The Test of Prosperity

April 26, 2011 Leave a comment

Quick, name the toughest test to pass spiritually. Did you say, “Disease”? Did you say, “The death of a loved one”? Did you say, “Troubles?” Did you say, “Disappointment”? Well, there’s no doubt that none of these tests are spiritual gimmes, but would you believe that for many people the correct answer would be, “Prosperity”?

King David was just such a person. Study his life sometime and you will see why I say that. When he was a young man, he was such a spiritual wonder that God Himself rated him as a man after God’s own heart. David was most likely still in his teens when he was anointed by the prophet Samuel as the king of Israel. Not long afterwards he brought comfort to the demon-tormented Saul, the sitting king, by playing soothing music on the harp. Not long after that he slew the giant Goliath. David was on a spiritual roll!

Then began the long years wherein Saul tried to kill David, years which saw David and his personal army living in constant hiding from Saul and his troops. Was David’s behavior perfect and above reproach during those years? No, not by a long shot. But was he always God’s man, a man whose basic spiritual center was right? Yes. And David remained that way all the way up through: those years on the run from Saul, Saul’s death, David’s ascendency to the throne of Judah (the southern part of Israel), and seven years later his ascendency to the throne of all Israel.

What happened next? Oh, the story keeps getting better. As king of all the land, David unified Israel’s fiercely independent twelve tribes. He led his army in the conquering of Jerusalem. Then he expanded Jerusalem and built it into his capital city. A major part of that was him bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. We can truthfully say that, during those days, David’s decisions were, for the most part, dead on. His army was unbeatable. All the people loved him. And God was pouring out His favor upon him. God even made a covenant with him that David’s royal line would be established forever.

You see, after all the years of struggling to formally claim his annointing as king and make the nation of Israel the greatest and most godly nation on earth, David had now “arrived.” His life was just as he wanted it to be. He had remained true to God during all the trials and troubles, and now he was living in a season of major prosperity.

But guess what story from David’s life comes next. Tragically, it’s the one about how David had a one-night-stand with Bathsheba, the wife of one of David’s most loyal soldiers, Uriah. That one-night-stand resulted in Bathsheba getting pregnant. David then indirectly had Uriah killed and hastily married Bathsheba to prevent a royal scandal. You see, David emphatically failed the test of prosperity.

Noted pastor Chuck Swindoll has said, “When testing comes we get purified, but when prosperity comes we get vulnerable.” How true. So tell me, is your life looking pretty good these days? Are you enjoying more ease, comfort, and worldly blessing than you have ever known? Would you call it a season of prosperity for you? Then you’d better put in extra effort to stay on top of your game spiritually. Please don’t pull a David and forget the Lord in the midst of all that prosperity!

But what if your life isn’t looking very prosperous right now? What if you have more in common with David when he was on the run from Saul than when he was reigning as king? Well, if that’s your situation, could it be that God knows that you aren’t ready yet to handle the test of prosperity? Maybe you need some more spiritual maturing and seasoning. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but that doesn’t make it a wrong assessment. So my advice is: Don’t be so quick to gripe and complain to God that your life isn’t exhibiting much prosperity. The fact is that might just be nothing less than an act of mercy on His part.

Filed under Adversity, Backsliding, Choices, contentment, Desires, God's Provision, Greed, Mercy, needs, Patience, perseverance, Personal Holiness, Problems, Sex, Sin, Temptation, trials, Trusting In God Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Find That Treasure

March 13, 2011 Leave a comment

William Randolph Hearst, the legendary newspaper publishing magnate, was one of the wealthiest men of his time. His great wealth allowed him to spend millions of dollars collecting art treasures from around the world. One day he read the description of a valuable piece of art and promptly dispatched his agent abroad to locate the piece and buy it. After months of searching, the agent finally reported that he had found the treasure. Where was it? To Hearst’s great surprise, it was stored in one of his own warehouses, having already been purchased by him years earlier.

There are many applications we could make to this story, but let me just offer this one: Sometimes the treasure you seek is one you already have in your possession if you only knew it.

Christian, what does God’s word say about being content with the things you have? The passage is Hebrews 13:5-6:

“Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’”

The teaching is: If you have Jesus, you have the Creator of the universe on your side, and that’s plenty of treasure for anyone.

