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Gods words are perfect. They are filled with all the wisdom we need. Many times we think well, we are so much more
advanced in our age, that those principles do not apply to us.
The Bible says in Hebrews 13:8
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever
So knowing that, let’s proceed. What is the throng of America’s attention. - Our bad economy.
Why is our economy so bad? This may surprise you.
Let’s go to God’s principles on money and His blessings of a nation first as our guide.
1Timothy 6:6-10
6 Yet true religion with contentment is great wealth. 7 After all, we didn't bring anything with us when we
came into the world, and we certainly cannot carry anything with us when we die. 8 So if we have enough
food and clothing, let us be content. 9 But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by
many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is at
the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the faith and pierced
themselves with many sorrows.
Principle #1 - Be content with what you have
Malachi 3:6-15
6 "I am the LORD, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already completely
destroyed. 7 Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my laws and failed to obey them. Now
return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty. "But you ask, 'How can we return when we
have never gone away?' 8 "Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! "But you ask, 'What do you
mean? When did we ever cheat you?' "You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. 9 You are
under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so
there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do," says the LORD Almighty, "I will open the windows of
heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Let me
prove it to you! 11 Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes
will not shrivel before they are ripe," says the LORD Almighty. 12 "Then all nations will call you blessed, for
your land will be such a delight," says the LORD Almighty. 13 "You have said terrible things about me," says
the LORD. "But you say, 'What do you mean? How have we spoken against you?' 14 "You have said, 'What's
the use of serving God? What have we gained by obeying his commands or by trying to show the LORD
Almighty that we are sorry for our sins? 15 From now on we will say, "Blessed are the arrogant." For those
who do evil get rich, and those who dare God to punish them go free of harm.' "
-Many feel, " Why should we serve God?".
Principle #2 – Tithe
All money coming into your life is actually God’s, he only allows you to acquire it for the good.
Gods only requirement is that you give him back 10 percent. This is hard for a lot of people to realize but plainly
spoken in Gods word. If a man came up to you and said “ I will give you $100.00 to use, all I ask is that you give me
back $10.00. You can keep the $90. What would you say? Would you say “no”, You give me the $100.00 and maybe
if I feel like it I’ll give you back a dollar or not anything depending on what I feel I want to do.
How would you view that person who kept all the money?
Principle #3 - Do not Borrow, do not become in debt
Deuteronomy 28:12
12 Jehovah will open unto thee his good treasure the heavens, to give the rain of thy land in its season, and
to bless all the work of thy hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
Proverbs 22:7
Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender. (Does China come to mind?)
Romans 13:8
Pay all your debts, except the debt of love for others. You can never finish paying that! If you love your
neighbor, you will fulfill all the requirements of God's law.
Principle #4 -Be Charitable
1 Corinthians 13: 13
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Charity is love in action.
Matthew 25:31-46
31 "But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his
glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate them as a shepherd
separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. 34
Then the King will say to those on the right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you
gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me
clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.' 37 "Then these righteous
ones will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to
drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever
see you sick or in prison, and visit you?' 40 And the King will tell them, 'I assure you, when you did it to one
of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!' 41 "Then the King will turn to those
on the left and say, 'Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his
demons! 42 For I was hungry, and you didn't feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn't give me anything to drink.
43 I was a stranger, and you didn't invite me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me no clothing. I was
sick and in prison, and you didn't visit me.' 44 "Then they will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry
or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?' 45 And he will answer, 'I assure you,
when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.' 46 And
they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life."
1 Corinthians 14:1
Let love be your highest goal……..
Principle #5 - Be Thankful
Ephesians 5:19
-giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
1 Chronicles 16:8 -11
And in regards to his covenant relationship with Israel the word states:
Deuteronomy 4:29 - 31
29 But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart
and with all your soul.30 When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days,
when you turn to the LORD your God and obey His voice 31(for the LORD your God is a merciful God), He will
not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them. NKJV
Where do we stand on these principles
1. Be content with what you have
AS Americans we, always, are never satisfied. We constantly want and want; bigger, better, latest, shiniest,
whatever .We can take it as personal and still , we fail
2. Tithe.
-The majority of Christians in America do not tithe. If they did then the church ( which is supposed to be all of
us stepping up) would have enough in it’s coffers to completely cover the Charity principle without any aid
from the government. We would not have homeless people or hungry people or those hurting without help.
There would even be enough to set up non-profit health care. Farms could help with their overage just as they
left some crops for the poor in biblical times. The tithe goes to the church you attend to distribute out to further
the gospel and help the people in need. that is how God set it up.
