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John D. Rockefeller said: "I have made many millions, but they have brought me no happiness. I would barter them all for the days I sat on an office stool in Cleveland & counted myself rich on three dollars a week."

W. H. Vanderbilt said: "The care of 200 million dollars is too great a load for any brain or back to bear. It is enough to kill anyone. There is no pleasure in it."

Wealthy businessman John Jacob Astor was a martyr to dyspepsia & melancholy who once said: "I am the most miserable man on earth."

Automobile king Henry Ford said: "Work is the only pleasure….I was happier when doing a mechanic's job."

Multimillionaire Andrew Carnegie once said: "Millionaires seldom smile."

“People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.” 1 Timothy 6:9

“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matthew 16:26

You've heard it a million time, "Money can't buy happiness." But I believe it can...but happiness is not what you want, because happiness can leave you true joy that only Christ can give will not. If you came up to me & gave me a million dollars...I guarantee you that I'd be happy. But if I lost it the next day, that happiness would be gone, but I'd still have the joy that Christ has given me.

We …& I say "we" because my wife & I have to be the worst people at handling money, better now than we use to be. When we first got married, we received a credit card offer in the mail, & low & behold we were per-approved. "Wow" we thought that must mean we have excellent credit & look 0% interest (note, always read the fine print). Well after a trip to the beach on our first real vacation together as a married couple, we came home with a maxed out card with 21% interest & a bottle of sand. We realized how stupid that was & cut up the card.

We were married in 93' our son was born in 96' & we finally paid that card off when he was about 3 or 4 years old. We ended up paying for two trips & taking only one.

Needless to say we stay away from major credit cards. But still we find ourselves in bind after bind….Why? How do they say it, "It's the nature of the beast", When we get a raise that will make ends meet, we shorten the ends with debt…. Why? We've got to have it now, "I need this", "I love this", "I've gotta have this"…that's the words you'll often hear at your local mall or Wal-Mart. We can't wait & no amount of money is enough.

I've learned over the short life that I've lived, that to be happy you must be content with what you've got.

"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:11-13

"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." Hebrews 13:5

"Then some soldiers asked him, 'And what should we do?' He replied, 'Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely—be content with your pay." Luke 3:14

"A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished." Proverbs 28:20

Be content with what God has given you. Instead of saying "Is this all I get" say "look at what the Lord has blessed me with" whether a lot or a little.

Vern

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