I need to tell you something.

I slipped and fell and bought a t-shirt today.

At Watermark Books.

Hello.

Local.

Books.

T-shirt.

All my favs.

So about that spending fast…

No, seriously, I haven’t chatted with my man about details (such as, when to start…).  But I felt the need to say this on here.

Also, I had this thought. 

If I know you in real life or if you know about our group’s outreach, there’s a chance you might think I’m doing all this money talk because, deep down, I really want you to give the ministry some money.  I just want to make sure and say this: He has absolutely and completely provided for all needs from Day One.  We have had generous givers, bakers, pray-ers and helpers.  People excited to help, asking for the opportunity to be part of what He’s doing. 

There is no hidden agenda here from me!  I’m not needing anything or angry or judging anyone on how their money is spent.  Just sharing of lessons as He daily shows me what He has for me.

So about money.  And the “why?” behind it all.  Let’s hear a little from Randy Alcorn about stewardship:

“God is the owner of all things, and we are simply His stewards…’A steward is someone entrusted with another’s wealth or property and charged with the responsibility of managing it in the owner’s best interest.’  A steward’s primary goal is to be found faithful by his master as the steward uses the master’s resources to accomplish the tasks delegated to him.”  (Money, Possessions and Eternity, pgs. 139, 140)

What do you think are the tasks delegated to us as New Testament Believers according to the Word? 

Do you think of the money you make in this way?  As The Master’s resources to accomplish the tasks He gives us?

What did your family of origin teach you about money? 

Today’s thoughts.  It’s a start!

https://www.intentionalkingdomliving.com/322/

Interested in a spending fast with me?  Let’s hear the rest of Jen’s intro and chat:

“If you have ever wondered what God really cares about, let Isaiah 58 be your guidepost. 

If our lives are marked by gossip and slander and apathy and neglect of the poor, we can just skip all the outward disciplines and save God the energy.

He is stunningly concerned with the marginalized, and He is always, always burrowing deeply into our hearts, our motives, the way we think, the reasons we move…

Jesus had three sentences to say about fasting in Matthew 6:16-18. 

‘When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting.  I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.  But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.’

Jesus did not throw out fasting.  He assumes we are fasting.  He called for reform and got at the heart of the matter…

There is something valuable about fasting.  Jesus knew it. 

This is for us. 

This matters. 

This is worth keeping…

A fast creates margin for God to move.

If we can set our defensiveness aside and take Jesus at His word, He is pointing out our blind spot.

We’re a double-edged sword, privileged believers, because we are so incredibly resourced with the potential to battle disparity, but those same resources trap and entangle us…

Meanwhile the suffering happening on our watch is a tragedy while we hold all the cards. 

If excess is at the root of the problem, then let’s fast from it…

God did not invite me into this fast to condemn me; it was to liberate me…

Jesus was gentle, even in the midst of heavy deconstruction….

It is supremely important to get your head on right before a fast.  Take as long as you need to work this out with Jesus.  This doesn’t mean you have all your junk together…hardly!

You can come a hot mess like we all are, but come for Jesus.

Come for transformation.

Come for worship.

Come humble and honest, open and listening.

Don’t feel this way yet?  Pray for it! 

Put it all out there.

Jesus can handle every bit of your honesty.”

What are you thinking?  Are you interested in fasting from excess? 

Is it Spending for you?  Do you look at your bank statement and not like what you see? 

Or is it Media?  Do you feel enslaved to the internet?  Or your phone?  Or even good stuff like podcasts or sermons?  Do you need more quiet in your life?

How about Complaining?   He’s been talking to me lately about the source of my complaints: the rights I think I have (but don’t).  I really, really want to do some sort of word fast…hey, my people!  Help me?

What about Possessions?  If you’re like our family, we get the Purge Bug this time of year as we spring clean.  What about researching ministries in your city to give to instead of having a garage sale?  Or if you have a sale, let the proceeds go toward someone’s adoption fund or mission trip or a neighbor’s need.  Ask your friends who are far from God if they know of needs.  I would venture to guess they do.  Ask your small group if they want to join you!

Did the Food thing strike a chord in your heart?  Do you want to change one little habit?  Or overhaul a few big habits?

A while back I mentioned Waste.  Have you thought about that some?  Want to dive in there? 

If you do feel God leading you this way, you’ll probably need some accountability and encouragement.  It’s tough to do most things alone.  But especially this.

