Heb 13:5 (NIV) Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:24-25.) I need to ask myself from time to time, “am I serving mammon?” If I am serving God I wouldn’t care about what I will eat or drink. But when I am serving mammon my wife and I may worry or fight over money. I have heard it said that in Christ’s day mammon was an actual pagan deity that represented prosperity. So that makes mammon the false god of prosperity. Much of the pagan idolatry at that time was connected to demonic forces, and today these demons are some of the Devils most powerful weapons to turn the hearts of Jesus’ followers away from God. Mammon is an evil spirit that causes men and women to give power and authority to money when money in reality it has no value and especially no power whatsoever. Mammon causes people to become fearful of running out of money when actually God supplies all our needs. Then mammon turns our hearts to love money and trust riches when our hearts are supposed to belong to God, and trust God alone. Once totally possessed by mammon people become corrupted by it then they will conspire in greedy ways to unethically acquire as much money as they can get.
A rich young ruler came to Jesus and wanted to know how to inherit eternal life, (Matt 19:16-21.) Jesus said “sell all that you have and give it to the poor, then come follow me.” How many of us could actually do something like that. When you are accustom to the finest clothes, the finest foods, servants waiting on your every need. Give it all away and live in destitution following around a Prophet, hated by the Priest and Pharisees. Jesus did. He was clothed in finer clothes than any human ever wore, ate the most perfect and delicious foods ever eaten from heaven. Angles served Him, and worshiped Him. He gave it all up and became a human child. Human birth is a nasty thing accompanied by blood and sometimes feces, as Mary cried with pain Jesus was born on the ground in a barn, He was wrapped in strips of cloth, and laid to sleep on straw in either a cow or donkey’s feeding troth. If only the rich young ruler had listened more carefully he would have heard Jesus say, “I have true riches for you, give everything you now have away, but you will lose nothing, and you will have treasure in heaven” The Bible asks the rhetorical question, “Can a man out give God?” I dare you to try.
It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor, mammon can consume the hearts of all. The rich want more money and desire power from it so they collect it because they are afraid they may someday lose it. The poor have so little they protect what little they have. But protecting it is also another way of following Mammon. The story of the Widow’s mites is told in Luke 21:1-4 (NLT) and gives us a good example of how to have true riches. “While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people dropping their gifts in the collection box. Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two small coins. "I tell you the truth," Jesus said, "this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has."” Jesus praised this woman's generous and sacrificial giving. As followers of Jesus, we should be willing to give all—whether money, time, or talents—its only real value is when we put it in the LORD’s hands to use. If Jesus was willing to be satisfied with living day by day on what God provided for Him, then I can too. I can live with less and I can stop desiring more and accumulating more things than I need. It is so easy to look at what other people have and start to resent what I am missing. Instead I should be praising God that He has provided just the sufficient amount that I needed today. When we become materialistic we are saying to God, you can’t take care of me well enough, or at least not the way I want to be taken care of, and our drive for materialism leads us to a love of money. The cure for the sickness of mammon is to trust God to meet all our needs.
Have you experienced times where you trusted God to meet all your needs? What happened? How did God fulfill this promise in your life?
Showing posts with label Sorrow of the Rich Young Ruler. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sorrow of the Rich Young Ruler. Show all posts
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Luke 6:38
Luke 6:38 (NIV) “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Jesus used the illustration of a farmer packing grain in a basket to ensure the fullest amount was in his measure. He stuffed it in and pressed it down and even shook it down in order to get in the fullest measure possible. Isn’t it disappointing when you open a box of cereal and the box is 1/3 empty or a bag of potato chips and the bag is less than 1/2 full? Isn’t it even more disappointing when Christians are only 1/2 full of love, joy, peace, kindness, forgiveness, generosity, and compassion to share with others? It has become standard practice for food production and packaging companies to fill food containers with air. But when a Christian is filled full of hot air, their lives are opposite of joy, forgiveness and compassion. A little bit of hot air amounts to a lot of judgmentalism, criticism, anger and greed. God’s ideal is that Christians are packed and shaken down so tight, filled so full of love and mercy and generosity that they are overflowing till every bit of the hot air is squeezed out.
Your heart can be as full of these qualities as you want it to be, God doesn’t limit any body to the amount they can be filled. But the measure we use to allow God to fill our lives with mercy, generosity and forgiveness is the same measure God uses to show us mercy, forgiveness and generosity. Some people may say to themselves; “I don’t want to be a pushover and be too forgiving.” or “I can only be so generous, at some point I won’t have enough for myself.” But it is impossible to out give God.
The story is told in the Bible of a rich, young Ruler in Luke 18:18-23. He came to Jesus and asked, “What must I do to have eternal life?” The response Jesus gave was, “you must sell everything you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." The rich young Ruler thought about this briefly, then decided, the cost to follow Jesus was more than he had bargained for. In sadness the man turned away, But Jesus said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, 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." His disciples heard Him say this and asked, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God." The rich young ruler did not comprehend the principle of Luke 6:38 “Give and it will be given to you, in the same measure you gave it.” He only imagined having nothing rather than the endless possibilities God has to give you more than you had to begin with.
