Tuesday, May 27, 2008

What is your Strong Tower?

A few weeks ago I listened to a sermon that talked about Proverbs 18:10-11, which states, "The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it as an unscalable wall."

Where do you run to when you encounter troubles? Is your instinct to look to the LORD and run to him? I think in my life I too often have put my faith in money. I seem to think if I can get my bank account to a certain amount then everything will be wonderful. I imagine that if my retirement fund is so much, then I will be secure. So Proverbs 18:11 really hits home for me. Why do I think wealth is a fortified city, with an unscalable wall?

God has really been working on me in this area. Recently, I did something I havent done before. I gave away something big, something worth a big chunk of money to someone who really needed it. Instead of looking out for number one, I put the need of someone else first. I hope to get many opportunities to do this in my lifetime. If we truly love our neighbor as ourselves, how can we accumulate riches while others are in need? I do not want my treasure to be wealth here on earth. And yet, even though I know it is better to give than to receive, my human nature always seems to want to receive.

So my prayer is that as I grow in the LORD, I will become wise in how I use my money. I want to be a generous and giving person. Someone who gives not just out of my excess, but even when it might mean things are harder for me. That is hard. Most of all, I want the LORD to be my strong tower. I want to be the kind of person who puts my hope in the LORD. So even if I am in poverty, even if I am in poor health, even if I am in pain, I am safe in the arms of the LORD. When things get tough, I want my instinct to be to run to the LORD.

What things do you in your life sometimes imagine as your strong tower that you would like to replace with the LORD?

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

It is a Journey

In my last post, I was having a lot of questions. Since then I have been given some good books to read from one of my good friends here in Fort Worth. I have not got to read as much of them as I would like but am looking forward to reading them. My Christian life is a journey in which I will never really know all the answers. As someone who is very logical, this can be really hard sometimes. Even in my Christian tradition growing up, we seemed to think that we had everything right. Which as I grow older, I am learning that is not true.

I am glad I have a wonderful Christian wife to help guide me in this journey. She helps keep me on the right path and lets me know when I might be wondering off even if I am not meaning to.

Also, I have been reading the Chronicles of Narnia books lately. They are really good. I definitely want to read some more C.S Lewis books after this. Well, I dont have much to write right now but I just wanted to post so that I can get back in the habit.