Taxes and the Christian Conscience

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Del Tackett (the wonderful host of The Truth Project) has addressed an interesting question on his blog. In light of the fact that the new government health care plan will fund abortions, how should we as Christians wrestle with the concept of paying the taxes which fund those abortions? Should we pay them, or refuse? He words his questions very thoughtfully, and opens his blog up for comments so that others can help bring clarity to the issue.

I ended up writing two comments there (one has been posted at the time of this writing, and one is still awaiting moderation). Since this is a touchy subject, and one that we must all deal with in the near future, I thought I ought to reproduce my comments here for your consideration. I encourage you to read everyone else's comments at Del Tackett's site as well.

As always, your comments are appreciated!

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(1st Comment)

I believe that Jesus’ “Render to Caesar” (Matt 22:16-21) is very relevant to our question. Caesar was not a godly man, and his government did many horrible things with tax money. Jesus paid it anyway (Matt 17:24-27), and commanded it to be paid.

I am very Pro-Life. I am horrified by what has become of America by every moral measurement, not just the issue of abortion. I believe I would have been horrified by Caesar’s government if I had been alive in those days.

Why did Jesus say, “Render unto Caesar?”

Tell me, what good did Caesar’s money do against the cause of Christ? Christ’s kingdom is not of this world. It cannot be bought with money, nor defeated by it. Do we really believe that obedience to Christ’s command to “Render unto Caesar” will cause Christ’s purposes to be thwarted? Would Jesus naively command the very thing that would bring about the Kingdom’s destruction? Or does His command force us to take our eyes off of the power of money and put it on Him, trusting Him to conquer those who have the world’s mammon?

There are clearly battles to be fought and won, but they are not fought with the weapons of this world. If we want to change our world, we have to deal in hearts, minds, and spirits, not in fleshly things (2 Co 10:3-4). If we settle for the latter, we may someday end abortion, but we won’t see souls saved. By all means, fight the abortion battle, but fight for the hearts and souls of those who would kill, and fight in a way that brings glory to Christ. We do not glorify Christ when we disobey Him (Render to Caesar), and we do not glorify Him when we fear money’s supposed power to defeat Him. We glorify Him when we serve Him in humble, trusting, loving obedience; and when we serve our fellow man the same way Christ served.

The same Christ who confidently paid His taxes to the very government that would crucify Him.

I don’t pretend to understand it, but isn’t that the point? We walk by faith, not by sight. And faith obeys.

Whose power do we trust more…God’s, or mammon’s?

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(2nd Comment)

I feel the need to add a little to my previous comment.
Scripture makes it clear that we are not to trust in money. We are to trust in the Lord our God. Most of us would agree with that when it comes to spending money…but how many of us agree when it comes to withholding money? If we see our power coming from the withholding of money, then our faith is still in money’s power. If we withhold it from them, we win, because victory comes to those who have the most greenbacks.
Really?
The kings of the Old Testament were often evil, vile men, and Scripture tells us they exacted taxes from the people to support their wickedness. Yet in all the canon of Scripture, do you find people being chastised by God for paying taxes?
Let’s think about the well-known story from 2 Kings 6:15-23. Elisha and his servant were isolated and surrounded by the best that their evil king’s tax monies could buy for him. Armies and chariots in numbers sufficient to surround the whole city…all focused on capturing just two men.
The servant was terrified, but Elisha was calm. The prophet prayed for his servant’s eyes to be opened, and suddenly, the servant was able to see piles and piles of shekels all around them. Woo hoo, they were saved!
Of course, if you know the story, you know that’s not how it went. The servant saw angelic hosts arrayed in their defense, not piles of money. But I fear that in our current Western mindset, we’re hoping to see my made-up version rather than Scripture’s. The servant might have been happy if he’d seen gobs of earthly treasure instead of angels…and he never would have known what he missed out on seeing.
I wonder if that’s why we’ve been losing this battle all along. Has our trust been in carnal weapons? What have we missed out on seeing?
How Spirit-filled are Christ’s people? How open are our eyes?
I know there are good honest Christians who will disagree with me on this. And while I may not understand what seems to me like pure disobedience to a clear command of Christ’s (render to Caesar), I can at least respect the heart motive. I love to see faithful obedient hearts, trusting Christ as they best understand Him. Even if I think they’ve misunderstood Him, I would rather see that than either paying OR withholding done with misplaced faith…faith in the power of money. So that is my plea. Whether you choose to pay or withhold, be sure you do it with your faith focused on Christ, not on the money.

