by RobertCummins | May 17, 2016 | 20. Faith
As is always the case with MwM, today’s scripture passage takes precedence over my meditation on it, and failure to interface with the former will impoverish interaction with the latter.
Have you ever wondered how the Book of Life will read when it’s opened at the end of time? And, have you ever wondered why God placed those long genealogies in scripture? Perhaps He’ll have us all sit down in heaven in our first class, Eternity Orientation 101, and begin reading: “Since you found the genealogies in the Bible so boring and skipped over them, we will have to catch you up. Children, here is your genealogy. First of all, you are all here by faith.” And He might proceed: “By faith Noah (followed by an account of faith’s outcome in his life) then… By faith Abraham (his account)… By faith Sarah… By faith Abraham… By faith Isaac… By faith Jacob… By faith Joseph…By faith Moses, etc. Finally (a thousand years later) he will record the last saint’s faith in the Old Testament, and then conclude: “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, they confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.”
What is the relevance of these ancient’s lives to our own? Much I believe, but answering this question honestly may require much faith for us moderns. As most of us understand it, the modern world we are living in is a material world. It is composed of elements that we’ve identified. We have measured their properties and labeled them. We have harnessed and arranged them in such ways as to serve us. Our technological prowess deceives us into thinking we are this earth’s masters. Consequently, we have forgotten God and, sadly, are systematically working to evict Him from His own world. Why? Because in scripture, He makes a counter claim.
The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it. (Psalm 24:1)
The scriptures claim this earth belongs to God and that God will ultimately reveal himself as its owner: the landlord will return to his vineyard. He will deal with the poor stewards and put the accounts in order. The scriptures also claim that beyond this created world, the Creator has another superior and unending realm, which should cause the inhabitants of this one to bend their knees in humility. While living in this world (which, by faith, we acknowledge belongs to God) we steward our talents, knowing that we are even now inhabitants of the realm that knows no end. It requires faith to lay hold of the reality that, as His children, we are already citizens of the never-ending kingdom of God.
The world sees our position as insanity. The brokers of power in this earth (ultimately, Satan’s minions) see our position as insurrection because we claim that our God reigns with authority higher than theirs. We live in a world that is moving closer and closer to a showdown between them and God. By faith, we lay hold of these things, and, having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, we confess that we are strangers and exiles on the earth.
So in a very real sense we too have been called to go out to this place where we are to receive our inheritance even though we don’t know exactly where we’re going. When the book is opened and we hear our name finally read, we want to hear:
Insert your name lived as an alien in the earth, as if it were a foreign land, dwelling as a sojourner, a fellow heirs of the promise; for insert your name was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. Insert your name embraced this realm, unseen at the time, as the firmer reality. By faith…
What will follow depends on our cooperation with the wind that blows in directions we can neither predict nor control. It will depend on our cooperation with the Holy Spirit who lives within us.
Father, having been warned about things not yet seen, may we embrace Jesus, the ark of our salvation. May the fullness of His life within us convict the world as they observe that we have become the heirs of righteousness by faith. May our lives make it clear that we were strangers and exiles on the earth, seeking that country which is our own. May we forgo every opportunity to return to this world. May our embrace of this city which You have prepared for us make it possible for you to not be ashamed to be called our God. As the battle intensifies may our hearts be content with the reproach of Christ as a greater treasure than anything this world had to offer. For You alone, Lord, are our reward.
by RobertCummins | May 16, 2016 | 20. Faith
Faith —Hebrews 11:1-6
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)
The Amplified Bible says that God is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]. When I first launched into the Christian life, whole-hearted discipleship was the norm. In light of who God is and what Christ had done to rescue me, seeking Him earnestly and diligently made perfect sense and seemed like a manageable cross to carry. Regardless of the actual meaning, in my youth and zeal, I interpreted it like this:
God is pleased with those who earnestly and diligently seek Him. And, without this kind of faith, pleasing Him is impossible. (Rob’s Erroneous Version)
There was a serious and costly flaw in my interpretation. In the REV, God’s approval rests on the qualitative nature of my seeking. In other words, it is not “without faith it is impossible to please Him” (as the author has said); it is—without earnest and diligent effort, it is impossible to please Him. This is a serious error because it leaves out the full council of scripture, and it is costly because of what is lost in my translation. Allow me to explain and repent.
It is a serious thing to inject effort as a qualifying attribute of faith. It does violence to the very essence of faith. The busy beavers will now rush to James so they can remind me, “But brother you know that faith without works is dead.” “Yes”, I respond, “That is absolutely true, but it is also true that faith based on works is even deader” (intentional bad grammar).
