That Grass On the Other Side

Tuesday, January 31, 2023

The wicked draw their swords and string their bows to kill the poor and the oppressed, to slaughter those who do right.  But their swords will stab their own hearts, and their bows will be broken.  It is better to be godly and have little than to be evil and rich.  For the strength of the wicked will be shattered, but the Lord takes care of the godly.  Psalm 37:14-17

The old adage about greener grass on the other side of the fence could not be more reliable.  For years I’ve driven past a goat farm near our home.  I cannot begin to estimate how often I’ve seen both old and young of the flock with necks straining through the fence to get that luscious green grass on the other side.

It works that way for human goats too!  Those who are poor dream about the green grasses in the land of the rich.  (It’s the reason lottery tickets sell).  Flip that coin and you find the rich wondering what it would be like to live more simply, without the stress of having to protect their wealth from potential thieves.  Both sides of that fence imagine a carefree life of ease on the fence’s other side.  But more often you find the rich unable to resist the temptation to get richer…on the sore backs of those in poverty.  And so it has gone since the Garden of Eden.

Jesus warned about the trap of letting money, or the desire for that greener grass lifestyle, take the place of godliness…which is a life-building others up, instead of storing-up for sefishness sake[1].  Paul picked up on that theme, and instructed his young protégé, Timothy, to teach contentment[2]

It does not surprise me that God came to us in a lowly manger and was content, whether in the company of the rich movers and shakers, or those who were impoverished, destitute of the world’s goods, and no prospect for getting more.  He knew the riches of glory in Heaven with Yahweh; He knew, and had the power of the universe by his word in creation…but he laid it all aside, to be poor for us.

Jesus gave John a warning message for those who thought they had it made, as well as for those who think having what the rich had, would put them in that elite group of carefree livers of the good life:

You say, ‘I am rich.  I have everything I want.  I don’t need a thing!’  And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.  So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire.  Then you will be rich.  Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see.  I correct and discipline everyone I love.  So be diligent and turn from your indifference.  Revelation 3:17-19

For You Today  

Whether you are rich as the upper class comes, or living nervously on Food Stamps and thrift store cast-offs, that grass on the other side of the fence only looks greener.  What God gave you…a soul with His image stamped on it…is your true wealth and worth.  And it is without price…unless you sell it to this world’s highest bidder.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

Good and Evil - the War  and  The Sword of Justice 

This is an updated version of “So Much Anger” published on Rocky Road Devotions January 16, 2014

Images:  Title Pixabay.com   Images without citation are either personal property of the author, or in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©  

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[1] Read it:  Matthew 6:19-34

[2] Read it:  1 Timothy 6

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Look here, you rich people:  Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you.  Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags.  Your gold and silver are corroded.  The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire.  This corroded treasure you have hoarded will testify against you on the day of judgment.  For listen!  Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay.  The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.  James 5:1-4

Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town.  There was a man there named Zacchaeus.  He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich.  He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd.  So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.  When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down!  I must be a guest in your home today.”  Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy.  But the people were displeased.  “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.  Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”  Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”  Luke 19:1-10

It is easy to get the wrong idea if you focus too closely on any issue.  Both James and Luke were Apostles who knew Jesus firsthand.  If you focus on James’ text you could easily arrive at the conclusion any rich person is evil.  But your opinion will be tempered if you understand Luke’s account of what Jesus said about Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, an extremely rich man.  The chief difference between James’ harsh view, and Jesus’ tempered view, was how the riches were used.  In James the rich hoarded the wealth and glutted on it.  In Luke’s account, the rich man, Zacchaeus, repented of his previous selfishness and seriously set on a course of giving, rather than receiving.  

Fast forward two millennia:

The Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the poorest of nations in the world today, has a per capita median income of $1.09 per day.  By comparison, the number in the United States is $72.11.  If we temper all the reasons we know about how we will always have the poor with us,[1] by what we know about God’s view of selfishness, for a beliver and follower of Jesus, the commitment to be a giver will grow stronger, and hoarding will (eventually) disappear.

