Bible Ballistics: BBs #662       Hidden Treasure???

 

What are you doing with the treasure that God has blessed you with?  Are you shining your light on the darkness or are you “hiding it” under a bucket, or a life of compromise?  I’d like to share a passage from Paul, a bit longer than usual for a Friday, but one I feel we need to consider.  Are we helping to spread the good news of the gospel, or are we adding to the darkness and supporting the lies of the enemy?

“Therefore seeing we have this ministry,

as we have received mercy,

we faint not;

2 But have renounced

the hidden things of dishonesty,

not walking in craftiness,

nor handling the word of God deceitfully;

but by manifestation of the truth

commending ourselves

to every man’s conscience

in the sight of God.

3 But if our gospel be hid,

it is hid to them

that are lost:

4 In whom the god of this world

hath blinded the minds

of them which believe not,

lest the light of the glorious gospel

of Christ,

who is the image of God,

should shine unto them.

5 For we preach not ourselves,

but Christ Jesus the Lord;

and ourselves your servants

for Jesus’ sake.

6 For God,

who commanded the light

to shine out of darkness,

hath shined in our hearts,

to give the light

of the knowledge of the glory of God

in the face of Jesus Christ.

7 But we have this treasure

in earthen vessels,

that the excellency

of the power

may be of God,

and not of us.”   2 Corinthians 4:1-7

May we ever be mindful that “that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us”?  It is so easy to be distracted, caught up, and led away from our Lord by the “bling” and “glitz” of the world.  But the urgency of the hour calls for our total devotion to our Lord; even in the midst of trials, suffering, and ridicule.  We must choose the things of God and the dependence upon HIS Spirit rather than the world’s false answers!

“See then that ye walk circumspectly,

not as fools,

but as wise,

16 Redeeming the time,

because the days are evil.

17 Wherefore be ye not unwise,

but understanding

what the will of the Lord is.

18 And be not drunk with wine,

wherein is excess;

but be filled with the Spirit;

19 Speaking to yourselves

 in psalms

and hymns

and spiritual songs,

singing and making melody

in your heart

to the Lord;”  Ephesians 5:15-19

We live in a culture that stampedes to the short-term solutions of any popular substance of the moment; whether it’s alcohol, drugs, tobacco, food, or anything that we use to control our fears or anxieties.  And while we can “enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season”, that season will not last (see Hebrews 11:25) and its price tag is almost always more than we expect it to be!  When we choose to follow Jesus, we can expect opposition and difficulty, but we can rest assured that “greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world”!  Paul assures us that no matter the cost of following Jesus faithfully, it will be rewarding beyond worldly measure.  For while we may be troubled “on every side”, we know that Paul is right in what he told the Roman believers!

“For I reckon that the sufferings

of this present time

are not worthy to be compared

with the glory

which shall be revealed in us.”  Romans 8:18

Paul also reminds us, as he did the believers at Corinth and Galatia, that regardless of our circumstances our Lord is always faithful in every situation (adequate to every trial!):

“We are troubled on every side,

yet not distressed;

we are perplexed,

but not in despair;

9 Persecuted,

but not forsaken;

cast down,

but not destroyed;

10 Always bearing about in the body

the dying of the Lord Jesus,

that the life also of Jesus

might be made manifest in our body.

11 For we which live

are alway delivered unto death

for Jesus’ sake,

that the life also of Jesus

might be made manifest

in our mortal flesh.”  2 Corinthians 4:8-11

I am “bought with a price”; and that price is the blood of Jesus which “cleanseth us from all sin”!  May we ever strive to be a mirror of Jesus’ power and grace rather than the substitute gratifications of the world’s lies!  Remember, ‘sin will take you farther than you wanted to go, keep you longer than you wanted to stay, and cost you more than you wanted to pay’!  But Jesus has already given HIS life that we might have “abundant life”!  Choose wisely!  There is a test!

“I am crucified with Christ:

nevertheless I live;

yet not I,

but Christ liveth in me:

and the life which I now live

in the flesh

I live by the faith

of the Son of God,

who loved me,

and gave himself

for me.”  Galatians 2:20

Amen and Amen!!!