What your attitude to money reveals about your heart

It’s been estimated that there are 2,350 verses in the Bible about money and generosity. We often don’t like to face the reality that Jesus had a lot to say about money in his teachings, and what he had to say was very challenging. One of the ways that we try to avoid this truth is by spiritualising it away.

The story about a man we call “The Rich Young Ruler” is a good case in point. The story goes like this:

As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”

“Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:17–25.)

It is very difficult for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.

What just happened here? What is this story about?

If you ask different people, they will give you different answers. Some people will tell you that the story is about commitment. The young man wasn’t committed enough to follow Jesus. Or perhaps the story is about selfishness. The young man was too selfish to follow Jesus.

I think there’s some truth in both of these ideas. But they are both also ways of avoiding the uncomfortable truth that this story is basically about money and wealth, and our attitudes to it. Jesus says as much in the lesson that he draws from it for his disciples. It is very difficult for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.

Christianity has nothing at all to do with how much money you have.

That would have been a very confronting thing for the disciples to hear. That’s because they lived in a religious culture that taught that if you were wealthy, it was a blessing from God in recognition of the fact that you were his follower. The blessings of God, and especially things like wealth and health, were associated in the minds of the people with one’s standing with God. And, actually, if you think about it, there are strong streams of that kind of thinking in Christianity today as well.

By telling this rich young man to sell everything and to give it to the poor if he wanted to follow him, Jesus was effectively telling him and us that Christianity has nothing at all to do with how much money you have. You don’t need a single cent to follow Jesus. You can be a billionaire or a beggar and still be loved and accepted by God. There is absolutely no correlation between your wealth and your standing with God. Contrary to what many Christians today believe, that correlation is not a positive one: in other words, it is not true that the more faithful you are to God, the more he will financially bless you.

Our attitude to money reveals the truth of whom we worship.

But there definitely is a correlation between your attitude to money and your relationship with God. Throughout all the teachings of Jesus we see that this correlation is a negative one. In other words, the more you love money, the less you will love Jesus, and conversely the more you love Jesus, the less you will make money the centre of your life.

Why? It’s not because there is anything inherently magical or spiritual about money. It’s just metal and paper. But it represents power in our society, and every human being, whether we admit it or not, worships what we consider is most powerful and we want it for ourselves. As a result, money is the biggest idol. Our attitude to money reveals the truth of whom we worship, whether we sit in a church every Sunday or not.

So ask yourself: How generous are you? Or, another question: How do you justify your lack of generosity?

Article supplied with thanks to Dr Eliezer Gonzalez.

About the Author: Dr Eli Gonzalez is the Senior Pastor of Good News Unlimited and the presenter of the Unlimited radio spots, and The Big Question. Sign up to his free online course called Becoming a Follower of Jesus to learn about Jesus and His message.

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Have you heard about Joshua and Jesus?

Even if you don’t go to church regularly now, you might perhaps remember the story of Joshua and Jericho from when you were a child. It’s a rollicking good story, with the people of God facing an impossible situation, and God coming to their help in a really dramatic way!

But what you might not have realised is that the story isn’t really about the city of Jericho or about Joshua – at least not the Joshua in the Old Testament.

You see, the well-known name “Jesus” is the same as the Hebrew name “Joshua.” Both versions of this name are just the English versions of the original names in Greek and Hebrew. The name “Jesus” is the Greek version of the Hebrew name “Joshua.” You might not have realised that Jesus is in the Old Testament, but he is!

In fact, the name Jesus means, “Jehovah is salvation.” As the angel said to Mary,

“you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matt 1:21.)

In the Old Testament, Joshua also saved his people, not from their sins, but from their enemies, the Canaanites. The key act through which Joshua saved his people was by bringing them into the Promised Land and conquering the city of Jericho to do so.

The Story of Joshua is Actually the Story of Jesus

We also have a promised land to look forward to:

But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells (2 Pet 3:13.)

We also have strongholds of evil to conquer before we get there:

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds (2 Cor 3:5).

The one who goes before us and leads us is the true Joshua, who,

having disarmed the powers and authorities… made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross (Col 2:15.)

Something that you might not know, and which is very significant, is that Joshua’s crossing of the Jordan to begin his conquest of the Promised Land, and the baptism of Jesus to begin his ministry, occurred at the same spot. This was on the Jordan River, just opposite Jericho.

Today this place is known as Qasr el Yahud. There are many places claimed to be the baptismal site of Jesus in Israel and Jordan, however many of them have been designated as such for touristic or political reasons. However, the oldest and most traditional site for the baptism of Jesus is Qasr el Yahud, about 3.3 km east of Highway 90, opposite Jericho.

Jesus is Still Demolishing Walls Today

It was here, right where the first Joshua crossed over to conquer the promised land for God’s children, that the second Joshua also crossed over to conquer eternity for us all. The baptism marks the point in time when Jesus left behind his “ordinary” life as a carpenter in Nazareth and commenced his ministry.

Jesus, the one in whom God dwelt fully, went before the people to conquer the land for them. In the same way, in the time of Joshua, the priests carried the ark, where the presence of God dwelt, across the river, before the people. When Joshua had crossed the Jordan, God honoured him before the people, and Joshua appointed twelve men to lay down an altar of twelve stones as a memorial of what God had done. In the same way, after Jesus had crossed the Jordan and commenced his ministry, he selected twelve men who would become foundation stones in his living temple (Eph. 2:20.).

Just as the first Joshua brought down the walls of Jericho, the second Joshua brought down the strongholds of death and sin, and vanquished them completely. You can read in Joshua 6:20 how the walls of Jericho came down when the people gave a “loud shout,” and Matt. 27:50 tells us that Jesus died, with a “loud cry”. It was that cry that announced our victory.

It is amazing to see how these two crossings of the Jordan River, approximately 1,500 years apart, mirror each other so clearly. That’s because the first Joshua pointed to the second Joshua (Jesus.) It illustrates how, in the end, just as Jesus said, the whole of the Bible points to him.

The good news is that Jesus is still demolishing the walls of pain and the barriers that divide in the lives of people today. He can do that for you too!

Article supplied with thanks to Dr Eliezer Gonzalez.

About the Author: Dr Eli Gonzalez is the Senior Pastor of Good News Unlimited and the presenter of the Unlimited radio spots, and The Big Question. Sign up to his free online course called Becoming a Follower of Jesus to learn about Jesus and His message.

Feature image: Photo by Vaishakh pillai on Unsplash 

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!  (Psalm 34:8, NKJV.)

The establishment of Christianity is the most significant fact in the whole history of the world.  And it happened so strangely!

A handful of people who had been discouraged and broken-hearted were suddenly transformed. They went about telling people that they had seen their dead friend walking, talking, and glorious.

These witnesses voluntarily encountered recurring danger. They undertook tremendous labours, sustaining reproach, suffering, and frequently, martyrdom. They had no certain end in life except for ridicule. All for the sake of a dead man whom they claimed was now alive. This strange story has changed the course of history, revolutionised the way we live, and changed millions of lives for the better.

Christ’s Resurrection Power has Transformed Millions of Lives. 

The reserve in the resurrection accounts in Scripture is very striking. If I had been writing them, I would have had the risen Christ drop in on Pilate one dark night, and Herod on another. But there is no such spectacular stuff in the Gospel record. So factual is the record, that it says that on one occasion when Jesus appeared, there were some who doubted it was he (Matthew 28:17).

However, there is another evidence open to all – that of experience. “Taste and see.” Throughout the ages, millions of transformed lives have testified to Christ’s resurrection power. This power is now available to all who will believe. – Des Ford (adapted)

Reflection: Have you met the risen Jesus? Millions have, what about you? With sincerity of heart, ask the risen Lord to reveal himself to you, and he will.

Article supplied with thanks to Dr Eliezer Gonzalez.

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In the 10,000m men’s finals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, unforgettable and dramatic scenes marked the end of the race.

Australian Patrick Tiernan had kept up with the favourites for almost the entirety of the 27-minute race, but just 50 metres away from the finish line, he dramatically collapsed.

TV commentator Bruce McAvaney said at the time, “You can see Pat, he is absolutely done and dusted. He is running on heart only here… He has absolutely collapsed with 50m to go. He picks himself up. He is staggering here.”

