Part 6
Be eager to have his childrenThe concept of having spiritual children is firmly entrenched in the Bible (for example, see 1 Korinther 4:15; Galater 4:19: 1 Thessalonicher 2:7; Philemon 10). Anyone whom God uses to cause another person to become a true, born again Christian is regarded as being that person’s spiritual parent.The Bible uses both betrothal and marriage to symbolize the relationship God has with his people. But in this case, of course, the marriage analogy is the most appropriate. Just as it is normal in marriage to have children, so in your spiritual union with Christ it is normal to have spiritual children. Especially in Bible days it was a cause of great shame for a married person to remain childless. But you will be able to have spiritual children, provided you maintain an intimate relationship with Christ. It takes two persons for a child to be conceived. And it takes two persons (the Lord and at least one other person) to cause a person to be spiritually born (that is, forgiven, Johannes 3:6). The Lord could have decided to produce spiritual children completely unaided. (He is the only person who, in everything, is able to be totally independent.) But he has given us great dignity by requiring our help in this extremely important act (Hesekie 33:7,8,11; Matthaeus 9:38; 2 Korinther 6:1; 5:18-20). The spiritual destinies (eternity in Heaven or Hell) of billions of people are at stake. It seems impossible to think of anything more important. Because the Almighty has deliberately restricted himself, he needs you to help save people from Hell. He has entrusted this enormous responsibility to you because your all-powerful God has faith in you and he loves you so much that he wants you to share in his great work. Don’t let God down. The greatest thing we could ever do of a person would be to save his or her life. But, unfortunately, what is normally referred to as saving a life is merely delaying death. It may take decades, but eventually that person who was ‘saved from death’ will die. However, by virtue of your union with Christ, you can really save lives so that people will receive eternal life and live forever (Lukas 20:35,36; Johannes 5:24-29; 6:27, 50-54; 1 Korinther 15:22,26,32; 2 Korinther 5:1-6.) How to have spiritual children  Maintain an intimate union with Jesus.
This is, of course, absolutely essential. Without him, you can do nothing of any eternal value (Johannes 15:5). Children inherit characteristics from both their parents. Do all you can to ensure that your spiritual life doesn’t have any defects (such as slackness or sin), or your spiritual children might also share those defects.
What value do you place on human soul?
After being used of God to bring a new Christian into this world, you then have an obligation to help that person grow spiritually. What would you think of a woman who gave birth to a child and then left it to fend for itself? It is my obligation to the spiritual children the Lord gives me that has caused me to put much time and effort into writing this webpage. You should do all you can to encourage your spiritual children to spiritually reproduce. By doing this, even if you are only a teenager, you can be a spiritual grand-parent or even great-grand-parent! Amazing as it seems, if you have only one spiritual child every six months, and each of your spiritual descendants reproduce at the same rate, the entire population of the world would be true Christians by the end of sixteen years!
Give your Lover giftsGive joyfully (2 Korinther 9:7), liberally (2 Korinther 8:2) and out of love (1 Korinther 13:3), because this is the way in which your Creator has given to you (Jakobus 1:5). The greatest thing you can give your Lover is your love. He appreciates the little things you do for him, like missing a meal just so you can spend more time alone with him!. He treasures your gifts and, obviously, the more sacrificial the gift, the more precious it is to him. But a gift given as a solemn obligation (though better than none) is not nearly as pleasing to your Lord as something given joyfully as an expression of love (2 Korinther 9:7). 
It is quite unscriptural to think that we have fulfilled our financial obligation to our Lord once we have given a tithe (one tenth of our income). The concept of tithing is confined almost entirely to the Old Testament. And even in those times, in addition to tithes, offerings were expected (Maleachi 3:8), as well as gifts to the poor (5 Mose (Deuteronomy) 15:11; Isaiah 58:7), total obedience to God, and so on.