Filed under contentment, Covetousness, Desires, God's Omnipotence, God's Provision, Greed, needs, Prosperity, Trusting In God Tagged with , , , , ,

A New Shirt

March 9, 2011 Leave a comment

Sally Haack tells the following story:

“Last summer one of the local civic clubs of which my husband was a member sponsored a camping trip for underprivileged children. Upon arriving at the camp, each little boy was given a Frisbee and a t-shirt.

When the weekend was over and the boys were boarding the bus to go home, one little boy ran up to my husband and handed him his t-shirt, which was rather soiled and wrinkled but nevertheless neatly folded and placed in its plastic package.

My husband told the boy that the shirt was his, that he could keep it. Big tears welled up in the boy’s eyes as he said, “Thank you. I’ve never had a new shirt before.”

My husband swallowed the lump in his throat and told the boy to be sure to come back next year and he could get another new shirt. The boy thought for a moment, then looked up and said, “No. I don’t think I will come next year.” “Well, why not?” asked my husband. The boy replied, “I think I’ll send my little brother. He’s never had a new shirt either.”

What all is currently hanging in your closet? How many pairs of shoes do you own? What’s inside your refrigerator right now? How much food is on the shelves of your pantry or cabinets? Are your bills paid up? Do you have some money in the bank? Be thankful. Remember that 1 Thessalonians 5:18 is still in the Bible:

“in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

You see, whatever else might be the specific will of God for your life, I know that it His will for you to be thankful for what you have. Work on that today.

Filed under Children, contentment, Desires, Doing Good, giving, God's Will, God's Work, Influence, Thankfulness Tagged with , , , , ,

Looking For Something?

February 28, 2011 Leave a comment

Late one night drunken Sam was down on all fours under a streetlight. He was groping around on the ground, obviously looking for something. A friend drove up and said, “Sam, what are you doing over there?” With slurred speech, Sam answered, “I lost my wallet.” So the friend got out of the car, walked over, got down on his knees, and started helping Sam look. Finally, after a few minutes of unsuccessful searching, the friend said, “Are you sure you lost the wallet here?” Sam replied, “No, I dropped it a half a block over there.” “Then why are we looking for it here?”, asked the friend. The answer came back, “Because there’s no streetlight over there.”

Laugh all you want, but Sam’s “searching” makes about as much sense as searching for sexual satisfaction at a pornographic web site, searching for happiness in a drug needle, searching for fulfillment in a financial report, or searching for joy in a bottle of liquor. And yet plenty of people go on these types of searches every day. Yes, such things might seem to offer some “light,” but I promise you that no one will ever truly find what they’re looking for under such light.

So what about you? What are you searching for these days? And just exactly where are you searching for it? You know, if you aren’t finding what you’re looking for, you need to start looking in a spot that makes more sense. Even if that spot is darker right now and makes for harder searching, that’s where you’ll find your “keys.”

Filed under Backsliding, Change, Choices, Desires, Husbands, Marriage, Money, needs, Personal Holiness, Prosperity, Sin, Temptation Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

“Let Me Tell You About My Better Half…”

February 23, 2011 Leave a comment

In volume 4 of his commentary set on Romans, the noted preacher Donald Barnhouse tells the following story.

“A man I knew through my ministry was going with a girl who, some of us thought, was not at all worthy of him. We breathed a sigh of relief when he went away into the army for two or three years (this was during the war). The girl drifted around with other fellows, and, most happily, the young man met a worthy girl in a distant city. He fell in love with her and married her.

When the war was over and he had returned to his home with his bride, the first girl drove by the house one evening and dropped in to see her old flame and meet his wife. But the wife was not there. The first girl made no attempt to hide her affection and moved in such a voluptuous way that the young man realized he had but to reach out his hand and she was his. He told me about it afterwards.

There was within him all that goes with male desire. There was something much more within and he began to talk about what a wonderful girl he had married. He showed the pictures of his wife to the first girl and praised his wife to the skies, acting as though he did not understand her obvious advances. It was not long before she left, saying as she went, ‘Yes, she must be quite a girl if she can keep you from reaching.’”

I wonder how many affairs could be prevented, how many temptresses and tempters defanged, if only spouses would start bragging on their better halves the way the fellow in Barnhouse’s story did. You see, happy homes make poor soil for sexual sin. Are you married? Then get in the habit of singing the praises of your spouse to others. That’s a great way to keep potential home-wreckers at bay.