For You Today

This is a lesson, not just for the most wealthy, but everyone.  We will be judged on what we do with what has been placed in our hands.  When it comes to wealth of any kind, God measures our faithfulness to Him, and our worth in His Kingdom, not on how much we give, but on how much we have in our hands after we give.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

What's in Your Wallet? and Buying God  and Basic Trust; Basic Fear

[1] Images:  via Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©  

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[1] Mark 4:7

Centering

Tuesday, September 27, 2022

Don’t make your living by extortion or put your hope in stealing.  And if your wealth increases, don’t make it the center of your life.  God has spoken plainly, and I have heard it many times:  Power, O God, belongs to you; unfailing love, O Lord, is yours.  Surely you repay all people according to what they have done.  Psalm 62:10-12

Centering is the act of deciding on a focal point for your attention,  Related to life with faith in Christ, to center is putting every distraction, whether good things, or practices, on the outside of the center.  And barring access to all evil things.  Simply put, Christ must be the center of your life, or you violate the basic premise of being His disciple.  Christ is not a means to an end; He IS the end…the center point of the universe, and therefore, the target for everything we do.

The Psalmist held up the image of a powerful person (in a worldly sense), one who extorts secretly, or steals unashamedly, or both.  God says it plainly, this is dead-wrong.  But what about if your wealth increases honestly; even then the opportunity to sin is extant, if you allow wealth to become the center focus of your life.  The reason is, as the previous paragraph, it violates the priority God has laid out for believers – Jesus is the incontrovertible center of everything – money and power are a corrupting influence to the believer who would live godly.

And here’s an unsettling fact for those of us who might shrug that off, thinking since we are in no danger of being called “wealthy” by most of the world, it just doesn’t apply.  The reality of wealth is its’ relativity.  You can be just as centered on money when you’re on the poverty line, as you are living in a mansion you bought for $40-million dollars.

As a pastor, I’ve had much access to people’s thoughts as they share with me.  I have seen this principle of corruption at work in both the rich and poor, and everyone inbetween.  People on the margins of life are worrying about where the next meal might be found.  The person on the other side of the tracks, with cars, houses, and all kinds of toys and disposable income, fear that tomorrow’s stock report might take it all away.  Both persons are slave to things and the power to control them. 

But I have also known people on both sides of those economic tracks who trust God for everything.  They are those who are living the completely free life of a believer who is also a true disciple of Jesus.

For You Today

Let’s listen to Jesus for our final thought on this subject as he taught that famous Sermon on the Mount:

“No one can serve two masters.  For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.  “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear.  Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.  “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries.  Today’s trouble is enough for today.  Matthew 6:24-25, 33-34

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

Preciou$ Promi$e$ and Blank Check Theology  and Basic Trust; Basic Fear

[1] Images:  via Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

How Much is Enough?

 

Wednesday, September 7, 2022

Once a religious leader asked Jesus this question: “Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”  “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him.  “Only God is truly good.  But to answer your question, you know the commandments:  ‘You must not commit adultery.  You must not murder.  You must not steal.  You must not testify falsely.  Honor your father and mother.’”  The man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.”  When Jesus heard his answer, he said, “There is still one thing you haven’t done.  Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  Then come, follow me.”  But when the man heard this he became very sad, for he was very rich.  When Jesus saw this, he said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!  In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”  Those who heard this said, “Then who in the world can be saved?”  He replied, “What is impossible for people is possible with God.”  Peter said, “We’ve left our homes to follow you.”  “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, will be repaid many times over in this life, and will have eternal life in the world to come.”                 Luke 18:18-30

The painting of Christ with the rich young ruler reveals the angst-filled pathos of not having a clue when it comes to the destiny of our souls.  The young man asked the elephant-in-the-room question everyone else was thinking…uhhh, Jesus, what’s gonna happen to me in the long run…and what should I do about it?

The men surrounding Jesus are listening intently.  You can see skepticism, fascination, and true holding-your-breath-for-the-answer-honesty in their faces.  After all, you don’t throw-off the question of eternity like you’d discard a candy wrapper.  This was important…even a rich man, with the world at his disposal, couldn’t resist asking for insight on eternal life.

Jesus pointed the young man to what’s written in Scripture about obeying God’s commands, honesty, kindness, generosity, and so on.  But the young man pressed deeper, and Jesus obliged him, and went right for the underbelly of the issue; his answer was, quite pointedly:  What’s the most important thing you wouldn’t want to give up?  The answer welling-up in the young man’s soul made him sad, very sad!  How can you let go of what possesses you?

