I have been really struggling over the last week or so. Since watching this series of
talks on what the gospel demands.... Especially
this one. lIFE shattering!
And reading
Isaiah 58 daily as a
bible study with some friends...
... Sincerely, I've come to question so much about the way we live- I live as a christian.
What is God asking of us - me? I was born here in an affluent country. My geography has placed me at an advantage over my brothers and sisters in developing nations. Here I have been scanning the Internet for home school materials while another child cannot even afford to learn to read and write.
I see pictures of horrific poverty from the comfort of a PC screen. And what is my response? Is it the response of a follower of Jesus?
What does God want me to do with this advantage, this privilege, this position? Indulge myself and my own at the expense of those at the door.
Throw scraps from the feast at my table to those with nothing across water and continent?
Can we -I be a Christian. a follower of Jesus and also be rich?
And I am, rich.
We (as a family) have thought along the lines that we are not
really rich simply because the bills take nearly everything by the end of the month. But, the very fact that we have bills means we have mainline electricity and clean water on tap.... on tap! It also means we have shelter for our family and our own transportation.
This means we are most certainly rich.
- More than one out of six people lack access to safe drinking water, namely 1.1 billion people, and more than two out of six lack adequate sanitation, namely 2.6 billion people
- According to estimates, 100 million people worldwide are literally homeless. They have no shelter: they sleep on pavements, in doorways, in parks or under bridges. Or they sleep in public buildings like railway or bus stations, or in night shelters set up to provide homeless people with a bed.
The estimated number of homeless increases to 1,000 million people if we include those in housing that is "very insecure or temporary, often of poor quality - for instance, squatters who have found accommodation by illegally occupying someone else's home or land and are under constant threat of eviction; those living in refugee camps whose home has been destroyed; and those living in temporary shelters (like the 250,000 pavement dwellers in Bombay)". This is according to a 1996 report by the UN Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat).
| At the most basic economic level, homelessness is caused by poverty and unemployment. The poor simply cannot afford adequate shelter. |
The numbers would surpass 1,000 million if we include "all people who lack an adequate home with secure tenure (ie, as owner-occupiers or tenants protected from sudden or arbitrary eviction) and the most basic facilities such as water of adequate quality piped into the home, provision for sanitation and drainage".
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We've been really praying over this. Asking God, what can we do? I am coming to believe that He is calling me in His word to leave all in His hands, to trust more and more in providence. To turn away from the fear that leads to tying up all our resources in accounts, insurances, pensions, and mortgages. There are so many who cannot afford housing which is a basic human need, simply because so many who
can afford, stretch budgets to buy up property thus pushing the prices above and beyond what is acceptable or affordable.
As I read and listen I see that really all we have been given are gifts from His hand, everything we have belongs to Him not us.
How would God use the resources we have as Christians? Would He say go ahead, it's okay to have more than you need while there are people dying at the door? Or would God use what we have to clothe the naked, help the lost, feed the hungry, counsel the sorrowful?
Some of us are
given much so, that we can
give much for His glory.
Luke 12:48
"
From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."
God gives us a time to embrace His love, grace, forgiveness and prosperity in His land for the time to pass along the abundance, the "overflowing cup" to our neighbours standing with empty hands before us.
Luke 6:38
"
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Deuteronomy:26 1-2
"
When you have entered the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it, take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket."
Can
being a Christian really become a state of mind and heart only?
Doesn't l
iving water not become s
tagnant and stale when not allowed to
flow freely, from the
plentiful river to the
trickling stream to the
empty cup in a child's hand?
Faith in the word will transform my heart and mind till giving up and following becomes the only way to go.
A narrowing road that leads only to life.
A fearless road that trusts in providence in a radical way.
A hard to see road that clears a way for the kingdom of God before the kingdoms of this world.
Jesus put it plainly, he cut everything through with the sharp edge of the truth. He said,
"Luke 16:13 "
No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."
Speaking to the rich man who wanted to follow Him Jesus said...
" How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. For it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."
