Am I "Rich Towards God?"

 I was listening to a well respected teacher of Scripture yesterday (John Piper) and his message was about being rich towards God.  Maybe you, as I, have heard the warnings many times about the love of money and the trap it sets.  In Matthew 6:21 and Luke 12:34, we're specifically told that where our treasure is, there too is our heart.  In the spirit of self-examination and confession, if we were to honestly assess where we spend our money and time, we might be sorely convicted of where our heart truly is versus where we think or would like it to be.  Our Pastor also spoke about this recently and exhorted us to set our hearts on things above (Colossians 3:1), not on the here and now.  Scriptures exhorts us to not give up our full birthright (as Esau did) for temporary satisfaction and gratification. 


  In the parable of the rich fool as told by Jesus in Luke 12:13-21, Pastor Piper highlighted the real problem that Jesus was warning about.   Here's the parable as told by Christ:


  Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”  Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’  “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God."  Luke 12:13-21 (NIV)

  The thing that made this man a fool, was not that he was rich  (ironically even the world is trying to convince us that one who is rich and successful in business is evil, a very powerful political platform today), but that he:


  1)  Gave no credit to God for his bounty and therefore did not have a thankful heart; and


  2)  Had no thought of using his excess for anyone but himself, conceiving ways of ensuring it was stored and kept safe for his own personal needs, relaxation and pleasure.


  And there's the rub.  It's not a sin to be wealthy. There are many examples of Godly people in Scripture who had great wealth.  The sin is not being rich towards God and others with your wealth. 


  John Piper went into very specific and personal applications of how to ensure we're on-guard against being a slave to money and materialism.  I've posted the link to that podcast below if you'd like to hear the entire message--which is way more powerful than what I have captured here.  But I'm reminded again, that all of us in this country are far better off financially than most of the world.  Are we, as God's people in this country, being truly honest about our heart condition?  One sure test is looking at our bank account.  


John Piper Podcast

Divine Interruptions

  I am learning, with some reluctance, to enjoy interruptions in my life.  By my nature, I'm a planner, organizer, data driven, results oriented personality.   Unplanned, unforeseen events getting between me and the end result, isn't something I like (to put it mildly).   These traits are great for software engineering projects, but horrible for human relations.

 But this area of my life, like so many others, is being reshaped in the hands of the Potter.

 Today I had another opportunity to be interrupted.  I have been home for a total of 10 days this entire month due to unforeseen circumstances.  But God has used that time to have me listen, advise, relate, and pray for many different people in my sphere of influence.  Today, I had plans to meet with a Sister for a wonderful couple of hours of fellowship and sharing, then come home to catch up on much needed (in my opinion) housework and some rest.

  On my way home this afternoon, I came upon a couple on a country road whose car had run out of gas.   Fortunately, they had a gas can so I was easily able to help them out by running back to town with the can and getting gas for them.

 As I drove back from town with the gas, I prayed that God would use me to lift up Jesus to them.  I had just talked with my Sister in Christ this morning about how the world is okay with us referring to God in general terms, but to speak the name of Jesus in public was still very much frowned upon and/or met with open hostility.  After all, God can mean just about anything to people, but Jesus is very specific.  So I prayed that I would lift up Jesus to this couple in a meaningful way.

 The young lost couple were receptive to Christ.  They knew the 2nd greatest commandment (love your neighbor as yourself) and told me that they could tell that I was indeed a follower of Christ in that way, not a religious zealot (praise God for that is the greatest of all compliments in my mind).  They asked me about baptism and the Church we attend in Columbus and why we went there.  They asked about what we did for work so I was able to tell them about our ministry at the bookshop and told them that we would love to see them again if they were in the area (they were passing through apparently, although why on a country road nowhere near a major thoroughfare is beyond me).   We had about 20 minutes of talking together in total.  They asked about books and Christ and different religions (the man's grandfather is Mormon).  I was so blessed to be able to answer their questions without fear of sounding judgmental.  I could sense that they had met with many calling themselves Christian who judged them harshly.  I wonder how many times I have left someone feeling that way myself?  We were able to connect in a loving way and after the car was jump-started (I even had jumper cables amazingly) and running again we hugged and parted ways with smiles and blessings for each other.

  There is so much more I could have said to them and second guessed myself afterwards about what I did and did not say (human pride).  But truthfully, I prayed that the Holy Spirit would guide my words and witness so it is Him at work there and not me.  I have to trust that just the right things were said to plant seeds, or water seeds that have obviously already been planted.

  I share this story today to encourage my brethren.  If we are willing to be interrupted, and are equipped with the Word and the love of Christ (His grace and truth), God will send us divine opportunities to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth. We don't have to push the issue or seek usefulness in His Kingdom, He will engage us where He wants us.  We just have to be willing and available for divine interruptions.

  Recently I asked God to affirm my evangelism method of blogging because that's how I feel most comfortable doing it but I also asked Him if He wanted me to do it on the street.  If so, I asked Him to show me when and how....well, I think He just did :-)

Taking up the Sword

  I am becoming more and more aware of the mission field that God has brought to us  in the U.S.  We no longer have to travel long distances and go to foreign countries to find people who have never heard the Gospel. God has brought nations of people to us!   Right here in my own relatively small community (approximately 60K people), we have people from Mexico, India, Asia, Europe, etc.  Just a little further out, there is a major university where even more nations of people are represented.

  Every day we are among people who have doubts, are skeptical, totally in the dark, or opposed to God.  Like no other time in history, we have an opportunity to spread the good news globally and defend the Christian faith by simply going into our own communities.  We also have access to more tools at our fingertips to help us be prepared to answer questions and skeptics with right doctrine.  Yet, data (and personal experience) indicates that more and more people identifying themselves as Christians are less Biblically literate than ever before.  This could be why many other countries are sending Christian missionaries to the U.S. to spread the Gospel.  God's plan will not be thwarted and THE Church will not be destroyed. If we are unwilling to be a part of the great commission, He will find other willing participants to carry it out, closing doors of local Churches and raising up new ones.  False religious organizations and cults certainly spend a lot of time and effort equipping their followers to spread their interpretation of gospel and they find many ill-equipped Christians as targets.


 So, with this thought in mind, God has been tugging at me to use technology and the vast resources, skills and talents He's gifted me with to  help equip those in my sphere of influence.  So today, I announce the beginning of a new blog called Armed With The Sword (swordofthespirit.blogspot.com) for that purpose. If you want to feel more confident in sharing truth with others or want to learn about why we can trust the Bible and the truths contained within, I hope you will follow the blog there.  If you'd like to see certain topics addressed, please feel free to let me know.

  Our time on earth is short.  Let's store our treasure in heaven by lifting up Christ to others in truth and love, with all gentleness and respect.  And let's be obedient to Christ's call to go and make disciples of all nations while we still can!

The Spiritual Gift of Writing?

Really?  Is writing considered a Spiritual gift?  I have never heard that before!  But today I took a Spiritual Gift assessment and it's my number one gift!  I have kept a journal for almost my entire life but I never realized that this was a way that God would use me to spread the good news and encourage, exhort and affirm people (my second highest gift is evangelism).  My husband is an avid reader and I'm an avid writer, we make a great pair :-)

 I have many people in my life who encourage me greatly by telling me how what I've written in these blogs and even on Facebook have encouraged and blessed them.  On the other side, I've had some lash out at me for what I've written.  I take this as a positive as well.  That means that what I'm writing is hitting home.  I write often in my private journals and most of what I write never sees the light of day (at least not yet).  But on occasion, I feel very strongly about writing something to be seen publicly.  There are times when those things I feel strongly to write about are not things that I feel comfortable writing because I know that it may offend or rouse some to anger; feelings of judgement, or some other negative feeling.  But, as the writers of Scripture had to pen the good, the bad, the encouragement, the chastisement, the blessings, curses and warnings, I have to do the same when lead by the Spirit to do so.

  So, if this is my Spiritual gift then I certainly want to use it to the fullest extent that God will have me use it and will not quench the Spirit's prodding when I'm challenged to write something for public consumption---especially if it is a tough topic. The easy feel good topics anyone can write about. :-)  I pray that God uses me to deliver both types of messages as He did all of those who have come before me. 

  The difference between writing as a talent, hobby or career, and the Spiritual gift of writing, is that it comes without training or human effort and the inspiration of the message.  Spiritual gifts also are always used to glorify God, edify the body, or grow the Kingdom.  I pray that I always rely on the Spirit for this gift and never turn it into something of my own effort and motives.

Tests and Examinations That Really Matter!

   Our Pastor reminded us in a recent sermon that Scripture tells us that the number of people who really allow God to change and mold them is very small.  Jesus tells us that the path is narrow and that not all who say "Lord, Lord" will be saved.  He wasn't talking about the people in the world who never claim to be Christian, He was referring to those who claim to be His followers but are false.  The parable of the seed (Matt 13:1-9) and the story of the many disciples who turned from Christ when His teaching got hard (John 6:60-70) are just two of many passages of Scripture that show that not all who hear and claim to believe in Christ fully submit.

