The Law of Love

And to us who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope that is set before us in the gospel, how unutterably sweet is the knowledge that our Heavenly Father knows us completely. No talebearer can inform on us; no enemy can make an accusation stick; no forgotten skeleton can come tumbling out of some hidden closet to abash us and expose our past; no unsuspected weakness in our characters can come to light to turn God away from us, since He knew us utterly before we knew Him and called us to Himself in the full knowledge of everything that was against us. "For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee."

A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy

Read

Matthew 5:43-48

Think

The previous paragraph on nonresistance/non-retaliation flows easily into the Law of Love. How easy is it to love our friends and hate our enemies. That is natural. We love those who love us. We love those who are like us. But when someone comes along who is different, or who expresses distaste or hatred for us or our beliefs, we naturally revert to hatred for them. That's what you'd expect of anyone, isn't it? If for no other reason than self-preservation, you avoid people who hate you. Yet, Jesus shows us that the true fulfillment of the Law is not just to love our neighbor, but to love our enemy as well. In the story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus tells us that even our enemy is our neighbor.

But it goes even beyond that. Jesus says that in order to be sons of our Father, we will love and pray for our enemy, for those who would love to see us dead. We are to pray and act for their good.

A true son looks and acts like his father. So let's look at how our Father acts. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. At the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ, and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

We were enemies of God. But He acted in love toward us. How can we do anything but extend that same love and grace to absolutely everyone we encounter, even those who would chase after us with guns and imprison us for no other reason than our faith? It is easy, even natural, to extend love to our friends and family. It is Christ-like to extend love and grace to absolutely everyone, especially our enemies.

Fortunately, with the last phrase we are brought back to the underlying theme of this entire chapter, achieving perfection. Unless our righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees, we will not enter the Kingdom. This is fortunate, because in myself I am incapable of this kind of love. I must depend on God's work in me to even have a shot at life with Him. I must depend on Christ's sacrifice to make my character like God's. So without Christ, I am unable to love this way, but with His love overflowing in my life, my enemies become my friends and I see those who are different from me through an entirely different lens.

Pray

Ask God to help you see people the way He sees them, with tender mercy, kindness, and unconditional love.

Do

Befriend someone you would normally avoid. Get to know them and extend the same love and grace God extends to us.

Gift Giving

I’ve never been one to accept gifts easily. It probably goes right along with my tendency to refuse to ask for help. Something inside tells me that I am not worthy of the gift, or that I should have an equally nice gift to exchange with the other person. On Gary Chapman’s list of 5 love languages, gift giving is not mine. It also follows that I am not much of a gift-giver. If you’ve ever gotten a gift from me that you just thought was perfect, Misha probably picked it out.

So you can imagine that this time of year challenges this tendency of mine to balk at receiving gifts. I have been getting better as the years go on, especially since Misha’s family is really good at giving you exactly what you want or need. And they love to do it. After years of practice, I’ve been getting better at showing outwardly the gratitude I feel on the inside. Rather than awkwardly squeaking out a “thanks” and turning to run the other way, I’ve learned to openly enjoy the gift and adequately express my gratitude right there in front of the person. I still have twinges of guilt, though, when I haven’t thought to get that person a gift, or when all I have to offer is a gift that pales in comparison with the one I’ve just received.

I find myself in that situation quite a lot at BBC. It seems a regular occurrence for someone to offer a gift to me when I have little or nothing to give in return. And I’m not just talking about the tangible gifts of material things, although that happens often. As I pray with my kids before bed, I thank God for people who we love and who love us so well. I think maybe Paul felt this way about the Philippians when he said in Philippians 1:3-5, I thank my God with every remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now.

That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? We give because we have received. God has given us such a great gift that we can’t help but share that gift with other people. And because people delight in giving us good gifts out of the overflow of their love for us, just like God does, we receive their grace whether or not we have anything to offer in return. In doing this, we act out on a very small scale our relationship with God, except with Him, we only have to offer what He’s already given us.

So I want to thank my church family for the tangible gifts of stuff and the intangible gifts of love and service, neither of which I will ever be able to repay. And, thanks be to God for His indescribable gift. (II Cor. 9:15)

The Extra Mile

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket--safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.

C. S. Lewis

Read

Matthew 5:38-42

Think

I don't know anyone who likes to be abused and manipulated. It doesn't really feel good to be treated that way. Yet Jesus tells us that if we are truly following the Law, that we will not retaliate for wrongs against us, that we will always go the extra mile for anyone who asks. Self-preservation leads me to withdraw from an encounter when blows begin, not offer my other cheek. Maybe I would feel differently if I were 6'5", 230 lbs. But, do not resist the evildoer? Call me shag, because that makes me a rug for anyone to walk on.

But this really is what Jesus means to say. If we are truly following the Law, we will not claim our right to retaliate. Do we even have that right, anyway? Though it seems counter-intuitive, God's best for us is to not fight back, to act in generosity to those who want to swindle us out of our coats, to willingly serve above and beyond those who want to enslave us.

That's what Jesus did.

He turned His cheek. He did not seek retaliation. He laid the final vestige of His glory on the ground for soldiers to gamble over. At the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. The only One who truly had the right to come down in retaliation offered His life for the benefit of those who were putting Him to death.

As I take stock of my own life, I see all the ways I claim my right to protect myself. I am stingy. I want what is mine. I want justice for those who wrong me. And my righteousness still exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees, not because I always do what is right, but because I am not depending on my own abilities to make myself righteous. Jesus offered Himself as a guarantee of eternal life, and I would rather claim that than any right to retaliation I think I might have.