If you’re a wife like me, you should probably chat with your man first, too.  Remember we’re not their bosses.  Pray together and listen to their feedback.  They tend to know us better than we think they do and they can have such insight into our motives, pressures and fears.  For something like this my man is good at helping me stay balanced when I tend to fall into my performance issues. 

Okay, let’s do business with Jesus.  He is worth everything.

(Oh, and be prepared for a lot of money talk on here!)

https://www.intentionalkingdomliving.com/323/

“Beneath the surface of everyone’s life is an ache that will not go away…

When the fact is faced that life is profoundly disappointing, the only way to make it is to learn to love. 

And only those who are no longer consumed with finding satisfaction now are able to love.

[This kind of internal character change] frees us to groan without complaint, to love others in spite of our emptiness, and to wait for the complete satisfaction we so desperately desire.”

Inside Out, Larry Crabb

Oh my, I needed this today.  Jesus, please help me be satisfied each morning with Your unfailing love.  Help me not demand that kind of satisfaction from others.

https://www.intentionalkingdomliving.com/324/

“So what, in the situation of personal injury, is the rightness of the kingdom heart?

Here we must once again recall the point about order:

We have already heard…that anger, contempt, and absorbing desire have been dealt with so that our lives are not being run by them.  If they occasionally test us still, that is very natural.  But they do not control us and leave us unable to reliably and happily carry through with our sober intention to do what is good and avoid what is evil.

This being so, when we are personally injured our world does not suddenly become our injury.  We have a larger view of our life and our place in God’s world. 

We see God; we see ourselves in his hands.

What are characteristic ways in which one fully alive in and to The Kingdom Among Us may respond to personal affronts, injuries, and impositions? 

Jesus mentions four types of kingdom responses:

1.  They will ‘turn the other cheek.’  That is, they will remain vulnerable.  They will not take their defense into their own hands and do whatever they may regard as necessary to protect themselves…

2.  ‘Let him have your shirt.’  They will conscientiously try to help, as is appropriate, those who have won legal cases against them in court.  They are, after all, deeply interested in what the other person needs and are prepared to help that person as much as they can.

3.  ‘Go with him two miles.’  If a policeman or other responsible official exercises a right to require assistance from them, they will do more than is strictly required of them…

4.  ‘Give to him who asks of you.’  They will often give to people who have no prior claim of any kind to what they are asking for.  The request itself is the only claim required to move them…

All [fear of legalism] is changed when we realize that these are illustrations of what a certain kind of person, the kingdom person, will characteristically do in such situations.  They are not laws of ‘righteous behavior’ for those personally imposed upon or injured…

Though we are not talking about things one must do to ‘be Christian’ or ‘go to heaven when we die,’ we are looking at how people live who stand in the flow of God’s life now.  We see the interior rightness of those who are living – as a matter of course, not just in exceptional moments – beyond the rightness of the scribes and Pharisee.”

Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy pgs. 176, 177, 178

Only You, Jesus, and Your Spirit empowering us. 

https://www.intentionalkingdomliving.com/327/

You are not alone if you are lonely

When you’re feeling frail, you’re not the only

We are all the same – in need of mercy

To be forgiven and be free

It’s all you got to lean on

But thank God it’s all you need

And all the people said Amen!

And all the people said Amen!

Give thanks to the Lord for His love never ends

And all the people said Amen!

If you’re rich or poor, well it don’t matter

Weak or strong, we know love is what we’re after

We’re all broken but we’re all in this together

God knows we stumble and fall

And He so loved the world He sent His son to save us all

And all the people said Amen!

And all the people said Amen!

Give thanks to the Lord for His love never ends

And all the people said Amen!

Blessed are

The poor in spirit who are torn apart

Blessed are

The persecuted and the pure in heart

Blessed are

The people longing for another start

For this is the Kingdom

The Kingdom of God!

And all the people said Amen!

And all the people said Amen!

Give thanks to the Lord for His love never ends

And all the people said Amen! 

– Matt Maher, All the People Said Amen

https://www.intentionalkingdomliving.com/328/

But now listen, O Jacob, my servant…

Do not be afraid…

For I will pour water on the thirsty land,

And streams on the dry ground;

I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring,

And my blessing on your descendants.

They will spring up like grass in a meadow,

Like poplar trees by flowing streams.

One will say, ‘I belong to the LORD’;

Another will call himself by the name of Jacob;

Still another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD’S’

https://www.intentionalkingdomliving.com/329/

And…welcome back the Grace Police!

