My goal is to write in this journal 7 days in a row. Jan 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 Tonight I am writing my sermon for tomorrow.
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. The question is: What does it mean to live as an alien or stranger here on Earth. Big mistake we make is living as if this is all that matters. Our perspective narrows to this life, and sometimes even more narrow to just me. I am all that matters. If I am happy, then life is good. If I am not happy, then life is not good. But this is not the Bible's view on material possessions. Sometimes when preaching about "things," a preacher may take one of two extremes. 1) All material possessions are evil. 2) All material possessions are blessings from God. Neither of these is correct. It is not evil to have material things. May people in the Bible had material things. It is also not evil to deny yourself material blessings. Jesus was homeless. John the Baptist at locust and honey. My personal journey has gone through several phases. a) material things should not be sought.
b) material things are neutral, neither evil or good, and therefore, owning nice things is good, savings is bad - live for today
c) Living without savings is stupid - God gave us a brain, we should use it.
d) The more you have, the more you can give away. Blessed to be a blessing.
e) live simply, give generously recent lessons. 1) contentment/I want better for you. There are things about which I want better, but God says, be content with what you have.
There are things about which I am content, but God says, I want better for you. 2) Impermanency of life.
Buddhist monks make elaborate sand paintings and then they bring in a broom and sweep it all away and start again. Most of us say...what a waste... but it does two things. a) it shows us that nothing is permanent. b) we recognize that the process is more important than the outcome. I disagree on a few levels. 1) God does not want us to waste our lives. 2) Detachment for the sake of detachment is not the goal. 3) God is concerned with both the process and the outcome. It is just that the outcome is not always seen here. "They did not receive the things promised."
How do we develop a healthy sense of impermanency?
http://zenhabits.net/crutches/ reasons for the junk in our life 1) security - fight fear with information, you know how to survive
2) self image and self worth - learn to love yourself as you are
3) Memories and holding on to the past - live in the present
4) love - its not in the thing, its in the giver of the thing
5) possibility for improvement - live in the present
6) comfort - things are not able to fulfill emotional needs
7) Procrastination - take it a little at a time
8) Excitement - gathering equipment for future fun - you can have fun without the "toys"
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. The question is: What does it mean to live as an alien or stranger here on Earth. Big mistake we make is living as if this is all that matters. Our perspective narrows to this life, and sometimes even more narrow to just me. I am all that matters. If I am happy, then life is good. If I am not happy, then life is not good. But this is not the Bible's view on material possessions. Sometimes when preaching about "things," a preacher may take one of two extremes. 1) All material possessions are evil. 2) All material possessions are blessings from God. Neither of these is correct. It is not evil to have material things. May people in the Bible had material things. It is also not evil to deny yourself material blessings. Jesus was homeless. John the Baptist at locust and honey. My personal journey has gone through several phases. a) material things should not be sought.
b) material things are neutral, neither evil or good, and therefore, owning nice things is good, savings is bad - live for today
c) Living without savings is stupid - God gave us a brain, we should use it.
d) The more you have, the more you can give away. Blessed to be a blessing.
e) live simply, give generously recent lessons. 1) contentment/I want better for you. There are things about which I want better, but God says, be content with what you have.
There are things about which I am content, but God says, I want better for you. 2) Impermanency of life.
Buddhist monks make elaborate sand paintings and then they bring in a broom and sweep it all away and start again. Most of us say...what a waste... but it does two things. a) it shows us that nothing is permanent. b) we recognize that the process is more important than the outcome. I disagree on a few levels. 1) God does not want us to waste our lives. 2) Detachment for the sake of detachment is not the goal. 3) God is concerned with both the process and the outcome. It is just that the outcome is not always seen here. "They did not receive the things promised."
How do we develop a healthy sense of impermanency?
http://zenhabits.net/crutches/ reasons for the junk in our life 1) security - fight fear with information, you know how to survive
2) self image and self worth - learn to love yourself as you are
3) Memories and holding on to the past - live in the present
4) love - its not in the thing, its in the giver of the thing
5) possibility for improvement - live in the present
6) comfort - things are not able to fulfill emotional needs
7) Procrastination - take it a little at a time
8) Excitement - gathering equipment for future fun - you can have fun without the "toys"
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