Pray

Ask God to help you to release your right to retaliation. Pray that He would create in you a dependence on Him that transcends anything men can do to you.

Do

Get rid of the list of people who've wronged you. Let go of revenge. It's not a happy way to live, and it's not God's best for you.

Promises, Promises

This is what the Lord says,

"Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool.

Where then is a house you could build for me?

And where is a place that I may rest?

For my hand made all these things,

Thus all these things came into being," declares the Lord.

"But to this one I will look,

To him who is humble and contrite of spirit,

And who trembles at my word."

Isaiah 66:1-2

Read

Matthew 5:33-37.

Think

I sometimes cringe when I hear some people make promises they can't keep. Usually they go something like this: "I promise I will never let anything hurt you." "I promise I will always be around." "I promise that I will never let you down." It's not that these people don't intend to keep their promises. It's that they are incapable of guaranteeing that they will follow through. And when we make a promise and then don't keep it, our promise becomes a lie.

The fact is that there is not one single promise we have the power to guarantee. We try. We try so hard. We want to make it to little Johnny's ball game. We want to be there for people when they need us. We want to protect the people that we love. And most of us are able to keep most of the promises we make. It's those few promises that turn to lies that really cause the issue for us. It's that one promise that we don't keep that reveals that we are not like God.

God's character is always truthful. God always keeps His promises. God is capable of guaranteeing follow through. He is the one who sits in the throne of heaven, with the earth as His footstool. He is the one who commands the wind and the sea. Yet He is also the one who is intimately involved with our lives and cares deeply about us.

So don't make frivolous promises. In fact, maybe it's best if we don't make hard and fast promises at all. Maybe it's best if we turn our dependence away from ourselves and place it on the only One who makes vows and has never been found to be a liar. Maybe we should say things like: "I will do my best." "Lord willing." "If it is possible."

Pray

Pray that you will be able to fulfill the promises you do make, and avoid making promises you can't guarantee. Pray that your relationships will be strengthened because of it.

Do

Make a list of phrases you can say instead of "I promise".

In It For Life

Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore,
Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more,
See, Lord, at thy service low lies here a heart
Lost, all lost in wonder at the God thou art.

O thou our reminder of Christ crucified,
Living Bread, the life of us for whom he died,
Lend this life to me then: feed and feast my mind,
There be thou the sweetness man was meant to find.

Jesus, whom I look at shrouded here below,
I beseech thee send me what I thirst for so,
Some day to gaze on thee face to face in light
And be blest for ever with thy glory's sight.

Thomas Aquinas, Adore te Devote

Read

Matthew 5:31-32.

Think

There are few more difficult relationships to navigate than the relationship of husband/wife. And there are few more touchy subjects than divorce. We all have relatives, friends, and old classmates who have experienced divorce, if we haven't been directly affected ourselves. The last thing we want to read is Jesus tightening the rules on this one, as well.

Let's think about it this way: When God created Adam and Eve, they were married in the ideal setting. It was the world the way it was intended to be. When they went after their own way, they lost sight of God's best. They went after a counterfeit of the knowledge of God. What they assumed would make them like God only served to mar His image in their lives. They were deceived into thinking that they could be like Him without drawing closer to Him.

What does this have to do with divorce? Because we are blind to God's best for us and so often go for counterfeits, God gave us the definition of His character in the Law. What is right matches what God Himself is, or what He would do. In the area of marriage, God always keeps His oaths and commitments, so the Law communicates that to us. God's best for us is to live in committed marriage relationships, in it for life. In divorce, we violate God's best, His intended ideals, which is the definition of sin.

But, just like the other sections of this part of Jesus' sermon, the focus here is not on the Law, but on our capacity for getting it wrong. The fact that there is divorce in the world lets us know that we are not like God, that something is not quite right. It shows us our need for a Savior to get us out of our mess.

Marriage is often used in Scripture to picture God's relationship with His people. My marriage to Misha is an imperfect picture of God's commitment to us. I get it wrong so often, but God never does. Only in remaining steadfast in my love and commitment to Misha can I remotely see God's best for my life.

Pray

Ask God to give you His own steadfast love for your spouse, present or future. Pray that your marriage will be a picture, however imperfect, of His own commitment to us.

Do

If you are married, make a list of all the ways your marriage mirrors God's steadfast love for us, then talk about how you might be more like God in your marriage commitment. If you are not married, make a list of the character traits of God and how you can more closely align yourself with them.

On Purity

Chastity: it is one of those unabashedly churchy words. It is one of the words the church uses to call Christians to do something hard, something unpopular...Chastity is one of the many Christian practices that are at odds with the dictates of our surrounding, secular culture. It challenges the movies we watch, the magazines we read, the songs we listen to. it runs counter to the way many of our non-Christian friends organize their lives. It strikes most secular folk as curious (at best), strange, backwards, repressed.

Lauren Winner, Real Sex

Before we start today, take a moment to be introspective. Where do you stand on the purity continuum? Are you pursuing purity in all areas?

Read

Today's Scripture is Matthew 5:27-30.

Think

Remember that Jesus is highlighting the impossibility of the Law to save us. The Scribes and Pharisees followed the Law as well as any human could, and Jesus still said, "Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." So do you look at someone of the opposite sex with lust in your heart? Only you can say. I know that I do. It's kind of part of our human condition.

The difficult thing for me is that he seems to say that if we lust we will be thrown into hell. Wow. That's harsh. But what is it worth to you? There are few things that distract me from my relationship with Christ more than my own lack of sexual purity. In fact sexual temptation is the only temptation the Bible tells us to flee. It is such an all-consuming, all-encompassing thing that it takes radical, decisive action to keep or regain purity.

