Faith Beyond The Intangible

Faith Beyond The Intangible

Been studying on the subject of money from the Bible. I have studied on many other topics but not really on money. Cos you only get breakthrough for what you know. It's time to know deeper on this subject. There is nowhere that teaches more than the Bible (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth) when it comes to money.

There are so many nuggets in Luke 19 The Parable of the Minas. One of them is about having faith as a response to having the right revelation of who God is.

All the 10 servants were given 1 mina each. They were supposed to steward what they were given. Kingdom stewardship is not about keeping what you have. It's about growing what you have. The servant was considered to be unfaithful for putting his mina in the bank.

Why? He feared the Master.

For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ - Luke 19:21

A wrong view of God results in fear. Fear always cripples stewardship. It applies to every area, whether spiritual (intangible such as healing) or natural (tangible such as money). When there is fear, there is no confidence in taking risk (a step of faith).

On the other hand, the right view of God results in faith. If we trust that He is good and He provides, we gain confidence to take a step of faith (also spelt as risk).

The servant who stewarded his one mina and grew it into 10 minas were rewarded for his faithfulness (faith). He was given 10 cities to oversee, for whoever can be entrusted with little (minas) can be entrusted with much (reward). 

The servant who did not steward his mina (kept in the bank) had his mina taken away ------ not that God took it away, but the enemy, for the servant did not have a revelation of who his Master God is (because the foundation to the interpretation of all parables is the Parable of The Sower, Mark 4:13-14).

Having met so many believers in the marketplace, many do not have faith for the tangible, especially money. It is interesting that we have faith for the intangible and it stops there, but when it comes to the tangible, we become practical like the world.

Just cut off the income of a believer who has a family with kids and his security/identity is also cut off. Many believers with families in Singapore probably haven't experienced a zero in their bank account balance, so there is no deep revelation of God as The Provider.

I have experienced zero before marriage, after marriage and after having a kid, not knowing when the next income will come in. Not ashamed because of the choices I made in response to His call. By His grace, I had to grow in knowing Him as My Provider. In fact, the journey only began after I no longer have a salary. 6 years of preaching Him full-time as My Provider were only pure head knowledge. Wouldn’t trade this journey for anything else.

Some believers talk about saving money as though there is no God. They call it God's wisdom and practicality. Nudge deeper and you will know it's called insecurity. The true test of knowing Him as a Provider is when you are put into a situation where you have to make a decision based on faith in Him or faith in your bank account balance.

The kingdom stewardship operates in a consistent way. We all need to grow in that, including me. And there's much more for me to know and grow into.

Let's go deeper.