Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

You've Heard It Said Pt.14

Hallelujah! Amen. I was talking to a couple of folks this morning--it's interesting the way the Lord took us in this morning's session. Over the years, we've done so many teachings on prayer and the different aspects of the structure, the methods, and the postures, all of the different aspects of prayer. It was such a good time this morning--at least I was refreshed in my own spirit in just the time of communion with Father, in understanding the real aspect as relational, and we all know that, but just to refresh our hearts in that understanding the need to spend that time in the presence of God. When He's present, and that supernatural peace comes, then the circumstances are not going to dictate our decisions. We may battle with heaviness at times, weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning. It's because of the presence of God and that one promise that we rest on so often, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." We're just so comforted in those realms.

We want to go on and deal a little more into the model prayer here that the Lord has given us in preparation for this hour that we're in. The more I realize the hour, the more sobering it is. You've looked for--for many years, virtually every day, I have looked for the coming of the Lord. Even so come quickly, Lord Jesus. I have, over all the years, been a person who really enjoys eschatology. I was raised up on it by some of the best teachers in the Spirit-filled fellowship of our generation, just believing that the Lord was going to come and could come at any moment. Seeing the Scriptures and yet wondering how all of this could be. Then we look today at the communications and how this world has just shrunk. How could it be that everybody could see Him coming at one time? How is this going to happen? You begin to see technology, and all that's been put into place, and the Internet. It's for one reason. It's setting the world up for Antichrist and the return of the Lord. It's exciting, isn't it? This is an exciting hour! Yet, at the same time we're being seduced by all of this information, because as we shared the other day, the sin that was partaken of was the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Everything you want to know is on that Internet, it's dangerous!

It's amazing today--how many of you now do self-diagnosis of your physical symptoms over the Internet? Anybody? What does this mean? "Oh wow, I could be dying!" A little bit of knowledge is dangerous, isn't it? Yet there are handy things. I've done that and I've found out some things that were very helpful. I'm not saying that it's not helpful. I'm not saying that it's innately evil. The source is that spirit of knowledge that gives us confidence, power, it empowers us, and it enlightens us. The communications that are being used to--it will, like never before, influence this next election, and we're so caught up in the pace of this world that we lose that still, quiet time with Father.

We want to talk a little more about that and see what it is that distracts us when we're told to pray. Men ought, say it, "Always to pray and not to faint." Pray without ceasing. If we're called to that and yet being distracted to do everything else. Prayer is an attitude. We've shared that. Prayer is practicing the presence of God. It's not just articulating words, it's not focusing on petition and waiting for an answer. We all know what prayer is. Prayer is involved in intercession, prayer is in petitioning, prayer is praise and worship, but prayer is the awareness of God. You're not aware of God when you're listening to sports radio, talk radio--people bantering back and forth about every nonsensical thing that's taking place in our society; the noises of Oscar night, the Super Bowl, and all of these things that so many of us encounter. If we're to always pray, how much of this noise is distracting us from always praying, from being aware of God's presence and His speaking? We've said there are going to be times when we do involve ourselves in the secular, when our minds are set upon other things; but if that's the case, then how much should we choose to be distracted by the attractions? You all remember that teaching that we did on the Sower Sowing the Word? To be distracted by attractions is what smothers the Word of God out of our lives, Jesus said in that parable of the sower.

He says in the model prayer to recognize the uniqueness of the name of the Lord. What a privilege to be called by His name, amen? You know one thing I've never understood--we're the bride, right? It's interesting to me, we've seen it as a simple thing, we've seen it as a women's lib thing, women refusing to take the name of their husband or having the hyphen. It used to be it was a privilege to take your husband's name, your beloved. We're talking about the hallowedness of this Name, we're associated with that Name, we're one with that Name, praise God! The privilege of being in prayer, and we've taught it years ago in the studies that we've done on prayer; but praying in that Name because we're one with that Name. We have a joint bank account with the Lord, amen? I've heard of marriages where there are separate accounts, his money and her money. There are no separate accounts in marriage. We're one! The access to be able to go in, praise God, we go in and we sign the checks, it's a joint account. In His Name, I'm one with His Name, hallowed be that Name! I'm privileged to be called by the name of Jesus, His inheritance. We're representing that name by the way we live. Hallowed be that name. I want to be associated, I want to use that name properly. I want to pray in that name and see the power of God set people free from demonic power, healed bodies. Hallowed be that name! Do you boast in it?