Tiernan crossed the line based on courage and determination alone. And incredibly, despite his collapse, Tiernan recorded his best time for that track and field season. He was so exhausted that he needed a wheelchair to get off the track.

Ethiopian Selemon Barega claimed gold that day, but Tiernan’s run will not be forgotten. He was determined to go all the way.

The Bible Likens our Lives to a Race

There are often many things in life that we start but we don’t finish. Depending on what kind of a person you are, you may be a better “finisher” than others. Some people may not be as organised as they need to be, or they may be more easily discouraged from pursuing a goal. But if there is one thing above all that we should make sure we finish well, that is our life of faith upon this earth.

The Bible likens our lives to a race. The reason is because it requires preparation and discipline, it takes effort, and because there is a prize at the end. I really didn’t used to like this idea of my life as a race, because on the one hand, I was never much good at athletics, and on the other hand, because it made it seem as if there were winners and losers. The winners were the ones who lived the best and holiest lives, and those who didn’t quite make the mark were the losers.

It is God Who Ensures we Stay on Track and Cross the Finish Line

Now I know that both of my concerns were unfounded. Firstly, even though I might not be any good at physical athletics, I can still love Jesus, and that’s all it takes to win. And secondly, I have also learnt that this is a race in which everyone can be a winner. Even if you are the weakest, most elderly, or the poorest person in this world, you can win the race of faith. Unlike earthly athletes, you don’t have to be fast and you don’t need to be strong. As the Bible says,

The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong… (Eccl. 9:11).

What, then, do you need to run the race of life? God says to us:

‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty (Zech. 4:6).

It is the Spirit of God who ensures that we stay on track in life and that we cross the finish line.

How is it that everyone can win? It’s because the important thing isn’t to reach the goal first, but to be on track. That’s why the apostle Paul wrote,

I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:14).

The Goal is Eternity

The most important thing isn’t to reach the goal, but to always be pursuing it. If you are running towards the goal, you will always reach it. Why? Because the goal is eternity.

Although we don’t like to talk about dying, death means the end of our time in this life. It represents the finish line of the race of faith. In the life to come, there will be no sin, no suffering, and no pain. Paul knew that his time on earth was coming to an end. As he faced his own death, he wrote:

I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing (2 Tim. 4:7–8).

Because of Jesus, if you trust in him, you can say the same thing as Paul did. That can be true for you at whatever stage of life you may be in. The reality is that Jesus ran the race for you and won the prize of eternal life for you, and now he simply offers to credit it to your account if you will accept it. Whatever race we run in this life is simply a reflection of what he has already done and won. That’s why all those who have accepted Jesus as their Saviour are always “more than conquerors through him who loved us” Rom. 8:37.

Article supplied with thanks to Dr Eliezer Gonzalez.

About the Author: Dr Eli Gonzalez is the Senior Pastor of Good News Unlimited and the presenter of the Unlimited radio spots, and The Big Question. Sign up to his free online course called Becoming a Follower of Jesus to learn about Jesus and His message.

Feature image: Photo by sporlab on Unsplash

Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know (Acts 2:22, NIV).

The Gospel of John records seven miracles that Jesus performed. These illustrate the transforming power of Jesus in our lives.

In these miracles, we find the transformation from sadness to gladness, from disease to health, from paralysis to abundant energy, from hunger to fullness, from anxiety to tranquillity, from darkness to light, from death to life.

In these miracles, we are given a picture of the transformation that takes place in the life of every person who comes to Jesus. They reveal that all things are under the control of Jesus. They reveal the power in the Words of Jesus.

The main point for each of us is that Christ’s transforming Word is as strong and efficient as his actual presence. Without touching the water in the stone jars at the wedding in Cana, Jesus, with a word, turned it into wine. Later, he spoke a word at Cana and healed a boy miles away in his home in Capernaum. 

And that same word called a dead man from his grave. That word is still available to accomplish the miracle of salvation in the life of even the weakest of believers who call out to Christ in faith.

Article supplied with thanks to Dr Eliezer Gonzalez.

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