Who Does It Belong To?
Notes
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Everything belongs to God
Everything belongs to God
The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
" I kind of gave this one away with the series title, but this is something we need to fully grasp so that we can put money and possessions in a proper perspective.
" The passage in is important for us the grasp, and today we miss some of the significance of how important this passage was when it was written.
" At the time of David writing this Psalm the people thought the world as well as the known universe was ruled but a plethora of gods.
" One had to live life in such a way as to not upset the various gods; however, David, as well as other Biblical writers point out the fallacy of this type of thinking. David reminds us that God is the owner of everything!
" There are not many competing gods, but ONE!
" The Lord is sovereign over all creation!
" We see people through history trying to conquer the world, yet the God is the one to whom it all belongs.
" Whatever I have, God actually owns
My money
My car
My watch
Everything you own - came from him and belongs to him
The song belongs to you........
" We can spend our whole life in the pursuit of stuff without realizing to whom it truly belongs to.
" When we think everything is ours, then we will seek to use things only for our purposes.
When something doesnt belong to you, you take extra care of it
ants in laptop
ants in laptop
" When we know that everything belongs to God, we will also know who to go to when we have a need.
" Jesus can tell us to seek first God's kingdom instead of being worried about the necessities of life because everything belongs to God.
when in need we can go to him cause he owns it all
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
" This promise is null and void if God cannot provide. It would like if you needed $100,000 and I told you, here is a check!
" The problem is if you tried to cash the check, it would bounce all over town because I do not possess those types of resources.
" If God did not own it all, He could not promise to take care of us either!
Illustration
Illustration
It is the story of a farmer who one day went happily and with great joy in his heart to report to his wife and family that their best cow had given birth to twin calves, one red and one white.
And he said, "You know I have suddenly had a feeling and impulse that we must dedicate one of these calves to the Lord. We will bring them up together, and when the time comes we will sell one and keep the proceeds, and we will sell the other and give the proceeds to the Lord's work."
ants in laptop
His wife asked him which he was going to dedicate to the Lord. "There is no need to bother about that now," he replied, "we will treat them both in the same way, and when the time comes we will do as I say."
And off he went. In a few months the man entered his kitchen looking very miserable and unhappy. When his wife asked him what was troubling him, he answered, "I have bad news to give you. The Lord's calf is dead."
"But," she said, "you had not decided which was to be the Lord's calf." "Oh yes," he said; "I had always decided it was to be the white one, and it is the white one that has died. The Lord's calf is dead."
We may laugh at that story, but God forbid that we should be laughing at ourselves. It is always the Lord's calf that dies. When money becomes difficult, the first thing we economize on is our contribution to God's work.
Application
Application
See yourself as a steward of what you own
See That God owns it all
Since God owns it all I will be dependent on him
Think of ways to use what you have to glorify God
E.g car
Home
Money
God’s proof of ownership
God’s proof of ownership
for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
" It is one thing to claim ownership, it is another to prove it!
" It is one thing to claim ownership, it is another to prove it!
" When one examines creation, I cannot believe that folks cannot see a creator, yet mankind has spent time worshipping the creation instead of the creator.
" When we look at the complexity of nature and the balance of nature and how the planets, moons and stars do not crash into each other, how can that happen with NO help?
" David offers us two pieces of proof of God's ownership.
" First, he uses some poetic language to tell us that God made the foundations, in other words He created it all!
" Paul nails the problem we have in .
because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
" People have spent countless hours and dollars trying to come up with alternative theories as to how things got here.
" I believe most of these are attempts to not have to be accountable to a creator.
" The one who creates something, owns it, so once one acknowledges (even if they never acknowledge it) that God created, then they have a level of accountability to that God.
Charles Darwin - Monkey
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.
" Without God, it all falls apart, just like one's life without God will eventually fall apart.
God has shown time and time again he owns it all
Whether we accept it or not
John Wesley put it this way, “When the Possessor of heaven and earth brought you into being, and placed you in this world, he placed you here not as a proprietor, but a steward.”5
Illustration
Illustration
God was once approached by a scientist who said, “Listen God, we’ve decided we don’t need you anymore. These days we can clone people, transplant organs and do all sorts of things that used to be considered miraculous.”
God replied, “Don’t need me huh? How about we put your theory to the test. Why don’t we have a competition to see who can make a human being, say, a male human being.”
The scientist agrees, so God declares they should do it like he did in the good old days when he created Adam.
“Fine” says the scientist as he bends down to scoop up a handful of dirt.”
“Whoa!” says God, shaking his head in disapproval. “Not so fast. You get your own dirt.”
Source: unknown
Application
Application
Change your perspective on what you own
You go from holding your money with a closed fist to holding it with an open hand.
We need to see that Stewardship is managing God’s treasures in God’s way, for God’s purposes, and always for God’s glory.
Think yourself empty
Think yourself empty
Illustration of giving back money i lent to someone
Things we hold on to
money, job, cars, jewellery,
Scrooge Mcduck
Loving things more than loving people
We need to be proper stewards of it
When something doesnt belong to you, you take extra care of it
ants in laptop
ants in laptop
when in need we can go to him cause he owns it all
he owns you as well
Conclusion
Conclusion
The poet Martha Snell Nicholson put it better than I can.
One by one He took them from me,
All the things I valued most,
Until I was empty-handed;
Every glittering toy was lost.
And I walked earth’s highways, grieving,
In my rags and poverty.
Till I heard His voice inviting,
“Lift those empty hands to Me!”
So I held my hands toward Heaven,
And He filled them with a store
Of His own transcendent riches
Till they could contain no more.
And at last I comprehended
With my stupid mind and dull,
That God COULD not pour His riches
Into hands already full!7
Trust Him. Let it go. You’ve been given one main task: to be a good steward of what He has entrusted to you. Nothing less. Nothing more. God owns it all.