You know, that name of Jesus really makes people uncomfortable. I try to say the name of Jesus as much as I can around people, and just see who squirms and who's like, "Man, I'd like to hear more," and who says, "Praise God." Just start saying, "Jesus." "Isn't Jesus good? I'm so glad God raised Jesus from the dead!" You can set your group and categorize them real quickly just by the look on their faces, and we know who's who. When He says, "When you pray, pray our Father"--you know the pagans didn't know the fatherhood of God. Have you noticed in Matthew, Chapters 5, 6 and 7 how many times the term "Father" is used? Jesus is setting them up here, because the Jews didn't know Father, they knew Jehovah. They knew the awesomeness, the power of God, the justice of God, they knew the severity of God, they knew Jehovah-jireh, Jehovah-tsidkenu, Jehovah-shalom, but they didn't know Father. Jesus introduced the fatherhood of God to the church, and in this setting up of the church He begins to say here's how you're going to relate to the Almighty. He's Daddy, He's Father. He knows what you have need of. He's calling you into His presence. He wants you to embrace that name and become one with Him and realize we're sons of God. I'm a son of God. I'm an heir and joint heir with Jesus Christ. Everything my Father has He wants to give me. It's His good pleasure, once I grow up as a son, to put into my hands. Think about that. Just prove yourself faithful. It doesn't matter how old you are. Dad's not going to die, so we don't--God's not going to die for us to get this inheritance. We share it equally as he lives, and the more mature we become, the more He puts into our hands. He says, "Pray that way, pray with that expectation, pray expecting God to honor His presence in your life, pray after this manner."

Then He goes on into this second part that I want to deal with for just a moment, praying Thy will be done, divesting ourselves of our own agendas, crucifixion to self. I had someone come and ask me a question this morning that was a good question. They said, "Could you help me a little bit to understand, you talked about going to God early, and going to God first, and hearing His voice [and he said] how do I balance that with going to my counselors and getting sound doctrinal advice?" I said, "Well, really you have to understand it this way--when we go to God, many times, God is going to speak to us through counselors as they instruct us in the Word of God, but the reason you need to go to God first is in that time of prayer you divest yourself of your own agenda so you can hear the counsel." You go to God to seek His will to empty ourselves of our own understanding, what we think is going to happen, what we believe God should do, what we think our counselors ought to tell us, how we think people ought to respond to me, and we come and say, "Not my will, thy will be done. I have no agenda." Then when people speak into our lives we're ready to hear them. We're not self-deceived, we're not double-minded in all of our ways, and so we pray, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven."

Then that brings us to this next aspect that we want to talk about tonight a little bit, look at it, "Give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11). We're talking about preparing ourselves for the hour that we're living in. How many of you think that the spirit of covetousness in this generation is being expressed without shame? People will just flat out tell you, "I want more, I want better." That's what's in the hearts of men, it always has been, but now there's not even a pretense of contentment. There's not even a pretense of thinking I should earn something. "I deserve it, I have a right to it," and the thinking, even in our generation today, as we look at the Constitution we don't believe any longer that we should have the pursuit but we have the right to be happy. So we, as Christians, are facing this spirit constantly. And we've asked this question: how can we really, in this time of abundance, pray in faith, "Lord, I'm just asking you today to provide our sustenance. Be the source, Father, of what we have need of today." I think Jesus' prayer speaks much to the hour that we're living in.

