The True Master

Ted Turner, of CNN, once said, "Who would want to go to heaven? Heaven will be boring; there will be nothing to improve in heaven. Hell would be better for him because he could improve things down there."

The poor man, though he is rich in this earth, doesn’t know about heaven or hell.

Hell can't be improved; and heaven will allow us to exercise all our creativity and savvy which was given to us at creation which we lost. Mr. Turner's riches are blinding him from accepting God's solution to his life.

"No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." In fact, the only way you can keep from serving wealth is by serving God. Would you like to be released from the prison of money?

Go to my website (www.rameshrichard.com) and we can continue this discussion.

Freedom from Money

Just like prison quenches normal life--marital life, family life, work life, business life, so does money.

How does one get out of this prison system of money?

First, take the right attitude towards money. Money is not evil; the love of money is evil. Money is not a prison; the love of money makes it a prison.

Second, treat money rightly. Money is a wonderful servant but a horrible master.

Third, remember you can't take it with you forever. When the world's richest man, John D. Rockefeller died, his accountant was asked, "how much did he leave behind?" He paused a moment and said, "everything; and all of it." You can't take it with you.

Fourth, look to God to provide for your needs. God can give you joy, peace, stability or hope; God can restore relationships to health; God can guarantee the future--your future forever. God can give you forgiveness. God can release you from money.

False Security

Money wants to be the focus of your life. It lays down its own rules. When your convictions conflict with it, it reminds you that you are in prison, and who the jail keeper is. Therefore, you must obey it; not the other way around. After all, prison wardens never yield to prisoners.
The human being is so resilient that he will adjust to any situation--good or bad; and even try to make the bad good. This too happens in prison. Prisoners attempt to start enjoying prison as their way of handling the difficulties of prison. That says much about the prisoner's characteristics, but not much about the prison.

It’s the same way with money, the jail keeper. Since you are willing to adjust to its rule and role, you will eventually start making peace with it and liking your prison status.

Money gives a false-sense of well-being--illusion, of self-sufficiency in prison. I can introduce you to the only one who can set you free.

The Master

Most prison walls have a negative connotation. Money's walls have a positive connotation on the surface, at the beginning, but have negative effect eventually.


Anything that is addictive has this kind of an effect. When we start out with an addictive entity, we think we are completely in control--we'll talk about the prison of bad habits later--but then it ends up controlling us. Money is an addictive prison master. We end up liking our own prison master. That's even more dangerous than not believing that there are no prison walls.

Now, money itself is not bad. But the pursuit of money as the answer to your situation is evil. The love of money is evil. To give money the character of god is evil.

Did you know that money asks to be "loved?" It takes on personal qualities. We ought to love people and use money. Instead, we start loving money and using people.

To give money a personality is to make it a prison master.

Money Prison

Benjamin Franklin was known to have said, "He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money."

Think through that statement. It is the fundamentalist belief of money religion. I would like to make that statement stronger. "He who thinks money can do anything, will do anything for money!" If you are willing to do anything for money, you are in the prison of money.

This is one prison we like. Because it is the only prison, in which we think we have power inside the prison.

The prison walls of money are not a sham. They are invisible, but they really are there. We start believing there are no such walls, and behaving like there are no such walls, only to find ourselves so deeply entrenched in the money-prison. The rest of your life is simply spent, generating and spending money. You wake up one morning to justify the day, having won the whole world but having lost your own soul.

Tempted by Success

Success; it’s a temptation, it’s an intoxicant, it is a trap. It is a sedative, it is a palliative, it is addictive. It is seductive, it is confusing, it is appealing.

Success is the all pervasive assumption and ability of contemporary modern men and women. We believe we have a right to it, whatever it is, at whatever cost. We never question its validity, because it gives us vitality. Success equals life. What is a life without success?


If you ask a man on the street to define success. He would define it in terms of prestige, power, and possessions or in some combination of them. You would notice that prestige; power and possessions connect to each other coherently, consistently. Those who carry prestige, also own power and possessions. Those who hold power hold prestige and possessions. And those who have access to possessions gain power and prestige from them.

But can success bring you salvation?

Rescued

A British sailor became trapped in the mud of the Thames Estuary in London. He suddenly remembered that he had a mobile phone to overcome his immobility. He dialed for help and summoned a rescuer. He was rescued just as the high tide was lapping around his neck.

Trying to live by good laws is like trying to swim in high tide with the water lapping around your neck.



You try every maneuver they teach you in the swimming classes that you ought to use, but you are about to be drowned. All you need to do is call for help to the one who has beaten the law problem, the tide problem.

You too have become immobile and imprisoned by the law. You can't get out of this entrapment. You want out. But you can dial God’s Son for help. He is known as the rescuer, the redeemer, the releaser. Just as high tide is lapping around your neck, you can be rescued.