A Heart Issue

Did you know money is a heart Issue?
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21  
Many may feel like churches talk about money because they want yours, they want you to donate some of yours. But it is a heart issue as the scripture above tells us where our treasure is there will be our heart also.  What is treasure, it is something of value. In our society we need money to eat to clothe ourselves, for shelter. Basic needs for everyday living. Our society is not much into bartering for the things we need. The cattle on a thousand hills belong to God. It all belongs to God, as he provides for us. Does God not feed the sparrow and are we not worth more than sparrows. God desires to fix our hearts. One Christian financial expert tell about how he came to his realization about money matters. He was probably one of those that looked up every scripture in the Bible that pertained to money and stewardship. I remember hearing or reading this, this financial expert ( I don't give his name because I am going from memory and don't remember which one it was) was thinking when he first became a Christian how he finally realized it wasn't his, but it is all God's.  When he realized the church didn't need his money, their budget was bigger than his. He finally realized he wasn't really giving it to the church anyway, he was in fact giving back a portion of what God had given him back to God himself. And so it is with me my budget is so small compared to the budget of the church I go to. They do not need my money. It is actually an act of worship on our part. In our society we have many churches that tell us to give that we can get.  It's all God's to begin with. When you really look at giving to get, it is a selfish act. We give to get more? God is in the heart fixing business. God wants our hearts and if our heart is in our treasure, what we make and the things we have, it doesn't belong to God. You can find Christians who think wealth is a symbol of God's blessings on their lives. Our wealth or lack of it is not a spiritual indicator of how well we are doing spiritually. God does not give us more than we can handle.  Think about a kid growing up and they get everything they want every time they ask. When they get grown and become an adult the parents will be thinking where did we go wrong, we gave them everything. One pastor one time preached a sermon about fewer of us can handle the cup of prosperity than can handle the cup of poverty. I saw it in my life once, when I got the best job of my life and was doing well I walked away from God. I went through a layoff and things got hard. God used that time of hardship to work on my heart and bring me back. Look at the things you treasure, that is where your heart is also. Do you really love God? Does your check book show signs of giving back to God a small portion of what he has given you. If it doesn't, God doesn't have your heart and on judgement day you will be found lacking. Money is a heart issue. Some look down on those that have more. Some look down on those that have less. But I have heard of wealthy giving as much as I have earned in a lifetime. And I have seen poor give all they have and they always have more. Some of the most giving are those that have the least. I remember one pastor telling about a decision they were making  in his church, some of the millionaires in his church were against it. But the church decided to go ahead, and about half of the millionaires left. The pastor had been concerned about it, but he discovered it didn't affect their finances. They did as well after those millionaires left as they did before. It is all God's and he really don't need  your money, it's all his to begin with. Money is a heart issue, and God fixes hearts. God bless, LVZ.