Jesus isn't saying that if you lust you will be thrown into hell. He is saying that if you lust, you have broken the commandment and are guilty. Just like the other paragraphs in this section, the impossibility of keeping the Law is the key, and our dependence on an outside source is necessary. So, purity is worth whatever radical, decisive, even countercultural action you might choose to take. But I would stay away from chopping off body parts to achieve it.

There are few better ways to truly be countercultural than to pursue purity at any cost. But it's worth it.

Pray

Ask God to reveal to you ways that you are not fleeing sexual temptation, and to help you to take action to remain pure. Ask Him to send you friends who will help you in your pursuit of purity.

Do

Find one or two friends that you can trust and share your struggles with them. Ask them to challenge you on your choices and to keep reminding you to remain pure.

Back to the heart of murder.

...I am not writing a book about Jesus because he is a great man who changed history. I am not tempted to write about Julius Caesar or the Chinese emperor who built the Great Wall. I am drawn to Jesus, irresistibly, because he positioned himself as the dividing point of life--my life.

Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew

Read

Matthew 5:20-26. Always keep in mind when reading this section what Jesus said about the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. They depended on their own righteousness, but only through Christ’s work can we be made righteous.

Think

This section is the first in a series of restatements of the law. It is interesting to me that there are only 6 here, identified by the two statements, “You have heard that it was said” and “But I say to you”. By restating the law in this way, Jesus gets to the heart of the issue. Murder is external, hate is internal. Adultery is external, lust is internal. The heart of the issue is that none of us can behave all the time. And God didn’t expect us to. That’s why there were sacrifices, the original picture of grace. Grace bridges the gap between the unattainable heart of the Law and our inability to live up to the standard of perfection.

So, what about hate? It’s pretty easy to go around not killing people. It’s not so easy to avoid despising some people. If we are going to develop within ourselves the character of God, we are going to need to work on seeing people the way He sees them. And Jesus indicates that the way we feel about someone comes out in how we talk about them. Whoever says to (or about) his brother “You good for nothing” or “You fool” is guilty, and falls short of the standard of perfection. But Jesus presents a better way.

Verses 23-26 give us a standard operating procedure when dealing with this issue.

First, we approach our worship thoughtfully, searching our lives for areas that don’t line up with the character of the One we have come to worship.

Second, when we remember that we have wronged someone, we take action. We don’t wait for that person to approach us, we immediately drop what we’re doing, even in the middle of worship. 

Third, we make it right, we make peace with our opponent, and that leads to a more peaceful life. 

Have you ever felt enslaved or imprisoned by hard feelings? We describe it in several different ways these days, prejudice, drama, but they’re all the same broken relationships. It is my prayer that we will be the kind of people who live at peace with all people as much as it depends on us.

Pray

Ask God to bring to your mind someone you’ve wronged or have hard feelings against. Then ask Him to give you the wisdom of how to restore that relationship.

Do

This takes a bit of wisdom, so if you need to talk to someone first, please do. Evaluate your relationships. Which ones are broken because of your actions? What can you do to restore them so that you are at least living in peace?

Secondly, look around you. Who do you despise? Why do you despise them? This one takes courage, so grab a friend to help. Approach someone you despise this week and start a conversation. They might think you’re weird, but it’s ok. It’s worth it.

The Good Life

To believe in the supernatural is not simply to believe that after living a successful, material, and fairly virtuous life here one will continue to exist in the best-possible substitute for this world, or that after living a starved and stunted life here one will be compensated with all the good things one has gone without: it is to believe that the supernatural is the greatest reality here and now.

T. S. Eliot

Read

Matthew 5:17-20. 

Think

Life for me so far has been a cake-walk. Sure, I’ve had my share of messes, most of them brought on by myself, but I can’t say I’ve really faced adversity or persecution, certainly not poverty or major illness. Life is good. I have a loving, supportive, talented wife, 3 fantastic kids, a really great job, friends that I love and who love me, and a comfortable place to live and sleep. The fact that I have a house, 3 vehicles, and a job places me in in a better financial position than most of the planet’s population. But the fact that I haven’t really suffered, or that I’m comparatively wealthy isn’t really why I say that life is good.

Life is good because God has made Himself available to me. Life is good because my obedience or lack thereof has no bearing on my qualification for the Kingdom. Jesus says that unless my righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees, I have no hope of entering the Kingdom. Well, he’s right. Because if it depends on me, I know myself too well. I know how things usually go when I try to will myself into being a righteous person. I usually end up like the Pharisees, holding myself and others to laws that God did not give and trying to qualify myself to enter the Kingdom.

Life is good because Christ took my death-sentence and I have been declared righteous when I believed. When Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice, He fulfilled all the requirements of the Law. And when we look to Him, believing, He becomes our righteousness. God looks at His sacrifice, smacks His gavel on the bench and declares us righteous.

Life is good because my experience of eternal life began when I fully embraced the life that Christ has for me. When I first believed, I held on to the idea of living in my self-righteousness, trying to achieve the Kingdom in my flesh. When I came to understand that my eternal life is already mine, and I can relax and really live my life, it opened whole new doors for me.

It was for freedom that Christ has set us free. Therefore stand firm and do not subject yourselves again to the yoke of slavery.

Galatians 5:1

Pray

Ask God to help you to embrace the good life, the eternal life He has for you, not just for the future, but right now.

Do

Think about some of the things that you consider just plain wrong. Are you holding yourself and others to rules and laws that God did not give?

Attitudes

Now there was only one hope, the sovereign grace of God. God would have to transform my heart to do what a heart cannot make itself do, namely, want what it ought to want. Only God can make the heart desire God.

John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God

Read

Take a few minutes and absorb Matthew 5:1-16. Dwell on each thought and consider what Jesus is really saying in these verses.

