Riches Without Sorrow

 Friday 29th October 2021

Hello my angels, and I hope you are well! I certainly am, I love university and everyone there.

So this post actually wasn't planned. 👀 I mean, the title was planned but what I actually wanted to say in this post wasn't planned. 

But I have an idea on what I'm going to say.

With that note, this is probably the first time that I'm posting something without planning it. This wasn't a random topic though, I actually foreshadowed this, I did on the 7th of October when I said and I quote:

I hope you can read that. You can't exactly zoom in. I'm not sure why screenshots are pretty blurry. That's beyond me, but I'll try and fix it if I can.

As the title suggests, today's topic is riches without sorrow. Then I promise promise promise it's back to the Psalms 119 commentary again.

It may seem like I'm avoiding that topic. I'm really not. 

See, the good thing and bad thing about me (not respectively) is that I come up with a lot of ideas fast, sometimes so quick that I neglect old ideas I already had. But I mean it this time - it's back to that commentary.

Because I only planned the Title, I can't lie, I used the Open Heavens for the 18th February to help me. That's even where I got the title of today's message from.

On to today's topic then- did you know that you can be rich without experiencing sorrow? This is being rich in God.

When I say without sorrow, I'm not saying you live a perfect life without stress. As much as I would love that, I feel like I would be bored of that after the novelty wears off.

But being rich without sorrow means being rich in the right way, and could maybe indirectly be talking about Heaven.

The Open Heavens devotional for the 18th February* says

God wants His children to be rich, but according to our Bible reading today, He warns them to flee the inordinate ambition to be rich at all costs. 

These days, many people engage in cyber-crime and ritual killings just to get rich. 

There are some others who are good at falsifying figures so as to get some gain.

*I know it's not 18th February and we're far from it, but the Riches Without Sorrow was on that day.

Let me quickly mention the memory verse for the Open Heavens reading.

Those who won’t share what they have want to get rich.
    They don’t know they are going to be poor. Proverbs 28:22

You've probably wanted to be rich before, and there was something very powerful I heard during some voice recording today. I went to a midweek service at university on Thursday the 7th, and I heard something.

I normally record sermons on my phone to listen to later. Plus I can't write fast. I can type fast but I don't have enough storage. Which is something else I need to work on.

Mature Christians know why they want to do something. Immature Christians do not.

So in this scenario, you really need to think about why you want to become rich, assuming you want to be rich. I'd rather be rich than famous - at least then I'd have a higher chance at keeping my privacy.

If you're thinking this  for example when you want to be rich:

I want to be rich so that I can show philanthropy towards poorer people

It's a lot better than this.

I want to be rich so that I can flaunt my money online and get whatever I want.

I mean, some people actually think that. And even if they don't, God always knows our true intentions to something, whether we realise it or not.

Jeremiah 17:10 The Lord says, “I look deep down inside human hearts.

    I see what is in people’s minds.
I reward each person in keeping with their conduct.
    I bless them based on what they have done.”

God is more likely to give you money if you're using it for the first philanthropic reason than the second selfish one.

Philanthropy means benevolence or generosity.. and I swear I'm always spelling it wrong  😆 but it seems like one of those fancy words with a very simple meaning.

I'm not saying that God will always give you money if he knows you want to use it for the right reasons. He'll only give it to you if he knows it's not going to destroy you and if it's according to his will.

I have a story of someone who fell to their destruction with money. A non biblical example and a biblical one.

I got sent a video on Whatsapp about a black man who had flaunted his money online. On Instagram, he would always post about his luxurious life - and I'm pretty sure he had a car for everyday of the week.

He had a private jet I believe, and he had lived in a mansion. Long story short, the more he had posted online, the more people had gotten suspicious as to where he had gotten the money from.

Someone had eventually got dirt on him and the dirt was all of his money was from gambling. I'm not sure if I've told y'all this story or not, but he had gotten text messages telling him to press here for like a million dollars or something.

He did it and he had gotten all the money. Everything he had bought, he had to return back, not just that but he got arrested. His lies had caught up with him. 

I don't know his name or want to.

And in the Bible, you can use Nebuchadnezzar. He was very proud and we all know what had happened to him at the end of the day.

He had turned into an animal for 7 years.

Speaking of the Bible, here are 2 pretty common verses on money and why you shouldn't love it.

1 Timothy 6:10 Love for money causes all kinds of evil. Some people want to get rich. They have wandered away from the faith. They have wounded themselves with many sorrows.

Matthew 6:24 No one can serve two masters at the same time. You will hate one of them and love the other. Or you will be faithful to one and dislike the other. You can’t serve God and money at the same time.

I've said a lot of things, so let me go back to Open Heavens again.

I assure you that ill-gotten wealth will always have sorrow in it. 

