How are your 2023 investments?

“That only is worth my having which I can have forever. 

That only is worth my grasping which death cannot tear out of my hand.”  Charles Spurgeon

 It wasn’t until I was in my teen years that I met someone who drank Pepsi. Atlanta has been the home of Coca-Cola since the late 1800s. For a mere $2300.00, Asa Candler bought the recipe for the carbonated soft drink from John Pemberton in 1888. Today Coca-Cola is worth nearly $100 billion. 

  As 2023 rolls around, all of us are looking for good investments. Some will invest in getting more healthy by losing weight, exercising more, and a healthier diet. Others will invest in positive change by pursuing a new career, spending more time with their spouse or family, spending less time on social media or even quitting smoking. While all of those are worthy goals, they only make a difference in this short life. As believers, we want to be wise and invest in eternity. We’re going to live forever, so let’s make investments in the real world. If you’re not already, determine to…

  Read your Bible daily. Can you imagine going on a trip where you have never gone without consulting your GPS? Each day you and I start a new journey into life that we’ve never experienced. We have no idea what to expect, what we will face, or what interruptions or emergencies await us.

  It’s estimated that a little over 30% of Christians read their Bible daily. Is it any wonder many Christians flounder through life and live essentially like unbelievers? We’ll go the wrong way if we’re not checking the map.

  When you use GPS, you use it turn by turn. That’s the way that we need to read the Bible. It’s better to read a little and truly contemplate it, than to do a reading marathon and blow by the details. God gave us His Word for it to transform us to be more like Jesus. It’s not so that we have the “right answers.” We read it so that we become the right kind of people.

  Pray daily. For most believers, prayer is like a spare tire. It’s something you only use when you face an emergency. Yet, prayer is meant to be an ongoing conversation with our best Friend. Most of us have those that we talk to every day, whether our spouse or a good friend. The Bible tells us the Lord Jesus is a friend that’s “closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24).

  In the early chapters of Genesis God met with our first parents every day. God’s desire from the beginning hasn’t changed. He wants us to meet with Him. He wants us to share our joys and burdens with Him.

  One reason so many Christians struggle with emotional problems and lack peace is that they’ve not learned the habit of prayer. Philippians 4:6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

  Attend church regularly. Avid sports fans will nearly stop heaven and earth to watch their team play. If their team wins, they’re elated. If their team plays poorly, they’re frustrated and even angry. If their team loses, they’re disappointed. Many believers are more devoted to their favorite team than they are to the God who gave His Son for them.

  The shutdowns of Covid gave us a false message – that watching worship is the same as being in worship. It’s not. While it’s true that there are times because of work or health, we need to miss worshiping with our church family. Yet, most of us need to be honest about our priorities. We wouldn’t miss work or let the kids miss school for the reasons that we rationalize missing attending church.

  The first thing that God said was not good was for human beings to be alone (Genesis 2:18). God designed us for community. While we can watch church online, we miss personal interaction. While we may receive a blessing, we miss the opportunity to be one.

  We grow spiritually by giving of ourselves not just getting for ourselves. God designed us for each other. We need each other. Faithfully attending the weekly worship gathering helps grow and become more like Jesus.

  Share your faith. Jane and I will have been married 40 years this coming July. There’s no question that she’s the love of my life and my best friend.

  Wouldn’t it be weird if I had friends or neighbors that never knew I was married because I never talked about Jane? It would be hard for others to believe Jane was important to me if I never acknowledged her to others.

  We talk with others about what’s important to us. If you spend half an hour with most people, you’ll know what they value. Our values and priorities quickly bubble to the surface.

  If we really love Jesus, don’t we want to share Him with others? If we really care about others, don’t we want to share the One who can make a difference in their lives, both in this world and the next?

  Think about how easily we talk with complete strangers about the weather, politics, our favorite sports team, and a hundred other trivial subjects. Yet, somehow we can’t seem to get around to talking about the One who changes lives and destinies, and who can change this world.

  The best place to start with sharing your faith with a friend or neighbor is to begin praying for that friend or neighbor. As you pray for them and their spiritual condition, you’ll be amazed at the opportunities that the Lord will give you to share your faith.

  2023 is a new opportunity to invest in what really matters. Let’s commit to investing well this year. Then, when the curtain falls on 2023, we can look back with a sense of fulfillment that we were wise and invested well.  

Can we help you spiritually? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Temple Maintenance

 “Never order food in excess of your body weight.” Erma Bombeck

  Do you have food paranoia? If you don’t, you probably know someone who does. They’re all around us. They’re those individuals who rigorously police what they put into their mouths like customs inspectors with a drug-sniffing dog. They make the TSA look like Paul Bart Mall Cop. With incredible vigilance they scan the horizon for fattening junk food, heart-mugging fats, allergens, carcinogens, engineered genes, and esoteric chemicals – things you can hardly pronounce without a PhD.

