Take No Thought For Tomorrow: What did Jesus mean?

TAKE

NO THOUGHT

FOR

TOMORROW

What did Jesus mean?

(An in-depth study of Matthew 6:24-34)

By
David Oludairo

COPYRIGHT

Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are taken from The Authorized (King James) Version. Rights in the Authorized Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Reproduced by permission of the Crown's patentee, Cambridge University Press.

First Printing, 2020

ISBN 978-1-9164333-4-2

Email: no2mammon@yahoo.com

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COPYRIGHT

INTRODUCTION

PART 1:
Why the Matthew 6:24-34 passage is extremely important….

PART 2:
Jesus starts with a clear message – choose between God or mammon!

PART 3:
How to avoid becoming a servant of mammon

PART 4:
We are “more than meat … more than raiment”

PART 5:
“Look at the birds of the air….”

PART 6:
"Consider the lilies, how they grow…."

PART 7:
This is why we find it hard to trust God!

PART 8:
Are we thinking like Gentiles? Living like Gentiles?

PART 9:
In Christ, how should a believer define his true needs?

PART 10:
Who is on the throne of our lives – Christ or SELF?

PART 11:
Here is the key to our divine provision….

PART 12:
What exactly does it mean to ‘SEEK THE KINGDOM' of God?

PART 13:
God guides our lives through the addition we get from heaven

PART 14:
What does the New Testament teach about wealth?

PART 15:
How selfishness diminishes the glory of God in the church

PART 16:
Is your heart with Jesus? Or, has it been stolen away…?

PART 17:
God will not compromise with His word in this passage!

PART 18:
If God will meet all our needs, why should we bother to work?

PART 19:
Who do you follow - God or mammon? Here is a simple test….

PART 20:
Believers are forbidden from ‘TAKING THOUGHT' for tomorrow….

PART 21:
Believers that ‘TAKE THOUGHT' will never be ready for the return of Jesus

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INTRODUCTION

In several passages in the New Testament, Jesus said, “Follow me”.

Matthew 6:24-34 reveals the narrow way that the men and women that accept this invitation will walk with Jesus. A walk that will take the follower far beyond the realm of the SELF-life that we are all accustomed to.

For, in challenging His followers to “TAKE NO THOUGHT….”, Jesus completely takes our focus away from our ability, skills, understanding, talents, ingenuity, and so on. Re-directing our gaze to the true source and sustenance of life – the Almighty God.

It was this deep understanding of God that led David to pen that very popular verse in Psalm 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want”.

This expression of trust and hope in God is at the heart of Matthew 6:24-34, as Jesus explained WHY and HOW we can depend on God to meet all our needs.

As simple as the passage may appear, its implications are radical and life-altering! That is, when we truly understand the challenging path that Jesus is charting for His followers in this passage. This is the path that TERRIFIED the rich, young ruler and caused him to depart from Jesus in sorrow. For deep down, the heart of man does NOT really trust God – even when it claims to love God and keep His commandments.

Matthew 6:24-34 is a true and comprehensive test of our TRUST in God – our trust in His abilities, and our trust in His faithfulness. This trust is what the Bible describes as FAITH. “But without faith it is impossible to please him….” (Hebrews 11:6).

Sadly, Jesus hinted that this type of TRUE FAITH in God will be lacking among believers in the end-time. “…. Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8)

This 21-day study of Matthew 6:24-34 seeks to encourage us to evaluate and ACTIVELY DEMONSTRATE our faith in God by ‘TAKING NO THOUGHT' as we await the return of His Son from heaven.

As you read, please get ready to be challenged, strengthened, and blessed in your DAILY walk with Jesus Christ! Amen.

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PART 1

WHY THE MATTHEW 6:24-34 PASSAGE IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT….

In Matthew 6:24-34, Jesus gave a RADICAL, life-transforming teaching that shows the TRUE meaning of FAITH IN GOD. The faith that casts its ABSOLUTE DEPENDENCE on God in a daily walk that truly acknowledges God as Abba, Father.

This type of faith is uncommon in Christianity today. Yet, it is the ONLY type of faith that Jesus wants to find among His followers when He returns. Sadly, according to Luke 18:8, He'll BARELY find such faith on earth when He returns.

Why is this so? Why will Jesus not find TRUE FAITH among the millions and millions of sincere believers that are today waiting for His return?

The answer is right there in Matthew 6:24-34! A passage that clearly shows that it is possible to ‘love' God dearly, but NOT trust Him! And, as the church of God, this is where we are today – ‘loving' God, but not trusting Him. Following Him, but with little or no TRUE FAITH in Him as a dependable Father that can meet all our needs on earth.

Therefore, we struggle like unbelievers to meet our basic needs in life – what to eat, what to drink, what to wear. In so doing, we readily turn (perhaps unknowingly) to the only other source of provision on earth – MAMMON!

When mammon is SERVED diligently, and the circumstances are right, the needs of believers (as well as the rest of mankind) are met. Food will be on the table. Cloth will be on our back. Rent/mortgage will be paid, as well as our other numerous bills. This is how the economy of this world system runs - oiled by the spirit of mammon.

But, the economy of the Kingdom of God is totally different from this model that we are used to in the world's system. The two models are completely contrary to one another. One is heavenly, reflecting the nature and character of God. The other is worldly, reflecting the attributes of the world and its ruler – Satan.

This is why Jesus starts the Matthew 6:24-34 passage with the clear distinction He made in verse 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. Ye CANNOT serve God and mammon.”

To serve one master (either God OR mammon) is to despise the other. To hold on to one system is to hate the other. In the passage, Jesus encouraged believers to choose the heavenly model, and He explained HOW to do so. His central admonition in the passage is that we should ‘TAKE NO THOUGHT' for our lives.

But for too long, we have interpreted this passage wrongly! We think ‘TAKE NO THOUGHT' for your life simply means ‘DO NOT WORRY' about your life. This misinterpretation is evident in the fact that, till today, MOST believers are as concerned, worried (or even as anxious) about tomorrow as unbelievers that meet their daily needs by serving mammon! Little or no difference.

A detailed study of Matthew 6:24-34 shows that the meaning of ‘TAKE NO THOUGHT' is radical, and much deeper than we usually think. And it has a practical application for our daily lives as believers in Christ. It is only as we walk in this practical application that worry and anxiety will be eliminated from our lives as the passage says.

This lack of worry/anxiety is the evidence of a TRUE FAITH in God. A living, vibrant faith that Jesus came to inspire in His followers as He reconnects them to God through the cross. Without this practical faith, it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God (Hebrews 11:6)

Not surprisingly, Matthew 6:24-34 seeks to build our faith in God through THE CROSS that we are instructed to carry BEFORE we can become disciples of Christ (Luke 14:27). As a matter of fact, the passage embodies a lot of the conditions of discipleship that Jesus laid down for the followers that He separates from the world unto God. For any man that is a friend of the world (or the ways of the world) is AN ENEMY OF GOD (James 4:4, 1 John 2:15-17).

To be candid, it is TOTALLY IMPOSSIBLE to truly follow Jesus without paying close attention to His radical teaching in this Matthew 6:24-34 passage. Particularly is this true in this end-time that we are waiting to be joined to Him as our Bridegroom. God is urging us to return to this ancient landmark that the church has long abandoned. This is the goal of this 21-day study series on Matthew 6:24-34.

The series may not provide ALL the answers we need on the subject. That is not the objective. Rather, the objective is to challenge and agitate our minds to SEEK ANSWERS DIRECTLY FROM GOD. So that He can teach us Himself. So that He can lead us Himself in this narrow way.

Thus, when He challenges us to pay the VERY HIGH COST that the Matthew 6:24-34 passage demands, our response will be based on what He Himself has taught us PERSONALLY. For great is the challenge that is inherent in the passage! And we CANNOT walk in its light in the energy of the flesh! Each of us needs a definite encounter with Christ on this.

Please get ready to be challenged and changed as you go through the series, relying on the illumination of the Holy Spirit. Great grace is available today to all that are willing to yield to what the Spirit of God is saying to the churches as we eagerly await the imminent return of His Son from heaven.

Come on, let's embark on this journey of exploration in Christ.

Thanks for reading, God bless you.

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PART 2

JESUS STARTS WITH A CLEAR MESSAGE – CHOOSE BETWEEN GOD OR MAMMON!

“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. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24)

Jesus starts the Matthew 6:24-34 passage we are studying by making a very sharp distinction between GOD and MAMMON. Rather surprisingly, the distinction here is NOT between God and Satan. It is between God and Mammon!

Instantly, this highlights an important spiritual truth we ought to always remember – THE AWESOME POWER OF MONEY!!! For money can do a lot of things that God can do!

For instance, coming into a lot of money can change the life of a man massively OVERNIGHT! Money can increase a man's influence greatly (Proverbs 14:20, 19:4). Money confers huge possessions (2 Chronicles 32:27, Matthew 19:22). Money can earmark a man for special favours (James 2:2-4). Money is both a defence and a fortress (Eccl 7:12, Proverbs 10:15, 18:11). Money confers great power/control (Proverbs 22:7). Money can even be A RANSOM for the rich (Proverbs 13:8). And so on.

Yes, money cannot buy everything, but it can indeed buy quite a lot!!! This is why mankind NATURALLY loves money. And why mammon seeks to rival the position of God in the heart of man.

Thus, in this verse, Jesus is making it crystal clear that it is IMPOSSIBLE to love God and money in the same heart. Yet, this is what many of us do today as believers in Christ. Like the rich, young ruler; we love God, but money ALSO has some kind of special place in our hearts! And we are quick to point to several Old Testament passages that cast money in a favourable/desirable light.

(The truth is that money in itself is neither good nor bad. But there are many variables that affect the interaction of money in the human heart. This interaction can be highly destructive in man's heart – because money is highly deceitful and manipulative! This is why Jesus spoke EXTENSIVELY against earthly riches in His teachings.

However, this does not mean there is any virtue in poverty either! God has not called believers to either riches or poverty. On the baseline, “Give us this day our DAILY BREAD….” is the ONLY basis on which God relates with all believers. Anything outside this may be injurious to our walk with Christ, and will most likely lead to DESTRUCTION and PERDITION! – 1 Timothy 6:9)

It is for this reason that Jesus puts two stark CHOICES before believers – God OR Mammon! To love one is to HATE the other, as Jesus said in this verse 24.

Mammon, in this respect, can be regarded as money – or material wealth - that man pursues/acquires/keeps outside the DIRECT CONTROL of God. The crucial word here is ‘DIRECT' control. And it relates to HOW WE GET MONEY and HOW WE SPEND MONEY.

This is what reveals the state of our heart. And the choice we are making daily – God OR mammon.

Which do we love?

Which do we pursue?

Which do we serve?

God is TOTALLY UNCOMPROMISING in ‘casting away' all that choose mammon above Him. “… How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Luke 18:24-25)

This disaster not only awaits RICH MEN, it also awaits ALL believers (including poor men) that today serve mammon! Unknowingly, we may serve mammon through the ‘innocent' way we PURSUE MONEY – even if it is to meet our daily needs. Many of us may be in this category!

Thus, we ought to pay close attention to what Jesus says in this Matthew 6:24-34 passage SO THAT we can each test our hearts in the light of the word of God.

Sequel to this test, what we find may surprise or, perhaps, even shock us! For if the business/employment of a believer is his/her source of income, that believer is a servant of mammon! This is why Jesus goes to a great extent in Matthew 6:24-34 to show us our TRUE SOURCE of income (our TRUE source of all that we need in life).

And that is GOD!!!

God is our ONE and ONLY source of income (income, in this regard, means ‘what COMES IN'). If we are truly connected to our source, we can NEVER run dry – even when our business/employment fails. Please let this truth sink into your heart.

If we are worried or anxious or depressed when our business/employment fails, it is probably because this has been our SOURCE of income! If we live as TRUE DISCIPLES of Christ, our source can NEVER run dry. For God, our Source, is inexhaustible - WHATEVER the circumstances of our lives.

Here is the challenge: Are we truly connected to God as our ONE and ONLY Source? Or are we DEPENDENT on our business/employment more than we realise? If this is so, we need to be careful that we do not become unwitting SERVANTS OF MAMMON!

Why is it important to be diligent in testing our hearts rigorously on this? It is because of this simple truth: WHOEVER controls our income controls our life and destiny! It's as simple as that. This is how we know who our MASTER is – God OR Mammon.

It is for this reason that God takes charge of providing for believers. And Jesus made a lot of efforts to explain this concept in the passage. He uses the birds of the air (verse 26). He uses the lilies of the field (verse 28).

For He knows that if GOD is TRULY in charge of our income, then He'll TRULY be in charge of our lives. In a sense, we can relate this to the secular adage that says, “He who pays the piper dictates the tune.”

As a believer, who dictates the tune of your life? Is it God, or is it the spirit of mammon? This is a question we should consider carefully because both of them CANNOT be in charge at the same time!

Please let's reflect deeply on this.

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PART 3

HOW TO AVOID BECOMING A SERVANT OF MAMMON

“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. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. THEREFORE I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” (verses 24-25)

In the Matthew 6:24-34 passage we are studying, there is a phrase, an instruction, that Jesus repeated three times (in verses 25, 31, and 34). This instruction is “… TAKE NO THOUGHT….”

Jesus was not known for wasting words. So, if he repeated the same instruction three times in this short passage, it means something.

It means EMPHASIS.

It means this is VERY IMPORTANT.

It means PAY CLOSE ATTENTION.

For in these simple words lie the ONLY solution that Jesus gives us as our way of ESCAPE from the insidious tentacles of mammon - and its deception.

In other words, once a believer ‘TAKES THOUGHT' for his life, he AUTOMATICALLY places himself on a slippery slope that may land him in the enticing laps of mammon! It is a natural progression, and no amount of spirituality, or love of God, can stop this progression.

This is why many of us today, even sincere believers, may have unwittingly fallen into the trap of serving mammon. We fail to understand the crucial importance of ‘TAKING NO THOUGHT' for our lives as we follow Christ.

Yet, ‘TAKING THOUGHT', as dangerous as it is, comes to us NATURALLY as rational human beings - even as believers in Christ. Perhaps, this is why many of us take the danger of ‘TAKING THOUGHT' for granted. At times, we even excuse it as an inevitability of life. But this is not so! And Jesus made this clear in two other passages that speak of a concept that is similar to ‘TAKING THOUGHT' for our lives. In both passages, the consequences are GRIEVOUS!

The first is in Matthew 13:22, “He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the CARES OF THIS WORLD, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.”

As powerful as the word of God is in the heart of a man, Jesus tells us in this verse that the CARES OF THIS WORLD can CHOKE that word! Once choked, the word of God is effectively ‘killed' in the heart of that man! The word, as powerful as it is, becomes totally unfruitful in that heart, leading such a person to be ‘taken away' as a branch in Christ (John 15:2). This is how dangerous the CARES OF THIS WORLD can be. Yet, today, many of us do not run away from the CARES OF THIS WORLD! Rather, we find some sophisticated ways of justifying it.

The second passage is in Luke 21:34, “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and CARES OF THIS LIFE, and so that day come upon you unawares.”

In a similar way to the Matthew 13:22 example, the CARES OF THIS LIFE may overcharge a believer's heart, and cause him to BE DISTRACTED, and NOT READY for the sudden return of the Lord. Once the CARES OF THIS WORLD is allowed to take hold in a believer's heart, the door of preparation for the return of the Lord is AUTOMATICALLY shut! The result is dire – for such a believer will be ‘cut off' and flung into judgment with unbelievers (Luke 12:46).

In other words, ‘TAKING THOUGHT' and entertaining the ‘CARES OF THIS LIFE' are destroyers of discipleship and followership of Christ! In truth, it is the reason that most of us are today LUKEWARM in the Spirit – in spite of our tremendous love for the Lord and His Gospel. For the intense fire of the Holy Spirit can NEVER, EVER abide in a heart that entertains the CARES OF THIS WORLD. Light and darkness CANNOT abide in the same space at the same time.

The next natural question is this: “What does it mean to ‘TAKE THOUGHT', or to entertain the CARES OF THIS LIFE?” The answer to the question is as diverse as we have multitudes of Christians - with different levels of faith, maturity, and commitment to Christ.

Therefore, it is extremely important that we should not rush over the definition as we may have been doing – simply defining ‘TAKE NO THOUGHT' as ‘DO NOT WORRY'. It is much deeper than that! However, this is not a subject on which we can depend on Google, or Bible commentaries, etc. for valid answers. Rather, each of us needs to spend QUALITY TIME with the Holy Spirit, so that He Himself can define this concept for us – according to our level of faith and willingness to obey.

This quality time with the Holy Spirit should echo the heart-cry in Psalm 143:10, "TEACH ME to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; LEAD ME into the land of uprightness." As we engage Him on this, the definition we get from Him is what will shape our obedience on how to ‘TAKE NO THOUGHT' for our lives.

Whatever definitions we eventually get from Him, the following points are likely to be prominent; for they cut across ALL levels of maturity in Christ.

A believer in Christ Jesus is NOT permitted to be worried!

A believer in Christ Jesus is NOT permitted to be anxious!

A believer in Christ Jesus is NOT permitted to be depressed!

If/when we engage in any of the above, we are disobeying the Lord. And this disobedience will hinder our walk with Him. But these acts of disobedience (being worried, anxious or depressed) are NOT the main problem. They are mere symptoms of a much deeper problem in our relationship with Him. Often, they reveal a LACK OF TRUST in His goodness and faithfulness. As well as a LACK OF FAITH in His ability as a Creator, Saviour, and Father.

