Possessing Riches We Aren't Even Aware Of

Luke 12: 4-7 And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more than they do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who after He has killed has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you fear Him! Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? And yet not one of them is forgotten before God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Truth:
The only thing of value that is moving with us into eternity are the virtues acquired in our soul and spirit.

Application:
So much of life today is the acquiring of "stuff".
The idea is that a person's worth is equal to the things that they have accumulated along the way.
Expensive toys and baubles.
Even the advertising that is all around us gives credence to this mindset.
We reject the idea of building character and being a people of integrity, instead grasping at leisure and pleasure to satisfy the fleshly desire that burns uncontrolled.
Most people cannot fathom the idea of being content and at peace outside of possessions.
There has to be trips and vacations.
Fun and excitement.
Go and go and go ...
Do and do and do...
Are vacations bad? No!
But when we fall into the trap of being lead by our flesh rather than the spirit, we are in trouble.
Everything done here on this side of eternity is going to perish.
Men and women seek to build a legacy so they will not be forgotten.
Buildings bearing their names.
Statues bearing their likeness...
All will crumble and fall....
But our character, developed here on this side of eternity, will follow us to the other side.
Character is the commodity of the Kingdom of God.
For from character flows the revelation of the person. Who they really are, how they life and what their beliefs are built on.

Character is a word that has fallen away in our society today.
Image is everything.
A facade of fabricated character so the world will look with adoring eyes.
Jesus was right when he called the Pharisees "empty white washed tombs."
Pretty on the outside.
All the effort was spent on "appearing" a certain way....while on the inside they were dead and full of hypocrisy.

A heart of hypocrisy is a dangerous thing. When we divide ourselves with the lies we live and tell ourselves and others, that we are people of character, we divide ourselves with these lies. We create a barrier between ourselves and God. Honesty about oneself is the first tool of repentance. Confession with our mouth that Jesus is LORD is a confirmation that we are not lord of our own lives. Anything else is hypocrisy. If we act like we are gods of our destiny and passions, we are liars. The apostle John warns in I John 1:8: " If we say we have no sin then we make Him (God) a liar."

Now is the time to begin to let God develop your character.
Now is the time to turn your heart, your will and your life to God and quit doing business with the ways of this world.

Have a great weekend.
God on you....
mb