We remember the sin of Sodom was what? Their abundance. Great abundance is the greatest temptation to forget the sustenance of God, the provision of God. We've read it time and time again, we've heard when you go into the land and you possess it, and you drink from wells that you didn't dig, and you live in houses that you didn't build, take heed that you don't forget the Lord. Don't think for a moment, "Look what my hand has provided." So let me just back off here for just a second and ask the question, not your spiritual answer, not the right answer, we all know the right answer--how many of us really believe that God has given us everything we have? Not the fact that, "I worked hard for forty years and I showed up on time, and I'm a man of my word, and I have character, and I have a great work ethic." "God is my provider. Everything I have has come from God and belongs to God." See, that's the spirit Jesus is speaking of here. He's our absolute source. It's not anything I've done. I've never done anything to provide for myself; God is my provider. Do we believe that tonight? If we do, and we live that way, guess what? It's His to take anytime He wants. We all start squirming a little bit when we hear that. How about when the Master just walks up to you and says, "Follow Me?" Are you there tonight? Can you get up out of that chair, leave everything behind, you just turn around and say, "Pastor, Jesus just called me. Here's what He wants me to do, give everything to the ministry, and I'm going to follow Him." "Where are you going?" "I don't know for sure yet, but I do know He's my source, my provider. Wherever He goes I'm going." Some of us that have that adventurous spirit go, "Oh, I'd love to have something like that happen." Yeah, for about a week. I've been there. I've left everything and followed Him, and He's done me good all the days of my life, praise God! And I never want a day to go by that I would see anything other than Him as my provider. What great investments were made, that was a great decision that was done there, whatever--it's God. He has ordered our steps to this place. We can trust Him, praise God! When the decisions start having to be made here in the future that are going to cost you your jobs, that are going to cost you your Keogh's and your--I started to say--what is it your 401's? I'm a 501C3 so I get my numbers mixed up. Can we trust Him? When it takes wings and flies away, can you trust Him? "I've never seen the righteous forsaken; I've never seen the seed begging bread." We know Christians have starved to death. The comment of the psalmist there is the purpose of God and the providential purpose, and eternal purpose of God's statement that He'll care for us, but it doesn't deal with His sovereign working in every man's life. People believe God and the miracles supplied through the abundance of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, and people believe God and die of starvation. The Judge of all the earth does right, amen? The Lord gives and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord. This model prayer causes us to come and say, "I have no preconceived ideas of what's going to come my way, all I know is this: God is my source He's my provider. Father, give us this day our daily bread, our eyes are upon You."

In this hour of covetousness are we satisfied to make God our provider? The blessings of the Lord make rich and add no sorrow. When God is the source there is no sorrow, no regret. There's no holding onto things when God puts His finger on it and says, "I want that." We're living with God as our provider. God is our source and in this time of covetousness, in this time of abundance, let's get alone and not forget who our source is.

Then he goes on and says, "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen" (Matthew 6:12). As this model is being taken care of He's showing God as our source. Then He says that we relate to one another in this kingdom, within this church, not based on merit or performance, but on grace; and we give as it's been given unto us. We forgive as we've been forgiven. So we pray, "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." There's no place in the body of Christ for bitterness, for strife, for unforgiveness. We just talked about vengeance being the Lord's a couple of sessions ago, establishing our own justice system but always ready to forgive. Now, that doesn't mean that we cover sin. It means when there's true godly sorrow and repentance we freely accept God's grace extended to individuals, and not hold our own standard of justice or relationship. Freely we've received, freely we give. We're looking for opportunities to love as we've been loved. So the Lord brings us into this capsulated model prayer that says, "Pray first of all, brag on how good God is, boast in His presence, and tell him how much you love Him." Divest yourself of your own agenda. See God as your absolute soul source. Be compassionate, and forgiving. Be willing to embrace the humanity that's around us, because we're all fighting this same battle, this humanity, this war of this sin that's in our members, aren't we? So when you pray, pray for your bothers and sisters, don't be bitter against them. When you go to prayer, when you realize there's aught against your brother, leave your gift at the altar, go and make the things right and then return and worship God, and offer up your offering to Him in thanksgiving. I just want to--there are little conflicts in our midst. People just, "Well, they don't like me..." Get over it! If there's something there then realize how much you've been forgiven and always see yourself as the debtor. Not the one that's owed, the one that owes. In that parable we are always the one that owes the ten million, and I'm always the one that has to deal with that tendency to want to have those people arrested that owe me ten bucks.

Over the years I've dealt with betrayals, and people that have spoken and tried to destroy my life, literally, and our livelihood, our reputation, and up till this point I've been able to--I haven't really--it's the grace of God, but I've been able to live free from unforgiveness, yet the tendencies in me as a natural person is if you cross me I'm going to get you, man! That same pride that all of us have, and I've had to battle that tendency every time, and probably you have too; but I've encountered this, and I've encountered it probably more than the average person. The way I've dealt with it--I've had people ask me, "Pastor, after what people have said and done, how is it that you're so willing to welcome people back into your life, or forgive them in a moment's notice?" Because I've been forgiven, I'm the debtor. Between you and me there is no question in my mind who the chief sinner is. Between you and me, I know who the worst person between us is, and I've been forgiven, and if the chief of sinners can be forgiven, then I ought to be able to forgive, amen? And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. How actively are we looking to overlook, to be patient, to be kind, to be longsuffering, love that doesn't take into account, it's not touchy?

I heard an incident just the other day, someone was telling me about a conflict here in the fellowship and I thought, "That person needs to go back and meditate. Love is not touchy, get over yourself!" "Well, they looked at me a certain way." A rock just flew in their eye; give them a break! Love doesn't think evil, amen?

