Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “The fear of not having enough”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “For I know the plans I have for you” – this is the Lord’s declaration – “plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “God unlocks doors that are invisible to human eyes.”

 

In recent days we’ve been considering the great truth about how it is that God has created all things (including you and me) with natural capacity to produce and accomplish things. But when He adds His unlimited divine capacity to our natural but limited capacity, the results can be exponential and explosive.

 

In his book “The God Guarantee: Finding Freedom from the Fear of Not Having Enough”, author Jack Alexander has been helping us to understand that finding freedom from the fear of not having enough begins with trusting in God rather than in ourselves. This is thinking that is rooted in faith in God and in all that He makes possible as He works in and through us. Jack writes,

 

“And when we take everything we have and all we are and look to God, with faith in His provision and a commitment to His plan, He will provide for us. He will show us something new – or something familiar in a new, redemptive way – over and beyond what we can see with our human eyes. Our faith unlocks and unleashes this capacity.”

 

This is what Jeremiah wrote about to in Jeremiah 29:11. God’s plan is good, we just need to trust Him and follow His plan rather than our own. And that thought right there leads us to what we will focus on for most of the rest of the month – God’s plan rather than our own plan. We will also think a lot about the individual responsibility each of us has to be a part of our own solution.

 

We are to have faith in God, but we must also work in conjunction with God.

In order to accomplish His plan in our lives God will unlock doors of opportunity that we can’t see and don’t even know exist. But God’s plan and provisions don’t excuse us from personal responsibility. We have to be good stewards. We have to engage in reality-based thinking rather than in starry-eyed wishful thinking. And we have to do our part. God is not a genie in a bottle and there are no magic incantations you can recite to instantly solve your problems. We will talk more about this in the days to come.

 

Yesterday we thought about the importance of consecration. The lesson was that the starting place for getting into synch with what God wants to do in you, through you, and for you, is to offer to God all that you are and all that you have, to be used for His purposes. That would be an excellent commitment to make in church this Sunday.

Perhaps a trip to the altar at the end of the worship service would be a good next step for each of us.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “The fear of not having enough”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “I raise my eyes to the mountains. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1-2 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Consecrating all that we are and all that we have to God changes everything.”

 

Yesterday we began considering the concept of “capacity”. Every created thing naturally has within it some God-given capacity. That includes you. God has created you with the potential to accomplish wonderful things in life. But as great as your skills and abilities may be, and as much as you might be able to accomplish in your own power, it’s nothing compared to what God can and will do in you and through you when He adds His capacity to yours to accomplish what He wants done.

 

When God adds His capacity to ours everything changes. When He added His capacity to the natural capacity that was already within the five loaves of bread and the two fish, twenty thousand people were fed. When He added His capacity to that which already existed in Moses, a nation was led out of captivity. And when He adds His capacity to whatever exists within you there is no limit to what He can do in and through you.

 

So the question becomes, “What does it take for God to add His power and capacity to my abilities in order to accomplish His purposes?” The answer is “consecration”. You have to take all that you have and all that you are and offer it to God to be used for His purposes. The five loaves and the two fish didn’t become a great feast for thousands of people until they were turned over to God for His purposes. Moses didn’t become a great leader until He surrendered his life – all that he was and all that he had to God.

 

There is something in your life right now – some skill, ability, talent, latent potential, that could be more, that could lead to more, if you would just give it to God, no strings attached.

 

In Psalm 121:1-2 we read that the Psalmist (presumably King David) understood where his help and power came from. He kept his focus where it needed to be, on the Lord. That needs to be true of us too. When we take all that we are and all that we have and consecrate it to the Lord, looking always to Him for strength and power and ability and direction, there is no limit to what can happen.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “The fear of not having enough”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “The Lord said to him, ‘Who made the human mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go! I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say.” Exodus 4:11-12 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “To accomplish His purposes in our lives God uses the capacity that is within us, but then He multiplies it.”

 

One of the most profound lessons we can draw from the story of the Loaves and Fish (which we have been considering the last two days), is that of “capacity”. Who would have guessed that those five small loaves of bread and those two fish had the potential capacity to feed twenty thousand people? Of course that capacity didn’t exist just within the five loaves and two fish alone, but when combined with what God wanted to add, their capacity multiplied exponentially.

