered from the moment the Lord decided to create you. Psalm 139:16 says “Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.” So you were time-date stamped from the first day you took a breath.

Avoid the mistake of thinking that you have plenty of time. Remember the slogan, “I don’t want to grow up; I’m a Toys-R-Us kid?” There is the fallacy of wasting time on selfish-oriented goals as if that will bring a satisfying return. As we mature, those goals are often replaced with the drive to succeed. Some think the one who dies with the most toys wins. The truth is the one who dies with the most toys simply dies.
Jesus warned about leading a greed-driven life with a parable in Luke 12:16-23. A rich man was having such a good year that he decided to launch in an enormous warehousing project. His project was interrupted by an announcement that his earthly life was about to abruptly end. Then Jesus posed a question, “. . . and now who will own what you have prepared?’ “So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Stephen R. Covey said “The key is in not spending time, but in investing it.” Ordinary people think merely of spending time. Great people think of using it.
Ephesians 5:15-17 commands us to “Be very careful, then, how you live—, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Redeeming the time implies that you will be giving away your time in a nonrefundable fashion. So make it a wise investment by “understand(ing) what the will of the Lord is.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote “This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.” To give you a good perspective on this subject I can tell you some things that I have never heard anyone who is on their deathbed or confined to a nursing home ever say, “I wish I had spent more time at work.” I have often heard them say, “I wish I had spent more time with my family.” Way too many times I hear them say, “I wish I’d prepared my children to live for the Lord.” The advice they would universally give you is: 1) Get to know God well enough that you really understand “His will” for your life and begin to live it; 2) invest in the spiritual lives of your spouse and children; 3) Make your local church a priority. An investment in God’s Kingdom is an investment with eternal rewards. Lee Iacocca said “If you want to make good use of your time, you’ve got to know what’s most important and then give it all you’ve got.”
Next week: You thought we were commanded to NOT put the Lord to a test? Here is the one test that you are allowed to administer to the Lord.

THE FOUR GREATEST TESTS: Part two of four.

Test of Priorities
During the first year of our marriage, my wonderful wife delivered a one sentence sermon to me that has caused me to re-evaluate my priorities on a regular basis। After being late or missing several appointments that I had made with her, she said, “Marty, you will always find time to do what is most important to you।” Ouch!
Since then I have taken it one step further। You will always find the time AND MONEY to do what is most important to you। The real test of your priorities is not what you SAY is important, but rather where you spend your time and money। The priorities of the average person should be different from the main concerns of a serious follower of Jesus Christ। The driving forces within the humanist mentality are 1) self-preservation and 2) self-enjoyment। Even much of what they do to help others can be attributed to the sense of worth and esteem it gives them।
For the follower of Jesus Christ we are constantly challenged to demonstrate to God that our priorities are as follows: God first, others second, self last.
God First - In Genesis 22, Abraham is in the midst of treasuring the son God gave him in his old age. The Lord challenges him by commanding him to take his only son up to Mount Moriah and sacrifice him. God did not ant Isaac’s life; He wanted Abraham’s loyalties to be tested. In v. 22 God said “2 Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” Abraham passed the test and God spared his son. As we’re drawn into the emotions of what he must have felt, we see a couple of things that I believe helped him drive his commitment to God past all his emotional anchors.
First, he obeyed right away. The next verse tells us that he left the very next morning, “3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey…” Second, he didn’t know what God as going to do, but He trusted in God’s loving nature and desire to provide. By verse 4, we see that “4 On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance.” What does that tell you? He had walked for three days looking at the ground. This task seemed to be destroying him, but He trusted God and his obedience was rewarded.
In the same way Jesus challenged the rich young ruler in Luke 18 to demonstrate the most important thing. When he asked Jesus what he needed to do to inherit eternal life, Jesus put him to the test. First he tested the young man’s honesty by saying, “20 You know the commandments, ‘DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.' ” Now you and I know that he had not perfectly kept these commandments, this as a chance for him to confess his sinfulness and his need of a Savior. He failed. Verse 21 says 21 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” Jesus knew his heart and test his priorities in v. 22 22 When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” Jesus didn’t want his poverty, Jesus wanted him to recognize that there was something that didn’t align between his words and his actions – God was not first. So he put him to the test and as of today the rich young ruler is no longer a ruler, he is no longer wealthy, and he is definitely not young.
Others Second – Mother Teresa said “A day lived without doing something good for others is a day not worth living.” Your local church is a great place to start to carry out the giftedness God has given you. That is our Lord’s design. He does not save us to sit on a shelf and wait for heaven. He saves us that we might be a blessing to others.
You have heard people say, “I don’t need to go to church to be a good Christian।” I like to tell them, “Yes, and you don’t need to exhale in order to breathe either, do you?” Of course exhaling is vital to breathing and so is using the giftedness God has given you to be a blessing to others। Is your involvement in the ministries of others a priority? If it is you will commit your time and resources there। If not you are just giving lip service।
Self Last – Some would say that this lesson is encouraging low self-esteem. Let me assure you there is nothing as self-satisfying as a life given to God first and others second. It is the purpose for which God has given our lives direction and clarity.
I pray that you pass the test of priorities, because one day we will all stand before the throne of God and give an account for our lives (Matt. 12:35-37; Matt. 25:18-20) and most importantly I pray that you have found the forgiveness of your sins through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, so that you will stand forgiven before is throne on that day because according to Romans 4:8 8 “BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.” Next week: the test of Time!