Who is pulling your strings?

“Man cannot serve God & Mammon”[Luke 16:13]

We all know how religious types are in the habit of pulling one scripture out of the Bible, usually completely out of context, and then using it to support a position or a claim that they want to uphold, right? Well today’s topic may seem like me doing the same thing - but I would argue that in this case it is both applicable and effective. I truly believe that the majority of the people in the so called civilized world could completely change their lives by understanding the meaning of this and choosing to follow God instead of Mammon.

So who or what is Mammon?
That’s a great question and one that could be debated or analyzed to a degree far outside the scope of this article. Let’s just agree on something that is universally accepted. First of all, it is in someway connected to the pursuit of money and material things. Secondly - the scripture itself suggests that choosing Mammon over God would be a choice that takes you away from the place God wants you to be in. If you want to really get into the meat of what mammon is really all about, I highly recommend that you do some studying and let the Lord enlighten you. I suggest the book “Living on the Third River” by Craig Hill, this should be a huge eye opener for you. It can be found at http://www.faithandworkresources.com/store_items_view.asp?itemid=18431
(I am not connected to this site by the way)

Today, I have asked the Lord to give me some wisdom to share with you on the subject.

How often do you think about money? When you make decisions about what to do or have, are they governed by how much things cost? Are your future plans and goals based on how much money you will be able to acquire in the future?

For most people, the answer to these questions is a big Yes! Most people live their lives worrying and stressing about money and planning ways to get more of it so that their lives can be better. Sadly, most never get what they are striving for and those that do, find that life is not necessarily better - it is just different.

You can read traditional old “religious” literature that will tell you that God wants you to be poor. The writers suggest that having nothing somehow makes it easier for you to get closer to the Lord and that He prefers you that way. On the other side of the coin, you have all of the self-help gurus and the so called “prosperity movement” who will all tell you in their books, TV shows, and seminars that God wants you to be rich! So, who is correct? Well, in a way they are both right and they also are wrong.

What the Lord has clearly shown me is that he doesn’t care about how much money you have or don’t have. He is not interested in what things you have or wish that you had. He is only interested in your heart. He is only interested in having a personal, intimate relationship with you.

He wants to spend time with you, to hear your questions, to listen to your fears, to hear your prayers. He takes delight in any time that he gets to spend with you and only you. He would love to sit for hours and hear what’s on your heart, to learn about your desires and dreams and to help you to see that the easy way to live a life that is fulfilling and without stress is to become as much like Him as you possibly can.

He cannot teach you his ways if you are spending all of your time watching TV, playing golf, playing video games, going to the mall, etc etc, or working extra hours to get more money to buy more things.

Now, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that the old religious crowd could be right and this means that you are not supposed to have anything nice. This is completely untrue. God wants you to have the desires of your heart and he is delighted to see you achieve them. The thing that you will notice though, is that the more time you spend talking to him one on one, the more you get to understand how highly he regards you and you will find that the desires of your heart will start to change.

You will start thinking of different things that you can do with your money, you will look to do more things that you know that He would want you to do. This is where you start to make the transition away from serving Mammon towards serving God. You see, if you are not serving one, then by default, you are serving the other.

Most people are serving Mammon without even knowing they are doing it, and in doing so they are blocking themselves from joy and peace and bringing untold levels of stress into their lives. The three biggest ‘killers’ in the world as we know it today are; heart attack, stroke and cancer. It is a documented fact that these conditions are exacerbated or in some cases, caused by stress.

Escaping the service of Mammon is better than any drug. It is a preventative treatment rather than an attempt at a cure. “So it’s that easy then” I hear you ask. Well it is that simple but by no means is it easy. In fact, for most of us it is the single most difficult thing we could ever attempt. We live in a world surrounded by manipulation and temptation.

On a daily basis you are systematically bombarded with ads on the radio, TV, Internet, magazines, newspapers, and on and on. Everything is designed to get you to want to buy something, to acquire something bigger, better newer or tastier than what you already have. It is incredibly powerful and works mightily.

Often, we get so determined to have something that we get it even when we don’t actually don’t have the money for it, using consumer credit cards and then worrying how to pay for it later. That decision immediately enslaves you as a servant of Mammon. You are locked in because now you can’t think about having time to spend with God because you have to pay back the credit cards or the bank loan.

Have you found yourself in that position? Are you in that position today? Do you want to get out? Send me an email if you want help with a particular situation and would like us to pray for you. (fka@mac.com) If you would like all the readers of the blog to support you in prayer, post your prayer as a response right here. Otherwise, just read this prayer and have faith that the Lord is just eagerly waiting to hear from you and is just waiting for the chance to be a part of your life and to help you feel better about everything.

Father God in Heaven, thank you that you care about me so much and that you are interested in hearing about my situation. Lord I have messed up with my finances. I have got myself into debt and made myself a servant of Mammon because I now have to strive to pay back all of this money I owe. Please show me how to think differently about money, teach me how to use money as a tool and not let it manipulate me and cause me to make bad choices.

Father, I will do my very best to talk to you about all the future financial decisions and I thank you in advance that your wisdom will guide me. Help me to find the ways and means to get myself out of this situation and teach me to follow you and not Mammon in the future. Thank you that you hear this prayer today, in the name of Jesus.

Now don’t think that everything is going to change tomorrow. But, do understand that it has already started to change. You are now fully aware of the situation you are in and the difficulty of the challenge ahead, but guess what? You have the Creator of the entire universe on you side! There is no way you can lose. You just have to choose to follow God and no one else. You see, you don’t ever have to worry about what not to do and who not to follow. All that stuff makes things unnecessarily complex and stressful. All you need to know is that if you follow what God wants for you, if you chat to Him, ask His advice, you won’t go far wrong. Simple? Yes! Easy? No but it fills each day with purpose and makes you feel a whole lot better. Give it a try!

Blessings to you.

B.F.