Tag: Money

The BIBLE VIEW#1025 — Money

In This Issue:
Borrowing
The Delusion of Wealth
Never Enough
What Some Wealthy People Thought about Wealth

Volume: 1025   November 10, 2025
Theme:  Money

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Borrowing and Lending
Bill Brinkworth

Many in the last three decades or more have developed a lifestyle of spending more than they can afford.  Yes, I know that the economy is geared to people living off their credit, and yes, I know “everyone is doing it.”

No, I do not think it is the bank’s fault for lending us money we cannot afford to repay.  We are responsible for our decision to obtain a loan.  We alone are accountable for our spending and paying back what we borrowed.

In many cases, it may be necessary to borrow money to purchase a “need.” However, there is such a thing as “responsible borrowing and lending.” Here are a few biblical principles that, if heeded, may keep many from the financial trouble that could easily happen to them if these principles are ignored:

  • The Bible does teach that it is acceptable to loan money and things.  The good lender should show mercy and kindness to those to whom he has lent.
    “A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion.” Psalm 112:5
    “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.” Proverbs 19:17
    “Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.” Luke 6:30
    “Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.” Matthew 5:42  Also: Psalm 112:5, Proverbs 19:17
  • A godly person has a responsibility to pay back what he has borrowed.  It is a wicked person who does not repay a loan!
    “The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.” Psalm 37:21
  • When we give our word to repay money we have borrowed, we have an obligation to repay it.  Breaking our word is lying.  We are accountable for the promises we make!  It is our testimony, especially as Christians, to do what we say we will do.
    “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,” Proverbs 6:16-17
    Covenant breaking (promise breaking) is listed as a sin in Romans 1:31.
  • When times are tough and it does not seem possible to pay the bills, turn to God first —not the banks.  He can, if it is truly a need, help you!
    “Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.  I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” Psalms 37:24-25
    “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Psalm 37:4
  • When a person does not repay what he borrows, he keeps what does not belong to him.  That is stealing!
  • When you do borrow, you can lose some freedom.
    “The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” Proverbs 22:7
  • When you do borrow, do not get into a situation where your freedom is used as collateral for a debt.
    “Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts.” Proverbs 22:26 (“Surety” can be one that is legally bound to pay off a debt. In some cases, if the debt is not paid, a person may be bound to pay off the debt by his being in slavery, in one form or another.)
  • Some debt may be accumulated because of one’s coveting.  Coveting is a sin (Exodus 20:17).  It is wicked in God’s eyes because one may not be happy with what God has allowed him to have.  

    A person may lust for what another has.  That coveting may lead him to spend what he should not have spent.  He may end up with payments he cannot afford.  The financial hardship may be the consequence of one’s sin.  It may be a reaping of what was sown.
  • If we borrow something, and it is damaged or dies in our possession, it is the borrower’s responsibility to restore to the lender what was lent.  The borrower needs to fix what was damaged or loss.
    “And if a man borrow ought of his neighbour, and it be hurt, or die, the owner thereof being not with it, he shall surely make it good.” Exodus 22:14
  • If you are responsible for making a person poor, do not charge him interest!
    “If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.” Exodus 22:25
  • If you are trying to help a person who is having financial difficulties, do not profit from his hardship.
    “And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee.  Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee.  Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.” Leviticus 25:35-37

Having a “little” may not be such a bad thing!
“A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.” Psalm 37:16
“Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith.” Prov. 15:16 “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” I Timothy 6:6

The Delusion of Wealth
Author Unknown

There is a fable about a covetous man who claimed to find his way one moonlit night into a fairy’s palace.  There he saw bars, apparently of solid gold, strewed everywhere.  He was permitted to take away as many as he could carry.  He carried his treasure home with much difficulty.

In the morning, when the sun rose, he found himself waking and still clutching his “treasure”,  which he saw was only a bundle of sticks.  All around him, invisible “people” laughed and scoffed at what he previously thought was valuable.

Such will be the confusion of many a person who died in this world and who is worth much.  Awaking in the next life, they will find that their “treasures” on Earth meant nothing in eternity.  They will find themselves “… wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (Rev. 3:17).

“Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.”  Rev. 3:17-18

Never Enough
Author Unknown

“When I was younger,” said a friend, “an older man tried to teach me some wisdom I should know about.  He once asked me when a man was rich enough?”  I replied, “When he has ten thousand dollars?”

“No,” was his answer.

“Twenty thousand?”

Again, “No.”

“A hundred thousand?”

“No.”

In an attempt to settle the discussion, I responded, “One million dollars?”