Think

Blessed, happy, fortunate are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the gentle, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the persecuted. It doesn’t sound like the list of people I would make if I were to think about the ones who inherit the earth, who are satisfied, who are awarded the kingdom of heaven. It sounds like a list of misfits and losers. Or, probably more accurately, it sounds like a list of people who understand their need for Christ’s work in their lives. Blessed, happy, fortunate are you who know you’re a big mess, because there is someone who can fix your mess.

Here is Matt’s interpretation:

Blessed, happy, fortunate is the one who doesn’t think too highly of himself, for God Himself is enough to make him worthy to enter the kingdom.

Blessed, happy, fortunate is the one who has experienced great loss, for God has sent His Comforter.

Blessed, happy, fortunate is the one who has a mild and kind nature, for God will give him the earth.

Blessed, happy, fortunate is the one who recognizes the parts of his life that don’t match God’s character and has a deep desire to fix that, for God will be his righteousness.

Blessed, happy, fortunate is the one who does not seek revenge, but is quick to forgive and show mercy, for God has already shown us mercy, and will be merciful to him.

Blessed, happy, fortunate is the one who is innocent, even naive, for God will reveal Himself to him.

Blessed, happy, fortunate is the one who tries to help people around him live in peace with each other, for this is a characteristic of God’s children.

Blessed, happy, fortunate is the one who is made fun of, punished, even killed because he wants his life to match God’s character, for God Himself is worth it all and is enough to make him worthy to enter the kingdom.

If you know people with any of these characteristics, you know that they are people who you want to be around, who give stark contrast to our cultural ideas of who really get ahead. They shake our paradigm of what is really important in life. 

Pray

Pray that God will develop these traits in you, and help you see those areas of your life that you fall short of His character.

Do

Go out of your way today to treat people with kindness, to show mercy, to seek righteousness, or to be a comfort to someone, and see how it affects your day.

Conversations with Intellectuals

What once had seemed like an inevitable but defective quest for the satisfaction of my soul now became not just permitted but required. The glory of God was at stake. This was almost too good to be true--that my quest for joy and my duty to glorify God were not in conflict..It released the energies of my mind and heart to go hard after all the soul-happiness that God is for me in Jesus.

John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God

Read

Acts 17:16-34. 

As you read, think about times when you’ve been challenged in what you believe and how you responded.

Think

I’ve been talking quite a bit with a guy who isn’t sure there is a God, but believes that everything is material. I’ve really had to think about some difficult questions lately. If someone came to you one day and asked you to why you believe in Christ, what would you say?

In this passage, Paul isn’t confronting atheism, just the opposite, polytheism, that there are many gods. In our culture, we’ll find both. In fact, the atheists have become quite a bit more evangelical than most of us are willing to be. They feel they have the intellectual high ground. It makes me think of I Peter 3:15: But set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess. 

Just like Paul in Athens, the Stoics and Intellectuals we encounter today notice those of us who have set Christ apart as Lord in our hearts, even beyond our belief, and they are beginning to demand an answer for our faith. How great it would be, and how influential, if we were able to give a well-reasoned, humble, and informed response to their questions. 

Let’s not conform to the stereotype of conservative Christians as uninformed, blind to the difficult questions of life, and singlemindedly focused on abortion and gay marriage. Let’s seek to love the Lord with all our minds, as well as all our hearts. 

Pray

Pray that God will help you grow in wisdom and knowledge, and that He will help you develop relationships with people who are seeking to understand the deep things of life.

Do

Find an article on some of the latest scientific discoveries and think about them in light of the truth of God’s Word.

A Momentous Occasion

Lots of stuff has happened on June 24th. Napolean began his invasion of Russia. A plane crashed at JFK airport, killing 113. Grover Cleveland died. John Cabot landed in North America. The first widely reported claim of a UFO sighting happened near Mt Rainier, WA. Jack Dempsey and Roy Disney were born. It's midsummer celebration in England, and the Nativity of St. John is celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church.

I really had no idea this was such a momentous day. When we chose June 24th, I think it had more to do with a Seven Brides for Seven Brothers song than the importance of the day itself. It was a day that the church and pastor were available, and we thought as many of our friends and family as possible would be able to attend.

But, is there really a more momentous thing than the affirmation of eternal love? Is there a more joyous occasion than the joining of two souls who are a perfect match? Can you think of a better event to celebrate than the completion of two independent people?

It's been 9 years since Misha and I were married, and I've been working on my list of 9 things that I love about her. I love her kindness, her ability to make people laugh, her clever use of words, her depth of understanding, the way children are putty in her hands, her disarming way. I could listen to her sing for days on end, to her stories for hours at a time, and I love the way she looks at me just so. But all of these things, as much as they mean to me right now, are just a drop in a massive bucket compared to the infinite depth of my feelings and love for her.

I would, like Porgy, push my cart to the ends of the earth for Misha. 9 years ago, my life began, and I have been growing more in love with my wife every day since. It may not be celebrated by millions of people around the world, or remembered for it's significance in world history, but on this day, 2000, Misha Perkins married me, and I have been better for it ever since.

Heartless Money

But in the long run it is perhaps even more apparent in our growing--for it ought to be growing--awareness that our whole being by its very nature is one vast need; incomplete, preparatory, empty yet cluttered, crying out for Him who can untie things that are now knotted together and tie up things that are still dangling loose.

C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

Read

Ecclesiastes 6:1-6. Take a few minutes and write down your initial thoughts on this section. As you look back at the verses, what leads you to write these things?

