What meets all my needs?

Last night, I watched a police drama on television. A secondary part of the plot showed the ex-spouse of a police chief who showed up at her apartment and was discovered by the woman’s adopted son. Because the man was intoxicated, the youth took his car keys then left him to sleep it off. He went to the police station to tell his mother. She went home but because she was involved in the main story (an important murder case) the boy convinced her that he could handle it.

When the ex woke up, somewhat sober, he tried to convince the boy that his gambling habit would eventually pay off and he would hit “the big one” and make them all rich. The boy wisely said, “You don’t realize that you had a wonderful wife and wonderful children; you already hit the big one.”

The man jerked as if slapped. He got it; money is not it. He lost the most important things in his live because he could not love both money and his family.

This principle goes farther when it comes to loving God. Most of us know these words that Jesus said . . .

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” (Matthew 6:24)

I’ve heard said that you can tell how devoted a Christian is to God by his wallet. Yet most people do not realize there is another great truth behind sacrificial giving and making God more important than my bank balance. Right after Jesus said I cannot serve two masters, He explained why:

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:25–33)

It is an issue of trust. Believing that God will supply all my needs has ramifications. If I have a certain thing and see that someone else needs it, I can give it to them without worry because if I need it, God will replace it. This thing could be money, but also food, a book, even a car. My giving (my wallet) reflects how much I trust God to take care of my needs.

James takes it a bit farther. He says that if I cannot be generous, my faith is not genuine. He put it this way:

“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:14–17)

Last week, one of our church leaders said, “You better be giving while you’re living, because what you’re holding is molding.” I laughed but know that it is true. Nothing in this material world is going to last. Not only that, none of it, including money has any ability to satisfy. It just makes us want more.

^^^^^^^^^^^

Lord Jesus, we sing songs about You being enough, about the satisfaction that You alone can give. Faith believes it and experience proves it. Contentment is a wonderful by-product. I am thankful today that You take care of all my needs and even more thankful that I know this is true!

What is better than fun?

When serving as a camp counselor for teenage girls, one of them asked me about becoming a Christian. Her concern was, “I will not have any fun.”

Those of us who are Christians know that there is both truth and falsehood in this concern. Being a Christian is not about fun as defined by those who party, drink too much, or lord it over others. For them, there is no fun in following Christ.

On another level, fun may include skiing, playing board games, and engaging in hobbies. Christians can enjoy many activities that are not sinful but fin.

However, there is a level of satisfaction that rises above both those definitions of fun. It is found in these to-do lists . . .

“We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:12–22, italics mine)

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice . . . . do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:4 & 6)

Only those who have Christ in their lives know what it means to “rejoice always,” to communicate with God all the time, and to be thankful in all circumstances. These three are not “fun” like the thrill of riding a roller coaster or driving a fast car, but all three are part of the sustaining undercurrent of life in Christ, an undercurrent that is so nourishing and satisfying that other kinds of ‘fun’ lose much of their appeal.

What can replace joy? There is nothing like the deep sense of knowing God is God and that He loves and accepts me in Christ, that He has given me all I need in Jesus, and because of Him everything that happens in life works together for my good (Romans 8:28-29). One day I will be like Jesus. Today, I can trust Him for every problem and need, every concern and burden. This gives me a joy that fun cannot replace.

Being able to pray without ceasing is not about audible prayer all the time. It is about the attitude of knowing He is with me and wants me to depend on Him for everything. This remarkable privilege goes hand in hand with joy as “the joy of the Lord is my strength” (Nehemiah 8:10) and in His presence is joy forever more (Psalm 16:11).

Think of it; the One who created trillions of stars, everything that lives and moves, and provides all things needed in His creation walks beside me and communicates with me about every detail of my life. In His presence and talking with Him produces a deep confidence that fun cannot match.

Tracking right along with joy and prayer is thanksgiving. The good and wise God of all things cares about me. He gives me all that I need. He even says that I don’t need to worry. These three: joy, telling Him about it, and being thankful add up to an amazing experience: God listens and replaces all my concerns with a peace that cannot be explained. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7) As much fun as ‘fun’ might be, it can never do that.

Every day I consult my to-do list and tackle it with the hope of checking off each item before bedtime. That often makes me feel satisfied, but as I read the to-do list of God, it is easy to see that these three items offer a deeper satisfaction, one that is mine even before starting any of my chores!

Jesus, Your presence with me fills me with delight. Being able to ask You about perplexities and decisions is a total wonder. Thanksgiving wipes away my tendency to want more, to complain (shame on me) yet knowing that all those shortcomings are already forgiven is the most amazing delight and wonder of all. I thank You, thank You, thank You.

Only God Satisfies

Each year I read through the Bible. This morning, these verses jumped out at me with a truth that I’d not noticed before. Isaiah is describing those who cut down a tree to cook supper and then make themselves. He concludes with this . . .  .

“They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, ‘Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?’ He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, ‘Is there not a lie in my right hand?’” (Isaiah 44:18–20)

The making of idols is a lie; the idol-maker cannot deliver himself from his idolatry, but even worse, he is oblivious to the lie that has deceived him.

