Tag: makes rich

5.j. In him we live and move and have our being’

 

Job 12:7  “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you: or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.

Jeremiah 8:7     Even the stork in the heavens knows her times, and the turtledove, swallow, and crane keep the time of their coming, but my people know not the rules of the LORD.  Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’  You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

1 Samuel 2:7    The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts.

Jeremiah 27:5-6    “It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me.

Romans 11:36    For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Acts 17:28   for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’

God is in control of all things at all times.  We would do well to plant this firmly in our mind and water it frequently with our heart seeking to honor Jesus Christ.  I like how Job says to his friends; “who among these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?” He said this to say to his friends that he knows this is at the hand of God.  His point is that God, creator of all there is and the one who is in control of all things can do as He plans and purposes. He is the creator!  It is through Jesus Christ that we live, move, and have our being.  We and all of creation.  Yet, we seem to go days on end without giving thought to the Creator or giving thanks to the Creator or honoring the Creator, or clinging to, relying on, and trusting in the Creator.  Why is this?  Why is it we live day after day, and week after week with shallow commitments to Him?  Are we too busy?  Are we occupied by other things more important than the Creator?  Is He not worthy of all of our time?  Can we go about our day and have him first on our minds?  Jesus Christ is our living water and bread of life.  He is the one who will fill the void we have from shallow complacent commitment.  Jesus Christ is so much more than worthy of our honor, glory, worship, and praise.  It is time to start living each moment of every day intentionally for Him.

2.u. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart.

2 Chronicles 25:1  Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart. And as soon as the royal power was firmly his, he killed his servants who had struck down the king his father. But he did not put their children to death, according to what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the Lord commanded, “Fathers shall not die because of their children, nor children die because of their fathers, but each one shall die for his own sin.”  Then Amaziah assembled the men of Judah and set them by fathers’ houses under commanders of thousands and of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He mustered those twenty years old and upward, and found that they were 300,000 choice men, fit for war, able to handle spear and shield. He hired also 100,000 mighty men of valor from Israel for 100 talents of silver. But a man of God came to him and said, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel, with all these Ephraimites. But go, act, be strong for the battle. Why should you suppose that God will cast you down before the enemy? For God has power to help or to cast down.” And Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do about the hundred talents that I have given to the army of Israel?” The man of God answered, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this.” Then Amaziah discharged the army that had come to him from Ephraim to go home again. And they became very angry with Judah and returned home in fierce anger. But Amaziah took courage and led out his people and went to the Valley of Salt and struck down 10,000 men of Seir. The men of Judah captured another 10,000 alive and took them to the top of a rock and threw them down from the top of the rock, and they were all dashed to pieces.

Psalms 33:16-20    The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.  The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.  Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,  that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine.  Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.

Job 5:18    For he wounds, but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal.

Psalms 20:7     Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

Proverbs 10:22     The blessing of the LORD makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.

Philippians 4:19     And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Amaziah did right in the eyes of the Lord but not with his whole heart.  I wonder how we would live now if we knew this is what the Holy Spirit would inspire people to write about us.  Would we commit to living differently or be content with knowing we were not giving to God or serving God with all our heart, mind, and soul?  Would we confess it once we became aware of our divided heart?  Would we turn away from how we think and act?  Would we make an intentional choice and commitment with our whole heart, mind, and soul?  Would we listen?  Would we act? Would people see a change?  Would His Word be all-important to us?  Would we hunger and thirst for it?  Would our days seem dark and without purpose without it?  Would our ears be tuned to hearing His leading?  Would our faith, trust, and reliance be different?  Would our peace, joy, and love be visible?

We can pretend quite well, can’t we?  We tell ourselves that we are good enough and we serve God enough and we give Him enough of our time and we do enough right things to be ok.  We allow self to rule our heart in such a way that we are never able to find the peace and joy that comes from an intentional choice to yield our whole heart, mind, and soul.

It is very easy to live pretending you are giving it your all, just neglect His word and convince yourself that attending church is giving it your all.  We can all yield more, die to self more, listen, follow, and obey more but that would mean we give all our heart, mind, and soul to humbly serving, honoring, following, trusting, obeying, and relying on God every moment of every day.