Good morning, good day or good evening depending on when you are reading this. I’m writing this about my normal time, about 6am. My daily routine is to get up about 5:30, do my reading in God’s Word and then sit down to write the 5MC. I’ve come to really enjoy the process, the reading opens my ears to God’s Voice and the writing opens my heart as I process what He has said to me. Somehow writing it down deepens the journey for me. Putting it down on paper makes me think about it on a different level.
I continue to have the 5MC as the first part of what I call the big 4, that is 4 daily elements that help me maintain a healthy, joyful rhythm of life. The first element I adhere to is spiritual, that’s the 5 minute challenge, spending time in God’s Word, spending time in prayer and then writing about that daily experience with God. The next three elements are physical items. Since we are bound to these bodies while here on Earth, we need to care for them in order that they can serve us well. 1 Cor. 6:19-20. “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.”
I believe that diet, exercise and good sleeping habits are each very important if we expect to receive good energy and health out of them. Therefore, I walk 3 miles a day, 6-7 days a week, do my best to eat a healthy diet and maintain a good sleep rhythm. As far as sleep, I think this is a real problem in our lives today, adults just don’t get enough good quality sleep. Check out this article from the Center for Disease Control:
“35% of U.S. adults are not getting the recommended 7 hours of sleep each night. ... Sleeping less than seven hours per day is associated with an increased risk of developing chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and frequent mental distress.”
As adults we make sure our children get enough good quality sleep and you do that by adhering to a good sleep regimen. In bed at a certain time and up at a certain time, a rhythm. (or maybe it’s just because they can’t scream when they’re asleep!) But unfortunately, as adults with unbridled freedom of schedule and the high demands of life, we have absolutely crazy sleep patterns. Our bodies are built around a cycle called the Circadian rhythm, a 24 hour cycle in the physiological processes of living beings that tells our bodies when to sleep, rise, and eat. If you’re in agreeance with this cycle you can rise well-rested, enjoy more energy during the day and fall asleep easier at night. I do my best to maintain a good sleep pattern and it does wonders. I’m in bed by 9:30 asleep at 10 and then up around 5:30.
So there you go, the big 4. Feed yourself a spiritually balanced diet with daily time in God’s Word and prayer, get some exercise every day, maintain a good sleep pattern and then feed yourself a healthy physical diet. Try it out, you’ll feel better and be more productive to do God’s work!
So today as we move along in Romans we come to chapter 11. This is the 2nd of three divisions in the book of Romans and Paul is dealing specifically with the nation of Israel in this division. Chapter 9 dealt with the past of Israel, chapter 10 was the present dealings with Israel and chapter 11 is the future dealings. God has a future purpose for the nation of Israel even though they have been temporarily forgone due to them rejecting Christ and the “by faith” righteousness of God that was offered them. But God is not done with the nation of Israel, all the promises of the Old Testament will ring true in God’s timing.
This morning I want to specifically look at Romans 11:34-35. Let’s look at the verses first, Here's Romans 11:34-35 TPT:
34 “For who has discovered how the Lord thinks
or is wise enough to be the one to advise him in his plans?
35 “Who has ever first given something to God
that obligates God to owe him something in return?”
Verse 11:34 is pretty self-explanatory, God is God and thinks like God. We are not God and therefore cannot think like God. I know for myself the more I remind myself of this simple little fact, the happier I am. I have to let the God of the universe run the world that He created, and I just sit back and watch. I can’t counsel Him, give him advice, or tell Him how it can be done better, it just doesn’t work that way. I come across people on a daily basis that seem to think that they can do it better. They’ve always got these grand ideas about what’s wrong with the world, the government, the church, society or Christianity in general. My friends, that is flying in the face of God and that’s not a good place to be. God created this world, it’s His and He has a perfect plan for it. God doesn’t make mistakes and does everything out of an abundance of love, mercy and grace that our tiny 3lb brains can’t even begin to comprehend. Sit back and let God do His job, don’t be His advisor or counselor. Things will happen in this world that you’re not happy with and you’ll just have to rely on the fact that God is in control and has a prefect plan. I often tell people that I don’t want a God I can understand anyway. I mean if I can perfectly understand everything He does that’s bad. Believe me, you don’t want Dan Potter running this universe! Thank God that He is in charge and not me! This is my favorite verse in dealing with this. Don’t try so hard to figure it all out yourself, lean not on your own understanding. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
The next verse has great interest for me. This is a verse that has unbelievable implications to our world today and how we view God, His provisions and our own worth and ability to generate income. Let’s talk about God giving to us and us giving to God.
