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Day 39

LAY UP TREASURES!

• JESUS CHALLENGES US TO “BANK ON HIS PROMISES”



GOD’S WORD:  Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

(Matthew 6:19-21, NIV)

REFLECTION-DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. What are different ways I can “store up treasures on the earth”?

2. What evidence and experiences might I have had to confirm that my earthly investments are pretty insecure?

3. What is the core meaning to me of “storing up treasures in heaven”?

4. What does this mean, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”?

5. In all honesty, where is my heart really centered most of the time, “on earthly security or heavenly security”?

6. Do I need a “pacemaker for my heart or a total heart transplant” on the critical issue of where to invest my resources and where I will choose to seek my security?

• JESUS CHALLENGES US TO BE EQUALLY FAITHFUL “WITH LITTLE OR MUCH”

GOD’S WORD:  Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.  So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?  And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?  No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. (Luke 16:10-13, NIV)

REFLECTION-DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. If the Lord were seeking a wise financial planner for his resources, would he employ my services?

2. Why is a failure to use my material resources in a godly manner pictured as being dishonest””?

(Clue: see Malachi 3:6-10)

3. What is the central difference between “worldly wealth and true riches”?

4. Whose property am I really handling, mine or the Lord’s, and why is this such a critical question?

5. What are examples and illustrations of “money becoming master” in my personal life and over other people as well?

6. What is the meaning for me in this inescapable truth: “You cannot serve both God and Money”?

7. How can I more faithfully realign my life priorities with regard to the use of money?

• JESUS PROMISES TO REPLACE OUR GIFTS “WITH KINGDOM WEALTH”

GOD’S WORD:  “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.  Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke 12:32-34, NIV)

REFLECTION-DISCUSSION QUESTIONS? .

1. How can the Lord Jesus reasonably command me, “Do not be afraid”?

2. What is the precious significance of the Lord Jesus’ designating his followers as his “little flock” and why is this so comforting to me?

3. What is the meaning to me and powerful impact of the Lord’s promise, “Your father has been pleased to give you the kingdom”?

4. Which of my possessions have I sold “to give to the poor” and why is this such a challenging commandment of Jesus for his followers?

5. How can I tap into “purses that will not wear out and treasures that will not be exhausted”?

6. Which of my possessions can I be sure that “no thief” can threaten?

7. How would I explain the shocking paradox that the only wealth I can be sure to protect is that which I give away?

8. Where is my heart when it comes to trusting the Lord’s promise that he will replace my gifts to others in need “with Kingdom wealth”?

• JESUS PROMISES BLESSINGS IN PROPORTION TO OUR “GRACIOUS GIVING”

GOD’S WORD:  Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.  Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Luke 6:37-38, NIV)

REFLECTION-DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. How might I be tempted to “judge others” as an excuse for not giving to their needs?

2. Why is it so tempting to “condemn needy people” rather than rushing in to help them in their needs?

3. Why is it so important that I not be too hasty in “condemning needy people”?

4. What is the special challenge Jesus gives his followers when they are asked to help people, even those who have created their own neediness by sinful living?

5. What do I really lose by giving some of my resources away to the needs of others whom I might meet from day-to-day?

6. What is the promise of Jesus for me and all those who “give” to the needs of others without judging or condemning them?

7. How does Jesus contrast the proportion of Lord’s blessing to my giving?

8. How does Jesus’ “parable of talents of money” in Matthew 25:14-30 further illustrate the Lord’s promise to bless me “in proportion to my gracious giving”?

1. How does Jesus’ “parable of the sheep and goats” in Matthew 25:31-46 further explain how I am challenged to become faithful in “gracious giving”?

2. How does the illustration of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians about “sowing and reaping” further illustrate the Lord’s promise of blessing me in proportion to my gracious giving? (Clue: see 2 Corinthians 8:1-9:15)

3. What is the difference for me between “giving to support a religious institution” in contrast with “giving to support genuine kingdom work”?

4. As a congregation, how can I do my part to help with the most faithful in planning for the use of our combined material resources?

5. As an individual Christ-follower, how can I be most faithful in planning for the use of my own material resources?

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