Episode 146-Riches. Don’t Trust Them.

Speaker 1:

It is time for a pause in your day. Welcome to a podcast where we press the pause button on our busy

lives for a few moments, and we focus on God’s word with Sharon and Nicole, we pray this is a time of

refreshing for you. The Sweet Selah Moments Podcast is a cooperative production of Word Radio and

Sweet Selah Ministries.

Nicole:

Welcome to Sweet Selah Moments. We’re celebrating 10 seasons of sharing God’s word with you. And

this season is our Selah season. This is episode 146, Riches, Don’t Trust Them. We humans can put way

too much trust in money, can’t we? We often feel that all our troubles would go away if we just had a little

more. We’re going to talk about that today. But first, because this is our Selah season, we’re going to talk

about our Selah word for the day, the tip we have to help us all practice pausing and simply being with the

God who loves us. So far, we’ve talked about Silence, going Slow, Solitude, Selah days and Sleep.

Sharon, what’s next?

Sharon:

Today’s word is Scripture. Reading the Bible, memorizing key verses, and then meditating on them is a

wonderful way to stop and Selah for a moment. My personal favorites, The Lord’s Prayer and Psalm 23, I

can’t tell you how many times I’ve recited them to calm myself down and just be still a moment. When I

need a reset, that’s where I get it. I recite one of my favorites. And then random verses too help me. And

I’m so thankful for all the memory work I did earlier, because things like, ‘And lo I will be with you

always’ come to mind when I’m feeling very alone. And I’m like, oh, wait, no, I’m not. There he is. Or, I

love this one, ‘I have engraved you on the palm of my hand’. You know, he doesn’t forget me. He wrote

me in his palms, you know? Or this is a great one when I feel separated, ‘Neither death nor life, neither

angels nor demons, neither our fears for today, nor our worries about tomorrow. Not even my worries.

Not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.’ Huh. Take that Satan. Right?

Nicole:

Exactly.

Sharon:

I mean, scripture can be so helpful. Or here’s a great one. When I feel like I’m being condemned by the

enemy, ‘There is now therefore no condemnation in Christ Jesus’. I could go on and on.

Nicole:

I love that one. Yeah.

Sharon:

I mean, honestly, you get a selah whenever you stop and meditate on a scripture. (Nicole: Mm-hmm) So

whether it’s my morning quiet time that grounds me, and boy it does, Id love my morning quiet time every

day. Or if it’s a spur of the moment, stop and recite, (Yeah) you know, or put myself to sleep saying ‘the

Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want’, God’s word, scripture soothes, another S word there. (Ooh) and

convicts and reminds me like nothing else. (Oh, absolutely.) I love scripture. (Yeah) And that’s at the

heart really of what we practice when we do Selah.

Nicole:It’s so true though. I think if we try to Selah or rest without it, it’s just not a Selah. It’s not a God Stop

Pause. I’ve had a spa day, just one. I got a facial once and I was so excited to have this big restful moment

and childcare got confused. I was late going back. The world kind of blew up back and I remember going

like, I wasted it. It didn’t work. The happy relaxed feeling didn’t stay with me. Or going to like the

chiropractor or a massage, I’m always really careful afterward not to mess up what’s been done, but it, it

doesn’t last.

Sharon:

Right.

Nicole:

It doesn’t last. I mean, those are all important and lovely things on their own. (Sharon: Yeah) But when I

stop in my time with God, and when I read his words for me, it stays with me, Sharon.

Sharon:

It does.

Nicole:

The verse will come back again later that day. I’ll tell Josh about it as it comes up. Yesterday I had read

something in the morning and it was so interesting to me. And then by supper, that time with the kids that

night, it came up naturally. It’s like, oh, you guys guess what I read in the Bible today about God’s word.

