Do You Have “Enough”?

It is easy in our materialistic-society to say “No, I don’t“, particularly if you compare what you have to what someone else has. Someone else will ALWAYS have more – more money, a nicer car, a finer home, and better clothing, and the list goes on, but do YOU really have “enough“? I would be lying if I said that I don’t struggle with it once in a while. Would YOU like to have more?

Money…
It would be easy for me to “justify” a desire to have more income, because it would make it easier to do ministry at Cypress Cove because I could live closer, but that ignores the fact that I am where I am for a reason – to minister to my neighbor-gal. That ministry has been going on since mid-2013, and I have lost track of the number of times and ways that I have been there for her.

Many people want more money for selfish-reasons, so they can buy more toys and googas, which they want but don’t need. More money may also mean a fancier home in a more prestigious neighborhood, or a membership at an exclusive golf and country club, or both.

And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)

Health…
Who wouldn’t like to be young, strong and healthy again? Who wouldn’t like to reverse the effects of aging? I have enough aches, pains and health-problems for someone twenty-years my senior, and I would really like to kick “Arthur” out of my “house“, but I can’t, so I have learned to live with my reality as it is. I would love it if I were able to see with BOTH eyes and never needed glasses again, but that is NOT going to happen…yet.

50 Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:50-57)

Power…
How much power is “enough“? It has been said that “Power corrupts, and absolute-power corrupts absolutely“, and we can see that vividly in our world. A small handful of people hold the reins of power over billions of people, and an even-smaller handful hold the keys to the world’s nuclear-arsenals. One mad-man with an itchy trigger-finger could ignite a nuclear-holocaust. Does anyone “deserve” that much power?

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

Prestige…
Prestige usually flows from having Wealth and Power, because it is rare to find a person who has Prestige who doesn’t have either Wealth or Power, or both. Like Wealth and Power, Prestige is fleeting. One day you have it, the next day you don’t, but what if there was a “prestige” which is eternal?

I don’t have Wealth, or Power, or Prestige, but I am a child of the KING of kings and LORD of lords, and I have a home which is eternal…

Fame…
Fame is also fleeting, because it is built on how others see you. You can’t make yourself “famous“, although you can try. I don’t want or need Fame, because what I do isn’t for the adulation of other people.

Final thoughts…
ALL of these things are fleeting, temporary, and none of them will survive us beyond the grave. Job, in the midst of his poverty, penned these immortal words:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
And naked I shall return there.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21)

I have “enough“, do YOU?

In Christ,
Steve

Whose Glory?

What do the Oscars, the Emmy’s, and the Golden Globes have in common? What about the Walk of Fame? What do the World Series, the Superbowl, the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup have in common? What about the Daytona 500, the Indianapolis 500 and the Gatornationals? What do the Master’s, Wimbledon and the Tour de France have in common? How about the Heisman Trophy?

They all celebrate human achievement, whether in entertainment, team sports, auto racing or in individual sports. We crave recognition, because the satisfaction of a job well done isn’t quite enough. We want someone to pat us on the back and say “Congratulations!”. We want GLORY!

Since the dawn of human-history, mankind has had an insatiable thirst for glory. When Adam and Eve took Satan’s bait, “You shall be as gods“, the die was cast, and the pursuit of glory has been in the forefront of mankind’s minds ever since.

The Tower of Babel is a classic example of building a monument to and for man’s glory, but after God intervened, all that was left was a pile of useless rubble. Are we still building “Towers of Babel“? There are a few in my home-town, monuments to human-achievement.

Why do race-car drivers risk life and limb for one more checkered-flag? Why do pro football players risk a career-ending injury for one more Superbowl Ring? Why do boxers risk their lives for one more title bout? Why do professional athletes take perfomance-enhancing drugs, when they risk ruining their careers if they get caught? Why do many entertainers sell their souls to Satan for fame and fortune? Is it really worth it? Robin Williams met a gruesome end, in spite of all his success and fame.

Fame comes, and fame goes, but no earthly-fame lasts forever. There is always someone waiting in the wings for the star to slip up or wear out. There is always someone with an even-bigger ego waiting to take the star’s place. Is it really worth it?

Why is a little fame never enough? Is the thirst for fame so insatiable that a person will risk everything for a little bit more fame?

37 Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:
“Lord, who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

39 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:
40 “He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their hearts,
so they can neither see with their eyes,
nor understand with their hearts,
nor turn—and I would heal them.”

41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved human praise more than praise from God. (John 12:37-43)

Do the last two verses of this passage catch your attention the way they caught mine? Whose praise was more important to them, God’s or man’s? They wanted to be in the spotlight NOW. They wanted their praise NOW. They wanted their glory NOW, and they were willing to sacrifice their eternal destiny on the altar of human glory.

I worked with a man in Search and Rescue for several years who was a magnet for the news media. He was the “public face” of Search and Rescue, and he LOVED it. Even though many other people did the hard work of finding and rescuing lost people while he sat in base-camp directing the action, he got the GLORY.

A few years ago, I received an award that I really deserved – NOT!!! I was picked as the Firefighter of the Year by the Chief of the volunteer fire department that I was a part of. There were many other members who contributed far more than I did, but some of them had already been recognized in previous years, so I received the award. My mom still has that award and a picture of me with it in her living room. It really wasn’t my award, even though it was presented to me, because without the rest of the team all pulling together, we would have had fallen apart as a department long before that. Every member of that department deserved that award.

There is one award that I am looking forward to, but not because I deserve it. I look forward to hearing “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.” That is the only award that has eternal-significance, and the only one that matters to me.

In Christ,
Steve