Filed under adultery, Character, Choices, Desires, Husbands, Personal Holiness, Temptation, Wives Tagged with , , , , ,

Man’s Spirit

February 15, 2011 Leave a comment

You’ve probably heard that God is a triune being. He is one God, but He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But have you heard that man is also a triune being? He is body, soul, and spirit. In 2 Thessalonians 5:23, the apostle Paul says to the Christians of Thessalonica:

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Of course, there is a major difference between God’s triunity and man’s. Whereas Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each a distinct Person, the spirit, the soul, and the body can’t make that claim. But still, even with this difference clearly in mind, each one makes for an interesting subject, and with this post I’d like to say a few things about the spirit of man.

First, it is the spirit that brings life to the body. James 2:26 says:

“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

I would also mention Luke 23:46 here, where Christ’s releasing of His bodily spirit leads to His immediate death:

“And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, ‘Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ Having said this, He breathed his last.”

When you understand that it is the spirit that brings life to the body, you can understand why the Bible teaches that even animals have spirits. Ecclesiastes 3:21 describes the difference between a person’s spirit and an animal’s spirit this way:

“Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth?”

Second, a person’s spirit goes back to God the Father as soon as it leaves the body. Look again at the verse I just referenced, Ecclesiastes 3:21. It says the spirit of man goes upward (to God) at death, while the spirit of an animal simply goes down to the earth, nothing more. Another relevant passage here is Ecclesiastes 12:1-8, which is the Bible’s best passage on the subject of growing old and dying. Verse 7 of the passage says:

“Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.”

Along these same lines, in Numbers 16:22 God is called “the God of the spirits of all flesh,” and in Hebrews 12:23 He is called “the Father of spirits.” These verses simply mean that God is the one who gives life to each person, and He gives this life by way of giving each individual a spirit.

Third, man’s spirit is also a center of various traits, emotions, and activities. Isaiah 29:24 speaks of those who have “erred in the spirit.” Psalm 77:6 associates the spirit with both remembering and making diligent search. In Matthew 5:3, Jesus speaks of being “poor in spirit.” John 13:21 says that Jesus was “troubled in spirit.” Numbers 5:14 links the emotion of jealousy with the spirit. Proverbs 16:18 warns that a “haughty spirit” goes before a fall. In Psalm 34:18, David sings the praises of having a “contrite spirit.” In Psalm 51:10, he asks God to renew a “steadfast spirit” within him. Finally, in 2 Corinthians 7:1, Paul encourages us to cleanse ourselves from all “filthiness of the flesh and spirit.”

In the end, perhaps the best way to think of man’s spirit is to think of it as our “life force.” I know, I know, that’s a little too new-agey, but it’s about the best I can do. The spirit is that part of us that separates us from the deceased. If you are alive, you can thank your spirit. How you feel relates back to your spirit. How you carry yourself does as well. When you hear someone say, “I feel more alive than I ever have,” you know that person’s spirit is functioning in high order.

Filed under Bible Study, Character, Desires, God's Omnipotence, Human Life, Humility Tagged with , , , , ,

How To Be A Herod

February 3, 2011 Leave a comment

In my previous post, I talked about Israel’s second temple, which is commonly known as Zerubbabel’s temple. With this post, I want to press that subject a little further.

Zerubbabel’s temple stood as the centerpiece of Jewish worship all during the 400-year gap that lies between the last page of the Old Testament and the first page of the New Testament. It was toward the end of that time period that an Idumean named Herod the Great became a major player in the history of Israel. By being a consummate politician, Herod convinced the Romans to place him in charge over Judea, which was the southern region of Israel. He ruled over Judea from 37 B.C. until 4 B.C.

Now, Herod the Great was a very wicked man, but he was a tremendous builder, and perhaps his greatest building project was the redoing of Jerusalem’s temple. He understood that Zerubbabel’s temple was nowhere near as spectacular as Solomon’s had been, and so he made up his mind to correct that problem by not only reconstructing the temple but also expanding it greatly. Workers completed the bulk of the project in ten years, but the “detail work” continued on for many years afterwards. In John 2:20, the Jews even say, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple…” By the way, this was the temple that Jesus knew during His earthly life.

