Discipling the Undisciplined no. 20

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21). That is a tough one for most folks, me included. We live in a material world, thanks Madonna, and we are folks that surround ourselves with things. BUT the most important things are not of this world. Grace, mercy, truth, and love are not of this world. Those important things come from God.

I have never been too awfully tied to possessions. I am more attached to the memories and comfort those possessions provide. What I need to understand is that those memories and comforts are not conditional on those things. The memories reside within my mind and the comfort comes from the peace of God. 

I can spend my life making money and never be happy. Folks will enslave themselves to money and material things. Folks will pick jobs based on the salary. Folks will leave doing what makes them happy to pursue money. And, I hate to break it to you, BUT money isn’t real. It once had value. There was some sort of material thing to which money was related. Whether it was gold, or silver, money was once related to some other material. Today, money has imaginary value. The value that our collective agreement has given to the money is what drives its value. Nothing more. So, I think it is time to really examine why we are chasing something with imaginary value when I can find true value in my life through a relationship with my creator.

I look out over the gardens I built through God’s motivation and all the sweat and tears put into that labor and know in my heart that I could do it all again. I might be a little bit older and a little bit slower BUT the lessons I have learned from God in that experience are with me still. And those lessons, that walk, that time of wrestling with Him was worth a lot more than the garden itself. Learning to trust in His time and working on patience and peace were much more valuable than that garden itself. My treasure is in learning what God has for me this side of eternity. My treasure is in walking with Him and learning daily what He has for me to do. My treasure is in learning more about Him and myself. My treasure is eventually spending eternity working in partnership with Him so I am going to practice that today and every day. That is my future and my present, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).

Grace and Shalom to your home. 

#DisciplingTheUndisciplined #ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #SeekFirstTheKingdom #ServeOneAnotherInLove #NotMyWayYHWH

Discipling the Undisciplined no. 18

“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:5-15). The church is full of hypocrites BUT we can always fit a couple more. And that is what I want to talk about with these verses today, hypocrisy. I like to talk about hypocrisy because I have been a hypocrite. I know a lot about the topic. I spent a lot of time living a life that did not align with what I thought my beliefs were. I said one thing and practiced another. The more I was confronted with the hypocrisy around me, I was forced to deal with my own hypocrisy. And that led to the change four years ago when I finally got tired of living the life of a Pharisee and I worked on recovery. I would like to tell you that hypocrisy and Pharisee are something that I overcame BUT I haven’t overcome anything. God has got me.

There is a huge temptation, for me at least, to rely on my own way. I relied on my own way for decades to get me out. When I started this journey it was all on my own way of doing things. And then, fortunately, I made the error of letting God take over and that ended my being in control anymore. And that was an error if I was going to keep doing things my way and not His Way. To me now, it is all gain. And it was not easy to give God control. And it is still a struggle to let God get me. BUT hypocrisy is something that never truly dies. It gnaws away behind the scenes. It wants to take credit for everything that I have and everything that I do. It wants to do things my own way. It wants to be its own god rather than enthrone Him. And hypocrisy is everywhere. Hypocrisy is in churches, in schools, in government, in business, in sports, in entertainment, in leisure, everywhere there are people, hypocrisy is there. And I have to fight the urge to give up on other hypocrites when I won’t give up my own hypocrisy. I have to embrace those hypocritical and Pharisee thoughts that elevate me above other sinners because I am a sinner too. 

I know that hypocrisy led me away from the church. Hypocrisy led me to struggle with religion and church folks. Hypocrisy has led me to see the hypocrisy all around. Hypocrisy has led me back to Him. Hypocrisy has taught me that relationship with Him humbles hypocrisy. Gratitude in prayer that is centered on what God wants, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Gratitude for all I get in life, “Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one.”  And forgiveness for hypocritical thoughts, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” 

Gratitude, forgiveness, and love go a long way to help the heart of a hypocrite. I strive daily to remember to, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:29-31).

Grace and Shalom to your home. 

#DisciplingTheUndisciplined #ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #SeekFirstTheKingdom #ServeOneAnotherInLove #NotMyWayYHWH