But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:33-34 NIV
Statistically, 85% of things we worry about never come to pass.
But that won’t stop some people from trying to beat the odds.
Worry pays the premiums we owe ourselves for being better than everyone else.
Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
Matthew 6:27 NIV
Worry is a thief.
It steals your future time and energy on its quest for a one-off moment of glory only you appreciate.
Your now is suffering.
Because you have ignored the lesson, living happily in the present has become unbearable.
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21 NIV
Stuff.
2 years after giving away 80% of my possessions to live lean in my tiny 1b/1ba home, I’ve since accumulated more stuff than I should.
Fortunately, I’m not attached to any of it. If it all burned in a fire, it would be inconvenient but not heartbreaking.
65 years have taught me that what matters most isn’t stuff. It’s the intangibles.
The yearnings on behalf of my family and friends , the desire for good to prevail over evil, for the remaining personal adjustments of mind, heart and behaviors that will leave permanent impressions long after I’m gone.
These are the intangibles that drive the last 15-25% of my time on this earth.
They can’t be stolen or destroyed because neither their pursuit nor value can be measured by any earthly yardstick.
Treasures are no longer hunted like prizes of youth.
Treasures lie in what pumps from your heart through your veins and brings precious life and love into a darkened world.
Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. Matthew 6:1 NIV
Virtue signaling.
Doing right things for wrong reasons.
We are all occasionally tempted to showcase our good deeds. In doing so, we sacrifice a divine blessing of God for the temporary praise from humans.
Maybe news stories are always so bad we want to turn the tide. Maybe we try to get others to follow our example.
Noble rationalizations all, but they deny our basic sinful nature and obedience to God.
Humility is the opposite of virtue signaling.
Humility isn’t performative but quiet, grounded, and internal, seeking no affirmation or social score.
Our culture extols the virtues of random acts of kindness but the problem is in the random.
True humility is neither random nor planned. It’s a way of life. A spontaneous and reflective manifestation of the Holy Spirit within you every day in every situation and every opportunity.
Few things please God more than us doing right things for the right purposes.
You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Matthew 5:43-45 NIV
This world is a contentious place.
Nowadays you can easily make enemies of friends without even trying—and never know it.
Unfriended, unfollowed, or worse yet, a comment in a thread demonstrating they’re unraveling over your differences.
More people are standing up for what they believe in on both sides of the aisle. And while free speech should be celebrated, the casualties can be enormous.
It’s easy to love and respect those who agree with you. It’s much harder to feel the same for those who don’t.
But.
In Christendom, that’s a big word usually to instruct us to do what doesn’t come naturally.
All people matter to God.
While this world is loaded with principles and values that oppose God, it doesn’t nullify the value of the people who possess them and advocate for their beliefs.
This scripture instructs us to separate the person from their position and show love and respect for them as children of God as important as those who are already in your camp.
As far as reconciliation is possible, it’s up to you to take the first step to affirm the relationship. It doesn’t require affirming their position, just respect of it.
Pray for those who persecute you because of your position.
As long as we’re here still walking this earth, God’s not finished with any of us.
“The lord is on my side; I will not fear: What can man do unto me?” Psalm 118:6 KJV
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:3-12 NIV
The upside down.
If you’ve ever seen the series Stranger Things, an upside down reality exists alongside the one in which we now live.
It’s the ugly opposite reality but stick with me for a second.
Quantum theories posit that multiple simultaneous realities exist.
So perhaps the reality in which we now live is actually the ugly opposite and the upside down reality is the perfect one. One where humanity lives by Jesus’ beatitudes.
Even Gandhi said that if people lived by Jesus’ beatitudes, all of India would be Christians today.
That’s the upside of the upside down.
Jesus completely flips worldly values upside down then calls it blessed.
It’s not just radical thinking, it’s the way of living.
The beatitudes aren’t a set of commands but the life that is produced in us by living an upside down life in Christ.
You may say you gave it your best, but deep down you know it wasn’t.
You could have done more or done better, but the net result was that it was just ‘okay’ enough to get the job done and, to your credit, that’s still likely more than most people would do.
But settling on some point between sensational and satisfactory is dysphoric for an otherwise truly exceptional performer.
Despite rationalizing about how insanely too busy you were to give it your everything, the day ended leaving you wondering if maybe there’s a better way to avoid the risk of spiraling down to “just okay” in your effort to accomplish all that you must.
This dilemma is everyone’s and it’s the case for pretty much everything noble to which we set our minds and passions.
You enter the task zealous and with good intentions but exit disappointed with less than enthusiastic results.
It’s human to be a self-critic about what you missed and even more human to also overlook the critical parts of what you did well.
Mediocrity is neither aspiration nor inspiration.
Sometimes it just is.
And without a few of life’s mediocre moments, our shining ones wouldn’t look so shiny.
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Matthew 3:16-17 NIV
The wish of every believer lies in that last verse.
It’s not unbelievable that God will one day say the same of you.
Offered and accepted, redemption from sin is, in fact, assured.
It’s hard to grasp that the very same God and mastermind of all creation, time and space will one day pause to personally greet you with the same heartfelt words he used to speak of his very own son.
The promises of heaven don’t mess around. They’re as big as our minds can conceive, and then bigger still.
Our finite minds may be unable to capture such heights and depths of heaven, but Lord knows, trying to is always within our reach every morning.
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.
Matthew 3:7-10 NIV
Take your broken car to the mechanic and afterward you’ll be seen driving it away running like new.
Evidence of repentance is witnessed in life change.
John confronted the priests in attendance at the Jordan baptisms with this most basic truth about following Jesus.
Change follows any encounter with our creator.
James 2: Faith without works is dead. Faith is the root and works is its fruit.
The rule of continuity is fundamental to human development.
Presto changeo and redemption’s evidence appears.
So produce fruit in accordance with repentance. Nobody arrives grandfathered into God’s kingdom.
Here in my fourth reading of the Bible cover to cover, today I am happy to again start revisiting the New Testament.
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Matthew 2:11 NIV
No casserole. No Huggies. No pacifiers.
Gold because it acknowledges him as king
Frankincense because it acknowledges his divinity.
Myrrh because it acknowledges his suffering and sacrificial death.
These three gifts together reflect Jesus as King, God, and Savior — a humble baby whose life would change the world.
From the very first day, Jesus’ life was predetermined from the start to the “It is finished.”
Even those with no earthly knowledge of his future path reflected that path in the gifts they offered in this account of a divinely appointed baby shower to which we are all invited.
A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the Lord Almighty.
Malachi 1:6 NIV
-All too often, we treat God as if he’s a feeble old man who won’t take notice and can’t tell the difference anyway. We short him what is rightfully his convincing ourselves it doesn’t matter so much.
Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord.
Malachi 1:14 NIV
-Of course we know he doesn’t need our sacrifices but has set the practice of giving him our best as a test of our wholeheartedness.
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
Malachi 3:10 NIV
-No better test exists than in our finances, tithes and offerings.
-It’s a heart condition.
-Wholeheartedness is offering our very best in return for his very best.
-Any measure less is a shoddy, halfhearted substitute.