And then I was able to share, and then my kiddos heard it. So it stays with you. It’s so important. And like

you said, the things that you memorize God brings to mind when I can’t whip out my Bible (Right) and,

you know, read something. I was in an MRI tube and I couldn’t bring my Bible with me. But he brought

so many scriptures to my mind, Sharon. (Aw, I love it.) And I hadn’t even rehearsed or planned that, okay,

when I’m nervous, I’m gonna say these 10 verses, he just sent them to me.

Sharon:

Nicole, that is so lovely.

Nicole:

much as we should.

It was so beautiful. Scripture is so powerful. It’s such a gift from him that we don’t really appreciate as

Sharon:

I absolutely agree with you. Yes. And when we go back to it, it settles us.

Nicole:

Oh, absolutely.

Sharon:

So beautifully. Yeah. I love our new Tuesday talk format. Kate Miller is having us memorize a Bible

verse a month. Oh, I love it. It is so good. (Nicole: Yeah) She’s pounding new scriptures into our head and

then they become a Selah moment when we stop and think about them together.

Nicole:Absolutely.

Sharon:

Yeah. Or alone.

Nicole:

Yeah. Oh, that’s so good.

Sharon:

I love it. I love it. Sometimes I change them like, the Lord is my Shepherd. I’ll make it a prayer for

myself. (Nicole: Yeah) You are my Shepherd, Lord. I shall not want, you make me lie down in green

pastures. You lead me beside still waters. (Oh, you personalized that.) God, you restore my soul. You

know, and then, just personalizing them and just remembering just how wonderful he is. So, yay

scripture.

Nicole:

life with us.

Yes. It makes those Selah days, those Selah hours with God just last so much more. That just comes into

Sharon:

Exactly. Right.

Nicole:

So definitely scripture on your Selah days.

Sharon:

Definitely. Yeah. Self-care is another category.

Nicole:

It is. And it’s so important.

Sharon:

That’s more the spa day. (Nicole: Yeah) And that’s cool too. It’s not like it’s bad. (No) But, it’s not Selah

the way we use the word. (Yep) The way we use the word, it’s with the Lord intentionally. And that, you

know, how does he speak to us through scripture. And through his spirit. So, yeah. Alright.

Nicole:

Oh, so good.

Sharon:

Well, let’s look at some actual scripture. How about that?

Nicole:

Mm-hmm. I love it.

Sharon:Today we’re studying Psalm 49, and as always, we’re gonna read until we come to a Selah, or interlude

signal in the Psalm, and then we’ll stop and discuss. So Nicole, start us off on Psalm 49.

Nicole:

Alright. Psalm 49 “For the choir director, a psalm of the descendants of Korah. Listen to this all you

people. Pay attention everyone in the world, high and low, rich and poor, listen. For my words are wise

and my thoughts are filled with insight. I listen carefully to many proverbs and solve riddles with

inspiration from my harp. Why should I fear when trouble comes, when enemies surround me? They trust

in their wealth and boast of great riches. Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death by paying a

ransom to God. Redemption does not come so easily, for no one can ever pay enough to live forever and

never see the grave. Those who are wise must finally die. Just like the foolish and senseless, leaving all

their wealth behind. The grave is their eternal home where they will stay forever. They may name their

estates after themselves, but their fame will not last. They will die just like animals. This is the fate of

fools, though they are remembered as being wise. Selah” Well, there’s a lot in here.

Sharon:

There surely is. I can’t wait to hear you unpack it.

Nicole:

It’s like, this was a big one!

Sharon:

Actually, you got the biggest one. You’re welcome.

Nicole:

Oh, so thanks. So he starts out saying, this advice is for everyone. Listen all you people, rich or poor, high

or low, doesn’t matter. This is good advice. And then he kind of like clouts his own merits here. Like, I’ve

listened carefully to many proverbs and solved riddles. So he seems like he knows what he’s talking

about. (Sharon: Uh-huh) With inspiration from a harp so maybe music helps him think better.

Sharon:

I was like, I have never ever tried to solve a riddle with a harp.

