To God or Man, To Whom Do You Look For Answers?

It seems everyone today is looking for someone to solve all their problems, whether self-inflicted or just falling victim to the state of the economy. Granted, not everyone causes their own problems, but many people do. Be it poor financial planning or just the inability to postpone gratification by wanting things right now instead of waiting until one actually has the money to purchase it. Lack of self-control creates a lot of the problems we have in today’s society. Many of our financial crises are caused by ones inability to stop spending. It’s as much a problem of the individual as the governments.

There seems to be many spoiled people in the world especially the youth of today. They want everything their parents have immediately. When they get out on their own they tend to go into debt trying to obtain it. They don’t seem to realize, in some cases, it took their parents a lifetime to gather all their material possessions. It doesn't happen overnight.

The Bible gives us many directives concerning money and many other major concerns of life. If we have a question about financial matters or life in general, I would suggest looking there first. We need Biblical answers to everyday problems. There are many opinions out in the world today concerning these problems. But most of the time they are created from a secular world view and not a biblical view. So, we should consider the world view of the person before we ask for advice. People that give a secular world view opinion most generally will give an opinion that is self-serving and not necessarily in your best interest. Whereas, the Bible gives an opinion that is always in your best interest, though you may feel that it doesn't fulfill your immediate desires. It is not always in your best interest to do so.

It seems the general population is looking more and more to the government to solve their problems, be it health care, retirement, or to provide a financial safety net. It is our job to care for ourselves, not the governments. God tells that if we put his kingdom first he will see to it that we have what we need. Reading the Word of God not only arms us against the devil but prepares us for life. Stop looking to gain the material things of this world and try to gain the wisdom needed to survive and live well in this world independently. If you are dependent on government for day to day living they essentially control what you do. Simply by pulling back those purse strings they can and will expect you to compromise your beliefs to keep the money coming in. It is happening today right before our eyes. The government is asking the Christian to violate their beliefs to serve the secular world view. The only way to stop this insanity is to know how to care for ourselves in a Biblical manner. Look to God for your answers, not man nor government.

We should know by now there is no free lunch. But everyone wants easy answers; credit card companies thrive and get rich on this strategy. It is an instant answer but it costs us much more than if we simply waited until we had the money ourselves. The “right now” world we live in causes its own problems; instant gratification causes its own grief. It causes economic bubbles that break later causing economic recessions and depressions. The banker owns us and we are little more than his virtual slaves. We work to pay him, he sits in his office and watches everyone who owes money go to work and bring him their paycheck. We do it every day, week after week, month after month, year after year. When we finally get him paid off, he encourages us to buy more things or to borrow more money ensuring we become indebted once again. The Bible tells us that the borrower is the slave of the lender. Perhaps we don’t need so many things. Do you remember the parable of the talents? When the master returns and asks to see what you have done with what talents he has given to you what will you have to show him?

Have you ever been to a dump or landfill? It is totally indiscriminate about what arrives there, it doesn't matter the brand or the original cost, all things are equal and it eventually all ends up there. It’s quite sobering, to see what people throw away to make room for more things. Many of the items where in good shape and could have been given to the less fortunate. 

The waste we produce is astonishing. I can’t help but wonder what greater good the money spent on these things could have done had they been channeled to a charity or church. We should stop and ask ourselves if this is what God would want us to do with our money and old but still usable items?  Who is it really serving? Do we ever think about the day God will judge us? What could you do better?

I am sure we all could use a little improvement in this area. So before you make the next purchase ask yourself first, do you really need it or just want it? If you truly have a need purchase the item but if you really don’t need it, perhaps you could pass it up this time. Take the money and do something nice for someone who needs it more than yourself. It’s just something to think about. 

Temptation

I sat for hours this weekend alone and in constant prayer. I find this really hard to do because I usually get distracted by my thoughts and what needs to be done around here. But I pushed past it because I have found these moments to be some of the best time with God I have ever spent. It is in these moments when God seems to come to me with the most unusual concerns and thought provoking communication. The pondering from this weekend surprised me, because I really hadn't thought about it much before.

It seems that Satan very rarely confronts us directly. His attacks come gradually and subtly, when one is least aware of his presence. He tends to tempt one in little ways that one is not always conscience. I think he wins a lot of people over just by taking them baby step by baby step until they can no longer comprehend what is right anymore. There has to be an explanation for our current social acceptance of such un-biblical behavior. In our journey to cultivate a closer relationship to God I find that we have become jumbled and confused combining different religious views to suit ourselves. I wonder how wise this is and am concerned that perhaps this is the enemy’s way of winning us over.

