A Question Of Ownership

‘When Jesus saw this, he said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God! In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”’ Luke 18:24-25

You are looking very rich this morning. If after reading this first sentence, your thoughts immediately went to the state of your finances, then it means you still have not embraced the fact that you are rich. So again I say you are looking very rich today. Now accept it – accept it. This is not a prosperity teaching; this is the word of God. If this message infuriates you in anyway then perhaps you want to welcome the spirit of poverty that is being evicted from people’s lives permanently even right now into your home. So again declare out loud, God has blessed me with more than I need, I am rich and I am grateful. And so shall it be, in Jesus Name.

Now the bad news is that you are rich! So it really doesn’t matter if you hear the good news or bad news first. Yet why is it bad news that you are rich? It is because being rich has its own challenges. That’s just the truth. Please read Luke 18:18-29. This rich man came to Jesus with a question, “what do I need to do to get eternal life?” And Jesus says that’s not a big deal, keep the law – honor your father and mother, do not steal, and so on and so forth. And for the man that’s a piece of cake and he affirms that he had been doing these things since he was young. Jesus says but you lack one more thing. The rich man is eager to know because he really wants eternal life. And Jesus says, go and sell everything you have and give to the poor, then come and follow me and the rich man was sad. Then he did the unimaginable, he turned back from Jesus. And Jesus said “How hard is it for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God”. Let me paraphrase it in a way that we can relate to it. How hard it will be for someone whose riches own him or her to enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus said the same thing to Peter; he had labored all night and caught nothing. Jesus shows up and Peter bags almost all the fish in the sea. Peter had just become very rich and Jesus said, “Follow me”. But unlike the rich man, Peter left everything and followed Jesus. Anything that you hold on to in the place of Jesus will make you poor eventually. Yes you are rich but let there be nothing that you cannot give up for Jesus. So what is that thing that you have and cannot give to God? That is the singular thing that the enemy can use to bring you down. There must be nothing we own, as wealthy as God wants us to be, that owns us apart from Jesus Christ.

Thought: Let nothing own you but Christ Jesus.

Prayer: Thank You Father for blessing me with more than I need, I am rich and I am grateful and Father I belong to You alone, in Jesus Name.