Nicole:

I thought that was so funny. Like, maybe it calms him and then he’s able to think more clearly. But that

was a funny little thing he put in there.

Sharon:

I thought that was really hysterical. Yeah.

Nicole:

So it must be for some reason it’s in the scripture. So he establishes himself as a wise person to listen to.

And he’s very honest about our fate. He is honest about, you know, whether they’re enemies, wise or

foolish too. It’s kind of a little, a little bleak, but he is very honest. It doesn’t matter where you are coming

from life, you can’t escape death. You cannot outthink it. You cannot pay for it. You are spending all this

time accumulating wealth, naming your estates after yourselves, passing it on so you can be remembered

in your fame. It’s all for nothing. It’s all gonna fade away. It’s worthless. His one little exciting redemptionthing here is where he says, why should I fear when trouble comes, when enemies surround me? You

know, I will put my hope in Christ. So that’s his only really happy, hopeful moment in this.

Sharon:

Yes.

Nicole:

The rest is all kind of a little dreary.

Sharon:

A little dreary, it is.

Nicole:

I’m hoping it picks up in your sections.

Sharon:

Oh my goodness. Yeah. But he’s established pretty clearly that it doesn’t really matter in the end, Job said

this, ‘Naked I came into the world and naked I shall leave it’.

Nicole:

Yep. But as we’re talking about riches and not trusting them clearly you can’t trust them.

Sharon:

No. You cannot.

Nicole:

You’re showing showing in several places,

Sharon:

They’re not gonna prop you up and keep you alive.

Nicole:

No, there’s nothing you can do. You can try and think you’re secure, but you’re just fooling yourself.

Sharon:

Yep. Exactly.

Nicole:

The wise die. The foolish die. And you have nothing to take with you.

Sharon:

There you go.

Nicole:

So there’s your happy thought for today.Sharon:

Thank you, Nicole. Passing it on to you, Sharon.

Nicole:

Yes.

Sharon:

Yeah. Well, I think too often, people don’t wanna think about how they’re gonna end.

Nicole:

That’s true.

Sharon:

And yet we need to. Eternity is reality. And the reality is we are going to live forever somewhere and

(Nicole: Right) so, you know, we absolutely won’t live on this earth the way it is now. And our bodies

absolutely will crumble.

Nicole:

Yeah, back to dust again.

Sharon:

Yeah. Back to dust again. You know, you can do it quickly if you’re cremated or slowly if you’re not, but

they’re gonna be just dust particles in the end.

Nicole:

Yeah. Well, and we do, we get so stuck on like the day to day and what we’ve done, and Oh, well look at

all the wealth I have and the accomplishments and this and that, that we do forget that this is such a

fleeting, (Sharon: It is) passing thing. (Yeah, exactly.) We’re all gonna die like animals. (Yeah) Like the

wise and the foolish, we all die at the end of the day.

Sharon:

We all die. And the sooner we realize it, the sooner we live wisely.

Nicole:

That’s true.

Sharon:

Right. So good.

Nicole:

That’s a precious thing. Right.

Sharon:

Alright, well, continuing the depressing for a little bit in my section, it says “Like sheep, they are led to

the grave where death will be their shepherd. In the morning (talking about the fools from your passage,in the morning) the godly will rule over them, their bodies will rot in the grave far from their grand

estates. But as for me, God will redeem my life. He will snatch me from the power of the grave.” Oh

wow!

Nicole:

That’s a good one.

Sharon:

This is Old Testament, Nicole. This is pre-Jesus’ resurrection.

Nicole:

Oh, that’s right.

Sharon:

It’s just so fun. Oh man. I just love this so much because, death is our last enemy. (Nicole: Mm-hmm) It

really is. You know? And, death is an enemy. I kind of like that, you know, as I talking to my friend

whose husband just died, I was able to say to her, death’s an enemy. You know, God says it’s an enemy.

It’s not like you have to go ‘yay, death’.

Nicole:

Right.

