Are We Kidding Ourselves?

The Apostle Paul tells us that the righteous requirement of God’s law is fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh (sin nature) but after the Spirit. So we see that in order to experience God’s law fulfilled in our lives requires a continual and consistent communion with God around His Word and in His Spirit, so that we might be enabled and influenced to yield to God’s leading at any given time in order to see His purposes, plans, and pursuits fulfilled in us and through us. Now, God has made this possible by writing His laws on our hearts by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. The end of all this is to experience His will fulfilled in us on behalf of others. In essence we become Christ’s willing hands and feet (His body) carrying good things to those in need. This, of course, is the heart of both evangelistic and mercy ministries which, if done in the Spirit of Christ, are one in the same. As we yield to the Holy Spirit’s unction to sacrifice ourselves for God and others, we receive the great reward of the overcoming faithful which is the kingdom of Heaven here and now realized through righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, and this is our inheritance and present reward regardless of the hardships associated with dedicated service. This appropriated grace that enables us to remain faithful in dedicated service to God and others will also result in our inheritance of a future tangible eternal kingdom of God to be received at Jesus Christ’s second coming.

This begs the question, do we really love God with everything we are and with everything we have, and do we truly love our neighbors as ourselves or are we just kidding ourselves in professing to do so while practicing something altogether different?

Now, the love of money is the root of all evil, so we should be giving as much of our money away to others in need as often as we possibly can in order to avoid the temptation of serving Mammon, the god of materialism. The willing, sacrificial, lavish, and disciplined giving of our finances is also necessary in order to meet both the spiritual (eternal) and physical (temporal) needs of others. Are we doing this? If the answer is yes, that’s good. Let’s encourage ourselves to increase in this good practice. But if the answer is no, we had better correct the error! Let us make every effort to be rich towards God in making for ourselves purses that don’t wax old and riches that don’t rust like gold or silver and can't be stolen by thieves. May we strengthen the things that remain by sowing the seeds of our finances and everything else we have into God’s eternal kingdom. This can, and must be accomplished through the giving of our lives and our means into the hands of those who are dedicated to fulfilling God’s eternal purposes through having adopted His eternal perspectives. This of course, would be His body, the true church of the living God in the earth today. If we won’t give to those who are in the business of giving, (churches and Christian ministries) then our profession of Christ is a big joke, and we are only kidding ourselves if we claim to be His. Amen?