Yesterday we took a quick look at what we are to treasure. We saw Jesus condemn the man that thought it was wise to store up his wealth as if he had forever to spend it. In fact, not only are we supposed to use whatever wealth we have in God’s service, we are to be good givers as well. Good givers are the kind that give without expecting anything in return.
Here are five ways we are supposed to give:
Liberally (Luke 6:38)
Sacrificially (Hebrews 13:16)
Cheerfully (2 Corinthians 9:7)
Purposefully (2 Corinthians 9:7)
Secretly (Matthew 6:3-4)
If any one of these adverbs are left out of the act of giving, the meaning and the benefit is diminished. Take your giving to the next level and see how your heart follows!
Jesus used The Parable of the Rich Fool as a lesson in stewardship over the things we have on loan in this earthly life. (Luke 12:13-21) Money is a tool for living and serving and is no more evil than a hay rake when used properly.
Put your heart into things you can do with money, not into the money.
As one famous money matter expert put it, we’re supposed to save some, spend some, and give some away. We can see these actions in most of the godly people written about in the Bible.
So where did the rich fool go wrong?
He hoarded his wealth instead of using it for service to God
He assumed he had a long time left
He decided he was above working now that “he had it made”
Jesus said more than once that our heart follows what we treasure, (Luke 12:34, Matthew 6:21) so putting our heart into something like money and riches – something that is not everlasting – is a foolish exercise.
Paul called the confession of Jesus as the Christ and the Son of God “the good confession.” (1 Timothy 6:12-13) I can’t think of any better reason to call it that than the promise Jesus makes in Luke 12:8-9. If it goes anything like Christ’s response to Peter when he confessed that Jesus was the Christ, (Matthew 16:17-18) then it truly is a wonderful event.
Other reasons we call it “the good confession” include:
Jesus was condemned for making it (John 19:7, Mark 14:62)
God made it (Matthew 3:17, Matthew 17:5)
All will make it eventually (Philippians 2:11)
Christ confesses those who make it (Matthew 10:32)
Making the good confession – actually saying that Jesus is the Son of God in front of others, opens your heart to the desire to obey God’s commandments. It is how we are able to be truly obedient to God’s plan
We have been studying the Sermon on the Mount in my 3rd-5th grade class the last couple of weeks. We used the opportunity to talk about and review how Jesus taught us to pray. (Luke 11:1-4, Matthew 6:5-15) The formula is so simple, everyone from the young boys to grown men can benefit from it when facing the need to give a public prayer.
Some people are deathly afraid to get in front of an audience to speak as it is, but add the weight of leading a group of people in prayer and it can be truly overwhelming. Sometimes we speak of someone’s ability to lead a beautiful prayer and it creates a false impression that God will only hear a prayer that is “beautiful.”
Luckily, we know that is not the case. Paul assures us that even when we misspeak, the Holy Spirit is there to tell God what we really meant. (Romans 8:26-27) We can take comfort that all of our prayers are powerful (James 5:16) and that God did not make it difficult to speak to him. Based on the lessons Jesus taught, here are a few pointers about prayer:
Praying need not be complicated or showy.
prayers should be short
prayers should acknowledge God’s greatness
we need forgiveness and deliverance from temptation
long showy prayers and vain repetitions are sinful
even Christians are sinful and need forgiveness
avoiding temptation is as important avoiding sin
Christians must be forgiving as well as forgiven
One last pointer that I have for the young boys that I have taught over the years (which works for grown-ups too!) is to pray aloud even when we are alone. This helps tremendously to get used to hearing our own voice in that context and keeps us focused on our prayer while we are talking to God.
Jesus at the home of Martha and Mary by Tintoretto, 16th century.
Today (or the next time) as you attend the worship services, I ask you to classify yourself as a Mary or Martha. (Luke 10:38-42)
Martha was hard at work, serving the guests in her house.
Mary took advantage of the opportunity to sit at her Lord’s feet to learn.
There is lots of work that needs to be done to support a worship service, I give you that. There is even more to do to get into heaven. Be sure your priorities are on getting the spiritual nourishment you need for the edification of your faith. (Romans 10:17)
At the time that John the Baptist was preparing the way, those who witnessed Jesus had little trouble accepting him as the Messiah. The Jews in charge had other ideas, however. There was a constant campaign to discredit Jesus. We can look at our own times to see how quickly people have become bold enough to declare themselves Atheists. It only takes a few people to reach the critical mass where opinions, values and morals collectively change.
With a few page turns and some quick scanning of the Gospels, we can find all sorts of rumors and lies they told on our Lord.
They said:
he was a glutton (Matthew 11:18,19)
he was a winebibber (Matthew 11:18,19)
he cast out demons by the prince of demons (Matthew 9:34)
he was Beelzebul (Matthew 10:25)
he was a sinner (John 9:24)
he had a demon (John 7:20)
he violated the Sabbath (Matthew 12:2)
he was a Samaritan (John 8:48)
he was a deceiver (Matthew 27:63)
had a friendship with publicans and sinners (Luke 15:2)
that no prophet could come out of Galilee (John 7:52)
he lead the multitude astray (John 7:12)
it was impossible for Jesus to be the Christ since Elijah had not risen from the dead (Mark 9:11)
he had an unclean spirit (Mark 3:30)
he is beside himself (Mark 3:21)
he transgressed the tradition of the elders (Matthew 15:2)
he is not from God (John 9:16)
he forbade to give tribute to Caesar (Luke 23:2)
he made himself a king (Luke 23:2)
he was an evildoer (John 18:30)
that Jesus claimed he would destroy the temple of God and build it in three days (Matthew 26:61)
The things we are seeing today are nothing new. The lies listed above and worse can still be expected from those who wish to discredit Christ and Christians. We have it pretty easy compared to those first century Christians. Those who are not in a Muslim country have it pretty easy compared to some Christians that do live there.
For today, just resolve to keep fighting the good fight (1 Timothy 6:12) and let God handle the rest.
Daily Bible reading for September 14
Psalm 44
2 Samuel 4
Ezekiel 4:1-5:4
Luke 9:51-10:24
