MEAT FOR MATURITY – DISCIPLESHIP

“Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me” (Psalms 50:14-15, (NIV)). God will deliver you. But what kind of deliverance does God promise under the New Covenant? Under the Old Covenant God’s deliverance was usually a physical deliverance: from military enemies, from personal enemies, from misfortune, etcetera. But under the New Covenant God has not promised all believers political or economic prosperity or freedom from enemies and distress, until Jesus returns. For now, he promises something even better: inner communion with him, a cleansed heart, and interior peace that surpasses understanding. God will deliver you from anything that interferes with those promises. What does he ask of us? That we would trust him and thank him for who he is and what he has done – our thank Continue Reading →

“So don’t be dismayed when the wicked grow rich and their homes become ever more splendid. For when they die, they take nothing with them. Their wealth will not follow them into the grave.” (Psalms 49:16-17, NLT). This passage may not seem encouraging at first since it is about judgment on the wicked, but I think it is one of the most encouraging truths in Scripture. Ungodly wealth and status will disappear forever when the ungodly die. We often observe that compromising, unscrupulous, or faithless people become successful in this life. And godly people often do not become prosperous. But God assures us that this is not the end of the story. Everyone will be judged one day (2 Cor. 5:10) and everyone “will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body” (2 Cor. 5:10, NLT). Finances may be a trial Continue Reading →