Do you serve God or mammon?

Jesus said: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”  Matthew 6:24

I committed my life to Christ several decades ago. And if anyone would have asked me if I served God or mammon, I immediatly would have said, “I serve God.” I always thought that was the way I was. But that was before . . . before I got hit with a huge business downturn which left me wading in a sea of debt. Actually, I wasn’t wading since that kinnotes knee-deep debt. I was in neck-deep debt — the kind that almost drowns the debtor!

I realized then that I was bound by this new and very heavy burdon. If a mission opportunity came up that I really wanted to do — I couldn’t. I had too much debt. If a brother or sister in Christ really needed something — I couldn’t be the one to respond. I had too much debt. If a call came out from one of the ministries I had always supported — I couldn’t give — I had too much debt.

I didn’t volunteer to serve mammon by being neck-deep in debt. It was more of a thing that fell on me . . . but nevertheless, I was bound and could not serve God in total freedom.

As I realized this dilemma, I started asking God to help me sort this all out! He reminded me of the time when the disciples were about to drown in a storm on the sea. Jesus was in the boat with them, but He was asleep — probably tired after the long day of ministry that proceeded the sail across the lake. The disciples cried out to Jesus, “Master, Master, we are perishing!”

Jesus got up, rebuked the winds and the raging waves, and within minutes the sea was calm. Then he directed His attention to the disciples. He asked them, “Where is your faith?” He implied that they could have handled this storm all by themselves — that they had the same power inside of themselves that He had inside.

So I asked myself, “Where is your faith? What are you going to do about the storm you are in — the one that is trying to drown YOU!”

That turned me around! Do you hear the sound of REPENT in the air? I had a choice to either worry about debt or muster up every bit of faith inside of me and wage a war on the debt that had befallen me! That was when I started my personal Lack Attack, which has turned into a website (www.LackAttack.com) and a whole new lease on Life — back to serving God.

The storm has not totally subsided! But now I “live by faith, not by sight.” Just like Jesus, I talk to the storm! And thanks be to God, the waters are calming!

The Mystery of the Seed

I’ve been busy researching and writing content for my new website at www.LackAttack.com So, this morning I was reading my Bible and just kind of “floating around” in spiritual thought. It’s all part of my early morning routine. I get up somewhere between 4:30 and 6:00 each day, just depends on how much sleep my body wants. I make myself a hot cup of coffee with half-and-half cream and come back to bed to read my Bible, pray and study. This is my favorite time of the day . . . it’s my Secret Place. 

So this morning, as I was enjoying this time, I looked over and saw a log book where I enter the financial “seed” that I sow. It’s an idea I picked up from a friend a long time ago, and I have been pretty faithful about it. I used my words so “fertilize” the seed for which I am still awaiting the harvest. Then a new thought came to me. The power in those seeds is not anything I did to them. My only part was obeying God and planting the seed. But power in those seeds was from God. He is the “generator” within.

I starting thinking about seeds and my mind’s eye pictured a dry kernel of corn. By the time the kernels are off the ears and dried out for the next season’s planting, they’re pretty hard and almost dead looking.  But way down, deep inside that single kernel of corn is life! Explosive life! It’s hard to imagine how so much could come out of such humble beginnings.

God is the author of the life. The Creator! His creative power is stored up inside that hard and lifeless-looking seed! But, in truth it is not lifeless at all. Rather, it’s full of life! The Bible calls the financial gifts we give “seeds.” And they too have explosive life in them. Not because of anything we do to them, but because of the power and life the Creator put in them. Just like the simple kernel of corn, our dollar seeds can multiply! The Bible says it can multiply 30, 60, or an hundred fold! That’s a pretty good harvest. AMEN!