For thought and meditation

[rl69]

When he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich. LUKE 18:23
The rich young ruler went away from Jesus speechless with sorrow, having nothing to say in response to Jesus’ words. He had no doubt about what Jesus had said or what it meant, and it produced in him a sorrow with no words with which to respond. Have you ever been there? Has God’s Word ever come to you, pointing out an area of your life, requiring you to yield it to Him? Maybe He has pointed out certain personal qualities, desires, and interests, or possibly relationships of your heart and mind. If so, then you have often been speechless with sorrow. The Lord will not go after you, and He will not plead with you. But every time He meets you at the place where He has pointed, He will simply repeat His words, saying, “If you really mean what you say, these are the conditions.”
“Sell all that you have…” (Luke 18:22). In other words, rid yourself before God of everything that might be considered a possession until you are a mere conscious human being standing before Him, and then give God that. That is where the battle is truly fought— in the realm of your will before God. Are you more devoted to your idea of what Jesus wants than to Jesus Himself? If so, you are likely to hear one of His harsh and unyielding statements that will produce sorrow in you. What Jesus says is difficult— it is only easy when it is heard by those who have His nature in them. Beware of allowing anything to soften the hard words of Jesus Christ.
I can be so rich in my own poverty, or in the awareness of the fact that I am nobody, that I will never be a disciple of Jesus. Or I can be so rich in the awareness that I am somebody that I will never be a disciple. Am I willing to be destitute and poor even in my sense of awareness of my destitution and poverty? If not, that is why I become discouraged. Discouragement is disillusioned self-love, and self-love may be love for my devotion to Jesus— not love for Jesus Himself.

[USMC87]

Amen.

[Boaz]

I realize how good GOD has been to me in my life . I praise him and thank him daily . Many things given can not be held , heard or seen .

[Blackwater]

So many "rich folks" let money be their guiding light and goal in life! Even some po' folks, who've never known what it was like to not be needy, when the begin to earn a middle class living, CAN become rather "holier than thou" and regard themselves as an "elite." It used to be kind'a comical to see this, but now, it's much more sobering than merely being comical. It's sad. And so very foolish!

Money is necessary. Even Christ knew that, and had Judas as the treasurer for the group. I see someone like our current President, and how little his billions seems to mean to him, and I am humbled. He has "wasted" many of his billions fighting the good fight, and yet, many do nothing but demean him and try to tear him down! But then, it's always been like that. I don't understand, or maybe just don't want to (?), but that's how Christ was treated, and all He ever did was love us and want to teach us and set us free.

It was in part, the generosity of rich folks or the well to do, that sustained Christ's mission while He yet walked among us. Money has its place, and its clearcut uses, but LUST for it is a mortal sin and can and will consume our souls if we allow it to. It's like food - necessary for life, but dangerous all the same, and misuse or overuse of it CAN kill us. We have SO much to learn about handling and regarding money!