Giving
Welcome to Refinery Life Australia.
Today we continue our series titled Listening To Heaven’s Infallible Teacher.
The messages for the next couple of weeks will be coming from the Sermon on the Mount.
Today we are talking about The Good Life.
Prayer
God of mercy, how we adore you.
When our hearts reflect on your greatness and our smallness, we are amazed that you even notice us.
But you do!
We praise you for this.
As this offering is extended from our hearts to yours, may it be an expression of our love for you.
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
Text
Matthew 6:33 AMP
33 But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.
Scripture Reading
Matthew 6:19-34 AMP
19 “Do not store up for yourselves [material] treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal;
21 for where your treasure is, there your heart [your wishes, your desires; that on which your life centers] will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body; so if your eye is clear [spiritually perceptive], your whole body will be full of light [benefiting from God’s precepts].
23 But if your eye is bad [spiritually blind], your whole body will be full of darkness [devoid of God’s precepts]. So if the [very] light inside you [your inner self, your heart, your conscience] is darkness, how great and terrible is that darkness!
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 mammon [money, possessions, fame, status, or whatever is valued more than the Lord].
The Cure for Anxiety
25 “Therefore I tell you, stop being worried or anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted) about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, as to what you will wear. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing?
26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow [seed] nor reap [the harvest] nor gather [the crops] into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they?
27 And who of you by worrying can add one [a]hour to [the length of] his life?
28 And why are you worried about clothes? See how the lilies and wildflowers of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin [wool to make clothing],
29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory and splendor dressed himself like one of these.
30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive and green today and tomorrow is [cut and] thrown [as fuel] into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
31 Therefore do not worry or be anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted), saying, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘What are we going to drink?’ or ‘What are we going to wear?’
32 For the [pagan] Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; [but do not worry,] for your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
33 But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.
34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Introduction
If a local millionaire publicised that they were going to give away half their fortune to the first person to get to a certain place or the first person to complete a series of tasks here on the Gold Coast there would be people everywhere scrambling to do whatever was required to be first.
There would be car accidents, people fighting each other and possibly people even being crushed in crowds.
The lure of gold in a very real way can become a mania.
Australians have made a sport of trying to get something for free.
The search for the good life is often an all controlling interest.
Frequently it leads to all sorts of unusual behaviour, some of which is pathetic, humorous , or tragic.
Since Jesus knew this to be true, He dedicated much of His time to the human search for the good life.
Christ saw men and women losing their souls in their effort to discover things that would make them happy.
In the Sermon on the Mount, He dealt with this subject in a direct manner.
He said that the good life is a life of wise investments, unwavering loyalty, and simple trust.
- The good life is a life of wise investments.
Matthew 6:19-23.
Why is the good life a life of wise investments?
Because the things we live for determine the direction of our lives.
It has been said the things people want most are honour, riches, and satisfaction of lust.
- Treasure on earth.
The truth is that most of us are not piling up treasures on earth.
We hardly have enough to pay our bills and fulfil our financial obligations to family and community.
In this passage, however, Jesus was not so much concerned with the amount of money we have as He was the direction of our lives and the quality of our daily existence.
Jesus realised that our attitude toward things, regardless of the amount we might have, determines the direction of our souls and the destiny of our lives.
Rugs and clothes and tapestries were some of the goods people hoarded and relied on for financial security in Jesus’ day.
All of those things could easily deteriorate or be stolen.
Jesus contended that the accumulation of these things is no protection against the invasion of warped judgement and barrens of soul.
The principle Jesus sets forth is that whenever we depend on money alone for security, life has a way of folding up no matter what the level of security may be.
Jesus contends that these are unwise investments.
B. Treasures in heaven.
But how can we lay up treasures in heaven?
How can we make wise investments?
We make wise investments when we invest in acts of forgiveness, understanding, and love.
We increase in our richness toward God when we turn away from deeds that are shoddy and cheap and wrong.
Deposits are made in the bank of heaven in our name when we live with courage, love, faith, and hope.
Whenever we live this kind of life, we accumulate wealth that will last forever.
Jesus made a statement in verse 21 that most of us fail to understand, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
It is important that we realise that He did not say where your heart is, there your treasure will be.
He was simply saying that where we make our greatest investment is where we begin to have our greatest interest.
Your heart and interest may not be in a particular project or program, but when you invest into it heavily, you become vitally concerned with its outcome.
A good life is a life of wise investments.
2. The good life is a life of unwavering loyalty.
Matthew 6:24.
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with wealth.
What is wrong is putting wealth before God or, more that that, making wealth our god.
In this passage Jesus is not advocating poverty but priority.
