Managing God's Money

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Biblical Stewardship

Biblical stewardship is what we teach. Biblical stewardship is what we preach. Biblical stewardship reflects our heart surrendered to Messiah, ready to do as He asks. We submit this Mission to Him and desire to be good stewards of His resources; and as we teach, preach, counsel, to be faithful to His word.

Who is a steward? A steward is someone who gets responsibility and authority from an owner to look after the owner’s property in the owner’s best interest. In return, the steward agrees to account to the owner regularly for his performance compared with the owner’s standards. God’s steward needs to know Him, know His Word, obey Him, obey His Word, and understand he will account for his use of resources. As well, stewards must accept their role: they know own nothing and so, they must spend only under Jesus’ direction. They must count the cost before spending, listen for His voice, and He will lead them to His will compared with their wish. Are you ready for this? Am I? It’s not easy, but He is faithful, kind, compassionate, and He won’t leave you or me.

The GAS Principle

The GAS Principle, three key biblical truths, is the foundation for everything we do at Managing God's Money--it's the essence of our mission. It is stewardship in action. Let's look at its implications.

1. God owns everything - (Psalm 24:1-2, Colossians 1:16)
• Accept what you have - (Hebrews 13:5, 1 Timothy 6:7-8)
• Seek first His Kingdom, and submit your requests to Him - (Matthew 6:33, Proverbs 19:21)

Implications of Key Biblical Truth # 1: God’s Owns Everything

You own nothing; you are God’s manager or steward, and so, it’s essential you know who is a steward:

Implications of Key Biblical Truth #2: Accept What You Have

Start by accepting whom you are—-fearfully and wonderfully made--accept where you are, and what you have. Don’t look at folks on TV with “perfect bodies” and start beating up yourself. You are who you are! If you need to change your lifestyle, God can handle that. Ask Him to show you what to do. Accepting what you have means living in your circumstances but not allowing them to take your eyes off God. Recall the widow in 2 Kings 4:1-7; she had a little oil only, but with Elisha’s guidance, she saw she had more than enough. As well, so preoccupied was Elisha’s servant with his circumstance, He could not see the victory God prepared until Elisha prayed to open his eyes.

Each believer in Messiah should understand that God is faithful, keeps His Word, and His divine power has granted everything the believer needs for life and Godliness. A believer can do God’s wishes because God’s Spirit lives in him. Do you believe this?

Implications of Key Biblical Truth # 3: Seek First His Kingdom and Submit Your Requests to Him

Do you believe Jesus is who He says He is? Do you believe He will do what He promised? Are you ready to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness? When you seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, you must seek second, third, fourth ... your wants. He will provide your needs. Did you get that? Have you ever seen a sparrow begging for food? The Three Key Biblical Truths are not subjective, changing principles, but eternal. Seek continually to understand them; find what pleases God by studying the Bible to become like Jesus, not to become theologians. In the Bible, you will uncover lasting guidelines for daily living. God, the creator of the universe, owns everything. The Bible shows this clearly in the verses that explain the GAS Principle, and elsewhere. Accepting the GAS Principle will change your life, change your views, and change your role about stuff you “own” as His manager. It will cancel the need to borrow, except to buy a home, and you will be able to do the following:

1. Be more alert with spending decisions—allowing Him to lead you
2. Accept you own nothing but you are responsible to God as His manager or steward for everything He allows you to have while you are here on earth—time, talents, money, family, the environment
3. Realize that later you will account to the Owner of every- thing, Jesus Christ, for your stewardship

The GAS Principle , three key biblical truths, highlights the need to practice keeping--presenting all to God-- rather than tithing. Tithing means giving 10% to "God" and using 90% as you see fit. Tithing is popular today though there is no biblical foundation to do it. Tithing under the Mosaic Law applied to Israel alone during a particular period and dealt with Israel's social and religious arrangements at the time. Jesus' death and resurrection fulfilled the tithing law, removing the need for animal sacrifices to remove sin. Jesus replaced the temporary Aaronic office of High Priest (Hebrews 7 & 8) with a permanent priesthood (Hebrews 7:24).

Tithing is a guilt relieving way to spend God's 90% without His approval. Tithing results largely from ignorance; but fits popular me-centered North American Christianity... more. Tithing was not practised in the early church--if you can show us in the established Bibles where it was practiced, we will give you $1,000. Giving under the New Covenant (2 Corinthians 8-9), which I call keeping is a lifestyle that starts with a personal relationship with Messiah, accepts His ownership of 100% of everything, and stays close to Him to learn where He wants time, talent, and money invested, to further His Kingdom.