People vs Stuff

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5 NIV)

How satisfied are you? Do you have everything you need or are you constantly wanting more? What is it that you want more of? I have a bunch of stuff, but I also am blessed beyond "stuff"! I have grown content with the material blessings of my life. I find myself focusing now on gaining more relationships, more meaningful people and more of God in my life. I am so thankful and amazed how God is changing me.

Thank you Lord for always being by my side. Thank you for being patient when I have been more focused on things than people. It's not by my power, but through your spirit, that I have been changed. Life is so much better with people instead of stuff. Please continue to transform me. Use me to serve others and to help them realize life is about people! 

What stuff do you need?

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33 NIV)

What do I really need? What "stuff" in my life is impossible to love without? When you really look into your life, you need very little. I need even less. I don't need my motorcycle, I don't need my ipads, computers, phones, and GPS. I don't need all the clothing I have. I don't need the furniture, TVs, air conditioning, and more. Here's my "must have" list. Food, drink, and nothing else. Ok, I'll let you talk me in to clothing and maybe shelter. Even with these two you don't need extravagant shelter or clothing. Yet, God says we shouldn't even pursue these basics. First we need to seek Gods kingdom and his righteousness. When we do that the worry of the basics melt away. We don't have to ask to survive. All we have to do is focus on the creator of all things. 

I know there are good Christian people suffering in this world that can't even get the basics of life. I wish I had a great answer to WHY? I don't. I can repeat this scripture. The more suffering increases in your life, the more you need to direct your attention to God. Seek him and we have a promise that all the things you need will be added unto you. I have experienced this first hand and I have received WAY more than just the basics of life.

 I will seek God with all my heart!

Why do we do what we do?

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. (1 John 2:15 NIV)

This was a beautiful day and I was blessed by riding VIC around in support of a young boy with a brain tumor. It is easy to fall in love with riding a motorcycle. It looks like tomorrow will be another of those days. 

What does it mean not to fall in love with the world? The WORLD is not the people of this world, it is the actions of this world which go against God. We often run a fine line between loving the world vs. loving God. If I love riding my motorcycle at the cost of my relationship with God, it is of this world. If I love my motorcycle so much that it takes the place of God it is of this world. It's not just motorcycles that could interfere with our spiritual life. Anything that takes the place of God, our work, our homes, our recreation, sports, cars, heroes, politics, and many more. These things can all keep us away from God.if I use these things to further the kingdom of God, they cease to be of this world. Everything we have and do need to be used for God. Things like motorcycles are not inherently of this world. The use of it is the determining factor. Are you serving God with everything you have and everything you do?

Why do we do what we do? What do we do with the things we have? 

I pray The Lord will strike me down if I lose sight of ministry for him. I pray I will never stop thinking of teaching as a ministry. I pray I will always consider the bike as a tool for his mission. I pray my tongue, my feet, my hands and my eyes, never get in the way of service for him.

Don't destroy the Moose Head!

Revelation 18 (The Message)

 ^11-17"The traders will cry and carry on because the bottom dropped out of business, no more market for their goods: gold, silver, precious gems, pearls; fabrics of fine linen, purple, silk, scarlet; perfumed wood and vessels of ivory, precious woods, bronze, iron, and marble; cinnamon and spice, incense, myrrh, and frankincense; wine and oil, flour and wheat; cattle, sheep, horses, and chariots. And slaves—their terrible traffic in human lives.

   Everything you've lived for, gone!
      All delicate and delectable luxury, lost!
      Not a scrap, not a thread to be found!


What do you live for? Do you have some special keepsake or little treasure that you can't live without? Do you have some special trinket that holds a place of honor in your house? Stephanie and I went up to Shipshewana his past weekend. We wandered around several of the little shops. One of the most fascinating was the antique dealer.  I love shows like American Pickers and Antique Road Show. It is amazing to me how many little trinkets we think are really valuable. My mom used to have this set of mixing bowls that nested in each other. They were different colors and glass. I saw a set at the antique shop worth $60. I couldn't believe it. Stephanie said her mom had the same set. I will guarantee that my mom didn't pay $60 for them back in the early 60's. Somehow, they have lived long enough to be worth something. I saw some pretty cool stuff (junk to some). They had everything in this place. Antique toys, guns, glassware, tools, clothes, books, furniture. You name it, they had it.  The coolest thing I saw was a HUGE Moose Head! It would look great in my garage! Stephanie said no. The price was a little high, $3500.00. I think I could have negotiated a lower price. LOL! If you think about it, we all need to look around our house right now and try to figure out what's going to be worth something.  Then we should save it for a very long time. It could be worth big bucks some day.
But, eventually all of this stuff will be gone. All of our goods, gold, silver, precious gems, pearls, fabrics, antiques, electronics and all material things will be gone. God's even going to destroy that Moose Head! No Lord, Not the Moose Head! How else do you think God can get our attention? Have you ever tried to pull a kid away from his favorite TV show or his favorite XBox game. They are often mesmerized by them. The house could burn down all around them and they wouldn't notice until the TV got destroyed. We are just like that. We have so much stuff in our lives. We have so many things that are precious to us.  Many of these items mean more than our relationship with God. So, can you blame our creator? He has to destroy everything so we have one more chance to change. If he takes everything our of our line of sight, maybe we will focus on him. It's really a shame that it has to go to that extreme. But, you have to agree, he really doesn't have a choice. I may not own a giant Moose Head, but I own a lot of stuff that may seem valuable to me. To God, it just gets in the way of our relationship. Sorry Lord!

Dear Lord, Please forgive me for putting my STUFF ahead of you. Forgive me for "worshipping" those things instead of you. You are the creator of all things. We should put the creator in front of the created! You are an awesome and gracious God. I will worship you! Amen!