I continue to be inspired by A.W. Tozer. Recently as I was studying some of his material, I read where wrote, “If you are a Christian and you are comfortably ‘at home’ in Chicago or Toronto, in Iowa or Alberta or any other address on planet earth, the signs are evident that you are in spiritual trouble. The spiritual equation reads like this: The greater your contentment with your daily circumstances in this world, the greater your defection from the ranks of God’s pilgrims en route to a city whose architect and builder is God Himself!” These are words that should cut us to the core. We have taken our eyes off of our Creator and have focused instead on material possessions and comfort. Do we think this course will end well?
Discipleship
Do Something
I don’t think Francis Chan can help himself. He recently wrote a book with his wife called “You and Me Forever”. Ostensibly this is a book about marriage. Yet from the first pages, Chan is exhorting Christians to live out their faith. He is so passionate about his desire to see people not only come to Christ, but also to live for Him, that it bleeds into everything he does. Can the same be said of our lives? Should we not all strive to be so consumed with Jesus that He spills into every thought, action, and word we speak? If that’s not the case, then what is the proof of our love for Christ?
This is Not How We’re Supposed to Live
There’s something that’s been eating away at my soul. I’ve written about it in one form or the other in the past but never seem to effectively articulate it, which is a very hard thing for a writer to accept. Here it is, as simply as I can put it. We’ve got a couple generations (at least) of people who call themselves Christians but live nothing like Jesus Christ. With apologies to my international readers, I’m going to be speaking from an American perspective, because that is the only context with which I have current first-hand knowledge. My suspicion is that all Western countries suffer from the same malady of malaise. We have sworn allegiance to Jesus but live for ourselves.
What Are We Exhaling?
I love Colossians 3:4. It says, “When the Messiah, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” I am overwhelmed when I think about Jesus being my very life. I am nothing without Him. He has blessed me with every talent and passion that I have. He created every hair on my head and every cell in my body. He breathed His life into me. What an incredible thought. The breath of Christ is what brings us to life. Knowing what we have taken in (the very breath of God), what are we putting back out into the world? In other words, we have inhaled the breath of Christ; the important question now is: “What are we exhaling?”
Your Money Perspective
Money is a tremendous tool when used appropriately. God blesses us so that we in turn will bless others. When we use what we have been given for His glory and to further His Kingdom, money is a great blessing. We are blessed with it by God so that we can bless others for God, which in turn brings glory to God. This is the proper use of what we have been entrusted to manage. It’s all about what we do with money that counts. In and of itself, money is useless, just bits of paper and metal. Put to proper use, it becomes amazingly powerful and good. There is, of course, a dark side to money as well.