Wednesday, December 13, 2000
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Wednesday, December 13, 2000 |
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We need to use spiritual eyes In the book of John, Jesus says that His is a "spiritual kingdom." He admonishes the people in John 4:48, saying, "unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe!" I need to be reminded, we all need to be reminded, that the kingdom is spiritual. Faith in Christ and God's love or care for us is not based on whether it rains or not, whether the sun shines or not, whether we have material things or not, whether we have health or not. Faith in Christ is just that a faith relationship with a person, Jesus Christ. Pray for the spiritual blessings that the Lord wants to pour upon you, blessings that are infinitely finer and greater than this world, that we, could imagine. May we see with spiritual eyes. In these days churches and church people have followed the materialism that is all around us. Many preach and teach a "prosperity" gospel. They teach that if you believe right, pray right, and do right you will have wealth and health. This kind of thought confuses believers, turns away unbelievers, and warps the gospel of Christ. The spiritual prosperity that we have in Christ is so much greater than any material prosperity we could have on earth. Truly, whatever possessions a man may have mean nothing compared to knowing Jesus. Jesus said, "blessed are the poor," "blessed are those who mourn." He never said poverty, sickness, or health [would not] be with us, but [promised] to receive us into glory after our lives on earth have ended. I had the privilege of serving in Burkina Faso, West Africa, for seven and a half years. Burkina Faso is one of the two or three poorest countries in the world. The truest, most real believers I have ever known are those in Burkina Faso. In their poverty they are rich in the Lord. They truly understand that joy that comes from a personal, unconditional, relationship with Jesus, whatever the circumstances of life. I learned much about life and death from them. Every day in Burkina Faso and across the world true believers, people of faith, die and suffer because of lack of rain, food, medical care, and other tragedies the world has to offer. Do not think that these most precious of believers do not ask God to provide. They do. To a man's temporal, material eyes He does not in the most important, eternal way He does. As a Christian I want all people to know the love of Jesus Christ. How will they have the opportunity to encounter Jesus? One by one, as one real believer simply shares his faith and the unconditional love of Christ with another person. Whether or not Christians have wealth or not really doesn't matter. It is the Lord working through the simple faith on one person that matters. Let us follow the example of Jesus caring and sharing, seeing with spiritual eyes. David Brown Minister of Music McDonough Road Baptist Church
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