The Apostle Paul  speaks in the New Testament and says this:

I Corinthians 12: 12  For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. ¹³ For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all given to drink into one Spirit. ¹⁴ For the body is not one member, but many. ¹⁵ If the foot would say, “Because I’m not the hand, I’m not part of the body,” it is not therefore not part of the body. ¹⁶ If the ear would say, “Because I’m not the eye, I’m not part of the body,” it’s not therefore not part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the smelling be? ¹⁸ But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body, just as he desired. ¹⁹ If they were all one member, where would the body be? ²⁰ But now they are many members, but one body. ²¹ The eye can’t tell the hand, “I have no need for you,” or again the head to the feet, “I have no need for you.” ²² No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. ²³ Those parts of the body which we think to be less honorable, on those we bestow more abundant honor; and our unpresentable parts have more abundant propriety; ²⁴ whereas our presentable parts have no such need. But God composed the body together, giving more abundant honor to the inferior part, ²⁵ that there should be no division in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. ²⁶ When one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. When one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. 

 

Let’s think about the human body.  Each type of cell is shaped different according to its function.  A muscle cell is shaped differently than a brain cell.   A blood cell is shaped differently than a muscle cell.

Each organ has a different function.  The kidneys accomplish something different than the heart.

Each part of the body has a different function.  A hand operates differently than a foot.  An ear  operates differently than the eye.

All those parts of the body that belong to a certain function of the body will be similar.  But in some respect, they will be different.  Think about how many individual parts make up an eye, or an ear, or a hand, or a foot.

Some parts are so different, that if they met at a meeting (speaking metaphorically of course), an eye would probably exclaim to a tongue, “Why do you look like that, why do you do what you do, you are not like  us!”

God is so big, his purposes so large, that each part of the body has a different purpose and call.

Each must be focused on what God has called it to do.

There is probably one part of the body that relates more frequently to other parts.  That would be the blood.  The blood cells circulate around bringing oxygen and nutrition to the other cells.  They also remove waste.

There are some cells and parts of the body that, while different, are closely related.  For example, there is a place where  the muscles attach to the bone.  They are closely related, but different in function at the same time.

Consider the  immune system, how it functions.  It is quite complex, has multiple parts and if one of the parts is not working, the whole system will not be as effective.  Or, what if one of the parts  of the immune system, decided it wanted to try to be a different part than that which it was created to be?  It wouldn’t work out.

And while the body is one, there may be some parts of the body that never ever connect with another part of the body.  For example, a lifetime could go by and say, a toenail might never have any reason to deal with, say, the hair.

Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face though they come from the ends of the earth!
Rudyard Kipling

Most of the time that makes up our lives is spent proving us…how do we react in a situation, how closely do we follow the scriptures, how consistent are we…and many other tests along these lines.

There is only one place in the Bible where God says, “Prove me”.  That scripture is in Malachi.

I would be so bold as to say that anyone who has consistently, without fail, without doubting, consistently tithed day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, however their income comes in, will not stop tithing because they are aware of the benefits.

When it comes to money people say about churches, “all they want is your money.”  A church or minister would be negligent not to tell you to give to the Lord, just as it can be negligent for a health care professional not to tell you about lifestyle and how it affects your health.

A work-out center offers you weights and equipment to improve your health, but realistically, they are going to talk about your diet as well.

No matter what realm you work in, whatever topic you are talking about, ongoing lifestyle and prevention are important parts of the discussion.

You could buy a $100,000 dollar car, but if you don’t keep the oil changed and the maintenance up, you can trash it just as easily as a car that costs less.  The same goes for a house, or motor home, or boat or anything.

There is a tendency to think that because the things of God are more invisble, that they don’t operate by some of the same common sense principles as the things we see.  We know it costs money to keep a house repaired, to fix the plumbing, to lay down new tile, to paint with a fresh coat of paint, and to repair the roof.  Somehow, when a church asks for money to do the same, it is called “money-grubbing” or “all they want is your money”.

Just as a side note, you have to realize that Amazon and Wal-Mart and all those retailers are after your money as well, but the message is packaged differently.  A church is trying to pay for expenses so it can keep bringing you the Word of God week after week.  A retailer is after  your money for other purposes.

