ResponsiveReiding

God is HOLY – not of or bound to this material world and its values.

It is fascinating to see how many look at the descriptions of the New Jerusalem in Rev. 21 with its 12 magnificent pearl gates, street of gold and gem stones for foundations – and think of this in terms of material wealth.

There are no store in Heaven. No places to spend money. Material wealth plays no role whatever. That is not the point of God’s great blessings upon us.

The royal Jewel of Heaven, of the new heavens and the new earth – is Christ Himself. To be in His presence. To gaze on His glory. To be with Him in all of His manifest glory for eternity. THIS! Is wealth. And why wearing ourselves out to get rich here and now is so utterly foolish and contrary to the economy God wants us to live in.

Remember Jesus words?: ““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.” Matt. 6:19-21

There is no form of wealth, be it material, health, employment, family or even just plain happiness in this life but what is truly fleeting. If these are all we aim for, it is all we will have. And in the end then, we’ll be left with nothing. So the text reminds us the accumulation of material wealth is not a right goal. It is purely temporal. You are not.

Father, how easily I go down this path, and make the possession of temporal, earthly goods something to consume my time and effort. Free me from it. Make me to pour all that I have and am into the advancement of your kingdom, within myself and others. Show me the way of true wisdom in this regard.

It takes no skill to get into arguments. Any idiot can bicker, fight argue and quarrel. This is the domain of fools. To avoid these or end them once they’ve begun, this takes wisdom, courage, self-control and uprightness. It is sad to see how many who bear the name of Christian are noted almost exclusively for their ability to enter into one conflict after another. They seem to be on endless crusades against others. Oh that we would expend the same energy fighting our own sinfulness.

Heavenly Father, make it so in my life.

Seeking debate is not an honorable pursuit. Preach the Gospel? Yes. Whenever and wherever we can. But deliberately go seeking debate? No. Jesus went about preaching, not looking for debates. When issues were brought to Him, He did not dodge them. But He didn’t try to be an agitator either.

The weapons of our war are spiritual, not carnal. And it is in preaching the truth and the Gospel of Christ that we best “destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God.” Logic is good and right. God is rational and rational thought is honoring to Him. But the soul is not argued into Christ’s Kingdom – it is instead the power of the Gospel in producing faith by the Spirit that does so.

I fear many today have given up on the simple Gospel as though it is not sufficient to meet the need of the day. Preaching Christ and Him crucified, proclaiming the Gospel – this is God’s appointed means. We cannot improve upon it.

Yes, we are to give an answer to everyone who asks for the reason behind the hope in which we live. Rationally and soundly. But our best tactic is not to curse the darkness. You cannot end darkness by denouncing it as dark. You can only bring light instead. And Christ alone is the Light of the World. Preach Christ!

Fear can be a terrible and tormenting thing. It can also be very liberating. If, that is, we fear the right things. Right fears keep us from other fears. That is the point of this text. If one fears the God who gives and rules life, one need not fear what life may bring. Such fear brings peace and satisfaction.

When I was a young man, I feared the jeers and rejection of my peers. When one is young and unsure, fear of not fitting in can be a tremendous burden. Fear of certain groups like those I labored to make my friends, soon brought with it pressures to participate in their activities. Activities that were certain not to be approved of by my parents, and in some cases by the police either. In fact, fear of being excluded, laughed at, rejected, etc. even allowed me to overcome fear (in some circumstances) of getting caught and/or punished.

The day came, when yielding to such pressures and fears found me entering into actions that soon brought me face to face with the police and the courts. Even the threat of those things was not as great as the fear of not participating in what I knew was dead wrong. Then, up to my neck in trouble, I finally had to break down and tell my Dad what I had done. He did not respond with rage, or threats or punishments or anything else of the like. But Oh! The hurt and disappointment that filled his eyes that day. I would rather had gone to jail and suffered physical harm than to see what that produced in him. In his crushing, I was crushed. And, I never did the like again. I feared ever to be responsible for doing such a thing to him again.

Time and maturity work together to make us more afraid of things like the law and the dangers we once risked so carelessly in our youth. But The Cross, brings us face to face with the horrors of our betrayal against our holy, perfect, Heavenly Father. Metaphorically, if we could have seen the eyes of God in our fall in Eden, and glimpsed the hurt and disappointment that we His image-bearers brought to Him – I dare say we would fear to bring such reproach upon Him once more. And such fear, that fear borne of true love, would keep us from a host of evils, culminating in a rest and satisfaction that the world cannot disturb by its parade of worthless enticements.

Many wish for an impossibility – to be fully known by some other human being. The term usually applied here is “soul mate.” Someone you connect with and resonate with so deeply, that you almost think, feel and function as one. And there is an analog of that between some people, rare as it might be. But in truth, that domain does not belong to another human – only God can and DOES know us that way. Do not demand from men or women what only God can give. If you do, you will live forever dissatisfied and longing. And longing for the impossible is a fool’s game.

If we would be known that way – truly and absolutely known – we must find our satisfaction in our God knowing us so. He truly knows our individual sorrows and bitterness. Every doubt, fear, troubling thought and desire. He alone truly knows our most inward joys. He knows our deepest, unspoken feelings.

In truth, and perhaps this is even more to the real longing of our souls – He not only knows us better than we know ourselves – He loves us! And nothing He knows of us or in us diminishes His love for us in any way. Every foible, quirk and eccentricity. Every failing, wicked bent and sinful impulse. Everything. We need never put on airs. We cannot fool Him, we cannot dress ourselves up and make ourselves more attractive to Him. For He loves us out of Himself. He has set His love upon His redeemed ones. And nothing in us can scare Him off or repulse Him. He knows us – REALLY knows us. And loves us with a love that Ephesians (3:14-19) says requires supernatural strengthening in order to begin to comprehend.

Beloved – you ARE known.

And one day, you will know even as you are known.