Peace in Possessions

Introduction:

What do you want?

No really, like I am sure that there is something that you all want?

Like something that if you had all of the money in world,you would but.

I am sure all of you can think of something.

What is it?

Is it more than one thing?

Maybe it is something like more clothes.

Maybe it is more tech like computers, smartphones,tablets, etc.

Maybe video games or other forms of entertainment.

There is always something that humans want.

It is not wrong to want things.

The problem is that we never fully seem to be content, or at peace.

The always tend to want more.

The more we get, the more we want.

The more we want, the more we strive and struggle to get.

This is because we are all limited in what we are going to be able to get it.

How do we get all of these things?

What is needed?

Money.

Money is one of the most important things.

Everyone wants more, and everyone is seldom willing to share.

Money is a big part how everything runs.

Now money is not evil, nor is wanting things.

But Money typically is the drive for what we do and where we go.

Because the more we have, the more we can become something more.

The more we can purchase .

Now I totally get that you guys do not work and have access to real money.

Your biggest access to money is through your parents/guardians.

I was your age, and I remember how different my concept of money and wanting was.

I was pretty poor and still assumed my mom was made of money.

I wasn’t the one working for it, and neither are you.

The desire for want it strong in you at your age.

To be more, and have more.

We typically regard our worth with how much we have.

Have more, more important.

If I have these clothes/tech/apparel,etc. I fit in more.

This only drives the thirst for want.

The problem is that with this comes many anxieties and most are never at peace or rest.

This is a big thing, because you will find that as you get older it becomes more true.

But what about our needs?

What is a need?

It is something that is absolute or must.

Typically something necessary to survive.

What are some things that you and I need?

Food.

Water.

Shelter.

clothes.

There isn’t much else.

These things, necessities, can look very different and modest.

Clothes can take very humble forms.

Shelter can be a tent.

Water and food not on demand.

If we are without these then we become in dire absence of peace.

This is usually not a fun life to live with just the essentials.

This is partly why we want to be as far away from the bare minimum as possible.

Let’s take a loo at what Jesus tells us in the middle of all of the conflict of want and need.

Turn to Matthew 6:19.

Matthew 6:19–21 NKJV

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The things that we are all seeking can be called treasures.

Treasure is not always in some wooden chest that you open and there are gold coins and jewels.

Treasure is really anything that you place value on.

I might value a shirt, or style, or shoes,or video game, etc. more than you might.

There are things that you place value in that others will not find as valuable.

The problem is that people will place value in things that are material.

What is wrong with material things?

Jesus says it best.

Moths can eat them away.

They can rust and wear down.

Everything is wasting away.

Things get old and are temporal.

They are temporary.

In the scheme of time, it is like a bubble or vapor.

Eventually they end up gone.

Jesus tells us to place our value on treasures on things above.

Things in heaven.

On spiritual things.

In heaven, and spiritual treasures are infinitely more valuable than things here in the physical.

They never lose value.

They never wear down.

Heaven is a real place and spiritual things are real.

In our sinful nature, we just only care about what brings us immediate satisfaction.

What makes us feel good in the moment.

Those moments go behind us, and then there is nothing left but the hunger for them.

This brings the vast majority of people a crippling anxiety.

A life without peace.

Jesus says where your treasure is, there your heard is.

Your heart is all of your focus, emotions, and everything that you find meaningful.

The problem is that if we put our heart where there is something temporary, then we will have a heart constantly starved and searching.

If we put our heart in the things that are spiritual, in heaven, then are heart will be satisfied.

Where our treasure is will determine if you can have peace.

Matthew 6:22–23 NKJV

22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

There is a lot to this verse, but we do not have the time to really unpack what it means.

It basically speaks for itself, but there is a lot more to it.

For today we will just focus on one aspect of it.

The eye, and what you are constantly looking at or for is going to affect you.

It is the source of what you will let into your body.

If it is good, then your focus, and expectations will be good.

If it is bad, then it will only let in darkness.

What is it that catches your eye.

Is it the shiny treasure of the world?

Does not have to be all material things.

Looking for the wrong friends.

The wrong things on the internet.

That guy or girl in the wrong way?

These things will only bring darkness into your body.

Does your eye, have the right focus

The eternal things.

The ones that will matter forever.

The things of God.

Where your eye looks, shows where your heart is.

Matthew 6:24 NKJV

24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Most people are looking at money and the power it brings.

Mammon was an ancient Middle Eastern god of money and wealth.

