In the Kingdom, your success is measured by your response. Jesus told multiple parables to demonstrate this. One was about a sower who threw seed onto all types of ground. Some ground responded and produced greatly. Other ground rejected the seed and nothing grew at all.
In another parable, a master gave his servants a sum of money to steward for him. The man who took risks in order to increase the money was not only successful, but he was given more. The man who was afraid and buried the money ended up with only what he was given... and 'that' was taken away (and given to the man who had much).
Mat 13:12 MKJV
(12) For whoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance. But whoever does not have, from him shall be taken away even that which he has.
This is not a popular view in our present society. The oval office believes that he who has much should have much taken away and given to those who do not have much. If you want to walk in a level of success beyond what that office would dictate, ignore that viewpoint. When you walk in the Kingdom and operate - truly operate - within its laws, then it matters not what sort of legislation comes against you through worldly systems.
In the Kingdom, risk is rewarded. No risk not only gets you nothing... it gets you stripped naked of what you do have. You only get to keep what you give away. He who clings to his own life in order to save it - will lose it. What is your response?
Showing posts with label mammon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mammon. Show all posts
Monday, April 25, 2011
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Fish and Chips
God loves fish. He uses it constantly in scripture to reveal His Kingdom. People were catching fish, eating fish, or being eaten by fish (Jonah). So what is the deal with fish?
Remember, the world was first judged by God with a flood. Who survived? Noah, his family, a few animals, and a whole BUNCH of fish. Fish can survive where other flesh cannot. They represent spirit-filled people dwelling in a different landscape than any other creation.
So lets talk creation for a moment? Who was made in the image of God? Man ('adam', in the Hebrew). God said that man was made in HIS image. What else did God say about images? He said DON'T MAKE ANY, either carved, graven, molten, out of playdough, wax, or paper mache. Yes, but that was in the time of Moses. Oh yeah. Correct. Yes.
Let a few years pass and we see Jesus walking the earth. The Son of God - in the flesh! He gets asked one of those hard questions:
Mat 22:17 MKJV
(17) Therefore tell us; what do you think? Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not?
To this... Jesus decides He really didn't want to spend much time answering their "trick" question, so He simply asked for a coin. He held the coin to their face and asked them whose inscription was on it. THIS is strange. The Law - given by God - prohibited a graven image to be made, and here is God in the flesh holding one of these images in the face of unbelievers. Imagine the scene! "Whose inscription is this?"
Jesus did not say, "Who created this VILE image!! This is an abomination!!!!" Perhaps He thought it... but this is not what He said.
The answer was short. "Caesar's." To which Jesus replies... "Oh... must be his, then." And He flips the coin back to them and they walk away - quickly.
It was a subtle truth. You belong to HIM whose image you bear.
Did you hear that? You BELONG to HIM whose image you bear. If there were ever any doubt, let there be no more. You were created for God, and for no other.
So what about the fish??? So... what?
When it came to be tax time, Peter says to Jesus, "Uh... Teacher, we need some money." To which Jesus said, "Go fishing." Peter, a fisherman by trade but now a 'fisher-of-men' had little trouble with the instructions. He went and caught a fish, which strangely had enough money in its mouth to cover both Peter and Jesus.
The picture is of sovereignty. Man over-stepped his bounds by making a coin in his own image. God says... okay... the coin is yours, but the fish is going to cough that up. That's God's way of saying, "There is really nothing you can make in your image that my children don't already own!" The spirit-filled man, or the Kingdom man (fish) can cough up the worldly requirements of mankind on a moment's notice because the provision of God is endless. Ask Jonah what trumps what - the vain intentions of man or the Kingdom purpose of God?
Remember, the world was first judged by God with a flood. Who survived? Noah, his family, a few animals, and a whole BUNCH of fish. Fish can survive where other flesh cannot. They represent spirit-filled people dwelling in a different landscape than any other creation.
So lets talk creation for a moment? Who was made in the image of God? Man ('adam', in the Hebrew). God said that man was made in HIS image. What else did God say about images? He said DON'T MAKE ANY, either carved, graven, molten, out of playdough, wax, or paper mache. Yes, but that was in the time of Moses. Oh yeah. Correct. Yes.
Let a few years pass and we see Jesus walking the earth. The Son of God - in the flesh! He gets asked one of those hard questions:
Mat 22:17 MKJV
(17) Therefore tell us; what do you think? Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not?
