JCSM's Weekly Devotions (click here to listen!)

"God's Model For Managing Money"

Psalms 1:1-3  "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.  He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper."

Proverb 13:11  "Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished, but he who gathers by labor will increase."

Proverb 22:7  "The rich rules over the poor and the borrower is servant to the lender."

Ecclesiastes 11:1, 2  "Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.  Give a serving to seven, and also to eight, for you do not know what evil will be on the earth."

Malachi 3:10  "'Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,' says the LORD of hosts, 'If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.'"

Matthew 22:15-22  "Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk.  And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, 'Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men.  Tell us, therefore, what do You think?  Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?'  But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, 'Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?  Show Me the tax money.'  So they brought Him a denarius.  And He said to them, 'Whose image and inscription is this?'  They said to Him, 'Caesar’s.'  And He said to them, 'Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.'  When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way."

1 Timothy 6:9-11  "But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.  But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness."

Insight: Christians need to be wise with their money.  They should not be controlled by it.  Obey God with and be a good steward of your resources and God will bless you.

Prayer: "Dear Lord, bless us and make us like You.  Help us to be good stewards of our money and resources.  Thank you for teaching us your ways and thank you for giving us godly mentors and friends to help us.  Help us to avoid foolishness and to do your will.  Increase our wisdom, knowledge, and insight.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

On January 31, 1862, astronomer Alvan Clark turned his telescope toward the bright star Sirius. He noticed a tiny, bright spot near the star, now called Sirius B. This companion, a hundred times smaller than an average star is called a white dwarf. There are indications that Sirius B may have collapsed to its small size from a larger star as recently as 1,000 years ago. Stars can indeed change in nature as their fuel is exhausted. However, typical stellar evolution models only allow for such changes over an extremely long time span. Sirius B indicates that stars may age much faster than the computer models assume.

This excerpt was taken from Donald DeYoung's book called, "365 Fascinating Facts From the World of Discovery."

(This explanation came from "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained", by Dr. Jason Gastrich.  This book is on CD and gives over 4,000 answers to alleged Bible errors, regarding the entire Bible at http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.org.  There is also a 300 question workbook that accompanies the CD-ROM.)

Are you ready to give up good for great?

Our fire isn't always holy, but God's is.

We need to fear God and not man.

Plotters fear defeat, but spirit-filled Christians don't.

We win in the end because our God is great.

Plotters serve themselves and ultimately fail.

If we don't worship God each day, worshiping God on Sunday is a show.

We should come to church worshiping, not just to worship.

Worship is the natural response from a person whose life has been touched by God.

If you're saved, you should have a love relationship with Jesus Christ.

When we do what God calls us to do, there will be some controversy.

Reconsidering our position is part of being humble.

If we truly believe and stay mindful of God's commands and promises, it will change the way we live.

Don't worry about being famous on Earth, but strive to live in a way that will make you famous in Heaven.

God can discern between genuine and fake.

Jesus is looking for a few folks to be a little crazy for Him.

These quotes came from the Holy Spirit, Howard Everett, and Jason Gastrich.  If you'd like to read more wise quotes, you can either visit our Quotations Archive or get a copy of Dr. Gastrich's book called, "10,000 Wise Quotes and Spiritual Sayings"!  It's the largest collection of Bible-based quotations in the world.