Tag Archives: disposition

Money – The Overflow Of The Heart

Christian Life, , , ,

MONEY – THE OVERFLOW OF THE HEART

Money! Strange, isn’t it, that Jesus spoke more about money and possessions and His disciples’ attitude to them than He did about the subjects we would have thought important to Him as His followers – “spiritual” things like faith and love and prayer. Why did He have so much to say about money? I think He had a pretty good idea about what drives the world and what controls the hearts of people, then as it does now. Perhaps the problem is not so much money as the love of money which, said Paul, is the root of all kinds of evil.

As disciples of Jesus, we need to have the correct attitude towards our money which arises, first of all from what is central in our lives; either our love-relationship to God as our Father and the trust that flows from that love, or our doubts and fears about Him which cause us to trust the money we can see rather than the God we can’t see. We become preoccupied with the things that the pagans run after when we are unsure about our heavenly Father’s trustworthiness towards us as His children.

Consider this chiasm to which we have already referred:

A   No one can serve two masters.

B   Either he will hate the one and

C   Love the other, or

C’  He will be devoted to one and

B’   Despise the other.

A’  You cannot serve both God and Money.

(Matt. 6: 24).

Either money or God will occupy our affection – not both and. Jesus was adamant. It’s not primarily about who or what we serve. It’s about who or what we love. We cannot – it is impossible to – serve God and money.

Before we can consider the ramifications of our attitude towards money and the way we use it, we must get this one thing straight. Either we love God or we don’t. Either we trust Him as our heavenly Father or we don’t. There is no middle road. Our priority love for God or money will direct everything we do with the resources we have been given.

We also need to have the correct disposition. The part that money plays in our lives is determined by our basic disposition. The godless person is essentially selfish and self-serving. He does not recognise the goodness and grace of God in the world around him. He is self-absorbed and cannot see beyond the end of his nose.  His eyes look inward, not outward and he concentrates only on his own wants and needs. In Hebrew thought, this was called “the evil eye” which was diagnosed by its attitude towards money and possessions.

The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! (Matt. 6: 22-23)

Jesus has rescued us from the dominion (control) of selfishness and greed (darkness) and transferred us into the realm of God’s rule which is generous and full of mercy (the kingdom of light – Col. 1: 13-14). He has given us a new disposition – “the eye of light”.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come. (2 Cor. 5: 17)

The ”eye of light” is able to see beyond its own needs to the needs of others. It recognises God’s goodness in its own life and participates in His goodness by sharing it with others. It understands that to give is the way to enter into the flow of God’s goodness. It builds and strengthens the disposition of light.

Jesus taught His disciples that God does not simply meet our needs when we ask Him. He has put in place a system which ensures that we show the world around us what He is like by being generous to others. God’s resources flow back to us when we use our resources to bless others.

Like our mouths, the way we handle our money is a mirror of our hearts.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or Kindle version, on www.takealot.com  or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Do you like this post? Then buy your own copy of my book, Learning to be a Disciple, which is also available from www.amazon.com or www.takealot.com in South Africa. You can also order a copy directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com

Watch this space!

My latest book, The Heartbeat of Holiness, will also soon be available

Learning To Be A Son – Chapter Seven – The Disposition Of A Son

Book Reviews, , ,

CHAPTER SEVEN

The Disposition of a Son

Those who are citizens of the kingdom of God, disciples of Jesus, reveal their citizenship, their connection to Jesus as His devout followers by the disposition they manifest. Those who are led by the Spirit, (not those who claim to be disciples of Jesus) are the children of God.

We are to imitate the disposition of Jesus, who was the perfect Son of the Father. He displayed seven characteristics of a true son:

  1. A son must be teachable.

Although Jesus was a son, as a human being He had to learn to be a son. He had to learn obedience by what He suffered so that He could be the perfect substitute for man and the perfect sacrifice for sin.

A son does not know everything. A son does not question his father’s authority.

  • A son must learn the ways of God.
  • A son must learn the Word of God.

He must have the mind of Christ which was the mind of a son – humility and service. Although he is not a slave, it is his duty to serve his father.

  • A son must learn obedience.
  • A son must learn the fear of the Lord.

 

  1. A son must be trainable.

Jesus was trained by the Father to trust Him in every situation and not act on His own initiative by being exposed, first of all to the devil’s temptations in the wilderness.

  • A son must be trained in righteousness

2.1.1. God uses hardship to train us

2.1.2. He uses the Scriptures to train us.

 

  • A son must be trained in godliness
  • A son must be trained to distinguish good from evil.

 

  1. A son must be trusting.

Jesus did not have a natural bent towards mistrust like we do. We have to learn to secure ourselves to God who is steadfast and will never be unreliable.

 

  1. A son must be trustworthy.

Jesus was trustworthy throughout all the adversities he experienced. It is one thing to trust God, but can He trust is to be faithful to Him and to His instructions?

 

  1. A son must be truthful.

We must learn to play open cards with God. We can hide nothing from Him but He wants us to walk in the light with Him. We must take ownership of our sins and failures and not pass the buck.

 

  1. We must be transparent.

Jesus was secure in His relationship with the Father. He had nothing to prove and nothing to defend.

