Daily Encounter: A Week-day Devotional by a staff of ACTS International.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."¹

Richard Halverson, former Chaplain of the Senate, in one of his bi-weekly devotional letters shared a quote from a book written by Alexander Fraser Tyler, who lived from 1748 to 1813, the book was titled: The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic.

Tyler wrote the following about democracy long before our own had been tested.

He said: "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the Public Treasury. From that moment on the majority always vote for the candidates promising the most benefits from the Public Treasury, with a result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy and is followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence:

    From bondage to spiritual faith;
    From spiritual faith to great courage;
    From courage to liberty;
    From liberty to abundance;
    From abundance to selfishness;
    From selfishness to complacency;
    From complacency to apathy;
    From apathy to dependency;
    From dependency back into bondage.

Truly, the love of money (not the actual money but the love for and of it) is a root of all kinds of evil!

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, help me not to get caught up in the 'lust' for money or material possessions. And help me to remember that the price of freedom is still eternal vigilance. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."

1. 1 Timothy 6:10 (NIV).

An Amazing Message for today by Paul Harvey. Do you remember the famous ABC radio commentator, Paul Harvey? Millions of Americans listened to his programs which were broadcast over 1,200 radio stations nationwide. When you listen to this message, remember, the commentary was broadcast 47 years ago on April 3, 1965. It's short ... less than three minutes. Be sure to listen to it. You'll be amazed! It's at: http://stg.do/9LDc

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