Skip to main content

The Rich Man's Problem




JOHN 21:16 NLT 16 Jesus repeated the question: "Simon son of John, do you love me?

" Every one desires to be loved. We all want to be loved and accepted for who we are. We all want to be wanted. Possibly the greatest human desire is to have a suitable companion who thinks you are wonderful. The rich man's problem is determining whether someone loves him as a person, or whether they only pretend to love him in order to receive the benefits he can provide. I once knew a wealthy man who discovered in his wife's diary her whole plan to deceive him into thinking she loved him, so she could marry him just for the purpose of getting his money. What a blow! The rich man has a huge problem. How can he know that someone loves him instead of his money? How can he be certain that he is not just being used for what he can provide because of his wealth and power? God faces the same difficulty as the rich man. If God were to openly reveal Himself in all His power, riches, and splendor -- the owner of the entire universe -- how could anyone resist? Yet, by hiding or concealing Himself, even to the point that some people think God does not even exist, God is able to determine who really wants to know Him -- not just for what they can get out of it, but because they love Him. Yes, God is our provider and source. Without Him we can do nothing, and we would have nothing. But, on some level, God desires to be pursued and loved for who He is, not just what He does for us.

 JOHN 4:23 ESV 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is on a mission to redeem the world and make everything right. But He is also on a hunt for those who love Him. For those who will worship Him in truth. Worship has to do with our idea of someone's worth -- how valuable we think they are. It can be thought of as worth-ship.

 JOHN 14:23 ESV 23 Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. SAY THIS: I think God is wonderful (as well as great)!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Building Trust When Faith Wavers

  Mark 9:21-24 21 And He asked his father, How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, From childhood. 22 It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!" 23 And Jesus said to him, `If You can?' All things are possible to him who believes." 24 Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, I do believe; help my unbelief." Since faith is the core of our Christian experience, the consequences of wavering faith are far-reaching. Vacillating trust can lead us to make wrong decisions. Sometimes, after praying for direction, we might receive an answer that leads us to think, I can’t do that. So, instead of asking God to strengthen our faith, we make excuses. We may choose to postpone our obedience—even indefinitely—in order...

I Now Believe God Loves Me

 1 JOHN 4:16  So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.  Although I have endeavored to walk with the Lord for awhile, only in recent times have I started to really believe God loves me. My problem was that I kept focusing on myself, instead of God. I saw myself in my immaturity with all my faults and failures. I was not looking at Jesus the perfect sacrifice, but focused on myself and my shortcomings.  Even though I spread messages on the love of God, I never had confidence that God truly loved me just as I was. Instead I thought more in terms of God tolerating me, but not being too happy with me. I was trying my best to do what I thought God wanted, not really realizing that I could never earn God's love.  Now I am realizing that God's love is not dependent on me, but is entirely dependent on God alone. He does not love me because I am lovable, b...

welcome to my blog

Oh the waterfall of cleansing Grace! Welcome to my Grace blog.  I hope to both share and start a dialogue about Jesus Christ and how his life, relationships and teaching have a practical working value in our everyday lives. To go beyond our belief of Jesus... and into our belief in Jesus. I hope we can learn more about how the finished work of Christ on the cross empowers his work in us in our daily lives. I hope we can grow in His Grace and Wisdom! The name came from a Joseph Prince story in his book  "Destined to Reign"...here's the story: Prince tells the story of a young boy who found a rock out in the woods. Though it looked rough at first, he rinsed it in the small waterfall of a nearby stream. Turns out, the rock was marbly, smooth, and full of color. Not wanting to lose the rock, and afraid someone would take it from him if he took it home, he buried it back in the dirt in a tucked away place before he went home for the night. There, he left it. The ne...