Sharon:

It’s not good. Jesus conquered it. (Nicole: Yeah) That’s why he came. Jesus conquered it by dying. Jesus

has experienced death. Huh. (Wow) And then he kicked it. Oh my goodness. So, I’m gonna read, because

I love this passage so much, and it kind of affirms what David says about the fact that, as for me, because

I’ve received what Christ did for me, I will be redeemed. I will not rot in the grave. Well, my body might,

but hey, I’m getting a new one. (Right) So here we go. This is Paul. He spends a long time in 1

Corinthians 15 talking about death, and I will not read all 58 verses.

Nicole:

Okay, skim them.

Sharon:

Even though I actually love them all. I’m gonna just read 51 to 57. It says this. “Let me reveal to you a

wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we’ll all be transformed. It will happen in a moment, in the blink

of an eye when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be

raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be

transformed into bodies that will never die. Our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.

Then when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this scripture will be

fulfilled” (And this is again from the Old Testament) “Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death,

where’s your victory? Oh, death, where’s your sting?” (It’s gone!) “For sin is the sting that results in death,

and the law gives sin it’s power, but thank God he gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord

Jesus Christ.” Huh!

Nicole:

Wow.Sharon:

Victory! Oh my goodness.

Nicole:

That’s beautiful.

Sharon:

You know how we talk about the gospel being good news?

Nicole:

Yeah.

Sharon:

What is better news than that?

Nicole:

You can’t get better news than that.

Sharon:

It just is incredible to me. And I just know it’s true that when I die, when my body dies, or if Jesus comes

back. (Nicole: Right) even then I’m not gonna keep the body I have now, which is a really good thing.

(Yeah) Because I have Meniere’s Disease, I can’t hear in one ear. I only have 70% word recognition in the

other. I’m really glad that God’s gonna fix that.

Nicole:

Oh yeah.

Sharon:

Because I would like to hear music well again. And I would like to hear all the words and not have to

smile and nod and hope I got the gist. It would be really good. The other day, I was teaching, doing a

teaching actually on my book ‘Held’ (Nicole: Oh yeah) the Psalms book. And I asked them to, you know,

write their verse out. (Mm-hmm) You know, they’d read a passage of scripture, I asked them to write their

verse out, and there’s all this noise. And I’m trying to write out my verse and I’m like, what in the world?

Why are they all talking? I just told them to do something. Finally, a very loud voice comes from the table

nearest me, ‘Sharon, where are we going to write our verse?’ (Oh) Nicole, for about two minutes women

all over were going, where should we write the verse? (Oh, no,) I’m answering no one.

Nicole:

You were in the zone.

Sharon:

I was in the zone. So just an example here of how I am looking forward to the new body.

Nicole:

Yeah. Oh, I hear you.Sharon:

So when I die, which most likely will be before you die, might not, but probably will be. When I die.

Would you please, I mean, you may cry, I give you full permission.

Nicole:

Oh, thank you.

Sharon:

But can you also cry tears of joy because I’ll finally hear music well.

Nicole:

Oh, that’ll be so beautiful.

Sharon:

And I’ll be with Jesus because (Nicole: Absolutely) I’m actually pretty excited about dying, well not the

dying part,

Nicole:

But the music in heaven, I hear it’s really good.

Sharon:

I’m so excited about the part when my soul leaves a crippled body and is whole.

Nicole:

Mm mm. Absolutely.

Sharon:

You know, my girls don’t like me to talk about it, so I hope they don’t listen to this podcast.

Nicole:

We’ll warn them.

Sharon:

They’re like, could you be a little less excited about leaving us? It’s not the leaving you.

Nicole:

No, no, no.

Sharon:

But it’s the fact that death does not have the last word. And that our bodies will be transformed.

Nicole:

We don’t have to fear it.

Sharon:No. And it has nothing to do with wealth, ’cause we’re actually talking about don’t trust in riches. It’s

nothing to do with wealth. It’s just because Jesus saved me. And then I’ll be in heaven with streets of gold.