This problem is not new.  Here is an example of the same problem discussed in the book of Haggai.  Notice that after the people worked on the house of God, then the Word of the Lord came…I am with you.   This was an if…then proposition.

Haggai 1:1  In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, Yahweh’s word came by Haggai, the prophet, to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, ² “This is what Yahweh of Armies says: These people say, ‘The time hasn’t yet come, the time for Yahweh’s house to be built.’”

³ Then Yahweh’s word came by Haggai, the prophet, saying, ⁴ “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies waste? ⁵ Now therefore this is what Yahweh of Armies says: Consider your ways. ⁶ You have sown much, and bring in little. You eat, but you don’t have enough. You drink, but you aren’t filled with drink. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm, and he who earns wages earns wages to put them into a bag with holes in it.”

⁷ This is what Yahweh of Armies says: “Consider your ways. ⁸ Go up to the mountain, bring wood, and build the house. I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified,” says Yahweh. ⁹ “You looked for much, and, behold, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says Yahweh of Armies, “Because of my house that lies waste, while each of you is busy with his own house. ¹⁰ Therefore for your sake the heavens withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. ¹¹ I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on that which the ground produces, on men, on livestock, and on all the labor of the hands.”

¹² Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed Yahweh, their God’s voice, and the words of Haggai, the prophet, as Yahweh, their God, had sent him; and the people feared Yahweh.

¹³ Then Haggai, Yahweh’s messenger, spoke Yahweh’s message to the people, saying, “I am with you,” says Yahweh.

¹⁴ Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of Yahweh of Armies, their God, ¹⁵ in the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

In today’s world, it is easy to go to Facebook, YouTube, and other online places to hear sermons or listen to audio broadcasts of the messages of God.

I would suggest to you that in the midst of all that, don’t forget to tithe.  Tithe to to those places that you listen to, even if you are not local.  They still have expenses to bring the message to you electronically.

With all the fuss about the separation of church and state, which actually has been misinterpreted in modern times…the state was supposed to stay out of the church’s business, and not the other way around, but in any case, with all of the fuss about the separation of church and state do you think that the church is somehow a welfare arm of the state and that it is funded by them?  No.  Those soup kitchens and clothing shops and various things churches offer are there because of donations of church individuals, and those individuals have to deal with the same higher gas and food prices th at you do.  So don’t think that churches somehow have some “magical” donation button they push with the government to fill their coffers.  They don’t.

They are upheld by the tithes and offerings of those who attend them.  In turn, God blesses those who give tithes and offerings.

If you say, I have seen people blessed that don’t give tithes and offerings, consider that “the wheels of God grind slowly, but grind exceedingly fine.”  There was a time during the Great Depression when all those who had money and perhaps no faith in God lost quite a bit.  Some committed suicide.  The time comes when what used to work, like Sampson’s strength, no longer works any more.

Proverbs 10:22  Yahweh’s blessing brings wealth,
and he adds no trouble to it.

Why do I think there is such economic trouble in this land?

I believe it is because the majority of people in this nation, including Christians, did not tithe. (tithing statitics here)  So, the devourer was not rebuked.  Over and over you will see a theme on this site that if there is a problem, rather than blaming God, look to see where there have been sins of omission, sins of commission, or a combination thereof to bring about a problem.

Proverbs 26:2 Like a fluttering sparrow,
like a darting swallow,
so the undeserved curse doesn’t come to rest.

There are varying translations of this verse, and some use the word “him”,  others the word “me”.  I prefer the “me” translations as I think they express the problem more clearly.

Job 19:28  If you say, ‘How we will persecute him!’ because the root of the matter is found in me,

For you say: ‘why do we persecute him?’ For The Good Word has found occasion against me (Aramaic Bible in Plain English)

But ye say, ‘Why do we pursue after him?’ And the root of the matter hath been found in me.  (Young’s Literal Translation)

Remember, as the popular saying goes, “I don’t have a dog in this fight”.  I’m not a church.  I’m just trying to help some of you out who wonder why your prayers for financial help are not answered or slow to be answered.  Consider these things and consider giving to the church(es) where you get your spiritual food.  Tithe to one and give offerings to others.  Just make sure those churches preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and lead people to salvation.

I was going to end it there, but here’s another scripture, at least part of one; the chapter is longer.  This goes back to the question of why are the economic conditions the way they are?  There was a time when the economic outlook of the country was bright.  The good times were “rolling” so to speak.  But during that time, were tithes given?  Were offerings given?   Did people remember the Lord, enough people, that is, not just some, but enough.   Like the history in the book of Jonah, which is a small four-chapter book found towards the end of the Old Testament, it took national repentance for the direction of the nation to change.  And, in the book of Jonah, there was a bright outcome.  They did repent and change.

Deuteronomy 28:47  Because you didn’t serve Yahweh your God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things; ⁴⁸ therefore you will serve your enemies whom Yahweh sends against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in lack of all things. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.

 

Natural events are precipitated by spiritual causes.

And I will add this too.  In translation, the Bible is translated often in terms of implying God is going to do some kind of judgement.  And while in some cases that may be correct, there is a certain amount of translation that is more like, you enter into a law (by obedience or disobedience), and the law brings the consequences.

In other words, if someone jumps off of a high cliff (don’t do it), the law of gravity goes into action.  God does not sit in heaven deciding to judge the person for jumping and personally bring a judgement of that person getting squished on the bottom of the valley.  No.  The person entered into the law by disobedience, and reaps the consequences of the same.

The reason I mention that is because the Old Testament God sounds very different from Jesus due to translation issues.  There is a certain amount of translation going on that should be more like “God lets it happen”.  That would change how God is viewed if the translations were consistently like that.

In other words, if you move out of an umbrella of protection by disobeying God, God “lets it happen” that you get wet.  It’s not God doing it.  This is why I continually repeat, “Don’t blame God.”

This group was mentioned in a prior post on alms giving.  They are raising money to drill water wells.  Their cut off date for donations is March 18.

If you are interested in donating, you can copy and paste the url in your browser.

https://lifetoday.org/life-sustaining

Donations are gathered together and every time the combined donations reach a certain amount, they are able to drill another water well.

This might be a good project to present to your church, or children’s church, if they are looking for an outreach, but the window is closing quickly.

https://lifetoday.org/life-sustaining

One ministry from which I received correspondence is in the process of drilling water wells.   If you are interested in that project, here is the link.  (Copy and paste it into your browser.)

https://lifetoday.org/outreaches/water-for-life/

Psalm 41:1  Blessed is he who considers the poor.
    Yahweh will deliver him in the day of evil.
² Yahweh will preserve him, and keep him alive.
    He shall be blessed on the earth,
    and he will not surrender him to the will of his enemies.
³ Yahweh will sustain him on his sickbed,
    and restore him from his bed of illness.
⁴ I said, “Yahweh, have mercy on me!
    Heal me, for I have sinned against you.”

 

Matthew 6:1  “Be careful that you don’t do your charitable giving before men, to be seen by them, or else you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. ² Therefore, when you do merciful deeds, don’t sound a trumpet before yourself, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may get glory from men. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward. ³ But when you do merciful deeds, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand does, ⁴ so that your merciful deeds may be in secret, then your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

 

Matthew 25: 31  “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. ³² Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵ for I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? ³⁸ When did we see you as a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

 

James 2:14   What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him? ¹⁵ And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you tells them, “Go in peace. Be warmed and filled;” yet you didn’t give them the things the body needs, what good is it? ¹⁷ Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself. ¹⁸ Yes, a man will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

¹⁹ You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder. ²⁰ But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead?

“Disciple” and “discipline” are similar words and come from a similar Latin root.

A disciple is one who learns and follows.

Discipline is self-control.

You can read more extensive definitions of “disciple” and “discipline” here.

Discipline is a friend.  Discipline is a good thing.  It may time time and effort to get disciplined in any area of life, but once you have a discipline in place, it will work for you, not against you.

Hebrews 12:11  All chastening seems for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Another way of talking about discipline is to talk about forming a good habit.

You can pick anything in life.  If you have a problem and form a good habit or solution to overcome it, the discipline to create that good habit is worth it.

That covers so many arenas that it is only possible to give a very few common problems that people seek solutions to.

• Eating correctly
• Exercising on a regular basis
• Finding lost keys or cell phones
• Not taking a shopping list and forgetting what you needed and having to take a second trip
• Not calling in a presciption on time

The solutions are varied and books and webinars have been given on the topic of overcoming bad habits so that will not be addressed here, other than to suggest one possible solution.

