“And he said to them, ‘Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.'” – Luke 12:15

This is a good word for us as we navigate life in a hyper-materialistic culture!!! It’s easy in this modern world to get caught up in the ad-driven, media-fueled frenzy to accumulate more and more stuff. We often wind up measuring ourselves and others by temporary things like bank and 401(k) balances, cars, homes, or tech toys. The flip side of the coin is that it’s all-to-easy to sink into despair when we face economic hardships that threaten our ability to get more stuff.

As you navigate economic uncertainty in this summer of 2022, embrace Jesus’ reminder that your life isn’t measured by stuff. Your value isn’t based on your net worth. Jesus loves you because you’re created in God’s image. Your life has significance, meaning, purpose, and dignity in and of itself! If you’ve trusted in Jesus as your Lord, then Jesus also loves you because you’re a precious child of God and His adopted brother or sister. Your life is a beautiful ongoing union with Jesus Christ Himself. Your life is eternal and worth infinitely more than all the stuff in the world combined!

So, be on guard! Be on guard against the consuming hunger for more stuff. It won’t satisfy you for long. Be on guard against defining your identity and sense of worth based what you do or don’t have in this fallen world. Your life is a treasure that will last forever. As such, it’s worth far more than any earthly possession will either wear out, break down, become lost, get stolen, or be left behind when you die.

“Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;”
– Psalm 146:5-7

If you have embraced Jesus, then the Lord is your God and you are indeed blessed! The Creator of heaven and earth is your God and your perfect Father in Heaven. He is always, always, always faithful. He can’t be otherwise. He is always present with you, He knows all things, and He works all things together for good.

God will not go back on any of His promises nor will He grow tired or bored of caring for you. His ultimate justice will be perfect, absolute, and eternal and you can rest in that when you encounter injustice. His heart is for the poor and the oppressed. He cares about the most vulnerable and defenseless in society. He came to us when we were still prisoners to sin and death and offered us grace, life, and freedom through faith in Jesus.

If God is your God, what are some ways He has blessed you? Stop and consider those blessings. Think about them and give thanks. Delight in them. Reflect on the ways, both big and small, visible and invisible, in which God has helped you. Know that you are truly blessed and give thanks!

“See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:15

This is a fundamental mindshift that every follower of Jesus MUST make. When someone does us wrong, we cannot, must not respond by doing wrong ourselves. The world coaches us to “get back” at those who’ve hurt us but that isn’t the way of Jesus. This verse doesn’t mean that we don’t involve authorities when appropriate, because that isn’t evil, it’s using the structures God ordained for the good of all people. This doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be appropriate consequences within the church or society or the evil someone has done. Appropriate consequences aren’t evil.

What Paul means is that we can’t seek revenge because vengeance belongs to God. He is our avenger and He will make sure true justice is done forever. As Christ-followers we can’t respond in ways that fail to glorify God. We can’t respond in ways that seek to hurt the other person like they’ve hurt us. We can’t respond with gossip, slander, or violence. That isn’t how Christ responds to our betrayals and failures of Him and we must become like Him. When we wrong Jesus, as we often do, He responds with redemptive love and conviction because those are what’s best for us.

Always seek to do good for one another. Even those one another’s who have mistreated you, said false things about you, opposed you, and hurt you. Understand what it means to do good in Christ, then do it, even when it isn’t appreciated or reciprocated. When you do, you honor Christ as your Lord and that’s what’s most important.

“Attend to my cry,
for I am brought very low!
Deliver me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me!”
– Psalm 142:6

At some point in your life, you’ll probably feel like the psalmist! It may be today or it may be years from now. Your persecutors may be people – abusive coworkers, hurtful family members, angry neighbors, cruel members of your circle of acquaintance. Or your persecutors might be chronic illnesses, painful injuries, permanent disabilities, and pain. Your persecutors might be financial problems beyond your ability to resolve, legal challenges, unmovable bureaucracies, or natural disasters.

When those overwhelming persecutors appear, it’s good to admit they’re too strong for you. Cry out to the Lord just as the psalmist did. God always listens to the cries of His people. Ask Him to both relieve your persecution while recognizing that He often permits such persecution to shape and strengthen your soul. Ask Him to strengthen you to walk through ongoing persecution with Him. Ask Him for the daily bread, grace, strength, and encouragement to keep pressing on. Ask Him for peace in the face of anxiety, fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Ask Him for comfort amidst ongoing pain.

Confess to the Lord that you’ve been brought low, your pride broken, and your spirit crushed. Pray for your Suffering Savior Jesus to sustain you and wipe away your tears. Ask God for the strength of faith to trust in His ultimate goodness, wisdom, and justice. Cry out when you’re brought low – God will hear you!

“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.” – 1 Thessalonians 4:13

Grief should be very different when Christians are involved. When we lose a loved one who was a follower of Jesus, we have an absolute certainty that they really are in a better place. We appropriately mourn the loss of their company. We mourn that we can’t simply call them, text them, or sit down for coffee with them. We shed tears for ourselves and others who loved them for the void in our lives caused by their absence. However, we know they truly are better off than they were before.

If the person we mourn put their trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior, then they’re already with Him. They’re enjoying eternity in the presence of God the Father and God the Son. They’re living in peace, joy, and satisfaction unlike any they ever experienced on earth. They ran the race of life and received the prize that awaits all who run in Jesus Christ. Our hope for them is absolutely certain and even as we weep we can be comforted by their present and eternal reality.

Hope is the key distinction between those who die in Christ and those who don’t. There’s no true hope for those who die apart from Christ, only certainty. Understanding this is very important amidst a culture where many assume that all who die go to a better place (or at least those who are “good people”). That’s false hope and it only hurts us and others.

If we die apart from Jesus Christ, then we go where our lifetime of choices, thoughts, words, and actions have earned us, which is an eternity separated from God. All human beings rebel against our perfect and holy Creator. All human beings do things which are clearly against His will and design – that’s called sin. No human being deserves to enter God’s heaven. If we die with only our own good behavior to justify us, we’ll fall terribly short in death, just as we have in life. Only God’s grace given through faith in Christ can bring us to God thanks to the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus. Apart from Christ, there is no hope, only certainty. For those in that situation, we must all grieve terribly!