To this... Jesus decides He really didn't want to spend much time answering their "trick" question, so He simply asked for a coin. He held the coin to their face and asked them whose inscription was on it. THIS is strange. The Law - given by God - prohibited a graven image to be made, and here is God in the flesh holding one of these images in the face of unbelievers. Imagine the scene! "Whose inscription is this?"
Jesus did not say, "Who created this VILE image!! This is an abomination!!!!" Perhaps He thought it... but this is not what He said.
The answer was short. "Caesar's." To which Jesus replies... "Oh... must be his, then." And He flips the coin back to them and they walk away - quickly.
It was a subtle truth. You belong to HIM whose image you bear.
Did you hear that? You BELONG to HIM whose image you bear. If there were ever any doubt, let there be no more. You were created for God, and for no other.
So what about the fish??? So... what?
When it came to be tax time, Peter says to Jesus, "Uh... Teacher, we need some money." To which Jesus said, "Go fishing." Peter, a fisherman by trade but now a 'fisher-of-men' had little trouble with the instructions. He went and caught a fish, which strangely had enough money in its mouth to cover both Peter and Jesus.
The picture is of sovereignty. Man over-stepped his bounds by making a coin in his own image. God says... okay... the coin is yours, but the fish is going to cough that up. That's God's way of saying, "There is really nothing you can make in your image that my children don't already own!" The spirit-filled man, or the Kingdom man (fish) can cough up the worldly requirements of mankind on a moment's notice because the provision of God is endless. Ask Jonah what trumps what - the vain intentions of man or the Kingdom purpose of God?
Monday, January 25, 2010
Swept Away
Gen 19:12-15 And the men said to Lot, Have you anyone here besides yourself? Bring your sons-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whatever you have in the city, bring them out of this place. (13) For we will destroy this place because great is the cry of them before the face of Jehovah. And Jehovah has sent us to destroy it. (14) And Lot went out and spoke with his sons-in-law, who married his daughters, and said, Get up and get out of this place, for Jehovah will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked to his sons-in-law. (15) And when the dawn rose up, then the angels hurried Lot, saying, Rise up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the iniquity of the city.
This is a sad story of a man named Lot who was so mired up in the world that it nearly cost him everything he had - including most of his family. Sodom was a wicked city, but it had attracted Lot from the beginning because of the opportunities it represented. There is little doubt that Lot thought he could remain set-apart, or sanctified, in the city. The argument could certainly be made that he had succeeded in that. After all, he was a judge. His opinion mattered, right? Only it didn't. His neighbors despised him. His daughters had married men who were wicked. Lot had at least two daughters (who were there), but had others that were not. When the time came, only those still living under his roof escaped the city.
Many tout the cost of living a life for Christ. Persecution! Ridicule! Maybe worse! But Lot ended up with only two daughters in the end. Even his own wife could not let go of the city within her soul.
I still take great comfort that God allows the righteous safe passage from judgment - if he will. Not only that, but God allows the righteous to bring 'whoever' and 'whatever' they have with them to safety. What grace! But in the end, each must make up their own mind.
How mired up in the world are we?
This is a sad story of a man named Lot who was so mired up in the world that it nearly cost him everything he had - including most of his family. Sodom was a wicked city, but it had attracted Lot from the beginning because of the opportunities it represented. There is little doubt that Lot thought he could remain set-apart, or sanctified, in the city. The argument could certainly be made that he had succeeded in that. After all, he was a judge. His opinion mattered, right? Only it didn't. His neighbors despised him. His daughters had married men who were wicked. Lot had at least two daughters (who were there), but had others that were not. When the time came, only those still living under his roof escaped the city.
Many tout the cost of living a life for Christ. Persecution! Ridicule! Maybe worse! But Lot ended up with only two daughters in the end. Even his own wife could not let go of the city within her soul.
I still take great comfort that God allows the righteous safe passage from judgment - if he will. Not only that, but God allows the righteous to bring 'whoever' and 'whatever' they have with them to safety. What grace! But in the end, each must make up their own mind.
How mired up in the world are we?
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Not Buying Into It
Daniel was quite a guy. He made a name for himself in a pagan nation simply by being true to God and not letting circumstances shake him. With a death sentence upon all wise men - himself included - Daniel won reprieve from the king by interpreting his dream. As a result, he was named the chief wise man.
Dan 2:48 Then the king made Daniel great, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over all the province of Babylon, and chief of the prefects over all the wise men of Babylon.
As great an honor as that was, that title came with some baggage that Daniel probably didn't want. Being a wise man, according to his world's standards, was a great thing. But according to his own Godly standard, it was a compromise. Daniel didn't use sorcery or witchcraft to divine answers. He sought God. But as we see below, God didn't always get the credit.
