Jesus said it is harder for a man to get into heaven that is rich than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. We all know how the rich young ruler felt when Jesus asked him to sell everything and give it to the poor. So how can a rich man get into heaven? Read on.
1 Timothy 6:17-19 (New King James Version)
17 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. 18 Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, 19 storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
TIP 1 Do Good
Many good things can be done in the world by the support of people with money and quite a bit of money. There are thousands of great ministries that could be a whole lot better, if it were for a couple of better benefactors. The people with real wealth can also have a great hand in doing things with the ministry as they are always looking for more than cash.
TIP 2 Do not trust in uncertain riches.
The LORD God admonishes through his prophet Jeremiah in chapter nine for the rich not to glory in their riches.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 (New King James Version) 23 Thus says the LORD:
" Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; 24 But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the LORD.
It is good for the wealthy to know their God and not to be proud because they are rich. One day all the banks are going to crash and all the insurance companies are going to bust, and the stock markets are going to crash. It would be good in those days that the wealthy would have had advance warning and had invested elsewhere.
TIP 3 Be rich in good works
I heard a good story of one of the biggest women teachers of the Word in America. She gives 80% of the money that her ministry receives as she does not need it. When she went to India, she bought the Indians motor bikes, laptop computers, TV's and DVD players and gave them untold numbers of her teachings.
The Indian church needed exactly that and this lady was aware of the need and spent lots of money addressing the need.
Scripture tells us not to let our right hand know what our left hand is doing. In the case of giving, it is best to be an unknown and therefore receive treasure in heaven.
TIP 4 Ready to give, willing to share
You may think all these tips are for the really rich, but compared to the East and the poor countries even a person on a pension in the West is rich.
Do you share?
Are you willing to give to the poor?
Do you give above your tithe?
Be Blessed
Matthew Robert Payne
If you have enjoyed my article you can read the book "The parables of Jesus made simple" for free here in its entirety or just selected parables in chapters at http://www.parables-of-jesus-christ.net/ The book will be published in book form in January 2011
For prophetic counsel, Christian life coaching, Dream interpretation, Christian chat and great Kingdom Teaching come and see us at http://www.kingdomassignments.com.au
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