Material Possessions

If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has not pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:17-18

I have felt God whispering in my ear recently about the material possessions he has blessed my family with. I have been struggling with how much we should keep for ourselves and what we should give away to others. I feel guilty when we buy something new that seems like a luxury. Looking back to this post where our Pastor told us:

If you have these four things, you are more wealthy than 75% of the people on
this planet.

1. A roof over your head
2. A bed to sleep in
3. Food in your fridge
4. Clothes in a closet

Considering that...we are very wealthy and God has blessed us incredibly! God wants action, not lip service, as 1 John 3:17-18 says above. But how much action? Does he call us all to give it all away? If not all, then how much? Is it okay for me to spend as much on a new car (one of many I will have in my lifetime) as an Ethiopian would earn in 150 years? What about the children, mine compared to the ones living in an orphanage in Africa? Is it okay for my two to have more toys than an entire African village of children? What about our food, we throw away more in a day than some children around the world get to eat?

I don't know the answer. I feel we have followed God when he has asked us and feel if He took everything away tomorrow, we would continue to follow Him where He leads us.

My prayer for today:

Lord, we will continue to faithfully follow You. We are thankful for all You have blessed us with, our health, relationships, children and material things. We pray You will show us wisdom how to use Your gifts to expand Your Kingdom. Please help us to see Your love for each and every person in our lives and forgive us our judgements of them. Amen