Covetousness — a capital sin…

Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” (Acts 8:14–24)

Wanting what other people have is covetousness. God bestows gifts as He wills, and my part is to be content with the gift and obedient when given opportunities to use it, not to want what others have.

Simon was so taken with the spiritual abilities of the apostles that he wanted the same thing too, but he had the wrong idea in thinking he had to pay for it or do something to get it. A gift is a gift, not a purchase. In the case of spiritual gifts, they are part of what motivates Christians and draws us to various ministries:

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. (Romans 12:3–8)

These gifts are to be used in the power of the Holy Spirit. That means that no matter what this Simon character wanted or why, it had to be Spirit-motivated and Spirit-driven. And the Spirit was given by God, even though He used these apostles as part of the giving process. They needed to be Spirit-filled to do it, led by God even when to do it. To think that money had anything to do being filled with the Spirit was a grave misunderstanding that completely ignored all that Jesus and His disciples taught and were doing.

It still happens. AI gives a similar example to what Simon did: “In many local congregations, a wealthy individual attempts to use their financial leverage to dictate church policy, hiring decisions, or theological direction. This dynamic is often referred to by church consultants as "wealth-based governance" or the "major donor trap.” Simon was blind to the truth of how God works. 

Prideful greed can be very destructive, along with coveting what others have but I don’t have. If envy is in my heart, or I am not thankful for what I have, or if I gossip and am unkind toward those who have what I want, and I am upset with God for not giving it to me, I’m guilty and even measuring personal worth by what I don’t have rather than what Christ has done for me. 

Jesus, I am so thankful that You gave me a mother who set me a wonderful example of how to be contented. Even though I’ve had times of wanting what others have, You so always remind me that having You is enough.

 

A Comforter always near...

This week has shown me how God can give peace and comfort when externals are in chaos. I’ve moved more than thirty times, but this one is the most challenging. How we gathered so much stuff in the past twelve years is a puzzle. I barely remember moving back then, but this one is far more difficult physically. Like my dad would say, “I’ve had too many birthdays.”

Today’s reading is a blessing. The author writes that God is “not far off in heaven where we cannot find Him” but close at hand. He abides with us. Just before Jesus left His disciples, He told them:

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever. (John 14:16)

That word ‘helper’ in the Greek is rich in meaning and describes much of what the Holy Spirit does including encourage, intercession, reminds of truth, and supplying what is needed. This Comforter excels in fulfilling this promise:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (John 14:27)

What words of assurance! I want them to sink deep in my heart and in the hearts of all God’s people. Our Comforter abides, always on hand when most needed. He give "the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.” (Isaiah 61:3)

My hubby was troubled this morning as the deadline looms to have our former home cleared and clean for listing it. He sat down and read some Psalms and received comfort. The Lord gives encouragement to me through my vivid imagination. I can visualize this new home without boxes, neat and orderly. I’m encouraged mostly by Scripture, even as events swirl around me or even those world news items that put fear into many hearts. I know that God is sovereign and not surprised at the raging of men and the foolishness that is happening. I also have read the entire history of the world that He left with us in His Word — and in the end, Jesus wins.

PRAY: Again, I’m so thankful that You, Jesus, promise us a peace that is beyond understanding, a peace that is not like the world gives. Through Your Spirit my heart can be at rest. Relying on You gives my heart comfort, even in the midst of boxes and mess. Jesus, You are always enough for me.

Whatever the need, God is enough…

The night before last, I slept nine hours and woke filled with energy. Even so, I prayed for the Lord’s strength for the day and finished well, praising Him. Last night, I didn’t sleep well. The tasks of moving and fitting furniture in new spaces kept running through my head. I woke tired and wanted to go back to sleep, but those tasks will not get done all by themselves.

Again, I’m praying for God’s strength, yet realize I need an attitude fix. Does having His energy only happen when I’m well rested? Or is it more than that? Can being well rested mean I’m working in my own strength? This fatigue may be one of God’s teaching moments, and for me, a big lesson in how He works. First He invites me…

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28–30)

These speak of two words for burden or labor. One is about a heavy load — like boxes of books or dishes, and those big bins of fabric. The other is those light boxes — but they are few and still require a trip up a flight of stairs.

It would be nice if a few friends with muscles and time to spare dropped by to help. That would be a welcome illustration of His easy yoke. But is the application of this invitation not so much the ease in the physical stress of moving, but the feeling of being overwhelmed with so much to do?

I recall the story of the child who would not sit down in the back seat of the family car. After much effort, mom got the child to sit but he said, “I’m still standing up on the inside.” This opens my understanding. Could I go through the motions of not complaining with words, yet still be “whining on the inside” as I do what is difficult? These words from Jesus are an answer…

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4–5)

The fruit He is talking about is fruit that only His Spirit can produce. Even if I am not verbal with my inner attitude, when I am not abiding in Christ I cannot be bearing His fruit either. It must come from the heart, the inner person of the Holy Spirit.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22–23)

While producing fruit drains energy from the tree, this fruit comes from a Source whose energy and power have no end. The branch may become fatigued, but again, rest is also promised. You provide rest for my soul — my mind, will, and emotions even as my body is tired.

