Serious vs. Trivial Consequences

Matthew 5:22

But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother (without cause) will be subject to judgment.

That's the same consequence of one who commits murder.

Again, anyone who says to his brother "Raca" is answerable to the Sanhedrin.

That was the courtroom, the legal judges. Sounds like the same consequence.

But anyone who says, "You fool!" will be in danger of the fire of hell.

Wow, this is serious. Murder and anger and contempt ("Raca") will bring one to the earthly courtroom to be judged. But to call someone a Fool has spiritual, eternal consequences.

"Many Mansions"

John 14:1-6

Do not let your hearts be troubled.

Don't worry.

Trust in God; trust also in Me.

You can depend on what I say.

In My Father's house are many rooms;

There are already many mansions, many dwellings there.

I am going to prepare a place for you.

It's a real place and I really am going there and will prepare a real place for you to live.

And if I go and prepare a place for you,

Which I am doing,

I will come back and take you to be with me that you also will be where I am.

When I go away, you can be sure that I will come back for you, I won't just send for you, I myself will come to get you and take you to be with Me so that wherever I am, you will be with me.

You know the way to the place I'm going.

You know Me, and I will take you there.

Thomas said, "Lord, we don't even know where you're going, so how can we know the way [to get there]?" Jesus answered, "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

There's only one way into this world (sperm and egg), and only one way into the next. It's God's house, He can set the requirements for who is welcome to enter, just like I can in my own house.

Spiritual And Material Needs

I Timothy 6:6-10

But godliness with contentment is great gain.

To seek God's face and follow His ways, obeying His commands, letting Him satisfy us, that is "great gain," that is tremendous riches.

For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.

We're all born naked, and if some seem to be born with a silver spoon in their mouth, that spoon is of this world and will remain with this world when we leave it.

But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

Wow, not even a roof over our heads is mentioned here. As long as we have food to nourish us and clothing to cover our nakedness and keep us warm, nothing else is really necessary.

People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.

When we want what we want and leave God out of the picture, focusing on this world and the things of this world.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

Loving money instead of loving God will lead us to wanting what money can buy, which cannot satisfy, so it leads to all kinds of perversions and excesses to try to fill the emptiness.

Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

They have "shot themselves in the foot." Some soldiers have done this with the idea that a wound would get them sent home, so they live the rest of their lives in the prison of pain. Focusing only on this world will be self-defeating; real life is spirit, and this world is material. There is no life in the physical, all life is spiritual: When the spirit leaves the body, it is dead.

Read The Directions

Psalm 78:1-7

A Teaching Song of Asaph

O my people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth...we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the Law in Israel, which he  commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so that the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds, but would keep his commands.

God wants us all to know the truth of what He has done already. God won't repeat the miracles he's already done, He wants us to teach our children and grandchildren so that they can also teach their children and grandchildren. When they really know for fact who God is and what He's done, then they will be able to trust Him and follow His directions, the rules He established so we could live an orderly and pleasant life, the result of obeying His laws. The Bible is the Manufacturer's blueprint for how we are to build our lives. Always read the directions!

The Dishonest Manager

Luke 16:8-12

The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

Christians sometimes tend to be naive when it comes to financial matters.  We are to be "as harmless as doves" when it comes to evil and wickedness, but, "as wise as serpents" when it comes to both spiritual and practical matters (Matthew 10:16). So we can use them to benefit others.

Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

There is no grey area here, we are either honest or dishonest, with a few cents or a fortune.

So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?

So our honesty and our financial acumen are both significant to God. 

The manager still had the authority as manager to give discounts to his employer's debtors. So his boss didn't condemn him for "stealing" his profit, but complimented him for his idea to take care of himself. We are not to seek it for ourselves. As Christians, we are to learn the ways of financial responsibility and even investing (see the parable of the Talents, Luke 19:33ff). Jesus' tone in speaking this story (in Luke 16) sounds rather wistful to me, if we, as children of the Light, would only learn to manage our finances as well as the world does, then we would be fully His hands and His feet to accomplish His work, to "occupy" (Luke 19:13) until He returns!

Paul's Example For Us

II Corinthians 1:12

Now this is our boast:

What we will testify to on the Day of the Lord (see v. 14).

Our conscience testifies

We have a clear conscience.

That we have conducted ourselves

Our behavior.

In the world

Wherever we go, whoever we talk to.

And especially in our relations with you,

We paid particular attention to our treatment of our own family members.

In the holiness

Our being separate from the world.

And sincerity

Integrity and honesty, no masks.

That are from God.

The way God treats us, His children.

We have done so not according to worldly wisdom

Not the way people who don't know the Lord treat each other.

But according to God's grace.

God blesses us abundantly, even though we don't deserve it. And He doesn't give us the punishment we deserve; this is His mercy.

Our Attitude At Work

Colossians 3:22-25

Slaves [employees], obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.

We are to work at our jobs doing what our bosses have delegated for us to accomplish, not only to show them we are good workers to earn a promotion, but inwardly realizing that our Lord has put us in our position to not only make our boss look good, but also to bring credit to the Lord in our attitudes and methods of doing things.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

No matter what kind of job we have, whether blue collar, white collar or no collar, we are to do it as though our boss is Jesus, giving Him our very best with passion.

Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.

How we do our jobs is important in the light of Christ's reputation. When we throw ourselves passionately into working out and completing the tasks before us as working for God's benefit, as well as our human boss, God will reward us, His paycheck. But if we cut corners, or conduct our business in an unethical or deceptive way, we will experience the negative consequences of our poor choices; because God doesn't "grade on a curve," He allows us to reap what we have sown, to experience the natural consequences of our decisions in how we think and act, whether good or bad, positive or negative.