 

We see a similar example in the story of Moses. At the time God called Moses to become the leader of the nation of Israel, and to lead them out of captivity in Egypt, Moses had been tending sheep in a remote corner of the desert for forty years. He had little confidence in himself as a leader of anything other than sheep, and evidently he was not a good public speaker either. That’s the argument he was making to God in Exodus chapter four, and that’s what God was responding to in verses 11-12. But when God took Moses’ limited abilities, and added His great capacity to it, the nation of Israel ended up with one of the greatest leaders in world history and they were brought out of captivity.

 

When God takes our limited capacity and combines it with His unlimited capacity, amazing things can happen. In his book, “The God Guarantee: Finding Freedom from the Fear of Not Having Enough” author Jack Alexander writes of how we as doubting humans tend to live in the land of “what is” rather than in the land of “what could be”. In the land of “what is” we, like Moses, consider what we believe ourselves to be capable of and then we proceed accordingly. But in the land of “what could be”, a person has learned to ask God to add His unlimited capacity to our limited abilities. When that happens, there’s no limit to what can be accomplished.

 

As Jack points out in his book, it’s easy for us to fall for Satan’s trap of limiting what we believe to be possible by basing our thinking on what we believe we are capable of accomplishing on our own. That’s the problem both Moses and Philip had.

 

It’s true that within each person God has created great capacity to accomplish wonderful things, but that capacity in and of itself is limited. However, God is also willing to add into the mix varying degrees of His capacity in order to accomplish His purposes in the life of each person.  When that happens, there’s no limit to what can be accomplished.

 

Part of our task this month, as we continue to devotionally consider how we get over the fear of not having enough, will be to learn how to live in the land of “what could be”, if we would only rely on God, rather than in the land of “what is”, when we continue to rely on ourselves.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “The fear of not having enough”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Then He commanded the crowds to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them. He broke the loaves and gave them to His disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. Everyone ate and was filled. Then they picked up 12 baskets full of leftover pieces!” Matthew 14:19-20 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “There is a pattern of thinking and acting that God will bless.”

 

Yesterday we began considering the story of the Loaves and the Fish as it appears in all four Gospels. In that story Jesus miraculously fed 5000 men, plus the women and children who were with them – maybe as many as twenty thousand people.

 

To set-up the lesson He wanted to teach, Jesus began by asking His disciple Philip to consider how the problem of feeding all those people could potentially be solved. Philip quickly concluded (correctly) that it was impossible (by human standards). Jesus then went on to perform a miracle. He multiplied the little bit of food that was available and miraculously turned it into a great feast that fed thousands of people. The lesson is that God is not limited by what is possible in the physical realm. That includes in terms of material provisions and even finances.

 

In his book “The God Guarantee: Finding Freedom from the Fear of Not Having Enough”, Jack Alexander notes that Philip was standing right next to the Son of God but he was still thinking according to the rules of human economics. Even though by that time Philip had already come to know Jesus as the Messiah, and even though Philip had witnessed and experienced multiple miracles by Jesus, he still viewed his current situation in terms of what he could do, not in terms of what God could do (proving once again that doubts can crowd out memories).

 

In this lesson Jack sees a pattern that God honors, and which we can copy, when dealing with seemingly impossible situations in our lives. It’s a way of thinking and acting that demonstrates our faith in God and in what He can do. First we have to offer God what is already available. In this case it was the five loaves and the two fish. (In your life it will be something different, but you do have to be part of solving your own problem.) Second we need to bless it or consecrate it to Him. Jesus prayed over the bread and fish, consecrating it to God. Third we need to let the Lord reorder or rearrange things. In this scene the bread was broken into many pieces before it was miraculously multiplied. And fourth we need to be prepared to share and distribute the results of God’s provision. If our thoughts are to keep it all for ourselves rather than using it to bless others, we’re probably not in synch with God’s thinking about the situation.

 

The practical application here is that when you’re faced with a seemingly impossible situation that clearly will fail without God’s intervention, don’t let your doubts about it crowd out your memories of all the ways God has protected you and provided for you in the past. Then resolve that you are ready to be a part of your own solution in the current situation. Be prepared to work with God, doing your part and offering whatever you have to bring to bear on the situation. Pray about it, and then be ready to use your blessing from God to be a blessing to others. Be ready to pay it forward. This is a pattern of thinking and acting that God honors and blesses.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

 

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “The fear of not having enough”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “… when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward Him, He asked Philip, ‘Where will we buy bread so these people can eat?’ He asked this to test him, for He knew what He was going to do. Philip answered, ‘Two hundred denarii worth of bread wouldn’t be enough for each of them to have a little.” John 6:5-7 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “God has all the resources He needs to achieve what He wants.”

