Treasure Principles

Key #1 – God owns it all and I am His manager. 
Look at Deut. 8:17 –“You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.” 
    It is in the story of the “Talents” that we read the reply that we all should hope to receive some day…and it is a story of wisely investing the master’s money – “Well done thou good and faithful servant”!  The question is not “What would you do with a million dollars?”…The question is “What will you do with what God has already entrusted to you?”…Whether one talent; two or five…We can spend it on things or pleasure .... Or, Send it on ahead by investing in God’s Kingdom.
Key #2 – My heart will always go where I put God’s money. 
    By telling us that our hearts will follow our treasure, Jesus is saying “Show me your checkbook, your credit card statements, and I’ll show you where your heart is.”
    Suppose you were to buy shares of General Motors stock. What happens? .. You suddenly develop an interest in GM. You check the financial pages… You read articles in magazines and have an interest in any news concerning GM.
    Suppose you are giving to the support of Missions in Guatemala. And, maybe you have gone on a mission trip to Guatemala…Then you hear that a great earthquake has shaken Guatemala…You watch the news and pray fervently…Why? Because where your treasure is, your heart will follow. 
    There is more than one reason scripture tells us that we see the outside, but “God sees the heart”. 
Key #3 – This world is not my home. I’m just passin’ through.
    The Bible says that we are “ambassadors for Christ”. The United Nations is made up of ambassadors from 191 countries. Although they all live in the U.S. they are not citizens of this country.
Hebrews 11:8 says “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. ⁹By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God… Verse 13 - All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. ¹⁴People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportun-ity to return. ¹⁶Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”
    Where we choose to collect our treasures depends greatly on where we believe our home is.
Key #4 – Don’t live for the dot.

< ____________________*__________________>  The dot represents our life …the line is eternity. The Bible says in Psalm 90:9 All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan.¹⁰   The length of our days is seventy years—            or eighty, if we have the strength;           yet their span^ is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away…¹²Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” 

    Do you know what is the best representation of our “dot”? … A landfill!  It is filled with treasures. Some-one dies, and the next thing you know their kids or whoever is in charge is loading up trucks with stuff to go to the landfill. And, even if they find some things that are useful, or they consider treasures, … eventually everything ends up in the landfill!
Key #5 – Giving is the only antidote for “keeping”.
    Of course, money is not the only thing we can give… But, the fact remains that we either keep and use what we have for ourselves. Or, we give it and send it on ahead. I am not talking about giving it all away…we all have expenses, but, isn’t there a point when we cross the line from reasonable expenses to self-indulgence?  All I am saying is, if you were to break down what you receive and what you give…what would the percentages look like?
Key #6 – God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving.
    Luke 6:38 – “³⁸Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
    2 Cor. 9:6 – “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. ..
Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. ¹¹You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us ( or through the church… or through the ministry or mission…) your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”
     Answer this question – Would you say you have less than you need or more than you need?  Let me say this again “The question is not what would you do with a million dollars, but, what will you do with what you have been given?”
You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead!