"…now in this time…"

There are many who criticize Christians and especially pastors for accumulating wealth.  But is there criticism Biblical?  Let's see what Jesus has to say about it. 

 

Mark 10:29-31(NKJV)

So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, 

who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life. 

But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

 

Here is what that verse is saying to me.  If you dedicate what you have to serving God, God will reward you with more of what you had.  To put it another way, the more you give away in the service of God, the more God will reward you with the things you gave away.  Does that make sense?  As a friend of mine used to say, "you can't out give God!".

 

The other point is that Jesus specified "now in this time".  In other words we don't have to wait until we get to Heaven to get this reward.  We get it while we are here on earth!

As you know I always look for confirmation in the Old Testament.  Take a look at Malachi.

Malachi 3:8-10(NKJV)

    “Will a man rob God?      Yet you have robbed Me!     But you say,     ‘In what way have we robbed You?’     In tithes and offerings.

    You are cursed with a curse,     For you have robbed Me,     Even this whole nation.

    Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,     That there may be food in My house,     And try Me now in this,”     Says the Lord of hosts,     “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven     And pour out for you such blessing     That there will not be room enough to receive it.

 

Isn't God saying pretty much the same thing here?  The more you honor God the more He will bless you? 

 

That looks like confirmation of a concept to me!

A tribute to my friend Adelita Trevino!

I lost a friend a week ago and that makes me sad.  But as I sit here feeling sad and trying to write about Adelita Trevino, nothing is coming out.  And then God helped me see why.  Coming from a sad place really doesn't fit with my memories of her.

 

Instead of being sad I want to focus on the wonderful legacy that she left.  A legacy of faith and courage! 

What I remember is a lady of great faith who trusted God.  I remember many times she would start a Facebook post with "I don't know who needs to hear this but God put it on my heart…." and then she would have a word and scripture of comfort, encouragement, revelation, or whatever God put on her heart.

 

After she passed it was so awesome to see the memories of so many people who's lives she had touched in such a deep and meaningful way. 

 

The other thing that stands out to me was her courage.  I got to spend some time with her around the swimming pool this summer watching our kids and grand kids play together.  We were talking about this whole Covid thing.  That is when I found out that she had an autoimmune disease that made her more vulnerable than most. 

 

Even though she was in a higher risk group her attitude was that you can't hide from life.  God put us here to live and she was going to trust God and do just that!  I greatly admired her courage which was backed up by her foundation, her faith.

 

Now does the fact that she later died of complications from Covid tarnish her faith?  Not at all in my opinion.  She knew that some people live to a ripe old age and some people didn't.  She also knew that God is in control of when each and every one of us dies and she was comfortable with that.  She wasn't going to second guess God. 

So thank you Lord for helping me to find the words I needed and thank you Adelita for your legacy of faith and courage.  And most of all thank you for being part of our family even though it was way to short of a time.  You were a blessing to us all and we will miss you!