 

Are you familiar with the story of “The Fish and the Loaves”? It appears in all four Gospels. In this scene a huge crowd has gathered to listen to Jesus. As the day wore on the massive crowd grew hungry. But since they were in a remote region, there were no provisions available. The nearest McDonald’s was many miles away.

 

To test the depth of faith and understanding his disciples had of Him at that point, and to teach them a valuable lesson, Jesus asked Philip where they were going to get enough food to feed all these hungry people. As we see in John 6:5-7, Philip essentially said that it was impossible, they couldn’t do it.

 

As the story unfolds, Andrew, another of the disciples, brings to Jesus a young boy who happened to have five small loaves of bread and two fish. That’s all the food the disciples were able to round up in that big crowd. Undaunted, Jesus blesses the food and then miraculously turns it into a feast that fed twenty thousand, with baskets full of leftovers.

 

The moral of the story? Jesus isn’t restricted by physical limitations. Jesus can take a little and turn it into a lot. Jesus can take nothing and turn it into everything. Jesus can provide breakfast, lunch, and supper, along with a midnight snack, and then He can pay your rent for you too. Jesus is really cool and He can do anything.

 

When Philip answered Jesus’ question he was thinking in terms of the economy of the world, not the economy of God. Philip was thinking about what men could do, not what God could do. But Jesus wanted His followers to begin thinking in terms of God’s rules of economics rather than in man’s rules of economics. Had the outcome depended on what Philip and his buddies could do, everyone would have gone home hungry. But with God, all things are possible.

 

This is a lesson we need to learn too. We tend to look at our physical circumstances (especially our financial circumstances), in terms of what’s possible and achievable in the physical realm. But God doesn’t operate based upon what’s possible in the physical realm. God’s kingdom operates based upon what’s possible in His power and with His resources. That’s a game-changer. With God nothing is impossible. Everything is achievable.

 

That doesn’t mean that God will suddenly shower you with piles of money for your own use and personal enjoyment. But it does mean that God has all the resources He needs in order to achieve any outcome He desires. And if you and I are in the center of His will, doing the things that He wants us to do, He is fully able to provide the things needed in order to accomplish what He has ordained.

 

God’s economy is different from man’s economy. God has all the resources He needs to accomplish whatever He wants done. We will spend the rest of the month exploring this great truth and learning how it plays out in the daily lives of God’s people.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “The fear of not having enough”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “The one who loves money will never have enough money to make him happy. It is the same for the one who loves to get many things. This also is for nothing.” Ecclesiastes 5:10 (NLV)

 

Our thought for today: “Our focus is wrong.”

 

In the days to come we will begin to consider God’s answer to our fear of not having enough. But before we move on to that, I want to be sure we’ve truly understood and acknowledged the problem we’re faced with.

 

A big problem for Christians is that we often claim things to be true of ourselves which are not really true. This issue of who or what we truly put our trust in is a case in point. Most of us say that God is our Provider and that we trust Him to take care of us. We say that, but we don’t really believe it. Or at least, we don’t live as if we really believe it. We say we trust in God for our daily bread, but then we allow ourselves to be a workaholic as we strive to earn as much as we can. We say we trust in God for our financial future, but then we obsess about savings accounts and retirement plans and how we’re going to afford the latest gidget or gadget, a new car and a bigger house. We say we trust in God, but our focus is usually on jobs and incomes and savings accounts and possessions.

 

Now don’t get me wrong, working hard, earning as much as we can, building up savings, and having a plan for retirement are all good things – we should do them. But we are not to trust in them. And therein lies the problem for most of us. Truth-be-told, in actual practice, we do trust in them more than we trust in God. We just don’t admit it.

 

So let’s set aside the God-talk, the religious clichés, and the false piety and admit how much of a hold money and possessions really do have on our hearts. It’s only when we honestly admit a problem that we can then begin to deal with it.

 

King Solomon was honest about it. He was the richest man in the world in his day. For most of his adult life he indulged himself in every conceivable pleasure and denied himself no creature comfort. But he finally came to the point of realizing how empty such a life was and how misplaced his focus had been. That’s what we’re reading not just in Ecclesiastes 5:10, but in the entire book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon learned that it didn’t matter how much he had because it was never enough. Deep inside there was always the nagging concern that regardless of what he already had, he still needed something more.

 

The fear of not having enough, and the doubts and anxiety that come with it, can be suffocating. It leaves us feeling dissatisfied, unhappy, and worried about the future. Worse, at a very deep level, it takes our focus off of God and onto the things of this world.