First of all, out of every single thing that you possess, where do you think it came from? Your money, your job, your house, your cars, your 401-k, your pension, your food, your appliances, your dishes, your clothes, your jewelry, your toys, your electronics, the money for your bills? I guess this could really be a question of your view on God, but I think if you’re a believer in God, you should realize that EVERYTHING in our lives comes from God. Why do we have the job we have? Look back at how you got it and I bet you’ll remember some small moments that were completely out of your control that rolled your way and helped you get that job. Was it your resume or was it God? What about the money that job generates? Well if you honestly believe that God got you the job then God is giving you the money it generates. What about your cars? Why do you have the cars you have? What about your house? The single biggest investment most of us will ever make is our home. Again, think back to the process that got you into that home. I bet you can easily point out some factors that went your way that has God’s fingerprints all over them. And if you really want to build upon our discussion, the job that God gave you to generate money is what’s paying for that house anyway, so who’s is it? What about all the other stuff? All God’s.
So, if God has gifted us all this stuff what do we owe him in return? I don’t want to turn this into a tithing forum, but God’s Word does speak specifically of tithing in the Old Testament. Tithe literally translates into ‘a tenth’ and that’s where we get that tithing mens to give a tenth of your income back to God. But here’s the crux of our conversation, where the rubber meets the road. I want you to get down and dirty honest here. Who does it all REALLY belong to? All your stuff and money, where did it all come from? Did you work your tail off and do it all on your own? Did you earn it all fair and square and it’s all yours? If you say yes, I can fully understand, that’s the way I grew up. You work hard and the money you make is all yours.
As I’ve grown in years and also grown in God I realize its so very different. It all comes from God so how can you NOT give back to him that which came from Him in the first place? It only makes sense to me now. Listen to this quote from Vernon McGee discussing this verse, Romans 11:35:
“Have you ever really given anything to God which put Him in the awkward position of owing you something? If you were able to give God something, He would owe you something. What do you have that He hasn’t already given you? I think one reason many of us are struggling financially is simply because we return to Him so little of what He has already first given to us. To tell the truth, God says He will not be in debt to anybody. When somebody gives Him something, He turns around and gives him more. Years ago, someone asked a financially successful Christian businessman how it was that he had so much wealth but gave so much away. His answer, “Well, I shovel it out and God shovels it back in, but God’s shovel is much bigger than mine!”
You see giving back to God is not about the money, God created it all and He has all the money in the world anyway. He doesn’t need your money. So, what he does want? Your obedience and your faith. Do you really believe its all His? Do you really believe it all came directly from Him? If you do truly believe all this you will not feel obligated to give out of guilt or compulsion, you will take delight in it. 2 Cor. 9:6-7 “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Not only that but because God controls it all and He is a generous God, when we give to him he gives back. In fact, He has big promises in His Word to the cheerful giver. Check out Malachi 3:10:
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”
God is a God of abundance and rewards those who obey His commands. Now watch out here, I’m not preaching prosperity gospel. Prosperity gospel is you need a thousand dollars so you give a thousand to the church and in a week you’re expecting to get back $10,000. Prosperity gospel is the TV preacher telling you to mail in $300 and you’ll get back $3,000 in a week. My friends that is not what I’m saying at all and it does not work that way. Nowhere in God’s Word does it say that God will repay you money for money. I have personally seen God repay me in so many ways. His favor. His financial peace. His financial intelligence and wisdom. Personal joy from giving and seeing it help others. A better marriage from dealing with money God’s way. Seeing it help my local church share the gospel around the world and in my community.
Let me say again, you are not guaranteed to get money back from giving God money. I heard somebody one time say, “you cannot play God like some kind of cosmic slot machine and hope you’ll win the jackpot.” You see God knows you, He made you. He knows your heart and why you’re giving. That’s why 2 Cor 9:6 above says “each must give as he has decided in his heart, God loves a CHEERFUL giver.’’ God loves a heart that knows where it came from in the first place. God loves a heart that recognizes Him as the provider of all that they have and gives back to Him in a way that reflects who He is.
God is the provider of all, gives us all, and is our all. Give to Him accordingly as it is in your heart.
Blessings for your day.
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