How To Be Rich - Pastor Ricky Thomaston #youversion notes

The more Americans make, the less they give. Rich people tend to be slightly odd. We're they that way before they got rich or after?

Wealth has side effects. Here are a few.
1. Rich people live in denial.

A Gallup poll said the average American feels that $150,000 should be considered rich. People making $35,000/year thought $75,000 made you rich. People who made more than $1,000,000 thought people who had $5,000,000 were rich.

The bottom line is nobody thinks they're rich but they know someone who is.

The facts: If the combined total income of your household is between $44,000 and $45,000 you are in the top 1% of the world. Most of us are truly rich.

2. Rich people are plagued by discontentment.

Buying more stuff leads to wanting more stuff. We will wait in line to buy a new phone that does the same thing the old phone did. We will trade a paid for car for a car we can't afford. We will stand in front of a closet full of clothes and say I have nothing to wear.

The bottom line is the more a person has the more they want. Be careful not to fall into this trap.

Paul had some specific instruction for rich people. Writing under the leading of the Holy Spirit he said. "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant..." (1 Timothy 6:17 NIV)

Don't let wealth make you think you are smarter or better than others.

" nor to put their hope in wealth..." (1 Timothy 6:17 NIV)

Wealth is not a fortress behind which you can hide. Don't let your hope move from the one who died and rose again as your Savior to the wealth you think you've accumulated.

"The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it a wall too high to scale." (Proverbs 18:11 NIV)

The temptation of the rich is that they feel they always need more. Don't let your hope migrate from God to wealth, you who are rich.

"...which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment." (1 Timothy 6:17 NIV)

Don't let your wealth become a substitute for God.

Which phrase causes you more anxiety?
1. There is no God.
2. You have no money.

100% of people who have only a short time to live answer #1.

Don't let wealth pull your heart away from God.

Created 4 months ago