Good Morning,
The Lord gave us our January thaw in February. It has been spring-like over the past few days, and the snow is melting fast. I walked for 4 miles yesterday - it was very refreshing. Alice drove to Boston early Saturday morning to see Micah and Simeon and their parents. She came home Monday evening. She is going to return this coming weekend for a extended weekend.
We had a funeral service for Don Eckler last Saturday. Don was chairman of the Trustee Board of the church in 1990. He was a dedicated family man, who loved the church and was a doer of the Word. The church family came together in celebration and worship, in memory of Don Eckler, who was 74 years old. His wife of 54 years, Lillian, had gone to be with the Lord on the 8th of April, 2007.
Nathan Young, another Saint of Jesus our Lord, went to be His Master and Lord this past Sunday morning. Nathan was 89 years old. Nathan loved the Lord with a deep passion. He and his wife, Barbara Jean, had served as volunteers with Wycliffe Bible Translators for 12 years. Nathan and Barbara Jean were married for 65 years. Barbara Jean went to be Christ 4 years ago. Both Nate Young and Don Eckler slipped peacefully into the loving arms of Jesus.
John Wesley said Christians die well. Indeed, in Christ we can do life well and, because of Jesus who is the resurrection and the life, we die well. Paul could say, "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain".
In 2 Peter 1: 3 we read, "His divine power has given us every thing we need for life and for godliness". We can live in confidence knowing that our Lord is able and very capable of giving us every thing we need. We can live with generosity and grace. We can live our lives investing in the Kingdom of Jesus which is eternal and triumphant. Yet, I often wonder why it’s so hard to get people to give even a tenth of their income to God’s work? My guess is that the average giving in any church,somewhere between 1 and 2% of income. Why are we giving God such a pittance? Is it because we don't trust God to provide? Was it easier for that poor widow in Jesus’ day to give her few copper coins because she had to rely on God anyway? In Malachi 3 God accuses his people of robbing him. "Will anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing me! But you say, 'How are we robbing you?' In your tithes and offerings! You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me -- the whole nation of you! Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing." (Mal 3:8-10) God can be trusted to look after us. In 1 Timothy God warns us about the love of money. First it is written, "we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it." So, what can we do to fight the temptation to covet? The key, I think, is there in 1 Timothy 6:6, "there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment." How can we be content? We must begin by remembering what God has promised. In John 6 Jesus talked about himself as the bread of life. He said, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." Jesus is the satisfaction of the soul’s thirst and the heart’s hunger. If we come to him he promises to satisfy us, and to give us contentment.
In Philippians 4, Paul talks about his experience of God’s provision. He says, "I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:11-13 NRSV) He thinks back on how God has provided for him in the past and his gratitude for God’s mercy overflows into trust for the future. Then he passes on that sense of trust to his readers with this assurance, "And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." It all comes back to that question, "Do you trust God?" Do you trust him to satisfy all your needs, to look after you in all circumstances, to help you find contentment whether it’s in plenty or in need? It’s interesting that the 10 commandments begin with, "You shall have no other gods before me" and they end with "you shall not covet." The two are the same commandment in different guises. Both are about trusting the true and living God to rule over us, to provide for us, to know what’s best for us. Finally, look at the advice Paul gives Timothy at the end of 1 Timothy 6. It is advice that applies equally to us, "But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness." The remedy for covetousness is to pursue not wealth but righteousness, godliness, faith, love, etc. We must put our whole trust in the God, who has already given us his only Son to die so we could be made his children and who promises to take us to be with him in glory forever.
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEcWkt7rxrg
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