Entrusted | It All Belongs to God

Entrusted | It All Belongs to God                   

Psalm 24:1 “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;”

God created the world and all its contents thus God owns the world and all of its contents. 

Isaiah 29:16 “You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, “You did not make me”? Can the pot say to the potter, “You know nothing?”

Deuteronomy 8:17-18 “You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.”

Deuteronomy 8:18a “it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.” 

Charles R. Lane,  Ask, Thank, Tell “The proper response to the blessings of this life is not to pat myself on the back and try to find a way to get more stuff.  The proper response is to give God the glory and the thanks and to ask serious questions about how I am called to use what God has entrusted to me.”

Genesis 1:27-28 “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

1. Humanity has the highest place in all of creation. 

Psalm 8:3-5 “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? 5 You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.”

2. God has delegated authority to human beings over the creation.

Psalm 8:6 “You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet.”

3. To rule over creation wasn’t a transfer of ownership. God is still the owner. 

Steward 
Stig “hall, pen for pigs or cattle, part of a house” + Weard “guard” 
“Sty-warden” 

Three Key Aspects of a Steward

1. The steward is not the owner.
2. The steward has a prominent position of authority with tremendous responsibility.
3. The steward cares for the owner’s possessions to benefit the owner and bless others.

Matthew 25:23 “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!’” 2 Corinthians 9:7 “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 

Assess 3 Investments 
A. Evaluate your service in ministry. 

B. Assess your financial giving. 

Proverbs 11:24 “One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.” 

C. Evaluate if you’re sharing your testimony. 

Luke 12:48b “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.” (NASB).