Riches

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night, your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:13-21 [ESV])

Jesus told a parable in this passage from Luke. Many of us have heard of it during our lives, either from our own Bible readings or from preachers and teachers. The obvious point of this passage is not to store up things for ourselves because we might not live to enjoy them. The second point often made is don't store up things for yourself when many people around you don't have enough food to eat one meal today, and quite possibly they've not eaten in days. The third point, and I consider the main point, is what Jesus stated in the last of verse twenty-one. He tells people seek the riches that are most important. Seek to be rich toward God.

How can we be rich toward God? Jesus gave us several things to think about in this chapter of Luke. He told His followers in the first three verses to beware the leaven of the Pharisees. Don’t be hypocrites; don’t teach and preach one thing but do another. If you say you are God’s child, then act like you know God and obey His will. In the second section of this chapter, Jesus told the people following Him, not to fear the ones who can kill your body. Instead, fear the One greater who can kill your body and soul. Understand you are more than body; you are spirit, too, and are more valuable to God than sparrows (vs. 4-7). Fear not your death instead know and obey God by acknowledging Jesus Christ as the Son of God and your Savior (vs. 8-12). The Spirit He puts in you will always tell you what you should do and say. Don’t be anxious about these things. Remember, God will give to you what your body needs, so don’t worry about those things and become lustful or covetous. God will give you everything you need for living, shelter, clothes, food, and drink. Just as the flowers, grass, and birds do not toil for their life and beauty, God will take care of you, too. Instead, seek His kingdom and He will provide everything else you need. (vs. 22-31) Besides this, the taking care of your body, God knows He created you with spirit, unlike flowers, grass, and animals. He knows your spiritual needs differ from your bodily needs. So, fear not; God wants you to receive the gift of His kingdom. Your true treasure is in heaven, not on earth; therefore, sell what you have and give to the needy. Instead, give yourselves moneybags that don’t grow old or get eaten by moths. Decide for yourselves where your treasure is–tangible things or in God who provides for the body and soul. (vs. 32-34)

Each of the “do nots” and “fear nots” in the verses before verse 35, relate to a person’s earthly body, heart, and mind. Jesus relates it in a way for each listener to understand their bodily life is or can be affected by their spiritual life. Don’t be hypocrites; obey God. Don’t worry about what you will eat or wear, you are more than body; God takes care of your spiritual needs and your physical needs. Don’t deny God with your actions and words, but allow the Spirit to speak through you. Don’t be anxious. Seek God’s kingdom first. Trust in God for all things. As you do these things, you grow in your spiritual life; you grow closer to God. You expect and wait for God’s moving in the world around you. So, keep on the alert so you are ready when God moves among people and for Jesus’ second coming (vs. 35-40). Don’t be caught unaware by taking care of your needs and desires, but be ready for Jesus to come. Blessed is the faithful and wise manager, His child, for you do the work He told you to do even if the Master is delayed in His coming. (vs. 41-48)

These things are richness toward God, as Jesus spoke of in verse twenty-one. Jesus will return one day. Until then, God provides for His children, the ones who believe Jesus is the Son of God. He provides all their bodily needs and their spiritual needs. So, don’t live like those who call themselves religious. Don’t live like God made you as only a physical body. Live recognizing God made you of spirit and body, and only He provides each thing body and spirit need–food, drink, clothing, shelter, and cleansing from sin, which gives you eternal life and relationship with Him.  Don’t delay accepting Jesus as your Savior. You don’t know when He is coming. He may come to take the children of God to His kingdom before you accept Him as your Savior.

Give your life to God.

Believe Jesus is God’s Son, the Savior for all people.

God will make you rich in body and spirit from His storehouses.

