Latest / Bible Chat Devotional / March 29 - The True Measure of Wealth
Transcript
- 0:02Welcome to Bible Chat, where we have devotional conversations
- 0:06rooted in Scripture and relevant for today, March 29th.
- 0:11The true measure of wealth. It is easy to confuse appearance
- 0:14with value. We live in a world that
- 0:17constantly tells us to look successful, look impressive,
- 0:20look unbothered, look like we have it all together.
- 0:24People can seem rich in confidence, rich in status, rich
- 0:28in influence, and still be deeply empty inside.
- 0:32And other people may look ordinary, unnoticed, or simple
- 0:36while quietly carrying something far more valuable than anything
- 0:39money can buy. Proverbs chapter 13, verses 7 to
- 0:438 says one man pretends to be rich yet has nothing, another
- 0:48pretends to be poor yet has great wealth.
- 0:51That is such a revealing verse. God sees beyond appearances.
- 0:56He sees what is real. Real wealth is not just what is
- 0:59in your hand, it is what is in your heart.
- 1:02It is faithfulness, integrity, peace, wisdom, and a life
- 1:05aligned with Him. Those things may not always
- 1:09impress people, but they matter deeply to God.
- 1:13Then Judges. Chapters 17 to 18 show what
- 1:16happens when people chase what seems right in their own eyes
- 1:19instead of following the Lord. Idols were made.
- 1:22False worship was accepted. People took what was not theirs.
- 1:27They built their lives around what felt convenient, powerful
- 1:30or useful rather than what was holy.
- 1:32And the result was not peace. It was spiritual confusion and
- 1:36damage. That is what idols always do.
- 1:39They promised security, identity or satisfaction, but they cannot
- 1:43actually give life. Idols today may not always look
- 1:47like carved images. Sometimes they look like
- 1:50popularity, success, attention, relationships, money, approval,
- 1:55control. Anything we trust more than God
- 1:58can become an idol. Anything we chase at the cost of
- 2:02obedience can start to own our hearts.
- 2:04God invites us to measure life differently, not by what gets
- 2:08the most attention, but by what lasts.
- 2:11Not by what makes us look rich, but by what makes us spiritually
- 2:14healthy. Not by what feels impressive for
- 2:17a moment, but by what pleases him.
- 2:20True wealth is knowing God, walking with Him, and becoming
- 2:23the kind of person who reflects His character.
- 2:26That kind of wealth cannot be faked, and it cannot be stolen
- 2:30by trends, disappointment, or changing seasons.
- 2:33It holds steady because it is rooted in something eternal.
- 2:36Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for
- 2:40showing me that true wealth is found in You.
- 2:42Guard my heart from chasing things that look impressive but
- 2:45leave me empty. Help me to value faithfulness,
- 2:49wisdom, peace and integrity more than what the world celebrates.
- 2:54Reveal any idols that are competing for my heart and teach
- 2:57me to walk closely with you in truth and obedience in Jesus
- 3:00name, Amen. What if the most important
- 3:04question in your life deserves more than a shallow answer?
- 3:07Does God Exist is a powerful, thought provoking series that
- 3:11explores reality, meaning, and truth through reason, evidence,
- 3:15human experience, and scripture without preaching pressure or
- 3:19assumptions. Book 1, Something from Nothing,
- 3:22confronts the mystery of existence itself and asks why
- 3:25anything exists at all. Book 2, The Cause behind the
- 3:28Cosmos, examines the origin of the universe and whether it
- 3:31points beyond itself. Book 3, Design or Accident,
- 3:35wrestles with order and complexity.
- 3:37Are they products of chance or intelligence?
- 3:40Book 4, The Moral Signature, explores why objective right and
- 3:43wrong may require a source beyond human opinion.
- 3:46Book 5, The God We Cannot Escape, considers conscience,
- 3:50longing, and humanity's persistent awareness of God.
