KFLCC Kingdom Economics

F INANCIAL S ECURITY IN THE L AST D AYS

Fear forged a negative motivation and instead of investing the money and gaining interest, this servant’s fear caused him to hide the investment money. We have all heard of older people whose families lost money during the Great Depression, who amassed wealth and hid cash in odd places out of fear of losing it. True stories have been told of people who discovered tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars hidden in the walls of someone’s home after their death. Some elderly people who have large bank accounts will not spend one penny because of the fear that sometime in the future, they might need the money. Before continuing, it must be pointed out that Christ conquered all three fears on behalf of mankind. He conquered death, He defeated and cured diseases, and He provided food when He multiplied loaves and fishes and turned water to wine at a wedding. He even provided tax money for Himself and Peter. Second Timothy 1:7 says that God has not given us a spirit of fear. This tells us that fear is a spirit, and it is not a spirit that comes from the Almighty. T HE R OOT C AUSE OF F EAR The root cause of fear is insecurity. The need for security is a basic human instinct, and one must feel secure to have a sense of inner peace. But what if you lived your entire life in fear? Perhaps you would be unable to sleep at night for fear the house could burn down. You would never fly because the plane could crash and kill you. If you fear gaining weight, you might become bulimic or anorexic. Since it is possible that you could attend church and become offended and hurt by someone, you add church to your list of places to avoid. Here’s the big one: you never tithe or give in an offering because you fear that you might need the money later. It is fear of not having provision that restrains a person from being a generous giver to the work of the Kingdom of God. Many believers are unbelievers when it comes to believing that God can give back to them what they have planted into God’s Kingdom in the form of financial gifts. F INANCIAL S TRUGGLES A RE N OTHING N EW To understand how and why God provided for the material and financial needs of His covenant children in the Old Testament, we must understand the economic and cultural setting of the early times. The early nation of Israel, until the time of Christ, had at least six ways of earning income.

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