NewDayvotional

From the pastor for the people

Archives for December 2014

The Secret to Trusting in God

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The secret to trusting in God is this: Get your eyes off your storm and onto your Savior. 

When we look at the details of our personal storm, it’s a sure way to lose all hope. Let me illustrate what I mean. In the book of Acts, chapter 27, the apostle Paul is prisoner on a ship headed to Rome with many other people. On the way they got caught in a hurricane that lasted two whole weeks. Verse 20 reads “When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.” They gave up hope because they were looking at all the details of the situation: 1) we can’t see the sun, 2) we can’t see the stars, 3) it’s been like this for many days, 4) the storm is still raging. These were all the reasons to lose hope. So Paul stands up and basically tells them to get their eyes off the storm and onto the Savior. In vv.21-25 we read, “After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.” Paul says here: Stop fretting over the details and start having faith in the Deliverer. 

You need to hear the same thing Paul told the people on that boat. Get your eyes off your storm and onto your Savior! You may not have the power to change your circumstance, but you have access to Someone who can!

The Three Purposes of Christmas

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The three purposes of Christmas are revealed in the three announcements the angels made to shepherds in Luke 2 on the day Jesus was born.

  1. The first announcement was “I give you good tidings of great joy!” (Luke 2:10) In saying this the angels were telling the shepherds that Jesus came to bring us joy. From this we learn that Christmas is a time for celebration. 
  2. The second announcement was “There is born to you this day a Savior.” (Luke 2:11) In saying this the angels were telling the shepherds that Jesus came to save. From this we learn that Christmas is a time for salvation. 
  3. The third announcement was “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14) In saying this the angels were telling the shepherds that Jesus came to bring peace. From this we learn that Christmas is a time for reconciliation (which is the restoration of peace).

Three Kinds of Peace

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Jesus came to earth (something we remember especially at Christmas) to bring us three kinds of peace:

  1. Peace with God. The Bible teaches that our sin has separated us from God (Isaiah 59:2) and made us God’s enemies (Colossians 1:21). This is why Jesus needed to come to earth as a mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5). God’s terms of peace are total, unconditional surrender. When we accept these terms, admitting that God is God and that we are not, we find peace with God. As Romans 5:1 puts it “…we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.”
  2. The peace of God. Once we have peace with God, God wants us to experience the peace of God in our hearts. There are so many things to trouble our hearts and make us friend (John 14:27) which is exactly why Jesus came to bring us the peace of God. Jesus was born to give us a better way than worry. Worrying is talking to yourself about your problems. This causes anxiety to rise. Praying is talking to God about your problems. This causes anxiety to dissipate. As the prayers go up the anxiety goes down. Prayer to worry is like amoxicillin to an ear ache – it makes it go away! The apostle Paul put it this way in Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
  3. Peace with man. The truth is, we’re better at fighting with each other than getting along with each other. What causes these fights? The Bible says the culprit is our sinful nature. Galatians 5:20 says our sinful nature produces discord, jealousy, hatred and selfish ambition (among other things). Is it any wonder we have conflict with others when our hearts are filled with such things? Jesus came into the world to remedy the problem of our sinful nature. He came to give us a new nature. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says “…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come.” That is, Jesus comes to empower us to put to death our selfish nature and to live according to our new selfless nature.

Getting these gifts of peace that Jesus came to earth to bring is a lot like buttoning up your shirt. When you button up your shirt it’s super important to get the first button right. If you don’t get the first one right, the rest will be wrong too. In the same way, you have to get first things first with God. Begin with making peace with God. If you skip this part you’ll never get to experience the peace of God or peace with man. If you get the first part wrong, everything else will be wrong too. The opposite is also true. If you get the first part right, everything else be right as well. Make peace with God and you’ll get to experience the peace of God, and peace on earth, good will toward men.

Plan Your Spending

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Proverbs 21:5 says “Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.”

Solomon, one of the wisest and wealthiest men to ever have lived, says here that financial planning = prosperity. Not planning = poverty. If Solomon lived today he might say: Financial planning helps you to stay in the black. If you don’t plan you will surely find yourself in the red.

What Solomon called planning, we (today) call budgeting. I know some of you think budget is a curse word – I assure you it’s not. A budget by definition is planned spending. And the purpose of a budget is to tell your money where to go so you don’t have to wonder where it went. Some say “money talks”. No it doesn’t! It just walks away quietly. But a budget will prevent this from happening.

Now from the Bible we learn three areas we need to budget for.

  1. We need to budget our giving: When we get paid we need to budget the first 10% for God. The Bible calls this the tithe and we’ll talk about it more later in the message.
  2. We need to budget our savings: After you pay God, you need to pay yourself. How much? Experts in the field recommend 10%. So you give God 10%, then you save 10%.
  3. We need to budget our spending: After you pay God and pay yourself, you use the rest wisely – being a good steward of however much God has entrusted you with.