Seriously, my people are so good to me.

Conversation #1 (my man):

“Sounds good but it seems like you’re attacking rich people.”

What?!  I mean me. 

We. 

Us. 

All of us!!

Promise, promise, promise this isn’t finger pointing! 

2nd Convo:

“It is convicting and encouraging, but I know you’re heart.  I know you desire unity.”

Then we discussed the topic of how the world is watching believers fight about doctrine instead of love each other. 

It was a good discussion, but the talking wasn’t the best part.  It was what was happening off to the side.

What was happening?

Her man was on the porch corralling all four little ones. 

Playing with them.

While we were yammering about theology, he was living it.

Convo 3:

“There’s a difference between finding worth in riches and being entrusted with much.”

Right.

Good.

(This is the one who regularly helps me live in the tension.)

Yes, friends, these are my people.  The same ones who, the other day, likened the process of me buying a house to Maggie Carpenter getting married in Runaway Bride.

Just get her to closing.  Just get her to closing.

 Anyway. 

Plus, all the talk about scorning blessings could make it seem like I never spend money.

Bahahahahahahahaha!

We all have our weaknesses.  I love to eat out (convenience could quickly be an idol).  I love products.  All kinds.  I love books.  The kind you hold and smell and highlight.  It’s as if I’m collecting t-shirts.  I will sign up for anything for a t-shirt.  Colorful kitchen ware makes my knees weak.  I will trample you and your children to get to a globe or map first if it’s the last one at the store.  Or yard sale. 

See what I mean?

There are so so so many other people ahead of me in line qualified to talk about faithfulness in finances.  We lived with some once.  We gleaned so much wisdom from them about how to steward what we’re given.  And despite their money savvy I never got a legalistic feeling from them. 

Impressive combo.

But, even still, we’re pressing on.  Just know the heart and (at least somewhat) self-awareness behind the writing.

Here’s Jen:

“[These intruders in my head], aided and abetted by Jesus, staged a mutiny.  The catalyst was the week we housed 12 evacuees from Hurricane Ike…

As carloads arrived and we welcomed them in, one 10-year-old boy walked in our home, looked around with huge eyes, and hollered:

‘Dad!  This white dude is RICH!’

For years I didn’t realize this, because so many others had more…But it gets fuzzy once you spend time with people below your rung.  I started seeing my stuff with fresh eyes, realizing we had everything.

I mean everything.

We’ve never missed a meal or even skimped on one.  We have a beautiful home in a great neighborhood.  Our kids are in an exemplary Texas school.  We drive two cars.  We’ve never gone a day without health insurance.  Our closets are overflowing.  We throw away food we didn’t eat, clothes we barely wore, trash that will never disintegrate, stuff that fell out of fashion…

The day I’m unaware of my privileges and unmoved by my greed is the day something has to change…We’d done some first-tier reductions, freeing up excess to share, but still…the white dude was really rich.

How do you feel after reading the last few paragraphs?

How would you feel if God asked you to part ways with your stuff?  (Make it real: your house, your neighborhood, your cars, your comforts.)

If you’re a believer, how does it feel to have your good behavior discredited compared to how you’ve handled money and possessions?

I see a theme [in Jesus’ teachings]…a recurring condition that hinders the kingdom and stops potential Christ-followers short of actually following Christ.

Wealth.

If Jesus is serious, then far more than fearing poverty or discomfort, we should worry about our prosperity.”

Whew.  Are you okay?

https://www.intentionalkingdomliving.com/330/

I guess there’s nothing to do but jump in, huh?

Jen helps me do just that.  (I like calling her Jen.  I’m pretty sure she reads my blog, you see.)

Okay, prepare for a little sarcasm…

“Jesus talked repeatedly about people with privileges, riches, advantages.  He was always saying how rich people were favored and that our luxuries were granted to us on merit. 

Enjoy them, rich folks!

It’s all for you, and you’re awesome!

Just kidding.

I can’t find a single word Jesus spoke that bodes well for rich people at the top of the food chain.

‘Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your comfort.’ Luke 6:24

‘As for the seed that fell among thorns, these are the ones who, when they have heard, go on their way and are choked with worries, riches, and pleasures of life, and produce no mature fruit.’  Luke 8:14

‘That’s how it is with the one who stores us treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.’ Luke 12:21

‘He has satisfied the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty.’  Luke 1:53

[The story of the rich young ruler] was no problem for me most of my life.  I mean, bummer for all those rich people!  Whew!  What a mess they are.  Jesus is not playing…

Then things started getting weird for me.

