Storyteller | Part 5 – A Greed Story!

Luke 12:1 (NIV)

… A crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”

Luke 12:13 (NIV)

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

Luke 12:14-15 (NIV)
Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” ¹⁵ Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

Greed itself, from the greedy!

Greedy people seldom share.

Greedy people talk and worry a lot about money.

Greedy people make a big deal over little amounts of money.

Greedy people have alligator arms when the restaurant check comes!

Greedy people are often very secretive.

Greedy people won’t let you forget what they’ve done for you.

Greedy people aren’t content with what they have.

Greedy people attempt to control people with their money.

Jeremiah 17:9-10 (MSG)
(The LORD says) — “The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out. ¹⁰ But I, GOD, search the heart and examine the mind. I get to the heart of the human. I get to the root of things. I treat them as they really are, not as they pretend to be.”

Greed is often fueled by and !

Fear is many times at the heart of greed!

Foolishness is also at the heart of greed!

Luke 12:16-21 (NIV)

“The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. ¹⁷ He thought to himself (consulted himself), ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

¹⁸ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. ¹⁹ And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’

²⁰ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded/required from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

²¹ This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

Psalm 14:1 (NCV)

Fools say to themselves, “There is no God.”

It’s foolish to believe – I’m the source of my success!

It’s foolish to believe – all surplus is mine, and for me!

It’s foolish to believe – I control my future!

James 4:13-16 (TLB)

You people who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to such and such a town, stay there a year, and open up a profitable business.”

¹⁴ How do you know what is going to happen tomorrow? For the length of your lives is as uncertain as the morning fog (marine layer)—now you see it; soon it is gone. ¹⁵ What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we shall live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ Otherwise you will be bragging about your own plans, and such self-confidence never pleases God.

is the Greed-Breaking habit we need!

2 Corinthians 9:10-11 (NLT)
For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. ¹¹ Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous.

 for a generous heart like God’s!

Practice what God has given you!

Matthew 10:8 (NLT)

Give as freely as you have received!

Never forget whose resources you’re giving, not yours!

Proverbs 11:24-25 (MSG)
The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy (greedy) gets smaller and smaller. ²⁵ The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped.

This Week’s Take-Away —

Generosity is both a greed-breaking habit and God’s ticket to a larger and larger life, in this life and eternity!