Luke 12:13-21 - The Treasure Principle

I want to remind you that this might be my last pastor’schat for a couple of weeks. I would also like to ask you for special prayers forseveral things. For the next couple of days, I will be extremely busy takingcare of some family matters that involve my older sister, Lynda Smith, who wasput into palliative care this past week. Then on Tuesday, the 18th,my son Jonathan and I will be flying to India to take care of a specialsituation there involving both of our ministries. We especially need for you toask the Lord to give us wisdom and for safety as we travel.  On Saturday, the 22nd, we will fly from India toCairo Egypt, to meet some ministry partners there and prepare for our scheduledtour to Jordan and Egypt that will take place this fall from October 14thto the 25th. We are hoping many of you will join us on thisunforgettable journey to places where some of the most powerful revelations andmiracles of God in the Bible took place. For more information on this tour,click on this link: https://www.gpartners.org/tour Also, would you please continue to pray for my grandsonLuke, who is in PICU in the Roanoke hospital, and will be there for the nextcouple of weeks dealing with a terrible infection. When they are assured thatit is gone, Luke will be going through major surgery to replace everything inhis brain and body to keep the pressure off his brain. I believe that this willbe his 31st surgery on his little brain. Your prayers and supportfor all the above are always very important and appreciated!  In Luke 12:13-21, when Jesus was warning us to “bewareof covetousness”, He told the story of a rich farmer that He called a fool,because he forgot to prepare for eternity. Then, it is if Jesus turns to us andbasically says, we are fools if, like this farmer, we only live for money andthings now and forget to live for heaven.This is what Jesus said in verse 21; “So is hewho lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." A number of years ago, as a pastor I led our churchmembership though a series of lessons called the “The Treasure Principle” thatwas written by Randy Alcorn. I highly recommend this little book and theprinciples that Randy shares concerning how we should handle the resources thatthe Lord puts at our disposal. The Treasure Principle that Jesus gives here,and Randy highlights is very simple but profoundly true, “You can’t take itwith you, but you can send it on ahead.”  Money is not evil, but the love of money and temporalthings is the root of all evil. Randy reminds us: “Anything we try to hang onto here will be lost. But anything we put into God’s hands will be ours for eternity,(insured for infinitely more than $100,000 by the real FDIC, the Father’sDeposit Insurance Corporation. If we give instead of keep, if we invest in theeternal instead of in the temporal, we store up treasures in heaven that willnever stop paying dividends.” “Whatever treasures we store up on earth will be leftbehind when we leave. Whatever treasures we store up in heaven will be waitingfor us when we arrive.” Several of the keys to being a good steward of God’swonderful resources are: “God owns everything. I’m His money manager”.Remember: “My heart always goes where I put God’s money”. “Heaven, not earth,is my home”. (Hebrews 11:16). “Giving is the only antidote to materialism”. And,“God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standardof giving.” My friend, remember what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 9:6-8:“But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he whosows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as hepurposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerfulgiver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, alwayshaving all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every goodwork.” God bless!