What and Where is Your Treasure?

This post was originally written as a note on Facebook, but the Lord brought it to mind again this morning. It hit me in a fresh way in the midst of some things I have been seeing and learning, so it seemed appropriate to repost it here.

This morning I found myself kind of camped out in the Sermon on The Mount, specifically Matthew 6. Every teaching I have ever heard or read on verses 19-21, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also," has been about money and material things. Which makes sense, since verse 24 goes on to say that we cannot serve two masters, both God and money. But this morning I noticed something that really made me think, especially in light of some things that have been heavy on my heart lately. Rather than looking forward to verse 24, the Holy Spirit took me back to the first part of chapter 6.

The chapter starts out with Jesus talking about our deeds of righteousness, specifically giving to the needy, but the same principle applies to any right act we do. In verse 5, Jesus moves on to prayer, and in verse 16 he talks about fasting. In all of these things, He says not to do them for the attention of men, but in secret, where only God can see. Does this mean that we should never serve where people can see? No. While there are some things we can do anonymously, most acts of meaningful service require actually touching and impacting people. Does it mean we should never pray in public or with other people? No. If that were true, scripture would also not say, as in Matthew 18:19-20, "Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them," and we would not see instances of the early church praying together. Does it mean that no one should know that we are fasting, or what the purpose is? No. Often groups of people will fast together for a specific purpose. And it can also be an opportunity to share with an unbeliever that you are fasting in order to seek the Lord about a particular thing.

The whole idea behind the principles Jesus gives in Matthew 6:1-18 is that our motivation for righteous acts, prayer and fasting should be to please the Lord, grow our relationship with Him, and impact the Kingdom for His glory. Not our own. When we laud ourselves, the things we do well (whether internally or externally), the ways we have grown, the things we give up or avoid that are bad, the amount we pray or read or serve, or the ways we do those things, we get the glory. We get the attention. It is all about what we have done right, what people love or envy about us. When it's all about us, people may admire us, they may want what we have, they may compare themselves to us, but they will have no hope-no way of attaining to the level of right living they think we have achieved.

What Jesus wants is a heart motivation that serves and prays and sacrifices and loves because of what He has done for us, to make Him smile, out of a response to His love. He wants our words to reflect the glory of God, the work He has done in us and through us. He should get the attention, because He is the one who truly deserves it. Our words, whether written or spoken, should draw attention, should draw people, to Him. We need to be clear that anything we have, everything we experience, every area of change has been and is unattainable without the love, grace and power of Jesus Christ through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. When they know that the source of our abundant life is Him, they will be aware that they can have it, too. 

So I think it is very interesting that this whole section about not looking for the praise of men is immediately followed by verses 19-21, which reminds us not to store up treasures on earth, but in heaven. When we seek the approval of men, we find that it is always fleeting. Someone else will come along and do something better or different or it will just be fresher on the minds of people. We become addicted to that approval. It is our treasure. We want more and more, so we do more and more to seek it out. And it's voice is lessened by the negative voices and reactions in the world as well. So we begin to seek louder voices of approval to drown out the disappointments. It is a vicious cycle. And our short-sighted, fleshly need for worldly approval robs us of the greater reward of a God in heaven, who loves us more deeply than we could ever imagine, who sees everything we do outside of ourselves, every bit of progress inside our hearts, minds and spirits, and who has a stockpile of rewards waiting for us in heaven. Nothing can destroy those rewards. No one can outshine us or take them away. But the more we seek approval here on earth, the less reward there will be in heaven, because we will have done everything we do for the approval of man rather than God, and our motivation will not have been to bring Him glory. And that, my friends, is what He wants, what He deserves, and what He rewards.

The Power of Words

For many reasons that I can see, and probably for some that I can't see yet, the Lord has me in a season of pondering the power of words. From the beginning of this process-the seeking and learning and applying of truth-I have been very convicted about my lack of understanding of the power of words and about my personal use (or misuse) of them.

This theme is woven throughout scripture from the very beginning. God spoke creation into existence. He very clearly called His Son, Jesus, the Word made flesh come to dwell among us. His very Word is the source of our life and light and hope. It is also the source of our conviction and an avenue for change. He speaks through the pages of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Yet we so often want to ignore that "ALL scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the servant of God can be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17) We want to leave off the rebuking and correcting parts because they are uncomfortable. They convict us. They stretch us. They bring us to a place of decision that requires action, change, repentance.

