I know both how to be abased,
and I know how to abound:

every where and in all things

I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry,

both to abound and to suffer need

Philippians 4:12

the subject for today is:

Riches or Poverty

So What?
from financial bondage to financial freedom. (3)

Let us again open the Bible and read some from it

Today from: Philippians 4:4-13

Philippians 4:4-13

4 Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.  5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.  6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.  7 And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  8 Finally, brethren,

·        whatsoever things are true,

·        whatsoever things are honest,

·        whatsoever things are just,

·        whatsoever things are pure,

·        whatsoever things are lovely,

·        whatsoever things are of good report;

if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.  9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.  10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.  11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.  12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.  13  I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.

Dear Friends,

Here is another step that can move us from financial bondage to financial freedom. Recognize that you are only free when you are free to use either poverty or plenty. There are two ways in which men and women try to defend themselves against financial disaster.

One is by saving as much as possible in an attempt to avert it.

The other is by renouncing money or material things entirely in order to be free from their clutches.

Both methods have disadvantages.

·         The first, because it can cause miserliness and anxiety, and tends to make a person as metallic as the coins they seek to amass.

·         The second, because it seeks to get rid of the difficulty by washing one's hands of it entirely.

In each case, there is a bondage

·         one is a bondage to material things,

·         the other a bondage to poverty.

The man who is free to use plenty only is bound by that, while the man who is free to use poverty only is also bound. They are both bound. But the person who, like Paul in the text before us today, has "learned the secret of being content ... whether living in plenty or in want" is free, really free.

While waiting for a train in India, a missionary got into a conversation with a high-caste Indian.

"Are you traveling on the next train?" the missionary asked.

"No," he replied, "that train has only third-class carriages. It's all right for you, because you are a Christian. Third class doesn't degrade you and first class doesn't exalt you. You are above these distinctions, but I have to observe them."

Lifted above all distinctions!

PRAYER:

O Father, what a way to live - lifted above all distinctions. Plenty doesn't entangle my spirit, and poverty doesn't break it. No matter how I have lived in the past - this is how I want to live in the future. Help me, dear Lord. Amen.

FURTHER STUDY:

James 2:1-10; 5:1-8     

1.       Where does favoritism come from?

2.       What does James say about selfish living?

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