What are some luxuries in your life? Have you let them go?

Are you willing to give them up? The Story Matthew 19, Mark 10 Luke 18 combined
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As Jesus started on his way, a ruler ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. Good teacher, he asked, what good thing must I do to inherit eternal life?

Jesus replied, Why do you call me good? Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only One who is good. No one is goodexcept God alone. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments. Which ones? he inquired. You know the commandments: You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother and love your neighbor as yourself.[d]
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Teacher, he declared, all these I have kept since I was a boy.

Jesus looked at him and loved him. You still lack one thing, he said. If you want to be perfect, go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.
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At this the mans face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and amazed and asked, Who then can be saved? Jesus looked at them and said, With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
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Then Peter spoke up, We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us? Truly I tell you, Jesus replied, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fieldsalong with persecutionsand in the age to come will inherit eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
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The Man s words and actions tell us a story of the hold that riches have.

He ran up to Jesus The man is serious and wants to do what is right in his heart. Later we see that Jesus recognizes this when it says He loved him . He asks a good question What good thing must I do to inherit eternal life?

Jesus answers the question with three questions: Why do you call me good (recognize Jesus is God), Why do you ask me about what is good? (This is laid out in the commandments that Jesus then quotes all but two are from the 10 commandments, but all of them are related to human interaction, not interaction with God. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. No other Gods No images No misuse Sabbath Parents - Yes Murder - Yes Adultery - Yes Stealing - Yes Lying -Yes Coveting Love Neighbor as yourself (Lev 19) Mt 19 Do not defraud (Lev 19) Mk 10

The third question is in response to the man s question Which ones? This says that he is more than willing to leave out a few to focus on the letter of what he should do. Jesus is focusing not on the man s sincerity with God, but on the man s sincerity with his neighbor what is keeping him from eternal life? Brings up an interesting quandary, y y Can you inherit eternal life by only loving God and not your neighbor? What does it mean to love your neighbor?

Jesus tests the man s level of love for his neighbor (the last command mentioned) by showing him what stands in the way of loving his neighbor. 1 John 3:16ff
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
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This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and
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do what pleases him. 23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps Gods commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

Wealth y y y y y Income y y y 80% of the populations makes $10 day 50%+ live on $2 a day 20% live on $1.25 a day 1% of the world owns 40% of the global assets 2% owned 51% 5% owned 71% 10% owned 85% 50% of the world population owns less than 1% of the global assets

How much do you have? y y y y y $500,000 to be in the top 1% $61,000 to be in the richest 10% Median American income $31,111 Average world income - $7,000. Only 19% of the world makes this much though Median income, $2,200

If you make $30,000, you are in the top 15%

Global Priority Cosmetics in the United States Ice cream in Europe Perfumes in Europe and the United States Pet foods in Europe and the United States Business entertainment in Japan Cigarettes in Europe Alcoholic drinks in Europe $U.S. Billions 8 11 12 17 35 50 105

You have excess y y y y How many of you have a garbage disposal? How many bags of trash do you throw out a week? How many phone lines do you have? Cell and land How many vehicles? Boats?

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How many items reside in your house that you have never used? Seldom use? How many pairs of shoes, shirts, pants have you not worn in 6 months+ How many TVs do you have? How much time do you spend watching them? If you ask the question, I might need it someday , The answer is, someone else might need it more today .