THE GOD OF I GOT TO HAVE IT NOW

"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
     "Never will I leave you;
          never will I forsake you."
 So we say with confidence,
     "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
     What can man do to me?"" 
 Hebrews 13:5-6 (NIV)

We pay our bills with money. So, we have to have some. Wanting to have enough to pay your bills is not greed. Wanting to have enough so you are not worried about living paycheck to paycheck is not greed. Learning to live within your means is where faith meets reality. 

The love of money is not the same as just wanting to not be a slave to your bills. I am not sure but sometimes I think there is a fine line where wanting stuff now and loving money are the same thing because it involves covetousness. I call it the god of "I got to have it now". It usually manifests itself in maxed out credit cards. Sound familiar?

Someone once said that prosperity is having a little more than what you need. Faith is trusting that if you can't pay cash now than maybe God wants you to at least wait until you do. Faith is being able to wait upon God to provide the cash or learning to be content with what we have. Faith allows us to live prosperous lives. 

God won't leave you and God is your helper. 

Father, help us to remember to trust you with our finances. Help us to live by faith knowing that you will provide fro all our needs in Christ Jesus. Thank you for providing and that my family and I have what we need today. Praise be to you in us today!

JUST LIKE A BROTHER

"Keep on loving each other as brothers." Hebrews 13:1 

The thing about close families is that even though they do fight sometimes, they still love each other and pity the fool that tries to get between them. Brothers (and sisters) can argue and mess with each other and yet, will defend each other to the end. 

As Christians there will be times when it is not easy to love each other. That's all right. Think about Christ's love for us. He loves us when we don't love him. He just keeps loving us. His forgiveness just keeps washing us clean. 

I had this student once who just couldn't get with the program. He kept disciplined and finally with just a few weeks left he got it together. He finally realized I wasn't trying to punish him, I was trying to teach him. That's God's love sometimes. We reap what we have sown and it's not good. Christ faithfully forgives and the Spirit teaches and we learn that his love is eternal. He just keeps loving us. 

That's what are love should be for each other. We just keep loving. Our brothers (and sisters), like us, struggle along and we just keep loving each other in Christ.

Father, thank you that you first loved us and continue to love us. Help us to love each other. Praise be to you in us today!