  Why do we do this? Why do we so thoroughly police our food intake? Because we want to stay healthy. In other words, we want to avoid death. Good Health = Life; Bad Health = the opposite of life…or Death.

  Can I ask though? Why is it we’re nearly obsessed with what we put into our mouths, yet pay little attention to what we put into our minds? Which one really is more important? Which one has greater ramifications? Most of all, which one is God most concerned about? So which one should we be the most concerned about?

  Please understand what I’m saying. We need to be concerned about what we eat and taking care of our bodies…“temple maintenance.” Yet, in our food, physical body obsessed culture, we’d do well to heed the words of the Apostle Paul, “while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:8).  So how can “train ourselves in godliness”?

  First, you have to eat right. Please understand that what our Heavenly Father wants most of all desires to have with us is a relationship, not some legalistic ritual. The Bible is God’s love letter to us. It has all the instructions that we need to live a successful life.

  Most of us have received a few love letters. When Jane and I were dating, and she’d write me a letter. I’d read, re-read and re-read that letter. I have nearly every letter that Jane wrote when we were dating. When we love someone we want to hear what they have to say. We hang on every word. That’s how we need to approach God’s Word. We need to hang on every word and let it bathe our souls with God’s love and goodness. 

  Sadly, most of us are like me when it comes to instructions, particularly on how to put something together. I absolutely hate reading instructions. When we buy a shelf or desk that needs to be put together, I just want to jump in. It’s only because of marital confidentiality some dingbat messes I’ve made over the years will never be told. Fortunately, I out-married myself and Jane actually takes the time to read and comprehend the instructions. But if I’ll take the time and read the instructions, and comprehend them, even a two left handed twit like me can put most things together.

  Do you know that I meet Christians all the time who fail to simply read God’s instructions? Then, they wonder why they don’t have inner peace or are depressed or bored or dissatisfied with their life. They won’t take the time to read the instructions. Can I get real radical? Most Christians would have much more fulfilling marriages, family lives, work, leisure, and church life – if they’d just read God’s Instruction Book on a regular basis. Instead, some of them pay a therapist to tell them (though the therapist may not even know it) what God’s Word says about how to have a fulfilled life.

  Second, you have to communicate. Does your Heavenly Father know what you need? Absolutely! Do you know what’s amazing? He wants to hear from us. God wants to hear from me and you, peons as far as this world is concerned, as much as He wants to hear from presidents, kings, queens, celebs and stars of this world. There’s no special line on God’s prayer chain. And do you know the two words that God loves to hear, more than any other, “Thank You!” Recently, I’ve been focusing on more ways to praise God. I’m ashamed to admit that I find it easer to pray (make my requests) than I do to praise.

  Third, you have to exercise. The most miserable individuals in nearly every church have one common trait – they’re good sitters. You’ll find that they can tell you all the things wrong in their lives and often everything wrong in everyone else’s and even everything wrong in the church. They’re not ministers; they’re missionaries of misery. Do you want to grow in your faith? Serve the Lord and serve Him by serving others.

  There’s a reason our world is so unhappy. It’s so self-absorbed. The most common pronouns in miserable people’s vocabularies are: I, me, my and mine. Joy, fulfillment and meaning are spelled with “you” and “them.”

  Fourth, you must have relationships. God designed us for community. A healthy church, a healthy Christian is one who has meaningful relationships with other believers. God never intended for church to be “our one hour” and we scoot. It’s as we interact, pray with one another, serve one another, that we grow. Now that’s not usually comfortable. You’re going to find people in a small group who will drive you crazy…just like, (I know this will come as a shock) you drive them crazy. But that’s how God designed for us to grow.

  Most of us, particularly when we’re in middle age, have settled out in our marriage and relationships with our children. We usually are no longer challenged and are no longer growing. Our spouse or children have taken a que sera, sera attitude with us (what will be, will be). In a smaller group, they haven’t bought our song and dance. They’ll challenge us and we in turn will challenge them, and then something wonderful and profoundly spiritual happens. Even old geezer Chistians find that they are still “training themselves in godliness” and keep growing. But the older we are in our faith (not necessarily mature), the more tempted we are to settled in our Christian walk. That’s not God’s goal for us and it’s spiritually devastating for us. God, in His love, is not satisfied until you and I are conformed to the likeness of Jesus (Romans 8:29).

  In 2014, change your eating and exercise routines, but remember that will only help for this life. So focus on doing something that will really make a difference both for now and eternity. Commit to “training yourself in godliness.”