The Obligation and the Reward

The Obligation and the Reward

Luke 17:7-10

7Will any man of you who has a servant plowing or tending sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, Come at once and take your place at the table? 8Will he not instead tell him, Get my supper ready and gird yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; then afterward you yourself shall eat and drink?

9Is he grateful and does he praise the servant because he did what he was ordered to do? 10Even so on your part, when you have done everything that was assigned and commanded you, say, We are unworthy servants [possessing no merit, for we have not gone beyond our obligation]; we have [merely] done what was our duty to do.

Many of us think that if we keep God’s Word, give our ten percent tithe, go to church and are good people great is our reward in heaven.  In reality we are only fulfilling our obligation and duty to keep God’s Word and live in obedience to the Lord.  A lot of us try to do what is expected of us as Christians, but then that is where we stop, because now it’s my turn to take care of my needs, my wants and my desires.  So much of our Christian lives are committed to just doing our duty to God. This is a good thing and certainly something we should be faithful in fulfilling, but will we receive the praise of God and be rewarded for simply doing what is expected of us as His servants and children? 

Often we have a mentality that as long as we make heaven that’s all I care about.  That isn’t the mentality of the Lord.  The nature of God goes beyond was expected and what is required.  The rewards that Jesus brings with Him at His coming aren’t to those who just met the requirements, but to those who went beyond their duty and obligation.  What are we living, doing and giving beyond what the Lord has required of us?  

Listen to Paul’s revelation of this concept for his life in 1 Corinthians 9:13-19.  “13Do you not know that those men who are employed in the services of the temple get their food from the temple? And that those who tend the altar share with the altar [in the offerings brought]? 14[On the same principle] the Lord directed that those who publish the good news (the Gospel) should live (get their maintenance) by the Gospel. 15But I have not made use of any of these privileges, nor am I writing this [to suggest] that any such provision be made for me [now]. For it would be better for me to die than to have anyone make void and deprive me of my [ground for] glorifying [in this matter]. 16For if I [merely] preach the Gospel, that gives me no reason to boast, for I feel compelled of necessity to do it. Woe is me if I do not preach the glad tidings (the Gospel)! 17For if I do this work of my own free will, then I have my pay (my reward); but if it is not of my own will, but is done reluctantly and under compulsion, I am [still] entrusted with a [sacred] trusteeship and commission. 18What then is the [actual] reward that I get? Just this: that in my preaching the good news (the Gospel), I may offer it [absolutely] free of expense [to anybody], not taking advantage of my rights and privileges [as a preacher] of the Gospel. 19For although I am free in every way from anyone’s control, I have made myself a bond servant to everyone, so that I might gain the more [for Christ].”

The Lord has required of us certain things, but the reward of the Lord and that, which endures into eternity, is that which we give beyond our obligation and requirement.  Listen once more to what Jesus tells us about what is required and how we would exceed that as servants of Christ.  Matthew 5:38-48 Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.

39But I say to you, Do not resist the evil man [who injures you]; but if anyone strikes you on the right jaw or cheek, turn to him the other one too. 40And if anyone wants to sue you and take your undershirt (tunic), let him have your coat also. 41And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two [miles]. 42Give to him who keeps on begging from you, and do not turn away from him who would borrow [at interest] from you. 43You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy; 44But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45To show that you are the children of your Father Who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the wicked and on the good, and makes the rain fall upon the upright and the wrongdoers [alike]. 46For if you love those who love you, what reward can you have? Do not even the tax collectors do that? 47And if you greet only your brethren, what more than others are you doing? Do not even the Gentiles (the heathen) do that? 48You, therefore, must be perfect [growing into complete maturity of godliness in mind and character, having reached the proper height of virtue and integrity], as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

              The reward of the Lord is to those who go beyond their obligation and exceed expectations.  It is in the sacrifice and the going beyond what is required.  Are we living in obligation or are we living unto our reward?

