How God increases your worth

 Notice any signs saying WE BUY GOLD on the streets lately? The signs are saturating the city. Gold still retains purchasing power an actually goes up in value.


Do you know how gold used to be refined?


A goldsmith would have a furnace that he could put the gold in a little pot through a hole in the top of the furnace. He would continually stoke the fire from beneath.


As the heat rose, the dross would rise to the top. As the impurities came up he would use an instrument to skim off the junk and debris. This process would continue until he knew the gold had reached it’s most pure level.


How did he know when this was reached?


As he peered into the furnace, he could see a faint reflection of his image in the gold. The more heat and time applied the more the gold would be purified. When the image was clear, focused and exact…the gold was ready.


Troubled by fiery trials? Confused or disappointed with life or with yourself? Bordering on hopelessness?


The sufferings of Job are well documented in the book that bears his name. God allowed the evil one to test him and was he ever tested. His fortune and family were wiped out in a few moments. He did not have much of a future to look forward to either.


In Job 23:10, he reveals a depth of wisdom that age him patience and perspective. “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.”


The Refiner, God is still working in you as He works on you.


Be patient. He is working to have you reflect His love…life…liberty. 


Rejoice that you are being treated like a child of the King.

Count or Write Your Blessings

The last 2 months of every year fly by the fastest. The month between Thanksgiving and Christmas is a blur. Now is a time to pause, reflect and rejoice in thanksgiving.


We used to drive to Houston from Slidell 3-4 times every year when our children were all much younger. It is nearly impossible to get together now. The last time was Katrina evacuation. The trip from our house to grandparents’ was 365 miles. Before Gameboy, Iphone, Ipod or any electronic babysitters came out, we had to either play cassette tapes (kids ask your parents what those are) or try to pickup both radio stations between Baton Rouge and Beaumont. These stations played both kinds of music…country and western.


The challenge was how to keep the children from being bored.


Know what one of our favorite games was? The I Thank God game. It goes like this.


The first person says, “I thank God for…” and then fills in the blank. Now keep in mind the ages of our kids ranged from 2 to 10 during some of those trips. They thanked God for the seat belts, the drive through at McDonalds, puppies etc. Regardless, it was cute and from the heart


One time as a family goal, my wife wrote down what everyone said to see if we could reach a hundred. We made it in short time.


Childish? You know it! But Jesus said if we do not receive the kingdom of God like a little child we will not enter it (Luke 18:17). I look back on those times and realize we were as near the heart of God as a family as we have ever been. We were in kingdom time.


This Thanksgiving, put a note on the fridge with a magnet and a pencil and number the page 1-100. As family or friends walk by, have them fill in the blanks. You will be thankful you did!

Now THIS is a reality show!

I have a great idea for a new reality show.  It's going to have great ratings, be talked about on the internet and light up Twitter non-stop.  Ready for the title…Idolatry Reality.

Former NBA star, Latrell Sprewell turned down a $21 million contract because he said it wasn’t enough money to feed his family. Sprewell made over $96 million during his career.  According to MSNBC, his $5.4 million house went into foreclosure in May 2008. Don’t blame Sprewell for turning down the three-year, $21 million contract though. I mean really, who could live off a measly $7 million a year?

Let’s follow him around as he tries to find a job that will meet his needs.

To many people, Latrell was a “sports idol”.  Millions of kids want to dedicate their lives to becoming like their idol for the fame and fortune. The problem is, many who make it big, lose it quickly.

Right now my lead candidate for an Idolatry Reality series is the hyper ego TO, Terrell Owens.  He got national TV coverage for a tryout to get back into the NFL as a 38 year old recuperating from knee surgery.  Guess how many teams sent someone to watch…ZERO.  This man earned over $30 million in 15 years and now cannot make child support of $5,000 per month.  I guess he overvalued his worth in the marketplace. He also caused controversy in any locker room he joined.

That’s what I call vanity.

I think God is serious when He says “you shall serve no other gods before me”

Though these are obvious examples, how do we expose idols in our everyday lives?  Simple.  Show me where you spend your time and money and I will show you your idol.   To whom does you mind turn when you have quiet moments? Self or God?

I’ll close with a chorus of a familiar song, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face. And the things of this world will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace”.

Passionately Pursue Pleasure

 

 

Want to know the basic flaw with most Christians? They do not seek pleasure enough.

God created us to pursue pleasure and pursue it with all that we are. Yet, many church leaders tell us just the opposite. “Suppress pleasure…deny pleasure…decline pleasure!”