“No!” he again responded.  “When he has a little more than he has, and that is never!  If he acquires one thousand, he wishes to have two thousand, then five, then twenty, then fifty.  If he grasped all the money in the whole world, he would desire other world’s riches to possess.”

“Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.”
Proverb 27:20

What Some Wealthy People Thought about Money

“I have made many millions, but they have brought me no happiness.”  
— John W. Rockefeller 

“The care of $200,000,000 is enough to kill anyone.  There is no pleasure in it.”
— W. H. Vanderbilt

“I am the most miserable man on Earth.” — John Jacob Astor 

“I was happier when doing a mechanic’s job.” — Henry Ford

“Millionaires seldom smile.” — Andrew Carnegie

“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which, while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” I Timothy  6:10

The Bible View #910 — God’s Provision

In This Issue:
Little Can Be Much
Little Is Much When God Is In It
“I’ve Got All I Want”
Just Enough
Looking for a Way Out
Wealth May Not Give Happiness

Volume: 910   June 5, 2023
Theme: God’s Provision

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Little Can Be Much
Bill Brinkworth

Somehow, many Christians have gotten it into their heads that if God blesses someone, there will be prosperity and ease.  Perhaps some of that thinking was drummed into them through the “prosperity Gospel” crowd, who teach that God wants you to be rich and gives one an easy life if they are right with Him. Maybe our natural thinking makes us believe that any problems we have can only mean that we are not right with God and His hand is against us.  That teaching is not evidenced in the Bible often, however.

There were times when God gave peace and prosperity to some at certain times.  The majority of the time, God’s evidence of power is more evident during “bad” and troubled times.  Those times can get one closer to Him and allow one to see God’s mightiness.

Often, God works with a little, rather than much, to accomplish His goals.  Yet, when all was finished, there was no question that God had done a great thing with just a little.  His miracles are sometimes performed with irrational objects, resulting in the most illogical solutions.  Some of these supernatural occurrences were:

  • The earth was created in six days by God only, not over millions of years, and not by many “accidents” or a “big bang.”  

    Being created by one God is not how a “natural” man would understand.  A lot was accomplished with just a little of God’s time.
  • The people were scattered at the tower of Babel, not by disease or enemy, but by a “little” confusion of languages.  From that small instance, people were scattered, and civilization spread all over the globe.
  • Moses and God’s people had a way of escaping from the encroaching enemy when Moses stretched his rod over the sea.  They watched as God took an “impossible” method to open the Red Sea for them to cross to safety.  
  • The walls of a protected enemy were knocked down by a simple shout at Jericho, not ramming machines nor by a vast army.  A big victory was accomplished by an incident that would hardly be expected to knock those mighty double walls outward.
  • Naaman’s leprosy was cured by simply dipping in the Jordan River seven times, not by some doctor’s cure or super drug.  A little obedience healed the man in a big way.
  • Gideon was vastly outnumbered but won a battle with only 300 men, lamps, pitchers, and shouts.
  • Under-sized David slew his adversary with a small, smooth stone propelled from his unthreatening sling.
  • Tiny God-controlled hornets chased vast enemies.
  • Five small barley loaves and two fishes fed over 5,000 people.
  • A blind man’s sight was restored not by surgery or some miracle cure but by a little spittle and clay.
  • Man’s Sins can be forgiven simply by Jesus’ paying for them 2,000 years ago by His shed blood on Calvary’s cross, not by our good works or our payment for them.  The death of one “man,” Christ, became the most important action in man’s history.

Anyone can get by with the help of millions of dollars; there is not much of a miracle in that.  There is not always proof that God is in the solution when money buys the way out of the problem.  When there is plenty in the checkbook, just about anybody can change any situation.  Solving situations with plenty is not necessarily God’s fingerprint on the solution.

When God is involved in a situation, He must get the glory.  He will get the credit when a “little” does the impossible.  Nothing is impossible when God is in the matter.  God’s involvement is often evident when a little goes a long way and does extraordinary and wondrous things.  Little is much when God is in it because God can do anything He desires with anything!

“When you’re down to nothing, God may be up to something.”


Little Is Much When God Is In It
Hymn by Kittie Suffield

In the harvest field now ripened
There’s a work for all to do;
Hark!  the voice of God is calling,
To the harvest calling you.
Refrain:
Little is much when God is in it!
Labor not for wealth or fame;
There’s a crown, and you can win it,
If you go in Jesus’ name.

