Beware!!!!!!!!! Putting Money ahead of God............ My Testimony.

As I read Psalm 52 last night it reminded me of the grace and mercy that the Lord has showm me over the years. Though all of the psalm does not apply to me, the man written about in this psalm and I had a very common problem. Both he and I at one time trusted in our wealth rather than God. First I will share his story, then I'll share mine's, so that we can appreciate the mercy of our GOD.



Psalm 52(KJV)



1.) Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually.

2.) Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs: like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.

3.) Thou lovest evil more that good; and lying rather than to speak righteoousness. Selah.

4.) Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.

5.) God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Se-lah.

6.) The righteous also shall see it and fear, and shall laugh at him.

7.) Lo,this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches , and strengthened himself in his widkedness.

8.) But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.

9.) I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.



Now on to my story. By the grace of God I had a successful career for several years. I felt pretty good about myself being self- sufficient. I had the job I loved, made pretty good money, and was able to treat myself often to things that I liked. Instead of continuing to keep God first, eventhough I was a tither, I liked the idea that at certain times of the month I was in complete control of the amount of overtime I worked which meant an increase in my paycheck. I loved the way my check looked after many hours of overtime because that meant more money to spend. Growing up having to do without some necessities and also being insecure this was a pretty good deal to me. As a teen I swore to myself that I would work hard as an adult and never allow my children or myself to struggle as in my childhood. Having many problems in an unequally yoked marriage made me strive even more to be strong and independent. In order to do this sometimes I worked about 10 hours a day outside the home during weekdays, and as much as possible on Saturday and Sunday. It got to the point where I was so obsessed with meeting a deadline and increasing my paycheck that I sat outside of the church doing paperwork, twice and I missed the whole service. Not only did I put God on the backburner, but this took precious time away from my teen son who needed me. When I felt that I was on top of the world, the Lord in his great mercy allowed me to be broken and I must say that was the best thing that could have happened to me. With all of this going on I could not see how the enemy was sowing within me a spirit of Pride. Now we know that the word tells us that pride goes before destruction. Before the plunge downward the Lord spoke to me and told me to come back to Him my first love. I remembered the sweet times of fellowship the LORD and I had together over 20 years ago when I first became a christian, and I began to long to experience that joy again. After a year of grieving over my job loss God made me realized that it was time to let it go and move on. He showed me other blessings I now had tme for that I did not prioritize before. I began to thank God for getting me off that path and placing my feet back on the path of Life. Not only have I learned to depend on God and see him as my Source, but my realationship with Him is much deeper. I now work for Him, and I am back in my youngest son's life again and it is making quite a difference. Spending much time alone, he was defintely headed in the wrong direction. By God's intervention I can now instruct him in the ways of righteous. What could have ended up as a disaster, God turned it around for my good. I was also had to be a primary caretaker for my mother who became ill shortly after losing my job. I was able to spend time with my aunt who passed away in March of this year after battling cancer and used me to encourage others. Also during this time I was able to spend precious time with my father who passed in October of this year. I am and forever will be grateful to our Precious Lord and Saviour Jesus, for what he has done and is doing in my life today. God is good and He definitely knew better than I. I am so grateful to Him for his patience, kindness, mercy and for caring enough for me to give me another chance--placing my feet back upon the RIGHT PATH. I am truly satisfied seeking His will and allowing myself to be used by Him. There is no greater reward in life than to work for Jesus.