Blessings,
#kent

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Faithfulness in What you Have

Matthew25:14-28
“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19″After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’
21″His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
22″The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’
23″His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
24″Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
26″His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28” ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Faithfulness in What you Have

Most of us are probably familiar with this parable that Jesus gave in Matthew 25. What the Lord was showing me in this parable this morning is that it is not how much talent or resources you have to work with, it is your faithfulness in what you do have. Father is speaking that integrity and faithfulness starts with the little and small things. If we don’t have the heart and the nature of Christ in those we won’t have it in the bigger things.
The servants that had the two talents and the five talents were faithful about utilizing what the master had given them, even in His absence. Their focus was first on their service and faithfulness to the master. The servant that had the one talent wasn’t even faithful in the little that he did have and it was really his own selfishness, fear, doubt and unbelief that caused him to bury it and not work it. Obviously if he buried his talent, he wasn’t about the master’s business, he was about his own.
Many of us may not see ourselves as having much talent or ability, especially in spiritual matters, but in God’s eyes it is not how much we have, but how faithful we are with what we have. It is not in your ability that He calls you, but in His calling to you He provides the ability to do what He has called you to do. Don’t look to your abilities, look to His ability within you and be faithful to what He has called you to do no matter how small or great. Therein lies your reward.

Blessings,
#kent

God, On Our Terms

1 Corinthians 3:10-16
10By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. 14If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. 16Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

God, On Our Terms

Most of you who are reading this know Christ as the sure foundation of your life. We have received Him into our hearts by faith and we place our trust in Him. We have the sure foundation of our lives, which He is. The question then becomes as the apostle Paul addresses here, “what are we building upon this foundation?” Paul indicates that there are different materials that can be used to build this temple which we are. Some of them are fireproof and others are not, but He does warn us that there will be the Day that will bring to light what our house is made of.
Perhaps it is not so unlike the little story of the Three Little Pigs. Each one’s house was tested and those that were made of sticks and straw did not stand. The little pigs verily escaped by the hair of their chinny-chin-chin. I don’t think that this is how we really want to build upon this foundation that we have in Christ. Yet we have to consider the quality of the materials and the work that is going into building this temple.
Many of us have embraced Christ as our Savior, but do we really know Him as our Lord. Many of us have faith, but we still want God on our terms, rather than ourselves on His. We must understand that with the building of the temple there is a continual demolition of the old. While the grace and mercy of God builds us up we are allowing the cross to crucify and tear down that which is of the natural man and that which is not eternal, but will pass away. If we continue to build a corruptible temple on an incorruptible foundation, then there will be a day the building of our lives will come to ruin and destruction. What we invested our lives in building will come to naught, because it was on our terms and not His. We built with wood, hay and stubble instead of the nature of God, the redemption of God and His precious truth. God will allow us to build our house with whatever materials we choose, but their will come a day of final inspection and if we haven’t built according the blueprint and the materials declared in His word, then we can’t expect our house to pass inspection. Which of us wants to come to the end of our lives and then find out there was nothing lasting, permanent or of eternal value in what we did?
Jesus taught us that the foolish man built his house upon the sand and when the floods came it was washed away, but the wise man built his house upon the rock, the sure foundation of Christ. The same materials that have been used in the foundation must continue to be used throughout the building of the house. Then we will know and have confidence that it will stand and remain in the day of testing and fire. Consider that unless we know Jesus as the Lord, the One we relinquish all control too and are in true submission to His headship, then we are building with corruptible materials that will not be of lasting value or substance. That is the price of having God on our terms.

Blessings,
#kent

Love and Obedience

John 14:10, 21, 23-24, 31
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”
Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me. ..

