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Online links to scriptures (New International Version [NIV] unless otherwise stated) are shown in blue
| STEWARDSHIP |
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 Over the years God has worked to drive the self out of me. My personal success and pride of achievement has been somewhat dented by two bankruptcies! Some of us - actually, nearly all of us - are slow learners! It takes much time for us to change, particularly our ingrained attitudes.
Outward sin can often be relatively easily repented of when we truly come to Jesus. We can appear to be living a new life - and we are. That is tremendous in His sight and a testimony to others of God's goodness and His power to change us. This is as the Scripture says;
2 Corinthians 3:18
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 Or is it?
It is not!
The Scripture says, with ever-increasing glory or as the King James puts it, from glory to glory.
Yes, as I continue to discover and experience, for me (and you) that in order to grow from glory to glory, our ingrained attitudes need to be 'expunged' (a beautiful, descriptive word, even sounding like what it means; 1 : to strike out, obliterate, or mark for deletion 2 : to efface completely : destroy 3 : to eliminate (as a memory) from one's consciousness) from my (your) life.
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 For me, my first bankruptcy brought me to Jesus and I dealt with many of my OUTWARD SINS. eg. lying, theft, pornography, etc., etc. However it has taken the second bankruptcy to start dealing with the INWARD SIN in my life. eg. selfishness, pride in achievement, etc., etc. Ask Kathy for more! These things can be hidden form those who know us only superficially eg, even in ministry, and also, to some extent, but much less, to those who know us better such as spouse, family and close friends.
Today I want to illustrate this through the place of money in my life. Even where we think it doesn't, the reality is, money (or property or possessions) plays a hugely important part in all our lives. 24% of the parables of Jesus are directly about money, for He was a very practical teacher, and 80% of them incorporate it indirectly, in one way or another.
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 As mentioned earlier, I came into relationship with Jesus through bankruptcy, from a lack of money to feed my family, while waiting in the queue to register for the unemployment benefit.
When the Lord re-established us in a successful business, we double tithed, gave away heaps, and paid out lots of money for 6000 copies of the discipleship course, 'Walking With Jesus', to be printed, recorded and distributed. As an aside, just this Friday, a lady came into our shop, saw a copy of the course, and told 'the other Kathy' on the counter that 12 years ago she had written away for it, having seen it advertised in our garden product mail order catalogue, and had become a Christian through it! Praise the Lord!
I just want you to see that while my attitude to money had changed for the better, and Kathy and I were generous with it, I was still working in the domain of kings, using MY money for God's work. The ultimate example of this was when, being called into full time ministry, I attempted to use MY money to build a property portfolio to finance the ministry, so we wouldn't be dependent upon others. A kingly attitude.
I still had much to learn!
For God needed to teach me to be truly dependent upon Him, not myself, for my provision.
So came a second bankruptcy and we started the 'adventure' of the past 7 or so years where we have had a new and different lifestyle and my attitude towards money has completely changed to more of a kingdom orientation, where my money has become GOD'S money.
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 For the past 14 years or more we have lived on the wages from my wife Kathy's 4 day a week job as a theatre nurse at our local public hospital.
For nearly 7 of these years I worked (hard!) in Walking With Jesus Ministries, producing the teachings the Lord gave me, primarily on the end time church, and available for free download on our website, as well as visiting and ministering through Africa and Asia, as the Lord provided.
Then running a chain of Charity shops for no salary. Which have now been sold, and mainly back to ministry.
We simplified our lives, of necessity, living on less than a third of the income we could normally have expected to receive had we both been working fulltime. After losing our home in my bankruptcy, we now live in a rented unit or flat, and personally own only our household furniture. We gave away all the money we had left and now literally live from day to day, or fortnight to fortnight, as that is when Kathy is paid.
We therefore do understand the reality of the Lord's Prayer where it says,
Matthew 6:11
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 I will be honest! This has not always been easy! For our family and friends cannot understand it. Many see Kathy as simply working to keep me! They will say this to Kathy more than me, for those who do know us well do know my energy levels and work ethic, and realise I have not been lying in bed with my feet up watching daytime TV! In the West though, our status in society is largely judged by income and possessions. So these reactions are understandable, particularly because of the degree of change they see in us, from running successful businesses to living on a single, part time wage.
