Blessings or Curses

We have received of the Lord, particularly hear in the West and specifically here in America, an abundance of material blessings. Even what we consider the poorest of us here are given the ability through a multitude of charitable outreach services, places to lay our head, clothes to wear, food and drink, transportation and places to clean our clothes and ourselves. But these minimum necessities are far exceeded by a good portion of our population with the continued  desire to go even farther in the accumulation of goods, services and entertainments.  The Lord has told us in Matthew that we can not serve God and mammon. Our goal of the Kingdom has to be our priority over pursuing the American Dream. The organized expression of the church often encourages this material pursuit, saying that God desires us to be blessed. But being the slaves to the flesh that we are, we become like the Children of Israel; we take the gold the Father has allowed the world to bestow upon us and we make Him over in OUR image - a God that will allow us to indulge our flesh and then 'rise up to play'

And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. Exodus 32:6 KJV

There is a comparison between how the flesh minded Children of Israel handled their possessions and how the Father desired to use them:

 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering. 3And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass, 4And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, 5And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood, 6Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense, 7Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate. 8And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. 9According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it. Exodus 25:1-9 KJV

I highlghted in red an important part - what they had received from Egypt/the world was to be offered to the Father to build an habitation.