Don’t worry, I have not written an article proclaiming the apostasy of the health and wealth gospel.  As a matter of fact, just the opposite is true.  Christian riches are not found in this world but they are found in the Kingdom of Heaven where moth and rust can not harm them and thieves can not steal them and the government can not tax them! “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”  Matthew 6:33.  My friend at church tells me that she sets her alarm clock for 6:33 AM so she will be reminded that they very first thing to do each day is to “seek ye first His kingdom …”.

I really don’t like writing this article because this article convicts me of my sin nature.  I am a born again Christian and I have given God charge of my life; all that I have is rightfully His but when God puts me in the difficult places, I don’t like it.  I pray “Give us this day our daily bread” but when I think I need more than what God has promised to provide, I start looking for a way out, instead of praying for God’s grace to endure the trail and give Him the glory.  I just wanted people to know that I am not preaching from a high horse of righteous living but I am sharing God’s word and revelation that convicts me as much as it does you. 

A Christian’s true riches are in Heaven and we deposit riches in the bank of Heaven when we bear our cross and faithfully follow in the footsteps of Christ’s righteousness (Matthew 16:24).  To bear our cross means we keep our sin nature nailed to the cross so our new Christ nature can work and shine in our life.  My pastor says the problem with a living sacrifice is that it is always crawling off he altar.  The get rich “slow” book for the Christian is the Bible, not the one by Peter Doyle.  The Beatitudes tell you how to invest your time, talents and treasures.

Matthew 5:1When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,

      3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

      4“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

      5“Blessed are the gentle (meek), for they shall inherit the earth.

      6“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

      7“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

      8“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

      9“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

      10“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

      11“Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Theses words from Jesus are very humbling and powerful.  The “poor” in Spirit are those who know they need God’s grace and mercy in order to get through this life and live a life pleasing to God.  Those who “mourn” because of the effects of sin and injustices that are committed in the world will be comforted by God.  And those who “hunger” for the righteousness of Christ to prevail will one day be see Christ rule and reign over the earth.  A gentle or “meek” person is not weak but they are powerful because their strength is based on the authority and promises of God.  Meekness is power under the control of God.  Finally, being “persecuted” for righteousness sake and suffering because you have taken a stand for Jesus is the “greatest” way to put riches in the bank of Heaven but you cannot know Christ’s suffering until you first know Christ intimately.

The retirement home for the Christian is Heaven (John 14:2) not a senior citizens village in Florida.  As people in the world, our sin nature wants to find a comfy place to relax and hide from the worries of the world but the Christian is called to be the light of the world, not a light in a refrigerator.  In the words of Doc Holiday, from the movie Tombstone, “There is no such thing as a normal life … there is only life”.  And this true, if you are living faithfully to God, you shouldn’t compare your life to others and wonder why your life isn’t normal or blessed when it has been filled with hardship and sorrow.  There is no cookie cutter life in Christ.  God has a plan for your life and He has prepared good works for you and called you to do the good works and He has provided a way for you to do them resulting in the abundant life in Christ and abundant rewards in Heaven.  We are not suppose to conserve our power in Christ so we can live alone in a dim lighted air conditioned room but we are supposed to burn on for Jesus Christ brightly on a hill for all to see until the power of our body is burnt out on earth and we continue burning on brightly in Heaven (Matthew 8:20).

This world is not a place of rest for the Christian because we are on a Spiritual battleground where Satan is fighting to keep people busy with worldly business so they won’t wake up and see that their soul is a slave to sin.  Christian are not to fight like people of the world in order to accumulate material wealth but we are to fight our sin nature and pray for God’s will to be done.  Everything on earth belongs to God.  We are his stewards that must give an account of how we faithful handled the time, talent and treasure He gives us.  

We are to share the good news of Christ salvation to those who are held captive to their sin and are blinded to the fact that they are serving the prince of this world (Satan) and they will die in their sin unless they are rescued.  And this is our first priority, to share Christ with others and rescue the perishing (the Great commission).  Equally important, we are to love our fellow man by aiding him when he is sick, hungry and persecuted (The Great commandment).  This is called the two hands of the gospel.  People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.  On the Mercy Ships they say it this way “an empty stomach has no ears”.

We are not to seek the things of this world because God is going to burn up this world one day and create a new Heaven and Earth but our prayers, our thoughts, our faithful actions live on for eternity.  Therefore, Lord this is my prayer;  May I be found rich in Your love, rich in forgiveness, rich in understanding, rich in Godly passion, rich in a desire for Your peace to dwell in the hearts of men, rich in long suffering, rich in Your truth, rich in hope based on Your promises, rich in the desire to do Your will, rich in a humbleness and filled with thankfulness because of Your awesome, wonderful, beautify, precious, abundant, amazing grace. 