God throughout all of scripture uses harsher words for His people, and for those who claim His name, than He does for anyone else. Jesus in the flesh did the same. This is because the expectation and standard for us is higher. We are His representatives. Yet, rather than use our words in a holy, God-honoring way, we too often use them to "praise our Lord and Father, and curse human beings who are made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praising and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be." (James 3:9-10)

God's expectations for us are that we would speak and tell of His righteousness, that those with whom we have influence would know His character, His goodness, His love, His righteous judgement, His anger and wrath balanced with His grace, His mercy, His sacrifice, His forgiveness, His hope. Our words are supposed to point people to Him. Our story, the one we speak, should be so focused on Him and what He has done in us and for us-not only when we came to the point of salvation, but the cleansing and ridding us of sin and making us more like Him through the sanctification process-that anyone who hears us speak cannot help but be drawn to Him.

Most of us do fairly well holding our tongues when we are face to face with people, at least most of the time. Yet behind people's back, or in groups of like-minded individuals, we let our words of judgement and condemnation fly. And in this age of electronic communication where we can hide behind a computer screen or smart phone, we have become even more lax and careless in our use of words. Our communication, and therefore our thoughts have exacerbated the idea of "us" against "them". I do believe it is in that order, too. The more words and pictures that we see in electronic communication that feed this idea, the more we think like that, and the cycle feeds itself.

As Paul told Timothy in preparing him for ministry, "Preach the Word. Be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear." (2 Timothy 4:2-3) It's easy to read things like that and think of all the other people it applies to. Those unbelievers. "Them." Never "Us." But when we look honestly at what we want, what we seek out, we find ourselves looking for nice, pithy sound bites that build us up and make us feel good about ourselves. At the same time, what we spew out are words of condemnation, words that make other people sound and feel stupid, out of a desire to prove that "we" are right and "they" are wrong. We want the good. We give the bad. In the process we turn away the very ones who need Him the most. And often this is because we are blind to the fact that WE need Him just as much. Because we can't do this, we can't represent Him, without His grace and mercy and power every day.

Yes, there is a time and a place to stand against sin. But there is also a WAY to do that. Cutting down others, giving them the impression that they are unforgivable, is never the way to do that. The best way we can stand against sin is to stand FOR the Lord. To tell of His unfailing love and His forgiveness that is freely offered to all. To speak out of a transformed life with a transformed tongue of the life change and hope that is available through a relationship with Him. God used humor, harsh words, loving words, and even sarcasm at times to make a point. All of those things are good, but we need to use them in a way that honors and points people to Him, not pushing them away. There is great power in the Word and in our words. And when His words become our words, we get the amazing privilege of watching them change the hearts and lives of people. Including us.

Jesus Raises the Bar

So many times in the church we find people splitting hairs over things that don't matter. When it comes to tithing, we ask, "Are we supposed to give from our net income or gross?" or "Is my whole tithe supposed to go the the church, or can I designate some elsewhere?"  When it comes to service, we ask, "Is it better to serve inside or outside of the church?" or "If I can't serve with a joyful heart, isn't it better if I don't serve at all?"  About missions we say, "There are starving people in America. Why do we send people overseas?" (Even though those asking that question often are not doing anything about the problem they are using to justify not sending others.) or "Doesn't my issue with _______________ excuse me from going?"  And the list could go on.

These may sound like decent questions on the surface, but the reality is, most of the time they are excuses to keep talking about scripture rather than acting in obedience to it. In the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5-7, Jesus repeatedly says (especially in chapter 5), "You have heard that it was said...(referring to different things in the law), but I tell you..." Every time He says this, He raises the bar of expectation. While He did come to fulfill the law, to take away the burden of it, and to be a substitutionary sacrifice for what we could not accomplish on our own by following the law, He expected that His followers, responding out of love for the Father, would do even greater things than the law required.

Yet Jesus didn't leave that as a burdensome, cumbersome thing we have to wade through and figure out. He boiled down the whole law into two simple instructions. In Matthew 22:37-40, when asked what the greatest commandment was, He said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest command. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Two things. That's all we have to do.