But, in the end, what happened to the temple that is now commonly referred to as “Herod’s temple” or “the third temple”? Would you believe that in 70 A.D., about 75 years after Herod’s death, the Romans completely destroyed it as a part of their efforts to reestablish their dominion over the Jews? Actually, the destruction of the temple was the fulfillment of a prophecy that Jesus had given. We read the prophecy in Matthew 24:1-2:

Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

You say, “Okay Russell, what’s your point?” My point is that Herod the Great poured untold time, wealth, energy, and manpower into a project that was destined to come to nothing, and if you and I aren’t careful we will make the same mistake. No, I don’t suppose that you will be building or renovating any temples anytime soon, but you can certainly pour your time, wealth, energy, and manpower into something that will not last. You can chase dreams that are unworthy dreams. You can spend your life in pursuit of futile accomplishments. You can lose years aiming and firing at wrong targets.

So, I guess that right now would be a good time to look in the proverbial mirror and ask yourself, “Am I using my life to accomplish goals that are truly worthwhile or am I making the mistake that Herod made?” If you don’t know how to answer, ask God to show you what He thinks. And if He shows you that you need to change what you’re after, then do so immediately. Because, after all, why kill yourself trying to build something that somebody else will just come along and knock down in the future?

Filed under Change, Choices, Desires, God's Will, Priorities, Prophecy Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Look For The Best

January 19, 2011 Leave a comment

Here’s a wise thought from Dr. Curtis Hutson, a well known Baptist preacher who has now gone on to be with the Lord:

“Don’t ever send a buzzard out to report on the landscape. He’ll fly over all kinds of beautiful flowers, green meadows, blue lakes and gorgeous mountain ranges; and when he comes back and you ask, ‘Buzzard, what did you see?’ he will answer, ‘I saw a dead cow covered with maggots and big purple flies.’ That buzzard may have flown over ten thousand beautiful flowers and trees and placid lakes to see maggots and flies on cows. Being a buzzard caused him to see that.

But send a honeybee out to report on the landscape, and when he returns ask him, ‘Honeybee, what did you see?’ and you will hear a different story: ‘I saw ten million little flowers filled with nectar, and I got all I could take and added it to my honeycomb. My! I must have made a pint of honey today!’ It flew over the dead cow and didn’t see it. It was looking for something else – flowers.

If you look for the worst, you will probably find it. If you look for the best, you will find that down the road too. SO GO THROUGH LIFE LOOKING FOR THE BEST.”      

Filed under Attitude, Choices, Desires, Leadership, Personal Holiness, Priorities, Worry Tagged with , , ,

Is God Judging America?

January 18, 2011 Leave a comment

The question is often asked, “Is God judging America?” Well, the answer is an emphatic YES. Haven’t seen any fire and brimstone raining down from the sky, you say? Haven’t seen the plagues that once brought mighty Egypt to its knees? Me neither. But that’s not how God is judging America.

Romans 1:18-32 is one of the most terrifying passages in all the Bible, if people would only realize it for what it is. The passage explains what God will eventually do to those who persistently, consistently, and steadfastly refuse to come under His lordship. He will “give them up” (or “give them over”) to uncleaness, immorality, and wickedness so that they can fully indulge in the lusts of their hearts. This “giving up” allows them to dishonor their bodies by letting their debased minds and vile passions run free and unencumbered.

I used to drive a school bus, and that bus had a governor on its motor. A governor is a little device that kicks in when a bus reaches a certain speed. Its purpose is to slow the motor down to keep the bus from going any faster. The governor kicked in at 50 m.p.h. in the case of my bus. Okay, just as that governor served as a restraint, the Romans passage teaches that God reaches a point with hardened sinners where He takes His governor off their lives and says, “Go as fast and live as dangerously as you want. I’ve tried to help you, but your heart is so set against Me that you won’t heed Me. So have it.”

I once heard a baseball coach say to his players, “Boys, if I yell at you, it’s because I care about you. The day I stop yelling at you, that’s when you need to worry because it means that I’ve given up on you.” The Romans passage explains that God works the same way in the lives of individuals. It’s when He stops yelling that the situation gets scary.

You see, God is right now pouring out His wrath (1:18) upon America by allowing stubborn, sinful men and women who are dead set in their own ways and rebellion against Him to do whatever they want. Do they want to engage in homosexuality and lesbiansim (1:26-27)? No governor here. Do they want to live lives marked by “sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, malciousness, envy, murder, strife, deceit, and evil-mindedness” (1:28-29)? God’s not yelling. Do they want to be “whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, and unmerciful?” God is sitting up in heaven and watching it happen without lifting a finger to stop it.

