Could you give it away?

 Could you give it away?

Matthews gospel records this,

"Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments." 

"Which ones?" the man inquired. Jesus replied, " ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,  honour your father and mother,' and ‘love your neighbour as yourself.''" 

"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?" 

Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." 

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth." Matthew 19:16-22.

I’m speaking here to those rich people who claim to be Christian. 

        Now first let me make one thing clear here. There is nothing wrong with being rich. It’s what priority you put on your riches that count. The apostle Paul tells us,

"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." 1 Timothy 6:10.

Sadly here in Canada and the United States too many people listen to false Preachers and evangelist. All of whom are very wealthy. Who preach a prosperity doctrine. Who have as the apostle Paul said wandered from the faith who preach if give to their ministry and God will bless you with even more than you give. Such teaching is wrong.

The true test of a Christian preacher or evangelist or any Christian is are they willing for the cause of Christ to give up all you have?

I see this happening around the world where people who choose to follow Christ quite often are rejected by their families. Cast out of their villages. Forced to leave their homes. Thrown into prison. Even murdered for believing in Christ.

When I see this I wander if those preachers who preach the prosperity doctrine would be willing to give away all they have? Believing God to supply their daily needs.

Thus my question to you; If you claim to be a Christian. A true follower of Christ Jesus are you willing to give up everything for the cause of Christ?

Please think about it.

Are you rich before God?

 Are you rich before God?

Jesus said,

"Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." 

And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.  He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' 

"Then he said, ‘This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.  

And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." ' 

"But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' 

"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." Luke 12:15-21.

Let me start here by saying there is nothing wrong with being rich. Its what emphasis you put on your riches that counts. Do your material possessions come before God? Do you use your wealth to further the kingdom of God and help others less fortunate?

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.

So the question becomes; If you claim to be a Christian which master are you serving?

Please think about it.

Riches, you and God

  Riches, you, and God

Matthews gospel records this,

"Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments." 

"Which ones?" the man inquired. Jesus replied, " ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,  honor your father and mother,' and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.''" 

"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?" 

Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." 

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth." Matthew 19:16-22.

I’m speaking here to those rich people who claim to be Christian. Now let me make one thing clear here. There is nothing wrong with being rich. It’s what priority you put on your riches that count. The apostle Paul tells us,

"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." 1 Timothy 6:10.

Sadly here in Canada and the United States too many people listen to false Preachers and evangelist (all of whom are very wealthy. Many of whom who have as the apostle Paul said wandered from the faith) who preach if give to their ministry and God will bless you with even more than you give. Such teaching is wrong.

The true test of a Christian preacher or evangelist or any Christian is are you willing for the cause of Christ to give up all you have?

I see this happening around the world where people who choose to follow Christ quite often are rejected by their families. Cast out of their villages. Forced to leave their homes. Thrown into prison. Even murdered for believing in Christ.

When I see this I wander if those preachers who preach the prosperity doctrine would be willing to give away all they have? Believing God to supply their daily needs.

Thus my question to you; If you claim to be a Christian. A true follower of Christ Jesus are you willing to give up everything for the cause of Christ?

Please think about it.

Riches

Riches

“Then he (Jesus) said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 
And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.  
He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ 
“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.  
And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’ 
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 
“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”
                                                                                                                                        Luke 12:15-21.
Let me make it clear there is nothing wrong with being rich. However if your riches or your pursuit of wealth become your whole life and God is left out of the picture, ultimately you will lose it all.
Ultimately we all circum to the ultimate statistic that everyone that has ever been born dies.
Then the wealth and possessions we acquire in this life will be divided between others.
The writer of Ecclesiastes states,
        “To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” 
                                                              Ecclesiastes 2:26.
A life without God is meaningless.
If all there is in this world is what we can see, feel and hear then what use is life? There has to be more.
Atheist tell us there is no God I cannot believe that.
Peter John Kreeft states,
“Atheism treats people cheaply. Also, it robs death of meaning, and if death has no meaning, how can life ultimately have meaning? Atheism cheapens everything it touches, look at the results of communism, the most powerful form of atheism on earth.
And in the end, when the atheist dies and encounters God instead of nothingness he had predicted he’ll recognize that atheism was a cheap answer because it refused the only thing that’s not cheap the God of infinite value”
                                                   Peter John Kreeft ph.d 
The writer of Ecclesiastes gets it right when he says,
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole  duty  of man. 
For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”
Ecclesiastes 12:13,14.
When God created man He gave him a freewill. In order to be truly free to choose God even gave man the option of believing in Him or not.
That decision is yours to make. If God does not exist you have nothing to fear with respect to what you do.
However if God exists then you have a lot to fear. For God will one day judge all people everywhere.
Please think about it.

No Life

No life
“Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.”
                                                                                                                        Buddha.
Buddha got it right man cannot live a full life without a spiritual life. I have met many men and women who have been successful in their fields of endeavour only to find their life still very empty.
Many people especially it seems in the entertainment industry that have reached the height of their profession only to turn to drugs and alcohol because they are empty in side.
The writer of Ecclesiastes wrote
“I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”
Ecclesiastes 1:14 
“I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labour. 
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” 
                                                                     Ecclesiastes 2:10,11
What the writer is saying here is the material things of this earth are ultimately meaningless.
While there is nothing wrong with being rich and successful all our riches and success is ultimately meaningless in the light of eternity.
The writer of Ecclesiastes after examining all things finally said,
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole  duty  of man. 
For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”
     Ecclesiastes 12:13,14 
The gospel of Matthew records a man asking Jesus this question,
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  
This is the first and greatest commandment.  
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’  
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” 
                                                                                    Matthew 22:37-40.
Speaking personally I have gone through it all in my sixty plus years on this earth. I have experienced extreme happiness and deep sorrow.
I have had some bleak dark days that have led me down paths I never wanted to go. Yet through it all, God through his Son Jesus Christ, has been with me holding my hand giving me hope.
Jesus can do it for you also.
Please consider accepting Jesus into your life today.