Love and Obedience

The Lord began to show how much love and obedience go hand in hand in this passage from John 14. Jesus is coming to His final hour and the words that He speaks are both weighty and meaningful. He is clearly communicating with us as He speaks to His disciples that truth, faith and love are demonstrated through our obedience to what He has been teaching us through His word.
Our greatest revelation of the Lord comes through obedience. That is when we develop sensitivity to the Holy Spirit so that we hear His voice. The more responsive and obedient we are to that voice the more clearly we discern and know it. The Holy Spirit is like our conscience in some ways. Often we have a feeling or a knowing when something isn’t right or when we are doing something wrong. We can either heed that knowing or we can ignore it, rationalize it, justify it or just disobey it. Eventually it becomes less and less as we desensitize ourselves to it. We do the same thing with the Holy Spirit within us. That is why we don’t hear the Lord the way we need and should be hearing Him. So often we have shut Him out rather than do things His way. Jesus is saying our love for Him and the Father should sensitize us to the Holy Spirit. We should be so aware of His presence and responsive to His voice and dealings in our lives. This is what our love for Him should produce in us. It is a love for God’s will and His way rather than our own mind and our own will. Just as the Father was manifested through the Son, because of the complete uncompromising obedience to all that the Father commanded Him, so Christ will be more fully manifested in us the more we walk in complete obedience and submission to His commandments to us. The commandments, the teachings or the Word of God is God’s mind for us. It is His direction, instruction, admonishment and teaching so that we might be fully equipped and come into the maturity of who He is.
If we want to see more of God in our lives, then we need to love Him the way He has instructed that we love Him, through obedience to His Word. When we truly love God through our complete obedience and surrender to Him, we will become aware of His personal leading and direction in every aspect of our lives. To know Him is to love Him and to love Him is to obey Him. Jesus promises in John 14:21 that if we really love Him through our obedience then we are loved of the Father and Jesus says, “I too will love him and show myself to him.”
This is a key point to us in this hour that we become less focused on what our will and wants are and begin to focus on the will and purpose of the Lord for us at this time. We will find the key to that revelation in our obedience to Him. We must love Him as we never have before and with that love comes the complete surrender of our hearts and wills to His will. His commands are not burdensome, but they are life giving. There are times when God stretches us way out of our comfort zone, but if we are willing to obey and trust Him the reward can be tremendous. We will see, know and demonstrate God in ways that we didn’t even know were possible for us. Let us commit to love Him completely and fully through our obedience to His Spirit and His Word. In this place we will come to truly know Him.

Blessings,
#kent

Hope, Joy and Crown

Hope, Joy and Crown

1 Thessalonians 2:19-20
For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? 20Indeed, you are our glory and joy.

When we selflessly plant ourselves into other people’s lives what is our gain if they can’t reward us and we see no earthly or monetary benefit? What do we hope to see in our children through the years of raising them, nurturing, teaching and mentoring them? It is not for what they can pay us back in material gain that we do it. It is a labor of love and the harvest we long to see, that we continue to pray for, hope for and believe for are lives that are healthy, productive and that produce a legacy. A parent’s greatest reward is to have children that love and respect them, but also that hold to the values of faith that were instilled in them and that they in turn instill those same values in their children. We long to see a perpetual legacy of generations that follow on to know and obey the Lord.
The churches that the apostle Paul established were his children. He taught them, mentored them and raised them up in the faith and knowledge of Christ. It wasn’t a job for him; it was his life, his purpose and his joy. When he stood before the Lord there was no greater testimony to his faithfulness and his greatness as a servant of God than those that he had raised up in Christ. He was able to stand with the Lord and look through the generations at the harvest he had been instrumental in producing in the earth. This stood as Paul’s greatest, hope, joy and crown. This was his greatest reward.
Our greatest reward in heaven won’t be about our businesses, our finances or our status in the community; it will be about what we planted in others. It will be about what we sowed into their lives through our faithful commitment and walk with Christ. We want to see it in our children and our grandchildren. We want to see it in the ones that we helped disciple and bring to Christ. Nothing breaks our heart more than to see what we have treasured and nurtured stolen and destroyed by sin. It is for this reason that our Lord Jesus ever stands as our high priest making intercession on our behalf. He too, longs after us to be His hope, joy and crown.
Let us not grow weary or complacent concerning the awesome responsibility that we have toward those who under our spiritual authority or influence. We must remember that we are the priests of our home and have the responsibility to pray, intercede, teach and persuade our families in the ways of righteousness and salvation. Be faithful to the gift, the calling and instrument that God has created you to be. How we respond and use what He has created us to be and how that translates into the lives of others will be our hope, our joy and crown. Our legacy is our glory and our joy.