Immediately verse 33 comes to mind, where Jesus said, “But first and most importantly seek His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you also.”
This is no prohibition against wealth, but an admonition to get our priorities in order.
Divided loyalties make for disturbed minds and confused goals.
Divided loyalties cause all kinds of physical and mental illnesses.
The investigations of modern medicine and psychiatry underscore in a striking way the truth of these words of Jesus that “no man can serve two masters.”
When we attempt to do this, we are caught in the middle every time.
But how can we develop a life of unwavering loyalty?
How can we be careful not to attempt to serve two masters?
The answer is surely in Paul’s statement in Philippians 3:13, “This one thing I do.”
The we focus our attention and power on a single object, we discover strength that we never knew we had.
But when we cannot decide on our goals and priorities, our life becomes weak and we can become paralysed in any effort to move forward.
Jesus said in Luke 17:32, “Remember Lot’s wife.”
She was a good example of divided loyalty.
She had known God from her childhood, but she had fallen too much in love with the things of Sodom.
She sincerely wanted God, but she also wanted Sodom.
Finally, the day of decision came.
She made a feeble start toward God, but then she looked back toward Sodom.
She was reaching for God with one hand, but with the other she was reaching back t=for the things of Sodom.
Her divided loyalty brought misery and ultimately destruction.
We must settle once and for all who is the master of our lives and where our loyalties will remain.
Once that decision is made, we can experience the good life that comes through a life of unwavering loyalty.
3. The good life is a life of simple trust.
Matthew 6:25-34.
The antithesis of trust is fear and worry.
We may worry about what we will eat or what we will drink or what we will wear or what will happen tomorrow.
Jesus was well aquatinted with the universal plague of fear.
His solution was simple trust in God.
Simple trust observes God’s care in nature.
Jesus drew on God’s care for creation to substantiate His claims.
He reminded His listeners that the birds of the air are cared for , the flowers of the field are clothed, and even the grass is not forgotten.
Jesus then made His point.
Since God cares for these, He surely cares for those who are made in His image.
Simple trust is reassured by God’s knowledge of our needs.
Jesus was not arguing in this passage against planning, saving, or working.
He does not want us to neglect our responsibilities, and he was not advocating idleness.
Rather than showing trust, these reveal a spirit of presumption.
The real thrust of this passage is captured in the NIV translation of the phrase, “Take no thought.”
It more accurately translates this as “Do not worry.”
This idea is repeated five times in verses 25 through to 34.
We must certainly consider what we will eat or what we will wear or our state of health or our future.
But we must never allow the things to become an obsession.
If we do, they will become a burden to our soul, and we will find ourselves continually anxious and fearful.
But how can this be avoided?
The answer is simple yet profound.
We can be assured that God both knows our needs and will supply them, for simple trust is reassured by the knowledge that God is aware of all our needs.
Simple trust lives one day at a time.
The Living Bible translates this verse, “So don’t be anxious about tomorrow, God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time.”
This is not encouragement to avoid facing life seriously.
Rather, we are being told that troubles can be best met by dealing with them one at a time.
We are assured that God will grant the strength required for the troubles of tomorrow when they come just as He provides that strength for today.
Much of our anxiety about tomorrow will subside the we realise that many of today’s difficulties are not permanent.
An elderly minister was once asked to quote his favourite Scripture verse.
His reply came without hesitation, “and it came to pass,”
He the explained that through his many years he had come to realise that the difficulties and wars and debts and burdens to humankind, “come to pass.”
Too often we fee that the adversity of today or the problems that we fear tomorrow will be with us until death.
History claims this fear.
In our effort to live one day at a time, we must never borrow trouble from tomorrow.
Aren’t most of our worries about tomorrow?
Are not most of our worries about the future?
We worry about the surgery we may not have, or the child that may take the wrong path.
Insurance companies have gotten very wealthy by insuring against the fear of future disasters that never happen.
Conclusion.
God wants to change us into something better.
And when God does his for us, we will be thankful that, through our wise investments, unwavering loyalty, and simple trust, the good life we have known here gives way to a better life hereafter.
Until next time
Stay in the Blessings
Giving
I really want to encourage you to be diligent with your Bible study time, because God has so much more for us than we can get from just going to church once or twice a week and hearing someone else talk about the Word.
When you spend time with God, your life will change in amazing ways, because God is a Redeemer.
Theres nothing thats too hard for Him, and He can make you whole, spirit, soul and body!
You’re important to God, and you’re important to us at www.refinerylife.org
When it comes to prayer, we believe that God wants to meet your needs and reveal His promises to you.
So whatever you’re concerned about and need prayer for we want to be here for you! Or even if you just want to say Hi, you can contact us
2021 IS A YEAR OF REFORMATION
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