Living a 220 life

Budgeting for Eternity

My friends, if you google search Christian budgeting you’ll get a whole mess of sites to “teach” you the proper way to budget your money. Some are very good and are helpful in ensuring you stay out of debt however, scripture offers a different concept for budgeting in light of eternity. You see, we’re taught to make wise investments which is good advice; we’re just taught to expect the returns on this side of death. God teaches us to make wise investments with an expected return after death.

Yes, heaven is the obvious return for our investment in Christ. When we surrender to Him we’re guaranteed a place in His kingdom. This is not the investment I’m speaking of. I assume you’ve already made that investment. If you haven’t, you must make that investment first before you’re permitted to make any of the following investments. What I’m speaking of is the reward in heaven.

Matthew 5:12 says, “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” This verse is encouraging Christians who are being persecuted. The reward is not refering to entrance into heaven but rather a reward in heaven. 2 John 1:8 says, “Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.” Understand, some will not receive a full reward when entering the kingdom of God. Certainly, simply entering heaven will be amazing, but scripture teaches not all will be equal in heaven. The inequality will not be that which we know on earth, but it will exist none the less.

Scripture speaks of different crowns we can earn by our actions on earth. The fact some will not earn crowns and others will earn many crowns is one more example of the inequality we’ll experience in heaven. Remember, we’ll be in the presence of our Lord and will be removed from pain and sin; it will be heaven! However, some will wish to offer more to their King but will be unable due to their actions on earth.

Luke 12:33-34 says, “Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no theif comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” My friends, the actions we take today will impact us in heaven! The Lord cares about what we do with our time and our money because it reveals our heart. So let me ask you: What do you spend most of your time doing? Is it something bringing glory to the Lord? What do you spend most of your money on? Is it something bringing glory to the Lord? If the answer is no to these questions then you’re investing in the wrong side of death.

Please understand I’m not saying we earn salvation. We can not earn heaven! Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast.” So we don’t earn heaven…but we do earn rewards in heaven. Look at the very next verse in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Friends, God created us to do good works and He rewards us for doing them.

What are you investing your time and money in today? Tithing is a good thing but that’s not going to cut it. The Lord doesn’t want 10% of your money; No, He wants 100% of your heart which includes all of your time and all of your money. Take a look at the expenditures of your money and time and you’ll see where your heart is. Is it with God? If not you may want to reconsider your investments. It is 100% guaranteed you will die and all your possessions will remain here. You will lose on this investment…guaranteed. However, investing in people, relationships, advancement of the kingdom of God; those things will go with you…guaranteed. Those are much better odds than wall street. Friends, surrender your life to Him right now; give Him your heart, your money, your time, give Him all of you. Commit your life and your resources to Him! AMEN!

How the Lord uses the weak

“O my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. Then the Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you? So he said to Him, ‘O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” (Judges 6:13-15)

My friends, how often are we guilty of complaining about our circumstances? How often do we accuse, ‘God can’t be with me or I wouldn’t be in this situation.’ I regularly hear Christian people talk about the Lord leaving America because of the widespread sin that is so prevalent and accepted in the country. Gideon did the same thing when his circumstances were rather bleak. He put the blame on God.

I’m not sure where you are in life right now, but I can bet if you’re not in a tough spot now you will be in the near future. My friend, you must remember, even when you’re in a crummy spot, the Lord hasn’t left you. In fact, He wants to use you to bring His glory into the world.

Not only did Gideon feel like God had left him, he also felt like he was too small, too weak, too unimportant to do anything to help. God spoke to Gideon and told him, despite being the lowest of the low, God would use him to save the nation of Israel. The Lord eventually takes Gideons army of 32,000 Soldiers and whittles it down to a mere 300. That’s right; Gideon, the lowest of the low and a skeleton army of 300 men were used by God to save the nation. If the Lord can do that with Gideon, what can He do with you?

My blessed friend in the Lord, do you feel small today? Do you feel unimportant? Perhaps you feel the Lord has turned His back on you because of crummy circumstances. I’m here to tell you God wants to use you; He hasn’t turned His back on you and never will. He wants to whittle you down to a mere 300 Soldiers in order to bless you through the miraculous power of His outstretched arm. You see, if He allowed the 32,000 Soldier army to remain you would believe your own strength had accomplished something and you would be cruelly robbed of the blessing of faith. When God works the miraculous in our life we’re blessed with a piece of heaven come down.

Friend, the time has come. The Lord wishes to use you. Stand up, call out to Him, ‘hear I am Lord, send me!’ Allow Him to use you to change the world! AMEN!