These are serious issues that we dare not gloss over.

It is for this reason that Jesus took time in this Matthew 6:24-34 passage to assure us that the God that feeds the birds of the air is capable of feeding us – even if we do not sow or reap! And is capable of clothing us – even if we do not toil or spin!

In telling us to ‘TAKE NO THOUGHT', what Jesus is assuring us is that our Father has ALREADY TAKEN THOUGHT of all these things for us! This is the underlying meaning of “… your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things” - as we'll see later in verse 32. According to this verse, if we pursue our basic needs in life as unbelievers do, it may be an indication that, like them, we do NOT know God. Neither do we have Him as a Father.

With God, ‘TAKE NO THOUGHT' is not a request. It is an EXPRESS COMMAND! How have we been obeying this command? Or, have we been taking thought for our lives? Unknowingly, have we made ourselves SERVANTS OF MAMMON?

Have we???

Thanks for reading, God bless you.

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PART 4

WE ARE “MORE THAN MEAT
MORE THAN RAIMENT”

“Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” (verse 25)

With these comparisons - life is more than meat, life is more than raiment – Jesus begins to set the stage for WHY believers should trust God for their basic needs in this world.

First, our attention is drawn to the fact that God is the GIVER OF LIFE. Life is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING that a man has in this world. Thus, if God can give us LIFE, why do we presume that He cannot/will not give us the other necessary items that are NEEDED for life? Meat. Raiment. And so on.

What Jesus is doing here is to encourage us to REFLECT, to think deeply, on WHY it is not only a matter of faith, but also a matter of logic to TRUST GOD – both implicitly and explicitly.

So, please reflect deeply on this point – if He gave us life, will He not give us what we NEED for life?

But, there is even a deeper dimension to this.

As believers, once we take thought for our lives, we AUTOMATICALLY disconnect God's thought for our lives (Jere 29:11). This is because there can be no TWO CAPTAINS in a boat!

In the same way, our lives cannot have two drivers. It is either we allow the Lord to be the Driver, OR we choose to drive our lives ourselves. God does NOT want to be a PART-TIME DRIVER in our lives. He does not want to drive today, while SELF drives tomorrow. And then God takes over the next day again. And so on.

He is either LORD in our lives, OR nothing. The middle ground is a block of fast-melting, thin ice that will soon put us in conflict with the Lord – unless we repent.

When we come into a relationship with Christ, our OLD LIVES are supposed to come to an END via the cross. We are no longer in charge of our lives. Our personal plans are dead. Our personal ambition is dead. Our personal dreams are dead. Our natural strength and ability are dead.

All DEAD, and replaced by a new life that is both born and powered by the Spirit of God from above. This life is no longer ours. It is God's!

It is for this reason that the Bible exhorts us to PRESENT OURSELVES as a living sacrifice to God (Romans 12:1-2). Once presented to God in this way, the life no longer belongs to us – it belongs to God. And God is able to provide for a life that belongs to Him. He does not need our help, resourcefulness, or ingenuity to do this. He Himself is A PROVIDER!!!

This is why He wants us to leave our lives in His capable hands, trusting that He is able to keep that which is kept in His trust (2 Timothy 1:12, Jude 1:24). When we start to TAKE THOUGHT for our lives, we rubbish and nullify the plans that God has for the lives we claim to have presented to Him.

In truth, if we continue in this way without repenting, we have NOT presented such lives to God, we are just living a lie! We are not following Jesus Christ, we are following our SELF!!!

And today is the day we need to repent; and, in humility, to ask God to show us the way forward. The way to avoid TAKING THOUGHT for our lives, so that God will INDEED be our shepherd - leading us, and providing for us as we live for Him – all according to His will.

In giving the commandment to ‘TAKE NO THOUGHT', Jesus was very detailed! He listed the five items we should NOT TAKE THOUGHT of. These are

Our LIFE
What we shall EAT
What we shall DRINK
Our BODY
What we shall put on

The challenge He throws at the end of this list is quite illuminating. In effect, here is what He is saying: “If God can give you LIFE (life which no money can buy, life which NOBODY ELSE can give you except God) if God gives you this life FREELY, why would it be difficult for Him to give you the ‘easier' things that money can buy – food, drinks, clothes”.

Which is greater, LIFE or food?

LIFE or drink?

LIFE or what we shall wear?

In other words, Jesus is casting our minds back – back to our very Source of existence! Back to the very Source of the sustenance of our lives. Back to God. He wants us to keep our eyes FIXED on Him for everything. And on Him ALONE.

No wonder the Psalmist exclaimed: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.” (Psalm 121:1)

Does our help come from the Lord ALONE? Or, does it also come from the channels of provision that we have created for ourselves? This is a question that we ought to consider carefully.

In the subsequent verses, Jesus begins to develop on the thought-starter He gave us in this verse 25. And He kept the explanation very simple! Let's begin to unpack this from the next section….

Thanks for reading, God bless you.

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PART 5

“LOOK AT THE BIRDS OF THE AIR….”

“Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?” (Matthew 6:26-27)

As Jesus did on many occasions during His earthly ministry, He used NATURE in this passage to challenge his hearers to THINK DEEPLY.

As He spoke to them, we can imagine, He paused, looked up at some birds as they chirped merrily in the evening sky. He smiled, and re-directed His gaze back to the people, waved expansively in the sky, and continued speaking, “Behold the birds of the air….”

Friends, there are times that life keeps us too busy from enjoying the simplicity of what God teaches man through NATURE. And that is precisely what Jesus drew our attention to here.

Birds do NOT sow.

Birds do NOT reap.

Birds do NOT gather into barns.

Yet… Yet… Yet… GOD FEEDS THEM!

The lesson is brutal in its simplicity, and it undermines what many of us have come to believe about life. But here is the truth: To take care of His children, God is NOT DEPENDENT on our capacity/ability to SOW, REAP, and GATHER!

Please take a second to let this truth sink in. Particularly, on what this tells us about the nature of God. God is a SELF-DEPENDENT Being, with the capacity to do ALL THINGS by the power of His hands. And, chief among the things that God can do, is to FEED THE CHILDREN that He gave birth to through His Spirit.

This divine capacity does not stop at just feeding His children. It extends to even the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and the animals in the forest. Of course, His own children will be uppermost in His heart as He expresses this capacity as A MIGHTY PROVIDER.

No wonder the Psalmist exclaimed: “The eyes of ALL look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of EVERY LIVING THING.” (Psalm 145:16)

You see, as believers, until we understand this fundamental truth, and accept it, we'll always be tempted to live INDEPENDENTLY from God, and become mini-providers for ourselves. Our abilities will tell us that we can make a way for ourselves in this life.

Our employment will ASSURE us that we can get what we want in life – depending on what we earn. It will tell us that the more we earn, the better for us, and the higher our status becomes in life. This is one of the most insidious ways that we get sucked into the mammon vortex that sweeps us off our feet – just as it does for unbelievers (Gentiles). And once we get sucked into this vortex, this becomes our MINDSET! We become just like the Gentiles that know not God! (verse 32)

But Jesus wants His disciples to be different. Totally different. For their eyes ought to be on a Father that is capable of feeding birds that do not sow, reap or gather. Creatures that are TOTALLY DEPENDENT on God, and on the blessings of His hands. NOT on their employment. NOT on their income.

Of course, believers MUST work! The Bible is pretty clear on that. But they do not work SO THAT they can eat! For the income from the employment is NOT the SOURCE of their livelihood.

Understanding these fundamentals is crucial, because some HARD REALITIES of the cross that believers will face as they walk more closely with Christ will be DEPENDENT on the foundation that Jesus is laying in this teaching. To lose sight of this foundation is to balk at the cross when it radically confronts a believer – as it will inevitably do as we follow Christ.

We'll see a few implications of these HARD REALITIES as we go further in exploring the Matthew 6:24-34 passage. But, first, let's look at verse 27, where Jesus exposes the futility of thinking we can ‘TAKE THOUGHT' and ‘TAKE CHARGE' of our lives.

“Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?”

“By yourself, you can't even add one cubit to your stature!” He said.

This verse is usually interpreted in two ways. Some believe it is talking about adding a bit of time to our allotted years on earth. Others think it relates to adding a bit of measurement to our physical stature.

Whichever interpretation we follow, the meaning remains the same. Jesus was telling us that it is futile to think our human EFFORT, our human WILL, can move our lives forward an inch. It CANNOT! For this is not the way man was created to walk.

As we'll see towards the end of the study, the human life was ORIGINALLY designed to live MOMENT-BY-MOMENT in dependence on God. In a close association/relationship/fellowship with Him. The moment this DEPENDENCE is allowed to metamorphose into INDEPENDENCE – in any sphere – man begins to stray into bondage and danger.

If we extend the above truth in application, we'll understand why Apostle Paul issued this stark warning in 1 Timothy 6:9, “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.” (ESV). RUIN and DESTRUCTION – for desiring to be rich!

This is the huge danger that confronts the HUMAN WILL that strays away from God. The HUMAN WILL that thinks it is capable of independence from God (or even mini-dependence on Him).

No wonder the Bible says this in Jeremiah 10:23, “O Lord, I know that the way of man is NOT in himself: it is NOT in man that walketh to direct his steps.”

“… it is NOT in man that walketh to direct his steps.” Heavy words. Yet, this is precisely what we do when we TAKE THOUGHT on any aspect of our lives – including on what to eat, what to drink, and what to wear.

Therefore, Jesus threw the challenge that we read in verse 27: “You can't even do the least thing to your stature! So, quit trying! Hands off! Set your eyes ONLY on the Father – the Eternal Source and Sustainer of Life.”

It is for this reason that we are called into fellowship with God in His Son, Christ Jesus. This is how John 6:57 expresses this truth, “…so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.” Believers are called to live BY Christ, on a moment-by-moment basis - in the way of the cross.

This is the narrow path we MUST seek diligently and follow. For it is the ONLY way that leads to life. Every other way will end in PERDITION and DESTRUCTION.

“Take no thought for your life….”

Thanks for reading, God bless you.

To: Table of CONTENTS

PART 6

"CONSIDER THE LILIES, HOW THEY GROW…."

“And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” (Matthew 6:28-29)

In verses 28-29, Jesus returned to the theme of teaching us through NATURE. And he here challenges us to do something very specific. So, let's do what He said:

“Consider the lilies of the field, HOW they grow….”

So, how do lilies grow?

First, Jesus tells us how they do NOT grow. They do not grow by toiling. They do not grow by spinning. For Solomon to be arrayed in his resplendent glory, his fashion designers had to TOIL! They probably spent endless nights SPINNING the delicate apparels that clothed the king and his ministerial team (1Kings 10:4-5). Men LABOURED to create all that glory!

But, not so for the lilies of the field. This is the point that Jesus was making. The lilies do NOT have to labour to grow in their glory.

So, how do they grow???

Lilies grow by the NATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD that Jesus was trying to teach His hearers here. Lilies do not have to toil or spin BECAUSE of a HIGHER LIFE that works right INSIDE THEM! The law of the Kingdom of God.

Jesus spoke about this law in a parable in Mark 4:26-28. “And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; HE KNOWS NOT HOW. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.”

See this clearly?

It is not within the remit of the lily to care about HOW it grows – or, even to know about it! The Law of the Kingdom of God took care of EVERYTHING! I mean EVERYTHING!!! All the lily has to do is to stay ROOTED to the earth. Once it does this, ‘… THE EARTH PRODUCES BY ITSELF….'! Please read the above verses again and again until the truth revolutionises your thinking.

By itself! By itself!!! By itself!!!

So, it is NOT about the lily – it is ALL about God, and the ways of His Kingdom. By drawing our attention to the lily, God is telling us that as long as we remain ROOTED in Christ, the Kingdom of God will produce ALL that we need BY ITSELF.

Jesus would later return to this particular theme of ‘BY ITSELF' as He concluded the teaching in verse 34. Guess what He said? “… the morrow shall take thought for the things OF ITSELF.”

See that word again? ‘… OF ITSELF….' - a built-in, self-generating procedure. A distinct way of the Kingdom of God.

This idea of provision is revolutionary!!! Particularly to mankind that prides itself in its ability to be SELF-generating so that he can become SELF-independent, SELF-sustaining – and eventually SELF-satisfied.

SELF! SELF!! SELF!!!

This problem was at the heart of the lukewarmness in the church in Laodicea. Please study Revelation 3:17. It is exactly this same problem that afflicts MOST OF US as believers today. This is the secret behind our lukewarmness. We do not understand the NATURE of the Kingdom we are called to inherit in Christ Jesus!

And all believers that PERSIST in this ignorance will eventually be kicked out of the Kingdom – just as Jesus told the Laodicean believers that He'll VOMIT THEM OUT OF HIS MOUTH – unless they repented! There are no two ways to this. No IFs, no BUTs. Just simple obedience.

We EITHER follow the law/nature of the Kingdom of God, OR we follow the law/nature of the Kingdom of man (Satan). There is no middle ground – particularly in this end-time that God is separating the sheep from the goats.

As this separation continues, where would we appear? On the side of the Kingdom of God OR on the side of the kingdom of this world.

“Consider the lilies….”.

Dear friends, please CONSIDER THE LILIES!!!

Thanks for reading, God bless you.

To: Table of CONTENTS

PART 7

THIS IS WHY BELIEVERS FIND IT
HARD TO TRUST GOD!

“Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?” (Matthew 6:30)

In this crucial verse, Jesus hits the nail on the head!

He identifies THE GENUINE REASON why most of us, even sincere believers, routinely TAKE THOUGHT on most aspects of our lives. And this reason is simple:

WE DO NOT REALLY HAVE MUCH FAITH IN GOD!!!

Our faith in Him is so small that we do not trust Him to TAKE CARE OF OUR NEEDS ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS. So, we give our SELF this important duty. For, indeed, and perhaps unconsciously, we trust SELF more than we trust God!

This is why we choose to take the matter of our provision in OUR HANDS. And we take it extremely seriously – like all other ‘reasonable' people in the world. We think it is ‘reasonable' to believe that if God has given us hands, this means He wants us to fend for ourselves!

But the truth is that God is not calling ‘reasonable' people into His Kingdom! He is calling a people of faith. A people that can TRULY TRUST HIM. Trust Him like a child. Just like a child will TOTALLY and INSTINCTIVELY trust his earthly father. It is for this reason that the Bible says, “Without faith, it is IMPOSSIBLE to please Him….” (Hebrews 11:6) Impossible. Impossible. Impossible.

In this regard, our generation barely pleases God. For we barely have faith in Him – in the real sense of the word. This is one of the reasons that we barely see Him move in our days. In our days of SELF-reliance.

But this lack of faith does not mean we do not love the Lord. Of course, we ‘love' Him! This is why most of us are never too far away from the church – where we erroneously think God dwells. This is why we give a significant portion of our resources to the church – erroneously thinking we are giving such to God. This is why we come to Facebook practically every day to discuss Christianity.

So, loving God is not our problem. Our real problem is in HAVING TRUE FAITH in Him! The faith that believes He'll TRULY take care of us in this world.

(There is a story that illustrates this problem perfectly in the Bible. The story of the rich, young ruler. Indeed, he loved the Lord, for he obeyed God even from his youth. But when Jesus confronted him on the matter of selling all his possessions, and to then DEPEND on God by following Jesus, the man could not do it! Rather, he went his way. He LOVED the Lord – yet could not TRUST him with his DAILY living. This is the same problem with MOST of us today – even sincere, fervent believers in Christ. We love the Lord, but do not quite trust Him with this aspect of our lives.

In practical terms, we are INDEED the rich, young ruler! It is just that we are not honest enough like him. For he had the integrity to walk away when he could NOT meet this basic condition of discipleship (Luke 14:33). But we lack this integrity, we do NOT walk away from Jesus. We prefer to hang around Him and amend the condition of discipleship to make it more ‘reasonable'. We prefer to hang around Jesus and follow Him on our terms.)

But there is something even worse. Our lack of faith (or little faith) in God is masking a MUCH BIGGER PROBLEM. A more sinister problem that we'll not dare admit is there.

This problem will surface as we look at the next few sections of the Matthew 6:24-34 passage. But, before that, there is another aspect of verse 30 that we should consider.

GOD IS A CLOTHING SPECIALIST FOR HIS CHILDREN:

It is quite easy to miss a vital point that Jesus made in this verse 30. It is a point that quietly amplifies the stupendous capacity of God to take care of His children. A point that can build up our faith – if we truly understand it.

Here is what Jesus said: “…shall he not MUCH MORE clothe you…?”

Yes!!! God will clothe us MUCH MORE than we can ever need, think, or imagine!

When it comes to clothing His children, God is a Specialist. And the Bible is very rich in alluding to how God clothes His children with what we NEED to survive on earth today, and how He will clothe us in RESPLENDENT GLORY in the world to come.

Please pay close attention to the clothing imagery in the following verses of Scriptures.

(1) “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.” (Isaiah 61:10)

(2) “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” (Revelation 19:8)

(3) “For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven, if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.” (2 Corinthians 5:2-4)

(4) “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.” (Revelation 3:5)

(5) “And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.” (Revelation 4:4)

(6) “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.”(Revelation 7:9)

This last passage reveals God's ULTIMATE CLOTHING PLAN for His children. May we not be missing from the congregation that will be clothed in this way. Amen!

