SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/24/2020 12:42 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-5 “A Single Treasure”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matt.
6:19-21
Message of the verses: “19 Amass not for yourselves treasure upon the earth, where
moths and rust may consume it, or thieves breaking in may steal it. 20 But
provide for yourselves treasure in heaven, where are neither moths nor rust to
consume it, nor thieves to break in and steal it. 21 For where your treasure is, your heart will also
be.”
The
first thing that I want to say is that I will be posting my Christmas Spiritual
Diary tomorrow, something that you may find a bit different, but I think will
be informative as you read it. I pray
that all of those who read my Spiritual Diaries will have a blessed Christmas
and remember that if it were not for God sending His only Son to planet earth
in order to take our place on the cross that none of us would ever be able to
have a relationship with God, and so if anyone does not have that relationship
with God through His Son, then please do not delay but talk to God about
this. Tell God that you are a sinner and
can do nothing about it apart from being saved from your sins through Jesus’
death, burial, and resurrection from the grave as the Father as completely
satisfied for what He did on our behalf.
So confess that you are a sinner, in other words just agree with God
that you are a sinner, and then invite Jesus Christ into your life to forgive
you of your sin and then He will give you His Holy Spirit to cause you to be
able to grow in your new life as a believer.
I know that this sound simple, but it cost God His only Son so that we
can be saved.
Jesus
is really telling us that our treasure indicates where our heart already is, as
He is not saying that if we put our treasure in the right place that our heart
will then be in the right place, as there surely is a difference here. When we have spiritual problems we are having
heart problems as sinful acts come from a sinful heart, just the same as righteous
acts come from a righteous heart.
The
following quotations are something that is very near and dear to my heart: “When the exiles who came back to Jerusalem
from Babylon began turning to God’s Word, a revival also began. ‘Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the
people,’ and various leaders took turns reading ‘from the law of God’ (Neh.
8:5-8). Through hearing God’s Word the
people became convicted of their sin, began to praise God, and determined to
begin obeying Him and to faithfully support the work of the Temple (chapts.
9-10)”
MacArthur
goes on to write “Revival that does not affect the use of money and possessions
is a questionable revival. As the
Tabernacle was begin built, ‘everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone
whose spirit moved him came and brought the Lord’s contribution for the work of
the tent of meeting and for all its service and for the holy garments’ (Ex.
35:21). As plans were being made to
build the Temple, David himself gave generously to the work, and ‘the rulers of
the fathers’ households, and the princes of the tribes of Israel, and the
commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with the overseers over the king’s
work, offered willingly…Then the people rejoiced because they had offered so
willingly, for they made their offering to the Lord with a whole heart, and
King David also rejoiced greatly’ (1 Chron. 29:2-6, 9).”
John
MacArthur then quotes G. Campbell Morgan who wrote:
“You are to remember with the passion
burning within you that you are not the child of today. You are not of the earth, you are more than
dust; you are the child of tomorrow, you are the eternities, you are the
offspring of Deity. The measurements of
your lives cannot be circumscribed by the point where blue sky kisses green
earth. All the fact of your life cannot
be encompassed in the one small sphere upon which you life. You belong to the infinite. If you make your fortune on the earth—poor,
sorry, silly soul—you have made a fortune, and stored it in a place where you
cannot hold it. Make your fortune, but
store it where it will greet you in the dawning of the new morning. (The Gospel According to Matthew [New
York: Revell, 1029], pp. 64-65).”
It
looks like we will have one more SD on this subject of “The Single Treasure”
which Lord willing will be done on the 26th of this month.
12/24/2020 1:21 PM
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