October 28, 2024

                    Claim Your Faith

“But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.– Joshua 24:15

 It’s easy to throw out words, isn’t it? It’s not so easy to live out our faith – especially when it might cost us more than we are willing to give.

God’s people wanted to serve Him. But they wanted to serve other gods too. Today we would label those other gods as money, power, prestige, self. We might choose to serve our church, our pastor, our political leaders. And let’s not forget comfort, financial security, and all our many possessions.

We’re not called to any of that. We are called to serve God. We are called to follow Jesus. Hatred, revenge, greed – none of those things have any part of Jesus.

We are afraid. We’re afraid we won’t have enough money. We’re afraid “illegals” will steal our jobs and our homes. We’re afraid the government will demand our guns and destroy our way of life. We’re afraid of many things and we’re fighting to control it all.

We are justifying evil and claiming Jesus at the same time. And we wonder why our nation is in such turmoil. We can’t believe people are turning away from God. We don’t understand how our actions and our words are leading people to believe that God is evil when He is really only love.

We put our idols, and our fears, above the One true God. We choose to follow evil even as we proclaim that we will follow God.

We are at a crossroads. Will you follow idols? Will you allow fear to dictate your response to the evil we face? Or will you trust God? Will you truly follow Him?

We all have choices to make. Claim your faith and live it.

Monday, October 8, 2012

You Are More Than What You Own

Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” -- Luke 12:15

We’ve been listening to a series of sermons about money. Yeah. It’s nobodies favorite topic, especially at church. Because talk about money always involves stewardship which leads to tithes and giving more money than we want to give.

But as Pastor Danny pointed out yesterday, stewardship is about more than money. Why do we want money? So we can buy more stuff. And everybody knows you can’t serve God and serve your possessions too.

It comes back to knowing your life’s purpose. We’ve been discussing this very topic in Sunday school. It’s not as easy as it sounds, at least not when we get to the specifics of our daily lives. However, Pastor Danny gave us a biblical overview: Seek justice, show mercy, and walk humbly with God.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it? And it is easy -- at least until Satan plants the seeds of doubt and fear in our hearts. Then we aren’t so sure exactly what we should do. We know what we want to do but we also want to make sure we have enough money and stuff. We don’t want to give away what we have and then find out later that we really needed it.

So we hang on tightly to what we have and that, in turn, pulls us further away from God. All God wants from us, really longs for from us, is our hearts. He wants us to love Him with everything we’ve got. He wants us to trust Him with everything we’ve got. He wants our lives to reflect our deep love for Him.

He has every right to demand our tithes. He has every right to demand right attitudes. After all, everything we own, everything we have, everything we accomplish, comes from God. We don’t much like to admit that but it’s true. Our very lives come from God. We are strangers in this land, as Pastor Danny pointed out. We are visitors on this earth. Everything we give to God already belongs to Him. When we go home, we aren’t taking it with us.

So why hold on to it all? Why do we take so much pride in our stuff? Why do we value ourselves, and others, based on the size of our houses or bank accounts? Why do we somehow think we’re better people because of all of our toys? It sounds kind of pathetic doesn’t it?

One of the first things we had to do in Mass Communications 101 was to write our obituaries. It’s sure wasn’t a glamorous way to begin college but it was thought-provoking. What do you want people to say about you when you’re gone? Do you want them to list your possessions? Or had you rather them talk about all the good things you did to bring glory to God? Your life isn’t about what you own, it’s about who you are in Christ. That’s something pretty powerful to remember when you’re holding tightly to all that stuff.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Don’t Value What Doesn’t Matter

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. -- Acts 4:32

It’s that time of year again. It’s that time when the finance committee at church starts talking about money, about tithing, about trusting God. Have you tuned out yet? That’s what most people do.

We trust God. We do. We trust Jesus with our salvation. We trust Him to answer our prayers. We plead with Him for healing and blessings. But we don’t tend to trust Him with our finances. That’s off limits. We prefer to keep that to ourselves and decide how we’ll spend it. Or not.

There are few issues as volatile as money or possessions. We don’t want to share. Ask any small child. They’re happy to share -- when they’re done playing with it and when they’re good and ready to share. Not before. Don’t even think about taking it before then.

We adults are no better. We value our possessions and our bank accounts. Some of us are generous, but on our terms and in our timing. We don’t want anyone standing up there and telling us what a blessing it is to give more to the church, to charity, to someone we’re not sure deserves it.

There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. -- Acts 4:34-35

We tend to think of ourselves as superior to others. The more money and possessions we have, the better we feel about ourselves. Do money and possessions make us better people? No. In fact, sometimes just the opposite is true.

We look down on those who have less and that’s just plain wrong. Max Lucado once spoke of a friend in another country. The man works harder, perhaps, Lucado noted, harder than he works. Yet his family lives in a small hut with a dirt floor. It wasn’t about working hard. Or being smart. Or making wise choices. It was about circumstances and a life sometimes determined by where you live more than anything else.

Our hearts grow hard when we think of handouts to the poor. We are conditioned to believe that those in need aren’t worthy to receive our help. We blame them for their circumstances, and sometimes we are right. But God gave us another chance so why do we refuse others the same opportunity?

It all comes back to holding on to that money and those possessions. None of that matters, not in the scope of eternity. I wonder sometimes about those who think it does. It must be exhausting trying to hold on to something that you’re destined to lose sooner or later anyway.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Our Worth Comes From God

"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment."

-- 1 Timothy 6:17

We wrap our identities and self-worth around our possessions. It's like we value ourselves more when we have a nice house at a prestigious address with a new car parked in the driveway. Of course, we need a good job, a fabulous spouse and some great kids to go with the package. It makes us feel satisfied somehow.

Then it all falls apart. A divorce, an illness, a job loss. Maybe it's a house fire, a car wreck or a child in trouble. Our foundation starts to shake. Our self-worth takes a tumble. We try to right ourselves, to get back on the path, except that we can't quite make the pieces fit the way they were.

Who are we if we aren't our possessions? Where do we belong if the family we cherished is no longer the way we imagined? Everything is in shambles. The foundation we believed was secure is gone. It was never secure after all. We are lost and alone, nobody in a world where everybody needs to be somebody.

Our knees hit the ground. There He is waiting, beckoning us forward. He doesn't care about our possessions. He isn't concerned with our jobs or our image of a perfect family. He loves us where we are and for who we are inside. He created us. He is our secure rock on which to build our foundation.

Stuff is great until we place too much importance on things. Possessions will never be and can never be something we can depend on. Same goes for other people. No matter how much we love them and they love us, they will let us down and we will let them down. That's just how it is. God is the only One who will never, ever let us down.

Our self-worth comes only from belonging to God. He's all we will ever need. It's fun to enjoy all the blessings He grants us -- so long as we never let possessions or the people in our lives dictate our worth.