Update #94

“Do not worship any other god, because I, the LORD, tolerate no rivals.” Exodus 34:14

“Well, we rely on it.” She said.

“You might, but I don’t” I responded.

“We all do” she quipped back.

“I don’t…I don’t rely on money.” I don’t have faith in money. Money changes, it isn’t stable year to year, decade to decade, century to century. Money in itself doesn’t give back. I don’t have confidence in money, in mammon. I have confidence in God.

Do you rely, have faith, have confidence, bet, depend, lean, look to, or believe in money? If you do, hear this: If money is your god, if mammon is what you trust – then you have money as an idol and you worship mammon instead of God.

God will have no idols put in front of him. If you are worried about your bank account, your stocks, your portfolio, or what the market is doing, then you have an idol. If you follow the ticks of the Dow and have heart palpitations when it drops, you have an idol. If you rely on money as your first defense – “oh, I have enough in the bank to cover that”; “oh, I can pull from my IRA”; “oh, I can cash in some stocks – I’ll be ok,” you have an idol.

Where do you turn when you first find yourself in a financial crunch or crisis? What is the first action you take? First call you make?

God wants to be your first, your only…and your financier. God wants to be the one to whom you talk when a sticky situation arises. God wants to help you decide what to do with your money. Maybe he doesn’t want you to cash out your stock portfolio to solve a financial calamity – maybe he has something else in mind and wants you to use that money another place.

As I have written earlier God is unchanging (see Update #88) – he is the same yesterday, today and forever, and he is all sufficient, all knowing, all seeing, everlasting, and creator (see Update #80) among many other things. Who else would you want in control of your finances!

The conversation triggering this whole missive shocked me. The other person is a solid Christian who is incredibly generous not only with her time, but with her money and possessions as well. I wouldn’t have thought for a second that mammon could be an idol of hers; further discussion revealed it was.

This got me to thinking – how many other well meaning, well intentioned, generously giving Christians also have the mindset they need to rely on money, on an income, on a human provider to get them what they need? My heart hurts at the thought. Relying on anything but God is equivalent to bondage – you are tied to it, worry about it, and feel you need to “manage” it to have peace.

This is not what God intended. He wants to be our provider; our “Jehovah Jireh” the Bible calls him. Being tied into God doesn’t bring bondage – it brings freedom, abundant life, joy, and peace…which are hallmarks of his Kingdom (see Update #81). This sounds so much better than anxiety, worry, fear and control...give me joy and peace any day!

Updates:
Living – My condo in Redmond, WA is still for sale http://www.michaelmenin.com/ (view my listings) – it’s the “Sammamish River” one.
Work – I am heading to Indonesia in June – partly with our team, partly to do some client work. I am excited to go back! Dr. G, Felly, OM Errol, Titik, Heru, Handoko…here I come! Oh, and we have secured all our team leads for this round – Whoo Hoo! Thanks for praying.
Health – Spring is here and with it, wild weather. My ankle has been a bit cranky with all the barometer bouncing but hopefully this season will be short lived.
Social – I am helping friends coordinate their wedding next month – I am so looking forward to it!
Finances – Again, God is so cool. I chatted with him about having to fundraise another round to cover my upcoming travel and on the ground expenses and donations have been coming in (thank you, thank you) – I haven’t even sent out a formal letter yet! Go God!

Requests:
Work – We are finishing training and prepping for travel. Please pray for our consultants. They are facing increased work demands, decreased cash flow and want to finish with excellence. Travel – that I find a sweet deal on an air ticket from San Francisco to Jakarta.

Finances - If you would like to sow into what I am doing see the footer info at http://www.denaandrews.blogstpot.com/ or contribute at http://www.repurposing.biz/ for more information.

Update #93

“The Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control.” Galatians 5:22, 23

I worshiped recently with over 200 fervent followers of Christ and I thought…What is keeping this passionately devoted crowd from changing their sphere, their space, their world? If these people demonstrated their passion outside these walls as fervently as they do inside, the world would be changed. What stops them? More poignantly, what stops me?

Why don’t I pray for the person I see limping? Or the one with a splint or a cast? Why not care for the upset, the tearful, the angry? What keeps me from approaching strangers to bring them the comfort of Christ?

Fear. Fear stops me. Fear of what? Of being misunderstood? Of being seen as a freak? Of being branded “unaccepted” and “unusual”? Then I realized the “fear of man” stops me – fear of what they would think, how they would respond, what they would say – and I don’t just fear the reactions of those I would pray for – I fear the public perception.

This whole thought process took less than 10 seconds. I was completely humbled. I repented of putting fear above loving others. I cried out to God: God, I want to honor you above all else, I want to be bold, I want to live my live out of freedom not fear, and I want to live my life from the point of abundance not limitation.

When we become Christians, the Holy Spirit takes residence inside of us. He is just like Jesus, just invisible. Jesus wasn’t afraid of the masses; he wasn’t afraid to approach the ill, the hurting, the diseased. Jesus wasn’t fearful of consequences, of the press, the wagging tongues of others. Jesus wasn’t concerned about mis-perception, mis-quoting, mis-representation. Jesus kept his heart right before God and acted.

The Holy Sprit resides inside and wants an outlet! How are you unleashing the Holy Spirit on those around you? How are you showing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness – or is it mostly self-control that is being developed?

Self-control is my uber fruit. I display that one a lot – it is kind of a specialty. I do nothing vs. doing something and looking silly. I play the self-control card when I don’t know what else to do. Vulnerability, transparency, availability are not second nature to me and self-control is. Self-control in wonky situations is easy – kindness and gentleness are not, they may require action.

I am taking steps to walk more boldly and approach the unapproachable. I have offered to pray for strangers. I am growing more in the other fruits of the spirit; but not enough. I know it will be enough when the world around me changes, changes for the better.

How about you? What is your uber fruit? Do strangers know about your bent for gentleness or just your close friends? Does the grocery clerk, bank teller, post office guy, dry cleaner lady know about your kindness or is it only shown at home to people you love? What fruit are you giving to others and in what ways are you sharing it?

Updates:
Living – Condo in Redmond, WA is still for sale http://www.michaelmenin.com/ (view my listings) – it’s the “Sammamish River” one.
Work – “The Big Weekend” went really well – and for some reason we are getting a refund. Somehow we overpaid! Ha! How often does that happen?!
Health – I took my first Balboa dance class last week and my ankle made it through! Yeah! Downside is that I am learning “Willie” whereas my friends in Seattle know “Max”…oh well – broaden my repertoire!
Social – Kim Wilson just left this morning after staying with me for a week. I was sad to see her go. I love having her as a roommate! That is Lina, Kim and I at TBW in the picture.
Finances – God is so cool. I was given a monetary gift – I asked where he wanted me to “sow it” – he told me and I did. I had no clue this person was in need! Hee Hee! So fun to unexpectedly bless people!

Requests:
Work – We are finishing training and prepping for travel. Please pray for our consultants. They are facing increased work demands, decreased cash flow and want to finish with excellence. We are also working to put our team leads in place – pray that God reveals to us who is to lead where.
Finances - If you would like to sow into what I am doing see the footer info at http://www.denaandrews.blogstpot.com/ or contribute at http://www.repurposing.biz/ for more information.

PS Happy Easter!