Blessings,
#kent

Realities

Realities

Psalms 19:7-11
The law of the LORD [is] perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD [is] sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD [are] right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD [is] pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD [is] clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD [are] true [and] righteous altogether. More to be desired [are they] than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb Moreover by them is thy servant warned: [and] in keeping of them [there is] great reward.

The natural man builds his life on the realities of his understanding of this natural world and how it works. Those things that are real to his sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell are the reality of his world. They are truth to him. When he looks out and sees the mountains, when he touches the soft skin of his wife, when he hears his children playing and smells the lilacs in spring, these are reality to him. When talking or relating to that which is beyond the natural realm, what is reality? What are the things that are as sure and reliable to the spiritual man, who is relating to those realities which are outside of the sense realm? For the Christian, who embraces the Word of God as His reality, the Word of God stands as the cornerstone and foundation of spiritual truth and reality.
This scripture in Psalms 19 gives us some very fundamental and foundational truths to build our house of faith and trust upon. Because spiritual realities are not always evidenced in the natural world, except in type and shadow; we must have a resource that puts all believers in God on the same page. That resource is the Word and the law of God. It is the source of input that feeds spiritual truths and realities into our natural mind. When we read and try to understand the Word of God with only a natural mind and understanding, many things don’t make sense to us and are conflicting.
I once heard it put in such a way that it made a lot of sense. If God is Spirit as it says in John 4:24, then it only stands to reason that He would write a spiritual book. As we know, the content of our Bibles is the compilation of numerous authors down through the ages that have written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, God’s spiritual book. It only stands to reason that if we are reading a spiritual book, we need a spiritual mind to receive and understand it. This is why it is essential when reading God’s Word that we ask the Holy Spirit, the author of the book, for understanding and revelation to comprehend, assimilate and put into practice the truths of His divine counsel. In John 16:13 Jesus tells His disciples, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” The one sure promise that each believer has is that he or she can possess the Holy Spirit that is able to lead and guide you into truth. Peter speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit speaks this truth to us in Acts 2:38-39: “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, [even] as many as the Lord our God shall call.”
While it is encouraging, edifying and instructional that we can glean much spiritual understanding from words and books of men, this should never become a substitute for our seeking God through His Word and the instruction we can receive from the Holy Spirit personally. The Lord doesn’t want second hand children; He wants each one of us to be in relationship with Him so that we are hearing and receiving personal truth and revelation from Him. What He reveals and shows us will not contradict the rest of His Word but will only further verify and confirm it. The Lord desires to further teach each of us the spiritual realities of His truth that will make us rich partakers of His divine life and blessing. His precepts and instruction are what leads us and helps us to grow in the path that leads to life and godliness. There is nothing sweeter or more precious than His Word quickened by the Holy Spirit that leads us into the reality, presence and revelation of who He is.

Blessings,
#kent

Higher Level Living

Matthew 5:11-12

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Higher Level Living

What is our natural response to insults, verbal and physical attacks, slander, gossip and false accusations?  Isn’t it to fight back, justify, retaliate and begin attacking our attackers.  Suddenly we find ourselves drawn in and participating in the same fleshly ugliness of those who attacked us. We have come down to their level and are fighting with the same carnal weapons they are.  We are opening our hearts to be influenced by the same spirits that are influencing them.  

“An eye for eye and a tooth for a tooth,” some will say.  Funny you should say that because a little further down in Matthew 5:32-42 Jesus says,  “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”  

Wow, that is pretty unconventional wisdom by this world’s standards and wisdom only a few are willing to walk in.  

Why?

Because it denies all of “my” rights.  It is asking me to give up and renounce what is “mine”.  It is asking me to return good for evil and it imposes seemingly unfair demands upon “me” as a person.  It  seems to be letting injustice prevail and our rights to be taken unfair advantage of.  