God perfects us through suffering and through our weakness and dependence on Him.  “Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory. “ – Ephesians 3:13.  When we suffer in a trail the whole world watches to see how we will respond, how will we hold up, will we practice what we preach or will we run from adversity?  In all honesty, depression is the correct Biblical response to suffering.  We should not pretend to be content before God when we are under attack from the world, the flesh and the Devil.  God knows our heart.  He knows how we really feel.  More importantly, by coming to God in honesty, especially when we are upset and hurting, and pouring out our petition for help and casting our cares upon God, we are doing the very thing that pleases God and allows Him to help us.  Read the Psalms and you will see you are in good company when it comes to suffering and depression and need for God’s help.  David poured out heart felt prayers to God in his depressed and oppressed condition.  David knew where His help came from and when you read though the Psalms you will see how God answered David’s prayers and He strengthened and encouraged and delivered David through the trail. (Read Psalm 102 displayed below)

Pray for God’s peace that passes all understand.  This world is broken and though sin may prevail for sin and destruction may prevail even while you pray, God is able to make all things work toward His good and glory (Romans 8:28).  Cease striving and know that God hears your prayers (Psalm 46:10).  We should soberly acknowledge the truth of our suffering and pray to God for His strength to endure the suffering and deliver us through the storm for His glory!  God always delivers!  God either delivers us “through” the storms of life on earth or He delivers us “from” the storm by taking us home to be with Him.

We are always so ready to think the suffering in others people’s life is a result of sin and this is what the sorry comforters of Job thought.  But we should look through God’s eyes and see that sometimes God allows trails in a Christian’s life as a means to draw that person closer to Him.  “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” – 2 Corinthians 12:9  In fact, it is Christians who are persecuted for their faith in Christ that understand this principle best.  Missionaries in other country’s ask Christians in America not to merely pray for their persecution to stop but that God will give them strength and boldness to proclaim Christ to their enemy, with the hope that their enemy will accept Christ and be lead by God to stop (like Saul of Tarsus).  These Christians are more concerned that God will save their enemy from sin than that God will save them from persecution, if it means their persecutor will die eternally separated from God.  This is real Christian love and this is where the true riches of Christ are found!

God is working in us and through us for His good pleasure and for His glory and this work is done on the altar of self sacrifice by relying on the grace of God for everything.  This is the way the Christian life works and the way it will always work for those in Christ Jesus.  Fortunately, in Heaven we will fully enjoy the process of being used by Christ to do God’s will because we won’t have a sin nature to tire us and tempt us to do things “our” way.  The hardest thing to do now, such as serve God and give Him the worship and glory that He is due, will be the most enjoyable thing to do in Heaven.  Furthermore, the reward and privilege to serve God in Heaven will be based on how faithfully serve God on earth.

 +8^)  Rogersings

Psalm 102:1Hear my prayer, O LORD!
            And let my cry for help come to You.

      2Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress;
            Incline Your ear to me;
            In the day when I call answer me quickly.

      3For my days have been consumed in smoke,
            And my bones have been scorched like a hearth.

      4My heart has been smitten like grass and has withered away,
            Indeed, I forget to eat my bread.

      5Because of the loudness of my groaning
            My bones cling to my flesh.

      6I resemble a pelican of the wilderness;
            I have become like an owl of the waste places.

      7I lie awake,
            I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop.

      8My enemies have reproached me all day long;
            Those who deride me have used my name as a curse.

      9For I have eaten ashes like bread
            And mingled my drink with weeping

      10Because of Your indignation and Your wrath,
            For You have lifted me up and cast me away.

      11My days are like a lengthened shadow,
            And I wither away like grass.

      12But You, O LORD, abide forever,
            And Your name to all generations.

      13You will arise and have compassion on Zion;
            For it is time to be gracious to her,
            For the appointed time has come.

      14Surely Your servants find pleasure in her stones
            And feel pity for her dust.

      15So the nations will fear the name of the LORD
            And all the kings of the earth Your glory.

      16For the LORD has built up Zion;
            He has appeared in His glory.

      17He has regarded the prayer of the destitute
            And has not despised their prayer.

      18This will be written for the generation to come,
            That a people yet to be created may praise the LORD.

      19For He looked down from His holy height;
            From heaven the LORD gazed upon the earth,

      20To hear the groaning of the prisoner,
            To set free those who were doomed to death,

      21That men may tell of the name of the LORD in Zion
            And His praise in Jerusalem,

      22When the peoples are gathered together,
            And the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.

      23He has weakened my strength in the way;
            He has shortened my days.

      24I say, “O my God, do not take me away in the midst of my days,
            Your years are throughout all generations.

      25“Of old You founded the earth,
            And the heavens are the work of Your hands.

      26“Even they will perish, but You endure;
            And all of them will wear out like a garment;
            Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed.

      27“But You are the same,
            And Your years will not come to an end.

      28“The children of Your servants will continue,
           And their descendants will be established before You.”

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