Possessed by Our Possessions

Building off of last week’s article I’m expanding our discussion as it relates to Pure Joy and how our possessions impact or affect our quality of joy! In the past I have shared a message with the same title as this week’s article. The reason this subject is so important to me personally, as a follower of Jesus and as a Pastor, is it affects almost every one of us within the body of Christ. Last week Roger Albaneze was our guest speaker and I mentioned to a few individuals that everything he owns, in life, fits into his Toyota Corolla. Rodger is going to be spending a few weeks (possibly months) on the West Coast and I asked him where he was storing all of his items(possessions) until he figured out where he would be permanently living in this season of his ministry. He said, “Joe everything I own is in the trunk of my car”. It is a very sobering thought because I couldn’t fit everything in my church office in the back of my car. Am I suggesting we rid ourselves of all earthly possessions? Absolutely not. What I’m asking you is to consider the five questions from last week and think about how they relate to your possessions. Question 1 asked if we desire pure joy in our life? If our answer is yes, we must realize our pure joy does not come from the pursuit of things (possessions). Question 3 fits perfectly, what situations are we dealing with currently where we are so consumed by the shifting of stuff (possessions)? All this stuff we have swallows up so much of our free time. Question 5 asked, does serving the body of Christ cause your joy to increase or decrease? Once again, if we are consumed by our possessions we will begin to justify our absence because we’re just so busy. We’re busy doing “other things” which quite often means taking care of all of our possessions. Let me clearly state you should enjoy fishing, snowmobiling, sporting events, camping, painting, sightseeing, decorating, woodworking, the list goes on and on. Here is the critical point; you can’t do all of those activities all of the time and still be able to serve the Lord and find pure joy. You will be possessed by your possessions.

Here are five practical applications to help and encourage you in reducing your feeling of being possessed your possessions.

[if !supportLists]1. [endif]If you have boxes in storage which you have not opened in 10 years it’s time to donate them to the charity of your choice.

[if !supportLists]2. [endif]If your clothes do not fit in your closet and dresser you need to donate the excess to someone else, or a charity. Let’s be real honest when you lose the weight (which I hope you do) you’re going to end up getting new items.

[if !supportLists]3. [endif]When spending money on things, other than food and shelter which sustains life, you should ask the Holy Spirit anytime you spend more than $20. “Do I really need this?” Read Luke 12:16-34 daily until you see progress.

[if !supportLists]4. [endif]Anything in your garage (gentlemen) which you have at least three of the same, consider giving the third, fourth or fifth one to someone who does not have those resources. (Don’t forget Harry Wester lost everything in a shop fire and you should just ask him if he could use any of your extra.)

[if !supportLists]5. [endif]This Christmas consider only a few quality gifts to each child or grandchild, and seriously consider one of those items having Eternal Significance.