Ok, seriously, If we would think every moment of every day that what I have is not mine but His, it would change us.

Our pastor gave a good demonstration at church on Sunday about this. Before the service he gave 2 fifty dollar bills to a member of the audience. During his talk, he asked if anyone in the church would give him $50. That same man came up and did. Then he asked for another $50. He gave him that as well.

Then the pastor told us that before church he asked this guy to do this. The point being, that is what God calls us to do all the time. Give what is ours (that what he has given us) back to the world. Whether it is money or time, I know we each have something God has given to us to use for him.

What is your gift?

martha’s busying herself with work and fancy food. (fancy food probably afforded by working more hours a day)

mary is sitting at the Lord’s feet, listening to his word, getting to know him better, become like him by being in his presence (ref. to spirit).

martha gets pissed and says “make her help me!!”

Jesus responds with, “Only one thing is needed, mary has found it, and I will not take it away from her.”

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To make things practical…
the more luxery and comfort you desire in your daily life,
the more money you’ll spend in you daily life,
the more hours you’ll work a day to make that money your spending…

This takes directly from the time you could/should be spending getting to know our Lord and King and Big-brother better… thorugh the word and spirit (and remember his “words are spirit and they are life”),
until the morning star (the spirit of jesus) rises in your hearts (2 peter 1:19, rev 22:16)
until your hearts burn, or feel strangely warm (with his spirit), (luke 24:32, john 14:15)

and the most important and yet simplist thing the Lord has ever blessed my life with… that by simply spending time with his Spirit abiding in our hearts, by spending time into his likeness, we take on his nature and personality, and way of being and speaking… as best friends do from spending time with eachother, or as a child becomes like there parent.

As we cut down our spending and therefor our work in the world, we have time to practice abiding in his Spirit and become exactly who he has called us to be… we mover from the sinful struggle in the last sentences of Romans 7, to the new life of Romans 8…
Or simply put as one of my favaorite verses says, (2 Cor 3:18)…

“And we, who with unveiled faces all contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

and as we become like him we automatically do his will as he would, no more is there a struggle with obeying all that matthew 5-7 says about anger and lust and materialism, and judging others. it all just happens because you are so much like him that you automatically respond and interact with life in his way.

and the end result of us living this way is… (Rev 1:10)

“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet,”

or as paul wrote about himself, (2 Cor 12:2-5)

“I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don’t know—only God knows. Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know that I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell.
That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it…”

being in Gods presence is the begining and end of all mystical christianity…
and is directly at war with consumerism and material desires…
at war not just over our money…
…but our time.

our very lives.

wakingsean@hotmail.com

Now we might get in the car and drive to the mall or huge shopping centre. There we pay homage to the Gods of consumerism, worshipping with our credit cards and overdrafts. These new ‘churches’, beckon us in with colours, music and oh such promises. Spend more and be happy, buy new and feel great, get three for the price of two, what a bargain! Come in and spend, spend, spend….

Proving to yourself that you really do not need stuff not only helps the budget, it greatly simplifies your life. We just don’t realize how much we unintentionally pressure each other to have stuff until we’ve proven we aren’t even in the game. Nice! really nice.