When we can all walk in the principles that Jesus gives us in Matthew 5-7 it is probably a pretty good indicator that we are getting very close to being dead unto self and alive only unto Christ.  For us to willingly walk in the principles that Jesus is describing means it can no longer be about me, but only about exemplifying and living out of  Christ.  These are the principles that He walked and lived by.  The reason He could is because His heart and affection weren’t upon His natural man or the things of this world.  

We all have our possessions and things we have worked hard for.  We all have our reputation and our dignity to uphold.  It so goes against our grain to be taken advantage of or exploited or to be spoken falsely about.  

What Jesus is telling us is, there is a higher level of kingdom living that most of us never touch or  really know because we are still so connected and attached to this earthly kingdom and realm.  Many of us still think that the political candidate or president is going to determine the fate of the world, the nation and my well being.   We may believe if others aren’t of our particular denomination or persuasion of belief they are going to hell or will miss it and yet how many of us are really living these principles of Jesus?  

What we all need as believers, who say we love Christ, is a deliverance from a lot of our materialistic and capitalist ways.  They are not His ways, but what the world has taught us is true and valuable.  If we are not of this world then why are these things still so important to us?  The truth is most of us are really living out of a lower level of life and values than what Christ has called us too.  

Sometimes we don’t think much about it until we are put in those positions where we must choose between the conventional wisdom of this world and the wisdom that is from above.  If you want to really stand out as odd, even among most of the Christian community, try truly walking in the principles that Christ lays out here.  

Finally Jesus really stretches us even more in verses 38-43 by saying,  “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Jesus is calling us to a higher place.  It is not a realm where we can operate in conventional wisdom or even love with conventional love.  It  is place that we can only operate out of, by His Spirit and His Agape’ love.   It is a place where our self identity can not live; only our identity in Christ.  It is a place where we need to thank God for our enemies, because they are the only ones who can help elevate us to this realm of living and being.  Are we ready for a higher level of living?

 

Blessings,

kent

The Way of the Lord Leads Home

Ecclesiastes 9:11

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race [is] not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. 

The Way of the Lord Leads Home

The way of the Lord leads home.  His ways are just and true.  He lifts up the brokenhearted and releases the captive from their captors.  Freedom is found in the Lord and in His presence. Joy is found in His fellowship and wisdom comes with understanding, which the Spirit imparts to man.  

Rescue the perishing, provide and have mercy toward the poor, the fatherless and widows.  Your mercy shall not go unnoticed, but will in due time reap its just reward.  

The expected gives place to the unexpected and wealth gives place to poverty.  The just shall live by faith, but the upright shall possess all things.  The man who is high in his own eyes shall be brought low and the humble before the Lord will be placed in their stead.  

Seek the Lord while He may be found, before the day of indignation and tribulation.  Know Him as the oil of your lamp and the life of your vessel.  As long as you are steadfast in your hope of Him, none will quench the light from your lamp, for the Lord Himself shall sustain you.   It is not by the will of man, nor his determination that establishes a soul, it is by the steadfast faithfulness of a broken and contrite heart that a man is lifted up and set in the high places.  Whom the Lord establishes and exalts, none shall remove.  Their place continues to abide.  Their eyes and heart are never set upon themselves, but in the might of the Lord they abide and their light shall not fail.

Watchmen, sound the alarm in Zion, sound the trumpets of battle.  The day of battle is at hand. The mighty Prince of Peace, the King of King mounts His horse and the sword of truth proceeds from His mouth.  Behold your King comes with His host of righteous ones.  Prepare for the day of battle that you may be among His noble ones.

 

Blessings,

kent

I would not be put to Shame

 

I would not be put to Shame

 

Psalms 119:1-6

Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD. 2 Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart. 3 They do nothing wrong; they walk in his ways. 4 You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed. 5 Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees! 6 Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands. 