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Please note: Del Tackett has posted an interesting (and probably quite valid) rebuttal to my view on his blog here.

How to Almost Empty Your Pews

I saw this today in John Piper’s “Desiring God” blog, and I absolutely love it.

What do you think?  Should you suggest this for your church’s next promotional campaign?

Perhaps you should.  What would happen, do you suppose? 

What would happen if, instead of just a catchy poster, this were the reality of life in our society?  What if faithfulness to Christ really did put people at grave risk?

You certainly couldn’t attract those who are looking for their best life now.  Why would they want to emulate the martyrs of old who missed out on God’s blessings of wealth and ease?

You’d never pack your pews with those who come just for the music and the socialization.  Those things can be had more safely elsewhere.

Gone would be the ones who go to church to make business contacts, or who go simply out of habit.

But don’t misunderstand.  The people who stay are not going to be the cream of the crop, humanly speaking (1 Co. 1:26-29).  They won’t be able to boast about their faithfulness.  They’re no better in their flesh than those who leave.  So why would they stay?

I’ll tell you why.  It’s not because of who they are.  It’s because of Who they’ve found.

The ones who stay and the ones who leave will both be looking out for their highest happiness.  It’s just that some believe that the highest happiness is found in human comforts, and some believe it’s found in The God of All Comfort (2 Co. 1:3).

Some believe that money is God, and Jesus is good as long as He gives us money.  Others believe that Jesus is God, and forsake the love of money.

Some pursue godliness as a means of gain (1 Tim. 6:5), and some believe that godliness itself is gain (1 Tim. 6:6).

And once again, the difference between the two is not a matter for boasting.  What right does anyone have to boast about what God has shown them (1 Co. 4:7), especially when He says that He hides things from the wise and reveals them to infants (Matt. 11:25), and chooses foolish nothings to put the wise to shame (1 Co. 1:27)?  God does according to His good pleasure, and if He has allowed His light to shine in our hearts (2 Co. 4:6), how can we boast in that (Rom. 3:27)?  We “foolish nothings” did nothing to deserve it.

So does God have a wonderful plan for His people’s lives?  Of course He does!  And one of those wonderful plans might be the chance to show His worth to a watching world by choosing Him above your own ease, your own comfort, or even your own life’s blood.

Shame on those who proclaim that the worth of Christ is based on His ability to line your path with rose petals and your coffers with gold!  Those who truly honor Him are the ones who consider comfort and wealth to be “dung” compared to the excellence of knowing Him (The word translated “rubbish” in Php. 3:8 is really the word for “dung”)!

Do you know this Jesus, the one who is better than any worldly wealth?  The one who is our eternal life (John 17:3)?  If not, confess to Him that you have loved the things of this world more than Him.  Ask Him to shine His light in your heart and show you His infinite worth.  Ask Him to forgive your sin and turn your heart into one that loves Him supremely.  Acknowledge Him as your King, to whom you owe unquestioning and unconditional loyalty. 

A mere handful of such lovers of God will please Him more than teeming thousands of self-lovers who mouth words of praise on Sunday mornings.

May His glorious worth be preached at any cost, yes, at great cost, even if it does almost empty the pews.  God would rather have a small army that draws its strength from Him, than a large one that relies on its own power (Jdg. 7:2-7).

You and I are nobodies, and we could not earn the privilege of suffering for Him.  But it’s not about us, it’s about Him.  He is the Almighty, Holy, Eternally Glorious One.  He is the wonderful plan for our lives, and He is worth it all!

The Blessing of Hunger (Part 1)

So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.
Deu 8:3

Such an interesting phrase:  “He allowed you to hunger!”  Not “He forced you to hunger,” but “He allowed you to hunger.”

Think about that.

