Each of us come to a place in life, sometimes more than once, in which we will decide if we are going to live by the flesh or by the spirit. Every time we make a decision to live
by the Spirit it draws us closer to God. Whenever we make a decision for the flesh it will bring more worldliness into our lives. You cannot live by the flesh and get the fruit of God in your life. And you cannot live by the Spirit and have the admiration of the world. There are times in our lives that we come to critical points of decision. What we decide in those times will point us towards God or towards the world. Jesus said it this way:
Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
The more we have and the more we excel in the world the easier it is to decide to live for the flesh. But the flesh ultimately bring destruction. Wanting material things also comes into play here because we begin to have this drive to acquire more and more wealth. I'm talking to someone today that has allowed your finances to bring you to a point of bondage. We can find ourselves in a place where we have to have a certain level of work or pay because our debt demands it. I am reminded of the old saying, "I owe, I owe so off to work I go." You are feeling so much pressure from your bills that your health and peace of mind and spirit are starting to suffer. And it feels like you are trapped in this cycle of debt and there is no way out. Some people get to this place because they are careless with their finances, but others get here because they simply have had bad breaks, and they are struggling just to survive.
When you are in this kind of crisis in life it can take everything out of you just to survive. You would think that if a person had plenty of money and plenty of time that it would be easier to put the things of God first, but this is not true. Think of the people you know that have plenty of money and time, how often do they use their benefits to put God first? Some do, but that is not the norm. Ultimately they lose everything because they did not put God first. When you are in a situation where it is hard to really put God first because you are under such a load of debt it will require much faith to put God first. You are in the perfect opportunity to walk in faith and to trust God with your life.
When your need is great and you trust God with that need by putting him first instead of trying to fix it yourself you have just released 'great faith' and the tiniest bit of faith, the size of a mustard seed, is enough faith to move mountains!
The world teaches us that we should be anxious, unhappy, depressed all stressed out over our bills. You simply don't have to live that way. The bigger your problem, the greater your opportunity to trust God for your answer the more chance you have to see a miracle.
You may face a fiery trial like the three Hebrew children faced the fiery furnace. You can look at all the flames or you can get excited that you will see the fourth man.
You may face the lions den like Daniel. You can worry about the lions or you can rejoice that an angel will walk into the pit with you!
You may face the army's of Egypt chasing you like Moses and the children of Israel. You can stress out that you are being chased, or you can dance with Miriam on the other side of the red sea as God opens up the way for you to escape.
You can focus on the agony of the Garden of Gethsemane, or you can go to the empty tomb and say, "HE IS RISEN JUST AS HE SAID"
I know many people are facing pressures of many kinds. Financial, physical, mental and emotional that is the way of life many times. The good news is that the God of the mountain is still God in the valley. What is going to help you overcome that anxiety and stress that has attached itself to you and won't let go? Faith is going to set you free. You have a choice today. You can focus on the answer which is putting all your trust in God, or you can focus on the problems and take the chance of having a nervous break down. Your finances may be limited, but God is not limited. Your opportunities may be limited by God is not limited. Your strength may fail, but God's strength endures forever. This is your day. Now is your time. You have a choice today to live by the spirit or by the flesh. The spirit brings righteousness, joy and peace. The flesh brings nothing but gloom despair and misery. It is time to look beyond your limitations and see the possibilities of the miracles that lie ahead. God will not fail.
No comments:
Post a Comment