Think

Let's remember where Solomon is coming from: born in the palace to King David and his wife Bathsheba (a whole other story), 3rd king of Israel, offered anything his heart desired, chose wisdom, given riches as well, reigned in peace and prosperity, made treaties with surrounding nations, had hundreds of wives and concubines, led into idolatry by his wives, finally, his sons subverted his authority and split the kingdom. Solomon looks back over his life and writes his memoir, lessons learned throughout his life, and sees the evil of heartless money: Riches given by God but not enjoyed.

Chapter 5 ends with the value of recognizing God as the true giver of our material possessions and as the only One who gives us the ability to enjoy them. Even though we may recognize God as our provider, if we use our money and possessions to satisfy our own desires without regard to stewardship and generosity, our wealth becomes heartless and empty.

In verses 3-6, Solomon gives us 2 pictures of the emptiness of heartless money. First, we see a man who lives a long life, fathers a hundred children, but his family doesn't care enough about him to give him a proper burial. Second, a miscarriage. Both are painful, but Solomon says that the miscarriage is better. Life without God and meaning is worse than never having been born at all.

On the other hand, life with God is deeply satisfying, whether one has little or much. It's not the years in life but the life in the years. Only God can give us the wisdom to know what to do with what we have.

David Jeremiah, Searching for Heaven on Earth

Pray

Ask God to help you find true enjoyment in life. Pray that He will help you live well, as a good steward of the possessions He gave you.

Do

Spend some extra time with your family this week. Of all the things that aid in the enjoyment of life, good family relationships top the list. Fix dinner together and eat around the table, take your wife out on a date, roll on the floor with your kids, play a game that you all enjoy, anything that will enhance your family life. Money, work, and success are all meaningless without good family relationships.

5 Things to Know About Money

For this post, I can't say it any better than Dr. Jeremiah in his book, Searching for Heaven on Earth. So here are some excerpts from chapter 13, "Dollars and Sense". As you read, pray that God would help you to adjust your thinking about money and its importance in your life.

Read and Think

Five Things We Should Know About Money

1- The more we have, the more we want.

He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver;

Nor he who loves abundance, with increase.

This also is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 5:10

Wouldn't it be wonderful to be truly content? To be eased of the burden for more accumulation, and to be at peace with where we are in life? Why do we make ourselves miserable over what has no track record of satisfying?

2-The more we have, the more we spend.

When goods increase,

They increase who eat them;

So what profit have the owners

Except to see them with their eyes?

Ecclesiastes 5:11

The more you have, the more you want. The more you want, the more you spend. The more you spend, the more you need. The more you need, the more you have to have. Stop the world--I want to get off!

3-The more we have, the more we worry.

The sleep of a laboring man is sweet,

Whether he eats little or much;

But the abundance of the rich

Will not permit him to sleep.

Ecclesiastes 5:12

When money is your shield and bulwark, you'll spend all your time worrying about what will happen if you lose your shield. Thankfully, my Shield and Protector is One who has already said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).

4- The more we have, the more we lose.

There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun:

Riches kept for their owner to his hurt.

But those riches perish through misfortune.

Ecclesiastes 5:13-14

Let me be clear on this point, because it's easy to misunderstand what Solomon is saying. The essence of his message is this: You can't lose what you don't have.

5- The more we have, the more we leave behind.

When he begets a son, there is nothing in his hand.

As he came from his mother's womb, naked shall he return,

To go as he came;

And he shall take nothing from his labor

Which he may carry awah in his hand.

And this also is a sever evil--

Just exactly as he came, so shall he go.

And what profit has he who has labored for the wind?

All his days he also eats in darkness,

And he has much sorrow and sickness and anger.

Ecclesiastes 5:14-17

We all know the modern translation of this one: You can't take it with you.

Two Things You Need to Know About God

1- Our ability to earn money is a gift from God.

Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink,

and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the

Days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage.

Ecclesiastes 5:18

Solomon says you've worked for what you have, so go ahead and enjoy it...But remember that every gift is from God, and those gifts are not ends in themselves,but reminders of His goodness.

2- Our ability to enjoy money is a gift from God

As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor--this is the gift of God. For he will not dwell unduly on the deays fo his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.

Ecclesiastes 5:19-20

God gives us not only the gift, but also the ability to enjoy it, the food and the mouth to eat it, the art and the mind to appreciate it, the beautiful earth and the feet to run upon it. Every component of life, down to the smallest molecule, is part of His gift. But we cannot enjoy any gift properly without reference to the Giver.

God is a loving and generous Father, but He doesn't want our things to possess us. What a joy to learn the lesson Rockefeller learned: money and possessions are not evil as long as they don't enslave us. Instead of destroying lives, wealth can serve the kingdom of God. Every good and perfect gift comes from God and has a good and perfect use. As long as we can find it and honor it, we honor Him. And we are one step closer to heaven on earth, rather than one foot deeper into the golden mirage of a fool's paradise.

Governmental Waste

The highest test of a civilization is its willingness to extend a helping hand to the less fortunate. Like an individual, it lifts itself up by lifting others up.

Booker T. Washington

Read

Let's look at Ecclesiastes 5:8-9 today. Write a sentence long summary of what Solomon is saying. Do you know anyone in this situation? When was the last time you were frustrated at the oppression of the poor?

Think

It is easy to place blame on governments for the oppression of the poor. It's easy to be angry at
corrupt and powerful politicians for the plight of those less fortunate than us. And that anger is justified. But why are we surprised? Power has always had a corrupting influence, and it is the rare and special person who is not affected.

When we hear of governments skimming relief aid and taking bribes from large companies, and when we see the oppression and genocide that runs rampant throughout the world, and we feel the white hot flames of social justice rising in our cheeks, let's remember that these atrocities are not new, and let's temper our outcry with what Paul tells us in Romans:

Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil. Wherefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.

