KNOWING WHAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT

One of the most important aspects of living-by-faith is the ability to know what is of vital importance, that which ultimately matters most.  I read an intriguing interview of Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church and author of “The Purpose Driven Life.”  The interview was conducted years ago by Paul Bradshaw.  Incidentally, you don’t have to agree with everything about an individual, their personal views, or their theological perspectives to glean wisdom from them.  Allow me to share excerpts from this interview with you. 

“People ask me, ‘What is the purpose of life?’  And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity.  We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body--but not the end of me.

I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity.  This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal.  God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn’t going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one.

The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.

God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that’s not the goal of life.  The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth.  I don't believe that anymore.

Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it’s kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.

And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.

If you focus on your problems, you’re going into self-centeredness…my problem, my issues, my pain.  But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her.

It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder.  For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when my book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.

It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before.  I don’t think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence.  He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit.  We made no major purchases.

Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.

Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call ‘The Peace Plan’ to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.

Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back.  It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?

Am I going to be driven by pressures?  Guilt?  Bitterness?  Materialism?  Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes for my life?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don’t get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better.  God didn’t put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list.  He’s more interested in what I am than what I do.  That's why we’re called human beings, not human doings.

During your happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
During your difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
During your quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
During your painful moments, TRUST GOD.
During your every moment, THANK GOD.”

Sisters and brothers, as we approach the cares, concerns and commitments of TODAY…let us practice the presence, praise and peace of GOD…knowing that we will be continually blessed!

A PRACTICAL SOLUTION FOR SUCCESS-IN-LIFE

Prayerfully consider this:

The Word + Surrender + Obedience + Prayer + Faith + Fellowship = OUR CHRIST CONNECTION

When we authentically establish this covenant connection, we have access to whatever GOD envisions for us.

In other words…:

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. (Philippians 4:13, KJV)

I have strength for all things in Him that gives me power. (Philippians 4:13, Darby)

I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. (Philippians 4:13, The Message)

Finally, we must never forget the wise counsel of the Apostle Peter concerning our status and stature in Him: “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.” (II Peter 1:3)

As committed Believers in Christ, we already have it; so let’s use it! 

Sisters and brothers…be continually blessed!

FIDELITY'S REWARD

A life-or-death choice confronts us daily: be a faithful disciple or be a faithless drop-out. 

Let’s allow The Word to speak to our hearts regarding our allegiance and fidelity to Christ:

John 8:30-32

³⁰ As he spake these words, many believed on him.

³¹ Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

³² And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

I Corinthians 4:2

Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

Matthew 25:21,23

His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

Revelation 2:10b

…be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

Sisters and brothers, be encouraged to persevere in faithfulness…and be continually blessed!

NEVER LOSE HEART

No matter what goes on, in or around your life, endeavor to maintain faith, balance and perspective.  During your crisis moments, consider the story of the shipwrecked survivor who was the only one person left alive on a remote Pacific island.  He prayed fervently every day, asking God to send someone along to rescue him.  Day by day, he looked for God’s help, but he just couldn’t find it.  Growing weary of waiting, he decided to construct a crude and meager shelter in order to protect himself and his few possessions.  But then one evening, after foraging the island for food, he returned and found his shelter completely consumed by fire.

Everything he owned was now burned up.  The castaway sailor was totally confused and terribly angry with God.  In despair, he shouted at God: “WHY?  Why did you do this to me?”  Then he fell into a deep sleep on the sandy shore.  Before dawn, he heard the sound of a boat rapidly approaching the island.  At long last, his rescuers had arrived!  He asked them how they knew he was there on the island.  The rescuers said they saw the huge fire and smoke signals he had made the night before.

It is so easy to feel angry, confused or hopeless whenever things seem to go wrong for us.  But we should never lose heart, because GOD is always up to something behind the scenes.  So remember…the next time your ‘house’ is on fire, it might simply be a smoke signal that God has planned for your personal deliverance. 

Finally, we must reflect prayerfully on the example of Jesus, and draw inspiration from it.  He suffered the agony and humiliation of public crucifixion.  Yet, while despising the shame, he endured the cross and won ultimate victory for all of humankind.  During your darkest moments, “Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:2-3, NIV)

In truth, we are constantly comforted and sustained by the promises, plans and purposes of God.  His Word is our beacon, our rescuer and our reward.  “For I know the plans that I have for you, says the Lord, plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV)  My sisters and brothers, be continually blessed!

