Dear One,
The Lord bless you!
FEAR AND MONEY
28 And to man He said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.'” Job 28:28 NKJV
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge. When a person, a family, a community or nation loses the fear of the Lord, chaos ensues. I had a serious lesson in the fear of the Lord regarding money when I casually left three cents in the change machine at the grocery store, thinking, I don’t care about those three cents. The Holy Spirit immediately spoke in my spirit and said, “I care about those three cents!” Chagrined, I turned back to take my three cents and someone else had grabbed them.
And Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife. Gen 20:11-12 NKJV
The promises regarding the fear of the Lord are some of the most extraordinary in all the scrolls of Scripture, and I’ve highlighted some of the benefits!
The secret of the Lord (the Lord confides in) is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant. Ps 25:14 NKJV
Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. the young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. Ps 34:9-10 NKJV
As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. Ps 103:13 NKJV
He has given food to those who fear Him; He will ever be mindful of His covenant. Ps 111:5 NKJV
You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. Ps 115:11 NKJV
He will bless those who fear the Lord, both small and great. Ps 115:13 NKJV
He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them. Ps 145:19 NKJV
The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His mercy. Ps 147:11 NKJV
The fear of the Lord prolongs days, but the years of the wicked will be shortened. Prov 10:27 NKJV
In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and His children will have a place of refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death. Prov 14:26-27 NKJV
23 The fear of the Lord leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil. Prov 19:23 NKJV
By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life. Prov 22:4 NKJV
Yes…THOSE kind of riches!
Do not let your heart envy sinners, but be zealous for the fear of the Lord all the day; Prov 23:17 NKJV
The fear of the Lord regarding money, especially in tithes and offerings, has guided our house for forty-five years, and I can testify that the Lord has been faithful to open the windows of Heaven for us. He has been faithful! A related subject in the fear of the Lord regarding money is in theft and stealing. One time I argued with a clergyman who said that the looting in the George Floyd riots was justified and a ‘victimless crime.’ I said, what part of THOU SHALT NOT STEAL do you not understand? Recently I saw where prominent American podcasters are advocating theft from stores as ‘resistance’ and rebellion. Are they insane? Do you not think that the God who cares about three cents does not hear their thoughts and see their actions? Proverbs says, the curse of the Lord is in the house of the thief, which explains divorces, broken families, premature death and other tragedies that are so common these days.
Over $500 billion dollars annually is stolen from government programs through fraud mainly because the Church does not teach and stand for the fear of the Lord regarding money. The reason why Christians don’t stand, and yell, and demand that this insanity stops is because we are compromised in the fear of the Lord regarding money ourselves. One of the most basic ways we are compromised is through gambling. The legality of the fraud of gambling – betting apps and casinos know EXACTLY what they are doing which is why Las Vegas was built by the Mafia – supports the illegal fraud and theft of the government programs. History teaches us that gambling is a distinct hallmark of a dying culture, like in the Roman empire, among others.
20 And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.” Ex 20:20 NKJV
If you gamble…repent! If you cheat the Lord in tithes and offerings…repent! Come back to the fear of the Lord regarding money. The Church must take an uncompromising stand against the wickedness of the culture to deliver the souls of the young ones whose hearts yearn for righteous leadership. Given the ubiquitous presence of gambling and fraud worldwide, this short piece on the right uses of money is as prophetic today as the day I first wrote it. Hope you enjoy it!
Love you…and oh, please forward this article – post on social media, WhatsApp, etc – to all your Christian friends, including your pastors, with my love! KRP
BIBLICAL ETHICS: WHAT’S WRONG WITH GAMBLING?
“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31
‘I only do it for entertainment.’ That argument is weak and invalid because if it were true, they would return every dollar they won to the casino, because they are gambling ‘only…for entertainment.’
Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven. Prov 23:5 NKJV
Recently, as I was driving my truck down a quiet Oregon country road, the Lord gave me a vision in answer to a question (vision revelation can get real interesting when you are driving!). In my vision two lines of people were walking out of a local Indian casino. One line of people were carrying big boxes marked JACKPOT. They had smiles on their faces. The other line of people were walking out crying. When the people with the big boxes opened their boxes, there were dollar bills inside; but each dollar bill had wings and flew back to the casino as soon as the box opened. That answered my question…
When we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ our Lord, He becomes owner of us and all that we possess. Our bodies belong to Him, our homes belong to Him, our money belongs to Him. He sets the rules and the standards by which our lives are to be governed, which is His right of ownership. According to God’s standards, in all financial transactions all effected parties must be benefited. Do you see God’s love for you in that standard?