Peter, (to the left of Jesus in the painting) is standing there with hands unfolded in a questioning motion.  The artist, I believe, is giving Peter’s voice that hopeful edge, as he’s reminding Jesus how he and the other disciples left all they had to follow…was that enough?  Jesus’ answer isn’t a get-out-of-jail-free card, a Christian believer’s ID you can present at the pearly gates.  It’s more of a reminder that the final judgment on each of us is in God’s hands.  It is the Father who looks into each person’s heart and judges, repaying reward or punishment with absolute righteousness.

For You Today

The question the rich young man asked is not a bad one if you ask it with empty hands and open heart.  But a better question might be:  Lord, I have decided nothing I have belongs to me…what should I do with it; how can I follow you today?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

Unconvinced and More Than Enough

[1] Images:   WikimediaCommons - ©2010 Andrey Mironov   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

Putting Money in Its Place

 

Monday, May 10, 2021

But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.  And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.  But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.  Fight the good fight for the true faith.  Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses.  1 Timothy 6: 9 - 12

There are four thoughts that are frequently on my mind when it comes to money:

1.    There are many examples of the wrong use of money, all fueled by greed, one of the seven deadly sins.

2.    The Bible, particularly the words of Jesus, and his apostles, condemns greed because of the harm it eventually does to the one who is greedy.

3.    There are a lot less preachers who preach on money than there should be.

4.    There are too many people who get it wrong about why preachers talk about money.

The reason preachers speak about money is because Scripture speaks about life, and everything connected with how we are to conduct our lives.  How we think about and use the resources God puts in our hands is a big part of that.  Granted that the examples of preachers who want to transfer your money from your pockets into theirs are many, but those hucksters are, I’m convinced, still in the minority – by a far margin!  Most preachers, when they speak about money, are concerned with helping us develop strong, spiritually-based habits concerning money which will bless our lives, families, communities and God’s Kingdom.

The backlash against preachers who talk about the use of money is deserved when the motive that spurs the preacher is of greed, like Paul warned Timothy.  But it is radically-lopsided in my experience.  Over the years I have seen some numbers of news cycles focus on some spectacularly greedy public personality.  That’s when the wash of public sentiment becomes disproportionately hostile to the other 99.5% of honest preachers.  And the honest ones wind-up preaching less about the use of our financial resources for fear of driving away the congregation. 

Does that remind you of anything?  It should, because it smells like smoke, right out of the pits of Hell.  That “news cycle syndrome” inciting public outrage, based upon the ludicrous and godless actions of either unbalanced, or just evil persons, destroying the genuine leadership of those acting with good motives, and honest effort, is the Enemy’s method of destroying God’s people from using resources for Kingdom purposes. 

Unfortunately sometimes it works, and primarily because of watered-down preaching that never gets to the heart of the right use of money, or (so-called) saints, who are too stunted in their spiritual growth to recognize the news cycle for it’s ratings-grab, just another yardstick for measuring greed.

For You Today

Money needs to be placed in its rightful place, the hand of generosity, controlled by the Spirit’s guiding.  And God’s people need to remember to encourage their pastors and teachers to teach the Scriptures, helping all of us use God’s resources wisely, and effectively, exhibiting true Biblical stewardship for all the world to see.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title Image: Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

Cracked Pot Decisions

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Listen to the word of the Lord, people of Jacob—all you families of Israel!  This is what the Lord says:  “What did your ancestors find wrong with me  that led them to stray so far from me?  They worshiped worthless idols, only to become worthless themselves…. “Go west and look in the land of Cyprus; go east and search through the land of Kedar.  Has anyone ever heard of anything as strange as this?  Has any nation ever traded its gods for new ones, even though they are not gods at all?  Yet my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols!  The heavens are shocked at such a thing and shrink back in horror and dismay,” says the Lord.  “For my people have done two evil things:  They have abandoned me—the fountain of living water.  And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!    Jeremiah 2:4-5, 10-13

The term “crackpot” may have outlived its usefulness.  It was a great debating vilification of the other side’s position some centuries ago when pottery was in daily use in the average household.  Everyone then knew a cracked pot wouldn’t do what it was created to do…hold milk, wine, or water.  So a crackpot idea was one that wouldn’t hold anything valuable, thereby making it a worthless position.  Jeremiah’s whole point about Israel’s cracked pot decision-making was that they’d made worthless decisions about their God and had, accordingly, become worthless cracked pots themselves.  The scathing rebuke for Israel is that, in the same way you get up covered in fleas if you lie down with the yard dogs, you also become whatever you worship.  They had exchanged the glory of Almighty God for the worthlessness of carved idols of stone; they’d gone from riches to rags.