There is a reason that loving God is first. If we don't first love Him, we cannot possibly keep the second. Our selfish, sinful nature will take over, and loving people is the farthest thing from our mind. But if we love God first and allow Him to shape our character, loving people will become more and more natural to us. We also need to know that loving people does not necessarily mean giving them what they want or agreeing with them when they are wrong. It means meeting their actual physical, emotional or spiritual needs, not their selfish or sinful desires. And we need to remember that the same thing applies to our expectations of love for us from others. If they are truly loving us, they will do and say what is true and best, not what we want to hear or receive.

If our motivation for everything we do and everything we say is to love God and love others, then we will, by default, begin to live up to the expectations of Jesus. We will live and love and respond to people and situations in God-honoring, selfless, good and holy ways. As we do these things, no one will be able to find fault with us. For, as Galatians 5:22-25 says, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Jesus Christ have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."

Guard Your Heart

Today I had a conversation with a man who was struggling to understand his fairly new bride. He has a genuine heart to love her, to meet her needs and to grow their relationship in the Lord. Yet he is constantly faced with the feeling that he is insensitive and does everything wrong because she “has a logical argument for everything that makes complete sense.” The problem is, logic that is based on feelings is not really logic at all. It can result in a justification for those feelings that makes sense, but if it is not based on fact, on truth, then it is not really logic. Feelings change. Truth does not.

We have all been given, or possibly given to others, the advice to “just follow your heart.” That is stupid advice! Really. It is. Jeremiah 17:9 (NIV) says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”  That is truth. Our hearts, which are more often than not controlled by our feelings, lie to us. They lie! They tell us that our perception of a person or situation is true because we see it that way. But our perception is skewed by our experiences, our desires, our self-esteem, and a hundred other possible things. We cannot trust our hearts to tell us the truth, let alone lead us in the right path.

So why, then, does the Lord tell us repeatedly that we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength? If we can’t trust our hearts, if they lie to us, how can we use this flawed instrument to love the Lord? Well, as Proverbs 4:23 (NLT) says, we must “Guard [our hearts] above all else, for it determines the course of [our lives].” A heart that is well guarded can be a precious instrument for the Lord and His service.

How do we do that? The Word of God is a protection for our naturally evil-bent hearts. Psalm 119:11 says, “I have hidden your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” In fact, I would recommend reading all of Psalm 119. Over and over it tells us that God’s Word is a protection, a guide, a light, a fortress for our hearts. That is because truth, God’s truth, helps us to see and respond to the world and the people in it in a way that is based on reality, not feelings or perception.

So often people see God’s Word as a limiting force. But the truth is, it gives us freedom-freedom from wrong choices, from the consequences of sin, from broken relationships, from those things that would seek to steal our joy. Psalm 119:32 says, “I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.” Picture that! Think about how it would feel to live your life free of all the sin, the feelings, the misunderstandings, the broken relationships that burden you. Get into the Word of God. ALL of it! We can’t pick and choose what we want to believe and expect to be free. We believe all of His Word, or we believe none of it. Read it. Know it. Let it guard your heart. And then love Him at full speed!

Grasp What You Have!

Many of my thoughts lately have revolved around the prayers Paul prayed for the churches he loved. Prayers like these:

"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you might know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe." (Ephesians 1:17-19a)

"I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:16-19)

"And this is my prayer; that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ-to the glory and praise of God." (Philippians 1:9-11)

"For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding." (Colossians 1:9)

Paul's prayers for those he loved were always that they would grasp what they already had! God had done it all. He had given it all. All they had to do was believe it and walk in it. Paul continues in Colossians 1:10-12 to explain why he is praying these things for his friends, "And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work , growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light."

My friends, we are exactly the same. We need nothing more than what we already have. we simply need to believe what God has said, what He has already given and promised. When we are able to truly believe, and true belief always results in action that backs it up, our lives will reflect the goodness, blessing, power, endurance, patience, faithfulness and holiness of God. We will look more and more like Him every day. And the world will want what we have. Because we HAVE every spiritual blessing in Christ-EVERYTHING that we need for life and godliness. Grasp it! Believe it! Walk in it! It is yours.

Mental Image: Jesus is a Vacuum

Tonight at church George Guthrie gave a presentation about his time in Israel. Jadon was fascinated that someone he knows got to walk and teach in the same places Jesus did. On the way home, he was asking me about when the temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom. He asked me why that was such a big deal. I told him that it was because it was a very thick, very tall curtain. It would be impossible for a person to tear it from top to bottom. God tore the curtain that had covered the Most Holy Place and kept it accessible to only one person who had to follow a bunch of rules before he could go in only once a year. Also, it tore when Jesus died, because it is only because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross that we all have access to God.