We often think of nuns and monks who take vows of poverty, as something special. But their simplicity of living, believing, being is surely nothing but the basic acceptance of the gospel message for all Christan's.
Can we be Christians who spend weekends shopping for more, making Christmas lists that indulge our every lust and engorge our homes with more "stuff".... Be in the mindset that always says bigger, better, more?....
Can we (
I) as Christians hoard money, insure every inch of our lives, buy expensive food or products that have been bought for less than the farmer who grows them or the factory worker who sews them can live onto be shipped half way across the world for our convenience?...
Is it possible?
When a (conservative estimate) of
over 25,000 children die each day from hunger.
Which is equivalent to:
- 1 child dying every 3.5 seconds
- 17-18 children dying every minute
- A 2004 Asian Tsunami occurring almost every 1.5 weeks
- An Iraq-scale death toll every 16–38 days
- Over 9 million children dying every year
- Some 70 million children dying between 2000 and 2007
Can we really say that we are followers of a gospel that says GIVE, at every turn?
Is Jesus unacceptable to me the way He really is?
I pray, pray, pray that I can accept Jesus and His word the way it is. And I pray, pray, pray that I can become acceptable to Him through living it like I believe it.
Yes, Really believe it.
Not just for the day that it suits me, but for the day when it doesn't.
Cos' if
I did-
we did, really
did believe ...
Maybe the Kingdom really would come.
The Kingdom that is
an upside down, back to front kind of a place..
.
When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying...
"
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
But if we take the comforting words of the Bible to sooth and strengthen us, surely we must also take the ones that are hard and challenging with just the same confidence.
Exodus 12:8 "That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast"
And don't these words, if really believed change perspective, transform heart, radically alter mindset and turn life upside down and back to front.
In these passages from scripture, God is confronting us with the consequences of throwing scraps to the poor and walking grandly in our own self built cocoon of affluence.
Luke 16:19-31 "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'
"But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'
"He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'
"Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'
" 'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
"He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "
Isaiah 3: 14 - 26
The LORD enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of his people: "It is you who have ruined my vineyard; the plunder from the poor is in your houses
What do you mean by crushing my people
and grinding the faces of the poor?"
declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.
The LORD says,
"The women of Zion are haughty,
walking along with outstretched necks,
flirting with their eyes,
tripping along with mincing steps,
with ornaments jingling on their ankles.
Therefore the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion;
the LORD will make their scalps bald."
In that day the Lord will snatch away their finery: the bangles and headbands and crescent necklaces, 19 the earrings and bracelets and veils, 20 the headdresses and ankle chains and sashes, the perfume bottles and charms, 21 the signet rings and nose rings, 22 the fine robes and the capes and cloaks, the purses 23 and mirrors, and the linen garments and tiaras and shawls.
Instead of fragrance there will be a stench;
instead of a sash, a rope;
instead of well-dressed hair, baldness;
instead of fine clothing, sackcloth;
instead of beauty, branding.
Your men will fall by the sword,
your warriors in battle.
The gates of Zion will lament and mourn;
destitute, she will sit on the ground.
*
Ezekiel 16:49
"'The sin of your sister Sodom was this: She lived with her daughters in the lap of luxury—proud, gluttonous, and lazy. They ignored the oppressed and the poor. They put on airs and lived obscene lives. And you know what happened: I did away with them.
*
What it comes down to for me is is the Bible the truth. Is Jesus telling the truth.
Do I believe it?
*
Thessalonians 2
"
They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness."
*
The modern "rich" christian church has, in many ways become a powerful delusion. A cover up for a false religion.
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James: 1 - 27
"
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
*
Culture, consumerism and materialism have become a powerful delusion.
The only way to see through the delusion is to accept the
truth to the point where it can be
transformative in our lives.
There are Christians dying and persecuted all over the world right now. And I wonder would we -I be able to stand up and suffer for Jesus in the same way. Right now I don't think I would.
If I can't even follow the basics how will I ever have the strength to face the real tests of faith that so many Christan's have had to face over the centuries.
Grace is given in the giving. If I can't give, how can I receive?
