Q5. If the Light within You Is Darkness

[Tina]

Q5. (Matthew 6:21, 24) The love of money can be a pretty subtle thing. Both the rich and the poor can love money. Can you describe a time in your life when you were deceived about this, and when the light in you was really darkness? According to Jesus, could desire for money **** a person (Luke 12:15-21)?

When I was living on my own and earning a fairly good income, I did become engrossed in material posessions and I realised that the more I got, the more I wanted. Desire for money blinds a person's concept of reality in a sense that we lose touch with the Lord and become self engrossed and self absorbed in wanting more lucre

[iam4-1god]

Q5. (Matthew 6:21, 24) The love of money can be a pretty subtle thing. Both the rich and the poor can love money. Can you describe a time in your life when you were deceived about this, and when the light in you was really darkness? According to Jesus, could desire for money **** a person (Luke 12:15-21)?

When I was fired from my job of 19 years for being 10 minutes late, I was very angry. I had some money in my 401k and, instead of paying bills, I blew a lot of the money. I figured, why bother? We're all going down anyway. I alomost let the anger in me destroy my relationship with The Lord.

Money, or the love of it, is a very dangerous thing. It can lead to idolitry. We can become so consumed with the power and potential magnatude of it that we forget Who gave it to us. Everything comes from God. All that we are-all that we have is because God gives it to us. Rich people forget God because they think they have it all and they don't need anything or anyone else. Poor people become so consumed with their lack, so that they can't see anything else but their lack. They spend all their time trying to figure out how to get unpoor.

As a result, the desire to have more causes us to forget God. We are immersed in the lack of, or the power of money, and this can cause us to turn away from God. Anything that causes us to turn our attention from God is idolitry. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you.

[servant for Christ]

Q5. (Matthew 6:21, 24) The love of money can be a pretty subtle thing. Both the rich and the poor can love money. Can you describe a time in your life when you were deceived about this, and when the light in you was really darkness? According to Jesus, could desire for money **** a person (Luke 12:15-21)?

Yes, I can relate to money owning me. There was a time I believed the lies of the devil, and did not tithe and pay my offerings the way I should. Praise God, he delivered me from that and now I am a fatihful tither and God is blessing because I have put Him first and fore most. Yes, the desire for money can destroy a person.

[hanks]

Q5. (Matthew 6:21, 24)

The love of money can be a pretty subtle thing. Both the rich and the poor can love money. Can you describe a time in your life when you were deceived about this, and when the light in you was really darkness?

Yes, when I was young and had just got married and started out in my profession

[meandean]

Q5. (Matthew 6:21, 24) The love of money can be a pretty subtle thing. Both the rich and the poor can love money. Can you describe a time in your life when you were deceived about this, and when the light in you was really darkness? According to Jesus, could desire for money **** a person (Luke 12:15-21)?

oh yeah. i had seen a guitar at my friends shop with two autographs on it. it turned out that the two who signed this guitar was the lead singer and lead guitarist from my favorite band at the time. now i can't play a lick but i needed that guitar. i even bought a case for it as well. a couple of weeks went by and i started to think, why in the world did i do that for? it just so happened that a local church had their music ministry broke into and some things were taken. i was able to finally get rid of this guitar that controlled me, and its use went to the praise band. so what i thought would make me happy, actually made me heavy, and i was able to finally able to unload that heaviness with giving back to god with praise.

[jr4624]

Q5. (Matthew 6:21, 24) The love of money can be a pretty subtle thing. Both the rich and the poor can love money. Can you describe a time in your life when you were deceived about this, and when the light in you was really darkness? According to Jesus, could desire for money **** a person (Luke 12:15-21)?

Certainly there have been times when money, or the quest of it, or (especially) the lack of it, have come between me and God, me and my family, me and everything else. It has been just a few years since I began to rededicate my life to following Jesus. For many, many years prior to that I lived thinking that I was in good shape running my own life, that I was fine the way I was. We've never had much in the way of things and money, and we often seemed to be chasing it, thinking that if we could just pay off this card or that loan, things would turn around for us. Often (usually?), the things we went into debt for were things we didn't need all that badly. Now, we try to make God's priorities our priorities. When we thought we could run our own lives we didn't realize that one of two people are in control of everone's life. If it's not God in charge in your life, then it is Satan.

I don't believe God is telling us that this man is necessarily condemned to hell. It may be that he is a follower of Jesus who had gotten way off track because of **** for money and things. God definitely has seen enough from this man and decided that his life had gone on long enough. If he was a person who professed Christ yet clearly placed personal riches above anything else, he could be doing much more harm for the Kingdom than good, and God might call him home to stop the damage. If this was a case of backsliding or whatever, it seems like we should have been told that, however. Either way. putting money and pursuit of riches ahead of God clearly had a negative impact on his life, and all the more so if he was an unbeliever, because dying in that state is the sin that can't be forgiven.

[Marloes]

Q5. (Matthew 6:21, 24) The love of money can be a pretty subtle thing. Both the rich and the poor can love money. Can you describe a time in your life when you were deceived about this, and when the light in you was really darkness? According to Jesus, could desire for money **** a person (Luke 12:15-21)?

Yes, indirectly.

Sometimes I order make-up at Yves Rocher that I don't need at all and that is very expensive.

I use the money for myself - not for food or the rent but for useless stuff.

I should give the money to the salvation army because they buy food for the poor, clothes, ...

But I just can't resist to order the new colours (last week it was 'black purple')

I should not do this but I just can't.

This is not directly about the money but about the things I can buy with it.

But it's not good.

[Paul H]

Q5. (Matthew 6:21, 24) The love of money can be a pretty subtle thing. Both the rich and the poor can love money. Can you describe a time in your life when you were deceived about this, and when the light in you was really darkness? According to Jesus, could desire for money **** a person (Luke 12:15-21)?

If I exclude the period during which I have been a Christian (that is the past 18 months) I would say that for the whole of my life from about the age of 17, I have been deceived by this. To be fair to me, and to the millions of others who continue in this deceit, it is very easy to get into. Just read any newspaper or any colour supplement or magazine and it is clear that the rich and famous are having a great time and moreover, it is possible for everyone to be rich and famous. In fact if you aren't rich and famous then somehow you are some how less of a human being. Well I pursured this dream for over 30 years, and on average through that 30 year period I was well off, financially. In the end though it came to nothing, it crumbled like dust and I had to look back and realise that all I had created was nothing and during this whole period, I had an emptiness that just could not be filled. That was until I found God (actually He had been there the whole time, I had just chosen to ignore Him). Now God not money is my goal. I have seen God provide for me time and time again over the past 18 months and I know He will continue to provide, so money and all its trappings has no meaning for me and the void that once existed at the very centre of my life is now gone, filled with my love of God. So yes, I can describe many times when I was deceived but now praise God those times are gone. Oh, and yes Jesus is saying that desire for money can and will **** a person!

[royk]

Q5. (Matthew 6:21, 24) The love of money can be a pretty subtle thing. Both the rich and the poor can love money. Can you describe a time in your life when you were deceived about this, and when the light in you was really darkness? According to Jesus, could desire for money **** a person (Luke 12:15-21)?

In brief, I listened to my non-believer father and started looking for love in all the wrong places, I made job decision based upon how much money I'd get rather than being concerned about how to position my career and trust God to lead my life.It is good timing to review this since in 3 days I will let God show me which of 2-3 new job offers I'll need to take. We must do our best to seek how we can glorify him in all that we do, and not seek $$ just to have more to hold on to.

[home4ed]

If I exclude the period during which I have been a Christian (that is the past 18 months) I would say that for the whole of my life from about the age of 17, I have been deceived by this. To be fair to me, and to the millions of others who continue in this deceit, it is very easy to get into. Just read any newspaper or any colour supplement or magazine and it is clear that the rich and famous are having a great time and moreover, it is possible for everyone to be rich and famous. In fact if you aren't rich and famous then somehow you are some how less of a human being. Well I pursured this dream for over 30 years, and on average through that 30 year period I was well off, financially. In the end though it came to nothing, it crumbled like dust and I had to look back and realise that all I had created was nothing and during this whole period, I had an emptiness that just could not be filled. That was until I found God (actually He had been there the whole time, I had just chosen to ignore Him). Now God not money is my goal. I have seen God provide for me time and time again over the past 18 months and I know He will continue to provide, so money and all its trappings has no meaning for me and the void that once existed at the very centre of my life is now gone, filled with my love of God. So yes, I can describe many times when I was deceived but now praise God those times are gone. Oh, and yes Jesus is saying that desire for money can and will **** a person!

Awesome testimony!!!!!!!! Praise the Lord!

[home4ed]

Q5. (Matthew 6:21, 24) The love of money can be a pretty subtle thing. Both the rich and the poor can love money. Can you describe a time in your life when you were deceived about this, and when the light in you was really darkness? According to Jesus, could desire for money **** a person (Luke 12:15-21)?

I really didn't think I was a very material person but about 12 years ago my husband's business took it's first hard financial hit. We were financially wrecked. I was completely without peace. My faith was not in the Lord as I had thought but in the comfort of our ability to make an income. I thought I was somewhat in control and trusted in our abilities. Then things happened totally out of my control and I learned what it really meant to depend on Christ. It was a hard lesson but the Lord saw us through. There are times that coveting things I don't need hit me all the time but I am far more aware of the fact that The Lord is in control and it is Him I serve and He is faithful. It is Him I love and worship

[Highohfaith]

Q5. (Matthew 6:21, 24) The love of money can be a pretty subtle thing. Both the rich and the poor can love money. Can you describe a time in your life when you were deceived about this, and when the light in you was really darkness? According to Jesus, could desire for money **** a person (Luke 12:15-21)?

Yes,when I was a child my father had a great job, he was a union ( back when Unions were strong-before corruption rared it's ugly head) blue collar operating crane engineer. Our family lived in a very small town. Population today is about 3,000, so back then it was probably 1/2 that amount. We were considered one of the wealthiest families in our town. I took most of the material assets we had for granted. My father was a hard working, hard drinking, hard hat, blue collar, working man.He was a "weekend alcoholic"( that's what we called him anyway) and drank heavily most of his life until he became sober the last 20 years of his life and also became a Christian. It's seems it was the way it was in those days or so I thought as a child. We had money and I never had to worry about being taken care of in a material sense.My father's way of compensating for his lack of involvement with his children was to buy us whatever we wanted. We had love,but it wasn't a particularly nurturing environment. My fathers motto was "children should be seen and not heard", so we were mostly always put on a "back burner"as second priority to whatever was on my parents agenda.

When I married young at age 19, I was in for a big surprise.I was spoiled. I thought everything would come easily like it did at home.I was very naive and immature. I had to grow up fast when I realized that my life was a series of weeks living from paycheck to paycheck. Financial problems, along with many other factors, ultimately contributed to the end of my marriage after 7 years and 2 children. So, I guess you would say a time in my life when I was deceived by "riches" was as a child. Yes, I think a desire for riches can **** a person. Since I was not taught, nor did I know any other kind of life, I desired to have the same kind of life once I was married. I didn't take into consideration that my father had worked hard, all his life to achieve what we had. I took it for granted and thought my then 19 year old husband could be the same type of provider. I desired to be well off and comfortable,I wanted new cars, new house, furniture, clothes, jewelry, everything, right away!! I wanted it all and I was only a child and so was my husband. So, as I said I was very naive. The insatiable desire to have all these material possessions darkened my whole future and led me down a path of destruction.

Once my marriage fell apart and I struggled for several years to get my life back on track, God taught me during this time that money was not important at all. I now live a very meager lifestyle and I'm very happy and THANKFUL with whatever God provides. God showed me how very unimportant riches are, because after my divorce those years were really my 'lean' years.I had nothing, and struggled with keeping a roof above my head and sometimes did not have food, and worked 2 or 3 jobs to keep afloat. God was always there for me, during all the rough times, and for the most part I didn't even realize it. Until I took the Lord as my savior at age 54. I can look back now and say with certainty that God had his hand on 'my steering wheel" many times ( ALL the time), during those rough stretches. I would not be here today, if He did not.!!It has taken a lifetime of growth

(still growing) to realize how very unimportant and how very deceiving riches can be. I don't desire riches very much anymore. I know riches are fleeting but God will always be with me. God's love is the greatest treasure of all!!