Jadon has heard all of that before, but George's presentation somehow made it all more real to him tonight. He thought for a little while and then said, "It's like it's because we are just human and we can't be perfect, so Jesus HAD to be perfect so He could suck up all of our sins. Then, when they are all inside of Him, we can be clean enough to come to God."

I think there will always be a little mental picture of Jesus as a vacuum cleaner in my mind from this point on. The theology of an 11 year old :)

The (Not-So-) Little Battles Come First

Whenever I write a lesson on a Bible story I know well, I spend a lot more time in prayer. Not that every lesson doesn't require much prayer. But it's easy to be so familiar with a story that there is a danger of overlooking the new lessons the Lord may want to teach you. Because of this, I have been obsessed with and seeking God through the story of David and Goliath. Here's what I learned: The preparation David went through while tending sheep and worshiping God and serving the king went well beyond developing his physical ability to fight battles and lead people.

There were multiple mental and emotional battles David had to overcome before he could fight the physical battle against Goliath, and all of the other wars that would follow in the coming years. The first was his insignificance to his father. Not only did his father not think to include him in the anointing ceremony when Samuel came to town (1 Sam. 16:11), he also had no expectation that David could do any good on the battlefield. Jesse simply gave David the jobs of delivering supplies to his brothers and bringing back a report from the battle. Easy. No challenge. Something a young shepherd could handle. Low expectations.

He also had to overcome the jealousy and derision of his brothers. When he got to the battle lines and heard Goliath's challenge, the challenge that had been repeated for forty days, he naturally started asking questions. His brothers responded with anger and lies about David's character. This is a common response when people are jealous or feel threatened. Remember, David's brothers were there when he was anointed king, and they were part of the army that was afraid to fight this giant of a man. Instead of running home to dad, David simply turns his attention to those who would answer his questions.

King Saul's first reaction to David's offer to fight Goliath was to point out what David had lacking in size and stature. He even tried to put his own armor on David to increase his chances of success. Yet David stood confidently in his trust in the Lord and turned down the armor of a king who was willing to surrender his protection to a sure loser rather than step up and fight the battle himself.

Goliath, the enemy of God and Israel, scoffed at him and was offended that this army he threatened every day would send out this scrawny little shepherd by to fight him. Yet David looked him in the eye and accepted the challenge. Nobody who defied his God would scare him away from the job at hand.

Finally, the battle that strikes me the most because it hits closest to my heart, is that David was invisible. He was doing everything the Lord had given him to do, and he was doing it well. People valued the jobs he did, and they enjoyed to results, yet they didn't see David as a person with value in himself. He had been going back and forth between the sheep and King Saul, playing his harp, calming the king's heart, and even becoming one of his armor bearers. He had a face-to-face conversation with Saul about Goliath. Yet, after David had stood in faith and confidence in the Lord and defeated the giant, Saul had to ask who he was, who his father was. We can look back at chapter 16 and see that he had already been given that information. He had benefited from David's service. Yet he never SAW him. David was invisible.

But he was not insignificant, invisible, or too little to God. The God that knew David's heart knew there was no conceit or wickedness there. He knew that David stood in confidence only because he trusted in his God, in his relationship with God, and in the strength that only God provides, knowing that he could not win this battle on his own. He knew that David credited Him with all of his success and protection to this point, both from the lion and the bear as well as his promotion to the king's service. He also knew that David's anger against Goliath was a righteous defense of God's character. And God came through in a mighty way.

If David had given into any of those "little" battles of the mind and heart, he would not have stepped forward in faith. He would not have been privileged to see God work a miracle in battle and prove Himself to the army of Israel and their enemies. And he would not have played a part in the whole amazing thing. Whatever the battle you are facing today (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual), remember that every one of them prepares you for something bigger. If you can stand firm in truth and righteousness in the little things, you will be prepared t do the same for anything. David didn't just have a heart after God's heart in worship. His heart was bent to God's in battle as well. Is yours?

Why are You Running?

