Hello from the Embrace family! Hope everyone had a great New Year's Day . Embrace had taken the month of December off for a little "R and R" with family and friends ( since Marci, John and Kirkland spent the time getting settled into their new home, their R's stand for "relocation and renovation") but we're back in full swing again. The Lord has blessed in each service we've attended as His people were renewed and refreshed as we worshiped together. His abundance is amazing!
Most of us here in the United States of America walk daily in abundance. For Christians, the freedom and opportunity to worship is a form of true wealth. Themass of Americans have plenty to eat, a home to live in, a vehicle to drive, and much more. Often we become so accustomed to these things that we forget to be thankful to God for them. We can become greedy for more and loose our perspective on how much is enough.
This has been an issue for Dane and me as we've been in search of a house with a little more room for our family. As we've toured house after house we've been amazed as to the scale of some of these mega-homes that are on the market today for the "average family". When I was growing up, the square footage in one of these monsters would have housed my family and the neighbors on either side of us. And how do we pay for these expansive dwellings? A recent financial survey revealed that over 50% of the homes purchased in America in 2005 were bought with no money down. They were either 100% financed or bought with interest only loans (which means you never actually pay for the house unless you can sell it for at least what you borrowed to buy it). This reveals the crushing burden of debt that many people, including some Christians, are living under.
God is very clear about where He stands on this kind of indebtedness, not because He is harsh with us but because He knows what heartbreak excessive debt can bring. Proverbs 22:7 says that "the borrower becomes the lender's slave." He admonishes us as a loving Father to take care that our desire for the things of this world does not crowd out His kingdom's work in our lives.
My husband is the financial person in our household and I'm sure he is scratching his head trying to figure out why God has placed this particular subject on my heart. Well, it's like this--The other day Stephen, our seven year old, was doing his math. He had added a column of numbers and had come up with quite a large sum. He commented, "If this were money, it would be a lot! I want to be rich when I grow up." My mother's heart was concerned remembering the scripture that tells us that those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare (1 Timothy 6:9). But almost instantly, young Stephen straightened as if he suddenly realized what he had just said. He spoke again, this time with a very serious look. "Actually," he said, " I want to be a nice man and have the amount of money that God wants me to have." I thanked God for His sweet Holy Spirit guiding the thinking of my young son. This episode brought home to me in a very real way that God is very concerned about how we view money because it speaks volumes about our hearts.
Sometimes human beings are a little like kids in the back seat on a long trip called Life. We're calling out every few miles, "Hey! Are we rich yet?" If Christ isn't the center of your life the answer to that would be no; enough is never enough. But for the believer, 1 Timothy 6:6 tells us "But godliness with contentment is great gain."
My prayer is that those of us who know Christ will ask for the same Holy Spirit guidance in how we use the financial resources God has given us.
Embrace asks that you remember Paul, Melinda and their girls as Paul is scheduled for hernia surgery on February 3.
Embrace
NoraTruhett
http://www.embraceministry.com
Author: AGM
| Author's Website: http://absolutelygospel.com/
Written: 02/01/2006
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Category: Embrace
Comments: 1
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I agree with the basic point of the article. But, I quickly tire of the usual media perspective that implies that one cannot be ambitious and financially successful without compromising one's relationship with God.
Money isn't everything. And we hear that over and over again, ad nauseum. But, at the same time, Christians and non-Christians alike should do away with the silly idea that money is not important. Of course it's important.
As far as the size of one's home, I don't know of anything in scripture that implies that one is supposed to live in a house that's only "just big enough" to meet your needs.
If someone can afford to live in a $5 million house and they aren't compromising their financial situation or their relationship with God by doing that.....then I think that person is 100% entitled to live whereever he/she wants.
Tony Rush
By the way, it says “Working Hard” over my picture.
That’s actually not true. I rarely work hard. 
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