You Cannot Serve Both

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, bids us to ask ourselves whether we are serving God, or serving money/riches. Mammon, it is called in the Bible.

As I read the message, I recalled a conversation I had recently, about someone being refused a meal because they wouldn’t give up their personal information and register. They were told the reason was that if they didn’t register, the church couldn’t get paid for the meal by the government. Jesus tells us, in Matt. 6:24, that we cannot serve both God and money. Either we will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. This is very true. We prove it. I don’t think there’s a Christian that hasn’t experienced this conflict in one way or another. And, the love of money will definitely cause conflict in your life. With it comes debt, deceit, stress, all kinds of stumbling blocks.

Some of us who have held down two, and sometimes three jobs, just to make ends meet, know what a cruel Lord money can be. Work, work, work; and there’s still nothing left over, and still no chance of getting ahead. Some of us have fallen into the prestige and power trap. We sold ourselves to the “up and coming crowd;” the “Haves.” Some of us got caught up in the money trap because we tried to replace our self respect and/or dignity with stuff, stuff, and more stuff. We have to be very careful with our attitudes about money/mammon, because mammon is a very sneaky adversary. I say that, because the spirit behind it and the world’s ideas of wealth, are at work for the powers, principalities, and hosts of spiritual wickedness in the heavens. In reality, it is only sidewalk. It’s what the streets in Heaven are paved with.

Solomon said that money answers everything. It does. It pays the rent, puts food on the table, fills the car with gas, etc. But, money is to serve us; not vice versa. Keeping our attitudes about it in line with God’s Word, and practicing good stewardship/management, are the keys to staying free of bondage to it. There’s also that checklist of things like pride, fear, greed, and the like, to reckon with. We can easily fall into the money trap by way of these.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Don’t Discount Your Power, or Value!

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Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us of the power of a praying soul, and of it’s value to the Kingdom of Heaven and the world around us.

We tend, all too often, to forget that the battle is in the Spirit. We don’t give much thought to the powers and principalities, and host of spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places. (Eph. 6:12) There are some other scriptures that refer to these, and to what Jesus did for us in regard to them. Look them up, and you’ll get a better picture.

When we get a clear picture of the Spiritual things, we get a clearer picture of where the battles really are fought. We also get a clear picture of just how powerful prayer and praise and worship are. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, we’re told in 2 Cor. 10:4. What we don’t often see, are those little prayer warriors, who sit in their rooms or homes praying for the world we live in. Some pray in the wee hours of the morning, some at night. We don’t see a thing, we don’t hear a thing, but in the Spirit, there’s the roar of a mighty army doing battle for us.

We often discount the value of the prayers, the behind the scenes work, the hugs, the little words of encouragement, etc. When a crisis comes, we feel overwhelmed because we forget the power of these things. They’re all seeds, did you know that? Yeah, you did, didn’t you? You just forgot for a moment. I used to all the time. They’re seeds sown into hearts, lives, souls, and into the Spirit. Remember what Jesus said about sewing into the Kingdom of Heaven? (Matt. 6:20) Those seeds are spiritual treasure. You know what else? All those things are like war medals that decorate your uniform. Oh, my! Just look at you now! So awesome, worth everything, everything, to the world around you, and to our Lord, and our Heavenly Father. Go get ’em, honey! ROAR!!

I want to take a moment to thank all who have prayed for me, all who have encouraged me, cried with me, and laughed with me…all who have walked with me. You have helped to get me this far. Thank you!

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Bonus: Making Your Will an Offering

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This was a pretty awesome revelation, so I’m posting a bonus today.

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that we can’t get away from God’s love and caring. Actually, quoting directly, “you can never go beyond my love and care,” God says. We are also reminded that He blesses only the things that are right for us-individually. We’re bid to lay our will down before Him as an offering. That’s the first step, isn’t it? Yeah, I’ve been reminded of that so many times…after trying to do it according to my will, and finding out it didn’t work out so well.

I discovered that diligence in obedience and perseverance are great helps. Nowadays, I’m diligent regarding my prayer life. I’m diligent to seek, to ask, and to knock, as Jesus told us to. When we do this in every circumstance, life changes for the better. The things you need to seek, to ask, and to enter into change, depending on the circumstances, but the principal of receiving and progress remain. Sometimes we get ahead of ourselves too, don’t we? Like, when we’re seeking relief from something, but haven’t sought the cause of the problem yet. I have memories of some of those instances that still make me laugh at myself. Thank God that He knows what I’m doing, because, Oh, my God! -Sometimes I don’t know how but by the grace of God that I’m still here.

Laying your will before the Lord isn’t some horrible painful thing when we get the hang of the diligence, perseverance, and obedience thing. That’s when it is received by Him, and perceived in your spirit as an offering. You’ll realize that it is actually linking up and coming into one accord with the Lord; becoming one with the Holy Spirit.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu