Admiring Without Coveting

 

The greatest fallacy of our current world is covetousness. The "haves" and the "have nots" are polar opposites. Many of those who do not have, believe there is nothing wrong with taking from those who do have. Theft and murder, home invasions, are on the rise.

Thieves do not even wait until the cover of darkness, they will break into a home in the afternoon when everyone is at home. They tie people up, gag them, force one of them to go to the bank and empty their accounts and turn everything over to the thief.

Admiring a person's wife or personal possessions is not enough for them (Deuteronomy 5:21). They want, without working for it, what the other person has; and they want it now. At times, desperation will fuel a person to use desperate means to provide for their family; however, some people are just too lazy to work.

The Bible encourages us to rejoice when someone rejoices and to show empathy when someone suffers loss (Romans 12:15). Did someone buy a new home with unusual architecture and modern conveniences? Rejoice with them.

Did someone inherit a large sum of money and use it wisely to better their circumstances? Rejoice with them. Did someone find a great deal on a new car? Rejoice with them.

There is too much tragedy in our world to add to it by coveting what our neighbor or family member has. Weep with them; but we also rejoice when someone is blessed, even if it is a greater portion of blessing than we received.    

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that every good and perfect gift comes directly from You. You are the Father of Lights and You bless those who walk in your ways (James 1:17). You even bless the sinner, which causes grumbling among the ranks of those who faithfully serve You. Yet, through this You show us that You willing allow Your rain of blessings to fall on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45).

You show Your love to thousands of generations, which proceed from those who love You - blessing our children and their children throughout the years, even beyond our day of our death - which is our deliverance from the ties of this earth (Exodus 20:6). Your ways are perfect and we want to have more of the mind of Christ and less of the mindset of this world (Philippians 2:5), so that we can rejoice in another's good fortune.

Thought for the Day:

People who seek wealth often fall into a snare and their foolish, harmful desires plunge them into destructive behavior and its consequences, which causes them to fall away from their faith in God and to reap grief and sorrow for themselves. - 1 Timothy 6:9-10

We Love God by Obeying Him

Lately, God has been fine tuning my obedience in walking in His Spirit, and weaning me from relying on my own humanistic thinking. The other day, we were doing our quarterly shopping at Walmart, and I felt led to go to the shoe section to look for a pair of pool shoes on sale. 

I immediately thought about my very comfortable pool shoes at home, made by Speedo of the highest quality of materials. Instead of shopping for pool shoes, I spent the rest of the shopping time praising God for my wonderful, comfortable, sturdy pool shoes. 

I felt such gratitude in my heart for God’s provision of those shoes for me. This flowed into praise for His generous provision in every area of my life.

The next day...the very next day...my Speedo pool shoes were stolen at the pool while I exercised!!! This resulted in a week without pool shoes. Reduced to wearing my shower shoes instead, I rubbed bruises in the bones of my toes as I walked in these flip-flops. 

God's Spirit knew about the coming theft, and He wanted to provide for me, but I disobeyed His leading.My disobedience cost me more than a lack of pool shoes; it also cost me intimacy with our Daddy God, and an opportunity to see His abundant provision in action before I ever knew I needed it. 

Obedience proves our love for God (John 14:15); and in this instance, I grieved the Holy Spirit, because of my disobedience (Ephesians 4:30). I am sure God appreciated my praise, but He was attempting to supply my unforeseen need according to His glorious riches (Philippians 4:19). 

I was able to purchase a cheap pair of new pool shoes online and they work great...but I have bruised toe bones to remind me of the consequences of leaning on my own understanding, rather than obeying the direction of God's Holy Spirit (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Prayer:

Father God, many people would believe that this illustration of obedience is straining at a gnat, and that You have more important things for us to focus on than pool shoes. However, the issue in this case was my obedience in walking in Your Spirit, and the shoes were simply a tool You used to teach me this lesson. 

Thank You for providing such a simple object lesson, to prepare me in the future to act more vigilantly in my obedience in every area of my life. As I am in-tune with Your peace and Your Word in every moment of my day, You will lead me by Your Spirit and You will prepare me for every future contingency that I will ever face as I walk in Your will for me.

Thought for the Day:

Obedience is better than sacrifice; or in this case, obedience is better than praising. – Acts 17:11

Hopelessness

There is a common malady in today’s society, which leads many into addictions and crime. It is called hopelessness. They have tried to make something of their life and they failed at every turn; so, they turn to chemicals and theft to relieve their symptoms. Some have never heard of the hope, which Jesus Christ provides. Others have heard that Jesus makes a difference, but they do not believe it.

 

It is up to those of us, who have first-hand experience with the wonderful love of God, to share the hope we find in Christ in a gentle, informative fashion and to entreat others to trust their life to Christ too. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, and He saves all those who are crushed in spirit, if we will simply call out to Him (Psalm 43:18; 147:3). 

Total surrender to God is the key to getting out of our misery. He holds us up when we fall and lifts up everyone who is discouraged. We surrender our family, our future, our worries and our desires to the love and care of God Almighty (Mark 9:23). Then, we leave them in His capable hands.

When our soul is disheartened, we put our hope in God alone (Psalm 43:5). Complete surrender to God’s will in negative circumstance is the only way to stay sane. Even through the loss of a job, spouse, child, pet, home or parent, God cares for us. We walk in obedience to His Spirit, and live victoriously moment by moment throughout the day.

We learn to trust in God and not in our bank account, friends, children, job, the government or our parents. When we take our eyes off our self and put them on Him instead, He keeps us in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3). We do not fear tomorrow, because God only leads us one step at a time. We obey His Spirit, and find rest in God alone. Our only true hope comes from Him (Psalm 62:5).

Prayer:

Father God, You are my helper, so I will not be afraid (Isaiah 41:10,13-14). What can mere mortals do to me? In my distress, I cry out to You and pray to You for help. You always hear me from Your sanctuary, because my cries always reach Your ears (Psalm 18:8). Thank You that once we put our trust totally in Your miraculous love, we always find a victorious way through every negative circumstance we face (2 Corinthians 4:8; Romans 8:28; Jeremiah 29:11).

Thought for the Day:

God gives us grace for today and hope for tomorrow. - Ecclesiastes 9:4