Give your burden to Jesus!

Some years ago I heard a wonderful story of a poor potato farmer who was on his way to market carrying a sack of potatoes on his shoulders to sell that day. As he walked down the road a man on a wagon stopped and offered him a lift, which he gladly accepted. When he had climbed aboard however, he continued to carry the sack of potatoes. The kind stranger told him that he was welcome to lay down the sack of potatoes in the bottom of the wagon but the simple farmer replied, “you are most kind dear sir to offer me a ride on your wagon, but I cannot expect you to carry my potatoes as well so I will keep ahold of them.”

We are quick to see the absurdity of the potato farmers logic and rapid to judge him as being a little ignorant, and yet we Christians are just as guilty of this same flawed logic on a regular basis!

Jesus says in Matthew 11:28, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”, and Psalm 55:22 says, “Turn your burdens over to the LORD, and he will take care of you.” He extends us the generous offer of being able to turn our earthly burdens over to Him and He will take them upon Himself so that we do not need to carry them any longer while on our journey to our final destination, and yet we still insist on carrying them with us, labouring under the strain of weights that wear us down instead of taking Him up on the offer He has freely given us.

This journey that we all undertake on Earth towards our final destination, the Holy City, New Jerusalem, Heaven, can be significantly lightened if we learn the ridiculousness of getting on the Gospel Train that Jesus freely offers us and then continue to carry our sack of burdens on our shoulders.

Do you have troubles? Give them all to Jesus and He will lighten your load and make your journey a wonder and a joy, to be lived and experienced to the full!

“Blessed be the Lord, who daily carries our burden; the God of our salvation.”

(Psalm 68:19)

Atheist logic.

I am faced with a disturbing but recurring problem on a regular basis where militant atheists are saying that “religion” should be banned because it always leads to conflict, war and killing. They say these things as fact, and for people that don't have a firm grasp of history, and real facts, it is easy to get misled into believing this partial and blatantly misleading semi-truth. It certainly is true that people have done awful things in the name of religion, and continue to do so, but is it really religion that is to blame?

I am able to address what the Bible says here because I have a working knowledge of it, but I will refrain from delving into the religious texts of other religions simply because I am not so well versed in their contents.

Jesus came to give us a new and better way to live our lives as humans on this beautiful planet and His message was consistent and clear:
- “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39)
- “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them." (Matthew 7:12)
- "Love does no wrong to a neighbour;" (Romans 13:10)
- "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you" (Luke 6:27)
- “Blessed are the peacemakers" (Matthew 5:9)

So we can conclusively say that any Christian/religious leader that calls for violence in any way against our fellow human beings, regardless of the target of their hatred's personal practices, perceived sins, gender, race, religion, geographic area, ideology or any other reason whatsoever, is just simply 100% wrong! This same principle extends to every individual living on Earth. Without exception.

As far as I know most other religious texts have a similar message of love and tolerance.

So now lets get back to the assertion that religion leads to conflicts and wars. Well all I can say is that it has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with people that are ignorant of what their religion teaches and requires of them. It also has a lot to do with power hungry leaders willing to exploit that ignorance to their own advantage in their quest to expand their power and wealth. People of all religions are mislead into committing all sorts of atrocities against other people including their fellow practitioners. This can all be solved by everybody simply reading and studying their Bible, or whichever religious book they use, and making sure that they are so well versed in it's message that when someone comes to them with a false/fake/misleading message they can see it for the fraud it is and ignore them.

Finally, lets take this one step further and use the same logic the militant atheists use and see where that sort of logic actually gets us.

- About 1 000 000 people were killed during the Crusades, which is 1 000 000 too many and while carried out in the name of Christianity falls under the category of an organisation and various governments using religion for gain. Same again for the 30 years war which had about 3 000 000 casualties.
- Under the communist and atheist rule of Pol Pot in Cambodia approximately 3 000 000 people died out of a population of 8 000 000. That equates to more than a third of the population of Cambodia at the time!
- About 5 000 000 died during the Russian Communist revolution alone. The communists were (and still are) atheist.
- Many sources have approximately 45 000 000 Christians, Jews, Gypsies, ethnic minorities, political dissidents, etc. died under avowed atheist Josef Stalin’s rule. The Russian communists killed many more after Stalin's time too.
- Around 56 000 000 Jews, Christians, Gypsies, homosexuals, political opponents, Allied troops, German troops, and other civilians from many countries were killed because of Hitler waging World War 2. Hitler was an evolution believing pagan/atheist who used Christian terminology to mislead people when it suited him but dabbled in the occult for most of his life.
- Under the communist/atheist rule of Mao Zedong in China the figure is estimated to be as high as 100 000 000! The killing there went on for many years after Mao and in fact it is still quite common for political dissenters and Christians to suffer horrible cruelty and death under communist/atheist rule.

(There is more but these are just the main events.)

So then lets tally this up and see where that gets us:
- Religious/”Christian” caused death toll – 4 000 000 (please note that I have the word Christian in parentheses here simply because I do not believe that the perpetrators of those wars were in fact really Christian at all but simply used and abused Christianity to gain wealth and power)
- Atheist caused death toll – 209 000 000

Conclusion? Using the same logic that “religion” should be banned because it leads to conflict, war and death it becomes very clear that actually atheism should be banned because it leads to and causes significantly more war and death.

Next time an atheist presents this argument to you simply quote these figures and use the same logic on them, but please do it in a spirit of humility and love and also present the message of love, tolerance and mutual respect that Jesus taught us.

Just for the record, I do not believe that atheism should be banned, just as I do not believe any type of religion should be banned. God gave us free will to determine our own destiny on Earth (and eternity) and as such it is impossible and also very wrong to try and legislate righteousness. Rather concentrate on winning the world in the best way possible, which is through being an incredible living, talking, walking example of the love of God, a disciple that has been transformed through the power of Jesus and no longer conforms to the ways of this world!

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:16 (NKJV)

How can we know if someone is a Christian?

