Have mercy on us, O Lord,
have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt. —Psalm 123:3
“What we must beware of is
not damage to our belief in God but damage to our Christian disposition or
state of mind. […] Beware of “the cares of this world…” (Mark 4:19). They are
the very things that produce the wrong attitudes in our soul. It is incredible
what enormous power there is in simple things to distract our attention away
from God. Refuse to be swamped by “the cares of this world.” […] When we
discern that other people are not growing spiritually and allow that
discernment to turn to criticism, we block our fellowship with God. God never
gives us discernment so that we may criticize, but that we may intercede.” CHAMBERS
What can you not live
without? Your 4 bedroom house? Your job?
Your automobiles? The opportunity for your children to go to a good school? Your
confidence that you will have enough money to live like you want to live when
you retire? The cares of this
world. Finding Christians to agree the
we should not “love the world or the things of this world” (1 John 2:15-17) not letting those
things take on greater importance than our love for God and interfering with
our relationship and obedience to God is easy.
Finding Christians, in this country, who are willing to actually do
that, not so much. The point is not that
you actually must give up those things, but that you would gladly do it if called upon.
Someone
asked me what I wanted for Christmas. My reply, I don’t need anything. That was not received well so we settled on
cookies. You have heard or read, I am
certain, “we need to put Christ back in Christmas”. The Christmas season is probably the best
example of the cares of this world nudging God aside. People will go into debt to purchase gifts often
with the hope that their tax return will cover the new debt. Paying excess
income tax is their Christmas savings plan.
Do you see the craziness here? Do
you not see lust at work that is considered “normal” and acceptable? By the way, what I am addressing is not a popular
view. I am not saying don’t buy people gifts. I am saying, don’t let your love
for things preempt your love for God. Or perhaps I should say, stop letting your love for things preempt your love for God. ELGIN
Oh, How I Love Jesus | Frederick Whitfield
There is a Name I love to
hear, I love to sing its worth;
It sounds like music in my
ear, The sweetest Name on earth.
It tells me of a Savior’s
love, Who died to set me free;
It tells me of His precious
blood, The sinner’s perfect plea.
Oh, how I love Jesus, Oh, how
I love Jesus,
Oh, how I love Jesus, Because
He first loved me!
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