 

One day each one of us will stand before the Lord to give an account for our lives; even if we are washed in the blood and have professed Christ.  The question will be have we lived Christ or will we stand in shame before Him, finally realizing that we spent our time, money, resources and talents, not for the kingdom of God, but for the temporary betterment of ourselves.  Will we find that we have laid up treasure in heaven where moth and rust does not corrupt and no man can break in to steal it or has it all been about the earthly gain and the temporal treasures? 

1 John 2:28 exhorts and instructs this way, “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.”  If we closed our eyes right now and looked back over our lives, where we’ve been, where we are and where we are going, is it all reflecting our pursuit of God and walking in His ways?  Do obedience, faithfulness and a life that is in constant communion with Him typify our lives?  Will you delight at His presence or will you feel naked and ashamed of what you’ve done with your life?  We all need to search our hearts, for the Word says we don’t have to be put to shame if we live with respect to the Word of God and in obedience to it.  Most all of us have the tendency to be distracted by the world and to be caught up in its pleasures.  It is much easier if we can just be like everybody else and go with the flow.  

The Lord is challenging our hearts and lives to be something more.  Think about the pride a child brings a parent when they grow up to honor their parents in obedience and with what they do with their lives.    2 Timothy 2:15 exhorts us, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”  We want to live lives that honor Him and are for the praise of His name.  Revelation 3:18 speaks to the church this way, “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.”  We don’t want to be known as just good people; we want to be known as the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.  1 Corinthians 3:12-17 tells us, “If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. 14If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. 16Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.”

It is one thing to have the resources of this world and use them in a godly manner, but it is another when they possess you and the love and lust for them is what drives you.  

“God, help us to have the right perspective, the proper desires and a heart that is set on obedience to your Word and following after Your precepts in all that we do.  We don’t want be ashamed when that day comes when we stand in Your presence and give an account of our lives.“

Blessings,

kent

Treasure Life

 

Treasure Life

Psalms 17:14-15

¹⁴ O LORD, by your hand save me from such men, 

       from men of this world whose reward is in this life. 

       You still the hunger of those you cherish; 

       their sons have plenty, 

       and they store up wealth for their children. 

¹⁵ And I—in righteousness I will see your face; 

       when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.

Those who have come into spiritual understanding of God’s plan through Christ Jesus have come into an understanding that real life isn’t about the here and now.  We grasp that beyond this time and dimension, we live, walk and are pressing into life eternal.  It is a life and treasure that we contain in these earthen vessels with their limitations and weaknesses.  It is a light that shines in proportion to the amount we live unto this God life as opposed to our natural life.  Like moths drawn to the temporary pleasures and gains of this world we are often drawn to the flame of our passions and desires that will only consume us and frustrate the purpose and will of God for our lives.  What life is it that we treasure most of all?  Is it a life of hedonism, self-indulging pleasures and earthly wealth that we seek or do we have an eye and heart for the greater treasure, the eternal treasure, the treasure of God’s life and intimate fellowship.  

Look at Moses for a moment.  Here he is the prince of Egypt, the most powerful and influential country of its time.  He had it all at his disposal, power, wealth, authority and all of the pleasures of this life.  He had every thing that most of us have only dreamed about. Hebrews 11:24-27 tells us, “By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to share ill treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he looked unto the recompense of reward.  By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing Him who is invisible.”  God has given His people insight and spiritual vision to see beyond this present earthly realm and momentary pleasures.  Because of the faith we have in this vision we are willing to forsake all things, endure all things and count it all lost that we might win Christ.  What does Paul tell us about the excellency of the knowledge of Christ?  Philippians 3:7-14, “Howbeit what things were gain to me, these have I counted loss for Christ.  Yea, verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and count them but refuse, that I may gain Christ, and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of mine own, even that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith: that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, becoming conformed unto his death; if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead.  Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect: but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus.  Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold: but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” 

Treasure Life, the life that lifts us and holds promise beyond this present temporal existence; the life that leads us into the promises of the divine nature and the fullness of His presence. “Where your treasure is there will your heart be also.”

 

Blessings,

kent