Indeed, as Jesus said; God can, and shall indeed clothe us MUCH MORE – if only we have faith in both His ability and His loving kindness on us as His children. Children that are ABSOLUTELY DEPENDENT on His goodness and FAITHFULNESS.

Is this the type of faith we currently have in God?

This is worth thinking about.

Thanks for reading, God bless you.

To: Table of CONTENTS

PART 8

ARE WE THINKING LIKE GENTILES?
LIVING LIKE GENTILES?

“Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.” (Matthew 6:31-32)

After identifying LITTLE FAITH (or, even no faith) as the principal reason that many do not trust God to take care of our daily needs, Jesus at the beginning of this verse AGAIN reiterates the three elements that believers should TAKE NO THOUGHT OF. And He was very specific in the list:

What shall we eat?
What shall we drink?
Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

After this, He went ahead to let us know WHY we should TAKE NO THOUGHT of them.

It is because TAKING THOUGHT for this life is the PREOCCUPATION of Gentiles – men and women that do NOT know God. Men and women that are on the earth by themselves, and for themselves (they have not been purchased by Another, as Jesus did with His church). Men and women that do not belong to ANOTHER KINGDOM whose ways of life are totally different from the ways of the kingdom of this world.

These are the people that are ‘permitted' to TAKE THOUGHT for their lives. And, it is quite understandable that such people think in the way they do.

But, WE dare not think like them! If we do, it is either because, DEEP DOWN IN OUR HEARTS, we are just like them!!! Or, one day, we'll just become like them, when Jesus utters those dreaded words: “Depart from me, for I never knew you….” (Matthew 7:21-23).

It is for this reason that we must pay very close attention to what Jesus is teaching us in this passage. We must understand the distinction He is making between men that belong to God, and the rest of the world that belongs to Satan.

And to help our understanding, to remind us that we belong to an all-providing God, the critical point that Jesus makes in this verse is very, very reassuring: “… your heavenly Father KNOWETH that ye have NEED of all these things.”

Please note the two keys words in this last phrase: ‘KNOW' and ‘NEED'.

As believers, our rest comes from UNDERSTANDING. When we ‘see' God, or understand what He has done for us, our hearts find REST in His love and goodness. Particularly, in His faithfulness.

Thus, this is the route that Jesus took in verse 32 to help our hearts find our REST in God on the subject of our provision on earth. He simply reassures us that, “Your HEAVENLY Father KNOWS that you NEED all these things”.

Please recall that in Luke 11:13, Jesus contrasted the generosity of our earthly parents with that of our heavenly Father. And He assured us that our heavenly Father is much better than our earthly parents. Our kind-hearted heavenly Father will NOT deliberately IGNORE the NEEDS of His children. What is the essence of God KNOWING our needs – if He is not going to meet those needs?!

What is the essence of God COUNTING the number of the hair on our heads – if He is not going to protect us?!

Furthermore, in verses 5-8 of that same chapter, Jesus also taught about how a man will NOT IGNORE the urgent NEED of his friend for bread. If a man can be faithful like this to a needy friend, how much more would a loving, heavenly Father respond to the NEEDS of His dependent children?

Just before this, still in that same Luke 11, Jesus had taught His disciples to pray, “Give us DAY BY DAY our daily bread” (verse 3).

In other words, Jesus taught His disciples to pray to God for their DAILY needs, and to be ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that God will NOT ignore their request – because He is a TRUSTWORTHY, heavenly Father.

Very simple. But also, very profound.

If we truly know God, and have faith in His goodness, the fact that God KNOWS OUR NEEDS ought to be like a safe harbour for our wandering heart as it tries to TAKE THOUGHT for our lives. This fact ought to provide a blissful REST for our souls. But does your soul rest in God's unfailing love in this way?

But there is an important dimension to this. And this relates to the word ‘NEEDS'. The assurance that Jesus gave here is very specific: God will meet our NEEDS - not our WANTS! And, certainly, NOT our GREED!

In other words, God knows OUR NEEDS. He does not know our GREED! Therefore, He'll provide for our NEEDS. But He will not provide for our GREED. So, when we want provision for our GREED, we would have to be SELF-financing, and SELF-providing!

There are a few Scriptures that talk about God committing Himself to our NEEDS as the baseline of our daily existence. These include:

“… for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them … and distribution was made unto every man according AS HE HAD NEED.” (Acts 4:34-35)

“But my God shall supply ALL YOUR NEED according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

“And having FOOD and RAIMENT let us be therewith CONTENT.” (1 Timothy 6:8)

CONTENTMENT with the BASIC NEEDS of life is a major aspect of a believer's walk with Christ. 1 Timothy 6:6 highlights this challenging point. “But godliness with contentment is great gain.”

In His immense wealth and with His infinite resources, God is able to provide for us far, far BEYOND OUR BASIC NEEDS. But this is NOT His default way in relating to His children. Rather, He has a baseline guarantee that applies to ALL believers. This baseline guarantee relates to ONLY our basic needs – as the above passages confirm. This is the default level for ALL believers. This is where God wants our contentment to lie.

It is only in specific cases, and for specific reasons, that God Himself chooses to take some believers ABOVE the baseline guarantee. It is not simply for their comfort. Or because God loves them more than other believers. Rather, it is for the realisation of some specific GOALS and PURPOSES in the lives/ministries of such believers. And, for some of them, this state of ‘having much more than the basic needs' may not even be permanent! For this is NOT the default way of God with His children.

This is one of the many ways that God keeps His children away from the entrapment and deception of riches/mammon. The Bible warns us that believers that ‘desire to be rich' put themselves in the danger of FALLING “… into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.” (1 Timothy 6:9-10)

These sobering thoughts have deep implications for ALL believers, and it underscores a key condition that Jesus gave for discipleship: “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that FORSAKETH not all that he hath, HE CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE”(Luke 14:33). Jesus does not want His followers to be materialistic in this world. For He cannot dwell in the same heart with materialism.

It is for this reason that many money-loving, money-hugging believers THINK they are followers of Christ today – but, in truth, they are simply followers of church/religion!!! The ways of Christ are completely different from what we have been taught by the mammon-infested church system of today.

This is why God is today urging us to completely re-think our followership of Jesus Christ. What is our attitude toward materialism? Have we been imbibing the hedonistic culture of the world that encourages us to buy, buy, buy?

Or, rather, have we trained our hearts to be contented in Christ? Contented with WHATEVER God provides for us – big or small?

Please let's reflect deeply on this.

Thanks for reading, God bless you.

To: Table of CONTENTS

PART 9

IN CHRIST, HOW SHOULD A BELIEVER
DEFINE HIS TRUE NEEDS?

As we saw previously in this series, the will of God for believers in Christ is that we should be CONTENTED with the BASIC NEEDS of life.

“But godliness with contentment is great gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.” (1 Timothy 6:6-8)

This verse describes godliness with contentment as GREAT GAIN. Please think about this. For, often, we tend to count abundance, wealth, etc, as GREAT GAIN. But what the Bible describes as GREAT GAIN is contentment with WHATEVER we have!

The meaning of this is clear. As followers of Christ, our GREAT GAIN in the will of God does NOT lie in the abundance of material possession! Rather, it lies squarely on godliness with CONTENTMENT. Contentment with the basic needs of life.

The above verse limits these basic needs to food and raiment. This echoes the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 6:31, where He mentioned ‘What shall we eat?' or, ‘What shall we drink?' or, ‘Wherewithal shall we be clothed?' Three basic needs. This is where God is placing our gaze.

Obviously, the necessity of modern-day life may compel us to extend this list somewhat. The way we extend our list of needs will be different for individual believers, depending on their level of faith in God and their maturity in Christ. The closer we are to Christ, the shorter our list of needs is likely to be. At least, relatively speaking. For Jesus lived a frugal lifestyle. That is the example He left for us to follow.

Thus, as we draw up our list of needs as individual believers, there are some standard principles that should apply to us ALL. This common principle starts with how we DEFINE what constitutes 'A NEED' in our lives. (Often, the way we define our NEEDS is a reflection of the HIDDEN state of our hearts.)

Let's start with one of the most basic elements of Christianity – that is, the true Christian faith that GENUINELY FOLLOWS CHRIST. Not the shadow of Christianity that we know today.

This genuine faith teaches us to put an INTENSE FOCUS on OTHER PEOPLE (especially our brethren), rather than on ourselves. In some cases, we are taught to even put others AHEAD OF OURSELVES in our considerations!!! As a matter of fact, 1 John 3:16 raises the stake with these words, “… we ought to LAY DOWN OUR LIVES for the brethren.” This verse makes it clear that this is how we demonstrate the TRUE LOVE OF GOD.

Please bear all these in mind as we go on. For they indeed have a practical application in our walk with Christ. For instance, can I claim that I am ready to die for a brother that I can't even give my ‘excess' worldly goods to?

Let's put it in another way. If I have money to buy 10 shirts (because I THINK I need them, and I can afford it), have I thought of my brethren that are struggling with only one or two faded shirts? As I thank God for ‘His provision' of the 10 shirts, where have I put the welfare/interest of my MORE needy brethren? Have I put it ahead of my own needs/convenience? Have I even put it on the same level with my own needs/convenience?!

No! I have put it far below MY OWN ‘NEEDS'. I have put my own interest and welfare FIRST. And, thereafter, if I am able to toss 2-3 shirts in the direction of my MORE needy brethren, I'll pat myself on the back and think I am a charitable Christian that has fulfilled the duty of love and charity!

For this ‘kindness', SELF will tell me that I am not doing too badly. For SELF always tries to deceive us that we are nice, decent, considerate people. This is how it manages to rule our lives in the dimness it creates around our TRUE spiritual condition. It is ONLY in the light of God, in the light of His word, that the hidden recesses of our hearts are TRULY revealed. No wonder the Psalmist cried out, “… in thy light shall we see light.” (Psalm 36:9)

For us too, we should allow ONLY the light of God to define/reveal our hearts. We should NEVER rely on what SELF tells us about ourselves (SELF-opinion). Therefore, let's use God's light to test our hearts in the example we used above:

Is that 10th shirt A NEED or A WANT?
Is your 3rd pair of black shoes A NEED or A WANT?
Is your 3rd black handbag A NEED or A WANT?

And so on, and so forth. If we allow God to challenge our material possessions in this way, many of us will see how GUILTY we are of crass materialism! The spirit of materialism has caused many of us to define our needs in WORLDLY TERMS, instead of on GODLY TERMS. In other words, what we today call our NEEDS may indeed not be needs – if we allow God to define our needs for us in the spirit of love. In the Spirit of Christ.

And, from this perspective, we may see that, perhaps, we are not as nice, kind, and considerate as SELF wants us to think! We may actually be selfish and materialistic - accumulating the world's resources AT THE EXPENSE of our much more NEEDY brothers and sisters in Christ. Not to mention other needy people outside the faith. Needy people that God may wish to touch through our generosity in His name.

Let's look at another practical example. If I want to throw a party to celebrate my birthday, I must not just look at how much I can AFFORD to spend on the party. In addition, I should also be thinking about other ways in which that money, God's money, can be spent. Especially on the poor people around me. This may be one of the reasons that Jesus gave the challenge we read in Luke 14:13-14, “But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed….”. Friends, it takes an intense focus on others, and on Christ, to follow this counsel.

So, what is the implication of all these in relation to defining our needs? It means when we draw up our list of needs, it must NOT be just on the basis of what we can afford, but on the basis of the NEEDS of those around us. This is a profound truth. A picture of the heart of Jesus Christ. To define our needs in any other way is SELFish, materialistic, and even ungodly! For that is NOT the way of Christ.

It is important that we think through all these matters carefully, so that the Lord will purge our hearts from materialism. And from a below-the-radar LOVE OF MONEY through the comfort/convenience/status that money can buy for us. This is AN EVIL CAGE that captures the soul of men – even though most of us may be unaware of it.

Let's be clear. God has not called us to ‘cure' the poverty of the whole world! He knows we cannot do that. But what He certainly wants is that we should allow our consumption of the resources of the world (what we identify as our ‘needs') to be MODERATED by the MORE pressing needs of the poor that are all around us. Particularly, in the church.

There are other ways of looking at this knotty problem. We'll see these as we continue in the series.

For now, please let's think about this: how do we define our needs now?

Thanks for reading, God bless you.

To: Table of CONTENTS

PART 10

WHO IS ON THE THRONE – CHRIST OR SELF?

DEPRIVATION. This is one word that may sound scary to most people.

But to followers of Christ, ‘DEPRIVATION' is a way of life. An integral part of the suffering that a believer encounters in his walk with Christ in the way of the cross. On that journey, every disciple will soon realize that it is impossible to travel far with the Master without experiencing DEPRIVATION, or even OUTRIGHT LOSS, on several fronts.

Deprivation is one of the ‘tools' that God uses to strip our souls from the deceitful grip of materialism. God's way of teaching believers that, many times, the things that we think we NEED are not the REAL NEEDS of our lives! For they are not germane to our existence.

Jesus set the tone for this HARD EXPERIENCE when He laid down one of the conditions for following Him: “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not ALL that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33)

‘Forsaking all' or the 'loss of all' was the unique testimony of the early followers of Christ. For instance, we read this in Luke 18:28, “Then Peter said, Lo, we have LEFT ALL, and followed thee.” Also, we read this testimony of Apostle Paul in Philippians 3:8, “… I count ALL things but loss … I have suffered the loss of ALL things….”

The antithesis to this is found in Matthew 19:16-22, where the rich, young ruler who could not forsake his possessions was constrained to walk away from Jesus sorrowfully. For it is indeed impossible to walk successfully with Jesus when materialism has ANY hold on our hearts. It is for this same reason that Jesus made it crystal clear that it will be more difficult for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God! (Matthew 19:23-26)

Jesus amplified this reality when He made it clear, in Matthew 6:24, that to hold on to mammon is to DESPISE GOD. “Ye cannot serve God and mammon,” He concluded.

Immediately after saying this, He went on in verse 25 to issue the instruction to ‘TAKE NOT THOUGHT' for our lives. There is a direct connection between verses 24 and 25 (they are even joined with the word ‘therefore'). The connection is both illuminating and challenging: UNTIL WE GET TO THE POSITION WHERE WE ‘TAKE NO THOUGHT' FOR OUR LIVES, WE MAY NEVER BE FREE FROM THE GRIP/DECEPTION OF MAMMON. Please consider that statement carefully.

God's direct provision is our only antidote against materialism. Thus, Jesus focusses our attention SQUARELY in this direction. And He went to great lengths to assure and re-assure us that God can be trusted to meet ALL our basic needs.

But the carnal heart of man does not like all these. The carnal heart of man does not trust God.

Rather than trust God, and WAIT upon His provision, we trust our ingenuity and resourcefulness to meet what WE define as our own needs. When we depend on ourselves in this way, we put ourselves in charge of our own lives!

We can do what we like
We can buy what we like
We can go where we want to go
We can work where we want to work
We can work for as long as we want to work
And we can aspire to earn whatever we think will be necessary to keep us and our family reasonably comfortable

In this scenario, ALL that we need from God is that He should just use His awesome, supernatural power to facilitate OUR dreams and OUR will. We simply want God to say ‘AMEN' to our prayers. Prayers that emanate from a carnal desire to TAKE CHARGE of our hearts!!!

But God's plan is totally different from this waywardness. God wants children. Children that will obey Him as the Lord of their lives. Children that SURRENDER their lives to Him TOTALLY. So that His will may be done in their lives as it is done in heaven.

Children that will INDEED present their lives as a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to Him (Romans 12:1-2). God wants children like these to STAY CLOSE to Him. In fellowship, getting their bread from Him on a DAILY basis – not on a weekly basis, not on a monthly basis. Just day-by-day. It is for this reason that Jesus told His followers to ‘TAKE NO THOUGHT' for what they'll eat, drink, or wear. That is not their business – it is the Father's business to provide.

However, such a true walk with God requires GREAT FAITH in Him. An implicit trust in His goodness and faithfulness as a Father that knows how to give good things to His children.

Friends, is this how we see God today? In theory, probably YES! But, in practice, for many of us, the answer is a resounding NO!

This is why we prefer to live by the work of our hands. So that we can be in control of our lives. For, indeed, in our heart of hearts, WE DO NOT TRULY TRUST GOD FULLY!!! Rather, we trust SELF.

And, if God should open our eyes, we'll be shocked to see that the man on the throne of our hearts (controlling us in many instances) is SELF – not Christ!

We can borrow a principle from Romans 6:16, “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey….” As MOST of us have yielded ourselves as SERVANTS OF MAMMON, we are unable to SERVE GOD in the spirit of His Son, Jesus Christ.

This is the reason for our enduring lukewarmness, and our inability to be ABLAZE for God in this dark and evil generation.

But there is room for repentance today – for as many as see this truth clearly. We can go back to God for mercy and forgiveness. And for the empowerment to TRULY DENY SELF – so that we may bear our cross and follow Christ indeed.

This is the real challenge for all believers that aspire to TRULY get ready for the imminent return of the Lord.

As we examine our hearts, where are we in all these?

Thanks for reading, God bless you.

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PART 11

HERE IS THE KEY TO OUR DIVINE PROVISION….

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)

In earlier verses, Jesus had assured believers that God is a trustworthy Father that is well able to supply all our needs. In this verse 33, He started to teach us HOW to access that supply channel. Let's pay close attention.

The first word in the sentence is ‘BUT'. And it is quite significant. For Jesus used it to urge a TOTAL TURN-AROUND from what He told us TO STOP DOING in verse 31. That is, “… take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?”