Lord, I must confess I fail. I fail at obeying you always. I fail to hear you because I allow myself to get busy with the day. I fail to make You more important in my life than what I want. Lord, You know we all do these things. Everyone sins against You with this rebellion to lead their own lives and take care of themselves. Then, when verses like these arise, I remember I am more than just my body. You created me with a spirit, too, one that will exist long after my body dies. When I think of that, I tremble knowing what the consequences could be if I had not accepted You as my Savior. Lord, help me to be faithful to You. Help me to obey Your command to tell all people about You. I am not so heartless that I want anyone to die an eternal separation from You in hell. Show me where You are at work and put Your words in my mouth so the people I talk to hear about You. Lord, work in the hearts of people who aren’t saved so they will seek You and accept You as their Lord and Savior. Thank you for Your patience over the years as I have vacillated between obedience to You and striving for what I thought I needed. Help me to remember You love, majesty, and power and seek only You. You will provide everything I need for life now and for eternity. Amen.

Who do You say I am?

“When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?’” (John 21:15-19 [ESV])

We’ve all heard teachers and preachers teach that the second time Jesus confronted Peter and asked him three times, "Do you love Me," He was reinstating Peter as his disciple. A new thought came to mind as I read this passage. This questioning by Jesus caused Peter to decide and state for himself and for those listening the depth of his love and devotion to Jesus.

Before Peter denied being one of Jesus' disciples after His arrest, he had followed Jesus when his brother Andrew introduced him to Him. Peter, Andrew, James, and John followed Jesus when He commanded them to follow Him at the start of His ministry (Mark 1). These men and other people watched Jesus heal people, cleanse them from demons, and teach with authority. More and more people followed Jesus, but these four men and the other eight disciples did not stop following Jesus, except for Judas when he betrayed Him. When Jesus commanded Andrew, Simon Peter, James, and John to follow Him on the first day of ministry, they did it from instinct. This man, Jesus of Nazareth, was compelling.

On the day Jesus restored him, Peter concluded for himself he would follow Jesus. He did this because of his own conviction of who Jesus is (the Son of God) and because of his love for Jesus. Peter, with his affirmations to Jesus' three questions in John 21:15-19, internally devoted himself and externally testified to those listening of his decision to follow Jesus.

Today, we each must decide for ourselves. Are we following Jesus because we are part of a crowd of people who want to see what He will do? Or are we following Jesus because we affirm He is the Son of God Who takes away the sin of the world and we dedicate ourselves to Him out of love and devotion to Him?

Today is the day for you to decide for yourself who Jesus is to you - the Son of God or a charismatic man. What is your decision?

Lord, You are God above all things and You died to save me from my sins. Forgive me for denying You when You tell me to do or say something. Forgive me this rebellion. Help me to stand firmly stating You are my Lord and Savior. Let the words I speak, the actions I do, and the thoughts that go through my mind, attest to Your Lordship in my life and lead people to seek You as their Lord and Savior. Use my life for Your purposes and glory. Amen.

Fear or Compulsion

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and He died for all that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who for their sake died and was raised. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15 [ESV])

What controls you? Fear? Greed? Envy? Stature? Christ? We live in a time of fear for illness and death because of a worldwide pandemic from a coronavirus. This fear causes people to be greedy and buy more supplies than needed from grocery and drug stores. It causes people to say and do hurtful things to other people. This fear is causing some people not to have the staples of life in their homes and they are hungry, do not have medicine, and don’t even have simple things like toilet tissue. Fear is causing people to be inhuman to others. They care about no one except themselves. Fear is controlling their thoughts, words, and actions.

Paul spoke about being controlled by something/Someone. He wrote about this in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 Why be controlled by something that causes you and other people grief and pain? The word “controlled” Paul used in these verses comes from the Greek word meaning to be compelled. Being compelled means being controlled by something or someone. What compels you? Striving after your own goals no matter the cost? Striving to beat death, fear, or poverty? Paul said he was controlled/compelled by Christ. Christ died for each person so none would live only with thoughts for him/herself (earthly, flawed emotions and intentions), but for Him, the eternal, sinless One who loves all people and desires they be saved from their sins.

