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GREED—THE DOWNFALL OF THE UNITED STATES
“For The Love Of
Money Is A Root Of All Evils…” (1 Tim.6:10, Amplified Bible)
Television commercials are quite often an accurate barometer of how the public feels about things in general. And one that has been aired several times lately shows a woman trying to watch an older TV set that obviously has a very poor picture and sound quality. Suddenly she turns it off in disgust and says as she walks past her husband, “You are right, we need a new TV—go buy us one!” Then as he turns around with a gleeful look on his face the background music of the British rock band “Queen” singing their hit song “I Want It All” reaches a crescendo. The chorus shouts: “I want it all, I want it all, I want it all, and I want it now!”
My friends, if it is possible for a song to characterize
the attitudes and actions of a nation—that one has us pegged!
Money is a practical necessity and there is certainly
nothing wrong with having lots of it if we obtain it honestly! But it
becomes an evil to us if we allow it to rule us rather than vice versa. And
because of the human tendency to place an inordinate emphasis upon possessions
and wealth, this is not the first time I have written articles addressing the
problem. So if you are interested, the following links to them may prove to be
helpful in understanding a potential misuse where money is concerned: www.cuttingedge.org/articles/p124.htm and www.cuttingedge.org/articles/p229.html
The current financial crisis sweeping our nation has been caused by many different factors, but greed is the common denominator of them all. Otherwise sane and sensible people wanting to “experience the American dream” have been fiscally irresponsible on a scale never before experienced in our history. Not satisfied with living within their means millions have swallowed the bait carefully placed under their noses by international banksters (a term someone coined by combining the word “bankers” with “gangsters”). The plastic cocaine known as credit cards has been made available to practically anyone possessing a pulse and with the full knowledge that most will spend themselves into financial ruin. The same is true where the “sub-prime mortgage” mess is concerned. People whom the lending institutions knew were overextending themselves were given loans that the vast majority could not handle once the inevitable increase in interest rates kicked in.
Why do you suppose the banking industry would do such a seemingly ridiculous thing as to extend credit to millions when they knew that most of them would wind up hopelessly in debt? Do not those institutions lose huge sums of money when the debtors file for bankruptcy? Yes they do, but to find out how those who actually own those corporations wind up making obscene profits from such credit manipulation, I highly recommend the following on-line article written by a preacher entitled “Billions For Bankers—Debts For The People”: (If you are like most, these facts will come as a complete surprise!)
http://www.justiceplus.org/bankers.htm
But even though this financial plundering of the American public is enough to make our blood boil, my intent is not to urge people to try to “get” those who are guilty of such exploitation. The odds against that being successful are beyond astronomical and Christians should not neglect the advancement of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ by wasting time on trying to straighten out the evils of this world. Only God can do that and I find absolutely nothing in His Word telling us to get involved with such things.
The vital issue before us is the necessity for genuine believers to be good stewards of God’s money in spite of such evils.. Everything we have, or will ever have, belongs to Him and we are just afforded the privilege of using it. And even though at times circumstances of life seem to require that we take on a manageable debt—such as a mortgage on a house that is well within our ability to repay—we must make very effort to curb the fleshly tendency to buy more than we need. Fancy cars, boats and swimming pools are nice, but if they are obviously beyond our budget we must have enough sense to leave them alone! To go ahead and buy toys that we cannot possibly afford just because credit purchases are so “easy” is dishonest. Sooner or later a day of reckoning will come and while taking bankruptcy will make the creditors go away, it does not absolve a Christian of their culpability before God.
The following teaching by the Lord Jesus Christ gives us clear and unambiguous guidance concerning personal wealth:
“And He said to them, Guard yourselves and
keep free from all covetousness (the immoderate desire for wealth, the greedy
longing to have more); for a man’s life does not consist in and is not
derived from possessing overflowing abundance or that which is over
and above his needs” Luke 12:15
(Amplified Bible).
“Do
not gather and heap up and store up for yourselves treasures
on earth, where moth and rust and worm consume and destroy,
and where thieves break through and steal” Matthew 6:19 (Amplified Bible).
“No one can serve two masters; for either he
will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be
devoted to the one and despise and be against the other. You cannot serve God
and mammon (deceitful riches, money, possessions, or whatever is trusted in)” Matthew 6:24 (Amplified Bible).
“Therefore do not worry and be
anxious, saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to
have to drink? or, What are we going to have to wear? 32 For the
Gentiles (heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek all
these things, and your heavenly Father knows well that you need them all” Matthew 6:31-32 (Amplified Bible).
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the
whole world and forfeits his life [his blessed life in the
If you are drowning in debt, you are not alone. We have become the largest debtor nation on earth and it is pretty clear that the “chickens are coming home to roost!” Most families are little more than one lost paycheck away from disaster and a hard dose of reality is just around the corner. We are being manipulated by forces determined to destroy us as a nation and their plan is working to perfection. So the sensible thing is to make every effort get out of debt as soon as is humanly possible and once that is achieved, avoid it like the plague.
Of course many people incur huge debts through no fault of their own. Medical emergencies, the death of the primary breadwinner, etc, are facts of life that often overwhelm us, but it is totally idiotic to wind up in that predicament because of greed!
Remember the immortal words of Forrest Gump—the title character of a 1986 novel by Winston Groom and later made into a movie of the same name—“Stupid is as stupid does.”
If you have been born again and received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, but have been very lukewarm in your spiritual walk with Him, you need to immediately ask Him for forgiveness and for renewal. He will instantly forgive you, and fill your heart with the joy of the Holy Spirit. Then, you need to begin a daily walk of prayer and personal Bible Study.
If you have never placed your trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior, but have come to sense His reality and the approaching End of the Age, and want to receive His FREE Gift of Eternal Life, you can do so now, in the privacy of your home. Once you truly believe in Him as Lord and Savior, you are spiritually Born Again, and are as assured of Heaven as if you were already there. Then, you can rest assured that the Kingdom of Antichrist will not touch you spiritually. If you would like to become Born Again, turn to our Salvation Page now.
We hope you have been blessed by this ministry, which seeks to educate and warn people, so that they can see the coming New World Order Kingdom of Antichrist in their daily news.
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P.O. Box 26
Gordo, AL 35466
You can also E-Mail Pastor Ronald Riffe regarding questions or comments about this article.
God bless you
.