Romans 13:1-7

But never, never expect utopia to come to a Capitol near you. Heaven on earth cannot be established at the ballot box, but only through the hearts of men. One day we will see the descent of the New Jerusalem, and there will be at last, one Governor before whom we'll bow, with no more use for intermediaries; one Party to serve, with no more use for debate or dissention; one Lord, one faith, one baptism into the world that has always been our destiny as His divine constituency.

David Jeremiah, Searching for Heaven on Earth

Pray

Make it a point this week to pray for the oppressed, that they will find relief from their trouble, and that you might be an agent for that relief in some way. While you do that, pray that you would be willing to submit to and show appropriate respect for those in governmental positions.

Do

As you watch the news, read the paper, and talk to friends about the world situation this week, make it a point to speak respectfully of those in governmental positions, and look for ways that you can personally be involved in caring for those who are oppressed by powerful people.

God In My Pocket

We learn by using what we already know as a bridge over which we pass to the unknown. It is not possible for the mind to crash suddenly past the familiar into the totally unfamiliar. Even the most vigorous and daring mind is unable to create something out of nothing by a spontaneous act of the imagination.

A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy

Read
Today's passage is Ecclesiastes 5:1-7. Keep in mind the last time you were in a worship service. How are these attitudes similar to your own? Solomon addresses 3 areas in which we tend to use God. Can you spot them?

Think
We operate from what we know and what we think is best. That's really all we can do, isn't it? Too often, though, what we know is incomplete. Especially when things are going wrong or when our lives don't turn out quite like we'd hoped, we default to 3 basic responses:

Blaming God
Verse 1- Has your mom ever said "watch your step" as a warning to be careful how you speak to her? Or as my dad still says, "watch it." It's easy to get so fed up with oppression and the evils of the world that we approach God carelessly, forgetting that He is really the One with perfect knowledge and eternal perspective. No matter how frustrated we become, we should always remember that He is God and we are not.

Lashing Out
Verses 2-3- We are all hurt and angry at circumstances in our lives. None of us get through this life unscathed. The easiest thing for us to do, especially in the heat of our emotion, is to speak rashly in anger. Before we lash out at the One who is working all things for our good, let's stop to think that He is in Heaven, we are on earth, and our foolishness cannot be hidden once spoken.

Bribes Galore
Verses 4-7- Have you ever said, "God, if you get me out of this, I'll..."? These days it's no big deal to break a promise, but Scripture makes it clear that the wise person is someone who keeps his word. Especially when dealing with someone who is so high above us, care should be taken that we are not frivolous with our vows. Let's be careful that we are not attempting to bribe God, as if we could.

"Forgiving God is a term I'd rather avoid. It implies that God has done something wrong that requires our pardon. We should underline the statement that by the perfection of his nature, He will not and cannot do wrong. What seems like misdeed is mystery. The important thing to remember is that His love and compassion are perfect, unbroken, and forever."

David Jeremiah, Searching for Heaven on Earth

Pray

Ask God to help you see Him at work in the events all around you, to help you be aware of His Presence. Thank Him for the calamities He's helped you avoid, and ask Him to help you trust that He knows what He's doing when hard times come.

Do

Concentrate on your attitudes toward God as you read this. Are you angry at Him for something? Do you try to use God to get out of sticky situations? Are you quick to blame Him for the bad circumstances in your life? Look around at things that happen all around you. For what can you be thankful? How does God take care of you on a daily basis?

Greater Than the Sum

A man who has friends must show himself friendly.

Proverbs 18:24

Read

Today let's look at Ecclesiastes 4:7-16. It's a familiar section of Scripture, but look at it with fresh eyes, thinking about each verse with your own life in mind. Place brackets around each of the three parts of this section, and label them.

Think

Here are my labels:

Pursue relationships over work because people make your job worth doing. How many lonely souls have put off family and devalued friends in the pursuit of their career? We'll never know. They are rich in possessions, but impoverished in relationships. What are we really working for if all of our time is spent at work, thinking about work, or on-call 24/7? Let's value our family and friends enough to turn off our phones, shut down our computers, and disconnect from work for a while. We'll be happier and more productive if we do.

Pursue relationships for our own good. Work is more fun with someone else. Life is easier with someone who can share our burdens and pick us up when we're down. The warmth of a friend is better than facing the cold alone. The world is a much safer place with a couple of friends to fight with. People who have close inter-personal relationships live longer, healthier, and happier than those who do not. And Proverbs tells us that to have friends we need to be a friend.

Pursue relationships over fame and popularity because they last longer. Solomon speaks of a king and two young men. Maybe he's talking about Saul and the next two kings of Israel. One king was old and foolish, and would not listen to instruction, while a young man was growing in popularity. Sounds like Saul and David to me. Then that young man, after being popular for a while, was overshadowed by another young man. Solomon? The point remains, though, that fame and power and popularity are fleeting. They have no lasting value. Relationships, though, give life and they last a lifetime.

Pray

Ask the Lord to help you to find time to disconnect from work or school for a while each day and focus only on family and friends.

Do

Consider your work schedule. Are you over-worked? Do you feel that you can turn off your cell-phone for a couple of hours a day and just spend time with your family? Is your laptop constantly on so you can catch those e-mails as soon as they come into your inbox? Do you have 3-4 really close friends that you spend time with, that you can share the most difficult struggles of your life with?

Life From God's Perspective

We are often destitute of the things that life demands,
We want of food and want of shelter, thirsty hills and barren lands;
We are trusting in the Lord, and according to God's Word,
We will understand it better by and by.

