shadow

Greed-Just a Little More!

“Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”
Luke 12:15 NLT

girl grabbing money

Jesus told the parable of a rich man who decided to tear down his existing barns in order to build bigger ones. He’d store all of his goods in these bigger barns and wouldn’t have to work for some time. Then, he’d eat, drink, and be merry!  Can’t you picture this dude sitting there on his wealthy behind marveling at how he’s achieved the good life?  His great plan was short lived. “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’ Luke 12:20 NLT

This man was so greedy that he wasn’t satisfied with what he already had. Have you ever been tempted by greed like that? I remember a time when I ditched my collection of shoes in order to buy all new ones. I really only needed to replace one pair of sandals that I’d broken but, I decided that it was time for me to just toss and replenish the whole lot. How hard could that be? My collection of shoes fit well and was still fashionable but I went from need to greed in a hot minute. I ended up waiting for years to properly rebuild my shoes to the right colors, styles, and types because I could not easily find the replacements after all.

Your ‘greedy thing’ may not be barns of goods or shoes. It could be any number of things. But the temptation to want more of everything is present in all of us. Aren’t we then somewhat similar to the man in the parable?

We can never really be free or satisfied by the stuff that we own—real freedom and satisfaction are free gifts that God provides to us when we humbly go to Him each day and ask for his grace and help. Only after doing that can we have the power to resist the strong temptation towards greed. For we read in Luke 12:21, “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”

Are you ‘God-poor’ today due to greed? You don’t have to be. Ask Him to take away your greed for material things and replace it with a desire for godly things. He wants to do it and will if you ask Him.

By grace through faith,

Rita

Deceit and Denial-One for You, Two for Us!

“Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself… How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!” Acts 5:3,4c; “And Peter said, “How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this?”
Acts 5: 9-10 NLT

Little white lies—they’re harmless, right? They weren’t for the couple in today’s Dose verses. But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest.” (Acts 5: 1-2) They were together in this deceit! Peter confronted Ananias first. Ananias fell down dead! Not long afterward, Peter spoke with Sapphira and when she told the same lie as her husband, he confronted her too. Then, she fell dead!

Ananias and Sapphira gave into the temptation to cheat and lie about some property they sold. But why were they struck dead over this? Peter said they had conspired to test the Holy Spirit and lied to God through their actions. This was not a money issue; it was a heart issue. Ananias and Sapphira didn’t have to sell their property—they chose to. Then, instead of being honest about wanting to give some of the proceeds to the church while they kept the rest, they decided that it’d look better if they’d given it all. So, they lied and said they did. They were concerned less about honest motives and more about impressing the people of their church. As a result, they showed no reverence for God, the presence and work of the Holy Spirit in their church body, or responsibility to their fellow body of Believers.

Aren’t you glad that God doesn’t simply discipline us with immediate death because of our deceit and denial? He gives grace. But, are we reverencing Him with honest motives and a pure heart? If we’re dealing regularly in deceit and denial, we’re not doing things from godly motives with a heart that truly desires to honor God; we’re keeping up false outward appearances in order to impress others. We fool ourselves, hinder our relationships with Christ and fellow Believers, and ruin our witness to others. Little white lies–not harmless at all!

Are there areas of your life where you’re lying to the Holy Spirit today? Choose to honestly and humbly admit this sin. Then, ask God to help you overcome it. He will!

By grace through faith,

Rita

Spiritual Blindness-Saved by a Talking Donkey!

Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed his head and fell face down on the ground before him.”
Numbers 22:31 NLT

One day, I watched someone attempt to back out of a parking space at a local drug store.  They couldn’t get more than a few feet out of their parking spot due to a little car that was stopped behind them to their right and a van stopped behind them to their left. The driver began to tap their horn but no other vehicles moved. Finally, he laid on his horn motioning for somebody, anybody, to move. What the frustrated driver couldn’t see was that the driver of the little car was in a long line and purposefully left a gap so as not to block the intersection leading to the bank. The irate driver was blind to the reality of the situation from his angle of view.

When we rely on our own wisdom instead of God’s, we can fall prey to spiritual blindness.

Balaam learned this lesson in an unusual way. He was a sorcerer propositioned by the King of Moab to put a curse on the Israelites for money. God had already told Balaam not to go. Balaam outwardly said he had no power to go against God’s will but in his heart he wanted the money! Eventually he headed out with the Moabite officials. Balaam’s donkey saw the angel of the Lord blocking her way and she attempted to avoid it three times in order to save Balaam’s life. Balaam beat his donkey in a fit of increasing anger because she wouldn’t go down the path. Then, a funny thing happened–God gave the donkey the ability to speak, and she asked Balaam why he beat her! Now, if I had just beaten my donkey in a fit of rage and she started asking me why, I believe I would have jumped from the beast and run! But, Balaam answered her and shortly afterward, the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes to what he could not see earlier. Balaam confessed his sin, obeyed the Lord and blessed, rather than cursed, the Israelites.

Balaam missed every sign from his donkey that there was trouble in his path even though he was a wise sorcerer. He was unable to see what was right in front of his face because he was focused on his own wisdom and desires.

Only God, through the Holy Spirit, opens our eyes to the truth so that we can clearly see the obstacles in our path. Is spiritual blindness clouding your vision today?

By grace through faith,

Rita