  It is because of this that we as believers are exhorted to examine and test ourselves to see if we truly are in the faith (2 Cor 13:5).  Sadly, I think many neglect that exhortation which leaves them doubting their salvation or living outside of saving faith in a state of apathy or in misery and depression as they try to earn salvation through works of all kinds.

  The book of 1 John is a very good book in Scripture to study and use as a tool to help us to test and examine ourselves.  That book along with genuine prayer asking God to reveal any unclean thing in us and asking our trusted brethren to hold up a mirror to us (because we have blind spots) is key.  Below is also a big help from www.gotquestions.org that walks you through the key questions to ask yourself and gives practical steps to examination.  Finding out now whether or not we truly are in the faith is  better by far than finding out when we meet Christ in eternity and hear Him say "Away from me, I never knew you." (Matthew 7:21)   I can't even begin to imagine how awful that would feel and I wonder how many will be surprised to hear those words in that day. :-(  It is that thought that drives me to post this blog today.
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Excerpt from www.gotquestions.org

Question: "What are some of the signs of genuine saving faith?"

Answer: This is one of the most important questions in the Christian life. Many believers doubt their salvation because they don’t see signs of genuine faith in their lives. There are those who say we should never doubt our decision to follow Christ, but the Bible encourages us to examine ourselves to see if we are truly “in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5). Thankfully, God has given us ample instruction for how we can know for sure that we have eternal life. The first epistle of John was actually written for that purpose, as it states in 1 John 5:13, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life."

There are a series of tests in 1 John that we can use to examine ourselves and our faith. As we look at them, remember that no one will perfectly fulfill all of them all the time, but they should reveal a consistent trend that characterizes our lives as we grow in grace.

1. Do you enjoy having fellowship with Christ and His redeemed people? (1 John 1:3)
2. Would people say you walk in the light, or walk in the darkness? (1 John 1:6-7)
3. Do you admit and confess your sin? (1 John 1:8)
4. Are you obedient to God's Word? (1 John 2:3-5)
5. Does your life indicate you love God rather than the world? (1 John 2:15)
6. Is your life characterized by "doing what is right"? (1 John 2:29)
7. Do you seek to maintain a pure life? (1 John 3:3)
8. Do you see a decreasing pattern of sin in your life? (1 John 3:5-6) [Note: this refers to not continuing in sin as a way of life, not a total absence of sin.]
9. Do you demonstrate love for other Christians? (1 John 3:14)
10. Do you "walk the walk," versus just "talking the talk"? (1 John 3:18-19)
11. Do you maintain a clear conscience? (1 John 3:21)
12. Do you experience victory in your Christian walk? (1 John 5:4)

If you are able to truthfully answer "Yes" to these questions (or a majority of them, and are working on the others), then your life is bearing the fruit of true salvation. Jesus said that it is by our fruits that we are known as His disciples (Matthew 7:20). Fruitless branches—professing believers who do not display the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) are cut off and thrown into the fire (John 15:2). A genuine faith is one that not only believes in God (the devils themselves do that - James 2:19), but leads to open confession of sin and obedience to Christ's commands. Remember, we are saved by grace through faith, not by our works (Ephesians 2:8-9), but our works should display the reality of our salvation (James 2:17-18). Genuine saving faith will always produce works; a faith that is perpetually without works is no faith at all and saves no one.

In addition to these confirmations, we need to remember God's promises and the reality of the war we are in. Satan is just as real as Jesus Christ, and he is a formidable enemy of our souls. When we turn to Christ, Satan will look for every opportunity to deceive and defeat us. He will try to convince us that we are unworthy failures or that God has given up on us. When we are in Christ, we have the assurance that we are kept by Him. Jesus Himself prayed for us in John 17:11 that the Father would "protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one." Again in verse 15, He prayed, "keep them from the evil one." In John 10:27-29, Jesus said "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand." If you hear and obey the voice of Jesus, then you are one of His sheep, and He will never let you go. Jesus gave a wonderful word picture here of Christians securely held within His loving hands and the Father's almighty hands wrapping themselves around His, giving us a double assurance of eternal security.

Recommended Resource: That You May Know: Assurance of Salvation in 1 John by Christopher David Bass.

True Love God's Way

   As I write this blog, our nation is celebrating love as a part of Valentine's Day.  It is a nice day because everywhere I've been today, people seem kinder than normal, more open to sentiments of love and grace.  I was even invited to pray over a community breakfast where people from all walks of life (and faiths) were together.  From this standpoint, I celebrate with the world.  Love is great, love is good.  Afterall, God is love!  (1 John 4:8 and 16).

