{"id":51,"date":"2020-01-02T23:09:25","date_gmt":"2020-01-02T23:09:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/?p=51"},"modified":"2024-01-29T20:36:45","modified_gmt":"2024-01-29T20:36:45","slug":"lesson-6-are-you-trading-up-or-trading-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/lesson-6-are-you-trading-up-or-trading-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Lesson 6: Are You Trading Up or Trading Down?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column51_fcd087-b7 inner-column-1\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-black-color has-text-color\" style=\"font-size:28px\"><strong>DISCIPLESHIP STUDIES, INTERMEDIATE<br>Module 201: Lesson 6 of 6<br><strong>Living the Controlled Life<\/strong> | Controlling Our Choices<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\" style=\"font-size:19px\"><em>May we all be careful not to be seduced by the lie of the great deceiver that the best of life can be acquired in trading down. Be sure the best of life (in both this life and the one yet to come) will always be found in trading up.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-block-embed-vimeo wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/407712586?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/201-6-Are-You-Trading-Up-or-Trading-Down.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Download Study Guide &amp; Questions<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Study Guide<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Are you a day trader in the stock market? Probably not. However, the truth is that all of us are day traders. We have spent most of our lives trading one thing for another. As a follower of Jesus, we must all carefully consider what we choose to trade away and what we get back in the trade. It may well be that in light of what you read here, you might want to modify your current trading strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before\nwe can fully determine whether we are actually trading up or trading down we\nneed to identify the three worlds of life:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>The First World is called <strong>The Inanimate World<\/strong> (The World of Things\/The Lower World)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>The Second World is called <strong>The Human World<\/strong> (The World of People\/The Middle World)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>The Third World is called <strong>The Spiritual World<\/strong> (The World of God\/The Higher World)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These three worlds are not\nexclusive or unconnected. In fact, we exist in all three simultaneously. God\nhas given us clear directions to help us understand these three worlds and how\nto enjoy the greatest possible benefit from each of them. However, as seems to\nalways be the case, we are not naturally inclined towards a healthy balance\nbetween these three worlds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our lives begin with only a limited\nawareness of the Human World and no awareness of the other two worlds. However,\nit doesn\u2019t take long before a child becomes quite captivated with the Inanimate\nWorld. (Think of a child and his\/her toys.) As we mature we discover that we\ncan trade assets in our Human World (our time and our abilities) to acquire\npossessions in the Inanimate World that appeal to us and that we believe will\ngive us pleasure. When we choose to pursue making money or getting rich, we\nsimply agree to trade what we possess in the Human World (our lives) for the\nacquisition of things in the Inanimate World (cash, electronics, cars, house,\nbusinesses, etc.). In so doing we are trading what is life for what is\nlifeless. We are trading down what we possess in the Human World to acquire\nsomething we want in the Inanimate World.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So,\nin the pursuit of inanimate objects, man willingly sacrifices some portion of\nhis life to gain them. We may picture a man getting fatter and fatter as his\naccumulated wealth increases, but a more accurate image would be to see him as\nbecoming more scrawny and emaciated as he continues to trade more and more of\nhis life in the Human World for what is lifeless in the Inanimate World.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The story of Howard Hughes is\njust one of hundreds of tragic examples of what happens when a man sacrifices\nall he has in the Human World to gain what he wants in the Inanimate World.\nHughes died a drug addicted recluse who at 6\u2019 2\u201d weighed only 90 pounds with a\nscraggly beard that hung to his waste, two inch long fingernails and toe nails\nthat resembled cork screws.&nbsp; He chose to\ntrade down. And in the trade, he sacrificed life for things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Think of this idea of trading in\nthe context of growing a garden. The portion of your life you devote to growing\nthat garden has been traded down to a harvest of inanimate produce. In a very\nreal sense, part of you has been turned into a potato or a cucumber. (Rather a\nhumbling thought, isn\u2019t it?) Now, if you eat the potato or cucumber, you\nimmediately turn the lifeless vegetable back into life again (your life). But\nif you sell it and turn it into money and put the money in the bank, you have\nbecome the money in the bank. Earl Pierce called this conversion of life to\nthings \u201ccoined man.\u201d Ravi Zacharias calls it \u201ccongealed life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Land, buildings, cars,\ninvestments, gold, and silver are all part of the Inanimate World as well. In\nour pursuit of them we trade down the life we possess in the Human World to\nacquire what is lifeless in the Inanimate World. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Accumulating surplus possessions\nis an activity exclusively practiced by humans. Animals do not do this.\nAnimals, at most, only store up enough to meet their current and short term\nfuture needs. Squirrels, for example, will store up enough nuts for the entire\nwinter season. Ants do the same (Proverbs 6:6-8). But an ant does not store up\nenough for many winters to come. A squirrel does not try to corner the market\non nuts and then resell them at a profit to other less creative and farsighted\nsquirrels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do you remember in Luke 12:19 the\ncomment of the rich farmer who was going to build bigger barns to store his\nbumper crop?