3. Do not Borrow, do not become in debt
- We all know we have blown this one way out of the water. And our current government has the mentality that
the more you spend the better. It doesn’t matter if you owe for generations to come. We want, therefore we
need ,therefore we borrow. This is completely out of line to Gods principles.
4. Be Charitable
As a nation to other countries we aren’t in bad shape.
But as an individual we could do much more in most cases, but we choose to ignore our neighbor. Even
though we know we are to love our neighbor as ourselves.
5 .Be Thankful
We think we are grateful, but if we are truly grateful why isn’t it good enough? Why do we want more all the
time?We are spoiled. The spoiled do not truly know what it means to be grateful unless they have experienced
true need. Will God have to bring us to that point of true need before we start obeying his principles? When
we do not learn ( just as children do not learn) he will allow hard times to teach and mold us because he does
love us and wants us to experience true appreciation for our lives, living them to our fullest in him.
Why is our economy Bad? Because we as a nation worship ourselves more than God.
2 Timothy 3:1-9
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of
money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,3 unloving, unforgiving,
slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure
rather than lovers of God,5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn
away! 6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded
down with sins, led away by various lusts,7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the
truth.8 Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds,
Disapproved concerning the faith;9 but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as
theirs also was.
Where do we stand?
Jerrmish 2:11-13
11 Has a nation changed its gods, Which are not gods? But My people have changed their Glory
For what does not profit. 12 Be astonished, O heavens, at this, And be horribly afraid; Be very desolate," says
the LORD.13'For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters,
And hewn themselves cisterns -- broken cisterns that can hold no water. NKJV
One more principle that is concrete that I didn’t list because it should seem obvious to
anyone.
#6 - Be Wise in your doings
Proverbs 6:6-8
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, 7 Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler,
8 Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest.
Those who do not follow God’s principles-
Haggai 1:6-7
6 "You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not
filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put
into a bag with holes." 7 Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider your ways"
Home American Christian
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Issues at Hand as of August 2009, Using God’s principles
-What Should we do? What should we not do? Does this go against God or follow God?
Children of God should Follow God’s Principles
TARP- Does not follow principles # 1 opposite of contentment. #3 Borrowing to Bail out bad behavior. Do Not borrow. Brakes
#5 Be Thankfull. It brakes# 6- Be Wise. If you do not read a bill but rush it into law you are not considering with wisdom. Also
rewarding those who mismanaged funds is not wise . This does not follow his servant principles.
Stimullis Bill- Does not follow principles #1 No contentment.#2 If we tithed people would not be in bad shape, we would have
funding to help each other. #3 brakes-Do Not Borrow. #5Brakes =and is not thankful for what we have, but want more. #6
Brakes- It is not wise to rush anything through we have not read and make it law. That is foolish.
Health Care Reform as pending-Brakes #1- no contentment by some pushing reform. Brakes- #2 if we were all tithing we
would not need Health Care reform. The Church would be helping people who could not afford insurance. Brakes #3 -getting
in debt. #4 Charity-it actually follows to some extent, a pick and choose, and in a forced unbiblical way. It will kill babies in both
versions as they stand as of Aug. 2009. And brakes. Our sixth Commandment-Thou Shalt not kill. Also it debated that it
brakes- our Fifth Commandment- Honor Your father and mother, because it set limits on procedures at least so far in this
version. What is available for the 20-50 year olds should also be available for the elderly or else it does not honor them,
Debate is going on about this. Brakes #5 in that we’re again are not thankful for the medical care we do have. Brakes #6 In
trying to again rush something through into law without reading it. I think, would you sign a lease and not know the terms? The
Bible says consider you ways.
Options________________________________________________________________________
What aligns with Biblical principles?-
Tithing-If everyone did this we could help our neighbor through the Church as non profit to those in need. Private Insurance. Co-
op insurance. Health programs that are preventive care that are totally funded. If we look at God’s way of thinking then we can
come up with solid good care. Government should not have to take the roll the Church is supposed to have .
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8 Oh, give thanks to the LORD!
Call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples!
9 Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;
Talk of all His wondrous works!
10 Glory in His holy name;
Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD!
11 Seek the LORD and His strength;
Seek His face evermore!
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The American Christian
Miracles in the Mist of Mayhem
Lesson 2
The Economy - In God We Trust?
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“Without religion, this world would be something not fit to be mentioned in polite company:
I mean hell.
The Christian religion is, above all the religions that ever prevailed or existed in ancient or modern
times, the religion of wisdom, virtue, equity and humanity.
Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law book and every
member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited. . . . What a Eutopia – what a
Paradise would this region be!
I have examined all religions, and the result is that the Bible is the best book in the world.6”
John Adams
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