[Raph]

Q5. (Matthew 6:21, 24) The love of money can be a pretty subtle thing. Both the rich and the poor can love money. Can you describe a time in your life when you were deceived about this, and when the light in you was really darkness?

I can remember a situation where I needed money but was not for urgent use. One person promised to give me. I was supposed to go to chursh service to praise the Lord but I decided not to go to church and but to go to get the mone,y telling myself that, it is only once I am missing to attend church service, so it is not such bad. Later on I surely realised that, what I did was putting money first than God.

According to Jesus, could desire for money **** a person (Luke 12:15-21)?

Yes, desire for money could **** a person. The parable of the Rich Fool is a clear example how this can happen.

[tgandy]

I was called to the ministry at 13 years of age.  Of course I ignored it and then later called in my 50's and I did not ignore it.  The point is all of my life I have been conscious of my calling.  I was taught at an early age to appreciate what I had and to be satisfied with the little things.  I am not a goody two shoes, but I am frugal.  I have raised 5 children and lived modestly.  My husband and I both worked until I became disabled and now my husband is disabled.  He is still preaching and I do occasionally.  We have learned to live within our means and God will take care of the rest.  We do not have a lot of money, but we tithe and give to missions and help out others where we can.  God always gives back to us.  What more can we ask for?

[DebLam3teach]

I have had to learn to be content with God's call on my life to raise a family and serve Him doing volunteer work.  My natural tendency has been to prove my worth by bringing in a salary.  The pursuit of wealth is not my greatest temptation, but it is what the wealth represents:  independence, productiveness, personal value, success.  God has provided abundantly for me.  I am learning to be content with how He has provided for me, and to use my talents and treasures for His glory and Kingdom. 

[Eager Bver]

Q5. (Matthew 6:21, 24) The love of money can be a pretty subtle thing. Both the rich and the poor can love money. Can you describe a time in your life when you were deceived about this, and when the light in you was really darkness? According to Jesus, could desire for money **** a person (Luke 12:15-21)? 

 

Working on a job, I was not honest about the time at some point, I lied for extra money.  It is not worth it to lose one's soul.  Thank God for forgiveness, His mercy and grace.

 

Yes, when their desire is not toward him.

[JoanG]

At one time, I felt that I had to have the best of everything. I felt that in order to be happy, my kids had to have the best video games and toys out there. I made the mistake of actually feeling that material objects made everyone happy. I used people to get ahead. I lived way outside of my means. I hated to get out of bed everyday. I actually felt that stealing was okay. Because what I felt I deserved was beyond my price range.

 

Yes, I believe that money could **** a person if that is  truly what they crave. It made me a horrible person in a lot of ways.

[Old Jerry]

I can remember a time when I deceived about this but I can’t remember when the light came on and I repented of my ways. It was in one of the churches that I attended that brought the light to me. But since I don’t keep money as my number one priority and have put God in charge a lot of things have changed in my life.

[Karen11]

On 12/19/2007 at 10:44 PM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q5. (Matthew 6:21, 24) The love of money can be a pretty subtle thing. Both the rich and the poor can love money. Can you describe a time in your life when you were deceived about this, and when the light in you was really darkness? According to Jesus, could desire for money **** a person (Luke 12:15-21)?

Yes, I started to feel like a hamster on a wheel just going round and round, you pay off get  them back pay off, I realized I have to put God first..But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.Matthew 6:33

[Irmela]

Yes, for rich and poor alike, the desire for money does **** a person. 

[Lisa Wolf]

Q5. (Matthew 6:21, 24) The love of money can be a pretty subtle thing. Both the rich and the poor can love money. Can you describe a time in your life when you were deceived about this, and when the light in you was really darkness? According to Jesus, could desire for money **** a person (Luke 12:15-21)? 

While I KNOW that earlier in my life I was deceived about loving money, thankfully, I cannot remember a specific time and that no longer describes me.  I do remember clearly be repulsed when we got together with some friends and all they did was told and retold us about their possessions.  I believe Jesus sheds light on this topic in the gospel of Luke, "For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."