 

Just as a son must be open with God, so we must be transparent in our relationships with people. We can be ourselves; we don’t have to wear masks with one another.

 

  1. A son must be thankful.

Jesus was a happy person because He was a grateful son. Gratitude is an expression of love to the Father. When we are secure in the Father’s love, as He was, we have reason to be continually thankful because God is always good.

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), companion volume to Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart, has been released in paperback and digital format on www.amazon.com.

To order your 0wn copy of either book, contact

Toll free – 0800 990 914 (South Africa)

orders.africa@partridgepublishing.com

www.partridgepublishing.com/africa  or

+44 20 314 3997 (outside South Africa)

ISBN: Hardcover – 978-1-4828-0891-9                                                                                     Softcover 978-1-4828-0890-2                                                                                                              eBook 978-1-4828-0889-6

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

 

 

Learning To Be A Son – Chapter Four – The Disposition Of The Son

Book Reviews, , ,

CHAPTER FOUR

The Disposition of the Son

Moses was up the mountain, pleading with God to forgive Israel for breaking the covenant. He requested to see God’s glory and God responded by revealing His name – gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness. Since it was the Father’s representative on earth, the second person of the Trinity who met with Moses, the revelation of His disposition on Mount Sinai indicated what His disposition would be as a human being on earth.

As we follow Jesus through the pages of the gospels, we read the record of how He lived out His disposition as the Messiah whom the Father sent to reveal His true nature to His people. Jesus made enemies of the religious leaders because they did not like His exposure of their ungodly lives which they covered up by their strict adherence to their interpretations and additions to God’s directions for living.

Jesus taught His disciples and demonstrated to His people how to interpret the Torah as God intended. They were to be generous and merciful to all people because God was always merciful and generous towards them. As a rabbi, He had the right to teach them His “yoke” His interpretation of the Torah according to God’s intention. He invited people to take His yoke and learn from Him because He was gentle and humble in heart. His yoke would release them from bondage to the yoke of the other rabbis which was a straightjacket of rules and regulations, and bring them into God’s true rest.

Jesus also enraged the religious leaders because of His claim to be the Son of God. Both the testimony of the Father and the works He did bore witness to who He was, but the religious leaders refused to examine the evidence. They repudiated His claims and looked for a way to get rid of Him.

Jesus did not only claim unity with the Father and sonship – He lived it out as a submissive and obedient Son. His relationship and fellowship with the Father give us the clue to the “password” which allows us access to all that the Father has given us through Jesus. It is only because we have the rights as sons and daughters of God that we can approach the Father in prayer and receive from Him everything we need to live godly lives in this world as followers of Jesus.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), companion volume to Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart, has been released in paperback and digital format on www.amazon.com.

To order your 0wn copy of either book, contact

Toll free – 0800 990 914 (South Africa)

orders.africa@partridgepublishing.com

www.partridgepublishing.com/africa  or

+44 20 314 3997 (outside South Africa)

ISBN: Hardcover – 978-1-4828-0891-9                                                                                     Softcover 978-1-4828-0890-2                                                                                                              eBook 978-1-4828-0889-6

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

How to Deal With Enemies – Part 1

Christian Life, ,

How to Deal With Enemies – Part 1

“To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst.” Luke 6:27 (The Message)

Here it comes, the part of the disposition of kingdom people that cuts deep into the soul and exposes the self-centredness that is the operating system of the human heart. How is it possible to treat an “enemy” with kindness and to turn a potentially explosive situation into an opportunity to put God’s splendour on display (Isaiah 61:3)? Jesus outlines the steps to turn conflict into compassion and to defuse hatred and enmity. Retaliation fuels the fire. What will extinguish it?

The first thing is prayer – changing my awareness from myself to God and placing Him in the centre of the situation. We have no natural capacity to love our enemies, but our Father’s disposition is compassion. As we become aware of Him in these circumstances, we step aside and give Him space to do His work in our hearts, both in our enemy’s and ours, to remove the heat and turn on the light! The most important thing is that we do not elevate ourselves above our enemy in our hearts, thinking we are better than he. To hold an attitude of contempt is to place ourselves outside of God’s grace.

Step two is to bring our enemy and us onto level ground. As much as our attitude of contempt must be changed, so must our enemy’s. How do we do that? By turning the other cheek and by giving away our “tunic”, i.e., by teaching our enemy to treat us with dignity. “To turn the other cheek” is to force our opponent to slap us with his “clean” right hand, on our left cheek, making him acknowledge that we are his equal. It is not about become someone’s doormat. Jesus never condones that attitude. If we humble ourselves, it must be our choice, not someone else’s force.

Thirdly, we must hold our possessions lightly. They must never become a source of conflict. They are on loan from God to be used to help others, not to be enslaved by them. How we handle our “stuff” is an exposure of what we regard as our source. If we willingly give and share, we are bearing witness to our trust in God, not in what we own. Our “stuff” is there to create and enhance our connectedness with people and our recognition of their need. Our attitude to others must never be dictated by their attitude toward us but by the generosity of God’s attitude to all people.

How different the outcome of our conflicts would be if we applied Jesus’ simple, but not easy, principles. The instruction is clear, but our proud hearts block the way to living like Jesus did.