Charles Tindley

Read

Today let's look at Ecclesiastes 4:1-6. This "under the sun" section is divided into 2 paragraphs, and they don't seem to have much in common. Read it a second, or even a third time, thinking about what in the world they have to do with each other.

Think

Solomon takes us to more evil under the sun. More things to confuse us, to make us wonder about whether or not God knows what He's doing, if He even exists. First, we have oppression. Powerful people oppress the weak and poor. It's a fact of life. Second, the workplace is full of both over-competitive and lazy people. The bosses relentlessly fight their way to the top, and the lazy people do just enough to live.

But then there are those people who live above it all.

In the midst of oppression, though it seems it would be better to never have been born, there are always those people who seem to be unaffected and unwavering in the face of their oppressors. In the workplace, there are those who don't seem to be concerned with getting ahead, yet they are productive, not just getting by.

The common thread?

If our mindset is under the sun, we will never be able to reconcile the oppression of the poor with the idea of a good and just God. If our mindset is under the sun, we will either be consumed with getting ahead at work, or we will do just enough to get by. Living life in God's perspective, though, allows us to know that oppression happens, but God is the ultimate judge. Living life in God's perspective allows us to realize that there are more important things in life than that next promotion or raise, and at the same time gives us purpose and meaning in our work.

Help us indeed to be content, Lord, in the pleasant valley between too much and too little; between slavery and sloth; between overcompeting and underperforming. There, in that valley where heaven meets earth, we can walk with our hand in Yours rather than grasping at the wind.

David Jeremiah, Searching for Heaven on Earth

When Justice Is Unjust

Though the mills of God grind slowly yet they grind exceedingly small, though with patience He stands waiting with exactness He grinds all.

William Wadsworth Longfellow

Read

Ecclesiastes 3:16-22. Are these verses comforting or troubling to you? Write down some of your initial thoughts about this section of Scripture.

Think

Everyone experiences injustice. Have you ever been the victim of a hit and run, or in an accident with an uninsured motorist, or a drunk driver? Have you ever been wrongly accused, or know someone who has? Do you ever look around the world at war, disease, death, and poverty and wonder, "Where's the justice?" Does it seem like the rich and powerful always get their way, while the poor struggle through life from paycheck to paycheck, if they even have that?

You are not alone.

Solomon looked around, and in the place of justice was wickedness. Criminals were in the streets while people who were innocent were in prison. It's kind of the same today. And this is a problem, unless God is a part of your worldview. Without an ultimate judge, injustice reigns. But as Solomon points out, no one, not even the rich, escapes death. And it is then that justice is executed, not only on public crimes, but also in the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

So all that's left is to enjoy life, to live it well and pursue true happiness, which we've already established is in thankfulness for and celebration of God's good gifts. We can relax, because we know that all evil will be punished, and all good will be rewarded. And we who are secure in the love of Christ can rest easy, unafraid of death, looking forward to an eternity of life with God.

Pray

Thank God for bringing justice, even if we can't see it right now. Pray for patience to endure injustice without losing your cool. Pray for someone you know or have heard of that is currently experiencing injustice, that they would be secure in God's timing.

Do

Do some research into some of the injustices currently going on in the world. Find out about persecution of Believers, disease and poverty in war-stricken areas, and then support Christian organizations who attempt to bring the hope that Christ gives to people who have no hope.

How to Live Your Life Without Losing Your Mind

Some saints can't enjoy a meal because the world is starving. They can't joyfully thank God for their clothing and shelter because the world is naked and homeless. They're afraid to enjoy an evening at home with their families because they feel like they ought to be out saving souls...They know nothing of balance and they're miserable because of it...They think the gospel is good news until you obey it. And then it becomes an endless guilt trip.

Jim McGuiggan

Read

Take a look at Ecclesiastes 3:12-15. Think of each verse in light of the first 11 verses of the chapter.

Think

In light of the futility of the earth's cycles and the apparent meaninglessness of life, there has to be a way that we can live our lives and not lose our minds. After all, if we are just a bundle of DNA, then the only thing that gives us meaning and purpose in this life is the Darwinist domination over other species and the exertion of our right to survive as the fittest of our own species. But we have it written deep down on our hearts that there is something more, and as C.S. Lewis put it, "Creatures are not born with desires unless a fulfillment of those desires exists." And in these 4 verses, Solomon gives us a framework of acting in light of those desires, so that we can break the endless cycle of living under the sun.

Enjoy Life, vs. 12- God has given us so much that we can enjoy, let's stop working so hard and live a little. Let's stop filling up our schedules with an endless series of meaningless busy-ness, and take the time to enjoy what God has given to us.

Be Thankful, vs. 13- Don't forget that all the things that we enjoy about life are gifts from God. And the enjoyment of these things is not complete without the verbal expression of how much we enjoy them. God gives us so much, and we return the gift to Him in thankfulness. And thankfulness keeps us from insanity.

Fear God, vss.14-15- A healthy reverence for the One too magnificent for words, the One who is outside the world, yet chooses to work within it, is the third key to breaking the cycle of monotony that so defines our world under the sun. When we recognize Him as Almighty Creator, and then approach Him as such, we are more able to see beyond the cycle of life to its meaning and purpose.

We fear the thunderous power of a love so relentless it could send One's own Son to die. We fear the utter blackness of God turning away, as endured by Christ on Calvary. We stand before the cross and realize we can add nothing. We can take nothing away. The act is perfect and forever, and our fear turns to abounding love and devotion.

David Jeremiah, Searching for Heaven on Earth

Pray

Ask God to reveal to you just how you can more fully enjoy your life and view it in light of His mercy to you. Commit to Him to find the time to really experience some of the great things He's given to us to enjoy.