&nbsp; He said, <em>\u201c\u2026Soul, you have many goods laid up for many\nyears to come; take your ease,\neat, drink and be merry.\u201d<\/em>\nContrast his comment with what Jesus told those listening to His Sermon on the\nMount, <em>\u201c<\/em><em>\ufeff<\/em><em>Look\nat the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather\ninto barns, and yet your\nheavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?\u201d<\/em> (Matthew 6:26). What is this\ntelling us about trading down? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This inherent instinct of man to\naccumulate surplus possessions is proof that man did not evolve from the\nanimals, but was created by the Owner of all things. Man has a natural, divine\ninstinct to be an owner\/heir and an accumulator. The problem is that in our\nfallen condition, this divine instinct of ownership most often degenerates into\navarice, pride and self-destruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>So, we need to ask, Can My Congealed Life Ever be\nRecovered?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The good news is, \u201cYes!\u201d You can\nredeem the life you traded to acquire lifeless assets by now using those\nlifeless things for a good purpose in the Human World or the Spiritual World. You\ncan bring them back to life again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ebenezer Scrooge is a great\nexample of a man who had reduced his life to an impressive balance sheet of\nlifeless things in the Inanimate World. Yet, unknown to him, in the human world\nhe was sick, pitiful and impoverished and in the Spiritual World he was\naltogether dead.&nbsp; Thankfully, through the\nthree visitations, he finally realized his poor trading practices and gladly\nbegan resurrecting part of his lost life by deploying his inanimate possessions\nback into the Human World using them to bless and assist his fellow human\nbeings, most notably, Tiny Tim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unlike Scrooge, King David wanted\nto not just trade up some of his inanimate possessions, to the Human World, he\nwanted to trade them up to the Spiritual World. I Chronicles 21 tells the\nstory. Ornan wanted to give David everything he needed to offer a sacrifice to\nthe Lord. But King David said to Ornan in verse 24, <em>\u201cNo, but I will surely buy it for\nthe full price; for I will not take what is yours for the Lord, or offer a burnt offering which\ncosts me nothing.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>David wanted to give something of\nhimself, his own life, to God. He did not want to give something of Ornan\u2019s\nlife to God. So David took his \u201ccongealed life\u201d to buy the land, the wood, and\nthe needed animals and in so doing he offered a part of himself to the Lord in\nthe sacrifice. He traded up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Should we not be reminded of what\nJesus said about trading up and not trading down? In Matthew 6:19-20 He tells\nus in this amplified quote, <em>\u201cDo not<\/em>\n(trade down) <em>for yourself treasures on\nearth <\/em>(in the Inanimate World)\u2026, <em>but <\/em>(trade\nup) <em>for yourselves treasures in heaven<\/em>\n(in the Spiritual World)\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We all need to ask, \u201cWhat about\nthose to whom God has given the power to make more wealth than they need to\nlive on as in Deuteronomy 8:18?\u201d For those whom God has empowered to be wealth\nmakers, I would suggest that they should indeed do so with all the power that\nGod has given them. But the critical question must be asked, \u201cBe a wealth maker\nfor what purpose?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If these gifted wealth makers use\ntheir surplus, accumulated, inanimate assets (cash, investment accounts, real\nestate holdings, business interests, personal property, etcetera.) their\nsuccess has provided to them for Kingdom purposes \u2013 they will be trading up\n(trading human life for spiritual life). If they use them to meet their own\nphysical needs or the physical needs of others \u2013 they will be trading even\n(trading human life for human life).&nbsp; And\nif they retain their inanimate, surplus possessions in their current state for\ntheir own pleasure and security \u2013 they will have traded down (trading human\nlife for no life at all).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The objective is clear. Our\nfundamental motivation and primary purpose for making surplus wealth is to\ntrade up with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you already have accumulated\nsurplus, inanimate possessions, listen to Paul\u2019s command in I Timothy 6:17-19\nto trade up (human life for spiritual life).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Command those who are rich in\nthis present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is\nso uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with\neverything for our enjoyment,Command them to do good, to be rich in\ngood deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.<\/em><em><sup>\ufeff<\/sup><\/em><em><sup>\n<\/sup><\/em><em>In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves\nas a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life\nthat is truly life.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have not accumulated surplus, inanimate wealth, be encouraged by Hebrews 13:5 that tells us to be content with what you have and not be tempted to trade down (human life for lifeless things). <em>It says, \u201cLet your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, \u2019I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you\u2026\u2019\u201d<\/em> May we all be careful not to be seduced by the lie of the great deceiver that the best of life can be acquired in trading down. Be sure the best of life (in both this life and the one yet to come) will always be found in trading up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-layout-1 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/lesson-5-how-much-is-enough\/\"><strong>Previous Lesson<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-outline aligncenter\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-very-light-gray-background-color has-text-color has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/discipleship-studies\/#intermediate\" style=\"color:#61578b\"><strong>RETURN TO INTERMEDIATE STUDIES | THE STEWARD&#8217;S WAY<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4213,"href":"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51\/revisions\/4213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}