Thursday, May 2, 2013

What Runs Your Life?



1 Timothy 6:17Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.”

What controls us, and how does it affect every aspect of our life? This was the opening question of Pastor JJ’s new Sermon series titled: “Who Owns You?” What are you affectionate for? If we cast our gaze and focus our attention upon the things of this world, then we will lose our Spirit-led will and balanced perspective. Insure that each of us continues in faithfulness. If Jesus looks at our day-planner calendar and our bank statement expenditures, He can see where our heart truly is because God connects our wallets to our heart. Did you know that Jesus talks more in the Bible about money than He did about Salvation? Why? To avoid "greed".

Luke 12:15 Then Jesus said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”

There is a story about a member of a church that told his Pastor that when he used to make a lot less money, he didn't seem to have any problem give 10% of his income to the church. One penny out of a dime, a dime out of a dollar, a dollar out of ten, or even ten dollars out of one hundred. But it sure got hard when it became one hundred out of a thousand and a thousand out of every ten thousand. The Pastor said: “Let’s pray about it”. Heavenly Father, It has become so difficult to give back to You, what you first gave to this dear brother since You greatly increased his income. Dear Lord, will You please return his income back to the amount that it was prior to this difficulty, so that it will become easy for him to give a portion back to you again. Amen. He got the point. What was running his life? And, more importantly, Who was not?! What is the priority today?

Matthew 6:19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal.”

Tomorrow is not guaranteed. Nothing can be counted on here, nor figuratively speaking - “taken to the bank.” Each day and everything in them is a gift. God gives these gifts for our use, not abuse, and we are to enjoy, but not idolized them. Realize that every good gift comes from God, the giver of every good thing, and that it is He who is to be worshiped or else, the thing itself will be worshiped in the world’s eye. Start with God and let everything else flow out of Him and never be tempted or manipulated by greed in any form. ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth” – physically, mentally or emotionally. Hoarding eats away at our hearts. It is important to have the “store up for yourselves treasures in heavenperspective for a long-term investment in “Kingdom” work. Where is our vision? You cannot "out-give" God. The Lord has blessed us with what we need, and we should focus on those who He has entrusted us with, those who are truly in need and the needs of the church also.   

Titus 3:4-6But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the  washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior."

Who, or what, do we fall in love with and why? Does God suffer by our personal will that throws Him out first? Jesus tells us in Luke 16:13 that “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” Are we looking for a heavenly return? Of course, no one can store up treasures in heaven, if it’s not their final destination, and that is the first concern. Nothing matters without salvation. Child of God, what are you and I invested in today? Are we involved in the great work of His among us? God gave us the tools to advance the kingdom of heaven here and now, for eternity. Are we sitting on them or using them?

In Christ, Brian

3 comments:

Brian Ray Todd said...

Thank you Jaxson. It is always important for the Child of God to seek and be imformed, knowledgable and discerning about the truth, in as many subjects and issues area as possible, to live a life pleasing to the Lord and in peace & harmony with our fellowman, but that is a "tall order" to say the lease. So it is always this Blogs purpose and desire to present truth for the consideration and reflection of the material communicated for discussion in life application. We want to grow, improve and muture in the context of godly love. Thank you visiting and the kind words. Grace and peace with blessings to you and yours.

Ken said...

Hi Brian,
Money is a something I struggle with. I worry that the markets will crash and my retirement accounts will take a great tumble. Then what am I going to do? It is only about 15 years to retirement, and I do not have enough saved. So this is a battle I face. But the Lord is growing me in this area. It is not that I need all these luxuries, it is money is a security blanket for me. If I have money, I can be comfortable. I do not want to not have enough to make ends meet. I must rest in the Lord. He is my security blanket. He promises to supply all my need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Jesus also said, "seek the kingdom of God and all His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." And then I think of the parable of the hidden treasure. Where the man sold all he had to buy the field which had the treasure. There is nothing more valuable than our salvation. Everything in this earth will perish, but the things we store up in heaven will not. The more I grow in this area, the more freeing it is. Worry for money is like a burden which holds one down. I am glad I stopped by and read this post and may God bless you.
Ken

Brian Ray Todd said...

Thanks for writing Ken. Money is a common temptation with all of us. In Ecclesiastes 10:19, Solomon speaks to us about our human sensual mentality of happiness as: "A feast is made for laughter, wine makes life merry,and money is the answer for everything." We, as citizens of heaven, really have to know where our "home" truly is and follow our king of the kingdom of God in our daily walk and dealings here, as Ambassadors for Christ. We're here, but from there, and live by a foreign set of rules from our Lord, that this world does not know or value, because they do not know the Lord ... yet. Sin is bondage of the heart, mind and soul's will & emotions. We are capture that which is sinfully captivating in the eyes of the Lord. I glad that we see that this is a life-long process and takes work ... but its godly work for the glory of God. Thanks for stopping by brother in Christ. Blessings.