It’ll be quite wealthy there.

Nicole:

You’re surrounded by all the wealth. Well we’re heirs with Christ so we inherit the kingdom of God.

Sharon:

Oh, I know.

Nicole:

That’s a lot of real wealth.

Sharon:

That’s a lot of awesomeness. So anyways, there is hope in the Old Testament with this verse, “God will

redeem my life. He will snatch me from the power of the grave”. David was looking ahead to the day

when Jesus died. And Jesus’ death saved David, even though David was born before Jesus. By that death,

he took the sins from the past and the sins from the future. He took all the sins of the world on himself.

Nicole:

Yes.

Sharon:

So, yay God. Yay Jesus.

Nicole:

Yay God. Exactly.

Sharon:

Your turn.

Nicole:

I’ll continue with the hope.

Sharon:

Sorry, I had to just take off on that for a bit.

Nicole:

No that’s so good. So the next section says, “So don’t be dismayed when the wicked grow rich and their

homes become ever more splendid, for when they die, they take nothing with them. Their wealth will not

follow them into the grave. In this life they consider themselves fortunate and they applaud for their

success. But they will die like all before them and never again see the light of day. People who boast of

their wealth don’t understand they will die just like animals.”

Sharon:

That’s pretty blunt. You know?Nicole:

I was thinking about like, why would he say just like animals, and I think about animals and I’ve lost

some little puppies before and it was really sad. And they just passed. That’s it. There’s no fanfare. There’s

nothing to remember. They just go. Or if they’re in the woods, you don’t even know.

Sharon:

Exactly.

Nicole:

They just die and pass away and become part of the earth again and life moves on.

Sharon:

Exactly.

Nicole:

And we’ll die just like animals. Obviously God cares very much for us and our souls go with him, but

(Sharon: Yes, yes) the event itself is just death. We just stop being.

Sharon:

It is. Yes. And I think that the drama in the what he’s saying, he’s trying to shake some sense into people

that are depending on their wealth.

Nicole:

Yes. Well, exactly. It’s so easy to watch the wicked grow wealthy. Plus I feel like in our culture, that’s

who’s in the news, way more it’s the wealthy doing all these scandalous things and getting richer. It’s like,

man, like why are the wicked prospering? And they just seem like they have it all.

Sharon:

Right. Right.

Nicole:

And they’re doing so great ’cause it’s not as exciting for a news story to hear about the good wealthy

people that are, you know, feeding orphans and doing good.

Sharon:

Exactly.

Nicole:

It’s not as much of a story, but to be reminded here that that’s it. It doesn’t matter what they think. They

may say, Hey, we’re amazing and we’re wealthy and we have all this stuff. It doesn’t matter what they say,

they’re all still gonna die.

Sharon:

They are.

Nicole:And so to remember that again, that we’re not living for today and what we see today is not our eternal

reality. (Sharon: Exactly) There’s so much more ahead of us. (Exactly) And to hold onto to that so that we

don’t become dismayed. It’s so easy to become dismayed.

Sharon:

It is. It is.

Nicole:

You see wicked and like, well how come they’re doing so well? God, they’re not following you,

Sharon:

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. And how come I got all this trouble? Right,

Nicole:

Right, right. And I’m poor and I’m not, we can easily, I can easily slide into a pity party.

Sharon:

Yes. Yes, yes, yes.

Nicole:

So turning, David is quick to remind us to turn our attention to God because this isn’t gonna do it for us.

Wealth is not gonna save us.

Sharon:

It is not.

Nicole:

It’s not gonna make anything better.

Sharon:

No.

Nicole:

It’s not gonna make our days longer. And even having excessive wealth doesn’t rid us of troubles.

Sharon:

No, it does not. You’re still gonna get cancer. You’re still gonna have issues.

Nicole:

Right. You can’t pay enough money to avoid somebody you love dying.

Sharon:

Right. Yeah.

Nicole:We just don’t know.