It’s not an easy ride reading the words of a prophet like Jeremiah.  Day after day his finger points loudly at our decisions gone wrong.  What is so annoying about Jeremiah is that he is simply right; the choices didn’t have to go so wrong had the leaders and followers simply chosen to use the unfailing vessel of Godliness, rather than the cracked pot of selfishness.  They had accepted God’s gracious covenant, only to then (strangely enough) return to idols and superstition.  It was like the sign-then-drive events at car dealerships; they signed the deal, rode away in the convertible, forgot about their part in the bargain, and were never heard from again.  When the car of their cracked pot theology began to break down, they’d come back to the altar and point to the covenant terms as if God were the one breaking the deal.  Jeremiah called that strange; indeed!

Whether or not our country was founded intentionally as a Christian nation, or not, is a debate I’m not willing to explore today.  However, it is hardly debatable that we are anything but that today.  From the pornography on TV screens and theatres, to price-gouging in a Covid-19 crisis, and the selfish posturing of politicians, and justifying sexually-perverted alternative lifestyles, we can proclaim Christianity as a national profile until blue in the face from holding our breath against the stench of sin…we, as a nation, have abandoned whatever humility we may once have owned toward the God of grace and glory – and we have done it in favor of the idols of self-gratification, money, power, and prestige.

In answer to Jeremiah’s question

Has anyone ever heard of anything as strange as this?  Has any nation ever traded its gods for new ones, even though they are not gods at all? 

Yup!

For You Today

Perhaps it’s time to stop holding everyone else accountable and begin-again the true Christian practice of looking within; we might start asking God to judge us and set us straight.  Then, at least in Heaven, we might have a shot at not being such a nation of cracked pots.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO 

Title Image:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For another post on this topic see Hope - Part 1

When GOOD Becomes Enemy of BEST

[1]

Thursday, November 14, 2019

But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.  They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them.  For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky.  Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature.  So they have no excuse for not knowing God.  Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks.  And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like.  As a result, their minds became dark and confused.  Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.  And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.  So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired.  As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies.  They traded the truth about God for a lie.  So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.  Romans 1:18-25

Favorite sayings become favorites because they open a whole new world of understanding and resonate with truth deep within.  Here’s one of mine:

Don’t let the good become the enemy of the best.[i]

The deep truth of this saying is that even good things, family, friends, opportunities, and material blessings, can become obstacles to our spiritual growth.  Whatever good things God has placed in our hands are never to become more important than the God who gives them.  This was the mistake Paul was holding up to the Roman believers.

There are many areas of life that can become enemies to spiritual health, and sorting-out the wheat and chaff are part of discipleship for the believer. 

For instance:

·      Food is good (trust me on this!), but living to eat instead of eating to live is NOT.

·      Money is useful in many ways; if getting more of it becomes your focus in life it is an enemy!

·      Sex is a God-given blessing and part of the way God has given for our enjoyment and participation in His creative ways, but when it becomes our obsession it can lead to perversion and distort everything good and holy.

·      Friendships are needful, as are the bonds of Family, but these must stand behind allegiance to Almighty God.

·      Work is necessary, and God-ordained that we should be productive.  But when work crowds-out everything, even excluding time for worship, we have let our “work ethic” become our God.

Therein is the sticking point – worshiping the gifts, rather than the Giver of those gifts. In so doing we have not only allowed the good things of God to become enemy to the best God wants for us, we have allowed ourselves, good creations of God, to become enemy of God.

For You Today

Wherever your activities take you on this day, make sure to be aware who or what is ordering those feet of yours…the pathway you take always leads somewhere.  Destinations are achieved one step at a time…for good or best…that is our choice!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com      Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

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[i][i] For another post on this saying see:  Rocky Road Devotion 6-15-19