Coveting

P 2873 “If you understand this, you need to respond.”

/ DVH

“Speaking to the people, Jesus continued, “Be alert and guard your heart from greed and from always wishing for what you don’t have. For your life can never be measured by the amount of things you possess.” Luke 12:15 TPT. When Jesus tells us to guard our heart He is not just talking to the people who are in front of Him. He’s also talking to us, right here, right now, and we really do need to pay attention. We need to avoid the consumerism trap all around us. 

Money, wealth, excess etc. are funny things – people react to them. You can tell a Christian they shouldn’t sleep with their neighbour’s wife and they are like: “Oh OK, God doesn’t like that. Cool, I will watch out not to put myself into compromising situations.” Nobody is insulted, nobody takes offence and if they have wrong thoughts toward their neighbour they repent. But the minute you mention money …!! 

Meanwhile, it doesn’t seem to matter if the pastor and his family are starving – it boils down to this – we don’t want to be told what to do with OUR money, because we’ve earned it. Christians start leaving churches all over the place when somebody mentions money because they get offended. I’m left wondering if they’ve actually read His book at all. No wonder the prosperity doctrine has its roots dug in so deeply into some churches. 

This verse above in Luke is clear. Instead of guarding our hearts against somebody taking our money, or somebody talking to us about giving, or even if they are saying that we should not prefer money over everything else … Jesus is telling us we need to guard our hearts from greed and coveting — money is a tool, not a god. Ask Him, “Lord do I do this?’

Here’s an interesting example: do you remember what happened to Gideon? We all know how he fought the Midianites and God miraculously delivered him. We also know that Gideon had lots of faith because he sent all those potential soldiers home when God told him to. I mean, that guy obviously had FAITH …But in the end, Gideon was actually seduced away from God by … wait for it …GOLD! 

He made an ephod out of the stuff, and then he and the Israelites turned that ephod into an idol. Eventually Gideon led God’s people back into idolatry. It isn’t money, things, or power – or the lack of them that is the problem – it’s whether this stuff owns US. Actually, poor people can have exactly the same problem. There are times when poor people are afraid to give because they may not have enough left if they do. Then it’s time to remember the widow’s mite. 

We’ve all forgotten how to trust God to take care of us! The Israelites did that in the wilderness.  Unfortunately it seems that today’s Christians want to love Jesus and stay safe. Those two things are incompatible!  Just imagine the risk Father God took sending His pure spotless Son to earth, to save all of US. Our God has promised us that He will be with us in trouble, and He will protect us because He loves us. We need to live, believe and act on what He’s said in His book.

He needs brave men and women who will throw off this society’s ideas and dreams of fame, notoriety and fortune, and live like a people who have much bigger dreams about His kingdom coming into their lives, and the lives of others. People who will esteem what HE says above everything else. People who will run into this crumbling world with His love and help for the lost. How long can we sit in our comfort zones and ignore those who will at any minute tip over the edge of this life into eternity?

You know, Jesus also said this, and I don’t believe He was talking about money, or taxes for that matter, at all! I think He was talking about the way we are to live.  “They said unto Him, Caesar’s. Then said He unto them, Give therefore to Caesar, the things which are Caesar’s, and give unto God, those things which are God’s.”  Matthew 22:21. You and I, you, me! WE belong to God now, so we no longer live for ourselves that’s the deal. His life for ours. So now we go wherever He says to go, and we live however He tells us to live. Jesus Himself said:“if you understand this, you need to RESPOND.” Mark 4:9. Bye 👋

P 2520 Where’s your storage unit?

/ DVH

“But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when His righteous judgment will be revealed.” Romans 2:5. Yeah, this is one of those verses we rush over hoping it doesn’t apply to us, right? 😳 Personally, I think it is important to get the Lord to search our hearts regularly, and make sure we are storing up good stuff, not just clinging to the bad by default. That includes hoarding grudges, other people’s mistakes, plus the things that have been deliberately, even maliciously, done against you. 

Life is too short to live like that. Things can change in a heartbeat —- nothing is certain. Right now, on the other side of the world in Iceland, people’s homes and contents are being incinerated by a rogue volcanic display. They are powerless to do anything about it. My question today is this: what have we saved in our personal heart-storage unit, that is actually being carelessly facilitated by our day-to-day behaviour? Moving on …

“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.”

1 Timothy 6:17-19.

I get why some people aren’t thrilled with the bible, it is so totally chock full of absolutes! Things like these verses for instance! However in comparison to a lot of the world we live in today, in our country we are rich. We have somewhere to sleep, food in the fridge or cupboard, and our kids can go to school. God hasn’t asked us to go without these things, however … I believe the scripture shows us that He IS asking us to think about others and SHARE. He calls that, “good deeds.” I am not saying that we shouldn’t own anything, but what I can hear the Lord saying is that NoBody, as in no thing … but Jesus Himself … should OWN US!If we can’t live without it – it owns us!

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Matthew 6:19,20. And right here is the reason why it is not good for our things to own us!  This world has many ways of siphoning off our things and finances. Giving to Jesus is storing wealth up in heaven. Plus it is also a fantastic kind of pest control … that way we will eliminate rats and moths – stuff that winkles away our money without us realising it.  We just give everything we have to the Lord and leave it there. Let Him be in charge of our stuff. When we begin to understand that we actually own nothing, then nobody can steal from us.

Just FYI, I think it is important to protect and treat the things God has given us carefully and responsibly. However, this verse is actually talking about storage, where to put stuff … and … where not to put it!  Almighty God is not against us having things — remember He gave the Israelites land they did not plow and houses they did not build! He’s a generous God! BUT …“Speaking to the people, Jesus continued, “Be alert and guard your heart from greed and from always wishing for what you don’t have. For your life can never be measured by the amount of things you possess.”” Luke 12:15 TPT.