In another story in the Bible, Simon of Bethany wanted to throw a feast for Jesus and His disciples in gratitude for being cured of leprosy. During the feast Mary Magdalene snuck into the feast and tried to secretly anoint Jesus’ feet with an expensive perfume. But the beautiful, strong fragrance revealed her secret to everyone in the room. Simon, who had been healed by Jesus, saw what Mary had done and was offended. Simon was aware that Mary had given herself to prostitution in the past and Simon was aware of this because he had led her into sin himself. Simon ignored his own guilt, but on the other hand he felt nothing but reproach toward Mary, and he questioned in his heart, “If Jesus were a true Prophet He would know what sort of woman Mary was and would not have let her touch Him.”
This story indicates the qualities of Mary's and Simon's hearts, and how each person had their own measure returned back to them. Mary was filled with love for Jesus, she shook it down and packed His love in her heart, love for the times she had been forgiven by Him and for resurrecting her brother Lazarus from the dead. Simon who had never sought forgiveness for the sin he committed with Mary filled his heart with condemnation. He was judgmental of Mary and critical of Jesus, Simon made it clear that the measure in his heart was full of a lot of hot air. Jesus went on to reveal to Simon that the measure by which he and Mary showed love and forgiveness was the same measure they received from God.
Simon learned that evening that Mary's gift was valued more by Jesus than the feast he intended to give Jesus as a gift. Because Marys' gift was packed tight and shaken down where Simon's measure was not. We hope Simon learned that the measure he had was not the only measure he could have received. If you want a fuller measure ask God for more, He can still pack it in and shake it down and heap it till it overflows.
Explain the reason why you would want more of God's goodness packed down tightly in your heart? Describe areas in your life you would like to see God pack it down tighter and filled more? What are the reasons why you selected those areas in your life compared to others?
Jesus used the illustration of a farmer packing grain in a basket to ensure the fullest amount was in his measure. He stuffed it in and pressed it down and even shook it down in order to get in the fullest measure possible. Isn’t it disappointing when you open a box of cereal and the box is 1/3 empty or a bag of potato chips and the bag is less than 1/2 full? Isn’t it even more disappointing when Christians are only 1/2 full of love, joy, peace, kindness, forgiveness, generosity, and compassion to share with others? It has become standard practice for food production and packaging companies to fill food containers with air. But when a Christian is filled full of hot air, their lives are opposite of joy, forgiveness and compassion. A little bit of hot air amounts to a lot of judgmentalism, criticism, anger and greed. God’s ideal is that Christians are packed and shaken down so tight, filled so full of love and mercy and generosity that they are overflowing till every bit of the hot air is squeezed out.
Your heart can be as full of these qualities as you want it to be, God doesn’t limit any body to the amount they can be filled. But the measure we use to allow God to fill our lives with mercy, generosity and forgiveness is the same measure God uses to show us mercy, forgiveness and generosity. Some people may say to themselves; “I don’t want to be a pushover and be too forgiving.” or “I can only be so generous, at some point I won’t have enough for myself.” But it is impossible to out give God.
The story is told in the Bible of a rich, young Ruler in Luke 18:18-23. He came to Jesus and asked, “What must I do to have eternal life?” The response Jesus gave was, “you must sell everything you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." The rich young Ruler thought about this briefly, then decided, the cost to follow Jesus was more than he had bargained for. In sadness the man turned away, But Jesus said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, 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." His disciples heard Him say this and asked, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God." The rich young ruler did not comprehend the principle of Luke 6:38 “Give and it will be given to you, in the same measure you gave it.” He only imagined having nothing rather than the endless possibilities God has to give you more than you had to begin with.
In another story in the Bible, Simon of Bethany wanted to throw a feast for Jesus and His disciples in gratitude for being cured of leprosy. During the feast Mary Magdalene snuck into the feast and tried to secretly anoint Jesus’ feet with an expensive perfume. But the beautiful, strong fragrance revealed her secret to everyone in the room. Simon, who had been healed by Jesus, saw what Mary had done and was offended. Simon was aware that Mary had given herself to prostitution in the past and Simon was aware of this because he had led her into sin himself. Simon ignored his own guilt, but on the other hand he felt nothing but reproach toward Mary, and he questioned in his heart, “If Jesus were a true Prophet He would know what sort of woman Mary was and would not have let her touch Him.”
This story indicates the qualities of Mary's and Simon's hearts, and how each person had their own measure returned back to them. Mary was filled with love for Jesus, she shook it down and packed His love in her heart, love for the times she had been forgiven by Him and for resurrecting her brother Lazarus from the dead. Simon who had never sought forgiveness for the sin he committed with Mary filled his heart with condemnation. He was judgmental of Mary and critical of Jesus, Simon made it clear that the measure in his heart was full of a lot of hot air. Jesus went on to reveal to Simon that the measure by which he and Mary showed love and forgiveness was the same measure they received from God.
Simon learned that evening that Mary's gift was valued more by Jesus than the feast he intended to give Jesus as a gift. Because Marys' gift was packed tight and shaken down where Simon's measure was not. We hope Simon learned that the measure he had was not the only measure he could have received. If you want a fuller measure ask God for more, He can still pack it in and shake it down and heap it till it overflows.
Explain the reason why you would want more of God's goodness packed down tightly in your heart? Describe areas in your life you would like to see God pack it down tighter and filled more? What are the reasons why you selected those areas in your life compared to others?
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