In the first part of 2 Corinthians 5, Paul wrote about his desire to be with God in His kingdom. He compared this to being clothed by His Holy Spirit. God gives His children, Christians, His Spirit to live within and change them into being more like Christ. Since His children have His Spirit living in them, they long more and more to be with God and to do what He desires. God’s great desire is that all people come to a saving relationship with Him. Because of God’s love for him, Paul felt compelled by love for God to tell and show other people about His love. Paul said his aim was to please the Lord. His love for God compelled him to please Him by his obedience to Him to tell everyone in the world about Jesus. Since Paul’s chief aim was to please God, no other purpose took precedence. Things that could have taken precedence would have been fear for his life, security of home and food, stature among other Jews and Jewish leaders, and bodily health. Paul stated definitively what controlled him was the love of Christ (vs 14).

Understanding this from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, what controls/compels you? Do you want to be controlled by earthly, flawed emotions and intentions? Or would you rather be controlled and compelled by the sinless, eternal One, Jesus Christ? Jesus’ love for each person compelled Him to die the death each of us should receive as judgment for our sins. Jesus allowed His love for us to compel Him to die for us.

In this time of a worldwide health pandemic, what compels and controls you? Your fear of death and not having necessities? Instead, allow the love of Christ who died for you to compel and control you. Allow God’s love to control you so you help other people, are not panicked, and buy only what you need. Seek to serve others, especially those who cannot take care of themselves well during this time such as older adults, homeless people, people with immune deficiencies, people who are chronically ill, and neighbors on your street. Think of these people first, then you will be like Jesus who humbled Himself by taking the form of a servant (Philippians 2:7).

Are you afraid? Are you worried? Now is the time to pray and to talk to other Christians. Seek the peace of God that surpasses all understanding so your hearts and minds will be guarded by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7). Have the peace that Christ left with His disciples, not the peace the world tries to give, but His perfect peace so that your heart is not troubled or afraid (John 14:27). Put into practice what Christ has put into you and what He practiced, and God’s peace will be with you (Philippians 4:9).

If you are not a Christian and want to have this eternal peace that comes from God, talk to a minister or a Christian. Pray to God asking Him to give you His peace and to help you understand His saving love. Believe Jesus is the Son of God, confess your sins, and accept Him as your Savior from sin and death, then God’s perfect peace will be in you. Have the peace Isaiah spoke about in Isaiah 26:3, “You (God) will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You!” (NLT)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7 [ESV])

Lord, please forgive me for getting panicked about my life during this pandemic. Please give me Your peace. Use me for Your purposes during this time so other people receive help and know You love them. Keep me safe in Your faithful hands as I give myself to You and show my love to You by obeying Your compulsion to serve others. Help me keep my mind centered on You and not the trials surrounding me in the world today. Thank you, Lord, for Your love and faithfulness. Amen.

The Befores Before

Before - the time of

  waking refreshed and the sun shining through your curtain.

            making plans for your future thinking you know all the road bumps.

            dreaming about the one person you will fall in love with and marry.

            remembering life as rosy with few cares in your world.

            hearing the contented sigh of your newborn child.

            whistling as you skipped down the sidewalk to a friend’s home.

            staying up late because school was closed due to snow.

The “befores” seemed so numerous and so wonderful before…

            waking to the sunrise perplexed yet not knowing why

            making plans but fearful of road bumps

            dreaming about what might happen to a loved one held so dear

            remembering that one time back when life wasn’t so rosy and carefree

            hearing of a new virus and thinking about your newborn

            whistling loud to cover the volume of the news as it hurtles like a waterfall on your personal world

staying up late to stay abreast of the closures of businesses, schools, and countries.

And this is life, you fear. Life different from any you’ve known before.

Cries of “Come, Lord Jesus, come!”

Fear for your life and the lives of the ones you love. Wondering if you’ve said all you need to say because you or they may not live another day.

Grasping in panic for any lifeline, then hearing of doctors and nurses falling to the same song. “No one is safe!” you shout in your head.

So many sick; so many dead.

FEAR burbling to a crescendoed shout that deafens all reason.

FEAR given way to TERROR and the change of life you thought you controlled.

A change not dictated by professionals, but a change mandated by yourself because FEAR has confronted you head-on with your own MORTALITY.

That sudden REALITY and the extreme of your FEAR cause an instantaneous HUSH.

A HUSH that comes from knowing you KNOW NOTHING.

You control NOTHING.

You cannot stop DEATH.

You cannot snatch your LIFE from its viselike grip.

DEATH, when it’s time, CANNOT be CHEATED.

And with that REALITY, you are ready to listen, and see, and come to know.

Life is a GIFT. A Gift given from the CREATOR GIVER.

And a hush comes over you as you recognize this truth.

And you come to your moment of decision.

You recognize you cannot cheat death.

You cannot save yourself.

You have very little control and all you want is the sun to shine through your curtains again and to make plans and dream and remember and hear and whistle and stay up late because it’s just snow.

Then you realize you can have this even when fear calls to you. You can have this hope and live in the knowledge of the victory that you will always have this, even if not in physical form, but in the mind, spirit, and heart because you KNOW the CREATOR GIVER.

Live life with HOPE.

Live now and the future with HOPE.

Accept the HOPE God gives each person who believes in Him.

Then VICTORY is yours because you are GOD’S CHILD.

You want to be a child again and dream and wake to snowy mornings with the sun shining through the curtains and know that no matter what happens, fear does not win because Jesus has given you victory over fear, sin, and death. Before takes on new meaning. Before is the time prior to you becoming GOD’S CHILD. NOW and FOREVER is living in the VICTORY HE GIVES YOU.

A Devotional Thought

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.” (1 John 4:18 [NIV])

This verse comes from 1 John, in which John writes to believers in Jesus Christ. He reminds them if you have fear, you do not have perfect love. You are not mature in your faith in Jesus Christ. Perfection is very difficult and none of us ever get it right and are truly perfect through our own means. Yet, John says we can be perfect; we can be mature. This perfection, perfect faith in Jesus, comes by knowing and believing the love God has for us (vs. 16) and becoming His children through faith in His Son, Jesus. John said, “God is love and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.”

Love and fear cannot occur at the same time. Fear is from Satan. With it he causes us to doubt for our lives, reputations, jobs, safety, and salvation, etc. Satan, in his attempt to keep us from believing in Jesus as the Son of God, tries to turn our eyes away from God by distracting us with fear. This is why John said perfect love casts out fear. Fear and love cannot occur at the same time. Satan doesn’t want us to be perfect in Christ. He doesn’t want us to grow to maturity in our relationship with God. Satan seeks to create chaos so other people will not believe in him. If he can cause the people who believe in God to fear, then unbelievers see no purpose in believing either and he can lead many people away from salvation.

Perfect love, God’s love that He gives to us and that lives in us as His children, casts out fear. Is your faith growing to perfection or are you allowing Satan to distract you with fear for your life?

Perfect love casts out fear just like God cast Satan out from heaven when he sinned against Him. Because God lives in His children, His love resides in them, too.

Perfect love casts out fear. As a child of God, you have His love residing in you; you have perfect love in you and available to sustain you during this time when Satan is trying to distract you from God and your relationship with Him.     

Perfect love casts out fear. You have this love in you and can share it with other people so they have hope, and fear cannot cause terror and panic in their lives.

Perfect love casts out fear. You, as God’s child who has His perfect love living in them, love people just as God loved us enough to send His Son, Jesus, to die for our sins so we could be in relationship with Him forever. Are you showing and sharing this love with others who are fearing and living in terror during this crisis?

Perfect love casts out fear.

What are you doing to grow and allow God to cast out fear in and around you?

Lord, God, I admit, I am afraid. I’ve been following the news of this crisis and I fear for my life and the lives of people I love. I had not stopped to think about You and Your love for each of us. Forgive me for getting so absorbed in the unfolding and mounting crisis that I lost sight of You. Forgive me for not coming to You before now. Why do I only think about You, God, when crisis comes? Lord, save me now and save me from my sins forever. Help me to believe in You always.  Let the love, Lord, You’ve put into me show so people see Jesus in me and want to know about the peace I have even in the midst of this crisis. God, speak and work through this body You’ve given me so that others come to know You as their Savior and have Your peace because of You living in them. Let Your love be evident, so the fear Satan is causing decreases. Let Your will be done, Father, on earth as it is in heaven. Perfect me, mature me, so that day by day I become closer to You, our relationship becomes more intimate. May Jesus’ prayer that we be one as You and He are one come to fruition. Amen.