There are many people in this world who proclaim to be Christians and go on to do some very un-Christian like things, much to the consternation of genuine seekers after truth and much to the delight of the militant atheists. There are scores of folks who attend Sunday church services religiously and then from Monday to Saturday proceed to live the exact opposite of what they were taught during the 9am sermon, treating other people in a spirit of pride, beating their wives or engaging in morally questionable practices. There are leaders of countries who proclaim their Christian faith but then go to war at the slightest pretext, allow their security forces to engage in terrible practices, lie about it, and then try to justify those actions when uncovered by the media. There are church leaders who spend years committing adultery (or worse) and seem to have no problem with continuing to preach in the pulpit on Sunday, advising their congregation on issues pertaining to morality. Business owners or MD's who regularly cheat their customers or fuddle their tax returns and yet arrive dutifully every Sunday to the mid morning family service with a WWJD bumper sticker on the rear of their car. And we all know of opposing Christian groups who take up arms against each other and seem to have no problem slaughtering their brethren in Christ to defend their particular favourite doctrine. Or how about Christians killing non Christians or people from other religions simply because they disagree with them? Sadly the list of this kind of terrible behaviour that Christians have perpetrated over the past 2000 years is extensive.

With all of this kind of behaviour happening so often these days it is no wonder that many people today simply do not want to become Christians, they have seen the hypocrisy and want no part of it. Reportedly Mahatma Gandhi said: “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” What a sad indictment that we Christians have become our own worst enemy, unravelling the work of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, by our words and actions.

Before coming to Sweden I had heard that Swedes were very atheist and that the majority of them had no interest in hearing about God or spiritual matters. However having been here for almost two and a half years I have come to the conclusion that the majority simply dislike the church and “Christianity” (and other religions) while in fact many of them do indeed believe in the spiritual dimension and a higher creative being, but because of the terrible atrocities committed in Europe by the so called “Christian Church” they are very disillusioned and unreceptive to mainstream Christianity. Yet many people here are searching for truth, and when you take it (very) slow with them and get to know them on a personal level I have found that they are nowhere close to being as atheist as is claimed. Actual atheists, as in the rest of the world, are in the minority.

The time has come to show the world the true face of Christianity, to proclaim the true message that Jesus came to deliver by living that message in our daily lives and interactions with others. When Jesus walked this Earth His message and sample was simple, clear and concise: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself”, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you”, “whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them”. This message reverberates throughout His teachings and lays the basic groundwork for our lives as Christians. (Matthew 22:39, Matthew 5:44, Matthew 7:12)

Of course Jesus didn't just preach it, He lived it as well by actively seeking out the sinners, the weak in spirit and the outcasts of society, engaging them and winning them to the Kingdom through His acts of all embracing non-judgemental pure unselfish Godly love!

He then took this one step further and said: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (John 13:34)

How then can we know if someone is a Christian? Well certainly not by whether they attend church or not, and certainly not by whether they tell you that they are Christians or not, and not if they are wearing a large crucifix around their necks and have a cool Christian bumper sticker on the back of their motor vehicle either. No, the only way to tell if someone is the genuine article, the “real deal”, is by their actions! The Cambridge Online Dictionary describes a disciple as “a person who believes in the ideas and principles of someone famous and tries to live the way they do or did:” The time to be cultural Christians, the time to be Christians on Sundays, the time for “playing” Christian, the time for giving our Christianity lip-service only is past. Now is the time to become DISCIPLES, followers of Christ who believe the message and deeds of our incredible leader Jesus and attempt to live it out in our everyday lives!

This will be no easy task to accomplish and when you make that kind of commitment I can guarantee that every conceivable obstacle to reaching that goal will suddenly appear to hinder you in every way possible and cause you to slip and sometimes fall. But I can also guarantee that if you do what you can do with an open and willing heart then God will do the part you cannot do and you will change the world within your sphere of influence. It will take time and you will have to “take up that cross” daily, but the end result will be people who will know that Christianity works because they have seen it with their very own eyes!

My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.
1 John 3:18 (GNT)

The difference between the Old and the New Testament:

I am sometimes approached by people and asked about the Old Testament and why everything was so brutal, forceful and unloving. Many times people, including some practising Christians, also seem to have a poor understanding of God’s intention during Old Testament times, why would a God of love destroy whole cities, including women and children? Did God change His mind and then ushered in the dawn of the New Testament? Why would God destroy his enemies with plagues, fire and brimstone, and floods in the Old Testament but tell us to love our enemies in the New Testament? These are all very valid questions that deserve an answer because as the Bible itself instructs us we should “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you…” (1 Peter 3:15)

I have the belief that in these matters one should always keep everything as simple as possible, avoiding long complicated answers with complex doctrine that will lose your intended audience within the first few minutes, so here is my condensed version.

Right from the beginning God had a very different plan for mankind. He created the World and everything in it for our enjoyment and benefit. Within this newly created environment He wanted to live in harmony with the people and they would live within a beautiful relationship of love and harmony with Him in return, and in balance with the Earth and all it contains. Unfortunately due to the influence of a fallen angel, Lucifer, the humans disobeyed God and it went all downhill from that time forwards.

Over time man became more and more “religious” and yet further and further from God. They needed all kinds of laws to try and keep them in check and they still failed. It finally got to the point that for the last 400 years before the arrival of our saviour Jesus Christ no prophets had any meaningful contact with God and there is a silent period where “God’s people” just followed along religiously, observing customs and traditions but were to all intents and purposes spiritually blind.

Then along comes the most wonderful miracle of all, the birth of Jesus who turned all the traditions upside down and proclaimed a new way, a way that was totally foreign to the people who had been in darkness for so many years. He showed them (and us) a way that was closer to the way it had been in the Garden of Eden where we could once more walk with God and have a personal relationship with Him. He proclaimed that now instead of doing it the old way that didn't actually work we should do things a new way where we use love as our guide in all our interactions with God and our fellow human beings. He even went so far as to say that from that time forwards we should love our enemies and pray for them!

This didn't sit well with the religious people who had Him killed at Golgotha to try and stop Him from destroying their religious ways and traditions. But soon after another miracle with His resurrection and the promise of eternal life, followed by His ascension to the right hand of God and the arrival of the Holy Spirit who would be with us, lead and guide us, and complete our new relationship with God!

In a nutshell, the Old Testament showed us that the ways, laws and traditions that man valued so highly simply don’t work and the New Testament shows us a way that does work, the way of love for God and our fellow inhabitants of this glorious planet that God created for us! It even shows us how to treat the people that like us the least.

