Attitudes towards God and money. Ecclesiastes 5

Today's quiet time was spent in Ecc 5. Why?  My Bible app had one of the verses from that chapter as its verse of the day and I ventured to read the whole chapter.  Worked for me actually.  God is awesome like that. 

I did have to re-read the chapter a time or two to understand what it was trying to tell me. I try my best to take my thoughts captive (2 Cor 10:5) at all times.  Thoughts enter and exit all the time. It's controlling them that's tricky. Some thoughts I have to hastily push out once I realize it's coming from the "father of lies" (John 8:44). Satan is persistent though. He will continue to use thoughts to get to us. This is going to be a daily battle. In verse 2, Solomon is saying that we are not to be hasty in word or impulsive in thought--struggle, I know.  Continuing to read the verses below, he goes I to more detail by explaining what he means...the quick fix.  When something is going wrong for us, we want to get rid of it pronto!  Right?!?!?  What do we do?  In our weak moments, we begin to appeal to God to take it from us and even go as far as bargaining with Him.  We tell Him we'll be better spouses, parents, Christians, friends if He'll take this away. Solomon clearly warns us not to do this. Why?   Because we don't follow through. Life gets back in the way and we forget our promise.  Never a good idea to break a promise to God. Instead, try asking Him for wisdom or strength to deal with the issue. We're callable people.  We will fail. Lets not make it worse by making promises we can't keep, to Him or anyone else. 

The second half of the chapter deals with money. It's pretty simple really:  don't put money and stuff above God.  All good things come from God (James 1:17). He just expects us to keep Him first in all we do. It's ok to be financially well off.  God provides. Enjoy it responsibly while you're alive. Use it to further His Kingdom. Solomon cautions us to not hoard.  It isn't ours anyway, remember James 1:17? We are born naked; we will also die naked (without stuff). 

False teachers

I didn't grow up in the church. Supposedly I went to church, but the effect it had on me wasn't very spectacular since I don't remember things. I've watched all of my sisters stay away or walk away, and I didn't understand it either. 

People can read and re-read the Bible and not have things click for them until years later.  Even my lead pastor has this happen to him...even now. It probably means God has waited to reveal something to you for a purpose.  I've struggled and struggled with why my family is so far from God, or why people who grow up in the church end up walking away as adults. It honestly wasn't until I found my current church, www.thecoolchurch.com, that my faith changed.  At the cool church, they prove God, Jesus, and the Bible.  I don't have to blindly follow something because 'man' said so.  My pastor doesn't read the Bible to me, but expects me to read it for myself. He expects me to study so I know context and in what timeframe each book was written. He says I need to know culture as well. He doesn't want me to base my faith on things he tells me. Who does this these days?  Sure, he teaches us each weekend, giving us the context and culture, and even geography. But, he continues to expect us to do our own studying, to have our own 'a-ha' moments. 

Pastors, ministers, and church leaders have a responsibility to God first in how they lead. They have to abide by what the Bible says they are to be (1 Tim 3-6)...nothing more, nothing less. It's no wonder Christ isn't the center of America anymore. Churches have rendered Him irrelevant.  You have churches that have women pastors (1 Tim 2:9-15), and pastors who look the other way regarding blatant sin. There are "churches" that fully accept certain sins. 

So, why are my sisters not interested in God?  Look no farther than the church!   Way to go churches!!!!!   

Now to figure out how to combat this....hmmmm