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In Isaiah 45:3 God told King Cyrus... I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
Cyrus set God's people free out of Babylon and restored God's temple.
One of the patterns that can be seen over and over in the Bible is that God gives the task of gathering up all the wealth to one day hand it over to those that please him. Part of God's plan for each of our lives is that he has the finances and resources we need to walk out the plan hidden in secret places. Think of if like a father who is waiting for the perfect time to give his children a gift. I picture a father who is waiting with great joy to show his children what he has waiting for them. There are treasures in secret places and the key to finding them is walking in the light in fellowship with God and people, because it is light that makes all things visible, including treasures in darknes...
This is the monthly message for August.
This morning I woke up to these words playing over and over on the inside... Hidden sources of profit.
God is a rewarder and a pattern in scripture is that he has hidden sources of wealth. As we make it our goal to magnify God with our lives and to make people great an increase in money only magnifies this more. These sources have not been hidden from us, but hidden for us, in order to help us walk out what he put us here to do and be a blessing.
Here are some verses to meditate on...
This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you how to profit, who directs you in the way you should go. Isaiah 48:17
Deuteronomy 33:19 They will summon peoples to the mountain and there offer the sacrifices of the righteous; they will feast on the abundance of the seas, on the treasures hidden in the sand.
Isaiah 45:3 I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret p...
We have been talking about the word magnify lately. To magnify is to make great. Money is a magnifier. It will magnify the person you are. If you are a person who is seeking to magnify God's name and make other people great money will only amplify this. But, many people have other priorities and those are what will be magnified. For example, if people have vices such as drugs or alcohol more money usually just makes things worse. If people are sad or depressed money just makes it worse. If people are wasteful with their money and lazy more money just makes it worse. But if you are full of peace and joy continually the money will also magnify it. If you are seeking to do good continually more money will give you the opportunity to do more good.
Jesus said we can't serve God and money. We must choose. Which one do we seek after and prioritize in our lives? I think God wants us to be rich on the inside first, in our relationship with him, and then at some point the ...
In Matthew 10:16 Jesus told his disciples... I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
To be innocent as doves makes me think of being gentle and kind, but this must be balanced with discernment, which comes from God.
In Luke 16 Jesus told the parable of the shrewd manager who cut a deal with his masters customers in order to build relationships with them. Then Jesus said the following... The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
There are 2 kinds of shrewdness. One kind is shrewd in order to deceive others and tear them down. The other is shrewd in order to make other people great and build them up. In these verses Jesus is sa...
Hebrews 11:6 says... And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
God is a rewarder and one of the keys to our faith is the belief that he wants to do good for us. We don't seek him for the rewards, we seek him for him, but he is a rewarder, it is part of who he is. He can't help it, because it gives him joy to see his people thriving.
Psalm 35:27 AMP says... Let them say continually, “Let the LORD be magnified, who delights and takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”
God takes pleasure and delights in seeing his people do well and it magnifies his name. But this means learning to do things a different way. If you are the source of your own success then it doesn't magnify God. There are two different systems that we can live under. We can stress and strive to make ourselves great and put our hope and trust in money or we can seek after ...
How do you gain serious traction toward your goals or vision?
Several years ago I was feeling overwhelmed with trying to keep up with everything...Business, family, eating well, exercise, etc.
Finally one day I asked God how he keeps everything in order.
The answer I received was... "Look to the pattern of my Sabbaths."
In the Old Testament temple there were certain activities that needed to be done every...
This was the rhythm of the temple and served to keep everything in order. Our bodies are the temple now and for several years I have worked to implement this rhythm into every area of life. One of the most important ways I implement this rhythm is with communion.
Recently I have been working on redesigning the process we use for examining ourselves during communion. This process when done daily, weekly, monthly, and on the Yearly Cycle can help you gain s...
God is the source of every good and perfect gift. But, gifts have to be received and valued if they are to have an effect in our lives.
The other day I was reading in Genesis 30 about Leah having children in verses 19-20 it says... Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. Then Leah said, “God has presented me with a precious gift.” So she named him Zebulun.
The word for precious in Hebrew is towb which means good, precious, beautiful, pleasing, or perfect. When God gives gifts they are good, precious, perfect, and beautiful. There is a difference between gifts God gives and ones that come from the world.
Jesus said in Matthew 7 and Luke 11...
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him...
We all go through times when we need some refreshing. To refresh means to give new strength or energy, and to reinvigorate.
These times of refreshing can come from the presence of the Lord, because he does not grow tired or weary. He has an unlimited inexhaustible supply of strength and energy. The apostle Paul said he worked harder than anyone, but it wasn't him, it was God's power that so powerfully worked within him.
Acts 3:19-20 says...Repent, then, and turn (be converted) to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.
Isaiah 40:28-31 says... The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will so...
If you are in a totally dark room it can cause you to trip or run into things and it can be hard to know which way to go. Being in the dark can lead to feelings of confusion, hopelessness, powerlessness, and darkness can also feel very heavy. However, when we are in the light it is easy to see things that were causing us to stumble and which way to go.
In Isaiah 61, Jesus said that part of what he came to do was proclaim freedom for captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.
Colossians 1:12-14 says... giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Jesus has released us from the darkness and transferred us into the light because of the forgiveness of sins. But, part of living in the light is learning to rece...
In 2 John it says...It gives me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. 5 And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
I believe it gives God great joy when we walk in the truth. Notice that walking in the truth and walking in love are one and the same. To walk means that we are actively putting into practice the things we know to do.
In John 17:17 Jesus prays for his disciples to be sanctified by the truth, and he says God's word is truth.
And in John 8:31-32 Jesus says "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
As we take communion today let it be a reminder to walk in the truth and love. When we do it sets us...
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