Do

Evaluate your calendar. Is it jam-packed with busy-ness, or do you find time to enjoy life? Do you make it a point to be thankful for the good gifts God gives? Does your life reflect reverence for the Almighty, or is it spent in search of the next award, pleasure, or promotion?

Finding God in the Dishes

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day, to the last syllable of recorded time...Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

William Shakespeare, Macbeth

Read

Ecclesiastes 3:9-11 says quite a bit in just 3 verses. Get away by yourself and really think about what Solomon is telling us in this passage.

Think

Following Solomon's thought up to this point, there doesn't seem to be much purpose or meaning in the day to day monotony of life. We work, we eat, we die, then someone else receives our inheritance and does the same. Factor in some of the hard things of life, and it really doesn't make sense at all. But God makes everything beautiful in its time. Even the most mundane of tasks has purpose and meaning when we consider that God has appointed us to that job for a reason. Even as boring, repetitive, and meaningless a task as doing the dishes is beautiful when we realize that God's presence is always with us, and He is always working for our good, if we will only recognize it. Brother Lawrence called it "finding God in the dishes."

We sense that something is there, ready to fulfill our deepest desire, though we can't quite put our finger on what it is. We continue to work, we continue the cycle of futility, in the attempt to find the fulfillment that will only come when we see eternity. God has written eternity in our hearts, and as mysterious as it is, we know that we were made for more than what we see in this life. We know that all is not as it should be. And we set our hope by faith on the idea that this desire will be fulfilled, and that all will be made right in the end.

Life is not empty and random and godless, but full and precisely aligned and God-ordained. It's not that your most important work is meaningless; it's that your most trivial moments are also significant.

David Jeremiah, Searching for Heaven on Earth

Pray

Be quiet for a moment and think about the idea that God is right there with you, right now, surrounding you with love and wanting to draw you to Himself. Express your feelings to Him in this moment.

Do

As you go about your normal tasks this week, try to imagine that they are appointed for some great purpose, and don't forget that God is always at work in you, even when you're doing the dishes.

Providence

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest, sun, moon and stars in their courses above join with all nature in manifold witness to Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Thomas Chisolm

Read

If you're following along, we've come to Ecclesiastes chapter 3. Read the first 8 verses. Do you see a pattern here? Each verse is arranged in what is called a couplet. Read it over a few times, then jot down a label for each couplet.

Think

Though your experience may argue the opposite, life is not a series of random events. There are things that we can expect out of life, and we have some of them listed right here. But Solomon goes a step further by suggesting that these things are appointed for us. Birth and death, war and peace, pain and healing, all have their time and purpose in our lives.

Thinking back to some of the hard things you've experienced, can you find the purpose in them? Whatever position you take on the wars you've seen in your lifetime, have you stopped and considered that there may be a Divine Providence at work there, and what in the world God might be doing? Do you take the time to embrace those you love when you have the chance? Do you celebrate freely, rejoicing with those who are blessed, and do you take the time to feel the loss of loved ones, mourning with those who mourn?

All of these things are appointed for us under heaven, and there is a time and purpose for everything.

What Solomon is teaching us in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 is that all of life unfolds under the appointment of providence. Birth and death, sowing and harvest, joys and sorrows, acquiring and losing, speech and silence, war and peace--everything has its appointed time from God. He is sovereign, but He is always faithful.

David Jeremiah, Searching for Heaven on Earth

Do

Take some time to think about events in your life that you can be thankful for. Most are easy, but you probably have a few that are on the surface only and completely negative. Focus on them for a moment. Ask yourself this question: "If God is always at work in my life (and He is), what in the world was He doing there?"

Pray

Thank God for His providence and care in your life, and ask Him to help you understand those things that seem only bad.

Success

Death is the Great Leveler of all men. Whether rich or poor, wise or foolish, powerful or weak, renowned or obscure--no one can rise above it, cheat it, or escape its eventual claim on his life.

Harry Ironside

Read

Today's Scripture is Ecclesiastes 2:12-26. What is the end result of our work under the sun? How do we find enjoyment in our labor? Where can we find meaning in our work?

Think

You might think that ministers have the corner on meaningful and fulfilling careers. After all, we spend our days serving others, studying the Bible, and teaching people how to know God and know Him more fully. And this work is extremely fulfilling. But as much as any other career you can choose, it is easy to view things "under the sun" and lose sight of what really matters in the world. I have to constantly remind myself that what I do will only have true, deep, and lasting meaning if God is at the center of it all.

It doesn't really matter what career we choose, the temptation is to build our own little kingdoms complete with serfs and subordinates where we can establish our reign and feel significant, even if only for a little while. And sometimes pastors/youth pastors are guilty of this more than others.

Solomon makes it clear that the best thing we can do is enjoy the fruit of our labor, and even this is a gift from God. Because even if we reach the top of our profession, making the highest salary and receiving the most awards, when we die, the next guy takes over and our work is soon forgotten. Not to mention that our fortune is passed to someone who will also die and be forgotten. So it is better to enjoy our work, to find our significance in how God views us, for only then will it all make any sense or have any meaning.

Our culture is a cotton-candy world--sugary and seductive--a pink swirl of empty calories. Today you might be the "flavor of the month," with Hollywood or Wall Street at your command. Tomorrow your pockets may be as empty as your soul.

David Jeremiah, Searching for Heaven on Earth

Pray

Thank God for creating us with such significance. Ask Him to keep your focus on Him, so that in everything you do, He is at the center, and He alone receives the glory.

Do

Write down the things that you care most about. Beside each one, write what gives these things significance in your life. How can you arrange things so that God will be at the center of your life?