Rogue thoughts about my own wealth began infiltrating my brain, where I’d cleared space for more comfortable ideas, like, for instance, how to have a happy life. 

These intruders started questioning the residents in my mind, asking about the rest of the world and how are you spending your money and why do you have bins of stuff in every corner of your house and do you have a responsibility to those who suffer and does the way you spend your money matter?

You can see why I hated these new tenants.”

Yes, I’m starting here.  Because I need to.  We need to get our spending back on track.  It really does matter.

Some of her questions:

What have the residents in your brain always told you about what you own?  It’s okay to be honest.

Do you have any intruders?  If so, what are they asking?

Now me:

If you struggle with guilt and anxiety, you may need someone to hold your hand through this.  If you’re like me, you need someone talking to you about balance and using what we do have for the glory of God and the good of others.  Reminding you you are probably not called to sell everything.  Or loathe what you have.  Or be ungrateful for blessings.

But some of us…

Some of us don’t need that.  Some of us need to hear these hard truths and let them sink in. 

I don’t assume to know anything about what you need.  I know when I look at people in my life and the response to needs for our group’s outreach, I see so much generosity.  I can’t think of all the different ways people I know are using their money, their homes, their possessions to contribute to God’s kingdom.

I’m not angry. 

I’m compelled.

I think there’s more here for us.

How are you doing?

https://www.intentionalkingdomliving.com/331/

Strength will rise as we wait upon the LORD

Wait upon the LORD

We will wait upon the LORD

Our God – You reign forever!

Our Hope, Our Strong Deliverer!

You are the Everlasting God!

The Everlasting God!

You do not faint

You won’t grow weary

You’re the Defender of the weak

You comfort those in need

You lift us up on wings like eagles!

– Lincoln Brewster “Everlasting God”

“‘Here is my servant, whom I uphold,

My chosen one in whom I delight;

I will put my Spirit on him

And he will bring justice to the nations.

He will not shout or cry out,

or raise his voice in the streets.

A bruised reed he will not break,

And a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.

In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;

He will not falter or be discouraged

Till he establishes justice on earth.

In his law the islands will put their hope.’

This is what God the LORD says –

He who created the heavens

And stretched them out,

Who spread out the earth and

All that comes out of it,

Who gives breath to its people,

And life to those who walk on it:

‘I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness;

I will take hold of your hand.

I will keep you and will make you

To be a covenant for the people

And a light for the Gentiles,

To open the eyes that are blind,

To free captives from prison

And to release from the dungeon

Those who sit in darkness.

I am the LORD; that is my name!

I will not give my glory to another

Or my praise to idols.

See, the former things have taken place,

And new things I declare;

Before they spring into being

I announce them to you.'”

Isaiah 42:1-9

https://www.intentionalkingdomliving.com/333/

Specifics on the whole Spending topic will come.  For now, let’s listen to our mentor, Richard Foster:

“We simply must understand that the writers of the New Testament did not intend to give us a new set of laws.  The limit inherent in all these teachings is built into the simple principle of love of God and neighbor.

Dallas Willard has said, “Love is a well-reasoned concern for the good of all.”

Love does not have tunnel vision.

If I bring the needy into my home and destroy my own family in the process, I am driven by something other than love.

The commands of Jesus must be understood within the broader context of the law of love.  The biblical instruction is not meant to destroy us, but to set us free.  It is the glad trumpet call of liberation to all who are oppressed by reputation, wealth, and power…

What we discover from the New Testament witness is the combination of a penetrating criticism of wealth with a carefree, almost lighthearted attitude toward possessions.  It is a combination seldom found today…

Until Pentecost the disciples were a motley crew – bickering, backbiting, jockeying for position, always squabbling over who was to receive top billing. 

Unfocused, they did not know simplicity of life.  But in the course of time Jesus had formed a community of people who would live in holy obedience (always the most distinguishing characteristic of simplicity). 

Finally a people had been gathered who, when God said, ‘Wait,’ would wait, when God said, ‘Go,’ would go, when God said, ‘Give,’ would give.

Rugged men and women who had been seasoned by many failures and some successes, imperfect and ignorant of many things, they were nevertheless a prepared people. 

And God said, ‘Wait.’

Disciplined, obedient, simple, they waited.

And the fire fell.”

The Freedom of Simplicity, pgs 49, 50, 51

https://www.intentionalkingdomliving.com/334/