The Bible consistently identifies the Lord as a jealous God. As the Creator, He deserves man’s undivided allegiance. As the most High God, He is worthy of man’s unadulterated worship. It is often in this vein that the Bible speaks of God’s jealousy. He warned Israel not to make or bow down to any graven images (Exodus 20:4-5; Deuteronomy 5:8-9; Psalm 78:58) because He was a jealous God and would have no choice but to judge such infidelity. The same was true of any false god (Deuteronomy 32:16) or sin (1 Kings 14:22) which man allowed to come between him and his Creator. God is perfectly just in His jealousy since man was created for God’s pleasure (Revelation 4:11).
Mankind’s list of rules for pleasing God has become increasingly invasive upon the lives of those affected by such man-made decrees. Yet, the reality is that God most desires for man to trust Him in the present (through faith) as well as in the future (through hope). The Lord is well pleased when an individual chooses to place all of his hopes solely upon the Lord and upon His word. Simply put, man was created for only one purpose—to please the One who brought him into this world in the first place (Revelation 4:11). This single purpose is impossible to fulfil without faith (Hebrews 11:6) and hope in the Lord (Psalm 147:11). The Lord promised that He would one day return for His church. Placing all of one’s faith and hope upon that promise (of the Lord’s return) demonstrates an unfailing love for the Lord!
One day, the world’s hope will come to an abrupt end. Although the world (apart from Christ) derives its hope from several sources, their common ground revolves around the fact that their hope is not in God. The Bible points to the results: “the hypocrite’s hope shall perish” (Job 8:13), “all that forget God” (Job 8:13) will see their hope “cut off” (Job 8:14), and the hope of the wicked “shall be as the giving up of the ghost” (Job 11:20). Unfortunately, the world can only focus upon the here and now. They judge everything by how things are presently taking place. If they gain (riches, health, material goods, promotions), they assume that they have hope, yet they fail to see that there will be no hope when God brings judgment upon their souls (Job 27:8).
World leaders constantly claim that they hold the solution for how to rid the world of poverty. Yet, the Lord stated that mankind would always have a problem with poverty, at least until the millennium. Believers should be willing to help the poor but must keep in mind that they will never eliminate world poverty. According to Deuteronomy 15:11, “the poor shall never cease out of the land.” In other words, regardless of man’s efforts to give and help, there will always be a group of people who struggle financially. With this in mind, believers should not ignore the physical needs of the poor but should be most concerned with offering the poor spiritual help (Acts 3:6).
The Bible mentions true riches thus indicating the existence of false riches. Much of what the world considers riches simply serves as a veil for true poverty. While on earth, the Lord appeared to be the poorest of the poor (Matthew 8:20), all the while being the One who owned all things. The believers at Smyrna appeared to be poor, but the Lord unflinchingly stated that they were in fact rich (Revelation 2:8-9). The opposite was said of those in Laodicea. Although they claimed to be rich, the Bible states the reality: they were poor (Revelation 3:14-17). This truth is confirmed in Proverbs 13:7 when the Bible says, “There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.”
The believer’s every endeavour should be done for the Lord and not simply for men. All should be done to the glory of God even to the extent of what man eats and drinks (1 Corinthians 10:31). Before the believer considers changing appearance for the sake of beauty, he or she should ask whether or not this thing will bring glory to God. Before a believer marks his flesh with a tattoo, he should consider the words of His God (Leviticus 19:28). Before spending a great deal of money on one’s appearance, he should ask if God would rather the money be given elsewhere. Every aspect of man’s life is about pleasing the One who created him with and for a specific purpose (Revelation 4:11).
We are promised that the word of God works effectually in those that believe (1 Thessalonians 2:13). Yet, the Devil works hard to choke out the fruitfulness of the word. In order to achieve his ultimate objective, the Devil uses any means within his arsenal. Pleasure-seeking serves as one of his choicest weapons. In order to convince people that they do not need the Lord or His word, the Devil convinces people that they have everything they could possibly ever want or need without Him. The Devil convinces them that they are happy or satisfied and there is nothing better than their lot in life. He keeps them preoccupied so that they do not take time to reflect and recognize that they are “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17) apart from the Lord.
Though violence rages today, the saint of God can find great comfort in knowing that violence is only a temporary attribute of living. There is coming a day when violence will no longer find place amongst mankind. Isaiah relayed this truth to his people when he stated that there would come a time when “Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.” Although the conditions and timing may vary for the Jews and the church of God, the reality of a future void of violence remains constant. One day, hopefully soon, each believer will find himself in the presence of the very God who will cause all violence to cease.
Temptation is commonly linked to the trying of one’s faith, but “the hour of temptation” is not the typical temptation experienced by the believer. In fact, the Lord promised to “keep” the church “from the hour of temptation.” So what is this temptation to which the Lord speaks? First of all, it is connected to a specific time as indicated by the use of the word hour. Secondly, this temptation is one that is yet future as demonstrated by the phrase, “shall come.” Lastly, it is a temptation designed to “come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” This temptation is known as Daniel’s Seventieth Week and refers to a temptation for the unsaved Jews and Gentiles during that terrible future time.
Learning how to be the right kind of steward can seem difficult, but never without reward. The Lord Jesus taught and explained His parables of stewardship. In these teachings, He presented the faithful steward receiving his reward at the time of accounting for his stewardship. The apostle Paul confessed this truth in 1 Corinthians 9:17 when he said, “if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward.” Paul knew God had a special calling upon his life and also knew he would stand before God to give account for his service. In like manner, each believer will one day stand before the Master (Jesus Christ) to give an account of his stewardship. Those who have served as good stewards will receive reward, while those who failed to do so will suffer loss (1 Corinthians 3:11-15).
