MATURITY FOR THE NEXT LEVEL!!!

Maturity For The Next Level!!
The Laws Of Management

January 03, 2010 Sunday Morning 11:00 am

Luke 16:1-13 (NIV)

The Parable of the Shrewd Manager

1 Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.

2 So he called him in and asked him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.'

3 "The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to beg— 4I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.'

5 "So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'

6 " 'Eight hundred gallonsa] of olive oil,' he replied. "The manager told him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.'

7 "Then he asked the second, 'And how much do you owe?' " 'A thousand bushelsb] of wheat,' he replied. "He told him, 'Take your bill and make it eight hundred.'

8 "The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.

9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

10 "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?

12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?

13 "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."

He called the debtors in one by one.

"How much do you owe?" "One hundred measures of oil." The steward said, "Then change it to fifty." Another debtor came to his desk. "What is your debt?" "One hundred measures of wheat." "Then take the pen and write down eighty." And so it went.When the master discovered this trickery, he was, believe it or not, impressed.Oh, he was disturbed. Certainly, he was angry. And the steward did lose his job.But, the master was also impressed.Jesus, author of this story, says there is something in the bad man’s action which is a good example. He said, "This fellow is a shrewd dude. He is a crook, but he is clever in a way you need to emulate."

POINT: Life, as he had experienced it, would soon be over. His days as a free-wheeling spender of another man’s wealth were ending. He took steps to prepare for living beyond.
Our Lord is teaching us lessons in life management.

"No matter how much or how little you may have in ability, opportunity, or wealth, you can manage your life in such a way as to be really rich."

If you would be truly successful, you must know that what you have, you have by the grace of God. You must know and live by the laws of life management. Then you will reap the rewards of life management.

What We Have, We Have By The Grace of GodThe principles of life management are built on the solid foundation of the grace of Almighty God.

In Ephesians 1, this foundation is spelled out in remarkable clarity. The Bible declares we have been selected by the Father because He loves us. We have been saved by the Son who died on the cross because of that love. We have been sealed by the Holy Spirit, assured of salvation forever, because of the love of our wonderful God and His grace.

Life management is not about getting into heaven. All who come to Christ will be in heaven. This is about reward in heaven. There is nothing you can do to save your soul except turn to God in repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

Life management is a principle only for Christians. It has to do with living life in such a way as to one day hear the Father say, "Well done, good and faithful servant.

Because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you will be in authority over very much." Successful living then demands that you know and keep the laws of life management.

The Laws Of Life Management

Law 1: Do your best with what you have.

It does not matter in God’s eyes how much you have but how well you handle it.
Barnabas is praised for his large gift of land to the early church. The widow is lauded by our Lord for her gift of less than a penny. Someone said, "I am but one ... but I am one. I cannot do much ... but I can do something.

What I can do ... I ought to do. What I ought to do ... by the grace of God, I will do."

Law 2: What we manage is not ours.

All of us are like the steward, handling for awhile the property of another. The Bible declares, "The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it." If it is true that which can be lost is not really owned (and it is), then not even our lives are our own. Then the steward was a slave. He belonged to his master.

"In Him we live and move and have our being." Life, breath, and all things come from Him.Our time, talents, and resources are all His, given by His grace and controlled by His providence. If we are Christians, we have accepted the fact that He is our loving Master, and we will give an accounting to Him.

Food for thought: People who embezzle their lives from God are stuck with what they stole. Life management is to do your best with what you have. It is to know that what we manage is not ours.

Law 3: The things we manage are not real.
In verse 11 is a heavy question: "So if you have not been trustworthy handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?" The wealth of this world is not real because it does not last.

The Bible says of one who lusts after the treasures of earth, "when he dies, he shall carry nothing away."

Successful life management is a matter of exchanging a life you cannot keep for a life you cannot lose. It is trading the temporary goods of this world for unending, secure treasure. No matter how much or how little you may have in ability, opportunity,or wealth, you can manage your life in such a way as to be really rich.

Maturity For The Next Level!!



Prophet Antonio Schroeder
"Kingdom Tabernacle Ministry International"
www.ktmiGlobal.tk/