2007-03-23
Good Morning Cherished of God,
As you know, God has asked us to put our riches in heaven and not on earth [MT 6: 19-21]. One question that might be asked is: has God given us a glimpse of the heavenly treasures He gives? Anyone who has read the first segment of messages in this long series on the Sermon on the Mount surely knows He has. Let me give an example. REV 22: 1-3, "The angels also showed me [John] the river of water of life, sparkling like crystal, and coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb flowing down the middle of the city's street. On each side of the river was the tree of life, which bears fruit twelve times a year, once each month; and its leaves are for the healing of the nations. Nothing that is under God's curse will be found in the city." So another salient question is: what is meant by "your heart will always be where your riches are" [MT 6: 21]?
And yes, I ended the last paragraph with a question for us to give pause and meditate on this question. Each of us must answer it, with God's help, for himself. From my own opinion, this is a reminder of God's work in keeping the promise of EZK 36: 26-27, where He tells us through the prophet, Ezekiel, that "I will give you a new heart and a new mind. I will take away your stubborn heart of stone and give you an obedient heart. I will put My Spirit in you and will see to it that you follow My laws and keep all the commands I have given you." My stubborn heart of stone is materialistic. It wants to be out of financial stress, travel the world with my husband, live in a comfortable home with a great kitchen in which I can cook to entertain my friends, and so on. Instead, God has placed me where He wants me, trying to obediently serve Him in ministering to others. There is still a part of me railing against having to stay put, except if others are willing to help me travel once in awhile, and to live where I don't have that wonderful kitchen. That's the fleshly part of me, the part on which God is still hard at work trying to chip away (with my cooperation, of course) my sinfulness. I can only relate my own situation here, because I am not an expert on anyone else's. Evil is like having a disease which the believer (with sanctification in progress) has and knows must be eventually cured or it will take his life. With the exception of Jesus Christ, Who is perfect, there is not a single believer who doesn't struggle with this in one form or another.
Christ's words in MT 6: 22-23 express this problem and its solution so much better than I can. "The eyes are like a lamp for the body. If your eyes are sound, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eyes are not good, your body will be in darkness. So if the light in you is darkness, how terribly dark it will be!" [Remember that darkness is defined as the absence of light]. A good eye is one that accepts God's motives as his own, knows they are pure and without evil, and is willing to literally accept God's teaching. That person's life is flooded with light, light that can eventually help to bring others, by God's hand, "out of the darkness into His marvelous light" [1 PET 2: 9]. Within this person's soul, he knows that this is the only true security, not that which comes from a lot of money or material things. The person with a bad eye is trying to be a slave to two worlds, the one who wants to be everything to all. It can't be done, as Christ tells us in MT 6: 24. "No one can be a slave of two masters; he will hate the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money [mammon]." This person doesn't want to let go of his earthly treasures, yet he wants them in heaven too. The teachings of Jesus come across as impractical and impossible to him. His darkness prevents him from getting the benefits of the Lord's direction. This is spiritual blindness, and if continued, it leads to permanent disaster.
I have often written this: I don't want to waste a drop of the blood that our Lord shed for me on the cross. And yes, I can truly relate to what Paul wrote in RO 7: 14-25a, where he outlines the awful battle that is going on between the fleshly outer self and the spiritual inner self. Let me just give you a taste of this conflict from RO 7: 15, 22-23, 24b-25a, "I do not understand what I do; for I don't do what I would like to do, but instead I do what I hate...My inner being delights in the law of God. But I see a different law at work in my body-a law that fights against the law of which my mind approves...Who will rescue me from this body that is taking me to death? Thanks be to God, Who does this though our Lord Jesus Christ!" GA 5: 17 illuminates this issue. "For what our human nature wants is opposed to what our Spirit wants and what the Spirit wants is opposed to what our human nature wants. These two are enemies, and this means that you cannot do what you want to do." It is only our willingness to be faithfully obedient to Jesus Christ, to take the harder, more narrow road that will get us to eternal life. Remember, our Lord Jesus suffered and died, so that we could make this choice. Just as God resurrected Him to heaven, so I believe God will do the same for those of us who have the grit and courage to open our hearts to Him and love Him by our obedience to His word [RO 8: 29].
PRAYER: O Lord, how many times we come to your throne to ask You for what we want. We forget the great sacrifice of Your only Son on the cross and plow ahead, asking for this material thing or that. We forget, Dearest Abba, that through our faith in Jesus Christ, You have promised to help those who are willing to do their part in the Covenant of Grace. I stand as living proof that You will supply our needs, but not necessarily our wants. What a compassionate and patient God You are! You do not abandon Your children, and You intervene in their lives to give them strength, courage, and the equipment they need to be obedient to You. PS 9: 9-10, "The Lord is a Refuge for the oppressed, a place of safety in times of trouble. Those who know You, Lord, will trust you; You do not abandon anyone who comes to You." IS 40: 29, "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak." When Paul said the name, Jesus Christ, in answer to "Who can rescue me from the body that is taking me to death?", he, through the Holy Spirit, unlocked the mystery of how to overcome the temptations of the flesh. It is so important, Dearest Father, that we understand the supernatural power of Your word and that we spend daily time in it- allowing You the opportunity to reveal Yourself and Your will through it. You remain firm and consistent in Your teaching. You remain patient through our individual and congregational struggles in the conflict between the body and Spirit. You offer us Your loving help when the going gets so tough that we need it. PS 37: 39, "The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their Refuge in the time of trouble." You give us the perception of Your Son's arms around us when we are frustrated and sad, as long as we open our hearts to Him. PS 16: 8, "I am always aware of the Lord's presence; He is near and nothing can shake me." You offer us comfort when we are afraid. IS 41: 10, "Do not be afraid-I am with you! I am your God-let nothing terrify you! I will make you strong and help you; I will protect you and save you." And yes, Dearest Abba, You make good on your promise in PS 29:11, "The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace." We offer You our loyalty, adoration, diligence, faithful obedience, honor, worship, thanks, and praise. In Christ's holy name, we pray. Amen.
Next week we will finish up the topic of our glimpses into heavenly riches and will begin looking at the issue of what constitutes spiritual maturity with regard to material things. When I was called to the ministry at the age of 39 (and I'm 63 now), I made a pledge to God that any one of us can make. I promised, as part of keeping up my end of the Covenant of Grace, that God was welcome to live in my house for the rest of my earthly life. The truth is that I really want to live in His house forever. I hadn't yet come across PS 23: 6 as it applies to this promise. "Your kindness and love will always be with me each day of my life, and I will live forever in your house, Lord." Long ago, David wrote in PS 52: 8, "But I am like an olive tree growing in God's house, and I can count on His love forever and ever." Joshua made a similar promise to God in JS 24: 15, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Making vows like this to God and experiencing His reaction to them is a serious matter. It should never be done lightly. Now I can relate to you after living with this vow as long as I have, that while being one of the toughest submissions to God I've ever experienced, it has brought me more blessings than I can count. Submitting to God and becoming faithfully obedient to Him is not something I have always done. I backslide just as anyone in the process of sanctification does. But I can tell you that God has been patient, loving, compassionate, and generous with His clear direction (through the Holy Spirit). The same blessings that I have are available to anyone who decides to serve God whether or not it is in full-time ministry. God calls us to, "Be holy because I am holy" [LV 11: 44-45; LV 19:2; 1 PET 1: 16]. Let me encourage all of us to pay careful attention to that command and then enjoy all the blessings that comes from obedience to this command.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn