Tag: pleases

31.i. “Keep your life free from love of money”

 

Matthew 6:19   “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

 Psalms 39:6    Surely a man goes about as a shadow! Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!

 1 John 2:15-16   Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

 Proverbs 11:4   Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.

 James 5:1-3   Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.  Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days.

 Proverbs 23:5   When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.

 Ecclesiastes 2:26    For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

 Ecclesiastes 5:10-14    He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.

 Zephaniah 1:18    Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the LORD

 Hebrews 13:5    Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

The idea is that earthly treasure is temporary and fading away (where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal), but heavenly treasure is secure. The issue isn’t that earthly treasures are intrinsically bad, but they are of no ultimate value either. If this is the case, then it is wrong for the disciple of Jesus to dedicate his life to continually expanding his earthly treasures.

“The Master does not say it is wrong to possess earthly treasure. He does say it is wrong to lay it up for self. We are to hold it as stewards.” (Morgan)

 To lay up for yourselves treasure on earth is also to doom yourself to a life of frustration and emptiness. Regarding material things the secret to happiness is not more, it is contentment. How many wealthy people have died at their own hands because they found no pleasure from the wealth of what they accumulated? There is no lasting satisfaction from wealth. It is here today and gone tomorrow, or we are. In contrast, heavenly treasures are everlasting and incorruptible. Treasures in heaven give enjoyment now, in the contentment and sense of well-being that comes from being a giver. But their ultimate enjoyment comes on the other side of eternity. It has been wisely observed that a moving truck full of possessions never follows a hearse. Everything one might take with them to the world beyond is left behind and we can use our material resources right now for eternal good – even though we can’t bring them with us. Our material treasures will not pass from this life to the next, but the good that has been done for the kingdom of God through the use of our treasures lasts for eternity, and the work God does in us through faithful giving will last for eternity. (Guzik)

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”

1 Wisdom and understanding beyond measure

Genesis 41:38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?

Numbers 27:18  So the LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him.

Job 32:8  But it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.

Daniel 5:11 There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the king—made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers,

Job 35:11  who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’

Proverbs 2:6  For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;

1 Kings 3:12  behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you.

1 Kings 3:28  And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.

1 Kings 4:29  And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore,

Ecclesiastes 2:26  For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God.

1 Corinthians 2:10-12  these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.  For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.  Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.

1 Corinthians 12:8  For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,

James 1:5  If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

Have you ever faced a problem and the solution was far from you?  Can you remember a time when all your thinking came up blank on how to solve the problem.  I can’t tell you how many times I have faced a problem head on, on my own, and without giving thought to God.  These were times I thought I could handle it on my own.  When I look back I recognize one facet of my life was constant, or should I say not constant.  I was not seeking God daily, or spending daily time in His word, or intentionally wanting to honor, glorify, serve, follow and obey Him.  I would like to say this period of my life was short lived.  Not the case.  I would have times or seeking and then fall back into very complacent times, neglectful times.  These were times without the influence of Godly wisdom because I was not seeking it, did not think I needed, and was closed to even thinking about it.

Intentionally choosing, seeking, desiring, wanting to be close to God is a daily heart and mind battle of commitment.  It requires repentance from the current way of living and commitment to God with all aspects of our daily life.  Commitment to His word, Commitment to His leading, Commitment to listening, Commitment to being faithful, and Commitment to prayer.  Soon Commitment becomes a God filled daily faithful habit. Our soul will thirst and hunger for Him.  Our mind will think on His word.  Our ears will listen for His quiet whispers.  Our eyes will look for work of His mighty hand.

Humbly serving and following God is a daily commitment with daily rewards.  Our life is filled with the indwelling, teaching, instructing, encouraging, strengthening, loving, warning, convicting, directing, leading, enlightening, and loving from the Holy Spirit of God, through whom we gain wisdom and understanding and knowledge.

Don’t try to face another day without being filled with the Holy Spirit of God.  Don’t try to face a problem alone.  Don’t try to find solution without His wisdom. God is willing and wanting to lead and direct and give wisdom and understanding to us if we give our whole heart, mind and soul commitment to Him.

Think about your commitment is it where you want it to be?  If it is not, then repent and commit to God.

Ezekiel 36:25-27     I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.. .

Waiting beside My doors

Psalms 95:4  In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.

Psalms 135:6     Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.

Psalms 65:6  the one who by his strength established the mountains, being girded with might;  who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples,  so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs. You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.  You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it.  You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth.  You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.  The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy,  the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.

Genesis 1:9-10     And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.  God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

Proverbs 8:29     when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always,  rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man.  “And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways.  Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it.  Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.  For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD,  but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death.”

Jeremiah 5:22     Do you not fear me? declares the LORD. Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it.

Psalms 97:5    The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.

Micah 1:4    And the mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will split open, like wax before the fire

Job 9:5     he who removes mountains, and they know it not, when he overturns them in his anger,

Nahum 1:5    The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it.

We take a piece of wood and make something out of it – our creation.  God made the micro cellular seed structure for every tree species, the means for nutrients, the means for respiration, photosynthesis ( and while we think of this He made the sun and the earth too).    We look at what we or others have put together as something creative and maybe inspiring.  Some architects even go down in history as leaders of their time.  Books are written about them.  And yet we only need to open our eyes to God’s creation to see the awe inspiring magnitude of Him.  We are a creation of His.  He has given us life and free will to choose to praise, honor, serve, follow and obey Him.  Those who choose this path, He gives life (eternal).  Those that choose to reject Him, He gives death and torment eternal. “And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways.  Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it.  Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.  For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD,  but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death.”