Category: True Wealth

Loving God as We are Obedient

“If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity and their years in pleasantness and joy.”  —Job 36:11

One of the most important aspects of our Christian life is obedience, which reveals our love for God. We simply will not make progress with God unless we are willing to obey Him. Disobedience of any kind, on any level, is sin.

I encourage you to make up your mind that you are going to be extremely, even radically, obedient to God. First John 3:22 says: “We receive from Him whatever we ask, because we [watchfully] obey His orders.” Does that mean we have to be perfect? No. It is true that God in His grace will bless those who make mistakes, but we should not be satisfied to stay the way we are. God blesses us even though we are not perfect, but at the same time, our hearts need to be longing for growth and improvement. We cannot deliberately and habitually sin and then expect God to give us a life filled with His blessings. Our attitudes need to send God a message that says: “I don’t want to stay this way. I want to grow. I want to change and I’m pressing toward that mark.”

If we do the best we can and we are sincerely sorry when we make mistakes, then we know that God will continue blessing us because He is very merciful. But, on the other hand, if we remain in disobedience, knowing we are disobeying God, and not making an honest effort to grow spiritually, then we really do not need to be blessed because if God blesses us in the midst of that attitude or behavior, we will not want to change or grow.

We hurt ourselves every time we do not obey God. But when we do obey God, we position ourselves for great blessings and become people that God can work through for His glory.

Increasing Your Peace

1. See the value of peace. Maybe you need to take peace a little more seriously. If you don’t think it’s a big deal to lose your temper, worry all day or get stressed out, you may have underappreciated the gift of peace more than you realize. Read 1 Peter 3:11.

2. Take inventory of where you spend your time. Do you have an unsustainable life? Maybe you have way too much on your plate, but you keep saying yes to things and filling up your calendar. Remember that Jesus designed us to be fruitful, not busy. So cut away the branches that are not bearing fruit.

3. Trust God. Believers in Christ are supposed to believe, right? That means we trust what He says in His Word and completely give everything over to Him. When we do that, we enter His rest (peace). Read Proverbs 3:5.

4. Decide not to be a people pleaser. It’s impossible to keep all the people in your life happy all the time. This doesn’t mean you should be rude to them. Just don’t try to please someone at the expense of displeasing or being disobedient to God. Live to please Him first.

5. Mind your own business. I’ve learned that usually, the less I know about other people, the better off I am. Being nosy and spending energy trying to learn what others are doing or saying produces anything but peace in life. Read 1 Thes 4:11.

6. Let peace be the umpire of your life.  If you are thinking about doing something, but you don’t have peace about it, don’t do it—because if it’s not peaceful, it’s not God.

7. Do whatever you can to work toward simplicity. I’ve learned that the busier you are, the more important it is to have simplicity, which means sometimes it’s best to let things go instead of starting a war over something petty. Also, it might be simpler to not own so much stuff. Trying to take care of too much can just overwhelm and frustrate you.

From the Inside Out

The King’s daughter in the inner part [of the palace] is all glorious; her clothing is inwrought with gold.
—Psalm 45:13

During the Christmas season, department store windows often feature bright, shiny presents with perfectly tied bows. These gifts may look desirable, but if we were to open them, we would find nothing inside. They are empty, just for “show.”

Our lives can be the same way, like beautifully wrapped packages with nothing of value inside. On the outside, our lives may look attractive or even enviable to others, but on the inside we may be dry and empty. We can look spiritual on the outside, but be powerless within if we do not allow the Holy Spirit to make His home in our hearts.

The verse for today emphasizes the importance of the inner life. God puts the Holy Spirit inside us to work on our inner lives—our attitudes, our responses, our motivations, our priorities, and other important things. As we submit to Christ’s Lordship in our inmost beings, we will sense when He is speaking to us, and we will experience His righteousness, peace, and joy rising up from within us to empower us for abundant living (see Romans 14:17).

The Holy Spirit lives inside us to make us more and more like Christ and to fill us with His presence and guidance, so we will have something to share with others, something that comes from deep in the core of our being and is valuable, powerful, and life giving to everyone with whom we interact.

Having a Relationship with God

When you think of religion, what comes to your mind—a set of rules, regulations and obligations or a deep, intimate relationship with God?

I like to consider myself someone who has a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. I believe He died so we could have a living, vital relationship with God, not just a bunch of rules and regulations we’re forced to follow.

Yes, there are certain guidelines God wants us to follow, but His purpose in giving them is to protect us from the consequences of sin.

When we have a real relationship with God through Christ, life gets exciting because He stirs up a passion inside us to love people—and we don’t have to struggle to do the things He calls us to do. It just happens naturally.

The Power of a Committed Life

Does God want people to be rich? I can’t simply say yes or no, so let me explain it like this: God wants His people to have everything they can handle and keep Him first in their lives, be a blessing to other people and keep a good attitude.

So do I believe God wants people to have possessions and material wealth? Yes, if they can handle it. So you can challenge me and ask: “What do you tell the housewife whose husband has left her with three kids, a broken refrigerator, busted car and she doesn’t have my life? What do I tell her?”

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