Tag: Money

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The Radical Cure

APRIL 19

MATTHEW 5:40_let him have thy cloak also.

Come on Lord Jesus, there’s radical and then there’s … crazy! I mean, look at the facts:

I lost the case and with it my life’s savings.

I hate it because I don’t feel I was wrong.

I hate it because it will destroy my current lifestyle.

I hate it because it causes a pain in the pit of my stomach.

I hate it because it takes away my peaceful sleep.

Jesus says the remedy for my ailments is to give my enemy more than I’m obligated? No way! That will make me sicker!

Write this out on a card and place it somewhere you’ll see it regularly: My being good does not impress Jesus. My doing good does. The Scribes and Pharisees were good. They knew and kept the laws. They failed to do good by loving their fellow man and leading them to freedom.

The Great Healer’s radical cure requires action. Action that comes from who’s in charge of your heart – you or Jesus?

PRAYER

Holy Jesus, I need Your help so I can do good and not just talk about being good. I need faith to believe in Your radical cures. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                                                                                                             

Christ does good—He will teach me!                                         

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The Great Healer

APRIL 18

MATTHEW 5:40_And if any man will sue thee at law, and take away thy coat…

If there will ever be any kind of goodwill toward man in this life, it will come from Jesus’ crazy teachings about not fighting back. The reason? God’s power is released into your life when you have faith. Faith in the strength of God’s love to fight your enemies for you. Jesus has taught you not to seek revenge and not to slap back.

Check this one out:  

Someone sues you. You are in the right. You tried, but were not able to settle out of court. The case goes against you – strongly against you. In other words, you lost all your savings! Now you have big money problems.

This is not easy to take, even if you were in the wrong. If you were in the right, it is heart wrenching. This can result in something worse than your money problems – the bondage of bitterness. 

Bitterness, unforgiveness, and grudge-holding bind. Bitterness bondage chokes your spirit, contaminates your salt, and puts out your light.   

The money problems place a painful curb on your life. The bitterness places a curb on your heart, and its ability to love.  

Jesus becomes The Great Healer. He offers a radical cure.

PRAYER

Great Healer, I need Your help so I am not bitter when I am treated wrongly. I need Your wisdom to know how to respond. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                                                                                                             

Christ’s love holds no grudges—He will teach me!

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False Teaching

NOVEMBER 4

MATTHEW 7:16_Ye shall know them by their fruits…

Jesus is about to teach some clarity on how to recognize false prophets. If you think you don’t know any prophets, false or otherwise, change your perspective.

Look at something simple—like false advertising. You may covet some kind of product you see advertised.  You may save up all our money, or nag the life out of your parents, until you have it. In no time at all you discover it is not as it was advertised. 

Being taken by some false advertising is minor in comparison to being taken by some false teaching. False teaching can appeal so strongly to your flesh that your spirit is diminished.

False teaching appeals to your appetite for wealth and possessions, for glamour and fame, and for power and control.

In Jesus’ wilderness experience the devil tempted Him, Matthew 4:8-9 (KJV), “Again, the devil taketh Him [Jesus] up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto Him, ‘All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me.’”  

Jesus knew the truth, He replied, “10 Then saith Jesus unto him, ‘Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.’”

PRAYER

Good Shepherd, Help me strengthen my spirit in the truth of the Bible. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.     

 Christ knows the weakness of my flesh—He will save me!

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Can You Trust God?

AUGUST 15

MATTHEW 6:30_which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven…

The life span of grass sounds pretty brief – maybe it is. Regardless of how brief, during its time on earth, God gave it soil, rain, and sun. And beyond the basic needs, God added beauty. This is not to say a field of grass does not have beauty of its own – it surely does. But, God loves to add beauty in life. This kind of beauty is a fringe benefit of a life of faith. Faith in the true God – not just a god.

This is the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The God who gives provisions. God’s supplies to His creation include beauty – amazing beauty. Even the wealthy, resplendent King Solomon had no match for God’s beauty in nature. 

Jesus wants you to see how much God cares for and about you. Jesus helps with trust. Can you trust that the God who takes care of grass is concerned about every aspect of your life? Psalm 16:11 (KJV), “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”

God wants you to stay on His path. He wants to fill you with joy. God wants to stretch forth His hand and give you pleasure.        

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, I praise You that only You can give me fullness of joy. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

Christ is the fulfillment of joy—He fills me with it!

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It Took Her Breath Away!

AUGUST 12

MATTHEW 6:29_was not arrayed like one of these.

I Kings 3:11-14 (KJV),”And God said unto him, ‘Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; 12 Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.13 And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days’” 

You simply must read I Kings 10 of the account of the Queen of Sheba! She visited King Solomon just to see if all she had heard of him was true. After she heard his wisdom, and saw the vastness of his wealth, verse 5 (KJV) says, “… there was no more spirit in her.”  We would say, It took her breath away.

Go back to Jesus’ word, yet. Yet, for all Solomon’s power, wisdom, and wealth, he had nothing in his wardrobe to surpass the beauty of a field of lilies. Simple God-grown lilies do not have to worry about their existence – God supplies all their needs. 

PRAYER

Jehovah Jireh, I worship the magnificent God You are!  In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

Christ’s works in my life—He takes my breath away!