April 19th 2015
In What God Do You Believe?
Proverbs 30:7-9 (NIV)
"Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.
There are many worldly religions in this world, and each one has its own god or gods! Some religions have idols or statues that represent what their god or gods look like. Some religions mandate the followers to offer sacrifices to somehow appease the god or gods they honor. As Christians we are to honor the God of the Bible. However, do we all really believe in the same God? In the selected verses the writer is stating a common problem that we all face in knowing where our blessings come from. Did your hard work supply your wealth, or did your bad luck cause you to be poor?
Do you believe that everyone should be happy to pray and ask God to “give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread?” The writer is expressing the desire to be blessed by God by giving him or her only the minimum necessities to maintain life! I do not know about most of the rest of the world, but here in the USA most of us want a lot more than just the nourishment to get us through this day. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray the Lord’s Prayer he said something similar about receiving daily sustenance. Matthew wrote; Give us today our daily bread. (Matthew 6:11), and Luke wrote; Give us each day our daily bread. (Luke 11:3)
Therefore, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament we read that God/Jesus wants us to depend upon Him to supply our needs on a daily basis. However, do not become too confused here, and stop working and become a street person. The key here is to understand that God wants us to depend upon Him for our everyday needs. I doubt that most of us reading this commentary today really are able to do that. Again, most of us reading this, whether you live in the USA or some other country, are actually not waiting for God to supply us our daily bread! Remember too, God bestowed riches on Job again, after He had allowed Satan to strip Job of his earthly wealth. The point here is an attempt to justify being rich and still depending on God for your day-to-day life.
James wrote some very interesting thing about taking actions, because of your faith to help your brothers and sisters who are in need. Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? (James 2:15-16) James also wrote some interesting ideas about your belief in God. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. (James 2:19) So if you believe in one God then you are in “good’ company, as James writes,” Even the demons believe that—and shudder.”
Do you ever shudder or stand in awe of this one God of the Bible. Many comments can be heard from professing Christians that would seem to indicate they are demanding action from God. When they say something like, “why doesn’t God do something about this world, and eliminate starvation and poverty, etc.” There is a popular Christian contemporary song that I like. The lyrics are something like this. “I shake my fist at heaven, and asked God why don’t You do something!” And then God replied, “I did something, I created you!” The meaning here is of course, that you (we) Christians have the responsibility to do something about such conditions.
From the very beginning of time, God gave us this wonderful earth, and put mankind in charge of maintaining it. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." (Genesis 1:27-28) So as you can see we are in charge of this cursed earth, and thus, it is our responsibility to maintain it. It will be this way until God creates the new earth, and restores it to the perfection as it was in the Garden of Eden.
Therefore, we have this wonderful time to look forward to, when God puts those who have followed His Son into this new and perfect world. We have that to look forward to, because of Jesus perfect sacrifice for us, and the guarantee of eternal life with Him in this new and perfect world. It is likely we will still be allowed to help maintain it too, as Adam did before the Fall of Man. The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." (Genesis 2:15-17)
So what kind of a god do you believe in? Is it truly the God of the Bible or is it, one who you have modified to better suit your requirements. Is He your boss in all things, or do you demand that your god does what you believe to be right? Some people on this earth do not believe there is a god or gods, and the Psalmist wrote about such people. The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no-one who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. (Psalm 14:1-2) If you seek God, He will find you!
“Praise God from whom all blessing flow!” Does your god require checking with you about how he should do things? "You shall have no other gods before me. "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Deuteronomy 5:7-10) This is the God of love, Jesus is “showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
Are you keeping His commands? Are you trying to keep His commands?
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
Proverbs 30:7-9 (NIV)
"Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.
There are many worldly religions in this world, and each one has its own god or gods! Some religions have idols or statues that represent what their god or gods look like. Some religions mandate the followers to offer sacrifices to somehow appease the god or gods they honor. As Christians we are to honor the God of the Bible. However, do we all really believe in the same God? In the selected verses the writer is stating a common problem that we all face in knowing where our blessings come from. Did your hard work supply your wealth, or did your bad luck cause you to be poor?
Do you believe that everyone should be happy to pray and ask God to “give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread?” The writer is expressing the desire to be blessed by God by giving him or her only the minimum necessities to maintain life! I do not know about most of the rest of the world, but here in the USA most of us want a lot more than just the nourishment to get us through this day. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray the Lord’s Prayer he said something similar about receiving daily sustenance. Matthew wrote; Give us today our daily bread. (Matthew 6:11), and Luke wrote; Give us each day our daily bread. (Luke 11:3)
Therefore, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament we read that God/Jesus wants us to depend upon Him to supply our needs on a daily basis. However, do not become too confused here, and stop working and become a street person. The key here is to understand that God wants us to depend upon Him for our everyday needs. I doubt that most of us reading this commentary today really are able to do that. Again, most of us reading this, whether you live in the USA or some other country, are actually not waiting for God to supply us our daily bread! Remember too, God bestowed riches on Job again, after He had allowed Satan to strip Job of his earthly wealth. The point here is an attempt to justify being rich and still depending on God for your day-to-day life.
James wrote some very interesting thing about taking actions, because of your faith to help your brothers and sisters who are in need. Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? (James 2:15-16) James also wrote some interesting ideas about your belief in God. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. (James 2:19) So if you believe in one God then you are in “good’ company, as James writes,” Even the demons believe that—and shudder.”
Do you ever shudder or stand in awe of this one God of the Bible. Many comments can be heard from professing Christians that would seem to indicate they are demanding action from God. When they say something like, “why doesn’t God do something about this world, and eliminate starvation and poverty, etc.” There is a popular Christian contemporary song that I like. The lyrics are something like this. “I shake my fist at heaven, and asked God why don’t You do something!” And then God replied, “I did something, I created you!” The meaning here is of course, that you (we) Christians have the responsibility to do something about such conditions.
From the very beginning of time, God gave us this wonderful earth, and put mankind in charge of maintaining it. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." (Genesis 1:27-28) So as you can see we are in charge of this cursed earth, and thus, it is our responsibility to maintain it. It will be this way until God creates the new earth, and restores it to the perfection as it was in the Garden of Eden.
Therefore, we have this wonderful time to look forward to, when God puts those who have followed His Son into this new and perfect world. We have that to look forward to, because of Jesus perfect sacrifice for us, and the guarantee of eternal life with Him in this new and perfect world. It is likely we will still be allowed to help maintain it too, as Adam did before the Fall of Man. The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." (Genesis 2:15-17)
So what kind of a god do you believe in? Is it truly the God of the Bible or is it, one who you have modified to better suit your requirements. Is He your boss in all things, or do you demand that your god does what you believe to be right? Some people on this earth do not believe there is a god or gods, and the Psalmist wrote about such people. The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no-one who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. (Psalm 14:1-2) If you seek God, He will find you!
“Praise God from whom all blessing flow!” Does your god require checking with you about how he should do things? "You shall have no other gods before me. "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Deuteronomy 5:7-10) This is the God of love, Jesus is “showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
Are you keeping His commands? Are you trying to keep His commands?
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
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