Here is what He was saying:

Do not TAKE THOUGHT about what to eat; INSTEAD, do what I am about to tell you.

Do not TAKE THOUGHT about what to drink; INSTEAD, do what I am about to tell you.

Do not TAKE THOUGHT about what to wear; INSTEAD, do what I am about to tell you.

So, before even telling us what to do, Jesus had already elevated what He was about to recommend. He had placed a premium value on it. He had taken our focus away from how we used to live, and pointed forward to how He wanted us to live from that moment.

We ought to meditate conscientiously on all these, so that His word may have free course in our hearts, and motivate our response in simple obedience.

The next crucial word in the sentence is ‘SEEK'. An interesting word as well. The Kingdom of God is not lost, so why would Jesus ask us to SEEK the Kingdom? The first thing this communicates to us is that WE HAVE A PART TO PLAY IN THIS! SEEKING is not a passive activity, it requires ACTION. The Kingdom of God will not float to us on a bed of roses! It requires our effort. It requires our will. It requires our persistence. For, indeed, it is those that SEEK that shall FIND, as promised in Matthew 7:8.

Next, the word ‘FIRST' also stands out prominently in the first few words in this verse 33. It assigns the TOPMOST PRIORITY to the instruction that Jesus was about to give. It completely relegated ALL other efforts/activities to the background, and made this the central pursuit of our lives. The bedrock of ALL that we do as believers in Christ Jesus.

Sequel to this, we see the full picture that Jesus presented, “… seek first the Kingdom of God AND His righteousness….”

Brothers and sisters, this is our key to access the provision that God has earmarked for each of us. Provisions that were prepared, most probably, BEFORE the foundation of the world! Provisions that were prepared, certainly, before we were ever born into this world.

If we ever fail to access all these provisions that God had made for our sojourn on earth, it would be because we refused, ignored, or neglected to use THE KEY that would open the door to our provision.

And this would be sad indeed. For, in a sense, that would be like the story of the wedding guests that were invited to the banquet of the Great King in these words: “… Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and ALL THINGS ARE READY: come unto the marriage” (Matthew 22:4).

Alas, those that were invited had no access to ALL THINGS THAT WERE READY! They were encumbered with the ‘busyness' of life. And they lost their place at the banquet – for they did not understand THE GREAT INVITATION of THE GREAT KING!

May this not happen to us in Jesus' name. Amen. This is why we ought to pay special attention to the TRUE meaning of ‘seeking the Kingdom and His righteousness'.

So, what exactly does this mean? That will be the focus of the next section.

Thanks for reading, God bless you.

To: Table of CONTENTS

PART 12

WHAT EXACTLY DOES IT MEAN TO
‘SEEK THE KINGDOM' OF GOD?

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)

What precisely did Jesus mean by ‘… seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness….”?

Until we sit down to answer this question in clear terms, we may be overlooking the TRUE meaning of the Christian faith. And this may deny us access to ALL the provisions that God has earmarked for our sojourn here on earth.

There are, of course, several ways to interpret the meaning of ‘seeking the Kingdom of God'. But, for the purpose of this series, please let's turn to a parable that Jesus gave in relation to the Kingdom in Matthew 13:45-46.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, SEEKING goodly pearls: Who, when he had FOUND one pearl of great price, went and SOLD ALL that he had, and bought it.”

This merchant man was SEEKING goodly pearls, just as we are enjoined to SEEK the Kingdom of God. When he found one pearl of GREAT PRICE, he knew that there was ONLY one way he could get that pearl. And that was to SELL ALL that he had. And that was precisely what he did! For he knew the value of the pearl he had found.

In another instance in the Bible, in Matthew 19:16-22, there was another man that was SEEKING eternal life in the Kingdom of God. Fortunately for him, he met the King of the Kingdom. However, when he was told what it would cost him to get what he sought, he went away sorrowfully – for Jesus had told him that it would entail his SELLING ALL that he had, along with carrying a cross!

Brothers and sisters, it is in exactly this same way that we too can SEEK and FIND the Kingdom of God and His righteousness – when we SELL OUR ALL!!!

Sell our ALL because we know the value of the Kingdom to which we have been invited.

SELLING OUR ALL will cost us EVERYTHING WE ARE and EVERYTHING WE HAVE.

It will consume our goals, our dreams, our career, our relationships, our reputation, our preferences, our aspirations, our possessions, our desires, and even our rights and our dignity! Everything goes! This is what it takes to seek, to find, and to possess the Kingdom.

There is NO OTHER WAY whatsoever – as the rich, young ruler found out to his dismay. His love for the Lord was NOT enough. His obedience to the word of God from his youth was NOT enough. His earnest desire to seek the Kingdom, which led him to Jesus, was NOT enough.

There is ONLY ONE PRICE to pay – and that price will take ALL. Believers that seek to DODGE this price will never, ever find the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

This is one way to interpret the meaning of ‘seeking the Kingdom'. There is yet another way that the Bible illustrates this same pursuit for us. And, it takes only a little bit of spiritual insight to see how the two concepts are similar. Please follow closely.

Is there a better and easier way to SEEK the Kingdom of God than to follow the Man that knows the way to the Kingdom? If we simply follow this Man, will we not get to the Kingdom ‘easily'? For the Kingdom is both His origin and His destination. He knows the way to the Kingdom so well that He calls Himself THE WAY!

However, to follow Him, there is a clear sequence of instructions that He gave in Luke 9:23. “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and FOLLOW ME.”

The verse is clear - all that desire to follow Him must (1) DENY THEMSELVES, and (2) CARRY THEIR CROSS before they can follow Him. Without taking these steps, there is absolutely no followership. Jesus made this point poignantly in Luke 14:27, “And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE.” (Please remember that we cannot carry the cross until we have denied SELF as Luke 9:23 outlines.)

Jesus added this in Luke 14:33, “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not ALL that he hath, HE CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE.”

Do you see the picture that is emerging from this ‘option' of SEEKING the Kingdom through following the King to His Kingdom? The process STARTS with DENYING SELF – which, in the final analysis, will involve turning our backs on our goals, our dreams, our career, our relationships, our reputation, our preferences, our aspirations, our possessions, our desires, and even our rights and our dignity!

In this sense, SELLING OUR ALL and DENYING OUR SELF mean exactly the same thing! For when a man is dead to SELF, all the elements listed above mean absolutely nothing to him. Which dead man has a career? Which dead man has goals? Which dead man has possessions? Which dead man can enforce his rights and protect his dignity? None!

Friends, this is the ONLY way to SEEK and FIND the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. And as Luke 9:23 shows, it is A DAILY WALK. A daily exercise in denying/dying to SELF – dying to everything we are, and everything we own. Everything as in EVERYTHING! Progressing in our walk with Christ will bring every man to Level Zero – the level of losing ALL (with the attendant pain and shame, and often embarrassment that this involves.)

This is how we exchange our sinfulness for His righteousness, how we exchange our weakness for His strength, how we exchange our earthly treasure for His heavenly treasure, and so on. In short, this is how we exchange our lives for the life of Christ! For it is in our DEATH (death to the flesh) that we find and experience LIFE in the Kingdom of God.

And this is the process that opens the resources of the Kingdom of God to us – including the access to all that God has provided for our sojourn on earth. These resources will come to us in the form of what will be ‘added' to us, as Jesus mentioned in verse 33 – … all these things SHALL be ADDED to you.”

There is quite a lot to say on the subject of what ‘shall be added' to us. That is, the ‘ADDITION' that we get from heaven. This is the real MEAT of the whole teaching in Matthew 6:24-34, and we'll be exploring a bit of this in the next section. Please follow closely. Thanks for reading, God bless you.

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PART 13

GOD GUIDES OUR LIVES THROUGH THE ADDITION WE GET FROM HEAVEN

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things SHALL BE ADDED unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)

As established previously, it is clear that it is God's will that believers SHOULD be contented with the BASIC NEEDS of life. Until we grasp this truth in its rudimentary form, and embrace it, we are yet to understand the heart and essence of the Christian faith.

In Matthew 6:24-34, Jesus was clear that believers should not even TAKE THOUGHT about these basic needs of life! According to Him, our eyes should be fixed on God as our Sole Provider. A responsible Father that is well able to meet His obligation to provide for the needs of His children. For He feeds the birds of the air that neither sow nor reap. That is what Jesus said.

So, if we are to TAKE NO THOUGHT for our basic needs, in what ways will God meet our needs then?

This is where the word ‘ADDITION' comes in. Please note this word, as it will crop up extensively in this latter part of the series. It is derived from the words of Jesus in verse 33, “… shall be ADDED unto you…”

Our primary duty as believers is to SEEK the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. When we do this, God Himself undertakes to ADD ALL THAT WE NEED in this world.

Apostle Paul puts this same concept in another way in Philippians 4:19, where he said God, “… SHALL supply all your NEEDS….”

Basically, ‘supply all your needs' as used here, and ‘all these things shall be added unto you' as used in Matthew 6:33, mean exactly the same thing. God is the Source, the Provider. He is the One that does the ADDITION. Here is the way Psalm 104:28 expresses the same concept, “That THOU GIVEST them THEY GATHER….” It is ONLY that which God gives (adds) that believers ought to gather. Nothing more. Nothing less.

This concept of ADDITION is very important for a disciple of Christ because it is the means by which God directs the life of a believer according to His will – giving them what He wants them to have, and keeping them away from what He does not want them to have.

Please note this next point very carefully. As disciples of Christ, WHATEVER we have that was not ADDED to us by God, has the potential of ‘harming' us, or sending LEANNESS into our souls (Psalm 106:15). These include the ‘blessings' we receive from God using a ‘do-or-die' attitude in the way we fast, pray, etc, to constrain God to give us what WE want.

It is to avoid this danger that believers ought to surrender to the Lord in ALL things, trusting that He will not withhold any good thing from us as we follow His Son by the power of His Spirit (Psalm 84:11). For, indeed, the Bible has made it clear that God knows ALL THAT WE NEED, and that He'll give these to us according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

All we have to do is just to ask (Matthew 7:7), in prayer and supplication WITH thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6). The thanksgiving will come from a heart that knows God will honour His word to provide – even before the provision manifests.

On this subject of ADDITION, when we stray away from the simple path that God has created for our own good, we run the risk of allowing our hearts to be ENTICED by the spirit of mammon, worldliness, materialism, or covetousness. This is why many of us remain lukewarm babes in Christ - ever learning, but not able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

As the Bible commands, all believers should work. And work very hard too! But, we must always remember that our business/employment is NOT the source of our income. Rather, our income comes ONLY from the ADDITION that God releases to us as individual believers.

In other words, as believers, we do NOT live on our income. However, the income from our business/employment is one of the main ways that God may grant us our regular ADDITION (we need to discern how much of our income He'll want us to keep for our use, before giving away the rest in the way He'll direct us to).

In some cases, His ADDITION will NOT be dependent on our secular job. He'll provide for us in other ways that He may choose. He once fed Elijah through a bird. He fed the Israelites by raining manna in their camp. At another time, He used the wind to blow meat (quails) into their camps in humongous numbers!

You'll recall that Jesus once asked His disciples this question: “… When I sent you WITHOUT PURSE, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.” (Luke 22:35). They lacked NOTHING – yet they had no secular jobs.

However, at yet other times, it may be God's will to ADD to His servants/disciples through secular work. We see this example in Apostle Paul's life/ministry (Acts 18:3, 20:34).

There is a challenging truth that every TRUE disciple of Christ knows. Even when God chooses to ADD to them through the income from their business/employment, such income does NOT belong to them per se! It belongs 100% to the Lord! Yes, 100% - not 10% as the tithing doctrine teaches.

For a TRUE believer in Christ, tithing is COMPLETELY ERRONEOUS. Our standard in the Gospel, in the cross we carry to follow Christ, is TOTALLY DIFFERENT from the Old Testament precepts on the subject of giving. This is why tithing was NEVER mentioned among the believers in the early church. Rather, the New Testament principle is that, in moderation, disciples of Christ should spend whatever the Lord allows them to use out of their income, and give the rest away – often to THE POOR AND NEEDY (Acts 20:35, Eph 4:28). And this is ENTIRELY a free-will principle – depending on each believer's faith and level of maturity in Christ.

As disciples of Christ seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, there are several factors that influence the ADDITION that they receive from God. We'll be looking at a few of these factors in the next section.

In conclusion, here is something for us to think about: is it entirely clear to us that one of the reasons that God wants believers to work is SO THAT we can SUPPORT the weak and needy? Not just to give them a few dimes here and there, but to give to them LIBERALLY – according to our level of faith and the level of the love of God in our hearts.

How are we meeting this obligation to the Lord?

Thanks for reading, God bless you.

To: Table of CONTENTS

PART 14

WHAT DOES THE NEW TESTAMENT
TEACH ABOUT WEALTH?

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)

In providing for the NEEDS of His children as promised in the above verse, God is not too concerned with blessing us with material abundance and comfort. There are several reasons for this.

First, as strangers and pilgrims in this world, Jesus taught us to place a higher premium on things above, rather than on things on earth. On a few occasions, He contrasted the temporal nature of earthly wealth with the more enduring value of eternal riches (Matthew 6:19-21, Luke 16:11, Rev 3:18, etc). And He told us to focus on the latter.

In addition, He taught extensively about the corrupting influence of earthly riches (Matthew 13:22, Luke 12:15-21), and how it would be difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God (Matthew 19:24). Jesus was very clear that the value of a man's life does NOT consist in the abundance of his possessions (Luke 12:15). We also read in 1 Timothy 6:5 that gain is NOT necessarily godliness!

Jesus went further in His attack on material acquisition by instructing His followers NOT to lay their treasures here on earth, but to convert them to treasures in heaven by selling what they have and giving alms to the poor (Luke 12:33).

To cap His revelation on the divine perspective on material wealth in this New Testament era, Jesus said this: “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, HE CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE” (Luke 14:33). By making this a condition of discipleship, Jesus amplifies the seriousness of the subject, and shows it is an issue on which the Lord will NOT compromise.

With all the foregoing, it is not a surprise that the Lord steers His people away from materialism by instructing them to be CONTENTED with the basic needs of life (1 Timothy 6:8). Not only that, He also projected SUFFERING and ENDURING HARDNESS as vital cornerstones of the Christian walk on earth. It is in this area of FORTITUDE that the Lord wants His disciples to be focussed – never, ever on material prosperity.

This should not come to us as a surprise. It fits the overarching image that the Lord paints of a faithful disciple as (1) a stranger and pilgrim on earth - 1 Peter 2:11; and (2) a soldier that ENDURES hardness through spartan discipline in this world – 2 Timothy 2:3-4.

Obviously, there is a good reason why no earthly army camps its soldiers in five-star hotels when they are training for an important war! Please think about this.

It is in this same way that the Lord raises us both as (1) His beloved children that are being trained/disciplined to reign with Him eternally, and (2) as focussed soldiers that occupy the land for Him today in the hostile territory of the flesh and the world. Both roles require HARDNESS and ENDURANCE.

This is why the baseline of God's provision for ALL believers is ONLY with the BASIC NECESSITIES OF LIFE. Anything that the Lord chooses to give us over and above our basic necessity is STRICTLY FOR A PURPOSE – not PRIMARILY for comfort.

It is for this reason that believers ought to be very careful when God entrusts us with earthly goods that are above what we NEED for our basic existence. There's usually a purpose for it, and many times, when we do not realise this purpose, we'll most likely ABUSE the earthly riches that God entrusted to our stewardship. This abuse will arise because, instinctively, man is SELFISH in the inner recesses of his carnal heart.

Thus, many wealthy believers may have become unintentional ABUSERS OF GOD'S PURPOSE in the common wealth that he entrusted them with. Wrongly, many think such wealth is simply for their convenience, comfort, and enjoyment. Money to live in grand houses. To drive posh cars. To send their children to the best schools. To enjoy lavish holidays. And to bequeath the rest of the wealth to their children when they die. Is this really God's purpose for entrusting a believer with wealth??? The answer is capital NO!!!

Please note this. This is not inferring in any way that any of the above is automatically sinful. Not at all. The point is that believers ought to be aware that being entrusted with wealth is a great responsibility that does NOT automatically mean the wealth should be expended on comfort, convenience, or keeping up with the Joneses.

In many cases, God's love and fatherhood will forbear with wealthy believers that fall into the trap of spending their wealth primarily on themselves. He knows that, with time, His GENUINE children will grow out of this selfish mind-set. He knows that, at a stage, His Spirit in them will nudge their consciences when they live in affluence in the midst of poverty among the brethren that He has surrounded them with.

And so, He gives them TIME TO REPENT. And to grow in the love of Christ that manifests in thinking of the welfare of others, in some cases, even ABOVE our own welfare! For this is the way of Christ who considered not His own estate, but CAME DOWN to be poor for our good.

It is because God forbears with ‘selfish' wealthy believers, while they mature, that we must NEVER criticise any wealthy believer for the way he/she chooses to spend the money that was put in his/her care by God. The money belongs to God, NOT to you! It is the wealthy believer that will give account to God for the stewardship of the money in his/her care, NOT you! Therefore, we must give them space, and keep them in our prayers – that the deceitfulness of riches will not capture their hearts.

To do otherwise is to show our own greed and covetousness! Because, for our provision, our eyes MUST be focussed on God ALONE – NOT on the pocket of a rich believer! That is pure greed.

