“Our Daily Bread”     http://odb.org/

The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie                                  

http://www.harvest.org/devotional/daily-devotions/home.ht

“Homily Grits Devotional”   http://www.homilygrits.com/ 

Written by Robert VanHoose of Homily Grits devotions (Feb 1):

Read Luke 16:10-13,
Psalm 73:28-37

                 “The Antidote for Greed”

    “And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Matthew 19:24

     Greed is one of the most oppressive task masters anyone can have.

      When happiness and security is based on getting “just a little bit more”, we are never going to know the joy of godly contentment.

     Greed often causes to end up having a whole lot less instead of “just a little bit more”.

     When we try to validate our lives by what we have instead of Who we have, we are never going to know the all surpassing peace and joy of the Lord.

     We need to know that everything we have has come from and belongs to God, and that we are just stewards. If God has been generous to us, we need to know that it is so that we can be generous to others. 

      Cheerful, generous giving to the Lord is the best antidote for Greed.  As long as we can freely give to Him, we will not have to worry about our possessions possessing us.

     The rich young ruler went away very sad because his love of his riches exceeded his love for the Lord.  The man who built bigger barns to hoard his harvests was called a fool by God, and did not live to enjoy any of his wealth.

      The most remarkable aspect of giving cheerfully and generously to the Lord is not that it is not only  an antidote for greed, but that it  also opens the floodgates of heaven and pours out so much more than we have given  We cannot out give God!   “Father let me  always keep the pursuit of  your righteousness above the pursuit of riches. “  In Jesus’ name, Amen.