Dan 4:9 MKJV
(9) O Belteshazzar, master of the horoscopists, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and no secret troubles you, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and its meaning.
He was known as a master of the horoscopists - the chief astrologer. This brings up quite a spiritual dilemma. Do we accept worldly recognition and praise and justify it as the reward of the blessed? Or do we seek the God and let the world find its own heroes? What did Daniel do?
The story shifts to Nebuchadnezzar's grandson who sees the writing on the wall. This is one of the more classic verses that truly comes (hilariously) to life in the King James translation:
Dan 5:6 KJV
(6) Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.
The man... was frightened. What he needed was a good horoscopist to translate the writing on the wall.
Dan 5:10-12 MKJV
(10) The queen came into the banquet house because of the king's words, and his nobles. And the queen spoke and said, O king, live forever. Do not let your thoughts trouble you, nor let your face be changed.
(11) There is a man in your kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. And in the days of your father there was found in him light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, your father the king, appointed him master of the horoscopists, conjurers, Chaldeans, and fortune-tellers,
(12) because an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, explaining of dreams, and revealing of hard sentences, and the unraveling of knots, were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will reveal the meaning.
Here is our answer. Daniel had been the chief astrologer, but where was he now? The king apparently had never heard of him. Only the queen (the king's grandmother, Nebuchadnezzar's wife) remembered Daniel for the wise man he was. Why? Because Daniel had separated himself from the reward of the world - the titles, the prestige, the ceremonies. Reading on, we see that he truly did not care for the recognition of the king:
Dan 5:17 MKJV
(17) Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let your gifts be to yourself, and give your rewards to another. Yet I will read the writing to the king, and make the meaning known to him.
Daniel's walk with God was one of steadfastness - his eyes always locked on the Father. Daniel was perhaps the only bible persona other than Jesus Himself that never had a single derogatory remark made about him. Despite the law, he prayed. Despite the reward, he remained focused. Despite hardship, he remained thankful. He did not buy into the reward of this world.
Dan 2:48 Then the king made Daniel great, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over all the province of Babylon, and chief of the prefects over all the wise men of Babylon.
As great an honor as that was, that title came with some baggage that Daniel probably didn't want. Being a wise man, according to his world's standards, was a great thing. But according to his own Godly standard, it was a compromise. Daniel didn't use sorcery or witchcraft to divine answers. He sought God. But as we see below, God didn't always get the credit.
Dan 4:9 MKJV
(9) O Belteshazzar, master of the horoscopists, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and no secret troubles you, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and its meaning.
He was known as a master of the horoscopists - the chief astrologer. This brings up quite a spiritual dilemma. Do we accept worldly recognition and praise and justify it as the reward of the blessed? Or do we seek the God and let the world find its own heroes? What did Daniel do?
The story shifts to Nebuchadnezzar's grandson who sees the writing on the wall. This is one of the more classic verses that truly comes (hilariously) to life in the King James translation:
Dan 5:6 KJV
(6) Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.
The man... was frightened. What he needed was a good horoscopist to translate the writing on the wall.
Dan 5:10-12 MKJV
(10) The queen came into the banquet house because of the king's words, and his nobles. And the queen spoke and said, O king, live forever. Do not let your thoughts trouble you, nor let your face be changed.
(11) There is a man in your kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. And in the days of your father there was found in him light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, your father the king, appointed him master of the horoscopists, conjurers, Chaldeans, and fortune-tellers,
(12) because an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, explaining of dreams, and revealing of hard sentences, and the unraveling of knots, were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will reveal the meaning.
Here is our answer. Daniel had been the chief astrologer, but where was he now? The king apparently had never heard of him. Only the queen (the king's grandmother, Nebuchadnezzar's wife) remembered Daniel for the wise man he was. Why? Because Daniel had separated himself from the reward of the world - the titles, the prestige, the ceremonies. Reading on, we see that he truly did not care for the recognition of the king:
Dan 5:17 MKJV
(17) Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let your gifts be to yourself, and give your rewards to another. Yet I will read the writing to the king, and make the meaning known to him.
Daniel's walk with God was one of steadfastness - his eyes always locked on the Father. Daniel was perhaps the only bible persona other than Jesus Himself that never had a single derogatory remark made about him. Despite the law, he prayed. Despite the reward, he remained focused. Despite hardship, he remained thankful. He did not buy into the reward of this world.
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