These are some of the considerations we ought to bear in mind as we all – rich and poor – yield to God, and allow Him to be the Provider and the Distributor of the common wealth that He has sent into the church.

In the early church, it was the Apostles (acting on behalf of Christ) that supervised the distribution of the common wealth of the church as some sold their land, and brought the proceeds to meet the NEEDS of others in the Body of Christ (Acts 4:34). So also must we allow God to distribute and re-distribute the wealth He has placed in the Body of Christ today.

In these last days, this is the direction in which the Lord will lead us. Let's all remain sensitive. The painful truth is that many wealthy believers of today will FALL at this hurdle. Because, in this AGE OF SELF, the love of mammon and the deceitfulness of riches will capture many believers' hearts, leading them on a journey to destruction and perdition (1 Timothy 6:9).

Therefore, we ought to be careful, and to be very sensitive to the Lord in relation to our earthly possessions in these days. This does not relate to only those that we term as ‘wealthy' believers. It is applicable to ALL believers that have money/material goods above their BASIC NEEDS for existence. It was in a period of DEEP POVERTY that the church in Macedonia sent relief to their MORE needy brethren (2 Corinthians 8:1-4).

So, in this regard, virtually ALL of us are ‘wealthy' believers, and we have one thing or another to give to those that are MORE needy in our midst. As well as in the wider world that we live in.

Thus, in addition to being sensitive to the Lord's leading as mentioned above, we must also, and more importantly, keep ourselves in prayers. Prayers for the grace to FULLY follow Christ in this end-time as He challenges our hearts on our possessions.

Has the Lord been speaking to you in this area recently? How have you been responding to Him?

Thanks for reading, God bless you.

To: Table of CONTENTS

PART 15

HOW SELFISHNESS DIMINISHES
THE GLORY OF GOD IN THE CHURCH

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things SHALL BE ADDED unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)

The basis on which God provides His ADDITIONS to a believer's life relates SOLELY to His PURPOSE for that life.

Depending on His purpose/assignment for our lives, God's addition may take us UP, or put us DOWN in terms of earthly possessions. At times, it may even fluctuate periodically. We must be ready to embrace the time of abundance (seeking to understand its purpose) and to be contented at a time of little (which is our default position).

For some believers, God will really turn on His tap of the ADDITION of earthly riches. This relates to their calling in the Body of Christ. Just as some are called to be Apostles, Prophets, Teachers, etc, so also are some called to what can be described as the ‘Ministry of Distribution' (Romans 12:8).

God channels His resources to His Body through the ministry and FAITHFULNESS of these believers. In His providence, He will allow earthly riches to flow more readily into the hands of these ones – NOT primarily for their comfort or convenience – but for the welfare of His entire Body.

As discussed elsewhere in this series, the general basis of God's ADDITION to His children focusses on our BASIC NEEDS, with which He wants us to be contented. This is because God wants believers to live as strangers and pilgrims on the earth. As soldiers that are called to endure hardness in the world.

But for the brethren that are called into the ‘Ministry of Distribution', God opens the tap of His ADDITION to them more widely. Just so that their brethren that may be constrained by circumstances (including the work of full-time ministry) can benefit from their generosity.

We must note, however, that this is an extremely delicate ministry. This is because of the DECEITFULNESS OF RICHES and how it easily ENTICES the hearts of men. Many believers that were assigned by God to be ‘distributors' of His resources have carnally become ‘consumers' of those resources!

These are the ones that grow FAT in the Body of Christ, while other sections of the same Body grow THIN! Please imagine a human body in which the arms are FAT, and the legs are THIN. How would we describe such a body? We'll obviously call it A DISEASED BODY!!!

It is in this way that money has captured the hearts of many believers, causing them to afflict the Body of Christ with the disease described in the above paragraph – FAT arms, THIN legs.

Jesus made an allusion to such unkindness (or, even wickedness) in the Parable of the Unjust Steward in Luke 16. In verse 11, He posed this question to believers that are unfaithful with the resources that God has committed to their care: “If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?”

No, God will NOT commit true riches (with eternal value) to such uncharitable believers, for they cannot be trusted – as Jesus made clear in verse 10! This is a serious matter indeed, and it has ETERNAL CONSEQUENCES.

In spite of what we may have been taught in the church, the truth is that God does NOT want believers to PURSUE wealth or DESIRE to be rich! 1 Timothy 6:9 is clear on this: “But THOSE WHO DESIRE TO BE RICH fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction”. This harmonises with the plethora of cautions that Jesus taught in relation to earthly riches. And, at the minimum, this ought to indicate to believers that we should be extremely cautious about money, and our pursuit of it.

Just as we DO NOT CHOOSE the ministry we are called into (e.g. Apostles, Prophets, etc), so also can we NOT choose to be assigned into the ‘Ministry of Distribution'. This is solely God's prerogative. Believers that desire to be rich – even if they THINK the wealth will be devoted to the benefit of the poor – put themselves on a slippery slope that may lead to perdition. For money is very, very deceitful. Before we have it, money promises to be a faithful servant. But once it gets a foothold in our lives, it becomes A TYRANT!

But God grants extra-ordinary grace to resist the spirit of mammon to believers that He Himself calls into the ‘Ministry of Distribution'. This grace will be lacking in the lives of believers that call themselves into the ministry through their own SELF-will.

There is something further to note. It is not only our brethren that are in the ‘Ministry of Distribution' that receive ‘extra' ADDITION from the Lord in the area of access to money. God also bestows this grace upon some other believers, at sundry times, and for sundry purposes that He seeks to accomplish in their lives.

This purpose usually relates to DEMYSTIFYING wealth, so that such believers may learn that ‘vanity upon vanity, all is vanity!” To learn that the joy, comfort, convenience that wealth gives are all FLEETING. When wealth is demystified to them in this way, such servants are in a better position to shun earthly wealth – for they have seen through its deception and hollowness.

One beneficiary of this training is Apostle Paul. God trained him to both ABOUND and BE ABASED (Philippians 4:12). The result of this training is clear in Paul's words in verses 11-12, “… I have learned in whatever situation I am to be CONTENT. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.”

Wealth has been demystified, and mammon can never have a hold on such men.

It is part of God's training for some of His servants that need to be insulated against the awesome power of mammon. Today, we can all see the TYRANNY of money in the lives of God's servants that have FAILED to heed that lesson. We have seen how mammon has practically turned them into THIEVES and SCAMMERS on God's pulpit! Indeed, money is NOT a respecter of the anointing! When we stray from God's narrow path on the subject of money, money will CATCH and TRAP our hearts!

It is for this reason that believers that find themselves in the position of wealth need to be extremely careful. Careful to know the PURPOSE of the wealth that God has entrusted them with. Careful to know what percentage of the wealth to give away, and what to use on themselves. There are no hard-and-fast rules about this. It depends on the level of grace that is available on each ‘minister of distribution', and their level of maturity AND faithfulness in the ministry.

At the extreme end of the spectrum are the very few believers that have the ‘gift of voluntary poverty'. These are believers that have the grace to adopt a very austere lifestyle –so that they can devote ALL their resources for the benefit of needy people. Only a few believers have this uncommon gift. However, each wealthy believer ought to find his calling, and level, and abide in it – for the sake of his/her eternity.

As mentioned, this is CERTAINLY NOT a matter of rules and regulations, or ‘thou-shalt-not'. Rather, the knowledge of ‘WHAT TO USE vs WHAT TO GIVE' flows NATURALLY from the place of fellowship with God on the basis of a vibrant Father/son relationship.

God will NEVER, EVER force a wealthy believer to give what does not come 100% from his heart. But the more the heart is surrendered to God, surrendered to the cross, the easier it is for God to fully guide such a heart into His will, and away from the monstrous power of the spirit of mammon.

In conclusion, ALL believers should know that God, in His wisdom, will ADD to all His children what He knows that they NEED – not necessarily what they WANT.

This is one of the ways that He shields their hearts from being corrupted by the deceitfulness of mammon and the rampage of the hedonism/materialism that pervade our culture today.

All that we need to do is to simply TRUST God. And to know that, as a responsible Father, He knows our NEEDS – as Jesus told us in Matthew 6:32. God will NOT ignore our NEEDS when we ask in the name of Jesus. Neither will He ever leave us or forsake us, as promised in Hebrews 13:5.

This is the guarantee of our sonship as we follow Him closely and remain CONTENTED with what He chooses to ADD to us in His will, and for His purpose.

To Him be all the glory. Amen.

Thanks for reading, God bless you.

To: Table of CONTENTS

PART 16

IS YOUR HEART WITH JESUS? OR,
HAS IT BEEN STOLEN AWAY…?

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things SHALL BE ADDED unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)

In this series, we have been highlighting God's plan for meeting His children's NEEDS through the ADDITION He gives as they seek His Kingdom and His righteousness, as Jesus said in the above verse.

Already, we have established that the baseline of God's ADDITION for His children is centred on ONLY our NEEDS. Whatever we receive from God beyond our basic needs is for A PURPOSE. God's priority is NEVER, EVER on our comfort, convenience, or opulence.

Rather, as repeatedly stated in this series, God's clear instruction is that believers MUST learn to be CONTENTED with just the BASIC NEEDS of life (1 Timothy 6:8; Philippians 4:11, Proverbs 30:8, Luke 12:15). This is a mark of a TRUE disciple of Jesus Christ (Luke 14:33).

This is the mark of a STRANGER and PILGRIM on the earth (1 Peter 2:11, Hebrews 11:13). The mark of a SOLDIER that does not entangle himself with the affairs of this life, so that he can please Him that has called him to be a soldier (2 Timothy 2:4). The mark of the type of believers that both the church and the world desperately need in these days!

As a matter of fact, this model of a SOLDIER-BELIEVER is God's will for ALL genuine followers of Jesus Christ. This is why the New Testament spoke repeatedly about SUFFERING/ENDURANCE as the hallmark of our walk with Christ. It is ONLY those that SUFFER with Him that will reign with Him (2 Timothy 2:12).

God demonstrated this principle for us in our biggest example in the Christian faith – the earthly life of Jesus Christ. Despite being the MUCH BELOVED Son of God, Jesus was not sent into the world with any level of material abundance/opulence that indicated His royal status as the only begotten Son of the Living God.

He lived the simplest of lives. In his FINEST HOUR OF EARTHLY ACCOLADE (the triumphant entry into Jerusalem), he rode on a BORROWED colt! We also see the same pattern of a low-key lifestyle in the example of the Apostles of Christ. Peter had neither silver nor gold in Acts 3:6, and the acute deprivation suffered by Apostle Paul is vividly described in passages like 2 Corinthians 11:27, Philippians 4:15, etc.

So, both in the teachings of Jesus and by the practical life He lived, it is clear that FRUGALITY is evident in the way that God ADDS His provision to His children. Please note that word – FRUGALITY.

But this is NOT a concept/doctrine that most believers of today are comfortable with!!!

We live in a world that gleefully promotes the culture of hedonism and materialism. Most of us were brought up in this evil culture as we grew up in the world system. When we came to Christ, and the cross He told us to carry, we ought to have been ROBUSTLY challenged by the church to turn our backs on this ungodly culture. We should have been trained to despise the evil STRONGHOLD of this culture in the hearts of men. Rather, we have whole-heartedly embraced this worldliness – and we even glory in it!

To MOST believers of today, contentment with the basic needs of life is no longer synonymous with godliness as the Bible tells us in 1 Timothy 6:6. It is now synonymous with poverty!!! And believers are encouraged by the church of today to REJECT such poverty with all their spirit, soul, and body!

In the church of today, MONEY IS KING! And so, the Gospel of Christ has been ‘amended and upgraded' to include financial prosperity for the disciples of Christ! On the back of this, a whole new wave of belief system has been created in the Christian faith, tagged as the ‘Prosperity Gospel'.

Expectedly, this has attracted millions and millions of mammon-loving ‘believers' into the faith - as sugar attracts ants. Just because the carnal heart of man LOVES money. And loves the prestige, convenience, and comfort that money can buy.

It is for this reason that the hearts of most believers are NOT really satisfied with the ADDITION that God bestows on us in His wisdom and in His understanding of our REAL NEEDS. Our flesh/hearts want MUCH MORE than what God ADDS to us. This is why we murmur and complain.

Does this attitude not remind us of the Israelites during their journey to the Promised Land? God was their sole Provider. And, in His providence, He decided that manna was good enough for them for the journey. Clearly, He had His reasons for this.

But, as usual with the carnal heart of man, the Israelites wanted MORE than what God ADDED to them for their own good. When God gave them manna, they WANTED quails in addition! They prayed and wailed until the Lord granted them what they desired.

He granted them their desire, but sent LEANNESS INTO THEIR SOULS! (Psalms 106:15)

It is exactly in this same way, and for this same reason, that there is LEANNESS in the souls of many of us today as believers. The leanness that leads to lukewarmness and spiritual blindness. We are NOT contented with what God ADDS to us in frugality and simplicity!!!

We want MORE! And so, we cry. We pray. We fast. We go for deliverance. We hold endless vigils. And, in desperation, we even ‘sow seeds' to Gospel merchants that prey on our greed and carnality. We persist in all these – until God thrusts that which we desire upon us. Often times, accompanied by leanness in our souls!

There is something very dangerous that this attitude reveals. When we want/demand more than what God assigns to us, it reveals the REAL STATE of our hearts!!! (Do you remember that this was Eve's problem in the Garden of Eden? She wanted more than God bestowed on them.) When our hearts are like this, it shows that the journey of our lives is no longer SOLELY about God! It has become about us as well! About our own desires! About our own projections! About our own goals!

We go to church and sing, ‘I LIVE FOR YOU ALONE', but this is NOT true. And, because we sing the song slowly, we call it worship! Perhaps, we even lift up our hands in ‘surrender' to God as we sing the song! Do you see the hypocrisy and irony?

Many times, through the labour of our hands, we are quite ready to finance the lifestyle that WE desire. We take an extra job. We work long ungodly hours that take us away from our destiny and family. There is a new trend that is getting more and more popular now - mothers ABANDONING their homes and children so that the family can have a double source of income to live ‘better' lives! This is how far MAMMON has deceived us and sucked us into its orbit and embrace.

When we yield to mammon as it beckons to us, we are able to finance the lifestyle WE consider to be appropriate for our educational status, career, age, circle of friends, etc. In all these, the main role that we have assigned to God is just to say ‘Amen' to our prayers, so that we can live the life that WE choose. This is how SELF, the desires of the flesh, has driven a huge wedge between the Lord and the church in this end-time.

Jesus is no longer the SOLE Lord that determines the course and circumstances of our lives. Rather, we have become co-rulers with Him in running our lives! We have become SELF-defining, SELF-providing, and SELF-sustaining.

It is in this way that, surreptitiously, SELF has become THE DOMINANT FACTOR in our lives. SELF dictates how/why we work. SELF dictates what we buy. SELF dictates where we go. SELF even decides what we give as charity to the poor! This is how SELF becomes THE MAN ON THE THRONE OF OUR LIVES, rendering us SLAVES TO MAMMON. While, with our lips, we profess the lordship of Jesus Christ.

This is the secret behind the lukewarmness that pervades the Christianity of today. And, if you can take this, it is the reason why the church in Laodicea became the sad story that we read in Revelation 3:14-22. Like that church, ALL believers that today continue in this wicked, carnal state will be VOMITTED OUT of the mouth of the Lord – unless there is deep-rooted repentance. The repentance that breaks the twin-yoke of SELF and MAMMON that seek to control the aspiration of MOST of us as 21st-century believers.

These are serious issues to take before the Lord in deep reflection, repentance, tears, prayers, and most importantly, in TURNING AWAY from the error of our ways. In answer to our prayers, and to reconcile our hearts to His will, God will work in these days to deliver the hearts of His saints from materialism. This will be practical – not empty theory.

Thus, we should not be surprised if, in these days, God challenges some of us to sell our lands, houses, cars, etc, to give to the poor – so that our souls can be set free to follow Jesus genuinely.

For others, it may be their career that would have to be put on the altar of sacrifice. For many families, God may point at the ‘second income' – so that wives/mums can become FREE again to think about being KEEPERS AT HOME as the Bible instructs in Titus 2:5 and 1 Timothy 5:14. Some of our women will be challenged by God to THINK AGAIN about the precious divine resources that they SELFISHLY squander away in making themselves look acceptable and glamorous by THE WORLD'S STANDARD.

It is in these practical ways that God will break the back of our SELF-life, so that we can become free indeed to carry our cross to follow the Master wholeheartedly.

WITHOUT EXCEPTION, all that fail this test of materialism will discover that they have become TRAPPED – hapless victims of the ‘CARE OF LIFE' that Jesus said will HINDER many believers from getting ready for His unannounced, imminent return (Luke 21:34, see also Luke 8:14).

These are sobering thoughts - either for us as individuals, or for our brethren in the faith, or for our family members, etc. Where are we in all these? On track? And if not, how far gone are we? Are we ready to retrace our steps, and put our absolute trust in God, contented with ONLY whatever He decides to ADD to us as we focus primarily on seeking the Kingdom and His righteousness?

Are we willing, if/when required, to be totally contented with just the BASIC NEEDS OF LIFE? Are we ready to truly accept God's truth that godliness with contentment is the REAL GAIN in life? Is this GAIN enough to satisfy our hearts and give us JOY in this hedonistic and materialistic generation?