Certainly, a few Old Testament people were rich. One of these was Job, but note his attitude towards money (Job. 31:16-32). He was very generous, and rejoiced in God, not his wealth. In Lukas 3:9-14 we find that three different classes of people asked Johannes the Baptist what they must do in order to avoid the judgment of God. To every group, the Baptist zeroed in on money and possessions. A rich young man asked Jesus how he could receive eternal life. No doubt, this devout Jew was already giving tithes, but Jesus told him to sell all he possessed and give it to the poor. The young man was not prepared to pay such a high price. And so, even though Jesus loved him, he had to let him leave dejected, with no assurance of eternal life (Markus 10:17-22). Similarly, you cannot be given assurance of eternal life if, when confronted with a similar dilemma, you discovered that money, and not Jesus, is really your God. (The Lord may or may not actually give you this test, but since he thoroughly knows you, he already knows how you would respond.) I believe many, many people are self-deceived on this point. They are willing to give their Maker a large percentage of their money and time. They believe they are dedicated Christians, and feel certain that they have eternal life. But if God asked for 100%, it would become obvious that Jesus is not their Lord at all. Some of their faith is in Jesus, but the rest of it is in material things. They are like someone who would like to be saved but is not prepared to leave his sinking boat in order to board the rescue ship. What a foolish and highly dangerous situation to be in! Jesus also required his twelve disciples to surrender 100% of their possessions (Markus 10:28; Lukas 5:11,27,28), But God ensured that they never lacked a thing (Markus 10:29-30; Lukas 22:35). Zacchaeus resolved to give half his goods to the poor and decided that anyone he had cheated he would repay four times as much. It was only after this change of attitude towards money that Jesus declared, ‘Today, salvation has come to this household’ (Lukas 19:8-9). The early Christians in Jerusalem, filled with the love of God, sold their possessions to provide for those in need (Apostelgeschichte 2:44-45; 4:34-37). Apparently, the mere sight of fellow believers with needs greater than their own was sufficient to motivate them to make this sacrifice. As the church grew, this concept of sharing continued (Apostelgeschichte 11:27-30) until it encompassed believers in the entire world (2 Korinther 8:14-15). God’s desire is that there be a world-wide material equality amongst true Believers. (Allowing for the fact that some have greater needs than others.) Read the principles described in 2 Korinther, Chapters 8 and 9. Add to them the fact that it is more blessed to give than to receive (Apostelgeschichte 20:35). And add to this total, the effect that a world-wide display of love and unity would have upon unbelievers (Johannes 13:35; 17:21). It then becomes obvious that if God really wanted to bless the church, he would create within it an unequal distribution of wealth. An immense flood of prayer, praise, love, joy, prosperity, and blessing would then result from the equalization of this wealth. 
A great, world-wide inequality does indeed exist. It is up to you and me in the rich countries to create such a flow of finance to our needy brothers and sisters that God will be glorified and the whole world will sit up and take notice.
It might seem that you can hardly ‘make ends meet’ now, but God has promised to take care of all your financial needs when you give sacrificially to him (Matthaeus 6:31-33; Lukas 6:38; 2 Korinther 9:6; Philipper 4:15-19). And if you already have sufficient, remember that God has prospered you so that you may give to others (2 Korinther 9:8,11). Of course, there is nothing basically wrong with money or material possessions, but we must face the realities of life. There are people dying of physical and spiritual starvation who could be saved if we gave them some of our money instead of spending it on ourselves. The really ‘rich’ people are those who have discovered the joy of giving. See Sprueche 11:24-25. Because God looks after such people, and they are content with the basic necessities of life (1 Timotheus 6:6-8), they always have more than enough. Furthermore, they are storing great riches in heaven (Markus 10:21; Lukas 14:12-14). The poor people (whatever the size of their bank balance) are those who are spiritually bankrupt. They are never content with what they have. They are always craving for more. Always be willing to obey inner urges to give money, but first ask God, to ensure that the desire is really coming from him. Although the recipient of the money will be human, you are right in regarding it as a personal gift to God (Sprueche 19:17; Matthaeus 25:40). Remember how one boy’s lunch fed a huge crowd (Johannes 6:1-13). If the lad had ignored Jesus, and tried to meet the great need himself, very little would have been accomplished. A miracle occurred and the great need was met because the boy first offered his gift to Jesus. Tell Jesus that you are giving the gift to him (even though it is also given to a human agency) and ask him to bless and multiply it. God can then use your small gift to meet some of the great needs in this world. Who to give money to: Those who have spiritually helped you (Galater 6:6, 1 Timotheus 5:17,18).
The person or organization used by God to bring you to the Lord, and your church, fits into this category. I believe that, after providing your family with its basic needs (1 Timotheus 5:8), your prime financial obligation is to provide for the needs of those who have sacrificially ministered to you spiritually. But this should not normally be done to the extent that you become financially impoverished while your spiritual leaders become rich (2 Korinther 8:12-13).
Additional resources on the above topic
Look forward to your wedding dayA girl who is engaged to be married enjoys a close relationship with her fiancé, but she longs for the day when they can be even more intimate. She yearns for the day when he will not just visit her, but actually live with her. It’s quite frustrating at times, but she has to wait until they are married. In a similar way, we now enjoy a beautiful relationship with Jesus, but we yearn for the day of his glorious return, when we shall see him as he really is (1 Johannes 3:2). We cherish those times when we are deeply conscious of his presence but we want such experiences to continue, uninterrupted, forever! We long for our union with Christ to be consummated. (There is, of course, no sexual element in this. In fact, it seems that after death we will no longer have the capacity for sex – Markus 12:25; Galater 3:28.) We know that our honeymoon with Jesus will literally be heavenly and that it will never end. And so we look forward to the day when our Lover will return and take us to himself (Johannes 14:3). A strong desire for Christ’s return to earth was common amongst the early Christians, and it is important that we exhibit the same longings (Philipper 3:20; 2 Timotheus 4:8; Titus 2:13; Hebraeer 9:28; Offenbarung 22:20). Those who have this yearning should keep themselves pure (1 Johannes 3:2-3) and ensure that they do not become lax in their service for their glorious Lord (Lukas 12:36-47). Life with Jesus, right now, is great, but it is only a vague shadow of the tremendous things that God has in store for you when his Son returns. You shouldn’t be concerned about seeking a nice, easy life now. One of the recurring themes of Jesus’ teaching is that if you are not recompensed in this life for sacrifices you make, your reward will be much greater in the next world (Lukas 14:12-14). When the King of kings returns to earth, you will become perfect, just as he is (Roemer 8:29; 1 Korinther 15:49; 1 Johannes 3:2). But as you wait for that wonderful day, there is no need to struggle and strive to try to please your Holy God. Just relax and enjoy your Divine Lover. If you spend much time examining yourself, you will only find failures and imperfections, but when you look at Jesus, you are looking at the ultimate in success and perfection. As you get your eyes off your problems and failures, and fix your attention upon your perfect Lover (Philipper 4:8), you will find yourself gradually becoming more and more like him (2 Korinther 3:18). This will occur as naturally (and generally as slowly) as a child becomes progressively more and more like an adult. ![[Man showing off muscles]](muscles.gif)
But although you will be growing spiritually, it will not always seem that way. Naturally, you will feel strong when things are easy-going, but when you are facing strong temptations you may be plagued with doubts. At such times you may seem spiritually much weaker than a few weeks earlier when things were so much easier. Previously, it seemed as though you were bounding ahead whereas now it seems a major accomplishment merely to keep your head above water! But this is quite normal and no cause for alarm. Quite possibly, if you had been subjected to those same pressures earlier in your Christian experience you would have completely given up. (So you really are stronger than you used to be!). But God is faithful! He has promised to allow you to be exposed to only those trials that he knows you have the spiritual strength to overcome, with his help (1 Korinther 10:13). And every victory will make you even stronger. But you must persist! This is essential for any development in the spiritual realm. For example, you must keep on forgiving people no matter how much they abuse and exploit you. This ability to steadfastly resist opposition when others would have given up; to remain faithful to God in almost impossible situations, is what some Bible versions call patience but it is really a stronger quality than this word implies (Hebraeer 12:1-4). It is vital that you have this ability and so continually ask God to give it to you.
So, although temporary difficulties and hardships may come your way, as you submit to the Lord Jesus and maintain an intimate union with him through faith, you will gradually grow stronger and stronger spiritually (Psalm 84:5,7). In other words, you shall overcome every problem, by the power of your all-powerful God, and things will get better and better!
Additional resources on the above topic
The next step
Have you now completed the entire webpage? Tremendous! I hope this achievement gives you some of the satisfaction I’ve felt in completing the writing. In this webpage I’ve given you some idea as to where you are headed as you continue to develop spiritually. It is as though I’ve described in detail a very long journey and you may feel almost exhausted at the mere thought of it! But don’t worry, you’ll get there, a day at a time. I would like to say I’ve already arrived, but I haven’t. I’m still having difficulty trying to integrate some of these things into my own life. But I’ve made lots of progress. And you will too, as you look to Jesus for the strength.
Are you brave enough to try looking up all of the Scripture verses? It’s quite a task. (There are over 700!) Even when I was merely checking them I began to wonder if I’d ever finish! And I must warn that sometimes the connection between the verse and what I’ve written is quite obscure! But have a go! You’ve got nothing to lose (except your sanity)! Comfort yourself with the thought that all the time you spend doing it is only the smallest fraction of the time I’ve spent preparing them for you. God bless you! I recommend you read a short but fascinating webpage: Life’s Mysteries Explained
 Not to be sold. © Copyright, Grantley Morris, 1980, 1999.
For much more by the same author, see www.net-burst.com
|
