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Our Way of Escape
August 20, 2011

In our ever-increasing complex world, many of us are experiencing the downward spiral of government. Europe is on the brink of default as is the western hemisphere. Much of Africa is impoverished. The Middle East is in an uproar, and the center of economic power seems to be shifting to China, though China's growth seems to be fueled by western debt and the ability of western nations to repay debt. This world seems to be heading to financial catastrophe with little regard for the future. Withimpunity we voluntarily enslave unborn future generations to a lifetime of subservient debt, and we regard this as acceptable. Gone are the days of personal responsibility and accountability, and rising in the shadows is the evil image of what will occur at the end of this world. The United States recently developed a plan to allow for additional borrowing to avoid default, and this was to ward off financial concern on Wall Street. Instead, Wall Street is very much worried about the direction of this country and western nations in general and the financial losses on Wall Street exceeded the additional borrowing limits. So in a time of uncertainty, the Bible has guidance for us, and for this discussion, we will begin during the ministry of Jesus.

Answering this question requires an understanding of what the Bible teaches about death rather than common perceptions of modern Christianity that teaches that upon death we either go to heaven or hell, and for some, a stop in purgatory is warranted. The Bible teaches a different result for us at our death. At death, the Bible teaches that we are sleeping until we are resurrected from the dead, and that this resurrection does not occur until Jesus Christ is returning to earth.Paul begins the explanation for us.

Matthew 6:19-21
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

We live in a world driven by money. If you want or need something, the value of this is reduced to money and either money or the monetary equivalent of this is exchanged. Jesus warns us to treasure that which is spiritual as our heart will focus on what is important to us. If money is the most important item to us, then our heart will be focused on money. When spiritual matters are most important to us, then our heartwill focus on these. Instead of becoming an object of our passion, money is reduced to a tool that can serve a useful purpose. During tough economic times, we must recognize that money is a tool that can benefit us. While money may be able to buy us many nice things, it is not a treasure, it is a tool, and our treasure needs to be in heaven. On a side note, it saddens me that some pastors twist this verse to extort money from their congregation. These pastors try to explain that your money needs to be given to the church while using this verse. They imply that if you give your money to the church then your treasure is laid up in heaven. The fallacy with this teaching is that these are still teaching that your treasure is here on earth and it is your money. These are teaching that instead of having your heart on spiritual matters, you need to have your heart focused on money, and if you do a really good job with money, then you will be able to give a lot of it to the church through tithes and offerings, andtherefore your heart will be focused on spiritual matters. These verses do not teach that concept. These do teach the idea that whatever you value is where you will place your passions, and if the Kingdom of God is valuable to you, then your heart will be focused on the Kingdom of God, and this focus is what is encouraged for Christians. Having our heart in the Kingdom of God is what is most important. And even when we perfectly do this, this does not mean we are without physical needs. We do afterall, live in the physical realm. We must breathe, eat, and drink as a bare minimum to survive. To survive the elements we need clothing. And in a world where it seems everything is tied to money, we do need money to live. With these worries, Jesus added additional guidance.

Matthew 6:25-34
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Jesus shows us that we need to trust God to provide for us. God knows we have physical needs and we are promised in these verses that if we seek first the Kingdom of God and God's righteousness, then we will be provided our needs, even in the most dire of circumstances. For those who see the current financial crisis, this gives us comfort. It may be hard for us to imagine a very difficult circumstance as most who were adults during the Great Depression are no longer with us. We read about future times as recorded in the Bible and know that hard times are coming, and we know a time is coming when food will be very expensive.

Revelation 6:5-6
And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

There are several reasons why food can be expensive. There could be a famine. Inflation could be impacting the price of food. In a global economy where food is produced and consumed all over this planet, food could be expensive because of high transportation costs or a disruption in supply. And there are many more possible reasons. And in all of this we go back to the advice of Matthew 6. We need to seek first the Kingdom of God, and God's righteousness and we do this even in a famine, even with high prices, and transportation difficulties, the promise is God will provide our needs. And even in the most dire of circumstances God will provide. What if food were readily available and affordable, yet you were prevented from buying it? This too will come in some future time.

Revelation 13:11-17
And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Even in a time when one cannot buy or sell food, God will provide, as long as we first seek the Kingdom of God and God's righteousness. This is the promise given to us by Jesus. We may think the economic times we live in are bad, but these are not as bad as economic times will get. Things will get worse at some point in the future. When will this occur, and who will be the players are not important for us to know at this time. If this knowledge were absolutely necessary, we would have been given this knowledge. Instead we are given a promise that if we seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, that God will provide our needs.

A few final verses to consider show wecan do all things through Christ and we will be given a way of escape, when we first seek the Kingdom of God and God's righteousness.

Philipians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

1Corinthians 10:13
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Times are tough, and our frustrations may abound. There is a huge budget crunch as debt amasses. In all of this when we first seek the Kingdom of God and God's righteous, we have confidence that the promise given to us by Jesus will be made good. God will take care of us and provide our needs.

All verses are from the King James Version.
This site provided by Tom Laign. To all who may believe differently, I also extend peace and love.
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