Let me tell you what this word “allowed” can NOT imply.  It is NOT a limitation of the sovereignty of God.  Some people cannot bear the thought of God deliberately sending hardship into human lives.  They try to make excuses for Him by saying, “He didn’t make that happen, He allowed it.”  And there’s a sense in which Scripture allows that point of view…within limits.  The mystery of God’s sovereign will and man’s responsibility is deeper than I can fathom, much less explain here.

But God forbid that we should ever see Him as a weak, spineless pushover of a father, one who could never say “no” to a petulant child or administer strong discipline (in love) when needed (Heb. 12:7-11).  He may even introduce hardship into our lives when we aren’t particularly in need of discipline, in order to further refine and purify us (Isa. 48:10).  And Scripture prohibits us from adopting the simplistic view that says, “things which make me happy come from God, and things which make me sad come from the devil” (Lam. 3:37-38).

No, when God says He allowed His people to hunger, it wasn’t an act of passivity on His part.  It was something He actively did to them.  So why is it “allowing” instead of “forcing?”  Because even though we sheep are too ignorant to see it this way most of the time, it is a privilege to undergo discipline, chastening, or any other form of hardship which our Father deems good for us. 

We don’t deserve His intervention in our lives.  He could passively allow us to go on amusing ourselves on the primrose path to destruction, and we would be getting exactly what we deserve.  But in His kindness, He allows us to experience His touches in our lives…both the pleasant touches and the unpleasant ones.  Both are intended for our good, and they will certainly accomplish the good for which He gave them.

And there can be little doubt that one of His greatest blessings is hunger.

Physical Hunger

Physical hunger is something that I know almost nothing about.  And if you’re reading this from a comfortable Western-style home, there’s a good chance you don’t know much about it, either.  We think we’ve felt hunger, and we use ridiculous phrases like, “I’m starving” when we’ve already eaten more that day than many people eat in three.

We are right to consider our full stomachs a blessing, and we ought to be sincere in our thanks to God.  But there’s a sense in which our full stomachs are a curse, and more hunger would be a blessing indeed.

Do you see the blessing in the verse quoted above?  The Bible says that God:

• Humbled them.  Scripture is chock full of warnings about the dangers of pride, and it advises us of the blessings which come to the humble (for example, Jas. 4:6, Hos. 13:6 NIV).  Therefore, it is a blessing to be humbled.  If hunger is God’s tool for humbling us, then hunger becomes a blessing.
• Fed them by miraculous means.  Can you imagine being personally fed by God every day, without any “middleman” in between?  God gave them this miracle in response to their hunger.  So hunger was a means of blessing.
• Taught them one of life’s most crucial lessons…that we depend utterly on God.  Trust in God is prerequisite to happiness (Ps. 146:5), so the hunger that taught the lesson is a blessing.

There are other ways that physical hunger can be a blessing.  And we have a responsibility here.  Because hunger on the part of one person is an opportunity for service, sacrifice, mercy and love on the part of another.  We should never look at a truly hungry person and say, “Oh isn’t that nice, God is blessing them with hunger.”  Heaven forbid! (Jas. 2:15-16).  Hunger is a blessing only when used as a tool by our loving Father, and it’s a tool that is supposed to bring the beauty of compassionate care into people’s lives.  We’re supposed to be giving that care.  Throughout the past two millennia, it has been Christians who have done the most to feed the hungry.  And what a difference it makes when we do!

Finally, there’s this word of wisdom from the Proverbs:

A satisfied soul loathes the honeycomb, but to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
Pro 27:7

Hunger sharpens our appreciation of the food we receive.  Ever wonder why we rich Westerners are such discontented, psychologist-dependent, drug-addicted, easily bored people?  Partly it’s because we have ruined our own capacity for enjoyment.  We glut ourselves, never allowing ourselves to hunger, or to do without anything we want.  And because we are constantly satisfied, we constantly loathe the honeycomb.  After all, we had the honeycomb yesterday, too.  Don’t we need something new today?

Wouldn’t we be happier if we did without the extras, and learned to find even the bitter things to be sweet?  I’m not suggesting some sort of sick desire for suffering.  I am suggesting that our bloated lifestyles lead to their own kind of suffering…a chronic discontentment, an unhealthy forgetfulness of dependence, a pride that sickens our souls, and physical unhealthiness. 

