I hope this post tonight finds each of you doing well. It seems hard to believe that summer has already passed and fall has come.

These are interesting economic times. For example, we are all witnessing a continuation of depressed pricing in the world of commodities. Is this primarily driven by hedge fund activity? Is this primarily driven by declining “real” world-wide demand? Is this somehow a result of the ultra-low interest rate environment and the accompanying flood of newly-printed money? Where are things headed, economically speaking, tomorrow, next year and for people of future generations? I believe such issues are certainly worthy of consideration but while we can speculate, we have no hard answers for such questions and we all need a sense of complete security each and every day toward our futures. The uncertainty of day to day issues can beneficially serve to turn our attention toward God and what He has to say to us about real security.

Consider the claims of Jesus Christ. While I could share many Bible scriptures, permit me to share Jesus’s response to His disciple named Thomas when Thomas inquired of the Lord how we could know the way. Jesus replied to Thomas, as recorded in John’s gospel, Chapter 14 and vs. 6:

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (NIV)

Jesus candidly stated that He is the way to an eternal relationship with God. The Bible tells us that He gave His life on the cross to pay off our sin debt against God and bring us forgiveness and life everlasting. John 3:16 states:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.“(NIV)

I received Jesus Christ into my life as my Lord and Savior during my college days. Since then, I have found many promises in the Bible that God has made and these provide an anchor for my daily life. While God has made promises covering the entire gamut of life, some of these promises involve our material needs while on earth.

I’d like to share a couple of passages from the Word of God with regard to our material needs.

In Proverbs, Chapter 3, we find the following words in verses 9 and 10:

9 Honor the Lord with your possessions,
And with the firstfruits of all your increase;
10 So your barns will be filled with plenty,
And your vats will overflow with new wine. (New King James Version)

While there are some today who might attempt to use (take out of context) scriptures like this to promote some kind of prosperity doctrine, there’s surely no prosperity doctrine in the above admonition from the book of Proverbs. It states the principle of putting the Lord first when it comes to decisions about managing His material blessings to us. Proverbs is an Old Testament book. In the New Testament, we read a passage that is similar in terms of what it communicates. From the gospel of Matthew, Chapter 6, verses 31 through 33, we read the following words of Jesus:

31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (NKJV)

In sum, God is willing and able to supply us with what is needed during this earthly life and for all eternity. Believing Him and trusting Him is the key to genuine security. He always knows what lies ahead and will lead our way if we let Him. Who among us doesn’t want to live each day with a mind at peace and rest. That’s what Christ has to give and it can’t be purchased with money.

What happens next in the global economy or the stock market will not rattle God whatsoever. As His Word encourages us to honor Him with our lives, it is my desire to honor Him via this post today. And I hope it is a source of encouragement to you.

I’ll return to the theme of accrual accounting next time. Thanks for reading my posts and for your encouragement and support, friends.