Jesus said in John 10:10 that HE came that we might have life and that to the fullest. He came to set us free from the presence, power and punishment of sin. He delights in us as a Father does in His children. He loves being with us.

Here’s the rub? Do we delight in Him?

See, that is where, or in Whom, we need to pursue pleasure more and better.

Ps 16:11 says, “¹¹You make known to me the path of life;  in your presence there is fullness of joy;   at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

King David, at the height of worship and wonder in God says in essence YOU are the utmost pleasure. We settle for so little because we choose to pursue pleasure in anything and everything except God. As C.S. Lewis says, “we like children content to play in the mud puddle and miss a holiday at the beach!”

Two authors will blow your mind and challenge the focus of your faith are John Piper and Sam Storms. Piper has written Desiring God and it is summed up in this phrase. “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.”

When a husband brings roses to his wife on their anniversary and she thanks him and his response is he felt it was his duty, does she feel honored and treasured? NO. When he take her to dinner or watches the movie she wants to watch and she ask why and his response is “there is no one on earth I would rather spend time with, whose very presence gives me pleasure”, then she feels honored and valued.

It is the same with our Father. He designed us and desires us to long for His presence more than His blessings or gifts. He wants us to savor a relationship with Him.

Back to my opening sentence…we not only do not seek enough pleasure, we seek it from the wrong source. Sin delights for a season (brief time)…God is forevermore.

You can change your job by changing you!

An inheritance gained hastily in the beginning will not be blessed in the end. (Proverbs 20:21 ESV)

Many people say, “If I just won the lottery…all would be OK.”  This seldom turns out to be the case. God has built in to the universe the need for man to labor and produce from his efforts.

There is honor in work and one can walk with integrity for a good day’s labor.

Jim Rohn says it well. “If you want to be paid more, you must become worth more. “

How?

Clue…it does not come from spending endless mindless hours in front of a TV.

Learn not only to labor but to increase your skills as you do so. Labor + skills= increased worth in the marketplace.

You can chop down a tree with a hammer, if you have enough time.

You can chop it down with an ax in shorter time. With a chain saw in a few minutes.

Your job and pay will improve when you improve.

Start today.

Use Good Sense

Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense. (Proverbs 19:11 ESV)

As I blogged recently, a simple daily wisdom search in Proverbs can go a long ways.

If people would have the maturity and perspective to have “good sense” as described above, we would see less tension in the home here would be no drive by shooting and no people up in arms ready to do violence because they had been “disrespected”.

Thankfully, Jesus came and took the form of a servant and made himself the lowest level of society so He could reach everyone.  He could have been offended easily and every day. But, He knew and still knows the hearts of men. We are selfish and self-centered when left to ourselves.  We need a savior and redeemer.

He knows we do not need instruction but redemption and transformation.  He gave His life to redeem us from the curse and consequences of sin.  His spirit comes to live in us to grow us into the image of Jesus.

Those who read this today…be careful.  Surely something will come up where you have to put this into practice.  Be of good sense.

Use it or Lose It

Proverbs 18:15 “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.”
Jim Rohm said many things well in his four decades of being a personal development speaker. One of thing that sticks out is his saying,”Formal education will get you a job…self education will make you a fortune”.
I believe Jim was paraphrasing the above Proverb.
Many of the most successful people in business made their fortune BEYOND what they learned in the classroom.
Steve Jobs with Apple…Bill Gates with Microsoft…Michael Dell…Sam Walton.
One of the saddest decision people make when they complete their formal education, whether it be high school, college or an advanced degree, is to believe they are done with the learning process.
With us living in the digital and information age, many tend to grow less mentally stimulated by endless hours in being entertained.
W. Clement Stone once challenged one of the people he mentored to give up an hour of TV per night to study something in depth. That works out to 365 hours in a year…the equivalent of 9 work weeks! Most of us could enrich our lives and those around us by making this simple commitment.
One of the best ways a family can grow in wisdom and knowledge is to use the book of Proverbs for a daily Wisdom Search. Read the chapter that corresponds to that date, today being the 18^th, and make note of these incredible collection of wisdom nuggets.
What can you learn in this book?
God’s wisdom on relationship…communications…partnership…diligence…hard work…industry…choosing friends and much more.
Note this…education is not a matter of the will, the mind or just a formal system. It is a matter of the heart. When students go to school we should pray that their HEART is set to acquire knowledge. Not to just sit and absorb, buy to acquire it and take possession and put it into practice.
Charles “Tremendous” Jones said it well.
“You will be the same in five years in you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.”
Simply put…use it or lose it.