But how can God’s lack of action be classified as Him pouring out His wrath? It’s because He understands something that hardened, calloused rebels don’t: He understands that the rebel lifestyle, when carried out to its desired extreme, is a fire that ultimately gets so big and so hot that it consumes the rebel himself. The rebel truly believes that he is living the high life, but in reality he is only destroying himself. In this way, he virtually judges himself and pours out God’s wrath upon himself. And, make no mistake, this is exactly what is happening with millions of Americans.

Furthermore, dare I say that God has even taken this “hands off” approach with our nation as a whole. He’s letting us have the corrupt, greedy politicians so many Americans favor. He’s letting us have the perverse, immoral national laws so many Americans will take to the streets over. To sum up, He’s letting a bunch of ungodly, undiscerning, and unbroken sinners have their way. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why our nation stands on the brink of ruination.

Filed under abortion, adultery, Choices, Coming Judgment, Desires, Disobedience, God's Wrath, God's judgment, Government, Homosexuality, Lesbianism, obedience, Rebellion, Sin, submission Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

Pureness Of Heart

February 17, 2010 Leave a comment

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8

The Bible doesn’t use the word “heart” in reference to the organ that sits in the chest and pumps blood. It uses “heart” to refer to the center of one’s being. So, to be pure in heart is to be pleasing to God, not just in outer conduct but also in inner motives, attitudes, and desires. And God is able to do true heart exams. He says in 1 Samuel 16:7, “For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”  

But purity of heart does not mean sinlessness of life. Actually, it is the heart that keeps one from being sinless. Jeremiah 17:9 describes the situation this way: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it?” Jesus agreed in Matthew 15:19 by saying, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” 

So, if our hearts are such wrecks, who was Jesus referring to when He talked about “the pure in heart”? The answer is, He was referring to people who, despite the inborn wickedness of their heart, still have a burning inner desire to please God. David was a prime example of such a person. Even though his sin-tainted heart caused him to commit the sins of lust, covetousness, adultery, and murder, he still had a very real desire to please God. This is evidenced by the fact that he cried out to God, “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Psalm 51:10).     

The Pharisees and scribes of Christ’s day focused exclusively on the outward appearance and completely disregarded anything involving the heart. They would have had Jesus say, “Blessed are the pure in conduct, for they shall see God.” A Pharisee could harbor an intense inner hatred for his brother, but that was alright as long as he didn’t actually murder him. He could go around lusting over every woman he met as long as he didn’t have sex with any of them. But Jesus came with a different teaching. He said, “Let’s focus on the inside. If you have hatred toward your brother, we need to treat that as murder (Matthew 5:21-26), and if you look at a woman lustifully, that’s adultery” (Matthew 5:27-30).

Jesus even reserved His harshest preaching for the Pharisees and scribes. He said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.” He was saying, “You men seem to look so good on the outside, so devout and holy, but you are rotten to the core on the inside. Only when you become clean on the inside can you truly be clean on the outside.”

In Psalm 24:3-4, David wrote about the direct relationship between pureness of heart and godliness of conduct. He wrote: “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully.” You see, idolatry and deceitful swearing are merely outward evidences of an internal problem. If a person’s heart is pure, he won’t be committing those public sins. This explains why Proverbs 4:23 adamently says: “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”    

As with each of the beatitudes of Matthew 5:1-12, Jesus was referring to saved people when he spoke of “the pure in heart.” The “pure in heart” have a desire to please God, and that desire will ultimately lead them to believe in Christ as Savior. This only makes sense because God desires that every person get saved by believing in Christ as Savior (1 Timothy 2:1-6; 2 Peter 3:9). It’s simply impossible for someone to be pleasing to God without knowing Christ as Savior.

And what reward does Jesus promise for those who are pure in heart enough to want to please God enough to believe in Christ as Savior? He says, “For they shall see God.” Let’s not be so quick to explain away this promise. Let’s not make it little more than, “They will see God in a sunset, a baby’s smile, or a charitable deed.” No, the Bible clearly and consistently teaches that Christians will not only one day see God but spend all eternity with Him. 1 Peter 1:3-5 tells us that Christians have an incorruptible, undefiled inheritance reserved for us in heaven, one that doesn’t fade away. Just as the pure in heart have a desire to please God, He has a desire to be around them for all eternity. What a promise this was to all those commoners who served as the audience for Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, and what a promise it still is to every Christian today.

Filed under Belief, Desires, Eternal Security, Heaven, Uncategorized

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