Faith that’s pleasing to God

Is it your desire to please your Heavenly Father? Do you want to make Him happy with your actions? Hopefully these are rhetorical questions and the obvious answer is yes. I long with all my heart to please Him; I don’t always do so, but I try. My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, if we desire to make Him happy we must have ever increasing faith.

You see, Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” If you desire to please God but have lacking faith it’s impossible to do so. Therefore, our question must be: How do I gain in my faith? But first we must determine what faith is. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Additionally, 1 Corinthians 13:13 distinguishes a difference between faith and hope when it reads, “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

Friends, I submit to you faith is the belief in things God has already done with the hope He will continue to do them in your life. Therefore, faith is belief in the past, hope is belief in the future, and love is belief in the present. Without the foundation of faith in the past it’s hard to build on the future. Thus, in order to build our faith to please the Lord we must interact with Him regularly. Not only interact with Him but we must place ourselves in His hand in order to demonstrate His magnificent power. I know this is tough because it implies trusting Him with your very life. Let me offer an example.

In Matthew 14 Jesus is walking on the water and is intending to walk by the disciples boat. In verse 28 Peter says, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” Jesus responded, “Come”. Then guess what Peter did…yep, he got out of the boat and walked on water. People, this is an easy story to read and think, oh wow…that’s neat…Peter walked on water. NO! Imagine yourself out in a boat in the middle of the ocean. Would you get out to walk? Peter was a normal guy just like you and I. This is amazing. He asked Jesus to put him in a situation that was uncomfortable that his faith might grow and Jesus did just that. If you want to please God; if you want your faith to grow, ask Him to call you out of the boat. It’s tough, it’s scary, but it’s good. The only way you’ll ever walk on water is to climb over the edge of the boat and obey the voice of your Jesus. AMEN!

REMEMBER!

“Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth” (Psalm 105:5)

Why do we do such stupid things sometimes? Maybe I’m the only one, but as I look back at my life I see so many times that I did things that were clearly dumb things to do that God had already told me not to do. I’ve required extra patience on God’s part for my learning because I seem to forget much of what He teaches me. It usually takes 3 or 4…or more…very clear messages from God before I really learn something. I say this humerously but the fact is this: it’s pathetic that the Creator of the Universe takes time to teach me something and I quickly forget it.

My friends, I suspect many of you have the same issue. Remembering the things that the Lord has done in your life is not always easy. The Hebrew people had the same problem. Now remember, these people saw such things as the miracles in Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, the mana come down from God, etc. They saw some pretty miraculous stuff and yet we read in Psalm 106:21, “They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt”.

The problem with forgeting the things God has done for us is revealed in Psalm 106:13-15 where we read, “They soon forgot His works; They did not wait for His counsel, but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tested God in the desert. And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.” They forgot what God had done for them, they began lusting after things of the flesh, and God allowed them to go after what they wanted. This is scary: when God allows us to go after what we want.

Friends, when we’re allowed to go after the desires of our heart we’re given leanness in our soul. That’s not a good thing! It’s unclear what the original language is trying to say by leanness, but it implies distance from the Lord in your soul. The key to overcoming all of this is to remember what God has done in your life. Begin writing things down; draw pictures on your walls, build monuments, do whatever you need to remind yourself of the things God has done for and with you. God is so good and He’s completely worthy of your rememberance. AMEN!

How big is your God?

“Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.” (Psalm 100:3)

How hard have you worked to get where you are today? Do you aspire to be a ’self-made millionair’? Perhaps you aspire to be a great pastor, teacher, preacher, or Christian leader. Our world today, Christians included, drill it into our heads that we can achieve greatness if we just work hard. “Put your mind to it and you can achieve anything” is a sound bite I’ve heard more than once from well meaning parents. But my friends, scripture teaches us something a little different.

You see, the underlying foundation to the thinking of ‘you can make it, just work hard’ is that you control your own destiny and you have all the power. This is faulty thinking with roots tracing back to the venomous pride Satan breathed into the world in the Garden. My friends, if you can make it on your own then what do you need God for? If you try to make it on your own then you’re revealing your arrogance and foolishness. The Lord has made it clear that His plan is for you to rest on Him for everything you need. Allow Him to make you what He wants you to be. Psalm 101:5 says, “The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, him I will not endure.”

If you desire to be successful in life you have only one option; trust in the Lord. Psalm 90:12 says, “So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” This verse is telling us to remember that our days will end; we’re not eternal, we’re not God. As we learn to number our days we’ll learn to trust on the One who has no end of days. Only when we humbly fall before our Creator and trust in Him to sustain us will we be truely succesful. So let me ask you, How big is your God? AMEN!