Coveting and greed will distract us so fast we can easily forget our calling! Again, the Lord’s focus is talking about the state of our hearts, not our stuff. So many people in this world do not have their basic needs met. EG: fresh water, food, somewhere to safely sleep etc. Just because these terrible things haven’t happened to us, that does not mean we can hide ourselves, or insulate ourselves against other people’s needs … the bible even tells us clearly in Isaiah not ‘to hide ourselves from the needs of our own families.’ Isaiah 58:7.

It is not in our mandate to assess whether people deserve help or not, our place is to simply help those in need. In particular, widows and orphans. Our God is very protective over widows and orphans and the homeless poor. Exodus 22:22; Deuteronomy 10:14-18;  – there are heaps of verses in Deuteronomy! Psalm 68:5-6; Jeremiah  22:1-3;  1 Timothy 5:3-8; 9-11; 16;  James 1:27; and Acts 6:1-4. 

BTW, a widow in the biblical sense is not necessarily someone whose husband has died, she can be a married woman whose husband has deserted her. An orphan can be someone who has an absent father, not just parents who died. Our wonderful God has a heart for the lonely, the downtrodden, and the supposed rejects in our societies. When we care for people like these, we are using the right storage unit. We are storing things up in heaven. God sees what we do and He takes note of these things. Ya might want to Selah that for the rest of your life and let it become a Way of life. Bye. 👋

P 2458 Compromise is the enemy of true passion.

/ DVH

“In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 17:6)  I am reading Judges at the moment and I came across this interesting verse in Judges 17. Briefly that chapter goes like this:  a mature son pinches his mum’s money, then owns up to it. Then the mother who cursed the thief,  blesses her son. She dedicates some of that money to building an idol.

It’s a strange story. 😳 The son then makes his own little church, complete with one of his own sons as a priest. 😳 (He’s not a Levite or anything!) and sticks that newly made, nicely silvered idol into the new church, together with a whole lot of other idols. Then a real Levite is passing by so the son is replaced because now they’ve got a real one and a real Levite is better than someone you just called a Levite!

I shan’t bother to go on about it any further except to say it gets much worse from there – this family starts a trend of personally hiring Levites! Anyway, I’m reading and looking, and mumble praying, then I looked the chapter up in other versions and it was no easier to understand in them either. I’m like: “What’s the point here?” Eventually, after prayer, here’s what I came up with – without strong leadership people do stupid stuff! (I’m simplistic …OK?) 

Well then, what’s the point in that story for my life? I instantly thought of Colossians. You know making up your own private version of how to live the Christian life has never been, and will never ever be  — in it!  There is no assurance outside of the blood of Jesus – which means … “as He was in this world so are we ...” And Colossians 3:5 says: “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.” That means what I want is irrelevant. Well, yay. Merry Christmas!!  So how can that be??? Because you’re dead, you’re dead, you’re dead! That’s how. You died with Christ.

Think of NOT bothering to die to self, like this … you tell yourself that you will get around to taking the bible seriously, but … you don’t. – and change gets harder as you get older! Instead you watch a TV preacher who tells you that you don’t have to be that serious about God because He loves you and wants you to … be happy! Then you find a bunch of other people that agree with you. After all, you tell yourself, that God-stuff in the bible is only outdated suggestions given for another time. You comfort yourself with the idea that God understands you are doing your best. Besides, you just hired your own priest who will continue to tell you stuff like that … just like the story in Judges!

In the verse in Colossians the Lord is reminding us that we personally have control over what we choose. ‘Consider’ means … think about it!!  Our appetites are not meant to rule us, that’s what these verses in Colossians say. Nevertheless, people-type appetites can sure try hard some days! Nobody talks about this stuff, but it needs to be said so we can steer our way through the mine-field this life throws at all of us. Yes, I know you think you are coping OK with watching porno movies because after all, you still go to church. Yes, I know, everybody else does it because this holy, purity thing is too hard in these times … rah rah rah! 😱 Jesus had a barely-robed woman thrown down at His feet … and He saw her need, not her disarray.

Okay, moving on into  …coveting. In times of need and lack, coveting starts rearing its ugly head. It is hard to say “…my God shall supply all my needs...” when your family is hungry and they are gunna have a lousy Christmas. Plus the guy next door just bought a boat for his family for Christmas, and he had his house painted, to boot! 

An impoverished person can get stuck wondering why God doesn’t help them… and then temptation strikes again. Governing our needs and wants, is never a walk in the park – it is an ongoing, ever-present battle. Whether we need a fan for the heat, or a house to sleep in — this world’s current lifestyle constantly nags at us that our life would be so much better with that creme or this gizmo! 

The biggest temptation I think we face in these kinds of circumstances is that we are tempted to doubt God’s goodness toward us, because we don’t like feeling uncomfortable. And maybe our own personal theology says that Almighty God doesn’t want us to feel uncomfortable! So we bought a book that gave us 53 verses that prove we don’t have to be uncomfortable! It is essential that we understand that our faith needs protecting. Which is why we watch what we read and see, and hear, as well as the places we hang around in, so we can look after our faith.

Christians have been redesigned to be human beings who know Jesus Christ personally and treasure His Presence above their own comfort and pleasure. If we are stuck wrangling with something or other, like sex or coveting or selfishness:  that means that Father God is encouraging us to trust Him in a new way. He is taking our relationship with Him deeper. Compromise is way too easy. Making up what we think can tolerate, is indeed, the enemy of real passion. 👋🏻