Do Earthly Matters Rule Us ?

Do Earthly Matters Rule Us?                                                         

To often our focus in on our physical existence, we measure our success by what we own, how good we think we look and the number of friends we have.  God sees things very differently than we do, unless our focus is on Christ alone, we will fall into the trap of the natural thinking of man. 

It might be good to take inventory, perhaps taking a day out of our lives and closely watching how we respond to things and people, we may be more focused on earthly matters than we think we are.

Job 22:25-29

New King James Version (NKJV)

"25 Yes, the Almighty will be your gold And your precious silver;

26 For then you will have your delight in the Almighty, And lift up your face to God.

27 You will make your prayer to Him, He will hear you, And you will pay your vows.

28 You will also declare a thing, And it will be established for you;

So light will shine on your ways.

29 When they cast you down, and you say, ‘Exaltation will come!’ Then He will save the humble person."

Do We Want Our Prayers Answered?

Unless we are ashamed of our wrong attitudes and actions, even confessing them openly, we will not grow. Only those who are embarrassed enough to admit their mistakes and sins, will take a step forward in progressing toward holiness.

James 5:16 "Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."

If we refuse to confess, not only will we not grow, any prayers we utter will be ignored by God.

James 4:3

"3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures."

James 1:5-7

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and [a]without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,

1 John 5:14-15

"14 This is the confidence which we have [a]before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him."

1 Peter 3:7

"7 You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered."

Psalm 66:18

"18 If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear;"

If we want the Lord to hear us, we must desire His will His Way! We must care whether or not we are pleasing Him. To pray asking for our desires without concern for His Will, angers Him.

Romans 1:18

"18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,"

Do we want our prayers to be heard? If the answer is yes, then it is best to ask God to show us His Will, obey what He tells us through His Word.

Know It All's Cannot Grow

Know It All's Cannot Grow

Those who think they already know everything, refusing to listen to others, cannot learn. They remain spiritual babies because of their arrogance.

Arrogance: "Excessively and unpleasantly self important." New American Heritage Dictionary.

Wisdom Calls Out!

God says Wisdom calls out to us, she is all around us if we only would ask. No one has an excuse for lack of understanding. All we have to do is ask God for His wisdom and He will give it.

James 1:5 "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him."

Proverbs 8:1-13
New King James Version (NKJV)
The Excellence of Wisdom

"8 Does not wisdom cry out,
And understanding lift up her voice?

2 She takes her stand on the top of the high hill,
Beside the way, where the paths meet.

3 She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city,
At the entrance of the doors:

4 “To you, O men, I call,
And my voice is to the sons of men.

5 O you simple ones, understand prudence,
And you fools, be of an understanding heart.

6 Listen, for I will speak of excellent things,
And from the opening of my lips will come right things;

7 For my mouth will speak truth;
Wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

8 All the words of my mouth are with righteousness;
Nothing crooked or perverse is in them.

9 They are all plain to him who understands,
And right to those who find knowledge.

10 Receive my instruction, and not silver,
And knowledge rather than choice gold;

11 For wisdom is better than rubies,
And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.

12 “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
And find out knowledge and discretion.

13 The fear of the Lord is to hate evil;
Pride and arrogance and the evil way
And the perverse mouth I hate."

Job Understood Trials

Job's experience was very intense, we feel only a slight inkling of the misery he endured here in our country. However in other countries of the world the misery is much like Job's.

Job 17:6-10
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
6 “But He has made me a byword of the people, And I am one at whom men spit.
7 “My eye has also grown dim because of grief, And all my members are as a shadow.
8 “The upright will be appalled at this, And the innocent will stir up himself against the godless.
9 “Nevertheless the righteous will hold to his way, And he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
10 “But come again all of you now, For I do not find a wise man among you."

Will God Accept Our Offering?

The Lord told me many years ago that churches should never hold rummage sales to earn money for the work of the gospel. So much work is involved in putting together a rummage sale unnecessarily.

The first principle is that, if the people of the gathering of believers need money for God's work, then they should just give as they are led in their hearts without thought of getting anything in return, while praying that God would provide more if needed.

The second principle is that, God's people should never receive funds for God's work from those who do not love Him.

God's people are to provide as they are blessed financially and through a dedication to the work of Christ. No where in the Word does God tell us to hold "Church rummage sales", to get money for His Work

If someone were to sell their own goods to give the money to the church, that is a different matter. For the church to hold a rummage sale, demonstrates to the world that God does not provide miraculously for the needs of the body, that the body depends on human devices the same as the world does.

1 Corinthians 16:2
"2 On the first day of every week each one of you is to [a]put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come."

2 Corinthians 9:7
"7 Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

Mark 12:41-44
"41 And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums.
42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent.
43 Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury;
44 for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.”

Luke 6:38
"38 Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

Proverbs 3:9-10
"9 Honor the Lord from your wealth And from the first of all your produce;
10 So your barns will be filled with plenty And your vats will overflow with new wine."
Matthew 6:21
"21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

The Lord wants His money to come from believers who have a right heart, expecting nothing in return. Any offering from a non-believer is an stench in God's nostrils He will not accept it.

Psalm 66:18
"If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear."

We Are Now The Crazy Fringe

When the self esteem teaching became main stream sometime in the 1960's, most of us thought it was silly, but unfortunately we also thought it was not a threat, since only the psychological fringe groups were pushing it.

Today we see it taught in all schools and churches and most of the culture has bought into this very insidious lie of the devil.  Those of us who did not buy into this deception are considered the crazy fringe, while the rest of the culture as a whole has been sold out to it.

We are now living in the days described in 2 Timothy 3 and it is getting worse all the time. 

2 Timothy 3

New King James Version (NKJV)

Perilous Times and Perilous Men

"1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:

2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,

4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,

7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

8 Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith;

9 but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was."