Perspective and the Donkey

In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us imposters. We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything. (2 Cor. 6:4-5, 8-10 [NLT])

Do you ever feel like the donkey harnessed to a mill walking in circles all day every day to grind the farmer’s grain? That’s how it can seem when you are working hard, and no one notices. Consider the devotional below to understand what Paul teaches about this.

How is your devotion to God? Did you receive His vision of the task to which He calls you? Did you begin to do it, but after a while decide it was rote and mundane, and then forget to keep your eyes on God? The physical aspect became drudgery and, possibly, you became bitter about why you, you of all people, had to do this work. You then stumbled, found yourself attacked by other people questioning your motives, and really began wondering why you were doing these things.

Paul spoke about this. He wrote about continuing to do what Jesus told him to do, proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. For that, Paul said he suffered. In 2 Corinthians 6:3-10, he listed some things he and his companions endured. By writing of his travails, Paul encouraged other believers to continue keeping their eyes on Christ. These verses told other Christians what happens when they follow Jesus.

Remember, Paul was a persecutor before he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. He actively sought to imprison or kill Jesus-followers so they would not lead the Jews away from the true faith. After Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus, he became one with other Christ-followers. He suffered torture, imprisonment, attempts to kill him, poverty, hunger, etc. In reading each of Paul’s letters in the New Testament, we realize he never stopped telling people about Jesus Christ. He never declared being poor, touching the sick, or being imprisoned was beneath him, a Jew of Jews trained by Gamaliel. (Acts 22:3, Philippians 3:3-6)

Never once do we read in the Bible that Paul turned his back on Jesus. His hardships, troubles, and calamities did not cause his zeal to disappear, but served as a reminder to him that he was a true Christ-follower. Paul suffered as Jesus suffered. Jesus said His followers would experience what He did and more. (Matthew 24:9, Matthew 10:17, 22, John 15:19, 21, John 16:2) Paul took this to heart as an encouragement. Though he asked God to relieve him of the thorn in his side, he endured in his own weakness because God said His “power is perfected in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9) Paul willingly endured many things for the sake of Christ to reach all people with the gospel so that none would perish.

What are we willing to endure for Christ? Drudgery? Unimportance? Exhaustion? Persecution? Mockery? Poverty? Death? Do we think about these things and become upset by them? Do we consider them undeserved and rail against them? Do we consider it a badge of honor for people to misuse us for the sake of the gospel of Christ?

The donkey at the mill sees the ground, carrot, and grinding stones all day every day. He doesn’t see the final product, the meal. Don’t consider yourself like this donkey who doesn’t have an end-goal perspective. Consider the meal from the mill that will come as you continue to keep your eyes on God and gain His perspective. People will be saved.

Perspective is everything. At whom you look is most important.

Looking at yourself can cause anger and feelings of insignificance.

Looking to God causes you to have His perspective. He desires all people be saved from sin and death.

God is greater than our circumstances.

Keep your eyes on Jesus.

Keep His perspective; though He was rich, He became poor so all people may be saved.

Keep your eyes on God.

Keep God’s perspective.

Lord, I have done it again. I came to You and gave myself to You for Your service, heard Your call and began doing what You said. Next thing I knew, I felt unrecognized and taken for granted. I felt people taking advantage of me. Now I realize I took my eyes off You and had a worldly perspective. Please forgive me for not seeking You each moment of the days. Forgive me for walking in my own strength and getting upset because of what other people said or did or didn’t say or do. This work is not about me, but about You. I can do nothing to save people, nor can I do anything in my own strength. I need You, Lord. I need You to guide me, give me Your strength and peace, and make me able to do the work You called me to do. Lord, clothe me fully with Yourself and remove the tatters of the old nature from me. I surrender myself fully to You right now. Guard me against my right to myself and help me to be humble. In Jesus’ name. Amen.