Scripture

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by His Son, whom he appointed heir of all things.

~Hebrews 1:1-2, NIV

Quote

Meaning or significance for the rich, consist in how much they possess.

~Calvin Miller {Until He Comes, d.83}

The world would consider Jesus a failure because He died owning nothing but His clothes. We all know that money talks. In this world, money equals power. If you have money, you can get things done. We have an expression, “It is not what you know but who you know.” The world is impressed with wealth. Calvin Millers devotion on this subject got me to thinking, “How many wealthy people have contributed to the kingdom of Christ?” Let’s begin by looking at the authors of the Bible. I think it is safe to say that none of the NT writers were rich. Solomon was rich and David became rich but even in the OT, most of the authors were not rich. What about hymn writing and gospel music: how much has come from the community of wealth? Horatio Spafford, who wrote the soul stirring hymn “It Is Well With My Soul,” was a lawyer and businessman who made a lot of money, but he did accumulate great wealth or give it away? What Miller said got me to thinking.

One thing is certain; those who think Jesus died poor are mistaken. He is the heir to all things. Everything is going to Jesus. Paul said in Romans 8:17 that we believers are joint heirs with Christ {And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ}. Jesus died rich. The problem is that the world is unable to see His wealth. Trust me, there is nothing poor about Jesus! Nothing! The world is thinking about silver and gold. Gold is basically worthless in the world to come. They use it to pave the streets in heaven. Money moves earth but money has no influence with heaven. It takes faith to move heaven. How much real wealth do you have? There is a huge difference between real and apparent.

I love George W. Truett stories. Dr. Truett was having dinner at the home of a wealthy oil baron in Texas. After the meal, the rich man carried Dr. Truett to his tower, where there were windows in every direction. The rich man would point in one of the four horizontal directions and say, “See all those wells, see all those cattle. I owe it all.” After looking in all four directions and saying the same thing; Dr. Truett pointed upward and said, “How much do you have up there?”

Extra

A little cool this morning. You need a long sleeve shirt or a light jacket. Enjoying my new book by Henry Scougal. It was a slow start but it is really getting good. May share some with you tomorrow. While it is on my mind. Our accountant informed us of a new law this year. If you are my age, I think it may be 72-up, you can tithe out of your 401-K and Uncle Sam does not get his cut. It does have to be direct deposit. Big Brother has long arms and they are getting longer. This enables us to cut off a finger: take advantage. Surely you had rather the LORD get it than Uncle Sam. Greed is a strange bug: I have known people who tore down old barns to build bigger ones when all they had to do was give the excess to the LORD, but they couldn’t do it. Their greed would not allow it!

This is a Doctor appointment week and I will be glad when it is over. Allergy doctor tomorrow and eye doctor Thursday. If June had her way, it would be the hearing doctor on Friday. She thinks I can’t hear thunder, but I hear fine. My problem is I don’t understand what people are saying. I hear the noise, but I can’t distinguish word from word. Everyone tells me that hearing aids simply increase the noise.

Have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.