2007-03-09
Good Morning Dear Ones,
There is nothing ordinary about God's objectives for us, His intervention in our lives, and the pathways He guides us to in reaching His main objective. Anyone who has come to know God through His word, prayer, and the circumstances of his life knows that God's main objective is our glorification and return to Him for a blissful eternal life. Along the way, however, there are smaller objectives designed to strengthen and purify us, so that we can be ready for our Lord Jesus Christ when He appears and calls us to "a meeting in the sky" [1 THESS 4: 13-17].
Where our society's bent toward materialism is concerned, Christ has some important things to say. One example from the Sermon on the Mount is found in MT 6: 19-21, "Do not store up riches for yourselves here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and robbers break in and steal. Instead, store up riches for yourselves in heaven where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal. For your heart will always be where your riches are." We need to pay particular attention to the last sentence, because it reveals a lot about the condition of one's faith. Spiritual maturity and the acquisition of material wealth for the wrong reasons do not go hand in hand. I'm not trying to say that all wealthy people are spiritually impoverished. The reason for this is that God knows that some people are to be given much materially, because they will use their wealth for His purposes. We must remember the lesson of the Parable of the Talents in MT 25:29, "For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him." This doesn't mean every materially poor person will be spiritually impoverished. It does mean that God is paying attention to how we use what we have. Surely there are folks who have very little materially but who are rich beyond human understanding spiritually. Each person in his heart of hearts has a pretty good idea where he is in this construct, if he has spent time enough in the Scriptures and prayer to know God's will.
There are many reasons why people in our society accumulate wealth. They range from beginning with a huge inheritance, to keeping up with others around him, to having a collector's personality, to being successful on the stock market, to worrying to excess about rainy days, and so on. The real question is how spiritually mature will they allow God to make them? That's a question each one of us should examine for our own lives. The same is true not only of individuals and families, but it is also true of congregations. Yes, the very groups of believers where we worship and serve God must also live up to God's expectations with regard to acquisition and use of material wealth! We must ask if building programs are really for increasing ministry to people, or if they are to be memorials for the leaders or wealthy members that are promoting them. God asks us to examine our real motives for the thoughts we have, decisions we make, and actions we take. If we don't do this, He will see to it that just consequences shall follow. PS 7: 11, "God is a righteous Judge and always condemns the wicked."
Let's look at the issue of worrying, a symptom of weakness of faith, one that most of us have shown at one time or another-surely I have. The Holy Spirit has the power to prevent worrying in faithful people who face dangerous situations. He surely did that for me when I was facing a huge 5 hr. operation last August. However, there have been times when my response to our loss of material wealth was spiritual weakness. Christ tells us, in MT 6: 31-34, "So do not start worrying; 'Where will my food come from? Or my drink? Or my clothes?' (There are the things pagans are always concerned about). Your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. Instead, be concerned above everything with the Kingdom of God and with what He requires of you, and He will provide you with all these other things. So do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own. There is no need to add to the troubles each day brings." And what does God require of us? The question is answered in MICAH 6: 8, "...To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with God." PS 24: 3-5 further illuminates the answer to this question. "Who has the right to go up to the Lord's hill? Who may enter His holy temple? Those who are pure in act and in thought, who do not worship idols or make false promises. The Lord will bless them and save them; God will declare them innocent." We need to trust in God, to believe His promises will be fulfilled-including His promise of provision. PS 37:11, "But all who humble themselves before the Lord shall be given every blessing, and shall have wonderful peace." Believe it, because the Lord never lies. Believe it, because the Lord loves each of us more than we can perceive. Believe it, because God's overarching personal mission statements in JN 6: 49-40 and EPH 1: 4-5 tell us that His main purpose is to bring back to Himself as many of His human creation as will believe in His Son.
PRAYER: O Lord, how difficult a lesson we have before us-learning not to be materialistic! And yet, You give us wonderful direction in this matter. 2 COR 8: 9 reveals Your perspective. "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; rich as He was, He made Himself poor for your sake, in order to make you rich by means of His poverty." During His ministry on earth, He lived a materially challenged life. Then, He obeyed You in the most complete way He could- by allowing Himself to suffer and die on the cross for our salvation [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25; HE 10:10]. Because of this example, He showed us what real spiritual wealth is. Moreover, He gives us the path to sharing in that same wealth. RO 8: 17, "Since we are His children, we will possess the blessings He keeps for His people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for Him; for it we share Christ's suffering, we will also share His glory." Loving Father, there is no end to Your glory, compassion, justice, and provision. Nothing we have can measure these things. You are to be praised, honored, served, and deeply appreciated for Who you are and what You do. When we direct that material wealth beyond our basic needs to the building up of Your Kingdom on earth, You bless us beyond our wildest imagination. COL 3: 3-4, "For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Your real life is Christ and when He appears, then you too will appear with Him and share His glory." In COL 3: 5, we are told, "You must put to death, then, the earthly desires at work in you, such as sexual immorality, indecency, lust, evil passion, and greed (for greed is a form of idolatry)." We stand in awe of You and the clear direction that you give us. We need never guess at Your will, nor is Your will kept from anyone seeking it. In the false teaching of Gnosticism, people were taught only certain people were allowed in on God's presence, secrets, and direction. That is wrong and untrue! You are an available God, One Who desires to be with each of us every minute of every day. You are the Best Friend any of us will ever have. We dedicate ourselves, Dear Father, to faithfully obeying Your commands and putting away materialism in our lives. With Your help, we believe we can do these things. In Christ's name, Amen.
Next week, I'm directed to continue writing about spiritual maturity with regard to material things. We need to look at who is vulnerable to the work of the devil in this area and why. In the meanwhile, we must see God's amazing presence in every believer's life. I repeat: every believer's life. ZEPH 3: 17, "The Lord your God is with you; His power gives you victory. The Lord will take delight in you, and in His love, He will give you a new life. He will sing and be joyful over you..." If we ever questioned His love for us, then we need to review these two Scriptures: 2 COR 5: 17 and COL 3: 9-10. "When anyone is joined to Christ, he is a new creation, the old is gone, the new has come...Do not lie to one another, for you have put off the old self with its habits and have put on the new self. This is the new being, which God its Creator, is constantly renewing in His own image, in order to bring you to a full knowledge of Himself." Consider all the blessings to one's life this brings. Remember that it is illogical that God would not love anything created in His very own image [GN 1: 27]. It is the condition of our faith that is His own concern and should be ours. He must have our cooperation with Him in order to further our spiritual maturation and prepare us for the blessings of eternal life that He has promised. We need never worry that He will not keep up His part of the Covenant of Grace. Our need is to make sure that we keep up ours. Our God loves us and will help us. All we need to do is to seek Him with authenticity and genuineness [JER 29: 11-13]. No words are wasted in the Scriptures, nothing is. His love for each of us is so great that we can't comprehend the magnitude of it. We must believe this, trust in Him, act on it, and He will bless us.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn