Temporary Things

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Psalm 97:7 Be Ashamed To Serve Idols

Let all be put to shame who serve carved images, who boast of idols. Worship Him, all you gods. Psalm 97:7

Shame is something that most people do not want to have in their lives. It means that one has done something wrong or has failed in some way or another. The world tries to avoid shame as much as possible. People are told that they can do or be what they want to do or be without being told that they are wrong or that they have failed. This allows for people to do anything without shame.

The writer of this psalm says that anyone who serves a carved image should be shamed and that all the idols need to worship God.

People tend to worship things, positions and other people on a regular basis. They put things at the very top of their priority list in their lives at the expense of everything else. Those things are the primary focus of all that they do and what they are about.

Anything that a person puts at the extreme top of one’s priority list in life is an idol. Although not worshipping it in a religious sense, the person is still worshipping that thing.

Even though the world says that one can worship that thing, in light of who God is, the person should be ashamed of doing so. One should be ashamed that one is putting all of time, effort and strength into some inanimate object that can do nothing at all.

All of one’s time, effort and strength—worship–belongs to God. It is God who created the person and everything in this world. It is God who can speak and do things. It is God who lasts for all eternity and gives eternal life, not the physical things of this world.

What is your highest priority in life? It is easy to get caught up in the temporary things of this world and the trying to keep up with the neighbor in wanting more and more. Following the ways of the world will cause you to put all of your time and effort into things, worshipping those things.

Turn all of your focus upon God. Worship God and God alone. Serve God with all of your mind, soul, strength and abilities. Make your life a life of worship to the one true God who is alive, not the dead things of this world.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will be ashamed of any idols in your life; that you will worship God with all of your life; and that you will serve God first, above all else in your life.

Picture by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

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Luke 20:25 Giving To Caesar

He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” Luke 20:25

For centuries taxes have been something that no one really likes, but have to pay. Every nation on earth has some type of taxation upon the people, some pay more, others pay less.

In most nations, if not all, there is a penalty for those who choose to not pay their taxes. Some people fight hard against paying taxes for many different reasons. Most often it is just for selfish reasons, they do not want to give up their money to anyone else.

Some people asked Jesus if it was right to pay taxes to Caesar or not. Jesus simply said to give to Caesar what belonged to him and give to God what belonged to Him.

At the time Jesus said this, Israel was controlled by the Romans, a pagan nation. There were heavy taxes to be paid. Today people still have to pay taxes.

However there are many other things to be given to either the world or to God.

When a person becomes a believer, he is to give his entire life over to God. This means his loves, desires, actions, thoughts….every thing. God is to have complete control of the person.

Instead of giving all to God, many are divided and given a lot of their affections to this world. They chase after the physical things of this world, such as money, material things and sin.

The world can have these things and the believer must be willing to give it to Caesar–Satan–and not hold on to the temporary, death bringing things. The temporary things of this world will never bring true life, but only death.

When the believer gives to God the things that are eternal, he will gain eternal life.

As a believer you must give things every day to either Caesar (the world) or to God. There is no option to not give. However, you can choose who and what you give.

Allow the world to have its sin and death, they do not do you any good. These things only bring separation from God.

Give your life to God. As you give all of yourself to God, He, in return will give you eternal life, something the world neither knows, nor can give.

Allow Caesar to have what belongs to him. Give what matters to God.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as Savior; that you will dedicate your life to God; that you will abandon sin to follow God; and that you will seek the eternal things of God.

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Luke 9:25 Gaining The Wrong Thing

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What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? Luke 9:25

Jesus had just predicted His suffering and death. As He is talking to the disciples He tells them that they must deny themselves and take up their cross. Now He tells them that a person can gain the whole world, but still lose His soul. If that happens it is of no value.

Everyday people all around the world go to work to make more money. There are many that will put in long, extra hours in order to purchase or own something that they desire.

People will go to college, earn a great degree so that they can make a lot of money, so that they do not have to work so hard. Then they get the job they desire and as the money starts to roll in, they work extra long over-time hours to get even more money for more stuff.

Others may not be working so hard for the fancy stuff, but are focused on working hard to get a large fancy retirement. Either way many of those people are working hard to gain something that does not last for eternity, all those things are only temporary. They are working for self and saving themselves in this world. They do not look to life after death.

As they work hard, many do not work on their own souls. They do not work for what lasts for eternity. A person can have everything there is in this world, but when he dies, he loses everything, including life, if he does not have a relationship with Jesus.

The things that last for eternity are not the physical things of this world, they are the souls of people. This includes all people including yourself.

As a believer, you must be willing to turn away from the temporary things of this earth, that are not important, and focus on what is eternal and of greatest importance.

It may be painful and a displeasure to turn selfish desires down now, but in the end God will reward you greatly for doing His work.

Release yourself into the hands of God and trust Him to meet your needs as you do His work. His work is of eternal importance. Gain Jesus and you gain eternity.

Gain this world and you get nothing in the end.

I pray today that you will seek what God has for you; that you will deny selfish desires and follow after God alone; that you will gain eternity in Jesus; and that you will trust God with your life and soul.

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Mark 13:2 Every Thing Is Temporary

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“Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” Mark 13:2

The disciples and Jesus were walking through town one day. The disciples started talking about the great buildings that they were seeing. Jesus points out that every one of those buildings would be destroyed at some point in the future.

Men have taken time and money to build some very beautiful and magnificent buildings over the years. Some are impressive with their height. Others by how they are designed.

Not only has men made these buildings they have built other things that are very impressive. Sculptures, vehicles, boats, planes, and many other things that are unique and magnificent to see.

No matter how magnificent these buildings and things are, they are all temporary. Some of these buildings are still standing after a thousand years or more, but eventually they will crumble.

The Titanic was a very impressive ship, but was sunk very quickly. The Twin Towers in New York were very impressive large buildings, but were taken down in one day with the crashing of a plane.

People need to realize that all the things of this world are all temporary. The physical things will not last forever. They were out and break down. Or they can be destroyed by someone.

Think about all the stuff that you have owned over the years, the clothes, the shoes, the cars, and other things. How many of those things do you still own ten years later? How many different pairs of clothing have you had to throw out or get rid of because they wore out and can no longer be worn?

People often put their trust in the things they can see, feel and touch, but all those things are temporary. The only thing that is temporary is the soul and God with His Word.

As a believer you should be focusing on the things that are eternal and of eternal value. The two things that are of eternal value is your own soul and the souls of other people. You, along with every other person on this planet need to know Jesus as their Savior. And these are not physical things that you can see and touch, they are spiritual things.

What are you focused on today? The temporary physical? Or the spiritual eternal?

I pray today that you will know Jesus as your Savior; that you will tell others of Jesus; that you will not be caught up in the temporary; and that you will focus on God and the eternal. 

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Matthew 24:2 Everything Is Temporary

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“Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” Matthew 24:2

The disciples and Jesus were walking in Jerusalem one day and they noticed the temple buildings. They had noticed how large they were and how great they looked and they pointed this out to Jesus. Jesus points out that everything that they see will be destroyed.

Seeing great works of art is something that can be exciting for some people. For most people they see the great works of art in paintings and sculptures, while others see it in the architecture of a building. It can be a beautiful looking castle, an unusually made building, a mansion, an office building, an sky-scraper, or some other unique building.

There are churches that are built that look extremely exquisite. Great care is taken in designing the building just right with stained glass windows, or the right type of seating, or the right type of designs on the walls.

While none of this is necessarily bad, none of it will last forever. Yes, the building may last a few hundred or even a thousand years, but eventually it will fall down. Every one of these types of buildings require constant maintenance to keep them up, but they will still fall some day. Some will start to crumble over time, little by little. While others may fall in a day, as the Twin Towers did in New York City.

Jesus turned the attention away from what is temporary to what is eternal. Yes, the buildings were magnificent, but they were also temporary. The souls of men and women are the only things that are eternal on this earth.

Getting caught up in the beauty of the things that are man-made will cause you to turn your attention away from what is eternal and made by God. It can cause you to turn your talk away from sharing the gospel, to talking about what is temporary.

Discussing the beautiful things on this earth is acceptable for a short moment, but it should not be your focus. You do not know when Jesus will return, it could be today. If it was today, would you be able to look back on your last days and say you did all you could to save as many as you could?

Where is your focus today?

I pray today that God will help you not get distracted by the things of this earth; that you will focus on the souls of men; that you will share the message of Jesus; and that you will know the return of Jesus is coming soon.