It’s easy to say these words.  But here I sit, somewhat overweight, with food to spare in my fridge and my pantry and even on shelves in my garage.  Here I sit, a person who “gets the munchies” and eats whatever she wants, whenever she wants, even if her body doesn’t need it.  I’m preaching to myself, and I hope I’m listening.

The world’s economies are collapsing around us, and it may not be long before we learn what hunger truly is.  May we have the wisdom and humility to pray along with Agur:

Give me neither poverty nor riches— feed me with the food allotted to me; lest I be full and deny You, and say, "Who is the LORD?" Or lest I be poor and steal, and profane the name of my God.
Pro 30:8-9

Who knows with what miraculous provisions God will feed those who trust in Him in the 21st Century?  Who knows how He will bless us with the love and compassion of those around us?  Who knows how He will humble us?  How much more we’ll appreciate what little we have?

But there’s another kind of hunger that is an even greater blessing.  Next time, we’ll look at spiritual hunger.  I hope you’ll join us.

In the meantime, please leave your comments below.

Insulting God: In God We Trust?

Seventh in a Series

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 8

Photo from Stock.xchng by 13dede

Back in Part 1 I made the following assertion which we are finally ready to address:

We insult God when we insist that our nation must officially talk the Christian talk even though it doesn't walk the Christian walk.

Periodically I get emails forwarded to me, pleading with me to "defend our nation's Christian identity" by fighting to keep "Under God" in our pledge; or worrying about whether "In God We Trust" is going to be taken off of our coins.

I shake my head and hit "delete."

God takes His Name very seriously. His Name is holy, never to be used lightly, never to be profaned.

And you shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD. (Lev 19:12)

To misuse His Name is to insult Him, and that's a deadly serious matter.

"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. (Exo 20:7)

God is not interested in lip service. Nor is He interested in the kind of "honor" he receives only by human customs and conventions. He wants those who name His Name to give him their hearts.

Therefore the Lord said: "...these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men" (Isa 29:13)

In fact, he says that those who pretend to worship Him are actually profaning his Name as much with their insincere gifts as with their idols. Do you think He is any more pleased with our insincere national pledge, or the claiming of His Name on our coins?

"As for you, O house of Israel," thus says the Lord GOD: "Go, serve every one of you his idols—now and hereafter—if you will not obey Me; but profane My holy name no more with your gifts and your idols. (Eze 20:39)

As I pointed out in Part 1, the world looks at what this "Christian nation" does, and judges our God accordingly. The same thing happened when the nation of Israel was scattered because of their sin. Their love for sin had outweighed their love for God and for His Holy Land, and thus they insulted Him before the world.

When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name—when they said of them, 'These are the people of the LORD, and yet they have gone out of His land.' (Eze 36:20)

Today the nations also say, "These are the people of the LORD, and yet they..." You can fill in the blank with any abomination you like.

Some Christians may believe that God's Name on our money and in our Pledge will act as some sort of talisman, protecting us from harm and guaranteeing God's blessing. But nothing could be further from the truth. Claiming allegiance to the Name of God brings any nation under stricter judgment. It's no different in the secular world. Those who guard our nation's gold reserves at Fort Knox; those who are entrusted with our health; those who care for our children...all of these are scrutinized, and are held to a high standard because of the preciousness of what they deal with. And the Name of God is truly precious. He guards it jealously, and for His Name's sake He will severely judge those who profane it.

But they rebelled against Me and would not obey Me. They did not all cast away the abominations which were before their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said, 'I will pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.' But I acted for My name's sake, that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles among whom they were [dwelling] (Eze 20:8-9)

Think soberly, my friends, and with wise judgment. Would it be an insult to God to revoke this nation's claim to be His people? Or is it not far more of an insult to Him when His Holy Name is sullied by association with a godless country which celebrates perversion of every kind, chafes against Him, mocks Him, defies Him, and hates His people?

