What Jesus Did! - Storing Up

"Don't save treasures for yourselves here on earth. Moths and rust will destroy treasures here on earth. And thieves can break into your house and steal the things you have. So save your treasure in heaven. The treasures in heaven cannot be destroyed by moths or rust. And thieves cannot break in and steal that treasure. Your heart will be where your treasure is.
- Matthew 6:19-21 (ERV)

THOUGHT:

Jesus wasn't very big on storing up things. The story of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Lk. 16:19-31) reminds us how easily we can forget that our blessings come from God's grace and are not something we have accomplished on our own. Jesus did not store up things while he was here; he shared them, gave them away, gave them to people in need, and used what he had to bless others.

Jesus wants us to confront a couple of crucial questions: What is our treasure and where are we keeping it? Every earthly treasure we have is vulnerable to destruction. Every one of our treasures, except our relationship to God and his people, is temporary. So why do we spend so much time investing in things that will not satisfy or sustain? Jesus urges us to invest in what is lasting, eternal, and ultimately perfect. If we do, nothing can destroy and nothing can steal our blessed assurance that we will be victorious in Jesus.

PRAYER:

O precious LORD, thank you for investing so heavily in me and in the world in which I live. There is no one who can love me like you do. Father, please help me focus my priorities and my thoughts on heavenly things as well as placing my treasures in heaven. In Jesus' holy name I pray. Amen.

Related Scriptures:

You were raised from death with Christ. So try to get the things in heaven. I mean the things where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Think only about the things in heaven, not the things on earth. Your old sinful self has died, and your new life is kept with Christ in God. Christ is your life. When he comes again, you will share in his glory. - Colossians 3:1-4

Give this command to the people who are rich with the things this world has. Tell them not to be proud. Tell those rich people to hope in God, not their money. Money cannot be trusted. But God takes care of us richly. He gives us everything to enjoy.

Tell the rich people to do good. Tell them to be rich in doing good things. And tell them to be happy to give and ready to share. By doing that they will be saving a treasure for themselves {in heaven}. That treasure will be a strong foundation --their future life can be built on that treasure. Then they will be able to have the life that is true life. - 1 Timothy 6:17-19

Moses grew up and became a man. Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Moses chose not to enjoy the pleasures of sin. Those pleasures end quickly. Instead, Moses chose to suffer bad things with God's people. Moses did this because he had faith. Moses thought that it was better to suffer for the Christ than to have all the treasures of Egypt. Moses was waiting for the reward {that God would give him}. - Hebrews 11:24-26

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What Jesus Did! - The Hidden Fast

When you fast, don't make yourselves look sad. The hypocrites do that. Don't be like the hypocrites. They make their faces look strange to show people that they are fasting. I tell you the truth, those hypocrites already have their full reward.

So when you fast, make yourself look nice. Wash your face. Then people will not know that you are fasting. But your Father that you cannot see will see you. Your Father sees the things that are done in secret. And he will reward you.
- Matthew 6:16-18 (ERV)

THOUGHT:
We do not pursue the spiritual disciplines to gain us notoriety and respect. They are of value when we offer them to God and go about our daily routine as if nothing were different, except our character. Our character is to be transformed to be more like our Father in Heaven. A fast to God is not about looking like we're fasting on the outside, but that we're being transformed on the inside. That transformation will show itself over time, and in the meantime, the fruit of fasting will be its own reward.

PRAYER:
Loving Father, I recognize that every good thing I have comes from you. Thank you for being so generous. I especially enjoy the food you provide for me each day. As I fast, please help me to base that fasting in the thankfulness for all you have done for me and please use it to form in me more of your character than I had yesterday. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Related Scriptures:

"I will tell you the kind of special day I want--a day to make people free. I want a day that you take the burdens off people. I want a day when you make the troubled people free. I want a day when you take the burdens from their shoulders. I want you to share your food with the hungry people. I want you to find poor people that don't have homes, and I want you to bring them into your own homes. When you see a man that has no clothes--give him your clothes!

Don't hide {from helping those people}; they are just like you." If you do these things, your light will begin shining like the light of dawn. Then your wounds will heal. Your "Goodness" (God) will walk in front of you, and the Glory of the Lord will come following behind you. Then you will call to the Lord, and the Lord will answer you. You will shout to the Lord, and he will say, "Here I am." You should stop making troubles and burdens for people. You should stop using bitter words and blaming people for things. - Isaiah 58:6-9

Jesus answered, "{When there is a wedding,} the friends of the bridegroom are not sad while he is with them. They cannot fast (be sad) while the bridegroom is still there. But the time will come when the bridegroom will leave them. The friends are sad when the bridegroom leaves. Then they will fast. - Mark 2:19-20

These men were all serving the Lord and fasting. The Holy Spirit said to them, "Give Barnabas and Saul to me to do a special work. I have chosen them to do this work." So the church fasted and prayed. They put their hands on Barnabas and Saul and sent them out. - Acts 13:2-3