THE GOSPEL OF GREED (Pt. IV)

The key question for today is “What is the litmus test for determining whether (or not) we are utilizing church or personal funds appropriately?”  According to the Time Magazine article, “Does God Want You To Be Rich?” the Christian church is largely ‘split’ on the issue of prosperity teaching because (from the authors’ perspective) the scriptures are vague or inconclusive regarding money matters.  Co-authors, David Van Biema and Jeff Chu, state the following:

“Scripture is not definitive when it comes to faith and income. Deuteronomy commands believers to “remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth,” and the rest of the Old Testament is dotted with celebrations of God’s bestowal of the good life. On at least one occasion--the so-called parable of the talents (a type of coin)--Jesus holds up savvy business practice (investing rather than saving) as a metaphor for spiritual practice. Yet he spent far more time among the poor than the rich, and a majority of scholars quote two of his most direct comments on wealth: the passage in the Sermon on the Mount in which he warns, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth ... but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven;” and his encounter with the “rich young ruler” who cannot bring himself to part with his money, after which Jesus famously comments, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Both statements can be read as more nuanced than they at first may seem. In each case it is not wealth itself that disqualifies but the inability to understand its relative worthlessness compared with the riches of heaven. The same thing applies to Paul’s famous line, “Money is the root of all evil,” in his first letter to Timothy. The actual quote is, “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”

So the Bible leaves plenty of room for a discussion on the role, positive or negative, that money should play in the lives of believers. But it’s not a discussion that many pastors are willing to have. “Jesus’ words about money don’t make us very comfortable, and people don’t want to hear [them]” notes Collin Hansen, an editor at Christianity Today.” [This concludes the Time article quote].

From my perspective, the message of scripture is never muddled or unclear.

All the teachings of Jesus emphasize advancing the Kingdom of God.  John the Baptist, the cousin and forerunner of Jesus, declared prior to Christ’s public ministry, “Repent…for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2)  It is no accident that Jesus echoed these exact sentiments (for they are originally His): “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17)  Fact is, the majority of Jesus’ parables focus on establishing the Kingdom of God in the earth.  (Matthew, chapter 13, et al)  Even The Lord’s Prayer (The Disciples’ Prayer) emphasizes this concept.  “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” was the constant prayer of Jesus Christ. (Matthew 6:10)

At this precise point, the so-called ‘prosperity preachers’ skid off the tracks and collide with eternal truth.  Their emphasis on ‘the here and now’ directly contradicts the Pauline prescription for true Biblical prosperity: “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Colossians 3:2)  For in the words of Jesus Christ, “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:21)

While some Church leaders busily tout and display material success via burgeoning bank accounts, palatial mansions, private jets and helicopters, etc., there is a veritable host of hurting and dying people that we fail to serve!  I am not a ‘hater’—not at all—as some readers may conclude.  But sometimes I scratch my head and wonder aloud: ‘How much is too much?  Do we really need to line our pockets and live in the lap of luxury to affirm our worldly status or to confirm divine blessings?  Are we more about ego gratification than about serving fallen humanity and ushering lost souls into the Kingdom of God?’

A few decades ago, I was the Minister of Outreach at a large urban church in a southern state.  One day, an elderly and infirmed lady called the church and asked for help.  Her caretaker (an adult daughter) was traveling on business and had forgotten to buy groceries.  The caller needed someone to assist her by driving her to the bank and supermarket to pick up necessary food items.  I responded affirmatively and was on the way out the door when the senior pastor called out: “Where are you headed?”  I explained the elderly lady’s dilemma and my intended mission to help.  The pastor’s response totally shocked me.  “We don’t do things like that,” he remarked rather casually.  So I returned to my office and decided that my wife and I would respond to this woman’s urgent need at the end of the workday.  John, the apostle of love, stated it more eloquently that I ever could: “Whoso hath this world’s good(s), and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?” (I John 3:17)

I must pose two serious questions to the leaders and laity of The Church:

1)        What is the biblical reason for our existence…Kingdom-building or personal empire-building?

2)       If our greedy quest for wealth sacrifices the salvation of even one soul…what will CHRIST say to us?

This is entirely a matter of motives and priorities, i.e. what we decide to “seek first.” (Matthew 6:33)  Christ indeed promised to add overflowing blessings to His people, whenever and wherever we seek the good and growth of His Kingdom.  Nevertheless, at the beginning of this devotional, I posed a strategic question: “What is the litmus test for determining whether (or not) we are utilizing church or personal funds appropriately?”  Answer: If whatever we are doing with our blessings builds God’s Kingdom (not ours), we are most assuredly on the right track. 

If there is indeed to be an end-times redistribution of wealth, as many prophets and prosperity preachers emphatically decree, what will the church DO with it?  Bottom-line: We are divinely blessed…to BE a blessing!

Why not let Jesus Christ have the last word? 

Matthew 6:19-20

¹⁹ Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

²⁰ But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed.  And as God honors and favors your life with genuine prosperity (inclusive of spiritual, material, physical, emotional and financial components), USE ALL OF YOUR BLESSINGS TO BUILD THE KINGDOM OF GOD!