Ask yourselves this...has God ever wanted the unregenerate to carry His Name? Would that not be as much of an abomination as an unclean, unqualified person carrying the Ark of the Covenant? When God gave His Name to the children of Israel, didn't He command them to walk worthy of it? And doesn't His commandment apply to us as well?

that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you (2Th 1:12)

Is His Name glorified when it's chanted by unbelievers in a memorized patriotic verse? Is His Name glorified when it is written on idols? What is the biggest idol in our nation, if not the almighty Dollar?

Is His Name glorified when people, not even noticing the phrase "In God We Trust" on their money, fork it over by the billions to pay for their vile entertainment, their drug habits, their abortions?

Did God ever ask us to force unbelievers to recite His Name? Did He ask us to put it on our coins? Does He care about formalities performed by those who neither know nor love Him?

"To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?" Says the LORD. "I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats. When you come to appear before Me, who has required this from your hand, to trample My courts? Bring no more futile sacrifices; incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; they are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them." (Isa 1:11-14)

There's nothing wrong with sincere, worshipful hearts desiring to put a proclamation of faith on coins or in pledges, or anywhere else. But when we demand proclamations of faith from those who are apathetic or downright hostile to God, we are demanding an abomination.

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD,
but the prayer of the upright is His delight. (Pro 15:8)

If our nation does not want His Name on it coins or in its pledge, then our nation is not worthy of that Name!

Yes, I would love to see America as a Christian nation. If it ever happens, I will sing and weep for joy as strongly as anyone. But for the sake of the precious Name of the God I love, I will not fight for the preservation of national hypocrisy. I cannot wish to see The Name Above All Names sullied.

If we want our nation to keep the Name of God in our pledge and on our coins, then we must work, and pray, and sacrifice, and love, and serve, and be used by God to help our nation see His beauty and desire Him for themselves. But we are, in many cases, more concerned with seeing our neighbor recite the words "under God" than seeing him saved! We are more worried about what words are imprinted on his money than we are about the fact that his lost soul worships money instead of the Living God.

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." (Joh 4:23-24)

But there is one place where God does want to see His Name written.

And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. (Rev 22:3-4)

Let us never forget that our nation is made up of individuals. A godless nation is made up of godless individuals. Let us be far more concerned with seeing our neighbor saved, and with someday seeing God's Name on his forehead, than we are with any form of false worship.

Let us stop pretending we live in a Christian nation, and stop demanding that they play along with our pretense. Let us try to make this a truly Christian nation by truly winning souls.

And finally, let us make sure that we ourselves are walking worthy of that Holy Name!

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This week's "In Other Words" is being hosted over at Shortybear's place. Please drop by there for links to other entries on "Love Weighs More Than Gold."

Friday Fiction: Reversals of Fortune

Friday Fiction

This week's Friday Fiction is being hosted over at Joanne Sher's wonderful site, "An Open Book." Be sure to drop by there to see what other works of fiction have been posted this week.

This piece is something I just wrote last week, for the weekly FaithWriters Challenge. The given topic was "The Game of Life." It points out how easily we can fool ourselves with regard to who or what we really love...and who or what we don't. If you'd like to read more on this subject matter, when you're through here you'll want to check out "The World in My Hand?"

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Reversals of Fortune

A toddling child, a loving wife
He could have dreamed suburban dreams
And gathered 'round him all that seems
To satisfy, like worldly wealth,
And lived for comfort, ease and health.
But no, he threw it all away
"I'll be no fool," he used to say.
"I'll give up what I cannot keep..."
Soon wife and child in heartache weep.
His blood is spilled, dreams unfulfilled
His idealistic young heart stilled.
Slain by the ones he'd hoped to save
Laid in an obscure jungle grave.
He took a chance, he threw the dice,
Lost everything in sacrifice,
Called "loser" in the Game of Life.

Another man with children, wife
Inspired himself with higher dreams
Of all that glitters, all that gleams.
Lead millions in the cult of self
His books lined every bookstore shelf.
"Jesus died to line your way
With roses and with gold," he'd say.
"Eternal life? It comes dirt cheap!
Get all you want, and pile it deep!
Get wealth, be thrilled, get all you've willed!
To pamper us our Lord was killed!"
The crowds adored him, how they raved!
His earthly streets with gold were paved.
He took a chance, he threw the dice,
And made his world comfy and nice,
Called "winner" in the Game of Life.

