Jesus' Parable of the Treasure in Matthew 6:19-21 is designed to get us to evaluate the relative values of material wealth and 'treasures in heaven.'

Covetousness—wanting something with a deep, greedy, envious burning—has reached epidemic proportions. Covetousness is also idolatry.

Prosperity is not always an emblem of God's approval. God will not prosper us if it would cause spiritual damage, insulating us from seeking His kingdom.

God desires far more for us than mere satisfaction: He wants to give us real contentment, a state that comes only through a relationship with Him.

Everyone is out to acquire as much as possible for himself. The tenth commandment, however, governs this proclivity of human nature, striking at man's heart.

Coveting begins as a desire. Human nature cannot be satisfied, nothing physical can satisfy covetousness, and joy does not derive from materialism.

Everybody has the carnal habit of accumulating stuff, cluttering up both our physical surroundings, as well as the inner chambers of our minds.

'Affluenza' describes the bloated insensitivity caused by trying to keep up with the Joneses, the stress caused by doggedly pursuing the American Dream.

When we ask to be blessed, it should be exclusively on God's terms. What God has done in our lives is the best preparation for our future responsibilities.

Anxious care and foreboding are debilitating and faith-destroying. Meditating on what God has already done strengthens our faith and trust in God.

Wisdom can be defined as doing the right thing at the right time in the right way to the right measure. Wisdom is not given as a whole, but incrementally.

The true source of joy does not consist on any worldly commodity, or any self-centered, hedonistic pursuit, but instead a spiritual gift, bestowed by God.

Our love for beauty must be coupled with love for righteousness and holiness. Our relationship with Christ must take central place in our lives, displacing all else.

Having anxiety, foreboding and fretting about food, clothing, and shelter, or being distressed about the future, demonstrates a gross lack of faith.

The best way to attain true wealth and the abundant eternal life is to loosen our grip on worldly rewards and treasures, and single-mindedly follow Christ.

There are three basic causes for discontentment and three strategies to contentment, enabling us to emulate the apostle Paul's content state of mind.

Jesus taught that all outward sin stems from inner inordinate desire. What we desire or lust after automatically becomes our idol.

The prince of the power of the air is responsible for influencing the zeitgeist (dominant mindset of the time), pulling us away from God and His law.

Laodiceans are enthusiastic about being rich, becoming wealthy, and needing nothing. Life is good. They are content. They are zealous for the wrong things.

We must realize that God is sovereign over time all the time, even as it is running out for all of us. God works to make the most of every situation in our lives.

Coveting—lust—is a fountainhead of many other sins. Desiring things is not wrong, but desiring someone else's things promotes overtly sinful behavior.

The prophecy of Micah had a delayed effect, taking many years before a reformer emerged on the scene. Jeremiah's life was spared because of the memory of Micah.

The letters to the seven churches of Revelation warn of losing our first love, heeding false teachers, compromising God's Truth, and forgetting right doctrine.

The story of Esau and his selling his birthright for a bowl of soup is a cautionary tale for today. What we treasure will ultimately determine our destiny.

Our biggest danger at this time is to be lured into spiritual drunkenness by the pagan Babylonian system. Our God is not what we say we worship but whom we serve.

Laodiceanism is the attitude that dominates the end time. It is a subtle form of worldliness that has infected the church, and Christ warns against it strongly.

The people to whom Amos writes have the mistaken assumption that because they have made the covenant with God, they can bask in a kind of divine favoritism.

We should not seek material rewards under the New Covenant, though God may sometimes bless us physically. Our focus should be on spiritual rewards.

Biblical blessing transcends material wealth. Jesus blessed the poor, mourners, and persecuted, excluding the comfortably rich.

We must cleanse not only our physical spaces, but our minds, schedules, and hearts—removing distractions, negative thoughts, and emotional burdens.

Because we live in a troubling world, our reserves of joy are probably somewhat low, perhaps making us feel that we are deficient in God's Holy Spirit.

Solomon ruminates about life being seemingly futile and purposeless. A relationship with God is the only factor which prevents life from becoming useless.

We must fight against the world's pulls (including advertising), simplifying our lives, seeking quiet to meditate and build a relationship with God.