Think about this. How could God’s approval of us be based on even a tiny bit of our earnestness and diligence when we know that it was while we were yet sinners, Jesus died for us? When Paul caught the Galatians trafficking in performance-based religion, he called them foolish. In the Amplified Bible, Paul is even more expansive:
O you poor and silly and thoughtless and unreflecting and senseless Galatians! (3:1)
Paul lays into the Galatians with a barrage of redundant questions to emphasize his point. Here are the main two:
Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
Does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
Here is Paul’s point: “Christ (not our earnest and diligent efforts) redeemed us from the curse of the Law (performance-based religion), having become a curse for us…in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
There is also a great cost in thinking as I did—that God is pleased with those who earnestly and diligently seek Him and that without this kind of faith, pleasing Him is impossible. That cost is rest, the truest indicator that one is living by faith. Rest and performance based works are like oil and water: utterly incompatible. Rest is the qualitative fruit of authentic faith, not the basis of it. Rest takes the whole council of scripture into account and says, “If I think of my works as qualifiers, my earnestness and diligence are as filthy rags to God; rest is trusting there is nothing I can do that will alter God’s acceptance of me as long as I am trusting that His life has become my own; rest is ceasing to work for approval because in Christ I am approved; rest acknowledges that in-Christ it is truly finished! My heart concurs with Paul when he says:
Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:24-25)
Repentance
As my youth and my zeal waned with age, so did my earnestness and diligence. Witnessing, scripture memory, serious bible study all dropped off. In fact, I ended up after years of what I thought of as authentic zeal, exhausted and feeling abandoned by God. I thought (with no small amount of bitterness), “So…this is my reward for diligently seeking you: strained relationships, failing health, financial problems, ministry and vocational disasters?”
So, how was the law (or performance based religion) my tutor? It allowed my earnestness and diligence to run their course. It allowed me to wear myself out. Exhaustion reduced me to a core awareness of my inner poverty—a place where I knew (with deepest conviction) that I could not go one step further in my own strength. There, in the epiphany of my spiritual bankruptcy, He once again found a more teachable me. Where, as a young prodigal, I was found wallowing in a debauchery-based deception, this time He found me wallowing in a religious-based deception.
Whether it is the delusion that joy can be obtained through sensual pleasure or whether it is the other delusion that our efforts can win God’s favor, it’s still darkness. In both cases, we and our fallen reasoning are at the center of our woes. What an absolute joy it has been on both occasions to find that God (while I was yet a lost son of one sort or another) had loved me all along and drawn me to Himself. How powerful it has been to accept by faith, that in His perfect life, He met all the standards of righteousness in my behalf. How healing and empowering it has been to rest in the fact that He became sin – my sin! What a stunning revelation that by enduring the shame and brutality of the cross, He has received the reward of His suffering—you and I, justified by faith—qualified by His work to stand blamelessly with boldness and joy before Him now and forevermore.
Father, please break down the strongholds of deception in our hearts that reason falsely, maintaining that we can win your love and approval through our own efforts. Please let our performances exhaust us so that we can transfer all our dependence to You alone. May we enter into the rest You have purchased for us so that we can live out of the abundance of Your life before a world we have helped mislead in our own legalistic deception. Help us to grasp that being whole-hearted has first to do with Your heart, not our own. Amen.
by RobertCummins | May 15, 2016 | 19. The Resurrection
It’s so easy to give up. We fail. We get hurt. We sin. We go into hiding. Maybe not outwardly but inwardly we retreat to a place we think is safe, where our disappointments cannot follow. It’s a lie, of course, but since the Garden, we’ve become practiced in this survival tactic. I believe this is where we find Peter in today’s passage.
Peter had made the horrific yet healing discovery that he was not who he thought he was. He was not the fearless disciple who would die with Jesus if it came down to it. He was not the friend he perceived himself to be. He was not the insider who understood how things were going to play out. He was not brave, loyal, or bright. Peter was reeling inwardly without the moorings of his old false self. Yet Peter was about to be rescued, once again, by Jesus, whose courage, friendship and wisdom cannot fail.
So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep. (15-17)
As was Jesus’ practice, He did not condemn failure. He simply drilled down into that place where Peter had retreated and threw him the lifeline. While Peter flailed about, drowning in self-pity and self-condemnation, Jesus drew his attention away from those red herrings to the thing that would allow Peter to regain his buoyancy—the love established between Jesus and himself – the love that was never in the least disturbed by Peter’s miserable performance.