The Bridegroom calls his bride, his wife,
"Come here to Me, the Father deems
It's time to fulfill all our dreams!
Once poverty, now Heaven's wealth
Once illness, now eternal health."
Lovers of God, in bright array
Step into everlasting day.
On earth their hearts to Jesus thrilled
Desire for earthly gain had chilled.
They loved their Lord, from sin were saved
God's Spirit ruled how they behaved.
They took a chance, but with no dice
They followed Christ to Paradise.
All winners in the Game of Life.

The Judge now calls the sons of strife
"What's happened now to all your dreams?
To all your idol-making schemes?
Your hearts were welded to your wealth
Your greed consumed your souls by stealth.
Not with Christ, with gold you filled
Your hearts; rejecting Life you killed
Yourselves, to Christ you did not give
Your souls, in Him you would not live.
Feigned love for Me was just a way
To garner wealth in jars of clay.
You would not let my goodness woo you
Depart from me, I never knew you."

You who love this world, think twice!
Trust Christ, not Earth, for Paradise.

It really is no game, this life.


For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. (Mat 16:25)

"No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." (Luke 16:13)

(Photos from stock.xchng by brkic87 and hisks)

The World in My Hand?

Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. (Ps. 37:4)



Hucksters in the pulpit love verses like this one. Snake-oil sermonizers preach out of their own greedy hearts into their followers' greedy ears, and the message goes down smooth as honey.

"Trust in the Lord, and you've got the whole world in your hands! All the money you want, if only you believe! All the success! All the prestige! All the health! All the ease and comfort!"

Is that what this verse means?

What do you delight in?

If you delight in football, what will the desires of your heart be? Probably a certain team, televised games, star athletes, and associated gear.

If you delight in horses, what will the desires of your heart be? Beautiful animals with flowing manes, afternoons of riding, the smell of saddles.

If you delight in food, what will the desires of your heart be? Lasagna, chocolate, steak, or whatever most pleases your palate.

If you delight in the Lord, what will the desires of your heart be?

It is a simple fact that we value tools only because we value what they can accomplish for us. We value saws and nails because they build houses, we value surgical implements because they restore health, we love money because it buys necessities and luxuries. It is a strange person indeed who collects money just for the smell of it, and the feel of it in his hands; living like a pauper while greenbacks paper his walls. We recognize that the tool is secondary in value. What it accomplishes for us is primary.

And yet there are many in this world who think they worship God, when in fact they see Him only as a tool for getting them what they really value most; temporal pleasures, health, money, and the like. They worship those pleasures, not God. God is just a means to a higher end.

Today's "Health and Wealth Gospel" teaches that faith will enable you to satisfy your love for money. But the Bible says that the love of money will cause you to wander from your faith:

"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." (1Tim. 6:10)

Money is not evil, but the love of it is. And money, because of the power that it bestows, is far too easy to love. No wonder the Scripture warns us, "If riches increase, do not set your heart on them" (Ps. 62:10), and "Keep your heart with all diligence" (Pr. 4:23). It matters what we love!

"And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." (John 3:19)

"Jesus said to him, 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' This is the first and great commandment." (Matt. 22:37-38)

And what of health, or success, or fame, or a happy home life? Do we love God more than these?

Do we really?


How do we know if we truly delight in the Lord?

The apostle Paul preaches a lot of messages that would (sadly) sound very foreign in many modern churches, and would doubtless offend many deep-pocketed parishioners. But if we want to know what it means to delight in the Lord, he's a great one to study.

He says:

"Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ...that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death" (Php 3:8,10)

"I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Php 4:11-13)

We can know that we truly delight in the Lord if we can trust and love Him and rejoice in Him even through tears of grief and loss. We know that we delight in Him if we think of Him more than we think of money or temporal pleasures.

No one can do this naturally. It has to come through His Spirit in us. But the greatest news awaits those who love the Lord like this. He will give them the desires of their heart!

He will give them Himself.





(Photo from Stock.xchng by ugaldew)