Solomon says: If you plan (or budget) your money this way, it will lead to prosperity, not poverty. If you don’t have a budget, you’re either already in debt or are headed there. Here’s why: Our yearnings will always exceed our earnings. And without a budget we’ll say “yes” too often, which in time leads to debt. The value of a budget is that it informs us when to say “yes” and when to say “no”. For example…

  • When considering how much to spend when purchasing a home you ask yourself: After budgeting 10% for God and 10% for savings, can I afford this home? Your budget will tell you “yes” or “no”.
  • Or when considering how much to spend when purchasing a car you ask yourself: After budgeting 10% for God and 10% for savings, can I afford this car? Your budget will tell you “yes” or “no”.
  • You might want the latest and greatest iPhone 5s for $400, but your budget might inform you that you need to get the iPhone 5c, which only costs $50 at Target right now.
  • You might see something at the mall that you want and be tempted to make an impulse purchase – but budgeting will help curb impulse purchases. Impulse buying is based on emotion, not what you have in the bank. A budget protects us from this. When your emotions say “I want it and have to have it right now!” your budget can calmly state “No. You can’t afford it. Don’t buy it.”

Now even though we all ought to be using a budget, most of us don’t because we don’t like anyone or anything telling us “no”. We live in a culture that says “You deserve it – even if you can’t afford it.” And it’s because of this unbiblical mentality that as individuals and a nation we are steeped in debt. But each of us has to decide: Will we live by what culture says or by what God says? God tells us, through Solomon, that good planning (budgeting) leads to prosperity, while failing to budget leads to debt.

Enjoy What You Have

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Ecclesiastes 6:9 says, “Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have…” Isn’t it true that what we don’t have often keeps us from enjoying what we do have? Here’s what happens:

  • A man goes out and buys a shotgun to enjoy some hunting. That shotgun has sat unused for years now. Why? Because as soon as he got the shotgun he set his sights on buying a boat. Now he works so much to save up to buy the boat that he doesn’t have any time to hunt. In other words: What he doesn’t have is keeping him from enjoying what he does have.
  • Ladies – remember when you dreamed of having your own home? You couldn’t wait to have a place of your own to decorate how you wanted without having to ask the landlord. Well, now you have it. But what do you do? Do you enjoy what you have? Or do you immediately set your sites on a bigger home in a nicer town that’s a little newer than the one your in now? If you’re doing that, what you don’t have is keeping you from enjoying what you do have.

So many people end up in debt because they violate this verse. They keep purchasing the things they don’t have instead of enjoying what they do have. And deeper and deeper and deeper into debt they go.

  • If buying that new car will put you in debt, maybe you need to enjoy the car you do have instead of desiring the one you don’t have.
  • If buying that new phone will put you in debt, maybe you need to enjoy the phone you do have instead of desiring the one you don’t have.
  • If buying those fancy designer clothes will put you in debt, maybe you need to enjoy the clothes you do have instead of desiring the ones you don’t.

Let me talk to you for a minute about some of the dangers of always wanting more – the dangers of not being content.

1. Your home life starts to deteriorate. Here’s how it goes. It happens in four phases.

  • The first phase is your yearnings start to exceed your earnings. You see something you want and you can’t afford it so you say “I’m going to go out and get those things.”
  • This ushers in the second phase. You get over extended financially. You have more than you can pay for.
  • This brings on the third phase: You have to constantly hustle. You get extra jobs – both husband and wife are working. You have to work at night. You have to constantly hustle to make ends meet.
  • Then comes the fourth phase: Your home life starts to deteriorate because you’re tired. Everybody’s exhausted. Everybody’s irritable.

This cycle doesn’t just affect husband and wife – it also negatively affects the children. In America we have an epidemic of absentee parents, in part because we violate this principle of contentment. Our kids don’t need more things. They need their parents. They don’t need more stuff. They need our attention. If we don’t observe this principle of contentment we’ll be so busy making a living we won’t have time to make a life. And that’s not what God wants for you.

2. Your stress levels go through the roof

Listen to what Solomon wrote in Proverbs 15:16, Better to have little, with fear for the Lord, than to have great treasure and inner turmoil. Here’s what he’s saying:

  • It’s better to eat Ramon Noodles with peace than Filet Mignon at a fancy restaurant with the inner turmoil that comes with charging it to your credit card, thereby increasing your monthly balance, which is already too high as it is.
  • It’s better to drive an older, not so stylish car in peace than something fancy with the inner turmoil that comes with high monthly payments.
  • It’s better to wear clothes that aren’t name brand in peace than wear designer clothes with the inner turmoil that comes from trying to dress like you’re rich when you’re not.

Debt brings stress. Living within your means brings peace. This is why Christian financial guru, Dave Ramsey, has named his finance course Financial Peace University. In the course you learn how to get out of debt, live on a budget and be content with what you have – and that brings financial peace. Yes, doing your finances God’s way bring peace! This is why 1 Timothy 6:6 says “Godliness with contentment is great gain…” What do we gain by doing finances God’s way? We gain peace! What do we gain by violating God’s foundational pillars of finance? Turmoil! So let’s commit together to enjoy what we have, rather than desiring what we don’t have (IF we can’t afford it). This is God’s principle of contentment.