I have seen all kinds of wealth in my little time as a Pastor and tell you, many wealthy people are living in so much sorrow that they are willing to give up all they have in exchange for peace of mind. 

Many people have used ill-gotten money to buy cars without knowing that they have bought what would drive them to their early graves.

You see, if you follow the will of God, He will bless you without adding any sorrow. I believe this is the kind of wealth you want: wealth with no sorrow attached.

Let me tell y'all something - just because someone is happy.... doesn't mean they're actually happy.

You're probably thinking Lola, you just literally said the same thing.

But I know what I'm saying. 

Just because someone is smiling doesn't mean that they're actually happy inside, especially on social media. Some people just use it to hide their pain. Some people carry their problems well.

For example, someone might have a friend. In front of them, they're all happy and they act as if they're really close. But behind closed doors, you may ask them about their friend and they say.

I can't stand them.

Or something like that.

Some people hide things well. 

I'm sure on set you've heard of on screen best friends who hate each other in real life, or more commonly I believe - on screen enemies that are best friends in real life. 

I'm not a big fan of High School Musical at all but for instance Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale) and Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) are very close in real life even though they didn't like each other in HSM.

And you're thinking but you guys seem so close! when the person tells you that they can't stand their friend.

That's why the word seem is important. Something seeming as something and genuinely being that thing is completely different.

Coincidentally, when I was writing this, I was listening to some YouTube videos about chasing fame. This all happened when God sent me a video on my homepage called Stop Chasing Fame.

Some YouTube videos just show up on your homepage that you actually needed to listen to - it's like God read your mind and knows what you want to listen to.

This post in a way is about chasing fame and how you should stop it. I can't lie, I used to chase fame most of the time, however I have stopped all of that now. I am beyond grateful for what I have.

The pastor for this Open Heavens message is saying that some famous people would actually give up everything they have just for a peace of mind. Fame is too much for them and they are tired of it. They lowkey just want to have a normal life.

I know a lot of people who have fallen to their destruction because of fame. Or even worse they've died, but let me not mention their names.

This is the last time I'm going to quote from Open Heavens in this post.

This clearly means that the only way to get wealth without sorrow is to get it in righteousness. I assure you according to the word of God that riches will pursue and overtake you if you put the kingdom of God first in your life

When any opportunity to get rich through sin comes your way, you had better flee, because wrapped in that juicy fruit is sorrow and destruction.

Only God can give you wealth without any kind of sorrow attached to it. Seek Him first.

Let's not forget 1 Corinthians 15:58 and Matthew 6:33

But put God’s kingdom first. Do what he wants you to do. Then all those things will also be given to you. Matthew 6:33

 My dear brothers and sisters, remain strong in the faith. Don’t let anything move you. Always give yourselves completely to the work of the Lord. Because you belong to the Lord, you know that your work is not worthless. 1 Corinthians 15:58

The 1 Corinthians quote - I know it but never what it actually says. Now I know both. 😁

A lot of people in the Bible were rich, without sorrow. I got this following paragraph from this website: 

Are There Wealthy Christians In The Bible?

In his discussion of Acts 2-5, Art Lindsley lists several examples from the New Testament of wealthy believers who gave generously to those in need. Among these Christians are:

• Joseph, called Barnabas (Acts 4:36-37)
• Dorcas (Acts 9:36)
• Cornelius (Acts 10:1)
• Sergius Paulus (Acts 13:6-12)
• Lydia (Acts 16:14-15)
• Jason (Acts 17:5-9)
• Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18:2-3)
• Mnason of Cyprus (Acts 21:16)
• Philemon (Philemon 1)

These believers lived faithful Christian lives in addition to enjoying wealth. 

It’s important to take note of the example they set. Art makes a point of saying these people “were wealthy and gave generously.” Their actions illustrate the responsibilities placed upon the wealthy because of how they have been blessed.

I pray that God will give you the riches you want. But you have ensure that you are using your riches for all of the right reasons.

Before I close today, I have one more story.

A millionaire had died this week I believe due to a heart attack. He had been married 8 weeks prior. He was only 33.

That's why you shouldn't be too attached to riches. As soon as you die, they will be given to someone else who may or may not have worked for it. You can find this in Ecclesiastes 2:21

A person might use wisdom, knowledge and skill to do their work. But then they have to leave everything they own to someone who hasn’t worked for it. That doesn’t have any meaning either. In fact, it isn’t fair.

So essentially, if you want riches without sorrow, you have to follow God and walk in righteousness! I hope you were blessed today and I will see you in Underrated Bible Scriptures (Part 6) when I update next!

(The Cosby Show)

If you can't tell, I love The Cosby Show - it's my favourite sitcom!! I know Cosby did some unforgivable things but this show is a gem and it can't be duplictated.

Till next time, Lola!