We’re called to bring an increase
The Parable of the Talents
14"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15To one he gave five talents[a] of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. 19"After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.'
21"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
22"The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.'
23"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
24"Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'
26"His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28" 'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
Whatever our hand finds to do God wants us to work at it as unto God and bring an increase. This requires thoughtful work. Not just chasing our tail but really producing something.
I believe the parable is speaking about bringing financial increase but it applies to every area of Kingdom work as well.
I’m no economist but I do watch the news and have varying levels of respect for people who speak and make statements that get broadcast out to the public in various modalities.
Yesterday Warren Buffett (The wealthiest person on the planet) made some economic statements.
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett predicted Saturday that "the nation's economy will be in shambles throughout 2009" and probably "well beyond."
In his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway Inc. shareholders, Buffett said the credit crisis and falling housing and stock prices have led to "paralyzing fear."
But the famed investor remained optimistic about America's resilience.
How should we as Christians respond to what’s going on around us.
During the Plagues on Egypt
Exodus 8:22
" 'But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I, the LORD, am in this land.
During the Plagues on Egypt
Exodus 9:26
The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were.
I believe there is an ark of economic safety in today’s tough times. God has traditionally given his people a way out of the difficulty that has come on the Earth.
They have to listen and obey to escape.
Exodus 12
The Passover
1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2 "This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb [a] for his family, one for each household. 4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. 5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. 6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. 7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. 8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. 9 Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roast it over the fire—head, legs and inner parts. 10 Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. 11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the LORD's Passover. 12 "On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn—both men and animals—and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.
Notice the detailed instructions the Lord gave the Israelite community.
God’s people can be in the midst of difficulty and it won’t touch them. The righteous can escape the difficulty going on all around them.
It can be done with prophetic insight and sometimes even wisdom will allow a Godly person to make good decisions that will bless them in the midst of an economic down turn.
It's a little known fact that more millionaires were made during The Great Depression than in any other time in U.S. history.
There is one golden nugget contained in this history lesson that can enable you to make a lot of money when our country is in a recession (like right now) because a recession is exactly the same thing as a depression except it doesn't last as long and the economic damage is not as severe. So bear with me while I give you a short history lesson that contains this golden nugget.
You should know that the Great Depression actually began a few years in advance of the 1929 stock market crash and lasted until World War II brought the country out of the Depression.
The many business enterprises that changed hands during the depression by people with liquid cash are too numerous to mention, but due to the war effort, those with liquid cash who bought land, homes, companies, or invested in the stocks of the companies that produced products that were in demand by our government for the war effort made millions. The industries included such products as:
1. Steel, iron, copper, and aluminum 2. Communications equipment and replacement parts 3. Tanks, boats, aircraft, vehicles and parts for these 4. Ammunition and weapons 5 - Boots, clothing, belts, helmets, caps, backpacks, hats, blankets, tents and cots (and the textiles to make them) 6 - Storage and shipping containers 7 - Shipping, truck and railway transportation 8 - Petroleum products and fuels and stock in iol wells (the Texas oil boom was a biggie!)
Deuteronomy 15:6
For the LORD your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you.
Why is this verse significant?
Proverbs 22:7
The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
Because servitude is tied to borrowing.
Servant: one that serves others; especially : one that performs duties about the person or home of a master or personal employer.
What happens if you want to borrow some money to buy a house. You do and the house is now in your possession and you’ve committed yourself to make those payments to the bank in order to continue to live in the house. Suppose you decide you don’t want to make those payments any more?
You in effect become a slave to the bank in order to pay them back. A certain percentage of your income will go to them. Not to mention the interest.
What happens to a nation that borrows money from another nation?
According to the Bible the lending nation becomes the master over the borrowing nation. Some of our national debt is owed to U.S. citizens but some of it is owed to foreigners. Let’s see how much.
"External debt" is defined as the total public and private debt owed to nonresidents repayable in foreign currency, goods, or services.
$13,627,459,000,000 September 30th, 2008
This information came from the United States Department of the Treasury.
Foreign ownership
A traditional defense of the national debt is that Americans "owe the debt to themselves", but that is becoming increasingly less accurate. The US debt in the hands of foreign governments was 25% of the total in 2007, virtually double the 1988 figure of 13%. Despite the declining willingness of foreign investors to continue investing in US-dollar–denominated instruments as the US Dollar has fallen in 2007, the U.S. Treasury statistics indicate that, at the end of 2006, foreigners held 44% of federal debt held by the public. About 66% of that 44% was held by the central banks of other countries, in particular the central banks of Japan and China. In total, lenders from Japan and China held 47% of the foreign-owned debt.
Which foreign countries own the largest chunk of the United States?
The biggest chunk (about 25 percent of the $8.5 trillion total[March 4th 2007]) is held by foreign governments. Japan tops the list (with $644 billion 7% of total Debt is owed to Japan), followed by China ($350 billion 4% of total debt is owed to China ), United Kingdom ($239 billion 2.8 %) and oil exporting countries ($100 billion .85%). Approximately 10% of the remaining external debt is owed to other countries.
How much of China do we own? How much of Japan do we own? We’ll I did a search on Google to find out and I went through 20 websites and didn’t find any information on China or Japan owing the U.S. a single penny.
So by today’s #’s 10.8 Trillion in Debt. 2.7 Trillion is owed to foreign nations.
What happens when Japan and China decide that they want their money? How will we pay them? Does anyone wonder if they will want their money?
China has the Largest # of active troops of any army in the world.
2,255,000
When you add their reserve troops and their paramilitary they have 7,024,000
Well, what do we do during this troubled time in our economy that some are calling the worst economic downturn since the great depression?
Some of my research has told me that there were more millionaires created during the great depression than during any other time in U.S. history! How did they do it?
They were out of debt, had cash and bought struggling businesses that profited directly from WWII.
Try and Get out of Debt
Stay away from all but the soundest investments.
Know that we have each other here at church.
With our resources pooled we can get quite a bit accomplished should things get worse.
Pray for wisdom and don’t isolate yourself. United we stand!
Jubilee Family Church