Survival mode

A young lady’s daughter has just completed primary school and I remarked on how quickly the time had gone by. She agreed. I started thinking about how much time was behind me and how much I still had to come. Obviously I don’t know how much time I have left on earth. I can just speculate. Thinking about how many things I would still like to accomplish makes me hope I still have many productive years ahead of me. But looking back on my life I realized that so much time was spent simply surviving. I wonder, if we could isolate the hours, days or weeks utilized surviving, how many they would be? By survival I mean those times we worried about a sick child, finances, work-related issues, family crises, etc etc. Those things that we should ideally be putting into God’s hands and allowing Him to handle. But so often we don’t do that, even when we are born again, Spirit filled believers. We forget everything when a situation surprises us and we go into survival mode. Calm flies out of the window and panic grips us in its icy jaws. The earth stops for a while and we start walking in circles and making all kinds of plans that aren’t going to work anyway. Before we know it we’ve lost a day or a week or even a month of time that we could have spent on much more productive and positive things.
Psalm 90:12, So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
That is the answer. We need to have a heart of wisdom. We need to remember that the wise thing to do would be to reach out to God immediately.
Psalm 46:1-43, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
Can we do that? Because that is what we are supposed to do. Even in the worst crisis we should not experience fear. We should immediately call out to our Saviour and cast all our cares on Him. I think we don’t always remember because we spend too much time on the solutions that the world is giving us. We are bombarded by things like medical science, psychology, New Age beliefs and self-help, which are everywhere. I recall someone saying to me once, “Don’t look for the devil behind every bush,” well, all these scientific things are virtually behind every bush and they are so easy to access. I am not saying that you should disregard doctors and psychologists altogether, but they aren’t always the answer, or the first place to go. Anyway, if you have a medical issue and need an operation, the logical thing to do would be to go to a hospital, but if you have given your cares to God, you aren’t going to be seeing it as a crisis and you will have peace in your heart. If you have a loved-one on life support and you have placed them in God’s hands, you will have peace in your heart. If you’ve lost your job and you don’t know how you’re going to care for your family, put your trust in God and He will give you peace in your heart. The Word of God is a treasure trove of wisdom. Find scriptures that are appropriate for the situation you are in and quote them out loud.
Proverbs 18:10, The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and he is safe.
Nehemiah 8:10, Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
Isaiah 41:10, fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
I find a lot of peace in these verses. Instead of going into survival mode, live life to the full though the problems. Hold onto the Word of God and onto His everlasting love and He will carry you through the storms and you won’t have to figure out how to survive.

Money

Up to R150 000 can get you closer to the life you want. This is the SMS I received this morning. I receive so many of these messages which tell me that I am going to be so much better off by borrowing money from financial institutions. I will be able to settle debts and pay school fees and go on holidays. This is what people are confronted with daily. This is what the enemy wants us to fill our minds with. He wants us to believe that by borrowing money we are going to be better off, and people have been able to make it look so attractive. We don’t realise that we aren’t going to be better off at all. We are going to be in bondage to the company we owe that money to. How can more debt cause you to be better off?

Proverbs 22:7, The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.

As soon as you borrow money from someone they automatically have a claim on your income. You want to buy a car so you apply for finance and the car becomes yours. But technically it isn’t yours. Until you have repaid all the debt that car belongs to the finance company. In order to keep using the car you have to repay the loan instalment every month. You are in bondage to the finance company. Until the debt is repaid they have the right to a certain portion of your income.

If you borrow money so that you can go on holiday, your holiday is going to be gone and forgotten and you are still going to be repaying that debt.

Proverbs 23:4-5, Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.

Proverbs 11:28, He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous shall flourish as the green leaf.

Ecclesiastes 5:10, Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.

1 Timothy 6:9-10, But if it’s only money these leaders are after, they’ll self-destruct in no time. Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after.

The first part of 1 Timothy 6:10 in the KJV says, For the love of money is the root of all evil.

There are people who strive to have a lot of money. The word ‘millionaire’ is like a juicy carrot dangled before a donkey to make it move. The poor donkey keeps moving forward but doesn’t realise that he will never reach the carrot. The carrot dries out and withers and he still has not reached it. Just like that, if a person lusts after money, he is never going to have enough. Enough is an illusion. Enough does not exist. Money can be gone in a moment. Look what happens when stock markets crash! People lose everything they invested. Every time there a stock market collapses there are  multiple suicides. These are the people who cannot recognise that they have worth apart from what they own. Their money becomes their identity. They are a slave to the money and when the money is gone they believe that they have no more value.

Proverbs 11:4, Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.

When we die we cannot take any money or possessions with us.

Job 1:21, Naked came I from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be blessed.

Psalm 62:10, ..if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.

Proverbs 21:26, All day long he craves for more, but the righteous give without sparing.

Don’t get attached to the money you make. It might be gone tomorrow, or you might even be gone tomorrow.

Luke 6:38, Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measure back to you.

Don’t ever be afraid to give. If you give you receive, and God loves a cheerful giver.

There you are, that’s my view on money today.