Be Wary of Using the Means While Forgetting about the End

Focusing on the means & forgetting about the ends is foolish at best & a dire waste of time, talent & treasure at worst.

That’s the gist of Jesus’s message about a dishonest rascal who cheated his lord out of a large sum of wealth. The rich man heard that his manager was wasting his money, so he told the man to gather his reports because he  was about to be fired.

The shrewd manager cleverly invited people who owed money to his employer to a meeting where he slashed their balance in half!  He did this to ensure that he’d have friends once he was fired.

I’ve never quite understood why Jesus exemplified his rascally conduct until today. What is praised is not the man’s dishonesty, but his foresight, discernment & wisdom of how to employ possessions for a future purpose.

Jesus says if your faithful in the little, you will be faithful with much & reminds us that we can’t serve both God & money. The word for “money” means that in which we trust. We cannot trust money & God

Budgeting is binary in God’s economy. It serves either an earthly or eternal aim.

If we only focus on the means, our vision becomes myopic & we miss out on the why behind them👉🏽the end. There’s always an end, so what means are we employing to get there?

The dishonest manager prostituted incredible qualities for a low purpose…that’s easy to see in the story, but if we’re honest, we often do the same 😬

When we fix our hope on that which is destined to perish, acquiring much for the sake of acquiring, we dizzy ourselves with lack of purpose.

Our Father has given us time, talents & treasures to invest on His behalf. Are we wielding them to grow His portfolio or are simply for using the means & forgetting about the end?

So I close with 2 questions:

1) What’s your aim-what’s your end goal with the means you have?

2) What happens when you arrive -will you be satisfied eternally?

Father, help us to be as shrewd like the manager with YOUR time, talents & treasures! We choose Your aim over ours any day! Use everything we have, invest it all for Your Kingdom portfolio! We want to wield it all in such a way that we’ve “gained” many people who will meet us in heaven once we’ve met our “end” 😉

#OneYearBible

April 13th One Year Bible Readings

JOSHUA 7:16-9:2

LUKE 16:1-18

PSALM 82:1-8

PROVERBS 13:2-3

The Father’s Love Woos the Prodigal Home. Will You Return?

Have you ever lost something important then found it? My husband recently lost his wallet…it’s such a painful process to replace all the stuff as well as accept the fact that the gift cards from Christmas are gone 😐. About a week later, however, he went into Walmart guest services to see if some good-hearted soul might have turned it in, & lo & behold someone did!💝

Jesus tells 3 loss & recovery stories in Luke 15. The 1st tells of 1 of 100 lost sheep, the 2nd tells of 1 of 10 lost coins & the 3rd tells of 1 of 2 brothers who is lost, but ends with the realization that even though the older brother stayed present in body, his soul was far from his father.

This dad of all dads continually matches pride with humility. The younger son essentially wishes him dead so he can take his inheritance. The father generously grants his request by splitting the inheritance “between” the 2 sons instead of the customary 2/3 & 1/3 split.

When the prodigal returns, he would’ve been met with a gauntlet of insults, beating & stoning. Dignified men didn’t run in that culture, but when the father sees his son’s return, he risks humiliation by running to embrace & protect his son.

As the father celebrates his “found” son, he discovers another prodigal that’s been hidden for years. His oldest complains that HE was never given a party. Again, the father responds with love, reminding his son, “What’s mine IS yours!…We HAVE to celebrate because what was lost is now found!

The story is left incomplete. We don’t know what the older brother decides, but we DO know of the father’s love for BOTH of his wayward sons. How did such an amazing father end up with 2 rebels like that…& how did OUR good Father end up with wayward children like us?😬

I often think being a parent is just as much about our growth as our children’s. They keep us humble & give great opportunity to learn of our own desperate need of the Father’s love. Their decisions stretch our faith & help us place our hope (& their future) into the Father’s hands!

How’s your heart today? Has it wandered from our Father’s House? Y’all the banquet table is ready &  set! Our Father longs for all of us to return home! You coming?

#OneYearBible

April 12th One Year Bible Readings

JOSHUA 5:1-7:15

LUKE 15:1-32

PSALM 81:1-16

PROVERBS 13:1

Remembering to Remember

I’m not a gifted decorator & I don’t like chachka, so if I do have knick knacks in my home, there’s most likely a deep why behind them. One of them is a vase of dried wheat that the Lord directed me to buy it after a long season of sifting.

After months of hardship, loss & a major downsize, I felt led to go to Hobby Lobby to buy something to memorialize the moment.

I’m SO not a Hobby Lobby girl & instantly felt my skin begin to itch as I walked into the store that’s known for chachka. 😂 I wandered the cluttered aisles asking the Lord for a visual to remember His faithfulness during this hard season.

After making my way around the permitter, I landed in florals🥴I don’t like fake flowers (aka dust collectors), but as I walked down the aisle, I came across the wheat. As soon as I saw it I heard this:

“The enemy asked to sift you like wheat, Kimberly, but you remained faithful to follow my lead; through the hard & the loss you continued to worship & wash yourself in My Word. You weren’t afraid because you chose to fear Me alone. May this remind you of my faithfulness during the sifting season.”

I wept amidst the dusty florals like nobody’s business. Our God is so faithful to save. We’re sometimes just so busy in our sorrow that we don’t see Him.

That memory of wheat surfaced today as I read about God’s command for the Israelites to remember His power to save. Only 2 men remained of the cazillion people who’d escaped Egyptian slavery by walking through the Red Sea & now He parts the waters of the Jordan River, for the 2nd generation to see His faithfulness.

As soon as the priests’ feet touched the waters edge, it stopped flowing & the river bed was instantly dry! Once the throngs of people made way to the other side, God commands them to build a memorial of remembrance with rocks from the riverbed.

As I close this morning, questions are bubbling. Has the Lord ever saved you from something significant? Has He forgiven something great? Has He provided with extraordinary measure?

How has God revealed His power & faithfulness to you & how might you memorialize it as a reminder for you & your children’s children that our Father is always faithful to save?🌾

#OneYearBible

April 11th One Year Bible Readings

JOSHUA 3:1-4:24

LUKE 14:7-35

PSALM 80:1-19

PROVERBS 12:27-28