We allow certain practices like yoga into our lives without a thought that it could be harmful or in some way hurt us. We just accept that it’s there for us to use in the gyms not realizing there is a little more to it. Some people practice yoga as just an exercise but some believe that it can alter consciousness and degenerate into a cult of the body. Some say equating the bodily states with mysticism could lead to psychic disturbance and to moral deviations. Some reject it because yoga teaches one to look within to the internal goddess of the heart, to worship it and that faith comes through mystical inner knowledge. It incorporates the chanting of religious mantras and has been banned by several religious groups. Some think we are gods already.

All things seem to start out innocent enough, but then they take on a life of their own and we realize we have opened Pandora’s Box. We accept something seemingly small on the surface and then it explodes into an evil creature that tries to take over our world.

I will use women’s rights as an example, it should be good right? The right to be treated equal and fairly at work, with equal pay and the right to vote are all good things in and of themselves. But look at what it has led to. If we were to sacrifice our children to Baal as they did in the Bible we could see that it was wrong. Picture if you will, the golden statue of Baal with an opening at the base, an altar that the child was thrown into and burned to the God. We could see physically that this was not something most mothers would want to do.

However, in this day and age, we do sacrifice our children to other Gods that we have placed before the true God of the Bible. Namely the God’s of money, convenience, selfishness, appearance and personal rights. We literally kill thousands of unborn children because of those reasons. To me, that is sacrificing children to Baal but most people see it as a woman’s rights issue. That, my friends, is exactly what Satan likes to do. He fools many people, many good people are deceived, ones who claim to be Christians, claim to honor God and yet still they cannot see through the veil Satan has put over their eyes.

I encourage you today to look around in your life and see if there is anything you have accepted that perhaps you should not. Something Satan has sneaked into your life that has caught you unaware. Don’t take things at face value, take the time to really check them out and pray about them. Ask yourself if they would be God honoring before committing any of your time and allowing them into your life.

Serving God in the New Year

It’s New Year’s Day, the beginning of a brand new year. A new start, just think what you can do different this year to have a better year. I assume you know you are not here by chance but do you know what you are here for?

God chose you to be here in this moment of time, by his design, for his purpose and his hand has molded you into the person you are today. He doesn't compare you to anyone else because you are like no one else. You were created as a unique special creature, specifically designed to serve him and lack nothing. You are capable to doing any task he sets before you. With this in mind, have you been serving the Lord?

If your answer was yes, congratulations! Are you going to continue serving God the same way or are you up for a change? What do you feel he is calling you to do differently? Is there a place you could serve that better suits your personal gifts? Sometimes we just help out when we are asked and it is not necessarily in an area where we excel. Pray about it; ask the Lord where he wants you this year and then when you are sure of your answer, pursue it with his blessing.

If your answer was no, there is no reason to be upset by it, you are in the majority. People tend to get busy with their own lives and tend to forget about everything else, so you are not alone. Just make it your intention to do something different this year. That’s what New Year’s is all about, resolving to do things differently this time around. We can all be better at something, not one of us is perfect. But this time of year is a great time to reflect and evaluate our lives and change our focus.

If God hasn't been your focus in the past, it may be time to change things. Life is shorter than any of us can imagine, time just seems to continue to fly by. Our lives can get away from us if we are not living intentionally. I have experienced this myself, you get busy with the day to day battles of survival and the next thing you know the summers over and the kids are going back to school. You no sooner get them outfitted for school and they need winter boots, hats and gloves. Then Christmas is here and then the days never stop. They just keep on going and you look up and what you meant to accomplish never materialized.

Sometimes, I believe I live on a wing and a prayer, but I continue to live everyday just the same. Somehow, God gives me everything I need, not necessarily everything I want but everything I truly need. It is only right that I pay that forward in some way to someone else when I can. Be it in encouraging others to hold the course or give a gift of my time and special abilities.

No matter how tight our budgets, all of us have something of value to offer our fellow man even if it is just our time. There are many lonely people out there that just want someone to talk to or need to feel special in some way, to know that someone cares about them and acknowledge they still have value. It doesn't cost a lot to stop by and visit an elderly person or help out with a task they can no longer accomplish on their own. You don’t have to be an adult to give to others; children are blessed with much more time and energy than most adults. Anyone can rake a yard, help to prepare a meal or just stop to chat. There are a million ways to serve God simply by caring for others.

Jesus said “What you do for the least of you, you do for me.” It doesn't have to be in a church setting or through a church ministry. You can serve the Lord all by yourself, if you choose and it better suits your schedule. No matter how you choose to serve God, serve him. Make this the year that God becomes your priority and serving him becomes your joy. That’s the reward we get on earth for serving him, at least for me. I begin to feel love for the person I am serving and they return that feeling back to me. It can develop into wonderful relationships that I would have missed out on otherwise. It is truly a blessing to both parties and well worth our time.

I hope this has given you some new ideas on how to serve the Lord. I encourage you to make this your year to focus on serving God.  The Lord may bless you in ways you have never known.