Do we know that this is a key element of denying ourselves, carrying our cross, and following Christ? As Jesus made clear, if we fail to carry this cross (along with its shame, pain, and deprivation), we CANNOT BE HIS DISCIPLES (Luke 9:23, 14:27, etc). The only thing such ‘believers' will hear on the Last Day are those dreaded words, “… I never knew you: depart from me….” (Matthew 7:23).

Today, the Spirit of the Lord is laying the truth BARE before us. And He is inviting us to choose LIFE, rather than the judgment of DEATH that is imminent on the world we live in. This is food for thought indeed. Please think carefully about it.

Thanks for reading, God bless you.

To: Table of CONTENTS

PART 17

GOD WILL NOT COMPROMISE
WITH HIS WORD IN THIS PASSAGE!

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things SHALL BE ADDED unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)

Any believer that dares to believe and follow Jesus' teaching in Matthew 6:24-34 will soon discover an important truth. He'll discover that living according to this passage will ‘force' him into INTIMACY with God through CONSTANT COMMUNION.

It is only by an active, moment-by-moment TRUST in God (and dependence on Him) that a believer can walk in the narrow path charted by Jesus in this passage. God will INDEED become the Alpha and Omega of a believer that chooses to walk in this way, steering that life in the direction that He wants it to go.

In other words, such a life can only be lived THROUGH the life of God Himself. Through an intimacy that casts the believer's life entirely upon God. It is probably in this respect that Colossians 3:4 uses this phrase, "... Christ, who is OUR LIFE...."

The point is stark, and very important. Believers that walk in the reality of Matthew 6:24-34 do NOT draw from the life of Christ to live the life that THEY have charted for themselves through their reasoning, will, desire, plans, projections, etc.

No! They live a life that is charted from heaven, from the very life of the Son of God. A life that is entirely dependent on God.

In a sense, the words of the Psalmist capture this picture of DEPENDENCY brilliantly in Psalm 104:27-29, " These all look to you, to give them their food in due season. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust."

This is a picture of a God-breathed, God-centred, and God-sustained Christian life. And it is exactly the life that God desires ALL the true disciples of Christ to live. Indeed, it was in this way that Jesus lived His earthly life. "... Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." (John 5:19). Please note those words: THE SON CAN DO NOTHING OF HIMSELF.

If Jesus will live in any disciple on the earth today, this is exactly the same way that He'll live! For there is simply no other way whatsoever. This is why Jesus made it clear that anybody that will TRULY walk with Him will have to DENY HIMSELF and carry his cross BEFORE he can follow Him (Luke 9:23).

But, today, we do not really live like this. We do not place a premium value on the pursuit of ABSOLUTE DEPENDENCE on God as a matter of life and death. Rather, through the power and support of mammon, we are able to chart what WE deem to be a reasonable course for our lives. For this is what mammon does best - it EMPOWERS us, just like God can also empower a man.

Mammon gives us OPTIONS in life. The more money we have, the more options we have in life. And the more plans/decisions we can make about the course of our own lives. In this way, money/mammon puts us securely in the DRIVING SEAT of our lives, AUTOMATICALLY making God a passenger (for God will NEVER be a co-Ruler with the carnality in the heart of man).

It is for this reason that Jesus started the entire teaching in verses 25-34 with the great truth that He set forth in verse 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. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

The meaning is clear:

(1) Mammon is A MASTER!!!

(2) The moment we nurture/serve mammon in our hearts, we are AUTOMATICALLY expressing HATRED for God! (3)

The moment we are loyal to mammon (by serving it), we are automatically DESPISING God! There is no way around this sobering truth.

And it is one of the reasons that Jesus was categorical that it will be difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God (Luke 18:25). Obviously, no man (including a 'believer') can enter the Kingdom of the God he hates/despises as Matthew 6:24 makes clear. It's as simple as that.

The AWESOME POWER that money/mammon gives us is deadly to the human soul. The AWESOME CHOICE that money/mammon gives us is equally deadly. Deadly for our lives now. And deadly for our eternity.

Interestingly, we see a glimpse of this truth in Proverbs 30:7-9. "... Give me neither poverty nor riches - Feed me with the food allotted to me; Lest I be full and deny You, And say, “Who is the Lord?” Or lest I be poor and steal, And profane the name of my God." (NKJV)

As this passage shows, riches can make a man deny God; asking, “Who is the Lord?” Of course, as believers in Christ, we will never utter such blasphemous words with our lips! But, we demonstrate these exact words in our action as we receive the EMPOWERMENT OF MAMMON to lead our lives in the way WE choose!

It is to avoid this danger that the writer of those verses prayed that God should NOT give him riches! Rather, his request from God was simple: “… Feed me with the food allotted to me”. (Several Bible versions translated this as “… but give me only my daily bread”). It is easy to see how this is 100% in line with the prayer that Jesus taught us in Matthew 6:11, “Give us this day our daily bread.”

In practical terms, this is not different from waiting on God for our ‘ADDITIONS' from heaven as discussed in previous sections of this series. This is the wisdom of God for His children! The path to safety! And Jesus made this wisdom clearer to us in the New Testament with His teaching in Matthew 6:24-34. This is the WAY OF THE CROSS that is further underscored by Jesus' clear instruction in Luke 14:33, “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, HE CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE.” It is simply impossible.

It takes GREAT FAITH for a man to forsake all he has in this world that he can see and touch, in exchange for the promised riches in a world he can neither see nor touch! This was the dilemma faced by the rich, young ruler in Matthew 19:16-22. And that step, that faith, was too much for him. Sadly, he had to DEPART from the God that he loved and obeyed from his youth, the God that also loved him in return (Mark 10:21).

In that situation, there was ABSOLUTELY no room for compromise. There was NOTHING that Jesus could do to help him. For to love mammon is to express AN UNSPOKEN HATRED for God and for His ways! This is serious, but also true.

There is only one escape route from this danger. And this is what Jesus taught us in Matthew 6:24-34 – “… TAKE NO THOUGHT….”. As simple as that! God is able to feed the birds that neither sow nor reap (verse 26). He is also able to clothe the lilies that neither toil nor spin (verses 28-29). In the same way, God does NOT NEED our strength or ingenuity to provide for our NEEDS. We are much more valuable than the birds and lilies that He provides for in this same way.

Therefore, we must simply TRUST GOD to supply ALL that we need in this life. In truth, we do NOT really NEED a lot of the things that our flesh deceives us that we need!!! But God knows what we truly NEED, and we have to trust Him to provide these for us. This is easy to say, but extremely difficult for our flesh to understand and to follow. But there is absolutely no other way to please God (Hebrews 11:6) - for this is simply a matter of FAITH in Him.

These are matters of life and death that confront us on a daily basis. So, we ought to take the subject as seriously as that, taking nothing for granted. Opening up our hearts to the light of God that is able to reveal the secret thoughts (and fears) of the recesses of our hearts. As the Psalmist said, it is indeed only in His light that we can see light (Psalm 36:9). And we desperately need that light in this world of darkness, where SELF desperately wants to sit on the throne of our lives. The throne that rightfully belongs to God alone.

“… The Son can do NOTHING OF HIMSELF, but what he seeth the Father do…” (John 5:19)

Is this our personal testimony as individual believers?

May the Lord strengthen our hearts to TRUST and OBEY Him. Amen.

Thanks for reading, God bless you.

To: Table of CONTENTS

PART 18

IF GOD WILL MEET ALL OUR NEEDS,
WHY SHOULD WE BOTHER TO WORK?

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things SHALL BE ADDED unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)

At times, the truth contained in God's word is so PROFOUND that our limited human understanding struggles to cope with it. And, in some of such cases, instead of ‘bending' our understanding, in humility, to LEARN and ACCEPT God's truth, what we do is to ‘bend' God's truth to fit our understanding!

There is a good example of this. When our human mind hears God's truth on the subject of GRACE, our understanding is overwhelmed. And our instinctive response is to ask the rhetorical question that Apostle Paul penned in Romans 6:1, “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” Obviously, this is not what the message of GRACE is saying! But this is how man carnally drags the word of God down to his level, so that he can re-interpret it, and fit it into the tiny frame of his mind.

This is similar to what happens when we hear God's truth on how He promised to provide for the needs of His children. In teaching this profound truth, Jesus pointed our attention to the BIRDS of the sky – “… for they SOW not, neither do they REAP, nor GATHER into barns; YET your heavenly Father feedeth them…” (Matthew 6:26)

He also drew our attention to the LILIES OF THE FIELD. “Consider … how they grow; they TOIL not, neither do they SPIN: And YET I say unto you….” (Matthew 6:28) Please note the word ‘YET' in both passages and THINK about the function of the word in what Jesus was saying.

The profound meaning of what Jesus was teaching in the passage is clear. God does NOT NEED our ability or ingenuity to sow, reap, gather, toil, or spin BEFORE He can meet our needs! We may not do ANY of those five things (sow, reap, etc); YET, God can still meet our needs. YET!!!

“If God does this EVERY DAY for ordinary birds of the sky and lilies of the field, will He not do MUCH MORE for His own children that He birthed in His mercy, love, and pleasure?” Jesus asked his listeners. He was challenging them to THINK deeply. Of course, God can! And, He will!

He proved this point during the journey of the Israelites to the Promised Land. While they travelled through the wilderness, they were neither able to sow nor reap, YET God provided food for them for 40 years (Exodus 16:15)! Feeding a whole nation that did NOT work for 40 years! Please think about that.

Not only that. Please listen to God in Deuteronomy 29:5, “And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.”

God's capability to feed, clothe, and provide for those that are following His instructions is UNLIMITED – and He does NOT need their help to do this! This is a great, great spiritual truth. It is difficult for a 21st-century mind to simply accept this truth and simply trust God. Rather, this is how our carnal minds will respond: “Does that mean God is saying we don't need to work? So, we'll just sit at home, and all our needs will be met? Incredulous!”

Of course, this is not what that truth means! This is just man twisting God's truth to (1) either fit his understanding, or (2) subverting God's truth so that he can disobey it and follow his carnal mind anyway.

Rather than taking this ungodly approach of twisting God's word, a wise disciple of Christ will just accept the truth of God as He states it. That is faith! And, many times, it is on the basis of this simple faith that God will later grant a full understanding of that particular truth.

As God said in Isaiah 55:8-9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are HIGHER than the earth, so are my ways HIGHER than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

We need God to TEACH US HIS HIGHER WAYS so that we can ‘ascend' to His level and have a fruitful walk with Him. This was the heart-cry of David in Psalm 25:4, “SHEW ME thy ways, O Lord; TEACH ME thy paths.” This is the ONLY way a man can walk with God successfully.

Here is the meaning of the truth in Matthew 6:24-34. Of course, a believer MUST work! (And even work very hard!) But the truth is that a believer in Christ does not work SO THAT his needs can be met. In other words, meeting our needs is NOT our main reason for working. This is a profound truth. And if we don't see this truth clearly, the rest of what Jesus taught in the passage will not make sense to us.

Our needs are NOT met just by our working. Our needs are met by what God ADDS to us as we seek His Kingdom and his righteousness. This is what verse 33 is telling us clearly. (Our work may be a channel through which God ADDS to us (and usually is), but this is NOT the purpose for which we work.)

Our income is NOT what meets our needs. Our needs are met by what God ADDS to us. The primary duty assigned by God to a believer is to ‘SEEK THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS'. When we do this, God promised, on His honour, to ADD all the things that we need. He even assures us that He knows what we need!

He went further to challenge us not to be like the Gentiles (unbelievers) that work to meet their basic needs in life (verse 32). We are different from them! They do not have GOD THE PROVIDER (Jehovah Jireh) as a Father! They do not have a Kingdom to seek. This world is all they have, and they have to fend for themselves in it. That is the way of Gentiles that do not have Christ at the centre of their lives.

And Jesus was clear that His followers must NOT be like that!!! A follower of Christ that walks/works in that way is only a follower BY LIPS – he is really a Gentile at heart! It's as simple as that.

Here is a truth that is worth repeating: the primary (first) duty assigned by God to a believer is this – “… seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness….” Period. (Mature believers know that this is not only our first duty, it is our ONLY duty! This duty in itself is the crux of our whole existence and it bears no addition to itself. We'll see this clearly when we truly understand what it means to SEEK THE KINGDOM. But this is meat for only mature believers).

What we ALL need to know is that with God, the BASIS of our working is quite different from that of an unbeliever. Unbelievers must work SO THAT they can eat. That is the BASIS of their working.

So, what then is the BASIS of a believer's work? To understand the BASIS on which we work today, we need to return to the beginning. To the creation of man in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:7-15).

In the sequence of events in the passage, we'll see that God provided food for Adam (verse 9) BEFORE He gave him work to do (verse 15)! So, Adam was NOT working SO THAT he could eat! Food was already there, provided by God. But, still, Adam had to work. So, this means the BASIS of his working was totally different from eating/meeting his needs. There was something else.

It was only after sin came into the world that ‘work-to-eat' became A CURSE that flowed from that rebellion against God. Here is the account in Genesis 3:17, 19, “… Cursed is the ground for your sake; IN TOIL YOU SHALL EAT of it all the days of your life…. IN THE SWEAT OF YOUR FACE YOU SHALL EAT bread till you return to the ground….”

From this, it is crystal clear that ‘work-to-eat' (or more broadly, ‘work-to-live') is A CURSE! As long as we CHOOSE to continue to live/work on this BASIS, we are simply perpetuating a curse that has been lifted in Christ Jesus. So, we must be clear on this: believers MUST work. But we should know that we do not work SO THAT we can eat. We do not work-to-eat. The BASIS on which we work is quite different.

So, what is the BASIS on which we work? Again, let's go back to the example of Adam in Genesis. If he was not working to eat, why then was he working?

In tending the Garden of Eden, Adam was simply SERVING GOD! He was reflecting the nature of God, his Father. For God Himself is A WORKER. Jesus made this clear in John 5:17, “… My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” Like Father, like Son. A child of God does what his Father does. So, Adam worked simply because that is the nature of God.

Please imagine if God does not work. No heaven and earth would have been created! You would not be here today! Probably, there would just have been silence and stillness everywhere! We thank God that He is a Worker! For we see the works of His hands and we marvel.

It is in this His nature that He gave Adam work to do – to tend the garden, name the animals, and so on. In doing all these, Adam was SERVING GOD by complementing His work and adding value to the environment where he was placed by God.

Today, it is in the same way that we MUST work and ADD VALUE to wherever God has placed us. It is inevitable. It is non-negotiable. And it is a sin not to engage in work. Some of us will add value to our society as cleaners, drivers, lawyers, doctors, engineers, and so on.

(One of the greatest jobs that God assigns on earth is the role of A MOTHER. The mothering work is a sacrificial role through which God builds His next generation on the earth. This role is a difficult job, and it is one of the greatest jobs that a woman can do for God on the earth in SERVING HIM. Please see Ruth 4:11, Proverbs 14:1, 2 Timothy 1:5, etc. if you are a housewife that is conscientious in what you do in your home, don't allow ANY blind, mammon-lover tell you to go and get a job! You already have more than a job. It is NOT God speaking through them, it is the god of mammon – Satan!)

So, in WHATEVER sphere we find ourselves, we MUST work. But, in so doing, we are NOT working-to-eat, or working-to-live, we are simply SERVING GOD.

Helpfully, the New Testament makes this concept much clearer in Colossians 3:22-24. It tells us that when we work, even in the secular sphere, we are SERVING CHRIST!!! So, in whatever way we are adding value to the society (as gardeners, housewives, lawyers, accountants, etc), we are NOT working-to-eat, we are simply SERVING CHRIST! This is an integral part of our walk with Him, our discipleship, our calling.

And, in whatever way we serve, it is Christ that will, ULTIMATELY, reward us for our service to Him – even for service in the purely secular sphere. Colossians 3:22-24 makes this abundantly clear. It is on the basis that our entire service is unto Christ that Apostle Paul urged believers to be diligent in their secular tasks. For, we are NOT serving men (or earthly bosses) – we are SERVING CHRIST.

It is on the same basis that Apostle Peter also instructs believers to SUBMIT themselves, not only to good and kind bosses, but even to unreasonable and harsh bosses as well! (1 Peter 2:18) For, in reality, they are NOT our REAL ‘boss'. Our REAL boss is Jesus Christ.

Our earthly bosses are just His representatives in that sphere – in the same way that governments are His representatives in administering the state/country. They are all just acting on His behalf, and believers are instructed to submit to them all (Romans 13:1, etc). He is Lord over ALL. Once more, please endeavour to study Colossians 3:22-24 diligently to know WHY we work.

Flowing from this, we ought to know that 100% of the income that we get from our secular employment belongs to God. For He owns us as well as EVERYTHING we have, and will ever have. (The subject of 10% TITHE for a believer in Christ is one of the many LIES that Satan introduced into the Body of Christ through the church system of today that exists to MISLEAD the souls that are TRAPPED in their deception.)

100% of our income belongs to God. (It is part of the ‘ALL' that we forsake to follow Christ – Luke 14:33). So, we are merely STEWARDS of our income. And, as stewards, we ought to discern from God, through our regular fellowship and communion with Him, what percentage of the income He'll want us to use for ourselves, and what percentage He'll want us to give away to the NEEDY (Ephesians 4:28).

It is important to also note that one of the MAJOR reasons we SERVE CHRIST in the secular sphere is so that, through our lives, God can meet the needs of the poor. Ephesians 4:28, as quoted above, as well as passages like Acts 4:34-35, etc, make this point very clearly. This is one of the ways that we send our earthly treasures to the heavenly realm for conversion into eternal riches as Jesus taught in Luke 12:33, etc.

