Don't Cheapen the Treasure

"The deal is all of Christ for all of your nothing. Don't cheapen the treasure with your currency. Come and buy the unsearchable riches of grace with your poverty of spirit. That is all he will accept."

From The Story-Telling God: Seeing the Glory of Jesus in His Parables, by Jared Wilson (Kindle version, location 585)

Covers Everything

"When we 'get saved,' we aren't just receiving the redemptive thing God is doing in our lives,; we are also embracing the redemptive thing God is doing in the world. Having the eyes to see salvation this way helps us to see worldly treasures as pitiful. It is the kingdom of heaven that is a treasure worth selling everything to own, because the kingdom of heaven covers everything and is our everything."

From The Story-Telling God: Seeing the Glory of Jesus in His Parables, by Jared Wilson (Kindle version, location 541)

Trash To Treasure

If we as humans can restore old furniture and make it beautiful, should we wonder what God can do to a soul that feels like unworthy trash? From an article in Charisma by Bek Curtis:

....While spending the last hour starting the process of "up-cycling" a gorgeous timber children's chair that I "rescued" from a council clean-up, I have pondered why someone would throw away something so precious? As I've sanded off the dodgy lacquer and stain and applied the first coat of new paint, I was reminded of something: If I look at trash and I see beauty, how much more does God look at His astounding creation and see the royalty He intended?

If I, through sanding back and painting over what others have deemed as trash, and draw out of it beauty and charm, how much more can God draw out of us the beauty that has been cast aside and covered up or even completely discarded as trash? Not only does He draw out, enhance and perfect that beauty, He makes an entirely new creation in the process!

If you are feeling "trashed," cast aside, roughed up, forgotten or left by the curb, there is no better place to run than into the arms of your Heavenly Father! His sanding is gentle. His brush strokes are light. He already sees you as a finished product. He sees beauty. YOU are HIS TREASURE.

Extreme Demand

Self or God, world or heaven- He limits us to one or the other. Why so exclusive? Read "The Exclusivity of Treasure Pursuit "from Paul Tripp

The Bible is an extreme book.

Let me rephrase that: for human beings with a selfish heart and a finite understanding, the Bible can be an extreme book. The Bible isn?t extreme for God; He wrote it! But because we interpret life through a corrupt and limited lens, the principles and commands in the Bible can come across as extreme.

"The Exclusivity of Treasure Pursuit" Principle

One principle that really highlights this extreme nature of the Bible is found in Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." (ESV)

It doesn't need any summary, but let me condense what Jesus is saying: it's spiritually impossible to pursue the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of self simultaneously.

You and I don?t want to agree. We want to believe that our spiritual reality isn?t as extreme, or exclusive, as Jesus declares. There has to be a way, we argue, by which we simultaneously serve God and money.

Two Arguments Against Exclusivity

I want to highlight two reasons why we argue against "The Exclusivity of Treasure Pursuit" Principle:

1. We Love Our Pleasure

Let?s be honest: there are moments when we simply don?t care about the Kingdom of God. We choose the pursuit of personal pleasure over the pursuit of personal holiness.

When we feel the convicting grace of the Holy Spirit, we really do want to love the Lord, but we don?t want to be exclusive. In other words, we want glorify God on our own terms, where we get to define what we give up and what we keep.

If we incorrectly convince ourselves that it?s possible to serve both God and money, we?ll believe that we can love the Lord fully without sacrificing the earthly pleasures that we?re addicted to.

2. We Love Our Righteousness

I don?t think any informed Christian would claim they don't need grace, but we all subtly believe that our good works are enough to please God.

That?s why "The Exclusivity of Treasure Pursuit" Principle is bad news for our inner Pharisee. Christ has raised the standard of righteousness to an unattainable extreme, and there's no way we can please God without the grace of Jesus.

But if we incorrectly convince ourselves that it's possible to serve two masters, we'll believe that we have a chance at pleasing God with our independent righteousness. We?ll take pride in thinking that we don?t need grace as much as the next person. 

Hopefully Hopeless

Let me encourage you with the extreme nature of Gospel: you have no independent ability to choose God over money. If you were given the choice, without the assistance of grace, to serve one master, you would serve the money master 100% of the time.

Why should you be encouraged by that statistic? Because the God who is speaking these words is speaking these words on earth. He left Heaven and came to earth to die for addicted and self-righteous sinners. You and I can be completely hopeless in ourselves while we're completely hopeful in Christ.

Only grace can make your heart choose the pleasure of God over the pleasure of the created world. Only grace can make you humble enough to admit your need for more grace.

Be encouraged: grace is available. He lives inside your heart at this moment.

Finding Jesus in Stress

A prayer for finding Jesus in times of stress, by Scotty Smith (based on 2 Cor. 4:7-10):

    Dear Lord Jesus, to compare my stressors with the apostle Paul’s would be like comparing my photography with Ansel Adams’s, my preaching with Charles Spurgeon’s, or my cobbler making with a 5 star French pastry chef’s. There is simply no comparison. When I consider everything he experienced as your servant, honestly, I have nothing to bemoan or groan about.

     Nonetheless, Paul’s honesty is a great gift to me this morning. His freedom to acknowledge both his anguish and his joy in the same paragraph, gives me tremendous encouragement and focus. Posing and pretending were crucified at Calvary. Despair and hopelessness were sabotaged by your resurrection.

     Jesus, help me to be far more preoccupied with the treasure within than with the pressures without. If your all-surpassing power will be shown most dramatically through my weaknesses, then I’ll boast in them. If your incomparable beauty will be most clearly revealed through my hardships, then I’ll stop my whining. If your redeeming purposes will be most fully realized through my brokenness, then I’ll humble myself and surrender.

     With my palms up, I offer you praise for the treasure of the gospel. The gospelwill win the day, my heart, the nations, and the cosmos. Though there are seasons when throwing in the towel, finding another story, or just flat running away are incredibly attractive, where else would I go but to you?

     Jesus, you alone give the words of life, sufficient grace, and the hope of glory. May your voice grow ten times louder than any other voice, clamoring for my attention. In the coming hours, days, and weeks, demonstrate the wonders of your love and the sovereignty of your rule. So very Amen I pray, with hungry expectancy, in your trustworthy name.

Your Heart Will Follow Your Money

"Suppose you buy shares of General Motors. What happens? You suddenly develop interest in GM. You check the financial pages. You see a magazine article about GM and read every word, even though a month ago you would have passed right over it. 

Suppose you’re giving to help African children with AIDS. When you see an article on the subject, you’re hooked. If you’re sending money to plant churches in India and an earthquake hits India, you watch the news and fervently pray. 

As surely as the compass needle follows north, your heart will follow your treasure. Money leads; hearts follow. 

I’ve heard people say, “I want more of a heart for missions.” I always respond, “Jesus tells you exactly how to get it. Put your money in missions—and in your church and the poor—and your heart will follow”"

                    - Randy Alcorn, The Treasure Principle, p.44


HT: Vitamin Z