Watch Your Ledger

April 8

(Luke 8:18 NIV) “Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him.”

(Matthew 25:14-30 NIV) ““Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. {15} To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. {16} The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. {17} So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. {18} But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. {19} "After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. {20} The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.' {21} "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' {22} "The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.' {23} "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' {24} "Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. {25} So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' {26} "His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? {27} Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. {28} "'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. {29} For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. {30} And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.””

A ledger is a balance sheet used as a financial record. God’s ledger is about spiritual accounts. We all have a ledger sheet. But we often forget that God keeps books in a different way than we do. Jesus says, “You had better be sure you are listening here, because what I am about to say goes against everything you have been taught.” Our government works on the principle of taking from those who have and giving to those who have not. It’s the Robin Hood method. But when it comes to spiritual things, God does the opposite. He wants us to accumulate spiritual goods. He wants our cup to be full and running over. He wants us to have so much in our basket that we can’t carry it home. This is not about the material, but the spiritual. It’s about the spoils of spiritual warfare. In this area of spiritual blessing we can honestly say, God wants us to be rich. Watch your ledger! -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day

Watch Your Life

April 7

(Luke 8:17 NIV) “For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.”

(Hebrews 4:13 NIV) “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

(1 Corinthians 4:5 NIV) “Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.”

(1 Timothy 4:16 NIV) “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

Watch your life! God is certainly watching it. There are no secrets when it comes to God. What we conceal in our hearts is never invisible to our omnipresent and omniscient Lord. Nothing we do can be hidden from God. His eyes see even the sparrow that falls. This is how we know that His mercy is great… He loves us in spite of what He observes. Eventually, the truth will always come out. The contents of our hearts always seep out into the way we live. And in the unlikely possibility that you carry any secrets to the grave, they will be revealed by God’s radiant light in the judgment to come. Watch your life. God gave it to you. Take care of this precious gift of God. You are its steward. Walk the narrow road and persevere in giving Christ the glory as you march toward eternity. This is our calling. Watch your life! -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day  

Watch Your Light

April 6

(Luke 8:16 NIV) “No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light.”

(Matthew 5:14-16 NIV) “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. {15} Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. {16} In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

(Ephesians 5:8 NIV) “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.”

Light is a precious commodity. Although most of us take it for granted, light is necessary for life. One of the ways to kill unwanted plants is to cover them so that no light can reach them. Light is also not meant to be hidden. It is meant to shine. In Christ’s day, no one lit a lamp and put it under a clay jar or a bed. They lit the lamp to light up darkness. They placed it on a stand in an ideal place to light as much of their room as possible. It enabled them to see and not stumble. The lamp did what it was supposed to do. Jesus said that Christians were to be light to this world. That light shines forth and should not be hidden. It’s our responsibility to let it shine so that praise comes to our Lord and Savior. Is your light shining? Be done with the things of darkness. Rid yourselves of that which covers your light. Illuminate your world as a child of God. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day

Abundant Harvest

April 5

(Luke 8:15 NIV) “But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.”

(Matthew 13:23 NIV)  "But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.""

Make no mistake about it, Christian… Jesus calls us to produce a great harvest. God wants us to reproduce ourselves -- 30, 60, or even 100 times over. Are you on track to produce those kinds of yields in your life? It’s not as hard as you might think. There are 52 weeks in a year and if we live to be 75 years old that means we will have lived 3,900 weeks. If we reproduce ourselves thirty fold during our lifetime, that’s only leading one person to Christ every two years. We shouldn’t even break a sweat doing that. If we reproduce ourselves 100 times over, that’s still just one new believer every 39 weeks. That’s less than two new Christians a year because of our witness. Being a sower doesn’t take a lot of talent. It just takes obedience and perseverance. Who will be in heaven because you helped them find Jesus? Sow God’s seed and pray for the harvest. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day