  Rusty and I have been married for almost 33 years now and in the beginning, we whole-heartedly embraced Valentine's Day and participated in its ritual of buying gifts for each other.  Even today, Rusty had flowers delivered to me. He's such a sweetheart.  But truth be known, Rusty shows me his love every day.  Every day he prays with and for me, he involves me in his thoughts and struggles and he engages me in discussion that are most important to me.  I am not a widow to his work or hobbies, nor to his volunteer activities. 

  I know alot of wives who are widows to other priorities in their husband's lives.  It shows on their faces, in their health, and in their relationships.  Wives who feel cherished by their husbands have such a sweet softness to them.  A glow that radiates from deep inside. They are confident in life and for the most part seem to be healthier physically.  There are exceptions to this of course.

   Ephesians Chapter 5, verses 22-33 give us very clear instructions for how love between a husband and a wife should be.  I can say that for the first 20 years of our marriage, we were doing okay at best, but we were missing the mark by a long shot.   It wasn't until we met Christ and learned His will for marriage that our love for each other really took root.  I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my husband loves me as Christ loves the Church (in as much as humanly possible).  He would die for me.  As a matter-of-fact, he did!  I told the story in detail in a blog a while back in our testimony, but he gave up the wordly pursuits to seek God with me.  He has been reborn spiritually and is growing in grace daily.  My part in this was to respect him even when I didn't feel like he "deserved" respect.  Do you know how hard that is???  I was always taught that respect had to be earned.  When it comes to your husband, respect is demanded in God's Kingdom, whether you feel it's deserved or not. In the same way, husbands are to love their wives whether they feel it's deserved or not.  Love and respect are both actions, not feelings, and not negotiable for those who claim to be followers of Christ. 

 So, my prayer for you all today, is that you experience true love as God meant it to be.  Not with just gifts, flowers and cards (although these are not bad in themselves--quite nice when accompanied by true love).  But with love and respect that is deeply felt on a daily basis and growing continually.

 

 

Focus Child Focus!

   I am a recovering chronic multitasker.  It's a slow process I'm afraid.  Multitasking is highly prized by the world and has made me very successful at work.  One of the things that frustrated me so badly about my job was that I never felt I did anything as well as I could.  I could do many things satisfactorily but I never had the feeling of great accomplishment in any one task.  I remember my Mom telling me "if something is worth doing, it's worth doing well."  In the business world where doing more with less is the mantra for success, doing things really well wasn't always possible.

  For the past 7 months, my days have been my own.  I am in control of my time, my tasks and my focus.  But I am just now beginning to be able to slow down and focus on what I feel that God is really calling me to. 

  There are 2 main things that He has lead me to focus on and do well:  1) Pray and spend time in focused study of the Word (Spiritual exercise--physical too) and 2) spend quality time with people.  The first thing comes pretty easy to me.  I love digging into the Word and asking the Spirit to teach me the deeper truths that are there.  Not only to learn it, but to be able to teach others both  verbally and living it out.  

  Number 2 is harder for me because I've always been "too busy" to really spend quality time with an individual. Focused time to really listen to them, to minister to them, to hug them, pray for them and truly love them.  I've always had a job that pulled my attention and focus in many different directions and to be honest, it provided a very good and fully acceptable excuse to not be available for relationships.  This excuse is probably the biggest lie of all because let's be honest, relationships are messy!  Who wants to take on other people's messiness? But that's what Jesus patterned for us.

 In the past few years, a friend of ours told us that BUSY was really an acronym for "Buried Under Satan's Yoke".  I believe it!  We are so busy doing so much that we are very uncomfortable being still, being quiet, sharing lives with others and letting God direct our steps.  Okay, that's a generality (which I find very annoying in books that I read) and doesn't apply to everybody, but I do experience it as prevalent in our culture today.  As a matter-of-fact, I wonder if that's why professional counselors and psychiatry are in bigger demand these days....because there is a big lack of genuine relationship in people's lives? Just a thought.....

  So I'm praying that God help me to love well.  I want to be available for my family, my friends, my neighbors, my Church family, and strangers brought to me by divine appointment. How many opportunities have I missed out on because I was too busy and distracted?  I know I have to be careful here too because the need is great and I can't get absorbed into too much.  I don't want to get out of balance and there will always be someone who doesn't get that focused attention.  And I certainly don't want to turn this into an idol!!!  When it comes to real meaningful relationships, just as in spreading the good news, the need is great but the workers are few.