Money is a means of exchange of value. For instance, let us say that you agree to work at a business for ten shekels of wages for each hour that you work. In effect, you exchange your time and effort each hour for that which the ten shekels will enable you to buy. Money in itself has no value, but it has value as a means of exchange of your time and effort for what you can buy with it. In other words, money is the means by which your one hour of work ‘becomes’ that sack of groceries that you buy with your ten shekels.
There are three legitimate reasons for exchanging money: the law of goods, the law of services, and the law of love. In each instance, both parties are benefited by the transaction of money.
Under the law of goods, you exchange money for material goods. You are benefited by the goods and the seller is benefited by the money.
Under the law of services you serve someone for an agreed price. You benefit by receiving the agreed price in money and they benefit by your successful completion of the agreed service.
THE LAW OF LOVE
Give, and it will be given to you… Luke 6:38 NKJV
Love is expressed in giving. Think of John 3:16. Under the law of love expressed by giving, you give money out of love. The benefit to you is that you position yourself to receive. There are eternal rewards as benefits in giving as well. The benefit to the one receiving your gift is the money itself and what it can purchase in goods and services.
In all legitimate exchanges of money, genuine wealth is created. The goods or services that you purchase or supply become tangible assets, and the giving that you do out of love becomes laid up in rewards in Heaven (eternal assets), as well as positioning yourself for receiving tangible assets here on Earth. This is why Jesus said it was more blessed to give than to receive.
But in gambling there is no such creation of wealth, there is no such benefit to both parties, because the entire gain of one party in the transaction is the entire loss of the other party (( +2 ) + (-2) = 0). The supposition that ‘everyone wins and loses’ does not justify the fact that in each transaction, each ‘bet’, there is one who benefits and one who is made poorer. The casino is simply the ‘middleman’ (or ‘the house’ that you bet against), the provider of a gambling infrastructure, who receives a portion of each transaction. Win or lose, they make money on every bet.
Sin is sin, no matter how you rationalize it. In gambling the motivation is always selfishness, always greed. There are a lot of things, godly things, beneficial things, that could be done for fun and relaxation. To call gambling ‘entertainment’, is to try to put a fancy dress on a pig. You can dress her up, but she is still a pig!
Gambling is a spiritual evil, promoted by the god of this world to destroy civilizations. Wherever gambling’s influence is felt, there is corruption. The hotel with the highest suicide rate in the world is located in Reno, Nevada, USA, a town which is famous for gambling. This same town is also famous for legalized prostitution, which destroys marriages and individual lives. In an underground mall, precisely equidistant to three major casinos, is a huge altar to the god of fortune. The destruction caused by gambling in individual lives, families, communities, states and nations, is staggering.
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GO FIGURE! $380 BILLION – Money spent last year (2003) on sports gambling, not including Casino games, according to ESPN the Magazine. $75 BILLION – Money needed to feed all the starving people in the world for one year, cited in THE LORDS OF POVERTY by Graham Hancock. Think about what would happen if we didn’t gamble, and we gave that money to hungry people, in love…
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The Church, through the Holy Spirit, must cleanse herself of this insidious evil in her midst (many born again ones are gamblers, ‘fantasy’ team owners, participate in ‘pools,’ etc.) by the blood of the Lamb. Then she must take an uncompromising stand in society. Finally, if you have an addiction to gambling, even ‘penny ante’ (you can be a ‘one beer a night’ alcoholic), you probably need deliverance. Repent, and get some help. You’ve been warned. You can’t claim ignorance. Self-inflicted wounds are the worst kind. If you can’t find anyone else, call me at +1503-302-5381. I can help!
You and I must set our hearts to learn to live righteously in this present, evil world. The Holy Spirit, through the Word of God, will teach us how to make right decisions, decisions that will fill us with peace and bear great fruit, bless God forever! Amen? Love you!
Remember, dear ones, we must be about our Father’s business…