Sadly, in spending our income today, most of us ignorantly CONSUME what belongs to the needy on ourselves/families in ‘living large'. Or worse still, we give such money to the hordes of deceivers that we today blindly call ‘men of God'. All these are ways in which we WASTE the resources that we are called to steward for God. For all these, we ought to REPENT and make amends as quickly/practicable as we can. This is why God is sending us this truth. He does not want us to continue to walk in error.

(Please note that, despite all that has been written here, God will NEVER, EVER constrain any believer to give ANYTHING that does not come WILLINGLY from our hearts. What is acceptable to God is ONLY that which are quite happy to give cheerfully – according to the level of our faith and maturity in Christ. Yes, ALL our resources belong to God 100%, BUT He does not take them – UNTIL we release them to Him willing as an act of faith, love, and surrender. God will encourage us to give, but He will NEVER constrain us to do so, or trick us to part with our money as the ‘men of God' do today.)

There is one more issue we must address. In 2 Thessalonians 3:10, Apostle Paul gave the instruction that the lazy brethren that were not working should not eat. Many have used this verse to support the WORK-TO-EAT position. But this is wrong.

The lazy brethren ‘… should not eat…” because by being lazy and not working at all, they are NOT serving Christ. They are not being responsible members of the Body of Christ. They are acting as parasites on the Body. In thus severing themselves from their responsibility to the Body, they were also severing themselves from the benefits of the Body (including the ADDITION that God promises to those that seek the Kingdom).

It is for this reason that Paul said they ‘should not eat'. It is not because believers have to work SO THAT they can eat. For this is NOT God's plan for His children. God's children do NOT work for money, they work for God! His plan is to provide for them (through ADDITION) as they devote themselves, primarily, to seeking His Kingdom and His righteousness.

When we SERVE CHRIST as prescribed in the New Testament, it is easy for Him to move us seamlessly from one sphere of service to another according to His will and His need for our service. For instance, He moved Apostle Peter from being a fisherman to become a fisher of men. At a point, Apostle Paul was moved from his learned pursuit under the greatly admired Gamaliel to become a tentmaker (Acts 18:3) in addition to his tight ministry schedule.

Jesus is at liberty to move His workforce around as He deems fit – from secular job to ministry work, or the other way around. Or a mixture of both. He can change these as often as He wills according to His purpose. ALL such services count as our SPIRITUAL SERVICE to God (even if they relate to purely secular jobs). The spirituality of our secular jobs does not arise from the nature of the job itself, but from the nature of WHO WE ARE – spiritual entities.

It is important to note that, for a believer in Christ, our career/profession is NOT a source of personal identity, pride, status, flair, accomplishment, or a matter of personal ambition or pursuit. A true disciple is TOTALLY DEAD to all these considerations. Our career, however lofty or lowly, is just AN AREA OF SERVICE that we have fully SURRENDERED to the Lord, and it could change in a minute. Believers that place a premium value on their career/profession are placing a premium value on SELF. And this is a sure path to lukewarmness, or even slow spiritual death.

All these are realities of becoming disciples of Christ. The realities of the HUGE TRANSFORMATION that takes place when we become SONS in the Kingdom of God. For these are not matters for babes that are yet to know the ways of the Kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 13:11)

So, friends, how are we living in relation to all these? Are we living as SONS that genuinely LIVE FOR CHRIST on earth? Or, after following Christ for decades, are we still babes that play with the toys of the world? As the return of Christ becomes more and more imminent, God does not want us to remain as over-grown babes in the Kingdom.

Let's grow up and LIVE FOR CHRIST, serving Him with all our hearts WHEREVER He chooses to place us – even in the lowliest and most humbling positions in life. He is coming soon, and His rewards are with Him - for all the faithful disciples that He finds watching and waiting for His sudden return.

May we be counted in that number. Amen.

Thanks for reading, God bless you.

To: Table of CONTENTS

PART 19

WHO DO YOU FOLLOW - GOD OR MAMMON?
HERE IS A SIMPLE TEST….

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things SHALL BE ADDED unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)

There is a highly potent, sinister force that seeks to CAPTURE and CONTROL the hearts of all that dwell on the earth (including believers in Christ). That evil force is called MAMMON.

Mammon is closely related to money. But money in itself is not mammon. Money becomes mammon when it interacts with the heart of man and is able to find a landing spot in that heart. Once it secures this landing spot, however small the spot is, mammon can expand it until it becomes an empire in the heart of that man. A mighty fortress. A stronghold.

Mammon's ability to RAPIDLY convert a landing spot into a stronghold is hinged on its greatest strength in a man's heart – DECEPTION!

It is through this deception that mammon penetrates the deepest parts of a man's heart – until it becomes an unmovable force that controls the heart. The term that the Bible uses to describe this aspect of mammon is ‘DECEITFULNESS OF RICHES' (Matthew 13:22).

Let's look at a very common example of this deception. In 1 Timothy 6:10 and Hebrews 13:5, the Bible is clear that believers should NOT love money. This is because the love of money is the root of ALL kinds of evil. Every believer readily accepts this truth. Thus, if you ask 100 believers if any of them LOVES money, barely will a single one of them say, “YES, I LOVE MONEY!”

But, ask if they love the comfort, convenience, access, etc, that money can buy, and most honest believers will admit YES! YES!! YES!!! Now, please think about this, what gets them the comfort, convenience, access, etc? Money, of course! So, can they still claim not to love money? No, they ACTUALLY love money!!!

Thus, by loving what money can get for us, many of us, perhaps unknowingly, have fallen in love with money – and entangled ourselves with this ROOT of all kinds of EVIL. This is how deceitful money can be. Its attack on the human mind is usually not direct. Money presents itself to us as something good, something desirable, something harmless, something we can even use to help the needy!

It is only after it has gained a foothold in the heart of man that money begins to show its true colour, and to exert its TRUE CONTROL on the heart. This is the harsh lesson the story of the rich, young ruler teaches us. Neither his professed love for God (demonstrated by keeping God's commandments from his youth), nor the love of Jesus for him (mentioned in Mark 10:21) could stop him from walking away sorrowfully from Jesus, when he was challenged to give up his wealth to follow Jesus. This is how powerful mammon can be – even in the sincerest of hearts!

There is another aspect of the tremendous power of mammon that we can see in the words of Jesus in Mark 4:19. “But … the deceitfulness of riches … CHOKE THE WORD, and it becometh unfruitful.” The meaning is clear. And scary too! Once mammon has gained a seat in the human heart, it has the capacity to CHOKE the word of God in that heart and render it powerless and unfruitful. Just imagine that! NOTHING can curtail this power of mammon – as long as it is seated in the heart.

Mammon is NOT a respecter of the anointing, or of spiritual position/title. Sadly, this is why/how a lot of ‘men of God' have today turned into ‘robbers' on God's pulpit – extorting money from poor and vulnerable people under the guise that God will soon ‘double' the money. Mammon has entered their hearts, CHOKED THE WORD OF GOD in their lives, and rendered them captives of its stronghold. Today, these men remain chained, helpless captives of the god of mammon. Again, mammon is NOT a respecter of the anointing!!! Or of ANYTHING that man can do to try and escape its deadliness. NOTHING at all!

Jesus made this point to His disciples in Matthew 19:25. He taught them about the huge danger that mammon poses to the human soul in relation to eternity. Astonished and perplexed, the disciples asked Him, “… Who then can be saved?”

Please look closely at the first part of the answer that Jesus gave them in verse 26, “… With men this is IMPOSSIBLE….” This means it is impossible for man to outsmart mammon with our tiny, human wisdom. It is simply impossible. And, if Jesus said it is impossible this means it is impossible!

Fortunately, there is a solution. And Jesus presented this solution in the second part of that sentence. “… but with God all things are possible.” It is only ‘WITH GOD' that man can ever hope to be free from the stranglehold of mammon. Of course, ‘WITH GOD' means following the wisdom of God, and His ways that shield us from the path of the destroyer (Psalms 17:4). Outside this way, outside this narrow path, there is ZERO remedy against the power and might of mammon.

God's way of shielding believers from the power of mammon is what Jesus presents to us in Matthew 6:24-34. Put simply, in that passage, God changed our SUPPLY CHANNEL from money/mammon and connected the channel directly to Himself! Hallelujah! He Himself becomes our Source, our Provider, our Supplier.

Receiving this direct, regular provision from God is a key indicator of an active, vibrant relationship with Him. We see this reflected in the Lord's Prayer, “Give us this day, OUR DAILY BREAD….” This is not just something we chant in prayer, it mirrors the reality of how God is the ONLY Supplier and Provider for His people.

Jesus made reference to this in verse 33, “… all these things shall be ADDED unto you.” God simply ADDS all that a believer truly needs for his sojourn in this world. Apostle Paul echoes the same theme in Philippians 4:19, “But my God shall SUPPLY all your need….” God becomes our Supplier when we become members of His Kingdom.

By making Himself our Provider and Supplier, God elevates all TRUE believers ABOVE the influence, attraction, and power of money! He rescues their hearts from the CONTROL OF MONEY – the key factor on which the economy of the world system runs. For His children are NOT of the world, even as He is NOT of the world (John 17:16).

The children of the world system RUN AFTER meeting their basic needs of life (this is what Jesus meant by “For after all these things do the Gentiles seek…” in Matthew 6:32). But God does not want His children to run in this same direction! Rather, He instructs us to RUN AFTER His Kingdom and His righteousness. As we do this, ALL that we truly need on earth will be added to us BY HEAVEN. Two completely different ways of living. And it is impossible to run in both directions at once!

This is the underlying meaning of what Jesus was saying in 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. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” It is impossible to run in both directions at once (as many of us do today)!

Please note that, in this verse, Jesus presents mammon as A MASTER. For that is what mammon is – A MASTER of ALL that choose to follow its tantalising ways (including believers). Sooner or later, money will MASTER every one of them!

Jesus highlights the difference between the two ways, the two masters, by making it clear that to love one is to DESPISE/HATE the other one. It is impossible to sit on the fence. A believer in Christ that continues to run after the economic system of the world is living A LIE. In truth, such a believer is not TRULY following Christ, he is following SELF/THE WORLD! Unfortunately, it is only on the Last Day that this truth will confront some believers.

But for us, the opportunity exists to REPENT and TURN today. If we continue to follow the economy of the world system, it simply means we DESPISE/HATE God! We do not believe the testimony given by Jesus in Matthew 6:24-34 that God is able to ADD all that we need to us. In these matters, our status as believers in Christ is revealed/confirmed, NOT by what we profess with our lips, but how we live our lives PRACTICALLY on a daily basis. Are we following God, or following the world's system?

Expectedly, following God's way on this subject will be MUCH MORE DIFFICULT. And will certainly lead to some kind of loss and deprivation for a believer. But this is why it is called a narrow way! A way that causes us to SUFFER! But, the rewards are infinite and eternal – for those that can endure the pain and shame that are inherent in this narrow way.

According to the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:24-34, here are the key highlights of following God's way on this subject.

(1) Verse 25: We will ‘TAKE NO THOUGHT' for our lives – (that is, for ALL our basic needs in this world).

(2) Verses 26-30: We will have FULL TRUST in God's ability to provide for ALL our needs in life. And, we'll be CONTENTED with WHATEVER He chooses to ADD to us.

(3) Verse 33: We will devote our entire lives to our PRIMARY duty on earth - which is to seek God's Kingdom and His righteousness. This involves dying to our SELF – to all our plans, ambition, projections, etc.

(4) Verse 34: Finally, we will ‘TAKE NO THOUGHT' for tomorrow – believing that tomorrow will take thought for itself as Jesus said.

This is what it TRULY means to SERVE GOD (rather than SERVE mammon) as we read in verse 24. If we allow ourselves to be caught in the trap of ‘TAKING THOUGHT' for our lives, or for our tomorrow, it means we are putting ourselves DIRECTLY under the economic system of the world, under the umbrella of the god of mammon. And we thus make ourselves his servants! For, as pointed out earlier, the Bible is clear that it is IMPOSSIBLE to serve God and mammon in the same heart.

This is why it is important that we all pause to examine our hearts today. Who have we been serving, God or mammon? As the Bible instructs in 1 Timothy 6:6-8, have we learnt to be contented with just our basic needs in life? Have we learnt that godliness with contentment is GREAT GAIN? Do we believe these challenging words in 1 Timothy 6:9, “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.”? These are questions we have to answer, and choices that we have to make. Starting from NOW!

May the Lord strengthen our hearts to choose wisely. May He grant us a long-term perspective to know that the value of money is fleeting as we see in Proverbs 23:5. May we all embrace the available grace to repent where necessary, and to follow Christ with all our hearts till the very end. Amen and Amen.

“So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not ALL that he hath, HE CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE.” (Luke 14:33).

Thanks for reading, God bless you.

To: Table of CONTENTS

PART 20

BELIEVERS ARE FORBIDDEN FROM
‘TAKING THOUGHT' FOR TOMORROW….

“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” (Matthew 6:34)

Of all the deep teachings in Matthew 6:24-34, verse 34 is perhaps the most challenging! The clear instruction that Jesus gives in the verse goes against our instincts and upbringing as rational beings.

In terms of meeting our needs, we are accustomed to planning ahead, and taking necessary steps to ensure that our future plans are secured. This is what gives us PEACE OF MIND. For it puts us in CONTROL of our lives. And if our plans fail, or are insufficient, we worry, we moan, we complain, or we display other signs of anxiety. Generally speaking, this is how we live, seeking to be in control of tomorrow to the BEST OF OUR ABILITIES.

There is an interesting story in the Bible that illustrates this point. When God gave manna to the Israelites in the wilderness, He instructed them to take enough for only ONE DAY AT A TIME (Exodus 16:1-36). No manna should be left overnight for the next day.

However, we read this in verse 20, “Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them.” Most likely, they kept some till the morning – just in case manna does not fall on the next day! This is how the heart of carnal man functions. Not fully trusting God to keep His promises, we make our contingency plans/arrangements to ensure CONTINUITY OF SUPPLY!

In Matthew 6:24-34, Jesus challenges this way of life (not FULLY and TRULY trusting God). In verse 34, He starts with a direct attack on our need to be in control of our lives - “Take therefore NO THOUGHT for the morrow….” He was making two points with this statement. First, God wants us to YIELD the control of our future to Him completely. Second, God will indeed meet all our needs; but He'll only do so on a DAILY BASIS!

This concept of 'DAILY BASIS' is crucial in understanding the entire passage. For it is also in the manner of this 'DAILY BASIS' that Jesus instructs us to follow Him. We see this in Luke 9:23, " And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross DAILY, and follow me." From this, we can see that carrying the cross to follow Jesus is a DAILY imperative. A day-by-day experience.

It is this day-by-day walk with Jesus (seeking the Kingdom) that both PROVIDES and GUARANTEES the supply of our needs from heaven. And this supply is released to us on the same basis: day-by-day. It is a matter of ‘DAILY walk, DAILY supply'.

This divine plan is further confirmed in the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:11, “Give us THIS DAY, our DAILY bread...." Our DAILY bread - not our WEEKLY bread, not our MONTHLY bread, and certainly not our ANNUAL bread! Just day-by-day. This is in the same way that manna was released to our predecessors on this journey to the Promised Land. Released as needed, every single day. In His wisdom, this is HOW God chooses to supply His ADDITION to the disciples of Christ.

Obviously, many of us may find this challenging. Particularly, if we have become accustomed to planning for our needs on a medium-term or long-term basis, including what we call 'saving for a rainy day'! And so, the questions that instantly pop up in our heads include these: “Is this practicable?” “How can this be?”

Jesus supplies the answer in the next phrase in verse 34, “… for the morrow shall take thought for the things OF ITSELF.” Please read this phrase again and again until the meaning sinks in.

A revolutionary thought, isn't it?!

Here is the challenge: do we trust God enough to accept what Jesus is saying here? For what He is telling us is that God has programmed the supply of our needs on a daily basis, such that each day yields the supply for that day BY ITSELF. It is an AUTOMATIC process. All we are told to do is just to make our requests known to God in prayer with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6).

This is similar to the automatic process by which God clothes the lilies of the field as Jesus told us earlier in verses 28-29. In His words, the lilies neither toil nor spin – yet they grow! As long as they remain ROOTED to the ground, the ground supplies all they need to grow BY ITSELF. It is an automatic process that is NOT dependent on the lily, but on the ground on which it abides.

Jesus spoke about this automatic process in relation to God's Kingdom in Mark 4:26-28, “And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, HE KNOWETH NOT HOW. For THE EARTH BRINGETH FORTH FRUIT OF HERSELF; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.”

The ground brings forth fruit of herself - just as tomorrow takes thought of the things of itself. This is the way the Kingdom of God operates. And it is the way that God feeds/nurtures His creation. This is why Jesus told us to behold the birds of the air (verse 26) and consider the lilies of the field (verses 28-29).

The message is clear: God does NOT need our expertise or forward-planning skills to take care of our needs in this world. He just wants us to look up to Him IN TRUST on a moment-by-moment, day-by-day basis to meet our needs – whatever our situation is. Looking up for the ADDITION that He supplies to meet our needs. This is what it means to have FAITH in God.

