God you’ve got something to say about the enemy haven’t you?
How do you honor me with your finances? You can start by giving directly into my work in tithes and offerings. I only expect a fraction back of what I have given you. How do you spend the rest? I don’t impose any requirements, but if you ponder this question can you think of ways to spend your money that honor me in contrast to those that don’t? The same applies to the way you earn your money. Do you want your entire life to be an expression of your response to my love? Then the way you spend the money available to you will reflect this influence. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Do you think that the circumstances of your life make you happy if they are what you want and unhappy if you don’t? Yet you see exceptions to this rule in both directions. If you change your circumstances in an attempt to make yourself happy you are likely to make things worse by adding frustration. You know some people who are happy even in difficulties. They have learned that happiness is internal and this is linked to the Biblical concept of contentment. You also know people who can make themselves as miserable as they please. Make this dynamic work in your favor instead of against you.
Have you ever had anyone be more kind to you than you expected only to find out that they wanted a favor? You call this having an ulterior motive, and you may resent this false pretense as a manipulative trick. Wouldn’t you prefer to have people deal with you in a more straightforward manner? Yet have you ever done this yourself? I get this all the time. People come to me with praise and worship when there is something they really want from me. I already know what is on your mind and am prepared to grant it. If you want to give me honor deal with me in as straightforward a manner as you would be dealt with yourself.
In hygiene class you learn that one of the most vulnerable paths for infection to enter your body is through your eyes. Do you understand that there is a spiritual parallel for this? I said that if your eye was single your whole body would be full of light, but if your eye was in darkness how great was that darkness. Don’t this that this is limited to lust and pornography. It is a general spiritual principle. It isn’t just about what you see, but how you see it, for two people looking at the same thing don’t see the same thing. Don’t view this as a negative message. Focus on the promise that if you have true vision your whole body is full of light.
How can you fight a winning battle if your comms with HQ are patchy and often silent??
One problem with living by the law is the lack of qualified enforcers, although there are many unqualified who apply for the job. I set the standard that he who was without sin should cast the first stone. This is one of the most familiar and quoted Bible passages by unbelievers. It fits with removing the plank from your own eye to see clearly to assist your brother in removing a speck from his eye. Don’t misunderstand these passages to eliminate the concepts of right and wrong. Applying correction to others is something to be done in fear and trembling even for those appointed to the task. Apply the same eagerness you have to judge others to yourself instead.
You live in a commercial culture, and are bombarded with advertisements trying to get you to buy particular products. Advertising has gone far beyond a mere declaration of the desirable features of a product. Successful ads make an emotional appeal, and even imply that they can satisfy the deepest human longings. Those who are spiritually immature are taken in and disappointed. You know that these are false promises and cannot deliver. Do you understand that your deepest needs are spiritual rather than material, and you must look beyond this present world for satisfaction? Don’t look for transcendent meaning in material things.
Have you ever been in a charged atmosphere? You could apply this in a literal sense to the area in the vicinity of an electrical storm, but it is used more often in a metaphorical sense about the tension that accompanies a dispute. You are not only aware of this; it is hard to ignore even if no words are spoken. Have you not also been in church services or had other spiritual experiences in which the atmosphere was full of glory? I acknowledged to my critics that they were aware of the condition of the sky and knew the implications of a red sky in the morning or the evening. I want you to be just as aware of the spiritual atmosphere you live in and what it means.
Do you belong to my invisible Kingdom? For I taught that the Kingdom of God comes not with observation. You don’t have to chase down rumors of my appearance. For my Kingdom is within you. It is not visible to those outside it, but it surrounds everyone. So you and the person beside you can experience a different reality in the same situation. That which is visible is temporal and will pass away. That which is unseen is eternal and will endure forever. Yet it is not unseen for those in the Kingdom. I promised that if you seek you will find. If you seek those things which are above you will see them.
