Profit or Loss

It is that time of year when businesses are busy preparing their records and filling out tax forms.  On the one hand sometimes businesses like to find out that they have had a financial loss.  They can pay fewer taxes.  On the other hand businesses like to find out that they have made a profit.  That kind of news keeps the stockholders happy.  There are risks with having too many losses or too much profit.  Businesses need to find the right balance. 

In our personal lives we take some risks too.  When we receive Christ in to our hearts we aren’t always accepted by family, friends or co-workers.  When we take that relationship a step further and actually tell others about our faith and share the gospel with others we risk losing the relationships.  This possibility of rejection keeps many people from sharing their faith.  They may start to step out and test the water with a little light weight witnessing and find that family is not responsive and actually begin to turn a cold shoulder to them.  So to ease up family tensions they back off from acting too religious or from sharing their faith.  Nobody likes rejection or the idea of losing relationships with family and friends.  Jesus knew this was the risk most of His followers would take.  They may just have to give up those they love, to keep in the will of their Heavenly Father.  Jesus encouraged His followers in Matthew 12: 48-50 by telling them that we gain a new family when we keep in the Father’s Will:

⁴⁸ But He replied to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” ⁴⁹ And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! ⁵⁰ For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven, that person is My brother and sister and mother.”

Our new heavenly family far surpasses any earthly family we have.  Who wouldn’t want Jesus for a brother or God as our Father?  Jesus’ own earthly half-brothers didn’t accept Him while He was on Earth.  After his death and resurrection, we know about two of His brothers that finally believed in Him and served Him as leaders in the new Christian church.  Next read Matthew 19:29.

And everyone who has left houses, brothers or sisters, father or mother, children, or fields because of My name will receive 100 times more and will inherit eternal life.

For further encouragement Jesus told His disciples that when we lose family or belongings here on Earth for His name’s sake that we will receive far more back from God now or in our eternal life.  We need to remember that this life is temporal and the pain we experience here will end shortly and we will see how blessed we are for the good decisions we make while following God, when we enter eternal life with God.  We have to learn to stop limiting our witnessing to others about Christ out of fear of rejection or the emotional pain we might feel because of family upheavals.  When we received Christ, He became our number one priority.  Our families became second place.

If you face hardships because of witnessing, comfort yourself with these verses.  Be encouraged that the Lord will reward you for your physical losses with great spiritual profit.

When Wisdom Speaks

In the Eighties a series of commercials appeared with several people having a conversation that would move in to a conversation about E.F. Hutton, a stock brokerage firm.  As they mentioned the name E.F. Hutton everyone within earshot would silence themselves and focus in on the people having the conversation.  The commercials had the tag line “When E. F. Hutton talks, people listen.”  It was a classic series of commercials that really drove home the point that people will stop what they are doing to listen to good advice that will profit them.  In I Kings 10:23-24 we have a real life case in point:

“23 King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the world in riches and in wisdom. 24 The whole world wanted an audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom that God had put in his heart.”

Can you imagine having that kind of power?  To simply speak and people listen to you.  To know that what you are saying is of value and could change lives.  Solomon changed people’s lives when He spoke God’s wisdom, so much so, that people came from around the world to just listen.  I love that example of him with the two mothers and the fight over the last living baby.  How wonderful.  He saved that child and gave him back to his rightful mom.

We too can have that special ability to change people’s lives, when we speak.  The key is that we really have to let “Wisdom” do the speaking.  In other words, God must speak through us.  We must seek wisdom first like Solomon did and God will provide.  I know I waste a lot of words on useless things, but I definitely enjoy the times I share words of wisdom much more.  I am far more blessed.  Join me in the search for wisdom and the sharing of it.  If you find wisdom, you will change the world for God.  People will listen.