rick.poulin@live.com

I believe you can definitely serve God while being financially rich. God blessed Abraham, Solomon and David with great wealth. I believe the ones who are wealthy and love the Lord have riches, but money does not have them. They manage money, but money does not manage them. However, there are many whom God knows not to bless with financial riches because many will become secure in their finances rather then on God. It's one thing for the Lord to bless one financially, but we are not to over-work ourselves just to become rich. Otherwise, we are relying on the flesh to provide for ourselves rather then relying on God who is the One who provides. The question is, do they honor God first with their money or do they love money to fulfill their covetous desires? That is why Jesus questioned this rich man about lacking one thing and selling to the poor which is what he lacked all because his heart was towards his own riches and not in the right place.

It simply had to do with guarding the condition of our heart that really makes the difference. Having a heart for God will cause us to have a heart for people, delighting ourselves and being able to do the will of the Father.

Well, it can't be the condition of the heart because all three folds indicate this is the good soil representing a good heart that receives the Word. I would feel lead to say that the amount of the fold we produce is how much we use His Word. Alot of people may have a good heart, but are not doing as much as they could with what they receive from the Lord. Others are putting forth more effort by allowing to be lead of the Spirit but may not be yielding as much. Then there are others who are on fire for God and want to make a difference in the lives of many people and expressing His love by fully yielding to Him and being lead of His Spirit. A thought just came to me. When we think of the amount of yielding fruit, could we compare how much a tree yields fruit to the amount in how much we yield ourselves to God in order to bear more fruit? My guess is that the more we yield to Him, the more fruit we bear.

I think many people fall away quickly because they want a "quick-fix" all the time. We live in a society of "instant this...instant that". Not many people want to wait upon the Lord, taking time to experience and to put effort into studying His Word. Also, just like many teenagers who are still young, but think they know everything and are hard to teach. This may be another one of the reasons why people fall away.

I would have to go between worries and pleasures. Riches in itself aren't the problem because Abraham, King David and Solomon were all blessed with riches. It's the love of being rich (love of money) is the problem. I find worry and pleasure both the most severe. It's OK to be concerned, but worry tells me that a person doesn't trust in a loving God to care for them and they are putting emphasis on their inability rather than Gods ability. I am thinking that pleasures in itself is not bad when we find how God has blessed us, but when pleasures becomes putting your heart to the love of this world and your affections for things above are becoming desensitized, I believe that is troublesome. So, in the way we interpret the three, I would have to be a toss-up between worries and pleasures.

Hi Everyone, My name is Richard and have been a Christian since 1990. I live in Napanee, Ontario Canada. Even through many trials, the Lord has been incredible to teach me His ways and direct my heart towards Him in so many ways beyond understanding. I am privileged to belong to the Answers2Prayer team since 2000 and have had a great opportunity to reach to many people worldwide through this prayer ministry. I have had a passion to share the hope we can all have in Christ from my Blogsite at HelpingCopeWithHope.blogspot.org I am truly looking forward to a deeper study about the Kingdom of God through Pastor Ralph Wilson. God richly bless each of you. Richard