Sharon:

Right.

Nicole:

We don’t see their whole life.

Sharon:

Right. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. And when you’re very wealthy, it’s hard to know who really likes you.

Nicole:

That’s true. So maybe there’s a lot more loneliness.

Sharon:

Yes.

Nicole:

Things never are as they seem.

Sharon:

Oh no, they’re not. Oh no, they’re not. So to invest in what will last forever, our soul, is so wise.

Nicole:

Yeah. Absolutely.

Sharon:

And then if the market crashes and all of a sudden, you know, your rich mansion, you know you have to

sell it or nobody will even buy it ’cause you’re in a depression or whatever, the core of who you are is still

there.

Nicole:

Right. Your character.

Sharon:

Right. And the core of who we are cannot be based on our wealth or our productivity. It has to be based

on our ‘us-ness’.

Nicole:

Yeah.

Sharon:

God loves us sick. God loves us healthy. You know?

Nicole:He does.

Sharon:

He just wants us with him.

Nicole:

Him. Yeah.

Sharon:

And that’s got to be our focus. It really does.

Nicole:

Well, and if we put all our energy into gaining wealth and being wealthy and being famous, and we’re not

investing in people and lives, no one’s gonna wanna help us if we have trouble, you know, if our house

does burn down. But if you’ve invested in, you’re following Christ and you’re investing in what matters,

and not trusting in wealth, you’re investing in people.

Sharon:

Yes.

Nicole:

And you’re developing relationships.

Sharon:

Yes.

Nicole:

And those are so much better than gold.

Sharon:

So much better. Absolutely.

Nicole:

They come around you in those troubles. So you can rely on people more than you can rely on your own

merits or your own wealth.

Sharon:

Absolutely.

Nicole:

Riches. Don’t trust them.

Sharon:

Don’t trust them. Yep. Yeah. It was a pretty interesting little title there. “Riches. Don’t trust them.”Nicole:

Don’t trust them.

Sharon:

So, so we’ve kind of talked about the first question. What did we learn about riches from this passage?

And how do we apply it? I don’t know that we covered that as well. So you go first and then I’ll talk about

how I apply it.

Nicole:

So I think what we learned was not to place our hope or faith or love in riches because they don’t last.

(Sharon: Nope) I think that’s, you know, how we apply that, is just remembering that if I do have, if God

has blessed me with more than I need, thank him for it. And remember that it’s his.

Sharon:

Yes.

Nicole:

And ask, how can I use this to better your kingdom, God? How can I use this to bless others? So, you

know, and remembering that it can’t save us and that all of us will face the same end, rich or poor.

Sharon:

Rich or poor. That’s right.

Nicole:

We’re all gonna face God someday in the same way.

Sharon:

know?

Yes. Yes, we are. Yeah, yeah. Well, I wrote riches don’t last. The stuff can actually be a heavy load. You

Nicole:

It can.

Sharon:

You know, accumulation of stuff. I know some people that own two homes. I hate shopping. The thought

of having to furnish two homes gives me such a pit in my stomach.

Nicole:

Oh!

Sharon:

I don’t like maintaining houses either.

Nicole:

Yeah. It’s a lot of work.Sharon:

So. Yeah. I’m like, what? Who would want that? So it’s not a sin to be rich.

Nicole:

(No. Absolutely not.

Sharon:

But it is weighty. It’s easy to become self-absorbed when you can get whatever you want instead of

accepting, I always remember my friend (who was very wealthy) that wasn’t even satisfied with the way

they toasted her bread, (Nicole: Oh) at a restaurant and she sent it back three times until she got the toast

the way she wanted it.

Nicole:

Wow.

Sharon:

And she could do that. (Nicole: Right) You know, but you know, who cares how your toast is toasted?

You know, we can get so fussy, we only want a certain kind of water to drink and we only want a certain

kind of clothing to wear.

Nicole:

Right.

Sharon:

We get so self-absorbed.

