He WILL Provide

“But godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.  But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” – 1 Timothy 6:6-8

“Nothing that I gain on this earth can be taken to heaven with me, except for the people that I share Christ with” (Pastor Don).  This is something I feel like we all know, but it is so easy to forget and get caught up in the things of this world.  I remember after I heard this quote from Pastor Don, it all of a sudden just hit me in class; the importance of being completely satisfied in Gods will.  Everyone always says there is nothing on this earth we can take with us to heaven, but then Pastor Don added except for the people we witness too.  Our calling on this earth is to be ambassadors for Christ; we don’t get saved simply to escape hell, Christ saves us so that we can go and spread His truth.  But, if we are living our lives with contempt towards our godly calling, what kind of witness are we showing?  Yet, if we are living our lives full of Christ joy and peace, because we have put our trust and faith in Him and are satisfied, then people will see a difference and ask “why?”  Jesus constantly reminds us that our treasures are in heaven.  Our reward for our works through Him are being stored, not on earth, but in heaven.  Making a six figure income won’t do anyone any good when they go live in eternity.  There is no earthly gain worth losing our souls.  And yet, so many times I find myself wanting more then what I have.  We came into this world with literall nothing.  If I step back and look at my life God has blessed me beyond anything I could have ever asked for and He gives me life.

                The last sentence in these verses reminds me of The Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 6.  Jesus reminds us that He will provide for our every need.  He tells us not to worry about tomorrow, but stay focused on what He is calling you to now.  God cares more about His ministers then His ministry, but this I think can be a hard concept to grasp.  Yet, we are His children and He chooses to use us, so why would He not provide for our basic needs?  Knowing that God is an honest God, who keeps His promises, is an amazing comfort.  I can be confident in knowing that as long as I stay on the path of godliness, My Lord will be faithful in all things.  To live my life completely resting in His hands, not only does it make my yoke light, but it is a testimony that I truly believe in what I say I believe.  The Bible says that the world will know us by our love for one another.  But, if I am too worried about my own needs, then when will I take my eyes of my life and put my feet to furthering the Kingdom? The only thing we can take to heaven are our brothers and sister, do I live that way?

He is Faithful in All Things

“We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” – Hebrews 6:12

            When someone is a marathon runner, they run every day.  Every thought they have and action they take is focused around running.  They make sure they are eating the right foods, drinking water, that they aren’t doing anything that could injure them and that they keep their strength and stamina by at least running once a day.  When they are training for a marathon, they don’t only run 10 miles in order to prepare for 24.  Actually, many runners that I have talked to try to run around 30, so that 24 seems on the lighter side.  If one of these runners over the years decides that this is just too much work, so they are going to take a couple of years off, it would ruin their career.  Yes, when they decide to jump back into it, they would still know the correct form of running, what they should eat and drink, and what times work best for them.  But their strength and stamina would have depleted tenfold.  This, I think, is what the author of Hebrews is trying to warn us of.  Don’t become lazy and stagnant in your walk with Christ, but jump in the water and try to walk.  Yes, you might start to sink in the process, but that is when we reach our hand out to Jesus and He pulls us up. 

            As Christian I don’t think that we always become lazy on purpose.  Sometimes I think it could just be a fear of jumping out of the boat, being scared that we might start to sink and no one would be there to pull us up.  We fill our mind with doubt, instead of having confidence in our Creator and Savior.  Consequently, we get comfortable in the boat, because we think that is where we are safe, but it is actually the opposite.  The boat is where we risk becoming lazy or luke warm.  But, this isn’t what Jesus wants for our lives, He wants us to live by faith, and with faith we would have the boldness to jump out of the boat and do the work He has called us to.  Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”  His plans for us might stretch us, but in no way will He leave us for harm. 

           The author doesn’t just tell us what not to do though, he gives us instructions on how to keep ourselves from laziness.  He tells us to “imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised,” meaning eternal life with Christ Jesus.  He first tells us to imitate, which tells me that I am not alone in this race.  There are people around me who are living their lives depended on Christ and they can be my examples.  God doesn’t want us to be alone, with no way of knowing our right from our left, but He has given us examples of those who follow the Father with faith and patience.  The Bible is full of examples, including Jesus, and there are also people within our own lives that mentor us.  He then tells us to imitate their faith and patience.  We need to have faith in Christ, in what He promises and what He will do within our lives.  Many times, for myself, I find I don’t always doubt God’s abilities, but I doubt that He will work within my life.  Yet, He says if I seek Him and pray to Him, not only will I find Him, but He will listen to my cry.  I have to have faith in this promise and I have to have patience.  If God answered our prayers quickly all the time, life wouldn’t take much faith or patience (there would also not be much room for growth in these two areas).  Many times we can’t always see what God is doing within a situation, or the steps that He want us to take, but that is okay.  We just need to have faith that He works everything out for the good of those who love Him, and then have patience in that faith and His perfect timing. 

What Is Life?

“Stand firm, and you will win life.” – Luke 21:19

            Stand firm, not with confidence in ourselves, but with our confidence in the one who created us.  When I was reading this passage in context, I began to think of Jesus’ trail.  He did not fight when He was taken, because He knew His time had come and that He was in the will of His Father.  He went willingly to the slaughter, but He was not a meek kitten, instead He was bold.  He testified to the truth and was silent when no words were needed. Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit, so the Spirit spoke through Him. He stood firm in what He knew He was called for and won over death.

We need to have this same boldness and confidence throughout our lives.  Jesus tells the disciples what to expect in the end times, so that we won’t walk into it blindly, but that we too will know when our time has come, like Jesus did.  In verse fourteen it says, “But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourself.”  Instead, He asks us to depend on His unfailing word that no one can deny. Jesus tells us to stand firm in Him and what He promises to do through us, if we allow Him.  He warns us that people in our lives will betray us, even family members, because we live for Him. And yet, He tells us to stand firm, be patient, and we will win life.

We will win life, but what life will we win?  In verse sixteen it says, “they will put some of you to death.”  So then how could Jesus promise that if we stand firm in Him we will win life, if He tells us that some of us will be put to death?  He says, “not a hair of your head will perish,” yet we might be put to death.  But, Jesus isn’t promising life on earth, if He was, then what would be our motivation to live for Him?  Christ conquered death, through death.  He was not scared of His physical death, He knew that through it He would gain the ability to give us the promise of this verse in Luke 21:19.  He had to die, be separated from the Father, and take on the wrath of God in order to let us live for eternity with Him.  Stand firm and you will win life everlasting, you will win a life with the Father free of sin.

Life, here on earth, has never been easy for me or my family.  We have this joke, “if we start to see clear skies and sun, then we know there is a big storm fast approaching.”  But, through these storms I’ve always had hope, hope that I could stand firm on a rock that no storm could shift.  I have been betrayed, “put on trial,” and many people have walked up to me, simply to inform me that they hated me. Yet, overall I have always been given peace.  For so long I took this peace for granted, I took my hope in my eternal life with Christ for granted.  I was free of condemnation from this word, and I didn’t need to worry about how others judged my life.  Yet, the more I grow, the more I see how many people don’t have peace in their lives.  They live with constant doubt, never being satisfied and always wanting more.  I don’t envy those who have all you could imaging this world could offer, and yet they don’t have the only thing that can give you true satisfaction and that is Christ. “Stand firm and you will win life,” I praise the Lord that He isn’t promising an earthly life.

Do We Want To Grow?

“This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.  Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.  Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root.  They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among the thorns for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.  But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.” – Luke 8:11-15

“The seed is the word of God,” and without it nothing can grow, because there is no life.  When I read these verses I thought of Pastor Mike and how he said we should all have a healthy fear of falling, because then we will have our guard up. When I look at each one of the examples, I can see areas in my own life.  Times where the lord convicted me, and yet I didn’t truly hear what He was saying and so I had to relearn my lesson.  I had not yet taken hold of that conviction for my life, I hadn’t let it take root.   The second example can be so easy to fall into.  When I start to put my life into my own hands, because I feel like I have to prove myself, that people are depending on me or if I feel like I have the capability to do it on my own.  I stop letting Christ be completely in control, I don’t put all my faith in Him.  When the verse says, “they do not mature” I had to stop and read it again.  So many times we think we mature on our own, and the world might look at us and say, “Wow, you have grown,” but if we don’t grow and mature in Christ then what is the point?  As the Bible says, “What good is it to gain the whole world, but lose your soul?”  The only way we can mature in faith, when we leave faith at the doorstep, is to have the realization of how much we truly need Christ in all we do.