The unbelievers of our modern world do not believe that Christianity is a real and viable option because they have not seen Christians living the way God intended when ushering in the New Testament of Jesus Christ. Supposed Christian churches have been fighting, bickering and even killing their enemies for so long that the average “wordling” sees only the bad example and not the sample of love that Jesus intended for them to see: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (John 13:35)

Dwight L. Moody once said "The only Bible the world reads is the one bound in shoe leather: you and me!" He was so right, and until people see a living breathing sample of a New Testament Christian living the way God intended they will never believe any of what we tell them.

Paul said to the Galatians when he discovered they were trying to go back to Old Testament ways: “Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3)

So in conclusion, embrace the new ways of the New Testament and use the Old only as a handy reference for seeing how far God has brought us to a better way and relationship with Him and others!

Religion vs. the Grace of God

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1), then over the next few days God made everything that fills our Earth today, including humans. And God looked at everything He had made and saw that it was very good (Genesis 1:31), and He was pleased!

Then God took the humans He had created and put them in a very special place, the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:8), and He “walked” with them. Life was very good indeed for Adam and Eve, the first humans, and they had an idyllic life in a beautiful paradise.

Their relationship with God was a very personal one. They had first hand access to Him and communed with Him on a “one on one” level. He gave them very few instructions, they had to simply look after the garden, and also not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:15-17). 

Meanwhile, in Heaven there was a very special angel, Lucifer the "son of the morning" (Isaiah 14:12), who it seems was very special indeed, seeing as he was the “anointed cherub”, he also walked in the Garden of Eden and he was considered “perfect” in his ways from when God created him (Ezekiel 28:12-15). Unfortunately he was eventually lifted up in pride (Ezekiel 28:17) and he decided that he wanted to be in charge.

He managed to mislead a third of the angels (Revelations 12:4) into following him in his rebellion against God, but it didn't last long before he was defeated, in fact Jesus said He saw Satan fall as lightning from heaven (Luke 10:18).

It was at some point after this event that Satan then approached Eve in the Garden of Eden and asked her a question. “Has God truly said that you may not take of the fruit of every tree in the garden?” Eve answered that this was true and they could eat of any tree except the tree in the middle of the garden. (Genesis 3:1-3) He employed a very common technique here which is frequently used by salesmen the world over, which is to start with a question that you know the answer to knowing that the respondent will answer in the positive! It’s called a hook.

He then moved to step number two and stated that instead of being a bad thing and leading to death, eating the fruit would in fact be harmless to Eve, and of course to Adam! (Genesis 3:4) He then took it another step further and said that in fact it would be good for them! He played to their pride by telling her that they would become “as gods, and having knowledge” just like God. (Genesis 3:5)

Right here is where “religion” was born!

Since that very day there was a steady decline in the relationship humans have with God. God cast them out of the Garden and into a far less idyllic state and they lost their previous privileged life. (Genesis 3:15-24)

For the next 4000 years humans gradually developed a more and more religious method of regulating their relationship with God, introducing all kinds of laws and traditions. The previous close personal relationship was relegated to only the head priests of the new religious order, making everybody dependent on them and their organisation for all matters of faith in God.

But God had a great plan to restore our relationship with Him by breaking down the barriers that had been put into place and opening up a direct channel to Him once again! He sent Jesus, His Son, who was there with Him from the beginning (John 1:1-3), to defeat the Satan inspired religious order of the day and replace it with something better, something closer to what His original plan called for, so that humans could once again be in a personal relationship with Him!

Because of Jesus and the price He paid for us on the cross we have regained direct access to the wonderful grace of God! Because He paid the price that ensured our freedom we can have the kind of faith that relies directly on God and His Holy Spirit, and we are empowered through His Spirit to teach others about this wonderful good news of the Gospel of Christ, and we can live in wonderful fellowship with other believers!

But that liar and betrayer, Satan, is still around, trying desperately to twist and pervert God’s Word, with the intention of leading as many astray from the mighty Truth of God as he possibly can! And he still uses the same methods, trying to deceive us into falling back into the law filled religious state we were before Jesus supreme rescue mission. He still questions and lies, dividing the church against itself through his deceptions.

The apostle Paul ran into this problem early on and in one account he asks the religious Galatians “O foolish Galatians, who bewitched you not to obey the truth,... Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, do you now perfect yourself in the flesh?” (Galatians 3:1-5)

I have seen so many Christians over the years that start off in the red hot fire of faith, freedom and the Holy Spirit only to end up falling back into the tiresome religious laws that Paul calls a curse. (Galatians 3:10) 

Jesus Himself, when asked which is the greatest law proceeded to sum it all up for us beautifully! He said that we should love God with all our heart, soul and mind. He called this the first and great commandment. (Matthew 22:36-38) Then He said that the second is “like unto” the first, or in other words it’s basically the same as the first, that we should love our neighbours as ourselves. (Matthew 22:39)

He then took the whole thing one step further and struck the final blow against religion when He proclaimed “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:40)

In this short passage Jesus sums up how He wants us to live our entire lives as Christians, a life dedicated to loving God and others without the restraints of the old obsolete religious order. He truly was the ultimate revolutionary, which is why the religious leaders of the day felt they had to have Him killed in a vain attempt to silence Him and His message of salvation by grace alone.

Romans 13:8 says: "...he who loves another has fulfilled the Law." And Romans 13:10 says: “Love works no ill to its neighbour, therefore love is the fulfilling of the Law.” This all sounds very easy and simple to implement, but I have to say it is a very difficult law to practice! But when we do strive to practice it, I guarantee we will fulfil every one of God’s commandments because if we do all things in love then we will do no harm to others, or ourselves and we will be better fathers, husbands, neighbours and citizens!

Ever since the time that Jesus gave us this “new” law there has been a great battle between those who live free from the restraints of religion/tradition/law, those who live within Jesus wonderful law of love to God and others on the one hand, and the legalistic religious order who still try and keep control of people by attempting to preserve the old laws of “sin and death” on the other hand. (Romans 8:2)

Living our lives governed by the amazing love of God is no easy task, and we are bound to stumble on this incredible journey, but Jesus opened the way for us to take a step closer to the Garden of Eden where we can walk with Him once again unfettered by man's own traditions and laws in personal fellowship with Him until we meet up with Him in person once again. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

I beg you now to choose to live free, and not to try and live once again under the same laws that got us into this religious mess to start off with. Stop trying to become Scribes and Pharisees again; it didn't work out the first time, why would it work now? 