Nicole:

We’re self-reliant where we don’t remember to ask God for our daily bread. (Sharon: Right) Or ask him

for things. (Right) Well, we can supply it ourselves. We don’t really need him.

Sharon:

We don’t need him. Yeah. Which is why Jesus said, it’s harder for rich man to enter the kingdom of

heaven than it is for camel to get through the eye of a needle.

Nicole:

Right.

Sharon:

You can’t do it without God. (Nicole: Yeah) But celebrating, in my mind, the rich people that do tons of

good (Oh yeah) with their money, you know, and then say, you gave me this and I’m still gonna wear

jeans and not care if my toast gets burned. (Right) You know, because I got more important things to do.

How can I invest this? How can I use this? How can I make other people’s lives better?

Nicole:

Right. They’re not trusting in their wealth.Sharon:

Right.

Nicole:

They’re using it as God gave it to them.

Sharon:

That’s the key. They’re not trusting. Okay. Okay. So what was my favorite verse? My favorite verse was

verse 15. This will not surprise you, “But as for me, God will redeem my life. He will snatch it from the

power of the grave.” Ha ha grave. You do not get me. I’m just gonna go up to heaven. You do whatever

you want with this broken body. So I love that verse.

Nicole:

Me too. That’s what I picked too, because it was rather a bleak one.

Sharon:

What, you did too?

Nicole:

I did. I was like, oh, I need a good hopeful verse. “But as for me, God will redeem my life.” And I love

that because even if I mess it up and squander it, which I do make mistakes, God redeems, he buys it

back. I can’t mess this up. Whatever I do, God knows and he’s redeemed it and he snatched me from the

power of the grave. I’ll have to face the grave. He already faced it. He already broke it. I’m going to go

through death, but the power is gone.

Sharon:

It’s gone.

Nicole:

He snatched me away. I love that word. Snatched away.

Sharon:

Yeah. Isn’t that wonderful? It’s like you don’t get her. Not my daughter.

Nicole:

No. Not like a gentle leading away. He’s just like, Nope, this is not happening.

Sharon:

Exactly so. Exactly so.

Nicole:

It’s a fun verse. I like it.

Sharon:And I have had a couple of incredible encounters at the end of people’s lives. (Nicole: Yeah) When

they’ve seen Jesus, where their whole face is lit up. And I just know, but know (Yeah) that even before

that last breath, sometimes he shows up. (Oh yeah) He shows up. He did for Stephen, the first martyr.

Nicole:

That’s right.

Sharon:

He’s getting pummeled with stones. He’s not yet dead ’cause he speaks after this. He says, look, I see him,

Nicole, he saw him.

Nicole:

Oh.

Sharon:

And then he’s like, whatever you wanna do to me is fine because my soul’s leaving my body.

Nicole:

Jesus is right there, I see him.

Sharon:

Yeah. Yeah.

Nicole:

Oh I love that.

Sharon:

So it’s wonderful, victorious news. It really, really is. So what did we learn about God from this passage?

Well, I learned that he’s not impressed by riches.

Nicole:

No.

Sharon:

And God is not bribe-able, you can’t bribe him. You can’t get a better seat in heaven, because you are rich.

Nicole:

Yeah. You can’t send for him. Wait, wait, here’s some money. I want more time on Earth. You can’t.

Sharon:

Nope, nope, nope, nope. I learned that about God. And I just love remembering that it’s his grace that

saves not our riches. You know? And grace is undeserved favor. (Nicole: Yeah) Which is what you were

saying before that, you know, even if I mess up, if I’m his kid, (Yeah) he doesn’t break his promises to us.

Even if we break some of ours to him.

Nicole:Mm-hmm. We don’t even want it then, because when we’re there, he’s the treasure.

Oh, that’s true. Because like, you go to someone to meet a king or somebody great like,

Boy, am I so thankful for that.