- 3:53Book 6, From Reason to Revelation, asks whether the God
- 3:56who exists would also speak. And Book 7, Denying God,
- 4:01examines the internal tensions of unbelief and the deeper
- 4:03implications of rejecting the divine.
- 4:06Written in clear, accessible language for seekers, skeptics,
- 4:09students, and curious minds, this series invites honest
- 4:12reflection and careful thinking. If you're ready to explore the
- 4:15question seriously, Order Does God Exist?
- 4:19On Amazon or visit prayerscripts.org today.
- 4:23Now I invite you to spend time with God in today's three-year
- 4:26Bible reading plan. Proverbs chapter 13, verses 7 to
- 4:318 World English Bible There are some who pretend to be rich yet
- 4:35have nothing. There are some who pretend to be
- 4:37poor yet have great wealth. The ransom of a man's life is
- 4:41his riches, but the poor here no threats.
- 4:43Judges chapters 17 to 18 World English Bible There was a man of
- 4:48the Hill Country of Ephraim whose name was Micah.
- 4:51He said to his mother, the 1100 pieces of silver that were taken
- 4:55from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke
- 4:58it in my ears. Behold, the silver is with me.
- 5:02I took it. His mother said May Yahweh bless
- 5:05my son. He restored the 1100 pieces of
- 5:08silver to his mother. Then his mother said, I most
- 5:11certainly dedicate the silver to Yahweh from my hand for my son
- 5:14to make a carved image and a molten image now, therefore I
- 5:18will restore it to you. When he restored the money to
- 5:21his mother, his mother took 200 pieces of silver and gave them
- 5:25to a silversmith who made a carved image and a molten image
- 5:28out of it. It was in the House of Micah.
- 5:31The man Micah had a House of gods, and he made an ephod and
- 5:34terraphim and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
- 5:38In those days there was no king in Israel.
- 5:41Everyone did that which was right in his own eyes.
- 5:44There was a young man out of Bethlehem, Judah, of the family
- 5:47of Judah, who was a Levite, and he lived there.
- 5:50The man departed out of the city, out of Bethlehem, Judah,
- 5:53to live where he could find a place, and he came to the Hill
- 5:56Country of Ephraim, to the House of Micah.
- 5:58As he traveled, Micah said to him, where did you come from?
- 6:02He said to him, I'm a Levite of Bethlehem, Judah, and I am
- 6:05looking for a place to live. Micah said to him, dwell with me
- 6:08and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you 10
- 6:11pieces of silver per year, a suit of clothing, and your food.
- 6:15So the Levite went in. The Levite was content to dwell
- 6:18with the man, and the young man was to him as one of his sons.
- 6:22Micah consecrated the Levite and the young man became his priest
- 6:25and was in the House of Micah. Then Micah said, Now I know that
- 6:29Yahweh will do good to me, since I have a Levite as my priest.
- 6:33In those days there was no king in Israel.
- 6:36In those days the tribe of the Danites sought an inheritance to
- 6:39dwell in, for to that day their inheritance had not fallen to
- 6:43them among the tribes of Israel. The children of Dan sent five
- 6:46men of their family from their whole number, men of valor, from
- 6:49Zora and from Eshtal, to spy out the land and to search it.
- 6:53They said to them, Go explore the land.
- 6:56They came to the Hill Country of Ephraim to the House of Micah
- 6:59and lodged there. When they were by the House of
- 7:01Micah, they knew the voice of the young man, the Levite.
- 7:04So they went over there and said to him, Who brought you here?
- 7:08What do you do in this place? What do you have here?
- 7:10He said to them, Thus and thus has Micah dealt with me, and he
- 7:13has hired me, and I have become his priest.
- 7:16They said to him, Please ask counsel of God, that we may know
- 7:19whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.
- 7:22The priest said to them, Go in peace.
- 7:24Your way in which you go is before Yahweh.