Jesus lays it out here.

You can only serve one master.

Either Jesus, God, who we were created to, or our wants, and desires, and selfishness.

But Matt, I am not a servant...

Yes, everyone is.

Everyone serves something, hoping for something in return.

If it is what makes you happy or what will bring you joy.

As mentioned earlier, money is the overarching theme in this world.

If you constantly have your mind on money, then you will never have peace.

People look to money, to do what they know God will not.

They think money will take care of them.

They will not have to rely on God.

We all have a sinful nature.

This makes us not want to follows God.

We want to be God, and money is the thing that makes us not have to rely and depend on Him.

Matthew 6:25–26 NKJV

25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

Here we have Jesus tell us not to worry.

Not to stress.

Not to be anxious.

This is some crazy stuff that Jesus is mentioning here.

Why would I not care about these things?

Of course I care where I will eat and will wear.

How many of you care about how you dress?

This is a big thing in life.

How you dress is how people are going to view you.

How they will judge you.

It is a part of how they will treat you.

We do not fully dress, when we know we will be in the presence of others, in a sloppy way.

People typically dress to impress.

It becomes a part of your style and identity.

It becomes a statement of who you are.

Even if your say you do not care, you do.

We all care to some extent, and are making a statement to what we think is right.

Jesus is not speaking about how we look.

He is mentioning not even caring about if we will have clothes or not.

We all need clothes.

They help regulate temperature in certain climates.

Jesus says that God will provide.

The idea of being provided for is something you guys can relate to.

Your parents provide all that you have.

They got everything you think you own for you.

Do you ever worry if they are not going to get you new shoes, or clothes, or food?

For the most part no.

You are trusting in them and their ability.

The same thing with God.

He is our heavenly Father.

He cares about you infinitely more than your parents do, and that is a lot.

God takes care of other things in nature.

He will take care of you.

But so many people do not like this.

They want to be in control.

Just like your parents do not always give you everything you want, that you think will bring you peace and contentment, and get you what you need.

God does the same.

He is not always concerned with what you and I want.

He knows what we need far more than we could ever understand.

My toddler son thinks that eating sugary food all day will make him at peace.

He has some interesting views on what he thinks he wants and will be good for him.

99.999999999999999% of the time,he is wrong.

Because he does not have the understanding that we do.

God knows far more than we do, and will give you all that you need.

The problem is that if our heart is set in other things, then we have problems.

This leads to striving, and ugliness in our hearts.

We become internally conflicted.

The thing is we will find that as we walk with God,the things He gives us are the things we truly want in our spirit that will last for eternity.

God is omnipotent.

This means that He is all powerful.

He has the ability to provide.

Just like your parents have more ability to provide than you.

Matthew 6:27 NKJV

27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

Did you know that stress, worry, and anxiety will lead to bad health?

It causes years being taken off of your life.

Balding,

Going gray,

Damage to your veins, arteries, and organs.

The thing is that we all too often have our priorities wrong.

If we are not where we want to be socially(with friends), materially, and status-wise, we are usually anxious.

Most people live in this state, which is very not peaceful or full of joy.

Jesus tells us that it does not do us any good to live in such a state of being.

It only harms us.

Matthew 6:19–34 NKJV

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. 25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

God take care of nature.

You and I are worth more than nature.

You need to know that.

I say this because maybe you are struggling with your worth.

Maybe, that makes you stress for more, so others will think of you as more.

You are worth more than you think.

You are worth so much, that God took on a body and died for you to not have to feel the penalty of your sins and be with Him for eternity.

God places your worth as far more, but this is the action that He took.

God will give you what you need, and you do not have to struggle and be anxious to try and be more than you already are.

Conclusion:

If you woke up to a fire, and had to grab one thing before you left to safety, what would you go back to risk your life for?

That is a good indication of your treasure, where your heart is, and where you peace is.

Anything that can burn in a fire is not worth it, unless it is another person’s life.

Not something

What do you chase for, hoping it will bring you value?

What worldly, material things do you strive for that you want.

What things get in the way of what God is trying to do in you?

God will give you all you need, and that will in turn be all you want in your spirit.

He is all you need, and all we should want.

This will give us peace, if we truly understand.

Let your peace be in who you are to Him, not what you could be to those “friends” by trying to dress cool, act cool, have the things that are cool.

I pray you can learn what to treasure at this age, the things of God and of spirit, for you will have a more peaceful life.