OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL - THURSDAY 08/08/2013 - RICHES CAN DISAPPOINT BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

RICHES CAN DISAPPOINT

MEMORY VERSE

Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.”

Proverbs 23:5

READ

Proverbs 23:4-5

Proverbs 23:4  Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.

Proverbs 23:5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

MESSAGE 

When you make people pay for spiritual services, you paint God in very bad light; you paint Him as One who demands pay for what He has offered freely. Also, whenever people 'pay' for the healing, baby, deliverance, promotion, etc. they have received, it will erode their need to be grateful and thankful to God. If you go to a car shop and pay for a car, do you continue to thank them? If anything, you will feel that you are doing them a favour buying from them and not from another car shop. Do you know that when people are cajoled to 'pay' for their miracle, they feel like God is either indebted to them or that there is no basis for Him to be appreciated. Moreover, it is those who freely receive a miraculous touch of God that will feel indebted to God and will easily give their lives to Christ. The one who has 'paid' might hardly give a thought about yielding his or her life to Christ.

In addition to this, some people are busy chasing after wealth like Gehazi. It is impossible to chase after two rats going in different directions. You can't catch one of them, how much more the two. Jesus says you cannot serve God and mammon. In other words, the kind of devotion, love and commitment that is required in serving God is also required when that fellow chooses to serve money. However Proverbs 23:5 says unlike serving God, those who pursue money should prepare for disappointment because the wealth they are accumulating can suddenly develop wings and take its flight. If you ask some people what they are seeking after, they may be uncertain but not David. Unlike his son Solomon who sought several things at the same time, David sought one thing. In Psalm 27:4 he says,

“One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.”

He pursued his focus and found Him. What are you seeking? What is uppermost in your heart today? Is it God or wealth?

KEY POINT

When God gives you true riches, they transcend you to future generations.