In the mad rush of the broad way,
In the hurry and the strife,
Tell of Jesus’ love and mercy,
Give to them the Word of Life.
Refrain:

Does the place you’re called to labor
Seem so small and little known?
It is great if God is in it,
And He’ll not forget His own.
Refrain:

Are you laid aside from service,
Body worn from toil and care?
You can still be in the battle,
In the sacred place of prayer.
Refrain:

When the conflict here is ended
And our race on Earth is run,
He will say, if we are faithful,
“Welcome home, My child—well done!”
Refrain:


“I’ve Got All I Want”
Oliver B. Greene

After a Sunday school lesson one week, a little girl was heard misquoting Psalm 23:1, a familiar Bible verse that many children have memorized.  Although the child did not quote it quite right, she had the right idea when she said, “The Lord is my shepherd; I’ve got all I want.”

The truth we adults often fail to remember is that God does provide all our needs, and we should be content with His provision.

“Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?” Luke 12:24


Just Enough
Edited from an Article by Robert G. Lee

God miraculously dealt with the people of Israel during their wilderness wandering.  God said, “And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.  6 Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the LORD your God.” Deut. 29:5-6

The Israelites’ clothes did not wear out for forty years, and they received a daily ration of manna rained down on them from Heaven.   The manna was “…  like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.” Exodus 13:31  God faithfully provided for them daily.

They received enough manna daily for every man, woman, and child to eat.  If they tried to save some for the next day, it would be covered by worms and stank.  God’s reason was not because of the shortage of supplies.  It was so they would obey Him and trust Him to provide.
“Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.” Exodus 16:4

God wanted to know whether Israel would trust Him for their daily provisions.  Though it took the equivalent of one hundred and eighty freight car loads of manna each day to feed these three million Israelites and ninety-four tank cars of water per day, God did not let them lack at any time.

If we trust and obey what God has told us in His Word, He will provide for us.  He will meet your needs.

“When a train goes through a dark tunnel, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off.  You sit still and trust the engineer to get you through safely.  Trust God today, no matter how dark your situation.  God says, ‘You are
coming out!’”


Looking for a Way Out
Oliver B. Greene

At a cross-country steeplechase exhibition, one horse suddenly shied away from a hurdle and ran into a barbed-wire fence.  The result was a disaster, as the rider was taken by ambulance to a hospital, and the bleeding horse remained ensnarled in the wire until the slow process of cutting it away was completed.

The underlying tragedy was seen in the fact that the jump was a low one, which the horse could have easily cleared.  Yet, the horse mistook the fence to be an opening in the course and thus an escape from the obstacle.

We are often like that foolish horse!  When faced with difficulties, do we look for the way out rather than trusting God’s provision?  Do we break for an opening at the first opportunity, only to find that we have become ensnared and that our present difficulty is far worse than the one we sought to avoid?



Wealth May Not Give Happiness
Author Unknown

After the death of Abderman, Caliph of Cordova, the following paper was found in his handwriting: “Fifty years have elapsed since I became caliph.  I have possessed riches, honors, pleasures, and friends.  In short, I have had everything that man can desire in this world.  I have reckoned up the days I could say I was really happy, and they amount to fourteen.”

The BIBLE VIEW #877 — Money

In This Issue:
The Car in the Cellar
The Musings of a Dollar
Money
Affluency Now, Bankruptcy Later
Both Jewels and Life Lost
Applegate’s Cow

Volume: 877     September 26, 2022
Theme:  Money

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The Car in the Cellar
Bill Brinkworth

Years ago, a group of friends met in the basement of a city home.  During a friendly game of billiards, a crazy idea popped up in conversation.  “Wouldn’t it be funny,” one may have suggested, “if we could build a Model-T right here in the basement?”

Soon the group of mechanics was chuckling at the idea.  They all offered to pitch in.  Everyone volunteered to help bring the pieces of the automobile, one by one, through the upstairs doorway and down into the cellar.

The joke and dare became a project.  As promised, each man brought a piece of the car down the steps and into the cellar.  As more pieces arrived, the assembly progressed.  After an extended period, the car was completely assembled: fenders, tires, engine, interior, and every other part.  The professional mechanics even got it running.  What a neighborhood joke the car in the basement must have been.

Time passed.  One by one, the weekly meeting lost another member.  The original builders even forgot about their project.  

Soon, even the house was sold.  The new owners chuckled at what was downstairs, but the car’s novelty was quickly forgotten.

As I recall the story, the house was condemned many years later.  After the residence was destroyed, the old Ford was rolled away and sold.  The house and all the mechanics were gone, but the “treasure” remained.

What a similarity that Model-T is to what happens in many lives.  Little things that really have no importance become far too paramount in lives.

Many lives have been wasted, marriages destroyed, and families split up because priority was given to hobbies, friends, jobs, and “things.”  Once their life is over, the possessions may remain, but what was important was destroyed or never given the priority and time it deserved.

Vast numbers of people have died with quite an impressive number of “things,” but spiritually, they were destitute.  They had all this world offered them but died and went to Hell because their eternal destination never was a concern to them, but their possessions remained.
“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:36

“Things” are not that important.  They give temporary enjoyment, but that joy is not permanent.  Relationships with people are far more important.  Our children, family, and friends should be valued more than temporal things.  

What are we to profit if we have big cars and houses, but our children have had to raise themselves and have ruined their lives?  How are we rich when we have large bank accounts, but our family does not talk with us anymore?  What joy will that fancy car you sacrificed to have bring you when you have no one with which to share it?  

When our life is over, our “things” will remain, but will our influence on others be remembered?  Will our life have made a difference?

When the “house” of our world perishes is what remains that important?  On deathbeds, the shiny frills of this world are rarely mentioned.  

The assurance of Heaven and regrets for poor relationships are usually the primary concerns during our “end.”  Do not wait until death is imminent to get your priorities right!

“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” I Timothy 6:10


The Musings of a Dollar
Author Unknown

If money could talk, it would make one of these three speeches:

  • It may say, “Hold me, and I will dry out the foundations of sympathy and benevolence in your soul and leave you barren and destitute.  Grasp me tightly, and I will change your sight.  You will care to look upon nothing that does not contain my image.  I will transform your hearing so that my soft metallic ring will sound louder than the cries of needy widows,  orphans, and the perishing multitudes.  Keep me, clutch me, and I will destroy your sympathy for others, your respect for what is right, and your love and reverence for God.”
  • Or it may say, “Spend me for self-indulgence, and I will make your soul fat and indifferent to all except your pleasure.  I will become your master, and you will think that I only am of importance and power.”
  • Or it may whisper, “Give me away for the benefit of others, and I will return in streams of spiritual revenue to your soul.  I will bless the one that received and the one that gave me away.  I will supply food for the hungry, raiment for the naked, medicine for the sick, and send the Gospel to the needy.  At the same time, I will secure joy and peace for the soul that uses me for others’ needs.” 


Money
Author Unknown

Dug from the mountainside
Or washed from the glen,
Servant am I or master of men.
Earn me, and I bless you;
Steal me, and I curse you;
Grasp me and hold me,
A fiend shall possess you.
Lie for me, die for me,
Covet me, take me —
Friend or foe,
I’m just what you make me.

“I finally figured out why people get nervous and upset when the love of money is preached.  The preacher is criticizing and devaluing their little ‘god,’ and they don’t like their religion belittled.” — B. B.

 
Affluence Now, Bankruptcy Hereafter
Author Unknown

A tribe in Africa elected a new king every seven years.  For seven years, the king enjoyed the high honor and was provided with every luxury known to the savage life. 

During those years, his authority was absolute.  He even had the power of life and death.  For seven years, he ruled, was honored, and surfeited with possessions, but he was killed at the end of the period. 

Every member of the tribe was aware of the king’s fate, for it was a long-standing custom.  However, there was never an applicant lacking for the post.  For seven years of luxury and power, men were willing to sacrifice the remainder of their life. 

They may have been pagans, yet in the proudest civilization of our day, men and women of intelligence and leadership are making the same choice between things now and spiritual bankruptcy in the hereafter.  Scores are willing to be bankrupt through eternity if they may only have wealth now.

Both Jewels and Life Lost
Walter Knight

Some wealthy persons of Pompeii, aware of the coming volcanic destruction, fled, leaving valuables behind as they deemed them worthless compared to their lives.

Among the discoveries in the city’s ruins were the remains of a woman in the act of gathering rings, bracelets, and other valuable articles of jewelry left behind.  The woman delayed the time of her flight and was overwhelmed by the holocaust!   Both her jewels and life were lost.

“Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them.  Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.  But ye said, Wherein shall we return?  Will a man rob God?  Yet ye have robbed me.  But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee?  In tithes and offerings.  Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.”
Malachi 3:7-9.


Applegate’s Cow
Author Unknown

A summer boarder at the Applegate’s farm asked, “How much milk does that cow give?”

“Wal,” replied farmer Applegate, “ef ya mean by voluntary contribooshun, she don’t give none.  But ef ye kin get her cornered so’s she can’t kick none to hurt, an able-bodied man kin take away about ‘leven quarts a day from her.” 

Unfortunately, that sounds like the way many give to the Lord.  Too many are like farmer Applegate’s cow when it comes to giving.