When the seed of God falls onto an open heart, which is willing to learn and wants to grow, then fruit begins to bloom.  There are so many things that God continues to show me in this last sentence.  If we want to grow, then we need to have an open mind, one that is willing to hear Gods word, even if it isn’t in our favor.  But, after we listen to His words, we need to retain it (apply it to our lives).  But, it is the last part of the sentence that I just love.  It uses the word persevere, which shows me that life won’t always be easy. So many times people want life to be easy, but gold can’t be purified unless it goes through the fire.  Thinking about the growing process in order for roots to grow deep, they have to go through hard spots in the ground, and work themselves around rocks embedded in the ground.  It isn’t always easy to grow, but through perseverance we can plant seeds in others life for Christ and grow into mature Christians.

We Can't Get It Back

“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” – Psalm 90:12

There is a time for everything the Bible says; there is a time for life and a time for physical death.  We don’t know the day or the hour that our time here on earth will come to an end.  We have completely no control over how many hours we will receive breath.  Yet, we have control over one thing and that is how we live out our days here on earth.  We can make the most of them, living fully for Christ and continually growing or we can become stagnant, simply running around a circle never truly going anywhere.  If your doctor told you that you only have twenty-four hours left on earth, how would you use that time?  Most likely you would try to leave no loose ends with the ones you love and you would set about making the most of every single one of those hours.

Ultimately, we don’t know if these twenty-four hours could be our last.  Anything at any time could happen, and we could end up having many regrets.  Looking at the life of Christ, He made the most of every day.  Every chance He got He was teaching and bringing glory to the Father.  Matthew 6:34 says “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  So many times we get so caught up in the future, that we miss what God has for us within today.  He tells us to number our days, to focus on each one, because time is limited here on earth.  And that focus shouldn’t be on ourselves, but on the ones that God has put into our lives to be His ambassador.

Psalms 90 says, “that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”   And James describes wisdom as peace-loving, considerate, merciful, impartial, sincere and submissive (James 3:17).  All of these things bring the attention off one’s self and puts it on the ones around you.  Jesus, in His last moments, washed the disciple’s feet.  Humbling Himself down to the lowest position within their society, and washing the feet of the men He knew would betray and abandon Him during His time on the cross.  He loved those who would betray Him, because He knew His time was short, He knew He must be their teacher and encourage them by setting the example.  Psalms 90:14 says, “Satisfy us in the morning with Your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.”   God does not promise us that life will be easy, but He promises us peace. If we lived each day like it was our last, how much more would we love those around us and try to be peacemakers?  God promises to finish the work He has started within us, He just asks us to live each day dying to ourselves and submitting ourselves completely to Him.

"I believe in God, even when He is silent"

“If that is how God cloths the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more cloth you – you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, ‘what shall we eat?’ or ‘what shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.” – Matthew 6:30-34

God makes a promise that He will take care of our needs, as long as we are following after His will.  We are His children, whom He loves and gave His son up for, why would He give us a rock when we ask for bread?  Yet, even knowing this promise, it is so easy to get caught up in everyday life.  We start worrying about all the little things that the world has made so big.  So many times these earthy worries are placed above God, we put them first, instead of seeking Him and leaning on Him with our whole heart.  More and more I realize how much I limit my God when I depend on myself.  He tells me to have faith and seek Him, to give Him all of my life.  Getting caught up in the numbers, in what people expect from you, from all the different worries, we make so many excuses of why we need to do something, “But God.”  How big is He?  He is infinite, but how big is my God?

We ask God to show us what He is going to do in our lives, we want the full picture.  But, if He gave us the full picture what faith would our lives require? None, because we would already know our lives from beginning to end.  There would be no cliff to walk, or leap of faith that seems almost impossible.  Instead, God gives us a vision and then says walk.  He doesn’t give us the blueprint, but He asks us to trust in Him and have faith.  God wants us to ask what He is doing in the here and now, so that we can be in constant communication, focusing on His purpose moment to moment.  Not focusing on what will happen day to day, month to month, or even year to year.

This can be hard, to trust God with our whole lives, when we come from a culture where everything depends on you and what you do with your life.  So many times we say “well I don’t feel God leading me, I don’t feel what His plan is for my life.”  We feel like God has stopped communicating with us, that He no longer is walking beside us and directing our steps.   Yet, God tells us right in this verse what we are to do and in those times of silence God is asking us, “Do you still trust Me, will you take the step of faith?”  He says to seek Him and His righteousness, and we are to do it with our whole hearts.  If we are truly seeking Him diligently, as it says in Hebrews 11:6, “He reward those who seek Him with their whole heart.”  We are just required to continue in our walk and trust in His promise to finish in us the work that He has started.