I will leave you with this quote from Paul in Galatians 2:21: “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” 

God's Toolbox!

Recently we got involved in a local Church meeting on Thursday evenings to sing and share our testimonies and some Word. They cater mainly to the poor and homeless of a particularly down and out part of Malmö and attract quite a mixed group of people, from ex-druggies, to atheists, to brand new Christians and so on.

As always we started off with some simple songs about trusting the Lord and about His love for us, and it really hit home once again how God’s Spirit can really reach through all the clutter in peoples lives and touch their hearts to just show them the love and understanding that they have so little of in this World. Everybody’s faces lit up with a simple joy that transcends the Earthly and all it’s many and varied troubles. God is GREAT!

The message I shared at the first meeting was one of simplicity, of our nothingness and God’s greatness and how knowing that we are weak can bring us closer to Him and enable Him to work more fully through and in us. You can find the passage I quoted from in 1Corinthians 1:27-29 and I refer to this as “God’s Toolbox”.

Read below and see what God has in His toolbox:
“But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
That no flesh should glory in his presence.”

You are God’s toolbox, and there are certain things that you need to have in that toolbox in order to be used fully by Him. I will list them here as they appear in the passage above:

1.) Foolish things.
2.) Weak things.
3.) Base/lowly things.
4.) Despised/hated things.
5.) Things which are not/non existent things.

Think on these five things that God can use in us for a while and see how it contradicts everything the World says we need in order to be successful.

- The first is “foolish things”, to confound the wise of this World. It is the simplicity of the Gospel that people have the hardest time to accept as they would rather follow after high-minded complicated theories and philosophies than just humble themselves to believe that “For God so loved the World…” (John 3:16), and that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Romans 13:9).

- The second is completely contrary to what is taught at every “recipe for success life skills seminar” that teaches one to be strong, independent and secure in your own abilities. Many teach of the “power that is within” each human and how we can develop that power to become successful. In stark opposition to that God simply tells us to be weak so that He can be strong through us!

- Thirdly the World longs after power, prestige and position while God simply asks that we be “lowly” or humble. He will elevate us if we choose to take His perfect path through life, but if we take the path of pride we are headed towards an uncertain and ultimately unfulfilling and unhappy life.

- Very often as Christians we are in contrast to the people around us by the way we live, the things we say and the moral standpoint we take. Hey, nobody said following Christ was going to be a short and sure route to popularity! It is more likely that folks will hate what you stand for and try to knock you down if they get the chance. When you are in that position, rest assured you are probably doing something right. Of course we should try to “live peaceably with all men” (Acts 25:24), and “have a good report of them which are without” (1Timothy 3:7), so that our lives are a testimony of love and not of judgement, pride and self-righteousness.

- And lastly, non existent things! God doesn’t need you to be a great orator to serve Him. He doesn’t need you to have a doctorate in theology to serve Him. He doesn’t need you to be a “great” person to serve Him. Get rid of all those preconceived ideas and realise that they probably just get in the way of us serving Him unreservedly and effectively. Remember what they said of Peter and John: “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). The key is simply that they had been with Jesus, not because of anything of their own.

- The point of all of this is summed up in the last sentence: “That no flesh should glory in His presence.” It is God, and not us that should receive honour and glory in all things. Unfortunately that has been the great pride trap for all people since satan told Eve in the Garden of Eden that “you shall be as God” (Genesis 3:5).

Do you want to be a disciple of Jesus, a person who is surrendered to His will and doing what the Father wants of us every day? Then make sure that you are filled with the five tools that God can use in you, His toolbox!

Romans 8:28

One of my favourite verses in the entire Bible is Romans 8:28: ”And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Whenever I am going through a difficult time and I cannot see any part of God’s plan for my life, when all seems dark and without hope when I am at the end of my rope, then I can look at this verse and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God will turn that thing, that situation, around and make it work together for my good!

The first thing I noticed about this verse is the word “know”. This indicates to me that it is beyond doubts; it is a confirmed, known fact and will definitely come to pass.

The second is the word “all”. Note that this does not say “some things”, or “good things”, or “inspiring things”, but instead: ALL things. Whether it seems to be good, bad or indifferent in our own eyes has no bearing on the outcome that God can bring from this testing trial that is besetting us right now, God can and will work it together for our good!

The next are the words “work together for good”. When a carpenter works a piece of wood he carves, bends, sands and chisels it until it becomes what he wants it to become. The block of wood goes through a trial at the time and the “working” is not pleasant at all, but when it has become a beautiful oak cabinet the results of all that work are obvious for all to see! In the same way God is shaping us into the vessels He wants us to be. Like Paul we need to look forward at the end result. (James 1:12)

And then lastly comes the condition, “to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” There is always a condition to receiving God’s blessing and miraculous provision. From having Naaman wash in the Jordan (2Kings 5:10), to the blind man washing the mud off his eyes (John 9:6&7), God always has a condition for us to fulfil.

So the good news is this, when we are at our lowest point, when we feel like we cannot go on, consol yourself with the fact that God is busy working in your life, you are not a completed work yet, then you can also: “… count it all joy when you fall into various trials,” (James 1:2 LITV) even if we have to grit our teeth and “count it all joy” despite our tears!

Happy are those who remain faithful under trials, because when they succeed in passing such a test, they will receive as their reward the life which God has promised to those who love him.
James 1:12 (GNB)

Why the world is a mess

Watching the news these days I cannot but come to the conclusion that Jesus was right when He laid out the condition of the world just before His return, go and read it for yourself in Matthew 24. What with wars, earthquakes, riots, tsunamis, destructive cults, false prophets, rampant sexual immorality, (and the list goes on) we are, I believe, certain to see the return of Christ in our generation.

However, whether He returns or not I think it is imperative that we live each day as if He is coming back in, umm, about 5 minutes!

If you had only five minutes to live what would you do with your time? I know what I would do! I would speak to all my loved ones and tell them that I love them, and then I would contact as many people that I may have wronged and apologise, from the heart. I would give my wife a rose, look her in the eye and give her a kiss. Hugs all around, a simple prayer and then just bask in the love. (It would need to be quite a long five minutes!) I know this sounds quite corny, but when all is said and done it all comes down to love, without it nothing really seems worth while.

Just remember that “God is love” 1John 4:8.

So really, when we boil it down to the basics, why do we have all these problems in the world today? Well, when speaking about the tragedy’s that occurred in his country during the communist revolution Alexander Solzhenitsyn said: “If I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible that main cause of the ruinous revolution that swallowed up some 60 million of our people, I could not put it more accurately than to repeat: 'Men had forgotten God; that is why all this has happened.'"

In 1Timothy 4:1 it says: “But the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and teachings of demons” and 2Thessalonians 2:3 agrees and says: “for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first”.

So my conclusion is simple, the world is the mess it is in today because people have stepped away from God and do not want to acknowledge His existence because it is inconvenient to their lifestyle choices. But there is a price to pay, because people that are not ruled by love (God) will ultimately be ruled by sin and as the Bible points out: “And because iniquity (sin) shall abound, the love of many will become cold.” Matthew 24:12

Because of sin man is rapidly forgetting how to love, and the root of this is that man has decided to try and live life without God. But a life lived close to the source of all love, God, revealed in His Son Jesus Christ will be a life of love and joy despite the circumstances that surround us. And while we may not be able to change the entire world, we can change the world around us by simply showing love to the people around us.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves has been born of God, and knows God.
1John 4:7

The Love of God!

I think one of the more misunderstood aspects of God in the world today is how much He loves us.

There is no limit to the depth, length, and scope of the love that He has for us, and if people would only come to realise this simple fact then they would have a totally different relationship with Him! Instead, a lot of people see God as being angry and waiting with a big stick for us to step out of line and do something wrong simply so that He can have the pleasure of punishing us, but nothing could be further from the truth.

In Revelations 22:7 Jesus says: “Behold, I come quickly.” and it’s been 2000 years. And in Psalm 103:8 it says that God is slow to anger. So if God’s quick is 2000 years then how slow is His slow? I put it to you that you cannot live long enough to make God angry with you!

God says in Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you… thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” or as the old saying goes: God is good ALL the time!

More quotes on the Love of God:
God did not demand that we first demonstrate our allegiance to Him before Christ would agree to die in our place. To demand that we somehow show ourselves deserving of forgiveness in order to regain our status as His children would have been futile. What can ungodly, rebellious sinners offer God that would move the holy Creator of the universe to sacrifice His only Son on their behalf? So God acted first, motivated solely by his own sovereign love, to grant mercy to His people as the ultimate expression of His grace (Ex. 33:19; Isa. 63:7; Rom. 9:15-18; Eph. 2:4; Titus 3:5; 1 Pet. 1:3). Christ died for us because the Father and the Son loved the unlovable.
- Scott Hafemann

Nothing binds me to my Lord like a strong belief in His changeless love.
- C.H. Spurgeon

Christian, believe this, and think about it: you will be eternally embraced in the arms of the love which was from everlasting, and will extend to everlasting – of the love which brought the Son of God’s love from heaven to earth, from earth to the cross, from the cross to the grave, from the grave to glory – that love which was weary, hungry, tempted, scorned, scourged, buffeted, spat upon, crucified, pierced – which fasted, prayed, taught, healed, wept, sweated, bled, died.  That love will eternally embrace you.
- Richard Baxter

God loves each one of us as if there were only one of us to love.
- Augustine

...that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:17-19

Do all roads lead to Heaven?

I was reading this morning and came across the passage below. It reminded me of people that I meet on a regular basis that proclaim the New Age theology (most protagonists are quite unaware that what they teach is New Age) that all religions are inherently the same and will eventually lead to the same conclusion. This lie has almost gained more popularity than atheism has and is, in my humble opinion, a greater threat than out and out atheism that is easy to recognise and oppose. It is instead the subtle serpent in the Garden of Eden who comes along and promises the hapless victim that tasting the forbidden fruit will bring special revelation, and knowledge, and make them equal with each other and God. Very tempting, very logical, very intellectually satisfying, and pandering to the pride and worldly lusts of the individual.

Here is the passage I was talking about:

To believe that two contradictory religions are both true is like saying, “2+2=4, or 5, or 37, or whatever you like.” To believe all religions simultaneously is to become hopelessly entangled in self-contradiction. One simply cannot accept the Hindu belief that there are 3 000,000 or more gods and at the same time accept the Muslim belief that there is only one god.  Nor can one embrace either Hinduism or Islam and Buddhism because historic Buddhism does not believe in a personal God at all. Or consider the religious opinions about the afterlife. Shintoism says there is no afterlife, just the here and now, so make the most of it. Buddhists seek Nirvana, the complete absence of desire. Christianity teaches that heaven is a place where all pure desires are satisfied in Jesus Christ (Rev. 22:4). Who is right? If there is a heaven at all, does it negate or satisfy desire? Opinions about judgment differ as well. Christianity teaches that “man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment” (Heb. 9:27). Hindus believe in a seemingly endless series of reincarnations. Well, which is it? Both views cannot be true.
Religion is not a preference. Although people are allowed to hold their own opinions, they cannot make up their own truth. This cannot be done with religion any more than it can be done with mathematics. To insist that all religions are equally true is another way of saying that all religions are equally false… If every religion is compatible with its opposite, why bother with religion at all?
- Philip Graham Ryken

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Acts 4:12

Where does Good Doctrine come from?

During the last several months there seems to have been an increase of people that are asking what constitutes good doctrine. I think this has been brought about mainly because of certain individuals here and abroad who have tried to predict something that it is clear from God’s Word we are not able to predict. Read Matthew 24:36. I am sure you have all seen the extensive media coverage that these false prophets have achieved by their highly publicised and doomed to failure predictions that the world would end on the 31st of March this year.

What is even more incredible is that when their prognostication failed they amended their date until the 31st of October and have once again set themselves up for failure.

I wouldn’t mind so much if this wasn’t such a reproach to the cause of Christ. This sort of thing just adds fuel to what the Bible refers to as “scoffers”. 2Peter 3:3+4 says: “...there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”

When the Word of God, the Bible, is not central as the supreme authority in our Christian lives, then failure is inevitable. This happens a lot, when people who should know better begin replacing their own ideas for the truths of the Bible. This is not always done intentionally (yet often is), but it will always happen when a thorough study of Scripture is neglected. A Bible that is not studied carefully can’t be followed carefully. When the truth of Scripture is not the supreme authority, people's many and varied opinions become the authority.

So how do we go about getting good doctrine back into our every day lives? Well the answer lies in 2Timothy 2:15: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Or to put it in plain English, if you know God’s Word (by studying it inside and out) then you will not bring shame on yourself by your unscriptural actions and words, and you will also “rightly divide the word of truth” by knowing when someone has made an unscriptural prediction or statement and then, of course, you will not be fooled into following after them.

For many shall come in my name, saying, I am [anointed]*; and shall deceive many.
Matthew 24:5
*[direct alternate translation from the original Greek that I think more fully explains this verse and the people who mislead others from the truth of God’s Word in our modern day]

Jesus set me Free!?

The most misunderstood of all Christian traditions is that we have been set free and have liberty (which I do believe we have). However, some folks seem to think that we have been set free to do exactly as we please, but I put it to these people that this is merely bondage under another guise! When Jesus set us free by His death on the cross He set us free from the heavy burden of the law and legalism of the Old Testament and gave us a new and better (lighter) burden, and this is the “burden” of being set free to operate within the sphere of LOVE!

I like to make a comparison with the laws of the road that we are under whenever we take to the road in a motor vehicle. We drive at a speed limit of 60km per hour in a built up area because the law says that we should, and this also happens to be a safe speed to travel in areas where there are pedestrians, children, senior citizens, buses, taxis, pets etc.

Now imagine that somebody in power takes down the signs and says that from now on we should drive according to love and our own conscience. Oh dear! But this is the very situation that every Christian finds him/her self in. Galatians 5:14 says: “For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in this: "You shall love your neighbour as yourself." So from now on we should drive at or below the speed limit simply because it’s the loving thing to do. To break the speed limit would endanger others and ultimately could kill someone.

When next we are faced with a potentially tricky situation the question we should ask ourselves is this: would this action harm someone else or me in any way? If the answer is yes then that action is sin.

Once we boil this down a bit we find that when we are ruled by love we will no longer steal from our neighbour, covet our neighbours stuff, give false testimony, be disrespectful to our parents, commit adultery… sound familiar? But this time God in His wisdom has chosen to give us the freedom to do the right thing because we want to, and also the freedom to fail once in a while. And when we fail we have the freedom to repent, and ask God to forgive us and He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and remember them no more! (1John 1:9) Now that is true freedom!

The law on the other hand prescribes punishment and condemnation.

So which would you rather have? God’s love and freedom to choose to do right, or the unrelenting iron hand of the law? To me the choice is simple.

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Galatians 5:1

Religion and Salvation by Grace

I sometimes get asked by people that I am witnessing to how I can know that my “religion” is right when there are so many different religions in the world. How do I know that my particular Christian religion is the right one among the hundreds, if not thousands of different beliefs and faiths out there?

And my answer to them is always the same. In the entire world there are really only two religions! At which point they start looking at me a little strangely, as if to say “what is wrong with you, where have you been all this time, which planet are you from?”

It’s really quite simple, while there are many different flavours, branches, kinds, etc. all religions fall into just two categories.

The first kind is a religion that believes that we can work for our salvation and eventual entry into Heaven. It is the very common belief that somehow we can earn the right, by our works on this Earth, the good deeds that we do, by following the rules and being nice to our fellow human beings. The idea is that we must somehow become perfect in every way or risk damnation. I would say that the majority of religions fall into this category in one way or the other, and this group unfortunately also includes many Christians among their ranks.

The second kind of religion is the one that realises that salvation is a pure work of God’s Grace, that we are too inherently sinful and weak in ourselves to ever be able to earn or work our way to Heaven. This group believes that without a Saviour we are lost and unable to come to salvation. (Rom.3:23, Rom.3:10, Isa.64:6, Eccl.7:20, 2Tim.1:9, Gal.2:16, Eph.2:8,9)

I am firmly in this second group, and I rely purely on the saving grace of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I derive great peace and joy in knowing that it is only through what Jesus did for me 2000 years ago on the cross that I have the means of salvation available to me. It is all by His redeeming power and nothing to do with anything that I can do. All I have to do is receive His free gift of salvation and I can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my eternal life is guaranteed forever! (Acts 4:12, 1Tim.2:5, Jn.10:9, Jn.10:28, 1Jn.5:13)

This, of course, should serve to lift the heavy burden of trying to be good enough, trying to work hard enough and never being sure if we are going to see Heaven one day or not. This is the freedom that Jesus came to give to us as a gift, and as we all know gifts cannot be earned, they can only be gratefully received! So live firmly within the freedom of God’s Grace and never live in the bondage of uncertainty ever again! Amen! (Rom.8:38,39, Jn.10:28, Jn.3:36)

If you want to have God’s free gift of salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ, then simply click here.

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name

John 1:12

After you have finished reading this article, I highly recommend that you also read this one:  Jesus set me Free!?

The meaning of life!

In the last 13 years as a ministry worker I have come across many people, from all walks of life, that question the meaning of life. Why are we here? Is there a purpose? What is God's objective for my life? These are all very valid questions, and the answer, while difficult to comprehend with our finite minds, is actually a lot simpler than it may seem.

In the movie, Don Juan Demarco, Don Juan says: “There are only four questions of value in life, Don Octavio. What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for, and what is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same: only love.” And unwittingly this short quote was amazingly accurate!

In the Matthew 22:35 Jesus enemies approached Him and tried to trip Him up with a trick question. Notice that they sent a lawyer to do their dirty work, so not much has changed in 2000 years! Ha! They asked Him what the greatest law is, and He answered them and gave them two: love God and love your neighbour, and then He expounded further and said that on this hangs all the law and the prophets!

I believe that within this short interaction lies our purpose in life neatly mapped out for us in the simple, yet profound, words of our Lord and Saviour! Folks, our entire purpose on this Earth is to LOVE!! Firstly to love God, but then also to love every other human being with the blinding love of Jesus Christ! Without fear, favour or prejudice.

It goes even deeper than that, when we love others, we are then, ultimately, showing our love towards Jesus! In Matthew 25:40 Jesus says: “Truly I say to you, Because you did it to the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”

If we, as Christians, could get just this one simple concept right we would win the loveless waiting world for Christ within a very short period of time. I say this because I know that love is the most powerful force on this Earth that has the ability to change hearts, minds and transform even the hardest soul! I have seen grown men reduced to tears when faced with overwhelming, unconditional love, and I have seen sceptics left speechless when they witness the undeniable love of a Christian who loves another to their own hurt and physical loss. There is no counter argument to love!

I didn't mean for this to become a sermon on this beautiful October morning, but I believe God wants us to come to a better understanding of our purpose on this Planet. This is just one facet of our lives for Christ, but I certainly believe that it is the facet that deserves more attention than we have been giving it. I sometimes think that we Christians have missed the mark entirely, but it is never to late to change, or to love!

May God richly bless you this week as you love Him, and your neighbour as yourself!

A lesson from a vine.

The vine clings to the oak during the fiercest of storms. Although the violence of nature may uproot the oak, twining tendrils still cling to it. If the vine is on the side of the tree opposite the wind, the great oak is its protection; if it is on the exposed side, the tempest only presses it closer to the trunk.

In some of the storms of life, God intervenes and shelters us; while in others He allows us to be exposed, so that we will be pressed more closely to Him.

Tithes and Gifts?

Over the last several years I have been asked repeatedly about the issue of tithing and whether we are still obligated under the new dispensation of the New Testament to tithe at all considering that neither Jesus, or His disciples ever instructed anyone to tithe in the entire New Testament. In order to answer this question, we need to look back at the Old Testament and it’s teachings in order to understand why God instituted the practice of tithing to start with, then move on to the New Testament and look what God expects of us today.

The old Hebrew word that was translated into the English word tithe is “mah-as-ayr”, literally meaning a tenth, or a tenth part. The word is first used in Leviticus 27:30, and it was instituted as a way to support the work of God being done by the Levites serving as priests who were not supposed to be involved in any worldly pursuit of riches but were supposed to devote their lives to God service entirely. The Levites were also expected to tithe of the tithe that they received by giving a tenth to Aaron the high priest. (Numbers 18:26-28) So even the Levites had to pay tithe on the tithe they received as their income. All this was to ensure that God’s work could be done without restraint.

However, the first mention of a tenth is much earlier in Genesis 28 when Jacob built an alter and pledged to give God a tenth of all that God gave him. So the practice of giving a tenth to God actually started very early on.

So as we can see from these few verses, and there are many more, that it was God's intention to support His work on this Earth by having people give a tenth toward His church and it's activities. But He did not stop there, and in some cases He required that people give over and above towards supporting His servants, as in the case of the widow of Zarephath (1Kings 17) when the prophet Elijah asked her to supply food for him. She literally had to give all that she had to the man of God even though she knew she would have none left for herself. Of course God did not let her down and miraculously supplied all her needs!

God also instructed in the Old Testament to give to the needy. See: Proverbs 3:28, Deuteronomy 15:7-8, Proverbs 3:27 etc. He also promises blessings for giving: Proverbs 11:24, Proverbs 13:7, Isaiah 58:10-11

So now lets look at the New Testament and whether we are still required to tithe today. I have to of course agree with the critics of modern day tithing and say that Tithing is not a New Testament teaching as such, simply because it is not taught as a requirement in the New Testament. However, Jesus and His disciples taught that now we should give 100% to Him and His work! When He was approached by the rich young man in Matthew 19:16 who asked what he needed to do to be perfect Jesus answered and said: “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.” He not only required that the young man give all his possessions, but he required that he give even his life to Him.

In the case of the widow from Luke 21:2 who cast a mere two mites, a very small amount of money, into the treasury of the temple He noted that she had in fact given all that she had! How great her blessing must have been! So even if you don't have much, God will bless you if you will give to Him.

The Apostle Paul wrote to a group of believers whom he had personally ministered to, "If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it too much if we shall reap your material things? (1Corinthians 9:11) Some may be shocked that Paul had the audacity to even ask that the people he was ministering to should support him, but he was merely instructing them in how to do the right thing by God's work, and making sure that they understood that “they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel” (1Corinthians 9:14) Romans 10:15 also says: “And how shall they preach, except they be sent?”, and in order for God's people to be sent they must be enabled by the giving of others so that they can indeed go. Sometimes your giving may be financial, but sometimes in may be material goods.

This is how God intends for His servants, those who have given up everything they have to "go into all the World and preach the Gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15) to receive their material support. And to those who have received God's Word from such spiritual workers, just like the Widow of Zarephath received the Word of the Lord from Elijah, if they will give what they can to help God's messengers, the Lord Himself will give to them, and will even "pour out such a blessing upon them that there will not be room enough to hold it!" (Malachi 3:10)

What many people don't seem to understand is that the Lord's finances work the opposite way of the World's. Most Worldly people think, "Well, when I've got my millions, when I'm rich, then maybe I'll start giving to others and helping the poor and helping support the Lord's Work!" But the Lord says, "Start giving what you've got now, and then I'll pay you back and give you more!" God's way to plenty is to give it away! His Word says, "He that withholds unfairly shall come to poverty, but he that gives freely shall gain even more!" (Proverbs 11:24)

I urge you now to rethink your stance on giving and tithing to God's work, do not consider your tithe, or tenth, as being a ceiling that you stop giving at but as the floor, the minimum that you start giving from.