- 7:27Then the five men departed and came to Laish, and saw the
- 7:30people who were there, how they lived in safety in the way of
- 7:33the Sadonians, quiet and secure, for there was no one in the land
- 7:37possessing authority that might put them to shame in anything,
- 7:41and they were far from the Sadonians and had no dealings
- 7:44with anyone else. They came to their brothers at
- 7:46Zora and Eshtal, and their brothers asked them, What do you
- 7:50say? They said arise and let's go up
- 7:52against them, for we have seen the land and behold, it is very
- 7:55good. Do you stand still?
- 7:57Don't be slothful to go and to enter in to possess the land.
- 8:01When you go, you will come to an unsuspecting people, and the
- 8:04land is large, for God has given it into your hand, a place where
- 8:08there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.
- 8:11The family of the Danites set out from Zora and Eshtal with
- 8:14600 men armed with weapons of war.
- 8:17They went up and encamped in Koriath Jirim in Judah.
- 8:20Therefore they call that place Mahine Dan to this day.
- 8:24Behold, it is behind Koriathjiram.
- 8:26They passed from there to the Hill Country of Ephraim and came
- 8:30to the House of Micah. Then the five men who went to
- 8:32spy out the country of Laish answered and said to their
- 8:35brothers, Do you know that there is in these houses in Ephod and
- 8:39Tarifum, and a carved image and a molten image?
- 8:42Now, therefore, consider what you have to do.
- 8:45They went over there and came to the House of the young Levite
- 8:48man, even to the House of Micah, and asked him how he was doing.
- 8:52The 600 men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the
- 8:55children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate.
- 8:59The five men who went to spy out the land went up and came in
- 9:02there and took the engraved image, the ephod, the terraphim,
- 9:05and the molten image. And the priest stood by the
- 9:08entrance of the gate with the 600 men armed with weapons of
- 9:12war. When these went into Micah's
- 9:14house and took the engraved image, the ephod, the Terefim,
- 9:17and the molten image. The priest said to them, What
- 9:20are you doing? They said to him, Hold your
- 9:23peace, put your hand on your mouth and go with us.
- 9:25Be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be
- 9:28priest to the House of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and a
- 9:32family in Israel? The priest's heart was glad, and
- 9:35he took the ephod, the Terefim, and the engraved image and went
- 9:39with the people. So they turned and departed and
- 9:42put the little ones, the livestock, and the goods before
- 9:45them. When they were a good way from
- 9:47the House of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah's
- 9:50house gathered together and overtook the children of Dan.
- 9:53As they called to the children of Dan, they turned their faces
- 9:56and said to Micah, What ails you that you come with such a
- 9:59company? He said, You have taken away my
- 10:02gods, which I made, and the priest, and have gone away.
- 10:05What more do I have? How can you ask me what ails
- 10:08you? The children of Dan said to him.
- 10:10Don't let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows
- 10:13fall on you and you lose your life with the lives of your
- 10:15household. The children of Dan went their
- 10:18way, and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he
- 10:22turned and went back to his house.
- 10:24They took that which Micah had made and the priest whom he had,
- 10:27and came to layish to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and
- 10:31struck them with the edge of the sword.
- 10:33Then they burned the city with fire.
- 10:35There was no deliverer because it was far from Sidon and they
- 10:38had no dealings with anyone else, and it was in the valley
- 10:41that lies by Bait Rehab. They built the city and lived in
- 10:45it. They called the name of the city
- 10:47Dan after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel.
- 10:51However, the name of the city used to be Laish.
- 10:54The children of Dan set up for themselves the engraved image,
- 10:57and Jonathan the son of Jersham, the son of Moses, and his sons
- 11:01were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the
- 11:04captivity of the land. So they set up for themselves
- 11:07Micah's engraved image which he made, and it remained all the
- 11:11time that God's house was in Shiloh.
- 11:15Thanks for joining us on Bible Chat, where Scripture meets
- 11:18everyday life. If today's devotional encouraged
- 11:21you, share it with a friend and be sure to follow the podcast so
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- 11:27Until next time, stay rooted in truth, anchored in hope, and
- 11:30walking daily with Jesus.