Skip to main content

"Consumed or Commissioned?"



 
1 Timothy 6:17-19 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. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

In comparison to those who Paul addresses in this letter, we are "those who are rich". In America, even those on the lower end of the economy are rich in comparison to the rest of the world. So what is God's Word to us? First....do not place your ultimate trust in your wealth.

 I think many of us have learned this lesson the hard way as we have watched the equity in our homes, our retirement accounts, stocks, and sometimes....even our source of income....slip thru our fingers. Second, place the ultimate trust of your life upon God who provides everything you have in life for your enjoyment! God provides everything and He wants you to enjoy what you have. God is no cosmic "killjoy"! Third, as people who have received everything from God, we are called to leverage what God has placed in our lives to do good in the world. This is our time, talents, and financial resources. And finally, as we trust God by sharing what we have for the good to be done in the world, we experience life as God intended it to be and the seeds of good we sow in this life will impact eternity!

The moment you take your first breath to begin a new day, say "thank you" to a benevolent Father in heaven who grants you permission to inhabit His body, breathe His air, walk on His planet, and use His resources! As you go thru this day, you can selfishly hold on to your blessings and place your hope and future's security on them or you can choose to trust God and place your hope and future on doing life God's way by living a life of generosity. You can lay up treasures here or you can generously share what God has given you to make an eternal impact. Bottom line......what you have is a gift from God. You can be consumed by the gifts or commissioned by God to make a difference with the gifts. The choice is yours.

 When my life is over, Lord, I want people to say that I lived a generous life because I allowed everything given to me by You to be used to make a difference for Your glory! Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The God to Whom We Pray

Nehemiah 1:1-11 Nehemiah demonstrates power in prayer. As a servant to King Artaxerxes of Persia, he had no right to request leave to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls, much less to requisition materials and protection. Yet knowing the nature of the God he served, Nehemiah did not hesitate to act boldly and ask the king for what was needed.  His prayer began, “I beseech You, O lord God of heaven” (Neh. 1:5). Lord, when it appears in all capital letters, denotes the word Jehovah (a form of Yahweh, the Hebrew name for God). It means “God who is eternal in His being”—conveying that everything everywhere is in His presence. So, when God makes a promise, He knows how He will keep it. That is why Nehemiah called Him “the awesome God who preserves the covenant.” He knew God was committed to bringing repentant Israelites back to their homeland to dwell in His presence (Neh. 1:9). Another Hebrew name used to refer to God, Elohim, is translated “He who is absolutely sovereign.” If He...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hold Fast What Is Good

1 THESSALONIANS 5:21  Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.  Sometimes things that should be obvious to us are not. Like, if what you are doing is not working out, it would be wise to consider a change. Too many people are not receiving the blessings God's Word promises, things the Bible says God desires us to have. But instead of considering changing things in their life, too often people fall into the temptation of blaming God and thinking He is holding out on them.  But that is never true! There is never any fault or problem with God. PSALM 84:11 KJV 11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.  If you are acting on the Word and planting good seeds, don't let the devil discourage you and cause you to give up too soon. But if the course of your life is going the wrong direction, and it is not getting better over time, then it would be wise to consi...
Post a Comment
Read more

You Have The Victory!

 Romans 8:37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  If God’s Word says that we are more than conquerors through Christ, then we are. We are not going to become, we already are. We may be experiencing some failures or setbacks in life right now, but only good will come out of our situations because God says that “in all these things we are more than conquerors”. We have the victory! You see, God has placed us in Christ, whom He has exalted to the highest place in the universe. We are not trying to get to victory ground. We are already on victory ground. We don’t confess God’s Word to get victory. We confess His Word because we already have the victory. We don’t fight for victory. We fight from victory.  The devil will try to steal our victory. He will come against us with lies and fears, and cause us to be conscious of our failures, weaknesses and symptoms in areas such as our health. But we are not trying to be healed...
Post a Comment
Read more