This morning as I was taking Jadon to school, we witnessed an accident. A guy in a minivan pulled out of a parking lot right in front of oncoming traffic and was struck by another lady. She ended up in the turn lane, and he ended up sideways across both of our lanes. He pulled forward & turned around, presumably (I thought) to get out of the way. It took a minute to register that he was not stopping! As he took off down the highway, I and another driver sped after him in an attempt to get his license number or let the police know where he was. I got stopped at a light, but thankfully the other driver was able to keep up with him and lead the police to his location. It is amazing to me that he was able to continue to drive with pieces flying off of his van all the way up the highway. Or that his conscience would allow him to even try. It was his fault, and I'm guessing he didn't have insurance, but fleeing the scene certainly didn't earn him any brownie points with the law, or the other woman involved.

It got me to thinking (Big surprise, I know) about the lack of responsibility in the world today. Nobody wants to admit they are wrong. About anything. We don't want to acknowledge that there are things inside of us that cause us to act or react in ways that are not God honoring or respectful to others. If we can blame our parents, employers, employees, brothers and sisters, teachers, coaches, co-workers, friends, pastors, or our history, the things that have happened to or around us, then we think we are free and clear. But we aren't, because we know that when it comes right down to it, we have made bad choices. We have been unloving. We have lied, cheated, lashed out in anger, been unforgiving, and held onto bitterness with every ounce of strength we have, using it to justify our negative behavior. We are speeding down the highway with a trail of wrecks behind us, leaving debris from our hearts and others' along the way, thinking we can outrun the truth and the consequences.

I'm not saying that we have to live with guilt and shame over our actions. Not at all! But that guilt and shame will keep us in bondage whether we ever admit it to anyone else or not. We know the truth, and that sin will eat us alive as long as we hold onto it. The only way we can truly live free in the forgiveness that Christ offers is to acknowledge where we have failed. We need to call sin sin. We need to take responsibility, repent and ask forgiveness, whether the other person or people involved ever do the same or not. Our freedom depends on us doing the right thing. When we do that, we are finally free of the guilt and shame that keeps us in bondage.

Psalm 51 is a beautiful picture of this truth in the life of David. It says, 
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
      according to your unfailing love;
    according to your great compassion
      blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
      and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,
     and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
     and done what is evil in your sight,
   so that you are proved right when you speak
     and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
     sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;
      you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
      wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
      let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
      and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
       and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
        or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
        and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
        and sinners will turn back to you.
14 Save me from bloodguilt, O God,
        the God who saves me,
        and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
        and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
        you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
        a broken and contrite heart,
        O God, you will not despise.

18 In your good pleasure make Zion prosper;
         build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then there will be righteous sacrifices,
         whole burnt offerings to delight you;
         then bulls will be offered on your altar.

David had to first acknowledge that he was sinful. He knew that the Lord desired truth in his inmost being, the places that nobody else could see. He recognized that the consequences for sin were a crushed spirit, a body with nothing to offer. He knew that it was only through a right relationship with God that He could be clean. And he knew that God was the only one who could make him clean. The best part is, after he finally repented, rejected his sin and turned to God, he was filled with joy and gladness, could worship in truth, and was able to teach others God's ways-not because he had never messed up, but because he HAD. And he had come out on the other side of sin restored before the God who loved him always.

What's holding you back? Why are you running? Stop. Turn around. There will you find the open arms of Jesus waiting to pick up all of your broken pieces and bring you to the Father, whole and holy.

The title of this blog came from a conversation with my youngest son last week. He and I were at Walmart on a grocery run, and as often happens, we walked out of the store when the setting sun was right at eye level. Blinded as I was, I said, "Ugh! That sun is so bright! I can't even see where I'm going!" His response was, "I'm ok, Momma. All I have to do is look at your feet and follow you." Wow! How the Lord can speak to us through our kids! Paul says to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 11:1, "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." If we are a Christian, that is our role-not just with our kids, but with everyone. We are to follow Christ to the best of our ability so that the people who are following behind us have the right example. And when we fall, which we will, we must take responsibility and make amends in a Bibical, God-honoring way. They need to know that, while we may fail, God never does. He is always right, He is always holy, and He is always in the redemption business. That is a tall order. Following Jesus isn't easy. He never said it would be. But it is worth it. And you never know who is behind you, watching your feet as you walk, sometimes uncertainly, sometimes with questions of what is ahead, but always with your eyes on the Son.