 

Despite what we claim to be true about our faith and about our focus if we’re honest we have to admit that our concern for the things of this life, and our obsessive focus on them, is a big problem that has to be dealt with.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “The fear of not having enough”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Watch out and be on guard against all greed because one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “There has to be more to life than this.”

 

Yesterday I told you about a 2015 survey of millionaires which produced the surprising revelation that a very large percentage of rich people are insecure about their financial future. In the survey a majority strongly believed they needed to have twice as much as they already have in order to feel secure. That was true of those millionaires and it tends to be true for most for us, regardless of our income level.

 

In his book, “The God Guarantee: Finding Freedom from the Fear of Not Having Enough”, Jack Alexander writes, “America is filled with comfortably prosperous people who mostly feel they don’t have enough. They are dominated and controlled by a pervasive sense of resource scarcity and precariousness.” He then goes on to say that fear in itself is fundamentally selfish – it is a preoccupation with the self. The fear of not having enough is a selfish preoccupation with not just our own provision, but with our own comfort and not even just that, but with our own continued high level of comfort.

 

We all know this is true. As was noted yesterday, we live in the most affluent society in the world. But we also have the largest proportion of people on anti-depressant medications than any nation in the world. Beyond that, we also have one of the highest levels of personal indebtedness per capita, and the resulting financial strains that come with being deeply in debt. And, we have one of the highest suicide rates in the developed world.

 

How could that be? How could so many have so much and still be so unhappy – and so fearful of not having enough? Evidently there must be more to life than just having a lot of stuff.

 

Jesus spoke about that in Luke 12:15. He taught that there is more to life than just money and possessions. In fact, not only are money and possessions not the most important thing in life, often they get in the way of true happiness.

 

Let me be clear that money and possessions are not bad. I would rather have money and possessions than not have money and possessions. But how we think about such things, and the place they are allowed to occupy in our heart, is crucial to our overall sense of joy and contentment, and to the real quality of our lives.

 

In his book Jack does not debunk the value or importance of money or possessions. He himself is a multi-millionaire. Although he grew up in impoverished circumstances, he went on to become a successful businessman, investor, corporate CEO, and financial advisor. But Jack is one of those special people who learned how to hold it all lightly and to use it well for the glory of God and for the benefit of the Kingdom. In the process, he discovered some wonderful promises from God regarding His provision for His people.

 

You may be surprised by some of what we learn this month.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “The fear of not having enough”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” Matthew 6:31-33 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Stop living in fear of not having enough.”

 

Some years ago a middle-aged woman came to me for counseling. Her family was struggling in many ways, but especially financially, and she was therefore worried about their financial security and the future. I found their situation slightly inexplicable because for one thing, we live in one of the lowest cost-of-living regions in the nation. But for another thing, her family income was more than $100,000 and therefore they should have been doing just fine. But I’ll never forget her comment to me about that. She said, “$100,000 doesn’t go as far as you might think it would.” So she was worried about finances.

 

In another case I received a phone call from a fifty-something woman who lives in another part of the country. I had known her and her husband for decades. She too was having family problems and again one of their biggest issues revolved around finances. In their case both husband and wife were accomplished professionals with six figure incomes. Their $450,000 home was paid for. Their savings and investments approached $1,000,000, and both of them had assured retirement income that would combine to provide them with a six figure income in retirement. But still, the husband was deeply concerned that they did not have enough savings, investments, and retirement income to really be secure and he was obsessing about it to the point of anxiety and marital strife.

 

I’ve always found it amazing that although we live in the most affluent nation in the world, the fear of not having enough is pervasive in our society and spans the spectrum of income brackets. Because it is such a big problem, I’ve done a lot of preaching, teaching, and writing about this over the years. In one recent survey of millionaires, seventy-eight percent of those with $1,000,000 or more in assets admitted that they still worried about their financial future and thought they needed to have at least twice as much as they do have in order to feel secure.

 

God recently brought to my attention a wonderful little book on this subject and I have decided to share some of its lessons with you. The book is “The God Guarantee: Finding Freedom from the Fear of Not Having Enough” by Jack Alexander. The book is insightful and very helpful and I highly recommend it to you.

 

Throughout the month I will draw on some of the lessons and themes Jack brings out in his book, combined with my own insights and experiences, and together we will learn more about this fear of not having enough and how to stop it.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Boundaries”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Everything is permissible, but not everything is helpful. Everything is permissible, but not everything builds up.” 1 Corinthians 10:23 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “We cause most of our own problems by making bad choices.”