It was as if Jesus just fast-forwarded past every awful thing Peter had been rehearsing to himself. Jesus just kept casting the lifeline until Peter finally abandoned his flailing attempts to tread water. Jesus had to disturb Peter. He had to grieve him to rescue him. Jesus had to descend into Peter’s personal hell to save him once again.
Never did Peter’s cowardice and abandonment of Jesus come up. The remedy was not penance; it was simply obedience to the great commandment: go love others as I have loved you. There was no benefit for Peter to continue in his dark introspection. He simply needed to recognize that being loved by Jesus was sufficient and that his life would be found by giving it away as Jesus had always modeled for him. Resurrection life was being realized as his old identity died.
There, over breakfast, Peter was restored. Jesus’ rescue mission established Peter’s identity as his beloved friend and crystalized his vocation—loving others well. Isn’t the Father endeavoring to always do the same thing for us? We need to ask ourselves: how is Jesus disturbing us? Where are we flailing away, mulling over our fallen natures and their profound power. Perhaps Jesus is saying to us as well: “How is that working out for you? Why don’t you simply acknowledge that you have been crucified with me and, of infinitely more importance, raised to eternal life in me? The old man truly is finished.”
Meditating on our fallen natures is so often our red herring. We must make our claim; His life is our life. His life eternally displaces our old life. Honoring our depravity must be replaced by celebrating His triumph. We must simply abandon that old dirge we’ve been taught and go out and love our neighbors.
Father, help us to see the lifelines you are throwing us. Help us to see where we are flailing away in our own energies. May you receive the reward of your suffering. Lead us into the rest that is ours in Christ. Thank you for your long-suffering efforts to rescue us.
by RobertCummins | May 15, 2016 | 19. The Resurrection
The theme that captures my attention in our passage is worship. What comprised worship in this setting? What is worship made up of in ours? In preparation for our exploration, let’s back up just a little to a previous word from Jesus;
And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved. (Matthew 17:22-23)
In our passage an elect group of very dissillusioned and fearful friends of a dead prophet (who claimed to be sent from God, as His Son) have received news that the tomb is empty. Their collective response? “The tomb is empty!? NO WAY!!! Hey, didn’t Jesus say that he would rise after three days!? What did we miss yesterday during that earthquake!?”
The chosen friends of God were already living in the aftershock of a psychic earthquake. Jesus had already shaken their established thoughts of Judaism to to the ground. They thought he was their long awaited Messiah. They presumed he was going to rebuild Judaism and Israel on a new foundation. When Jesus died this foundation crumbled along with their hopes of glory (and safety). As well-known associates of this King of the Jews, the would-be administrators of the new kingdom were now fugitives.
Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.” And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. (Matthew 28:1-8)
Again – It may be appropriate to sing in order to recapture something that was going on in the hearts of these disciples and, I believe, was intended to be ongoing in the hearts of all who have been born again. Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06tuvubUkzMs. I cannot read our passage without this song ringing in my ears (and creating tears in my eyes). I believe this is the kind of ringing and tears we want. Back to our passage;
And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.” (Matthew 28:9-10)
We can only imagine what the conversation was like on the way home. Their hopes and dreams had lain in ruins just that morning, yet something was stirring down there in their previously despondent hearts. Do they even dare entertain hope? Hadn’t they just learned that hope is dangerous? They knew as well as anyone that hope can crush as well as elate. Worship or not-to-worship – that is always the question.
But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew28:16-20)
In this moment, they had grasped Life Himself and Life had laid hold of them. And we discover that Life is not deterred by doubt nor is doubt a barrier to hope! If a man can be raised from the dead, anything, absolutely anything, is possible! And we discover that Life is abundantly crammed with purpose! Obviously worship here does not mean, “Please stand and let us sing Hymn #497 together” or, anything like that. This is the kind of worship that drove men to…
come up to Jesus and take hold of His feet and worship Him.
As one who believes the New Testament is our best reference for definitions, strategies and blueprints, I am comfortable saying that whatever worship was going on in the hearts of these men is the same kind of worship God would have for all his children. These eleven were not his real children were they, and all those to follow, his step children? Of course not. Then how can we facilitate this kind of worship? We can begin by amending our own thinking as to what worship is made up of (or not made up of).
In this New Testament example, there was not a professional worship pastor giving them their cues as to how and when to worship. This worship did not happen at a pre-established hour or even upon the pre-established day – the Sabbath. People were not configured in static rows as they worshipped. This worship was not dependent on someone else’s words printed on a screen. They did not have a soloist performing any special music. And (buckle your seat belt), there was no worship band!
What they did have was something akin to a convulsion-of-the-heart. They had a spontaneous reaction to the reality of the living Christ. It expressed itself in an attempt to physically hold of him. He didn’t run away. He just said, “It’s ok…
I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Perhaps it will not be as dramatic (absent the physical presence of Jesus) but our spirits, where the resurrected Christ now lives, are every bit as capable of this same kind of heart-response. God has no step children; whatever worship was going on in their hearts is the same worship God would have for all his children. It is so essential to understand that worship was never intended to be limited to a service held at a particular time or place. It was intended as the ongoing flame, the ever-burning response of the created to its creator, the redeemed to its Redeemer, the child to its Father.
There is no crime in worshipping in a building or at some prescribed time, prompted by some leader unless you really believe that is the meaning of worship. If that is the case, the institutional definition has once again prevailed to the hurt of a soul and a loss to the kingdom. Whether our institutionally conditioned worship is the extent of our worship will not be determined by our confession. Our worship will ultimately be worked out in our lives where we have learned to carry music in our hearts from one task to the next, from one friendship to another.
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture (see note) that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture (see note) around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (Romans 12:1-2 MSG)
Note: Culture is the beliefs and customs of a particular society, group, place, or time. I don’t believe it would be wrong to include “religious” cultures in our consideration of Romans 12:1-2.
The worship portrayed in our passage began as men were simply looking for the resurrected Jesus. I believe all who carry this ambition in their hearts will not be disappointed. We should dare to hope and encourage others to follow suit. Emotion, doubt, elation, disappointment and choices – all happening in the context of living (definitely not confined to a service) are the things that make up true worship.
A true shepherd’s ambition would be to equip every soul with this expanded awareness of worship. His heart cry would be, “I’m not the center of Christianity nor is this building.” His mission would be that not a single sheep entrusted to him would be lost to institutional definitions, assumptions and traditions. The true shepherd’s mission is to liberate, to equip us to be the priests at the alters of our own hearts, tending that flame (which is Christ in us) and from there, carry worship into every nook and cranny of our lives.
Father, if need be, let angels and severe earthquakes challenge our well formed religious presumptions. May our hearts lay hold of that for which they were laid hold of, for our soul’s, sake and Your name’s sake. So be it.
by RobertCummins | May 14, 2016 | 19. The Resurrection
I find the dates and events of history interesting, but the personalities who helped fashion that history are fascinating. I love to hear their stories in order to learn the whys beneath the whats. Since everything begins with our hearts, I like knowing the motives behind the deeds. That is why Mary Magdalene stands out to me in today’s passage. I have imagined a scene where Mary has been asked to tell her story.
In my imagination I see her having outlived her fellow disciples. She is an old woman now whose body is nearly worn out, yet whose spirit is still vibrant. Life itself stirs in her eyes and is heard in her voice. It is her 70th birthday, and she is surrounded by the community of saints with whom she has lived for so many years. In our scene, she has just received a gift that seems to have taken her voice away and filled her eyes with hot tears. She and the room are silent, but the air is filled with an exotic aroma. In her lap with the lid removed is an alabaster vial.
After many minutes had passed, she dries her eyes and addressed her benefactors.
“I am speechless with gratitude. How could you have done this?” Still coming to terms with the extravagance, she blurts out, “Oh my, oh my! I know you precious people. How you must have sacrificed to do this!” Gripped by a fresh thought and now trying to make eye contact with every person in the room, she says with a level voice, “As you know, I am familiar with the cost of such things.”
The little girls, taken in by the object’s smell and appearance mobbed Aunt Mary, assaulting her with a barrage of questions. With her grip slightly tighter on her vial, she allows each child to touch it and take in its potent fragrance. As each child takes their turn, Mary says to the larger gathering, “Your gift has taken me back to past events, some of which I recall nearly every hour, and then again, to other things I have not thought of for years. Many of you know the general drift of it, but none of you have heard the whole story. May I disclose to you dear friends a bit more of it? If it is alright with the parents, let’s send the children out of doors for a bit. Ok?”
“I was born into a very, very poor family with too many mouths to feed. I was always hungry for both food and attention. Both were in short supply in this house where, of necessity, all were greedily focused on the business of not starving. From my first memories, I recall every one being chased out the door in the morning with the understanding that we were to beg, borrow, and steal anything that might help sustain us. The streets were where I lived until the law intervened, taking my parents away as the ringleaders of their own little den of thieves. This was when I was probably about 10. I had not yet become a woman.
“We children scattered like rats when the authorities came. I never knew what happened to some of my siblings. Most of us were taken in by extended family—or like me, by opportunists. At first I was in awe of the portions of food I was given and the attention I received. Never had I experienced anything like this. Compared to my street existence, I thought I had become a princess—until my ward began letting men come into my room. It was then I realized I was a slave and I was going to be used.
“I was a street-wise kid, so I knew about prostitutes. They marketed themselves in public. But I did not know that brokers who sold their wares privately marketed children. Even though I was already a hate-filled little thief, I was still a child in my body when horrible, horrible things began to happen.” Mary went silent again for a long time. When she began again, she whispered, “Lord forgive them, they didn’t know what they were doing.”
“What was left of my innocence was taken from me, and I assure you, I forgave no one. You might ask, “Why didn’t you run a way?” I did a few times, and, sadly, I returned because, as filthy as it was, it was preferable to starvation. As I grew into a woman, I received more and more attention. I would be a liar if I were to tell you that I did not enjoy it. This is how I became a prostitute.
“You learn quickly what you must do if you want to eat and avoid getting hurt. I learned my trade well. My wages were all there was to my miserable existence. Every coin I earned was my treasure. I had paid dearly for each of them. Doing what I did causes things to die inside you. Hope dies. Love dies. Any semblance of goodness dies. In its place grew a hard and haughty spirit that lived only for its next coin. There was really nothing else, nothing in my heart at all except…” and Mary lifted the alabaster vial from her lap.
“When I was 18, I took my coins and I bought a vial nearly identical to this. Nothing had ever given me as much pleasure as my alabaster vial full of spikenard. It was a treasure by anyone’s standard, even a princess. This vial was really all I had to show for my life. It was the center of it. I would have never even loosened my grip on it had I not met the One in whose name we gather. Here is what happened…
“It was approaching evening and all the women with families were returning to their homes. As their day concluded, mine was just beginning. This was when I saw three men coming toward me. “Ah customers” I thought. As I made my typical moves toward them, I noticed two of them peeled off as if to avoid me, only one kept walking— straight at me. “Oh no!” As he came nearer I recognized who he was. It was the Rabbi from Galilee, the one rumored to be the Messiah. I had just turned to run, knowing he would make me feel small and dirty like all religious people did, when he said, “Mary wait. We must talk.”
“I was frozen in my tracks. “We must talk? About what? My sin?” Something volcanic within me was rising up. It was undiluted hatred. It was boiling in me. With uncontrolled anger and arrogance, I unloaded on him. “You want to talk about my sin! Well my sin is my vocation. If you want anything from me, show me your money or get out of my face!” I was screaming, “Time is money.” He just said, “Mary, I’m Jesus, and I didn’t come to talk about your sin.”
“When I heard the name “Jesus,” I felt as if I were being ripped in two. Something in me wanted so desperately to respond civilly to this person who had approached me in kindness. Yet something more powerful was drowning that voice with vile thoughts and utterances. It was as though someone (or someones) other than me were speaking. It was my throat and lips forming the oaths, but it was no longer my voice speaking. I vaguely remember my arms flailing away when the last thing I heard was Jesus forcefully saying, “Come out of her!”
“I woke up lying on the pavement. The first eyes that met mine were those of Jesus. I immediately said, ” My sin is my daily bread. Please leave me. I am lost.” His eyes never left mine. He said again, “Mary, I did not come to speak about your sin. I came here to tell you to sell all that you have and to come and follow me.” I said, “Teacher, I have no wealth to give away.” His eyes were piercing my soul when he asked, “So, you have no treasure?” My mind went immediately to my alabaster vial. I once again went silent. He and I both knew. He took my hands and helped me to my feet. Without letting go of them, looking into my eyes, he said, ‘Go and sin no more.’ Since it has been spoken of ever since, everyone knows what happened that evening at the party I crashed…
Returning from her reverie, she said to all, “That is an untold part of my story, and I suspect, in it’s own way, it is yours as well, isn’t it?” For those of us who follow Him, he is faithful to reveal competing treasures. And finally, thank you again for such a gift. This kind of irresponsible extravagance is exactly the kind of stunt he would pull. Bless you all.”
Father, Please show us where our treasures are so that we are not invested in the wrong kingdom. May your Words demolish the defenses we have placed around our idols. Deliver us from evil Lord and let us discover that You Yourself are our daily bread.