Revelation 3: 15-18
"'I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. "
I don't want to be lukewarm. I don't want to be blind to the suffering of 30000 children and countless more adults and old people every day.
I don't want to simply throw scraps from my abundance. I want to learn how to
give from my poverty. Like Deepa.
Lord, awaken me to the suffering world,
Give me the grace to give
of myself,
my time,
my resources,
my abundance,
Knowing that they are yours not mine
Each person a unique child
in your sight
beloved
to you
Give me eyes to see
as you see
The ears to hear
the cries that you hear
The faith to believe
Your word truly
as it is.
Heal our comfort hardened hearts.
Amen.
Matthew 5 -13
"Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage."
If We don't Live it properly, who will?
First of all I would like to thank you for your comforting words :0) Tilly is on the mend.
Thanks be to God!
She is playing with Emmy with her Christmas toys as I write. We are all feeling so light today just knowing she is getting well again :0)
And I find as I look outside today, I am enamoured by the still and stark white, brown and grey hues of winter in the square whitewashed houses and slate roofs, brittle trees and frost tingeing the edges of the windows. All seems to have quietened into a moratorium of repose.
something well needed.
"For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said, "In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength." Isaiah 30:15
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Last night Tani and I were talking and he was telling me about how when he was a kid he had an old rucksack that he used to keep a homemade "survival kit " in. This survival equipment consisted of know more than a few special stones, flints, a penknife, a favourite book, a pencil and some scrap paper:0) "With this bag I could do anything. I could go anywhere, I could go to the ends of the earth and know I would be okay, I had everything I needed to survive"
How simple, how childlike, how wonderful such thinking is.
... No first aid kit, map, food or water in this "Survival Kit!"
Children know better than that! Intuitively. Survival... the kind that can bring you through anything, right to the frayed edges of life, depends on more than the basic physical provisions.
“That's why I'm telling you to stop worrying about your life—what you will eat or what you will drink—or about your body—what you will wear. Life is more than food, isn't it, and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds in the sky. They don't plant or harvest or gather food into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. You are more valuable than they are, aren't you? Can any of you add a single hour to the length of your life by worrying?
And why do you worry about clothes? Consider the lilies in the field and how they grow. They don't work or spin yarn,
but I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them.
Now if that is the way God clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and thrown into an oven tomorrow, won't he clothe you much better—you who have little faith?
“So don't ever worry by saying, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘What are we going to drink?’ or ‘What are we going to wear?’
because it is the gentiles who are eager for all those things. Surely your heavenly Father knows that you need all of them!
But first be concerned about God's kingdom and his righteousness, and all of these things will be provided for you as well. "
So I am taking my little metaphorical rucksack into the morning of the New Year with me :0)
Filled with a little soul food..., a few soul provisions:0) Something that can nourish and sustain from the time I first look out of the frost tinged window, right through to the ebbing glint of evening light.
Something that will steady my gaze along the horizon. The one that calls me on from the depth of my heart. The Kingdom. His Kingdom.
My eyes will be diverted and distracted many times as they always are, but I know that all He asks is that I keep remembering to bring them back to seek His face once again.
And I will falter and trip and fall and waver and fail as I always have done before. When I will try to take my strength from my own provisions rather than the manna freely offered. The bread I cannot store up for tomorrow however hard I try. The bread that is offered for each day as it comes. The bread that feeds from sun up to sundown, leaving only faith to bring me to tomorrow's offering. But I know that all He asks is that I give thanks for His giving and try to use what is given to give to others in return.
Really I only need carry these essentials. And the yoke is easy and the burden light, when I put down all the things I think I need, to store, carry, hold on to. Things that wear me down and crush my soul as they over feed my senses and my body. Till am so full of the coarse dry, heavy dough of my own making, there is no room left to take the sweet manna anymore.
Yet no matter how I flail and flounder, He will still be there in the horizon. His sun rising new each morning when I open my curtains and look out of the frost tinged window.
He will still be there.
"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away."
Matthew 24:35
"And remember, I am with you each and every day until the end of the age."
Matthew 28:20
How rich are you? >>
