Above In Him Ministries

Freddy the Pinecone: The Power of Forgiveness and Love - The Story of Paul and John Mark In this heartwarming episode, Freddy the Pinecone gathers his forest friends to share an inspiring Bible story about the relationship between the Apostle Pau...

‭‭I Timothy 6:6-16 NKJV‬‬
[6] Now godliness with contentment is great gain.

[7] For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

[8] And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.

[9] But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.

[10] For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

[11] But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.

[12] Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

[13] I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate,

[14] that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing,

[15] which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords,

[16] who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.

I have noticed lately people saying or posting that money is the root of all evil. What is interesting to me is that they remove the phrase "the love of" from the scripture that they refer to.

This is a long portion of scripture which is not a bad thing but I do realize people lose interest in reading lengthy posts however I think if you read it and meditate on it you will gain some useful wealth in spiritual knowledge.

I can see how people interpret that particular scripture that way. They think it is literally money that is evil. The context of it however is talking about being content, trusting God and having faith in His ability and willingness to take care of us in all situations.

It does talk about the temptation to lose focus and become obsessed with getting rich. It is a warning to us because our focus should always be on eternity and spiritual things, not earthly. I have seen people become so focused on getting rich that they no longer have time to pursue the kingdom of God. It is really no different than the alcoholic, drug addict or anything people become addicted to and obsessed with.

The point is that money itself is not evil but it is the ungodly lust for and love of it that is evil. We have to have money in our society to survive, pay bills and it helps us to be comfortable. We also need it so we can bless others who are in need. The problem comes when we get so caught up in the pursuit that we don't think about other people in need and especially the Kingdom of God.

Living a life in Christ is a continuous focus we should have. If we seek money and things first then we put God and His kingdom second or even last and that is the opposite of what Jesus instructed us to do.

‭‭Matthew 6:33 NKJV‬‬
[33] But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

It takes money to send missionaries to preach the gospel. It takes money to pay a Pastor so he can be free to take care of the business of the church, to visit people in hospitals, to perform weddings, funerals and so forth. It takes money to pay the electric bill in churches. There are so many things that churches need money for that are needed for teaching, preaching, helping the poor and needy, and so many other things I could write a book on.

My point is, money in itself is not a root of evil because it is a much needed tool to survive and to get the gospel out. Unfortunately people may obtain so much wealth that they hoard it up and never use it to help others or as a tool to spread the gospel of Jesus.

Another point I want to make is that there is nothing more important in this world than the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is nothing more important than the kingdom of God. There is nothing more important than making sure our passion is focused on the gospel and the kingdom.

If we do those things and do as Jesus said, "seek first the Kingdom of God" then we have His assurance that all these other things will be added to us, yes even in this life.

There are many things a person can allow to distract them, not just money. Search your own life and see what you may be allowing to keep you distracted from God and His kingdom.

Blessings to you all on this wonderful and beautiful Monday, and may the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you!

Happy Saturday to everyone!

I love the scriptures below because Jesus gives us some good insight into His identity and also insight on His intentions of giving us a new identity.

‭‭Luke 10:17-24 NKJV‬‬
[17] Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” [18] And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. [19] Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

[20] Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” [21] In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.

[22] All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

[23] Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; [24] for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it.”

I love to read that part about how He saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. He saw the joy and excitement that the seventy had because they found out that the demons were subject to them because of Jesus name.

Jesus gives us the reality here that Satan himself is nothing compared to Him. He then delegates authority to them over all the power of the enemy. We also are instructed about who the enemy really is.

Jesus then tells them not to rejoice because spirits are subject to them. The important thing we should all rejoice about is that our names are written down in heaven.

Think about this. Satan was cast down from heaven and because of Jesus we are being elevated up to heaven.

Jesus gets excited and rejoices in the Spirit. I would loved to have witnessed that. He was so excited that He burst into a prayer of thanksgiving to His Father in that very same hour.

Then we get to see that everything has been delivered to Him by the Father Himself. He then reveals to His disciples just how blessed they are because their eyes get to see what those who longed to see from times past didn't get to see.

We are here today at the very time that God has chosen for us to live. We get to be here now for a reason and a purpose for our eyes to see. He has chosen us for such a time as this. Oh how blessed we are to be alive today.

May each of you have a wonderful and blessed day on this beautiful rainy day!