I will finish now with the story of William Colgate, the man who started the Colgate company we all know so well:

Many years ago a lad of sixteen was obliged to leave home because his father was too poor to support him longer. So he trudged away with all his worldly possessions in a bundle dangling from his hand, resolving, as he journeyed, to set up in business as a soap maker in New York.
When the country boy arrived in the big city, he found it hard to get work. Remembering the last words of his mother and also the godly advice given him by the captain of a canal boat, the youth dedicated his life to God, determining to return to his Maker an honest tithe of every dollar he earned.
So, when his first dollar came in, the young man sacredly dedicated ten cents of it to the Lord. This he continued to do. And the dollars rolled in! Soon this manufacturer became partner in a soap business; and when his partner died a few years later, he became sole owner of the concern.
The prosperous businessman now instructed his bookkeeper to open an account with the Lord and to credit to it one tenth of all his income.
The business grew miraculously. The honest proprietor now dedicated two tenths of his earnings; and then three tenths, four tenths; and finally, five tenths. It seemed as if his sales increased in exact proportion to his generosity, so that soon his make of soap became a household word throughout the world.
The late William Colgate was this man whom God so signally prospered in return for his faithfulness to his Maker. While this story is not written with the object of advertising Colgate products, it is related because it illustrates so well the blessings that accompany the faithful payment of an honest tithe.
By Ashley G. Emmer, Signs of the Times, August 2, 1938.

To tithe or not to tithe, that is the question!

I had an interesting question from a friend in South Africa yesterday concerning the scriptural basis for tithing. He sent me a document that was emailed to him from a friend and wanted more clarification on the issue. Here is my reply. I thought you may find it interesting and perhaps helpful if you are faced with the same question. (Names have been removed)


Hi David

Hope all is well with you and your family.Please give me your comment on the attached letter.I got this from a friend of mine.I strongly believe to give at least a tenth of my income for Gods work.He sent me this letter.I still believe the way I do, but I have no answer on this to my friend.

Thanks very much.

Regards
F.



Hi again F.

I just read the article you sent me, and I must say that I am in agreement with what this guy is saying to a large degree... but I find that he is leaving a few important things out of his argument (on purpose?) and I will try to cover some of that here.

Some of the things I agree with:
He is quite right that there is no teaching to give tithes in the New Testament, neither Jesus nor the apostles ever taught their followers to tithe. This is something that I have taught people for years already.
He is quite right that modern "prosperity doctrine" preachers are teaching false doctrine when it comes to giving to the church, I have even heard one preacher teach that you can "buy" your property in Heaven by giving money to the church! You can hear television evangelists teaching about money and nothing but money any day of the week on TBN and other Christian TV stations, with almost no mention of Jesus at all. These same preachers drive expensive foreign motor cars and fly in private jets while their followers sometimes live in abject poverty. B is a classic example, he raised millions of US dollars preaching in Africa, from people who live on less than $1 per day. And I have seen examples of people giving money that they don't have by taking loans to give to the church. This certainly is not scriptural. (However Jesus does say give and it shall be given unto you, so I am sure He would bless the giving heart anyway if they gave with the right motives)
There is more I agree on, but I will move along.

Things he left out:
While Jesus and His apostles never taught anyone to tithe, it is wrong to teach that they never took money from anyone, a good example is Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-4) who sold a certain possession and tried to keep half the price (money) of it for themselves. "Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God." They withheld money from God and God actually struck them down dead. Pretty heavy stuff!
There are more examples of people selling their possessions and bringing the cash and laying it at the feet of the disciples. Check Acts 4:34-35 "Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need." Of course, as you can see, the Apostles did the right thing and distributed the cash among the believers and ensured that nobody lacked anything (themselves too), nobody had too much or too little. This is where a lot (not all) of the modern churches and preachers fail, they often tend to use the cash to buy the preacher a better car or house and to put in a better sound system in the church or build a bigger and better church building, while sometimes the people attending the same church are battling to buy food for their kids.
See also Acts 4:36-37 where a Levite sells some land he has and gives the cash to the apostles.
In Luke 21:1-4 Jesus and His disciples watch a bunch of rich guys, and also a poor widow, giving their offering of cash to God. Cash again.
It also mentions in John 12:4 and 13:29 that Judas kept the bag, or the purse. This indicates that he was the treasurer of Jesus ministry which implies that even Jesus received some money during His work on this Earth. While it is not explicitly stated that He received cash, the implication is certainly there.
There is also a classic section of scripture in Acts 2:44-45 "And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need." Gods economics are amazing!

In Matthew 19:16-22 a rich young man comes to Jesus and says that he has kept the law all his life and asks what he must do to be perfect. Jesus tells him to sell all that he has and give it to the poor, and then to follow Him. But the man goes away sorrowful because it would cost him too much.
In Matthew 13:44-46 Jesus says "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it."
And in Luke 21:1-4 it says "And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had."
Really what Jesus is saying in all of these passages is that we should not be holding back, but we should be giving our all to Him whether it is a little or much! (Note: Don't sell everything and end up poor yourself, that is not the point, rather be giving of the increase/earnings, or else it would just be plain bad economics and that would not be good, or of God either!)

In the Old Testament times God could see that the Jews were not going to give Him anything. At various times He called them rebellious and stiff-necked people. And so He had to force the law on them make sure that they obeyed. Paul says in Galatians 3:19 "Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions" and in Galatians 3:24-25 "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." And so God forced them to give to His work by putting down a minimum of 10% to be given or face punishment. But now we are under a new dispensation and we should be giving because we want to give to His work, not because we are forced to, but because we love Him and want to give out of our obedience to Him. If we don't give then we will no longer be cursed as they were in the Old Testament, but we do lose out on potential blessings that God wants to give to us. These blessings may be physical, but they could just as easily be spiritual blessings in the form of peace, contentment, happiness, wonderful obedient children, a happy marriage, etc. the list goes on!! These days I think it is better to use the tenth as a floor to start giving, and not as a ceiling to stop giving. It's a good place to start off and work our way up to where Jesus wants us to be. And as long as we are giving with a clean, giving heart, being "cheerful givers" then we will benefit as much from God's blessings as He has promised in His Word.

God says a just balance is His delight (Proverbs 16:11) and whenever we study His Word we need to take all sides into account and not leave anything out in order to fulfill our own purposes. We need to read all of His Word and not just the bits we agree with as if we have a buffet style faith. Too many false prophets have built whole doctrines and churches based on unbalanced scripture without balancing what they want to believe against all of God's Word. Paul said to Timothy to "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2Timothy 2:15) And really that is what it is all about, if we faithfully study all of God's Word, then when the time comes we can "rightly divide" or have a balanced view of the truth, and then we will not be ashamed.

I hope this helps.

Much love and blessings in our dearest Jesus!

David