Those verses in the context of today’s New Testament reading suggest that idolatry could be a large reason for spiritual blindness. Jesus said to His disciples:

“'See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.’ But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.” (Luke 18:31–34)

The disciples, like most of the people of Israel, were expecting a Messiah that would deliver them from political oppression and restore to them the greatness of their nation. In other words, they preconceived a Messiah of their choice and when Jesus arrived and talked about deliverance from sin and His crucifixion they didn’t get it. Their notion of ‘Messiah’ blinded them to the reality of God’s plan.

A young woman we knew had the idea that Jesus would never allow pain or suffering. We were discussing how He uses the challenges of life to change us into His image, but she said, “My Jesus would never do that.” She had a Jesus in mind that was an idol, not the true Messiah.

The cults are the same. One of them believes in a created being that is secondary to God. One of their members indicated that Jesus was deceptive and would lie to his followers. That is not the Jesus of the Bible, but their determination created an ‘idol’ resulting in blindness to the real Messiah.

I once thought God was like my dad. I didn’t realize this was idol-making. My interpretation of God blinded me to much of what God really is, that He is far greater than my dad and certainly not going to treat me the same way. Without the revealing power of God, I’d be stuck with that and blind to His true nature.

Chambers’ words take a different path for this passage. However, a couple of lines give my heart reassurance about idols and spiritual blindness. Chambers says, “The call of God is like the call of the sea, no one hears it but the one who has the nature of the sea in him . . . A Christian is one who trusts the wits and the wisdom of God, and not his own wits. If we have a purpose of our own, it destroys the simplicity and the leisureliness which ought to characterize the children of God.”

Idols will fill our hearts with complications and unease because idols cannot satisfy like God satisfies. An idol leaves me craving more and more, but with God I have all that I need — I am content.

Humbled by God's goodness

Abraham sent a servant to a faraway land to find a wife for his son, Isaac. The servant gave the Lord a very specific prayer request, something like, “If I do this, and a young woman comes up and does that, then let that woman be the one for Isaac.”

I’ve not prayed quite like that but do remember one outrageous request. We lived in Alaska and I was drawn to some scrimshaw jewelry. I talked to God about it saying I would like to have some but couldn’t think of any reason He should give it to me except that He loved me. That was a much more brazen a prayer than the servant of Abraham, but I’ve since wondered if God likes those prayers.

He answered mine. I went to the shop where I saw the jewelry, told the shop owner I could not afford them, and she said, “Tell you what, I’ll trade you two pieces you like for one of your paintings.”

That experience still gives me goose bumps, and I’m sure the servant of Abraham had a similar reaction. God answered his prayer too; what he asked for happened exactly as he had asked. Of course, “The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord.” (Genesis 24:26)

The story also had a happy ending. The young woman went with the servant and was given to Abraham’s son. Would this ‘arranged’ marriage work out? The Bible says, “Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.” (Genesis 24:67)

God does answer radical prayers, maybe not all of them, but He surprises His people with blessings we do not expect and shows loving care to those who pray in faith and bring glory to His name. This humbles me. If I were God, would I be so gracious?

The next bit of Scripture is about another kind of love, the one the NT calls “the root of all evil.” This passage explains one reason why this love is folly: “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes?” (Ecclesiastes 5:10–11)

We watched part of the Barrett-Jackson car collectors event on television tonight. While collecting things is not necessarily evil, we wondered what motivates those who spend a great deal of money and time buying things just to look at them. Most of the vehicles sold at this auction sale will never be used. It is that way with many collections. They only grow bigger, as if the collectors are never satisfied.

However, I cannot talk . . . I’m collecting pictures on Pinterest, up in the hundreds. I say these are inspiration for art quilts, but I will never live long enough to tap into that collection and make that many quilts. Is such hoarding a desire to be secure? An evidence of not being satisfied? Isn’t God’s provision enough?

These thoughts are also humbling. I worship a God who has the power and authority to speak worlds into existence. Surely He can provide what I need when I need it (and He does this all the time). He even gave me that scrimshaw that I really didn’t need, as an expression of His power and love. After many years, I’m still convinced this is so, and just like Abraham’s servant, I am in awe of God.

The last passage tells of an incident that took place in an area where people worshiped the king as a god. Jesus talked to His disciples about the local chatter, asking who the people thought He was. When the twelve gave Him a variety of answers, then He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

At that time, they didn’t realize the significance of this question, but since then, one of the clearest doctrines of Christianity and the most vital test of being a child of God involves the answer to that question. Only those who believe will understand and have the right answer . . .

Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 16:15–17)

Peter understood, not because he was smarter than the average fisherman, or because someone convinced him this was true, but because God revealed this truth to Him. Humanity can know there is a God by thoughtfully looking at nature (see Romans 12) and even thoughtfully considering ourselves (we are made in His image), but nothing gives us a hint that God Himself would pull on humanity and walk among us.

Even seeing Jesus in the flesh did not reveal His identity. Many saw Him and had no clue that He was the great “I AM.” Had they done so, they would not have put Him on a cross.

The amazing truth of the Gospel is that God reveals Himself to whomever He chooses. We are helpless and unable to see Him even though He is not far from any of us. Human wisdom and perception, education, nothing can prepare us for the wonder of God with us – except God – who does it by somehow opening our blind eyes. He uses many ways, including answers to odd prayers, and even making us dissatisfied with everything else.

This too is humbling. What a wonder is this God, and like the servant of Abraham, I bow my head and worship Him.