Continuing with the honest streak, it also hasn't always been easy not having the money to do the things we used to do without thinking! The call into full time ministry has come at a cost. At times, waiting for the next pay, or simply knowing we can't do some things that our friends can do, has been frustrating. Kathy is not motivated by money in a general sense, but we all need it to do the things we desire to do. Our only 3 grandchildren live in Aberdeen, Scotland, as far away from New Zealand as it is possible to get. So as neither of us has the faith to walk on water for 20,000km, (which would take a long time!) to see them Kathy has to go on a plane, which costs! As I wrote this Kathy was actually in Scotland, for over time, we managed to save the fare. Our kids have been great about it too, with no apparent resentment at the lack of a financial inheritance.
This is not a 'pity party', nor a thinly veiled call for financial support, but simply a statement of a little of the reality of our lives. However, we have also learned that money isn't everything, that the Lord provides our needs but not necessarily our wants, and that our prime purpose in life is to help others, whether through WWJ or in Kathy baking muffins for those going through hard times. Like it or not, there is a cost to inheriting the kingdom.
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 Under kingly thinking, living a kingly lifestyle, we give God perhaps our tithe plus maybe gifts of some of what we own. To fully inherit the kingdom however, we must come to the understanding (in practical reality and living, not just in theory) that everything we have is Gods, provided to us for His use and purposes.
We have simply been obedient to what God called us too in ministry, His ministry, not our own. When I was disobedient by trying to provide for ourselves in a kingly fashion through my own efforts, I ended up bankrupt! A hard way to learn a lesson, but a good point at which to start off a new way of life, as we had little left to give away anyway!
Please, I am not saying that God is calling you to the same walk as we have and that you need to sell up and give away everything. He may, or may not, be calling you to this.
What I am saying though, is that every one of us needs to genuinely commit to give everything that God has entrusted to us back to Him. Then be open, with 100% obedience, to do whatever He tells us to do with what is now His property, His bank accounts, His possessions. For the kingdom is His and His alone.
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 Over the past weeks, before writing, I have experienced bad spiritual attacks, which to me is normally I sign that I am doing the right thing! However this week, I am writing with a freedom and joy in my heart that I have not experienced for some time. It is as if a barrier has been broken through. I pray that you might have a similar experience of joy and relaxation in your discipleship destiny when you give over everything to Him.
No, it is not easy, for it goes against every grain of our human nature. That is why I have shared as honestly as I can. Jesus was called to the Cross, a place He did not, in His humanness, want to go.
Matthew 26:39
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 Yet He went through with it in obedience to the Fathers will and was raised up to the highest place!
Philippians 2:8-11
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 If we too, make the sacrifice that we are being called to by the Father, we also will rule and reign with Jesus!
Revelation 5:9-10
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 The prize is worth it!
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| <i>NEXT WEEK:</i> TRANSFORMATION OF THE CHURCH: 3. FROM KINGS TO KINGDOM continues....... |
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 ....... as we look at an unexpected turn in our lives.
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| A NOTE FROM DAVID |
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 Reality is, the nature of our heart is revealed ion what we do with our wallet and our time. (ie. earning power)
Where do you stand?
Chief Priests, Priests, and Levites
THE ORDINARY PRIESTS
Below the chief priests were the ordinary priests of the temple. There were probably about 7,200 of them in Jesus' time. They formed an exclusive hereditary community of men who could trace their descent back to Aaron, Moses' brother and the first high priest. Unlike the chief priests, most of them lived outside Jerusalem in the towns and villages of Judea and Galilee. They were divided into 24 priestly clans, each of which served a week at a time at the temple. Their duties included lighting the altar fires, attending to the offerings of incense and unleavened bread and killing the sacrificial animals.
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So until next week.......
MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND YOU BLESS GOD!
His servant and yours
Learn more about us at...
www.wwj.org.nz/about.php
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A DAVID'S DOODLING
318. Any gift given by us, pales into insignificance when compared to the gift given for us.
David Tait
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Check
out the WWJ website for….
More David's Doodlings: www.wwj.org.nz/dd.php
Pets Rule!: http://www.wwj.org.nz/pets.php
The World's Greatest Groans: http://www.wwj.org.nz/groans.php
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