Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Take My Yoke! Take My Yoke! Taken From A Slice Of Infinity By Jill Carattini   The young David did a peculiar thing as he faced a formidable enemy. The scene was undoubtedly tense: Israel stood poised on one mountain, the Philistines on another; the valley of Elah was positioned between them. His tormentor, Goliath, stood over nine feet tall, and was fully clothed in armor of bronze. He held in his arms an enormous spear. David was hardly fit for the challenge. He was the smallest and the youngest of brothers. He was the one given the menial task of shepherding the family sheep. He had no armor or spear of his own. On David's side stood King Saul who acted as any concerned person does when someone he loves faces a battle in a valley where life isn't fair: he offered strategic advice, took his own armor, dressed David in it, and sent him off with a sword and a blessing. But David refused them. He took off Saul's armor and left the sword behind. And with his shepherd's bag, five stones and a sling, David defeated Goliath. This familiar story, told in 1 Samuel 17, is one in which children rightfully take delight. But I think it can also stir in our imaginations a potent image of following Christ. As I read this account of David, I wrestle with thoughts of identity. Would I have taken the armor off though it wasn't my own? Would I have been myself, aware of my own abilities, or would I have tried to make someone else's armor my confidence? David is for me a helpful reminder that when our identity is found in God, authenticity and obedience are natural responses to life: David took off the breastplate of Saul because he knew the fortress of God. David went into the valley authentically, facing Goliath as no one but himself, going forth not with confidence in his own being, nor confidence in armor, but with confidence in the character of God. He walked forward in obedience to the one who walked beside him; he walked forward with an identity shaped by the presence of the living God. David knew as a young boy what he would proclaim throughout his life: "Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he answers him from his holy heaven with the saving power of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God" (Psalm 20:6-7). The man who sought after God's own heart found God's assurance and strength thrown in. Abandoning ourselves to the person of God, we find ourselves able to become the person He's created us to be. David's bout with Goliath reminds us that identity no longer has to be an uncomfortable search, or a timid view of life behind a mask. It is a bold display of a relationship with the one who knows us better than we know ourselves. Throughout David's life, God revealed Himself in valleys of death and shadows as the God who is present. So Christ continues to reveal himself in our every trial and temptation. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:28-29). In Christ we can know the freedom of transformation and the strength that comes from leaving behind the masks of men and putting on the identity of God.   © 2005 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. All Rights Reserved. 9:35:01 AM    comment []

The Story Money Tells - Part II Taken From The Book The Law of Rewards By Permission From Randy Alcorn. If you have sufficient food, decent clothes, live in a home that shields you from the weather, and own some kind of reliable transportation, you're in the top 15% of the world's wealthy.  Add some savings, two cars (in any condition), a variety of clothes, and your own house, and you have reached the top 5 percent.  You may not feel wealthy, but that's only because you're comparing yourself to the megawealthy.   Consider someone who works from age twenty-five to sixty-five and makes only $25,000 a year.  Forget the huge value of benefits provided, interest earned, pay raises, and other income sources, including inheritance or Social Security.  Even without these extras, in his lifetime this person of modest income will be paid a million dollars.  He will manage a fortune.   Because we all will give an account of our lives to God (Romans 14:12; 2 Corinthians 5:10), one day everyone must answer these questions: Where did it all go? What did I spend it on? What, if anything, did I support with it? What has been accomplished for eternity through the use of all this wealth? We will be held accountable for what we do in this life, including what we do with our money.  If we are generous with our possessions and faithful in our service, God will reward us beyond our imagination!  If we only live for ourselves, hoarding our money and focusing on earthly comfort, we will lose the eternal rewards God had planned for us.  As Christians we are saved by God's grace - but what we do in this life will matter for eternity.   In the account of the poor widow, Mark writes, "Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury" (Mark 12:41).  Notice that it doesn't say, "Jesus happened to see..." No, he deliberately watched to observe what people were giving.    How close was Jesus to the offering box?  Close enough to see that some people put in large amounts.  Close enough even to see two tiny coins in a shriveled old hand and to identify them as copper.  Jesus was interested enough in what people were giving to make an object lesson for his disciples.   This passage should make all of us who suppose that what we do with our money is our own business feel terribly uncomfortable.  It's painfully apparent that God considers it his business.  He does not apologize for watching with intense interest what we do with the money he's entrusted to us.  If we use our imagination, we might peer into the invisible realm to seem him gathering subjects together this very moment.  Perhaps you can hear him using your handling of finances as an object lesson.   The question is this: What kind of example are we?   Copyright 1989,2002,2003 By Eternal Perspective Ministries.   8:43:09 AM    comment []