Money: The Tithe

The buck grabs us all by the rear. When we don't have any, we pray for some. When we have it, we forget we prayed for it. Lately I've been watching the money thing and what it does to people, and I pray the dollar doesn't get to me. Sure, I could do with more cash (couldn't we all?) but my prayer is that I keep in mind what it is, and what God expects me to do with it.

First, it's like cocaine. It never satisfies although it promises to.

Second, it alienates us.

Third, it puts us on a pedestal and moves us away from God.

Having money is akin to a dog with a bone. He's afraid to walk away from it although he doesn't want it, so he guards it with his life. When he has to go relieve himself it worries him, so he holds it as long as he can. When he finally succumbs to the urge, another dog tries to steal the bone and the fight is on. He knew it would happen and it did. We always thought we were better than the animals, but all you have to do is turn your back on your bone (or cash) for a moment and somebody'll be there to take it from you. The worry never ceases, it's true. The more is at stake, the longer we'll stay up at night being worried or suspecting our best friends of coveting our bone. It just isn't worth it.

Our Master, our King by the way, didn't have so much as a coin on Him. Matthew 22:19 "(Jesus said) 'Show me the coin used for the poll tax.' And they brought Him a denarius." If He had the cash in His pocket, surely He would have dug out a coin and made His point, instead of waiting for 2 or 3 minutes for somebody to ante up one. It is no coincidence that Jesus never carried money. If you have noticed, Jesus always had money EXACTLY when He needed it. We're promised the same thing, too! Jesus was a human with a need for money just like the rest of the world. It just wasn't His point of interest, except when it was needed. Our Master, our Example, took His need to the Father and it was done.

Jesus guarantees us that God loves the little sparrows so much He feeds them, and He actually means to put it to us in our minds like we think of sparrows... worthless little birds. He goes on with if God the Father loves them enough to make sure they don't die of hunger, neither will He let us die. We are not ensured caviar and imported wine. The children of Israel in the desert got tired of manna. I guess it didn't taste like a steak dinner, but nobody died of malnutrition, either.

Personally, I was reared to believe that God is a fat man wearing a red suit going ho-ho-ho. Years later I find out that God isn't real interested in what kind of car I drive or what kind of after dinner wine I serve. It boils down to the book. He only wants 10 percent of what He gives me. Don't think for a minute He needs it. The Creator owns all of this anyway. He wants me to want to give it up willingly and without worry. The rest, He leaves me in charge of to do what I think is right. I find that if I live by the greatest Commandment, I will do what is right. "Love the Lord thy God with all your heart."

From a Go'er - Be'er - and Do'er

(But usually a Walk'er - Try'er - and Pray'er)

Jesus: the Nature of Christ debate!

Jesus the synthesis of the nature of Christ debate!
Jesus Is > v	In Life v	In Death v
Physically >	Our Example	Our Substitute
Spiritually >	Our Substitute	Our Example

A truth about our human nature is that we have two natures: a physical nature and a spiritual nature. The argument over whether Jesus is our substitute or our example is really quite unnecessary because He was both! The important thing to understand is what He is in which nature.
Please test the following statements drawn from the table above.

In life, physically speaking, Jesus is our example. We are to live our lives just as He did, by explicit obedience to our Heavenly Father.
In death, physically speaking, Jesus is our substitute. He died the second death for us if we accept Him as our Lord and Savior.
In life, physically speaking, Jesus is our substitute. Jesus wants to occupy the throne room of our life, in our place.
In death, spiritually speaking, Jesus is our example. We must die spiritually (so we can be spiritually born again) before He can reign in our life.
This is Gospel truth! To say that Jesus is one and not the other is to split the Gospel. One of the greatest problems in God's church at large is most people are going around promoting half of the Gospel and saying they have the full Gospel.

Those who recognize that the law has not been done away can usually point out the end result of saying that Christ is only our substitute. If Jesus lived by His own God-power as our substitute then there is no reason for us to live holy. We need then to only live as we please, accepting Him, and we're in. I believe the term for this kind of thinking is "cheap grace." On the other hand, to say that Jesus is only our example leads to an extreme in the other ditch. If we say that Jesus came just as we arrive, in a total sinful nature, then we must somehow live a righteous life by only "doing" as He did. Test: Did Jesus need spiritual rebirth as we realize we do? If not, then He didn't seek spiritual rebirth. If we follow that example (not needing and seeking spiritual rebirth) we are stuck in a hopeless, miserable state. This is called legalism.
When we put the two halves of the Gospel back together in Christ, a most beautiful picture emerges. Jesus did come in the fallen, sinful, physical nature of man after four thousand years of the ravages of sin. But He also had the unfallen, righteous, spiritual nature of man, that Adam had prior to his fall. It was in these natures that He passed over the same ground upon which Adam fell yet without falling to sin. It is only by grasping the full Gospel that we can become righteous! What a wonderful Savior is Jesus our Lord!