 

As we conclude our devotional study on the subject of “boundaries”, I want to reemphasize the importance of personal responsibility. You and only you are responsible for your boundaries (or for the lack of them). Additionally, if your boundaries have been breached it is almost certainly your own fault. You either created the situation yourself, or you allowed it to exist. Either way it’s your responsibility, so don’t blame it on others.

 

In 1 Corinthians 10:23 Paul was teaching an important lesson about Christian liberty. He was making the point that in Christ we have great freedom to make choices about the context and content of our lives. But in order to make good choices we have to be spiritually mature and our choices have to be Spirit-led. This is such an important lesson that he taught it twice in the same letter, once in 1 Corinthians 6:12 and again here in 10:23.

 

This “Christian Liberty” that we have, and the importance of using that liberty wisely to make good choices, applies to all of life and it certainly applies to the choices we make regarding the boundaries we establish. Life is filled with lots and lots of good things – good activities, good people, good obligations, and good ministry – good things that we could attempt to fit into our lives. But there isn’t room for everyone and for everything. Choices have to be made. Good choices. And if you don’t make those choices, if you don’t establish good boundaries, then you end up like that proverbial five pound bag crammed with ten pounds of stuff – it’s bursting at the seams and spilling over the edges.

 

There are lots and lots of possibilities – but as Paul teaches here in 1 Corinthians, not everything is helpful and not everything builds up. Sometimes more is too much.

 

As we end this month of considering the boundaries we have (or need to have), I encourage you to spend some extra time in prayer about it. Ask the Lord to help you see your life clearly and objectively. Then ask Him to help you understand what adjustments need to be made. And then finally, as was stressed in yesterday’s devotional, if changes need to be made, if people or things or activities have to go, be a mature Christian and handle it in a way that honors Christ and blesses others. Don’t be petty or small or mean in how you go about shedding things (or even people). How we handle things like this is a pretty clear indicator about how spiritually mature we really are.

 

Remember, when it comes to boundary issues, the responsibility is yours and yours alone. Make good choices. Then implement those choices in a way that honors Christ and blesses others.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Boundaries”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Each person should do as he has decided in his heart – not reluctantly or out of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:7 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Pay attention to feelings of resentment.”

 

At first glance 2 Corinthians 9:7 may seem like an odd verse of Scripture to include in our study about boundaries. In that passage Paul was teaching about giving money to help support the cause of Christ. In that context he wrote verse 7 where he cautioned his readers to give with a cheerful heart and not out of a sense of compulsion and not with any resentment. The implication is that if you are not able to give with that kind of cheerful and willing heart you should just keep your money, God doesn’t want it.

 

Although that’s excellent guidance when it comes to the subject of giving money in a way that pleases God, there’s also a larger truth here which pertains to all of life in general – and to the subject of setting good boundaries in particular. If you’re feeling resentment about something or someone, that’s a pretty good indication that something is wrong.

 

If a family member is requiring so much of your time and attention that you’re starting to resent it, that person is probably pushing the outer limits of healthy boundaries and it could be time for you to start saying “no” to them. If your job is requiring so much from you that you’re beginning to resent it and you’re starting to think that you might like to do something different for a living, there could be a boundary issue. If you’re ending most days exhausted and feeling as if there was little time to just stop and smell the roses, and you find yourself wishing your life was slower, simpler, easier, you may need to adjust some boundaries.

 

When feelings of resentment about a particular area of life begin to crowd your thoughts, it could be a red flag warning you of the need to adjust some of your critical boundaries. If you find yourself thinking “This didn’t used to bother me very much but now I’m starting to get fed up with it”, you know the boundary line has been breached and you need to make adjustments.

 

Resentment is poison pill which turns us into a bitter person who becomes small-minded and self-absorbed, often with a victim mentality. That then usually leads to irrational behavior that damages relationships and results in bad consequences for us. If your boundaries have been breached it’s almost certainly your own fault. You either caused it yourself or you allowed it to happen. Now handle it in a spiritually mature way that honors Christ.

 

As we near the end of our devotional study of boundaries I want to encourage you to give careful, prayerful thought to the boundaries you have set in your life. Are there any that need to be adjusted? Are there some that don’t currently exist but need to be put in place?

 

Healthy boundaries are needed in every area of life. Make the adjustments that are needed but be a big boy or a big girl about it. Don’t allow resentment to make you petty and small.

 

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim