Tag Archives: treasures

Promise – 2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Posted on by
Reply

When Grandma passed away a few months ago, it reminded me of the exciting promise of eternal life. Reading through 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 is a wonderful insight into passing from life on earth to life in heaven.  Here is how I broke the passage down in brief to help me understand certain sections and to encourage myself.

The Promise:

1Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

When you accept Jesus into your heart, you become a child of God and are automatically eligible for the inheritance of eternal life.

Longing for Rest:

2Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

Just like a long hard day, we long for rest and relaxation where we can unwind and leave the problems of that day behind us.  Its the same with life on earth!  It is tiring and we long to rest and be with our heavenly Father.

The Guarantee:

5Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given

us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

God sent his one and only Son, Jesus Christ to the sacrifice for our Sins. When we accept Jesus into our hearts, we are given the gift of Gods Holy Spirit as a guide, a strength and a comfort. And as this verse reminds us, as a guarantee of how serious God is about his promise to us.

Faith:

7We live by faith, not

by sight.

Unlike doubting Thomas, we believe in Jesus without needed to see Him.  We do not demand proof!  In my own life things have changed so much since I met Him that I can not deny His existence!  Looking at the beauty of creation, its impossible to imagine there was no creator!

Preparation:

10For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Matthew 6:19-24 – Treasures in Heaven.  We will be judged on that final day!  The things that we do for His glory will earn us spiritual rewards in heaven.  We don’t know what they are to be, but they must be awesome to be described as treasures!

Obedience

Posted on by
4

Today Stuart challenged us to think about the things that we don’t always want to think about or discuss.  The word Obedience is one of them!  We first looked at how we have never needed to be taught to be dis-obedient!

Yes, my daughter aged 1 knows very well how to be dis-obedient!  It was described really well like this:  Any one born from a human father inherits the original sin of Adam back in the Garden of Eden.  That’s why it comes to naturally!  This also explains why Jesus was able to be on earth, without Sin and be the perfect sacrifice for our Sin as he, although born of a human woman, was the son of God!

Once we determined where dis-obedience stems from, we moved on to look at reasons that we should be obedient to Gods word and do as he wishes.

We looked at several verses (and I wish I had noted them down, I will probably ask for them) that described it as the desire to do Gods will, to be obedient.  I can’t describe exactly how Stuart put it, but will explain what I understood:

When we are born again as Christians, we accept the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.  It is the GIFT of God!  We did not earn it!  This of course does not mean we should then continue to live for ourselves.

Living for Christ, and being obedient to him, allows us to lead fulfilled lives, allows us to grow a strong relationship with him, as well as allowing us to do his will, including bringing others to the Lord.  I have never met anyone in my life whom has lived for themselves, and could tell me that they were truly happy.  And from my experience, when I have lived for myself and been dis-obedient, I have been miserable!  When you accept the Lord into your life, he sends the gift of his Holy Spirit who convicts your heart, and makes his desires your desires!

Before I was saved I could sin and feel no remorse!  Now if I sin, I immediately feel terrible and seek the Lords forgivness for it is our hearts desire to be obedient, to do his will, to reach the lost, and to be fulfilled.

Stuart also pointed out that although we are saved we are still to be judged, therefore if we are saved yet don’t live for him, we will still feel some loss when we reach heaven and realise there were blessings we could have benefited from!

In a nutshell, being obedient to his will allows us to grow and to be used for his glory.   And store up those blessings in heaven as you can’t take your possessions with you!

The Credit / On Show – Matthew 23:1-12

Posted on by
Reply

I haven’t yet read the devotional section after reading this passage, but want to record my initial thoughts before I do. Some sections that jumped out at me today were the mention of people doing things for others to see, and to get attention and praise from others, even without necessarily raising a finger and just delegating!

I reminds me of storing up treasures in heaven, and not doing good deeds in this life so that others may see and give you honour and credit. Instead by being humble and discreet, and doing your deeds to the Glory of the Risen Lord whom died for our sins, and rose from the grave, so we may one day join him in heaven forever. Each deed we do on her for his Glory, will store us up a little more treasure in heaven. Matthew 6:20

Of course any deed done for earthly gain, and that leads to reward only reaps temporary benefits. You cant take your money with you when you die, praise for something you did only lasts a period of time.

Things done for the Lord will last an eternity.

…

Moving on from my initial thoughts, the devotional on Our Daily Bread also picks up very importantly on not being consumed with appearances! An example that I can admit to doing in the past is acting at church or with Christian friends like the perfect model Christian! Yet I would then live a life that pleased myself in the week day, quickly turning on “perfect Christian” whenever I was a friend from church!

Equally we shouldn’t want to conform to worldly images either, trying to look like the latest stars, or being sucked into materialistic buying so that we can look good to others. As my above thoughts, its all temporary, there is no lasting satisfaction. True satisfaction comes from the Lord and as is a common theme now in all my thoughts, I can only draw the conclusion that reading his word, prayer, worship and fellowship are the only ways of growing as a Christian and being fulfilled.