fear can drive someone crazy. i have way too much fear about the state of our country. i read or see something i just want to take control of, and i can't. it's almost like waking up from a nightmare, and you have those lingering feelings of despair. i keep searching for a saviour in all these problems, and i keep forgetting that GOD is the only saviour. i am expecting men and women to solve all of these problems from what scripture has taught us, and that is not reality.
the only perfect man to walk the earth was CHRIST. if i don't keep my heart and mind in scripture i can be led to too many outlets that have nothing to do with living a CHRISTLIKE life. the story of babylon taking the israelites in the old testament makes me want to change history. i want to change what is about to happen and i can't. GOD let babylon take them and there was nothing jeremiah could do about it. most men and women right now are worried about our country, but there is the greater fear of how they will take care of their families if this continues.
one of GOD's greatest promises is that you are only accountable to HIM, and not the masses. we are trying to find someone on this earth that can repair the damage. we have to repair our own damage before we can even suggest that someone else can do it. i have a very black and white view about most things. i can be unwilling to see outside the box, and that is very risky in my relationship with HIM. i have an ongoing problem with money.
over the weekend we had a conversation with a family friend that instantly changed that view. we were talking about tithing, and what the scripture meant you pay what is owed to caesar and what is owed to GOD. GOD doesn't need money. why would HE? GOD provides you with money through work. the money we have is not ours; IT IS HIS. just think about that, and what that means in how we handle our finances. it is the definition of the FATHER providing for the child. all in the course of a conversation with a brother in CHRIST my views changed. thank you GOD!
here are some examples. when we get married we become one. we have to learn to communicate and compromise about two sets of values regarding money. my husband and i have had problems with this for over 9 years. i hope we are getting better, and we seem to be. we both want to spend money on different things, because we feel that one thing is more important. first of all it was my fault in the beginning, because i did not always communicate finances with him. i wanted complete control over it, and well it doesn't work that way. i can't argue with him about money if he doesn't know how much stuff costs, and how much we have to work with. we have changed that over the years.
imagine what washington is having deal with. they are trying to communicate and negotiate costs with millions of americans, because we all want different things. it kinda makes sense to start over, and go from there. we can argue about money as much as we want, but each one has a different view about money. each one of us has a problem with it. i caught myself negotiating our tithing amount with GOD the other day. HE would give me one amount, and i would say how about this? i totally kept missing the scripture give what you feel led to give. i wasn't trusting HIM, and i was questioning if HE knew how much was in our bank account. issue right there.
i have been going the through the lists departments and agencies that our federal, state, and local governments pay for. there are so many costs in there that i don't how they justify those costs any more when we are hurting our military, children, and the citizens. historical preservation is one. i love history, it is an important thing to me, but their are a lot of private donors that could keep that going without the government.
we are so confused on what we should be spending money, including myself, and it appears the government is confused about it also. when president obama was elected he gave a really great analogy about money. he said in a speech that if you don't have money to go to las vegas, and gamble then why would we do that? i wish he had stuck to that analogy, and then maybe he would have gotten what people are so angry about.
he flip flops everyday about the economy. he wants us to spend and pay more in taxes because that helps the economy, but he is willing to cut things that are very important to americans. why isn't he cutting the things that really don't matter? his solution is raise taxes, and everytime he says that people hold back more. we have no idea what they are going to do us in the long run.
currently, a lot of road construction is going on in this country. highway 6 is the main road near our house that many of us use. our department of transportation just put these stupid medians that costs millions. we just layed off teachers and made cuts to education something that we all know is more important than a piece of concrete. this is the kinda stuff that drives people crazy in this country.
ok. GOD's money will be replenished. however, it makes you think about the other stuff we've been spending money on. i have decorative pillows all over the house. i love them, because they make my house look pretty. why? yesterday, my boys were throwing the pillows everywhere and making mountains with them. i was furious all because i kept thinking they are getting pillows those pillows dirty, and i spent money on them. i have no justification for i why i spent money on pillows; none.
i heard a sermon when i was little girl that i remember vividly in my head. the pastor asked can you take your possessions with you to heaven? he gave us an imagine that i still remember, and crack up about every time i think about it. he said, are you going to load up your station wagon when you die and drive to the gates of heaven? are you going to knock on the door and tell GOD that you've brought all your stuff with you?
i have come to realize in the last couple of days that we are taking GOD's money and flushing it down the toilet; including my husband and i. goal for the day - every time you spend money on something today other than food, clothing, shelter, or gasoline for your car why are you spending it?
"You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you." malachi 3:9
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." matthew 6:19
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