To look away from Him, to follow our natural ‘work-to-eat' instinct, is to fall instantly into the waiting hands of seductive mammon. For, indeed, mammon also promises to SUPPLY ALL OUR NEEDS – as long as we embrace it, and serve it diligently. Sadly, this is what most of us do today. When we get up on Monday morning, we start a week of SERVING MAMMON diligently so that we can have our needs met, have our bills paid. And when mammon does not show up as we expect (or as much as we expect/need), we become worried, anxious, depressed, and so on. All these are signs of a mammon-INFESTED heart. A heart that does not trust God.

The two different approaches highlighted above are the two ways we can live on earth – serving God OR serving mammon. There is no middle course. Those who serve God do NOT live on their income, they live on the ADDITION that God gives from heaven. They do NOT work for money, they work for God. 100% of their income from work belongs EXCLUSIVELY to God – particularly through the needy. Such believers take only what God permits for their use (usually to meet their basic needs) – often in frugal circumstances.

They have no money worries or anxieties, trusting that God will supply what they TRULY need. (Please note the word ‘TRULY'. For, most times, we do NOT really NEED what our materialistic, worldly mind tells us we need!!! Most of such things are consumed in our lust, as James 4:3 says.) If we pray about a need, and God does not supply, then it is either NOT a need, or God has a better plan. This is the life of faith that casts its eyes entirely on God for existence.

Jesus had this type of life in view when He said this in Matthew 4:4, “… Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Believers in Christ are not bread-driven, they are word-driven. And this word must come from the mouth of God on a consistent basis, for it is the source of the life of the believer.

It is impossible to live in the way that Jesus taught in Matthew 6:24-34 without hearing constantly and consistently from God. Without consistently waiting at His gates for instruction – as all good servants wait on their masters. It is in this way that God leads His people, taking FULL CONTROL of their lives and directing it WHEREVER He wills. This is the picture we see clearly in the vision in Ezekiel 47:1-6, particularly in these words, “… it was a river that I could not pass over… a river that could not be passed over.” This is a picture of God taking TOTAL CONTROL of the life of a believer, and using it in WHATEVER way that pleases Him.

This is how God wants ALL disciples of Christ to live in this end-time. This is what it means to be born of the Spirit as Jesus explained in John 3:8, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” If we do not mature into this phase of life in Christ, it means we are most probably NOT born of the Spirit! We are only living in the self-deception of vain religion! This is very, very common in the Christianity of today.

Therefore, friends, please let's search our lives. Have we been living in line with what Jesus taught us in Matthew 6:24-34? Or, have we been simply SERVING MAMMON while following Jesus with only our lips? This is the great DECEPTION that is endemic in the church today. The church encourages us to pursue mammon so that they can get their own percentage of what we get from the god of mammon!!! This is why the churches are flourishing (in number and in wealth) while our souls are DRYING UP in lukewarmness.

Today, Jesus is inviting us to COME OUT from this empty profession of faith. He is inviting us to Himself, to the narrow way that leads to life. The way of the cross, where the disciple forsakes ALL he has to follow Christ diligently (Luke 14:33, Mark 10:28, Philippians 3:8). As Jesus made clear in Luke 14:33, ANYBODY that does not follow the path of FORSAKING ALL cannot be His disciple. His words cannot be clearer than that.

Genuine Christianity is NOT what WE THINK (or what our Pastors say), it is WHAT GOD SAYS! And what He says is that following/serving mammon, desiring to be rich/comfortable, and so on, will make us ENEMIES of God. For all these are the ways of the world, the ways of Gentiles, as Jesus puts it in Matthew 6:32. It is self-delusional to think we can follow the ways of the world and, somehow, end up in the Kingdom of God! It will not happen!

What we can do is to cry out in repentance today, and hold on to God to show us the TRUE WAY of Christ. This is the ONLY way that leads to His Kingdom. And it is this way that He tells us to seek FIRST in Matthew 6:33. It is clear that only A FEW will find this way. And only A FEW will be found in it (Matthew 7:13-14). Please be one of the FEW. “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36)

In His mercy, God has made great grace available for the journey. Please embrace this grace TODAY!

“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost” (Romans 15:13). Amen.

Thanks for reading, God bless you.

To: Table of CONTENTS

PART 21

BELIEVERS THAT ‘TAKE THOUGHT' WILL NEVER BE READY FOR THE RETURN OF JESUS

“TAKE THEREFORE NO THOUGHT for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” (Matthew 6:34)

There is a very specific reason why God is today unveiling the truth in Matthew 6:24-34 to the church. It is because Jesus is coming back soon. And the two subjects are highly connected.

It is TOTALLY IMPOSSIBLE to get ready for the return of the Lord without embracing and PRACTISING the truth in Matthew 6:24-34. There are several references to this connection in the Bible. This concluding part of the series will discuss three of these references, and mention a few others. Before looking at these in details, let's take an overview of the key truths that can be distilled from Matthew 6:24-34.

OVERVIEW OF MATTHEW 6:24-34

The passage challenges believers in Christ to express their faith in God by TRULY yielding the FULL CONTROL of their future to Him 100%. They are to ‘TAKE NO THOUGHT' for their lives/future, choosing to depend on God to supply ALL their needs as He does for the birds of the air and the lilies of the field.

This supply will relate mainly to their BASIC NEEDS, and believers are expected to be contented with these basic needs of life (1 Timothy 6:8). Invariably, this approach will lead to LOSS and DEPRIVATION, because believers will be unable to pursue the things of the world (especially money) like the people of the world. The loss that will arise from following this path is a part of the suffering that is GUARANTEED for everybody that plans to follow Christ in this life and reign with Him in eternity (2 Timothy 2:12).

The loss also reflects the teaching of Jesus that anybody that plans to follow Him MUST forsake ALL that he has. This is an UNAVOIDABLE condition of discipleship. “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, HE CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE.” (Luke 14:33) FORSAKING ALL to follow Jesus is a KEY EVIDENCE of our TRUE FAITH in Him as the Son of God – our Lord and Saviour.

Thus, demonstrating our faith in God is what Jesus was teaching in this passage – for without this faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God (Hebrews 11:6). In the Matthew 6:24-34 passage, Jesus made direct reference to FAITH in these words: “… O ye of little faith” (verse 30). And also in Luke 12:29, “…neither be ye of doubtful mind.” So, clearly, this is a faith issue.

This is the faith that the rich, young ruler in Matthew 19:16-23 could not muster – although he loved Jesus and had obeyed all God's commandments from his youth. In the end, he had to depart from Jesus sorrowfully. This clearly shows that ‘loving' Jesus and having faith in Him can be two clearly DIFFERENT things. A believer can ‘love' Jesus, ‘follow' Jesus, and yet have NO FAITH in Him. NO FAITH in God.

Therefore, a sorrowful departure from Jesus is the only fate that awaits such a believer. A believer that has not learnt to (A) FORSAKE ALL that he has, (B) carry his cross, (C) follow Jesus, (D) fully trust God to provide his basic needs. As Jesus said in Luke 14:33, such people CANNOT BE HIS DISCIPLES. For, clearly, they have no faith in God, even though they profess to follow Him with their lips.

As the Bridegroom returns imminently, this is NOT the type of ‘disciples' that Jesus wants among His Bride! For which sensible bride will marry a bridegroom that she does NOT really trust? It is not possible. This is why God is challenging the believers in this end-time to examine our lives and clean up our acts in this respect. That is, if we want to truly prepare for the return of the Lord. It is a matter of choice. Sadly, it is a choice that MOST believers (in the mould of the rich, young ruler) will NOT be able to make. We'll return to this later. Before then, let's discuss three references that connect Matthew 6:24-34 to the preparation for the return of Jesus.

(1) CARING FOR THE NEEDY IS CENTRAL TO HIS FINAL JUDGMENT:

Let's start from Matthew 24 and 25. In Matthew 24, Jesus gave a teaching on the signs that will precede His return. In Matthew 25, He gave them three important points on HOW TO PREPARE for that return. (A) In the Parable of the Ten Virgins, He taught them to BE WATCHFUL – verses 1-13. (B) In the Parable of Talents, He taught them to BE PRODUCTIVE IN THE PURSUIT OF DESTINY (that is, the specific purpose for which God sends a man into the world, and calls him into His Kingdom) – verses 14-30. (C) In verses 31-46, He spoke on the judgment that will separate the sheep from the goats based on how generous they had been to Him – through ministering to the NEEDY. These include the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, and the prisoner.

In relation to Matthew 6:24-34, our focus is on this last point. This is because generosity to the needy is the means by which Jesus had, in another teaching, instructed His followers to transfer their earthly treasure to ‘the heavens that does not fail'. Here are His exact words: “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.” (Luke 12:33)

Incidentally, He made this statement immediately after telling them to ‘TAKE NO THOUGHT' for their lives, according to the account in Luke. Thus, in teaching them to ‘TAKE NO THOUGHT' for their future, He also told them HOW He wanted them to channel whatever resources they had, or will have, in this world. And that was, primarily, through ministering to the NEEDY. This is so important to Him that, as we saw, He mentioned it in His ‘HOW TO PREPARE FOR MY RETURN' lesson in Matthew 25. Believers that know that His return is near should pay close attention to this. They should ‘TAKE NO THOUGHT' for their lives, they should ‘FORSAKE ALL', and they should focus on ministering to the needy.

(2) THE BAD EXAMPLE OF THE CHURCH IN LAODICEA:

The second link between Matthew 6:24-34 and the return of Jesus is quite interesting. We see this in Revelation 3:14-22, in the story of the church in Laodicea. According to Bible prophecy, the Laodicean church is symbolic of the church in the Last Days (please study the passage carefully to see how that church bears an uncanny resemblance to the church of our days).

Although the commandment of Jesus to all His followers is clear: sell what you have and help the needy, and FORSAKE ALL to follow me; we see that the case of this church is totally different! Please listen to their testimony: “… I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing….” (verse 17 ESV). How is this testimony compatible with the life and teaching of Jesus Christ? Rather than conform to the self-effacing and self-abasing nature of Jesus, this church had gone in the exact opposite direction! Satan had infiltrated that church massively! No wonder they had become, in the words of Jesus, ‘wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked'. Sadly, they did not even realise their condition. That was how bad things were!

Whereas God promised to meet the needs of the followers of Jesus, this church had grown so rich that they had NO NEED! Whereas the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 6:24-34 would make all His followers DEPENDENT on God for their sustenance, this church had become SELF-providing, SELF-sustaining, and SELF-sufficient! Their DEPENDENCE was not on God, it was on the other god – the god of mammon!

This sad reality is confirmed by the solution that Jesus proffered to their problem in verse 18, “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich….” Of course, Jesus was simply counselling them to BUY TRUE RICHES, instead of possessing the false riches they had (material wealth). And how does a man buy TRUE RICHES? The answer is clear in two parables of Jesus: ‘The Parable of the Hidden Treasure' and ‘The Parable of the Pearl of Great Value' (Matthew 13:44-46). A man can only BUY true riches by SELLING ALL that he possesses. That was the message of Jesus to the Laodicean church.

Obviously, they had forgotten about the non-negotiable message of FORSAKING ALL to follow Jesus (Luke 14:33). And Jesus was here returning them back to basics, back to the A-B-C of discipleship. That was the situation of the ‘last' church in Revelation 2 and 3. And it is the situation of the church in these Last Days. The challenge that Jesus posed to that church is the challenge that He is posing to us today: “Want to follow me TRULY? You have to FORSAKE ALL….”

It is easy to deduce that the church in Laodicea was unwilling to follow the counsel of Jesus! For, indeed, how many rich men are willing to forsake their wealth and carry a cross? Very, very few indeed! This is why Jesus made it clear that it is next to impossible for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God (Mark 10:25). Mammon has a way of seizing the heart of rich men and making them captives in its impregnable stronghold.

The next action that Jesus took confirms that the church in Laodicea was unwilling/unable to repent and give up their wealth. Thus, Jesus stood outside the door, knocking to CALL OUT those that could still hear His voice. CALLING THEM OUT for a DIRECT FELLOWSHIP with Himself. Please study verse 20 to see this clearly.

It is in this same way that Jesus is today CALLING OUT His true disciples from what we today know as ‘church'. It has become infiltrated and corrupted by the god of mammon! Stop the flow of money into those churches, and watch how they'll collapse like a pack of cards! For they are NOT God-sustained, they are mammon-sustained! Jesus made it clear in Matthew 6:24 that to hold on to mammon is to HATE/DESPISE God.

For us today, it is possible to HATE/DESPISE God in this same way, while belonging to the ‘church'. While claiming to be waiting for the return of Christ. It is for this reason that the church of today is lukewarm – just as the church in Laodicea was lukewarm in their days. God cannot be mocked! Believers that refuse/neglect to pay the high price of discipleship will waste away in the valley of lukewarmness – until they are cut off from the life of Christ (John 15:1-6). Certainly, they have no part in His second coming.

(3) THE FAITH THAT WAITS FOR THE RETURN OF CHRIST HAS NO ‘PLAN B':

Here is a third way that Jesus linked this subject of ABSOLUTE FAITH/DEPENDENCE ON GOD to His Second Coming. The account is in Luke 18:1-8. The story of the persistent widow that camped at the gate of an unjust judge. The lesson that Jesus was pointing us to is very simple: this widow had no ‘Plan B'. Her ONE and ONLY hope was in the judge. It was either the judge helped her, or she'll never get justice. So, she pinned ALL HER HOPE on the judge, camped at his gate, and called out to him continually. No options. No Plan B. Just absolute ‘faith' in the judge.

It is this type of absolute faith that God requires in the Bride that is awaiting the imminent return of the Bridegroom from heaven. Disciples that DEPEND on God entirely, TAKING NO THOUGHT for their lives, just banking on the faithfulness of God. Disciples that have no ‘Plan B' – it is either God comes through for them, or else help will come from nowhere else. That is FAITH. True FAITH. The faith that waits FOR God, and waits ON God.

Sadly, and this is very sad indeed, Jesus made it clear in verse 8 that He'll barely find such faith on earth when He returns. Please, look around you today. How many believers exhibit this type of faith? This type of absolute dependence on God? Yet, this is the ONLY true way to await the return of the Son of God that is coming to take His waiting people home into glory.

Apart from the three key points discussed above, there are several other Bible passages that confirm the truth that believers that do not live according to Matthew 6:24-34 can NEVER, EVER be ready for the return of Jesus (except they repent, of course!) For instance, in Luke 21:34, we read that the ‘CARES OF THIS LIFE' will cause the Day of the Lord to come upon some believers UNEXPECTEDLY! Also, in view of the imminence of the coming of the Lord, Philippians 4:5-6 urges believers to be moderate and to avoid being anxious about their needs.

Furthermore, in Revelation 13:16-17, we see that believers who refuse the teaching in Matthew 6:24-34, and cling to mammon will LOSE finally! Their loss will become manifest when the Antichrist makes it impossible to buy or sell without taking the mark of the beast. Thus, the money they chased and earned will become eventually useless. The money for which they betrayed Christ in not waiting faithfully for His return.

As we study the Bible closely, we'll see how God has set LIFE and DEATH before us in these Last Days. And He urges us to choose LIFE! For this is why the Son came – that we may have life, and have it more abundantly (John 10:10).

Today, the world is at its GLITTERING best - the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. All these are at their peak in the world we live in, seeking to enchant us, seeking to entrap us. The pursuit of career. The pursuit of position. The pursuit of worldly success. The pursuit of relevance. The pursuit of financial prosperity and the independence that it gives. The pursuit of pleasure. The pursuit of amusement/games/sports. The pursuit of self-actualisation. The pursuit of happiness.

These are the disco lights that the world uses to invite us to dance with it. The dance of death. The dance of eternal perdition! Yet, many of us are wearing our dancing shoes to tango with the world! This is why Jesus is today knocking again. Knocking as He did with our worldly brethren in the church in Laodicea. Only a few will hear this knock – for the disco noise of the world is much louder, with its pulsating music. And more tempting. More seductive. Easier to dance to – until the curtains fall suddenly. And the wrath of God is revealed from heaven.

Friends, please let us sit down TODAY and re-evaluate our Christianity. Re-evaluate our entire walk with the Lord. What MOST of us have come to know as Christianity is a SHAM! A deception that was designed to trap us in the valley of lukewarmness – until the return of Christ catches us unexpectedly. Generally speaking, this is the goal of what we know as Christianity today.

And we need to BREAK FREE from it! Break free to run into the waiting arms of the Lord for the TRUE REDEMPTION of our souls. He is waiting to draw us deeper into Himself – WHOEVER we are, HOWEVER we are, WHEREVER we are. He'll take us into glory unspeakable and joy inexplicable.

His offer to us is clear – have TRUE FAITH in God, TAKE NO THOUGHT for your life, for tomorrow. This will cast us into a position of TOTAL DEPENDENCE on God, and into CONSTANT COMMUNION with Him, as we truly live by every word that proceeds out of His mouth (Matthew 4:4). This is the ONLY way to stand against the perils of this end-time - watching and waiting for the imminent return of the Bridegroom.

The Holy Spirit is waiting to guide us into the safety of the narrow path that leads to life. The path where only a FEW would be found. Friends, we can be among the few!!! Matthew 6:24-34 is an important doorway. Let us grab its blessings with both hands. Starting from NOW.

Thanks for reading this series, God bless you real good. Amen.

To. Table of CONTENTS

COPYRIGHT

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4

PART 5

PART 6

PART 7

PART 8

PART 9

PART 10

PART 11

PART 12

PART 13

PART 14

PART 15

PART 16

PART 17

PART 18

PART 19

PART 20

PART 21

The End