• Write down one problem you are dealing with.
• Think about it and pray about it, ask for God’s wisdom and help
• Write down some ideas that come to you and see if you can at least find a first step among those ideas.

When you are praying it is easy to get distracted.  While you are thinking and praying about how to solve a problem, while you are asking God for help,  you may start thinking of things you need to do such as buy lettuce at the store, or write out a bill, or get the car filled up with gas the next time you are out.  Write those things down because in the act of writing them down, you will clear them from your mind.  It will free up your mind to stay focused on what you are praying about and your mind will stop going over and over what you need to remember to do.  And, of course, since they are written down, you will not worry about forgetting them.

It is possible, not only possible, but likely  that you will only get a first step idea or solution and not the whole picture or final solution.  In other words, if you are thinking of finding a new apartment to rent, you might think of talking to the property manager you met the other day.  Or, once you pray about it, you may end up talking to someone in the lunch room at work and they mention a room they know is for rent.  You might see a for rent sign as you drive to work and feel like you should stop in there after work.

The point is, pray, ask for God’s help, and then be open to ideas or help coming  in various ways.

If you are thinking of eating better write down the problem and then write down where you fall down.

Do you eat junk food cookies or snacks?  Write that down.

Do you buy a candy bar every afternoon?  Write that down.

Then look at the list.  How can you change?  Don’t buy the cookies and bring them home.  So then you have to decide what you will buy instead.  Apples?  Yogurt?  As for the candy bar, instead of standing in the checkout where all the candy bars are stacked, tempting you, go through the self-check out which usually has less temptation around it.   You might have to get a book on nutrition or learn some things online about healthy snacks.  You might find a group where you can be accountable in your effort to become healthier.  Any improvement for discipline in any area will take effort.

You will never solve a problem unless you look at it, confront it, actually think about how it is derailing your life, and then pray for God’s wisdom and guidance for solutions and follow it.

It is a matter of forming good habits and not breaking them.  It takes time and effort and discipline to learn about what to do and then take the ongoing, consistent effort to do it, but you will be very pleased with yourself and the results if you consistently beat a bad habit.  And you can thank God for His help.

Speaking of accountability, one of the organizations I admire is AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) because of the discipline and accountability there.   People with similar problems help each other.

At the Lindell Recovery Network,  a person is matched up with a recovered person of the same age and problem.

If you are  near Los Angeles, there is the Dream Center.

Accountability is why people of all walks of life have coaches.  People tend to stay more on the “straight and narrow” if they know they are accountable to someone for how they are following through on commitments.

Even the best professional atheletes at the top of their games have coaches.

Life is a lifelong process of improvement through more discipline and discipleship.  And, it is not a luxury, it is a necessity.  There are plenty of stories about when someone reached the top of their game in business or sports through hard work and discipline, only to lose it all through a lack of discipline in another area of life.  Being a disciple of Jesus and learning discipline is not a option, it is a necessity.

Proverbs 3:13  Happy is the man who finds wisdom,
    the man who gets understanding.
¹⁴ For her good profit is better than getting silver,
    and her return is better than fine gold.
¹⁵ She is more precious than rubies.
    None of the things you can desire are to be compared to her.
¹⁶ Length of days is in her right hand.
    In her left hand are riches and honor.
¹⁷ Her ways are ways of pleasantness.
    All her paths are peace.
¹⁸ She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her.

There is a phrase “it will catch up with you”.

Usually, this is used in a negative sense.

For example, if you don’t eat right and take care of your body, “it will catch up with you”, meaning that you open yourself up to sickness by a faulty lifestyle.

If you don’t maintain your car, change the oil, make sure everything is fixed on time, “it will catch up with you”, meaning you will probably end up with some type of car repair since you did not do regular maintenance.

“It will catch up with you” is in the same colloquial proverbs department as “a stitch in time saves nine” or “prevention is the best medicine”.

It also fits in well with this thought below.  I don’t know who first said this.

God will fix a fix.  And if you fix the fix that God has fixed, God will fix another fix to fix you.

Basically, we can’t run and hide from those things we need to deal with.  We may try, but the day of reckoning comes.  “It will catch up with you.”

We all know where we can improve, or should.  And we should try.  It is an ongoing process.

If there is something that needs to be changed, it is better to change it sooner than later, because otherwise, “it will catch up with you.”