Sharon:

Oh man. Yeah. He cannot deny himself. It says he is faithful even when we are not. And I’m just so

grateful for that. So grace brings us to heaven. Not our stuff. And not our doings. But what’s nice about

doing for him is that we get a crown and we get to lay it at his feet.

Nicole:

Sharon:

Yeah. But how fun to have something to lay at his feet.

Nicole:

Sharon:

You have something to bring him.

Nicole:

The Creator of the universe, and I’m like, I have nothing. (Sharon: Yeah) And then we have something.

(Yeah) Aw, that’s really cool.

Sharon:

Isn’t that the fun-est thought?

Nicole:

I just kind of wondered why that whole process, but I never realized Sharon:

Like, why are you giving me a crown if you are just gonna take it?

Nicole:

Right. Okay. Yeah.

Sharon:

I think it’s, you’re gonna want, when you see this awesome King, and you recognize like, we can’t right

now, the extent of the sacrifice.

Nicole:

Oh yeah.

Sharon:

you did?

You’re gonna wanna give him something. And if you’ve lived a life where there’s some paltry good things

that ?Nicole:

Right.

Sharon:

You know, it didn’t get you into heaven, you’re in heaven either way. Yeah. But you can take that crown

that you have for the things you did and you can say, it wasn’t much. I could have done so much more. I

see that now, but here, here.

Nicole:

Here’s the life I led for you.

Sharon:

This is what I did.

Nicole:

Yeah.

Sharon:

Yeah. Isn’t that sweet?

Nicole:

Aw, I love that.

Sharon:

dying.

So, so that’s why it’s better to accept Jesus as a kid and not wait till you’re dead, dying, well, not dead,

Nicole:

Definitely before you’re dead, please.

Sharon:

Yes, definitely before you’re dead. But you know, in your last days, you’re every bit as welcome. But you

don’t have, you can’t bring with you other people that you’ve brought to the Lord. You can’t bring with

you the good things you’ve done in the name of Jesus.

Nicole:

That’s true.

Sharon:

no.

So that’s the advantage, you know, to people. I can ask God in my heart later. No, no, no, no, no, no, no,

Nicole:

Don’t wait till the end.Sharon:

Don’t wait, don’t wait, don’t wait.

Nicole:

Because there’s gonna be regret for the, yeah. (Sharon: Yeah, yeah) Well, that’s a good way to what I

learned. There truly is only One who can give our life meaning. And that’s God. We can’t make meaning

of our own life and make it worthwhile with wealth or with accolades or anything else. Only God can

truly give our life meaning.

Sharon:

Yes.

Nicole:

We’ll still face death, but it doesn’t hold power over us anymore. Doesn’t keep us. Praise God.

Sharon:

Praise God! Riches, Don’t Trust Them.

Nicole:

Don’t trust them.

Sharon:

Okay, well, let’s pray. Oh, heavenly Father, thank you for what you have given us. And compared to most

of the world, I know that, I would be viewed in my little ranch house as wealthy beyond measure. Forgive

me Lord, when I want more, when I already have so much more than so many do. Lord, help us to use the

riches you’ve given us for your glory. Help us to not depend on them, to not to depend on anything except

the grace that saves us and your love that never leaves. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Nicole:

Wow, what a lot to digest today. How do you handle thoughts of money and riches? Has this psalm

helped with your perspective? We would love to know. You can find us at sweetselah.org/podcast or you

can email us sh****@********ah.org. Join our podcast family by donating and becoming a podcast

partner by going to sweetselah.org/donations. Hearing from our listeners or reading a review makes our

day, please consider helping us out. In any case, we hope you’ll be back next time for episode 147,

Betrayal. Ever been betrayed by someone close to you? That hurts a lot. We’ll talk about that in the next

episode. For now, thanks so much for listening and have a wonderful day.

Speaker 1:

We are so glad you stopped for a while with us. The Sweet Selah Moments Podcast is a cooperative

production of Word Radio and Sweet Selah Ministries. More information about this podcast can be found

at sweetselah.org. Thank you for joining us.