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)

PRAY: Lord, again I pray for a Spirit-filled day, not based so much on this need for bodily or emotional energy, but more based on my desire to glorify You and to demonstrate, as You allow it, that You are always God — who is enough.

Later: As soon as these words were recorded and prayed over, that tiredness vanished. Again, God is always enough.

 

Knowing Jesus

  

At the end of a sermon with a gospel invitation, the speaker often says something about introducing a seeker to Jesus. While I know that Jesus welcomes those who seek Him, is this really how it works? Can I say to someone words that open his heart and mind to know the Savior? It seems to me that is not possible. If a person wants to know God, then isn’t God the one who introduces or opens their hearts to know Him?

Today’s devotional says knowing God is essential. Jesus did say that without this knowledge, we cannot have eternal life…

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (John 17:3)

However, a few verses later He also says…

“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. (John 17:6–8)

He gives the words and the seeker receives and believes them, yet it is God who both reveals and gives what is needed, including the words needed and the faith (that comes by hearing, Romans 10:17) to believe, and all we need to have that life and godliness. I can tell others this good news but it is God who makes Himself known.

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, (2 Peter 1:3)

When I encounter someone that I’ve never met, I can ignore them, or I can make myself known to them in conversation. They are able to do the same. Revelation of self to someone else is not up to the someone else, or even to the person doing the introductions. That person can tell the other some things about me, but knowing information is not the same as really knowing.

Today’s reading say we get to know Jesus by studying His life and pondering His words, but I could do that with anyone who has a biography or talks about their thoughts and ideas, yet that is not the knowledge Jesus refers to that pertains to eternal life. It is far more intimate. 1 Corinthians says that He gives us even His mind. No person we meet can do that.

I’ve been married fifty-three years and do not have my husband’s mind. As much as I talk and reveal my thoughts, he does not have my mind either. But we do have the mind of Christ and that gives us a communication level, even a knowledge level, that rises above reading and studying. The only thing we can do to deepen our knowing is… “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3) yet even this depends on His desire to reveal Himself and obedience is the evidence rather than the means that I do know Him.

 For Christians, knowing Christ is a legitimate boast. The OT prophet declares:

Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 9:23–24)

And the NT writers also knew the wealth and wonder of knowing Jesus:

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. (Philippians 3:8)

PRAY: Jesus, knowing You is the delight of my life. Do I boast about it and about Your love, justice, and righteousness? I should — far more often than I do. Knowing You is the most important thing in my life just as You are the most important person ever to walk this planet. I’m so thankful that You revealed yourself to me and continue to keep showing me more about You. You are a wonderful Savior!

Christ Is Our Peace

 

My loaded-up to-do list sometimes gets me down. It seems like a mountain with steep walls and lots of slippery shale. Yesterday’s Scripture message put me on top of the mountain.

It was about the biblical teaching on work and reminded me that Jesus is my boss, and I do my work first and foremost for Him. How can I forget that, but sometimes I do. And when that happens, I know my own strength and abilities are insufficient and I become overwhelmed.

The young pastor who presented this message is a peacemaker because he restored to me that profound sense of peace that comes with trusting Jesus for everything. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9).

Still, such peace is possible only because of Christ’s atonement. He made it possible to be at peace with God and with that reconciliation, I know His peace. This is far beyond any other peace; think of it — God is never the slightest bit ruffled over His to-do list!

Christ provided the forgiveness and righteousness that allows me to join hands with God and be involved in what He is doing. Not only that, He does His work through the work that I do. First and always, I need Him to deal with the sin issue. God did that: “Therefore, since I have been justified by faith, I have peace with God through my Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1) His sacrifice is sufficient:

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him . . . . (Colossians 1:19–22)

Jesus paid the supreme price to give me that precious gift of peace with God and as He holds my hand, I also experience the peace of God and can say this:

For by grace I have been saved through faith. And this is not my own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that I cannot boast. For I am his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that I should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8–10)

Sunday’s message restored my sense of what I am doing and why I am doing it. This mountain is not about anything else but working for Jesus in His strength, and bringing His incredible presence into a dark and unhappy world. It is not about being a preacher, an evangelist, or a missionary, but being an ordinary person in whose heart the Prince of Peace reigns.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (John 14:27)

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)

What does this look like? It is about being filled with the Spirit and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ (Ephesians 5:18–21). It is about letting the word of Christ dwell in me richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, joy and with thankfulness in my heart to God (Colossians 3:16). It is about not being anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let my requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6–7). It is about being kept in perfect peace because He is always on my mind and I am always trusting Him for everything (Isaiah 26:3). It is about bringing rightness and beauty to dark places in love and with joy.

Jesus, this peace is also about looking at You instead of the mountain, or the storm, or the mess, or all the problems of life. It is Your peace, not a check mark beside each to-do item. It is like my daughter once said, “Mom, you don’t have to hurry on the inside.” I thank You for the peace of heart that comes from knowing You. My to-do list is not shorter, but that sense of it being too much has shriveled up into, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13) Wow, how I love You!

READ Philippians 4:4–9 and try not to forget any of it as I tackle today’s tasks that God has given me, and do them as if Jesus is doing them. May I deeply desire to bring peace into the lives of those who need it.