Thursday 24 November 2016

Do you?

Do you?
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5,6.
Here is a strait forward statement to believers and non-believers alike.
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5,6.
Thus the question is do you put all your trust in God?
Matthews gospel records,
“Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” 
“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.” 
“Which ones?” the man inquired. Jesus replied, “ ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,  honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’’” 
“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” 
Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 
When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. 
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  Matthew 19: 16-23.
This man was very wealthy. He believed in God and obeyed the commandments. However he appears to have lacked complete faith. His faith if you will was intellectual not heart felt. His faith seemed to more in his wealth than God.
Now there is nothing wrong with wealth in its place. The apostle Paul states,
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. 
Some people, eager for money, 
have wandered from the faith 
and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 
1 Timothy 6:10.
The apostle Paul make it very clear it is the “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”
Money in and of itself is an inanimate object that can be used as much for good as it can for evil.  Money used wrongly however can cause us to turn away from God to forsake him. Something we must always be aware of.
Our faith must be entirely in God. Not in material things. The writer of Hebrews tells us,

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for
 and certain of what we do not see.”  
Hebrews 11:1
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, 
because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists 
and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” 
Hebrews 11:6
Anyone can believe from an intellectual point of view that God exists the true measure of a believer is if you are willing to put your complete trust in God. Something that can be difficult in our materialistic society.
Billy Graham the American Evangelist once asked the question,
“The great question of our time is, 'Will we be motivated by materialistic philosophy or by spiritual power?” Billy Graham
The writer of Proverbs states,
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5,6.
In order to truly believe in God we must be willing to follow God strictly by faith nothing more.
The young man that came to Jesus did not have that kind of faith. His security was not in his faith but in his wealth.
Question: where is your trust in God our your wealth?
Please think about it.

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