pastorrudytlc

This is kind of exciting. I just got an email the other day that informed me it contained the greatest financial offer of my life. I didn’t know the person writing to me, but they claimed to know me. In fact, they warned me that it would be their final attempt to reach out to me. Who knows how many other times they tried? I must have been oblivious of any former attempt to get ahold of me. But now that they had my undivided attention, they let me know the good news that I had been preapproved for a refinance arrangement. Not just approved; I have been preapproved. I have good friends that still don’t fully approve of me, but these total strangers have rolled out the red carpet my way. They approve of me before I even share a detail. But there was a catch. There always is. They told me that this unique arrangement could allow me to pay off my house fast, but I must respond in 48 hours. Otherwise, my preapproved status will be revoked. I hardly even got used to this label and already it is being ripped from me. I guess I wasted my chance of a lifetime as I let that ship sail quickly into the sunset. The mortgage total is still what it was last week, and I got to get back to work so I could pay it off a bit slower than my benefactors had hope. 

To be honest, money has never been a motivating factor in my life. I am a Minister after all. I said, “Yes,” to several callings before I knew not only what I was getting paid but if I would get any remuneration at all. It is not that I am clueless and look to be taken advantage of. It is just that I do what I do for a God who already did so much for me. What is too much to give back to the God who gave His very Self to us? I also enjoy what I do. I love being a Pastor. I love doing Radio. I enjoy expressing myself in writing. I truly get energized by coaching and teaching. I genuinely am interested in helping and walking alongside the people that God has entrusted to my care. I was also taught to work hard and be excellent at my craft no matter what. There is a freedom in serving God. And I may not have the biggest house this side of heaven, but oh what a treasure I have been given in the legacy the Lord has allowed me to live.     

Winning a million dollars would not solve all your problems and make the chaos stop. You can take that truth to the bank. Unfortunately, we get bombarded with so many offers. “Borrow this. Spend this. Buy this. Consume that.” We are so hungry to spend. We start making purchases on belongings that we really don’t need even before we have saved any capital to work with. I work with so many couples who get themselves buried so deep in debt before they even say, “I Do.” Over the top wedding ceremonies and honeymoons in exotic places are not guarantees of a lasting marriage. Why do you think that the number one reason couples fight is money? It is because our eyes are bigger than our stomachs. What happened to the day when you didn’t need to own a flat screen television in every room of the house. Why can’t we eat just one Lays potato chip?

Several years ago, a Movie called “Wall Street” tried to get us to buy into the lie that “greed is good.” Did you know that all human beings were born selfish? We come into the world really believing that the whole universe revolves around us. “Feed me, change me, give me, hold me, watch me and please me.” Real love involves sacrificing what is important to you for someone you deem more important. God actually invested His fortune into buying our freedom by offering His own Son on our behalf. This is mind boggling, but God by His actions communicated that we are more important to Him than even His own life. I can hear the angels mumbling and grumbling, “Why does the Lord pour so much into mankind. Look how they take Him for granted. We angels do everything He asks and yet, people are so prized by Him”

How many of us snub our nose at the eternal gifts God offers us because we are hoping for a quick fix, a temporary buzz, the high of an endorphin rush. When are we going to grasp the truth that it is not only more blessed to give than to receive, but when we do, we come to grips with our true purpose? Love doesn’t look for the perfect payday. Love understands that God has promised to take proper care of me when I go out of my way to take care of others. I have counseled others in ministry that the day they start doing what they do only for a paycheck is the day they need to quit. I’m not saying that we become others door mats to walk all over. I’m just saying that we don’t look to money to accomplish what only the right relationship with the Lord who is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.

So before you blow your precious pay check on more lottery tickets that won’t pay off or waste your last few bucks looking for a high that can only leave you low, why not look up and give it all to the God who has never held anything back from us. The principle is timeless: There is a powerful relationship between our true spiritual condition and our attitude and actions concerning money and possessions. How much do you really need anyway? Do the Owners and Baseball Players really need more money? Do your kids become better citizens by wearing designer clothes? Does that diamond ring promise a never dying devotion to you no matter whatever? We become slaves to whatever we allow to own us. The older I get, the more I desire to live a life that isn’t weighed down by too much stuff. Let me close with the wisdom Lennon and McCartney never provided me in “The White Album.” I’ll give you all I’ve got to give; If you say you love me too. I may not have a lot to give; But what I’ve got I’ll give to you. I don’t care too much for money. Money can’t buy me love” Maybe 2022 is the year for all of us to finally learn that this s a lesson to be cherished.