When we realize, in our time of prayer--I'm telling you, the majority of the time that we spend in prayer should be spent on these few little categories. And one of the major categories of prayer time should be realizing how loved and forgiven you are, which will prepare you to go out and be loving, and forgiving to everyone around you, because freely we've received, freely give. How much time do we spend in prayer saying, "God, I haven't been treated right! Lord, they've treated me wrong, God just get them. Just recompense, vengeance is Yours Lord, get them." Instead of the time that comes and says, "Lord, You know what I need even before I even ask. I've been grieved, my feelings have been hurt, I may have been mistreated. I feel like everyone treats me like the red-headed stepchild." [For you red-headed stepchildren, it's just a saying.] Can you be honest in that? "Lord, my tendency is to feel like I'm getting the short end, but I know it's not the truth. Thank You for loving me, and Father, help me to love as I've been loved, unconditionally." That's what prayer is all about. This is what He's saying here, the model prayer. Prayer is not about what so many people have made it today. Prayer is not about God being the genie to supply all of our lusts in the spirit of covetousness.

People just smile when they hear statements made like Ted Turner's. I understand--I don't know if it's New Mexico. I think it might be New Mexico, one of those states out there, that he's the largest, I think, right now, Ted Turner is the largest, single land owner in the United States. When someone asked him, "Are you looking to buy up the whole state? How much land is enough?" And his comment was very similar to that of Rockefeller and some of those in the past, he said "No, I just want the ranch next to mine." Right? And then when you buy that one you just want the one that's next to yours. "That's all, I just want the ranch next to mine."

How much are we going to have to have before we're content with our daily bread? When we pray "give us this day our daily bread," it doesn't mean that we're to live hand to mouth. It means that God is the source. Everything we have is the blessings of the Lord that have made us rich and add no sorrow. I have what I have because God gave it to me. I didn't con anybody out of it. I take no credit for doing it because of my great gifts and my fortitude. Father has chosen to bless me because I've chosen to honor Him. Regardless of what any of us possess, we possess the best, the most because it's God's, and that's what this prayer is all about. "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever." He's the final arbitrator in all of these things in our lives. His will has been done and that's what causes us to be able to rest and to enjoy the goodness of God.

He goes on, then, and in the midst of all of this He says, "I want you to [verse 14] realize there is going to have to be relational healing and unity if you're going to be strong in this new kingdom, if we're going to be able to accomplish My purposes." He says one of the things that, as the church, you're going to have to learn and move in, and we addressed it in verse 12. "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matthew 6:14). Forgiveness is one of the greatest preparations for pure prayer, for being able to come into the presence of God. Let me ask you a question: is there any unforgiveness in your hearts tonight? Grandma, grandpa, mom, dad, brother, sisters, employers; there is no place in the kingdom of God in the church for unforgiveness. We have no access to God. We have no power. We have no right to stand and proclaim this gospel with unforgiveness in our hearts. This is a message of absolute, total grace and forgiveness. He says if you're going to represent Me, if you're going to go out and proclaim this message, I want you to know something: there has to be a heart and an awareness that your debts are forgiven, because you're willing to be the representative of forgiveness. So, He says here's how the church is going to work. It's going to be love, it's going to be forgiveness, it's going to be mercy, and it's going to be longsuffering. I call you to this type of attitude, a heart ready at all times to forgive, so prepare yourselves. He says, now, one of the things that's going to allow you to do this is bringing your flesh under.

Look at the next topic that we're going to look at. When you fast--that's not a real exciting topic, is it? "Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward." I can remember the first time I ever fasted back in 1967. I felt the Lord--I never heard about fasting, and I was actually reading this Scripture and I thought, "Well, that's something I've never done. I've been a Christian now for two or three days and I need to get some stuff together here so I need to do this." So I decide that I'm going to fast. We're in service, we had a good time worshipping the Lord, afterwards the young adults, the college guys said, "Let's go out for some fellowship and we'll go down to Bob's Big Boy. [We hung out at Bob's Big Boy in Fresno.] Let's go down to Bob's." I'm thinking, "Why can't we fellowship where there's no food around? Why don't we stay in the prayer room and fellowship?" Because, to me, it's easy to fast if there's no food around, but now we go to Bob's. Bob's had good milkshakes back then. Everybody is sitting there, and they're going to fellowship, and we have Bob's Big Boy burgers, fries, onion rings, and shakes. Having just read this and not knowing what to do, they're saying, "Well, aren't you going to order anything?" I'm thinking, "I can't say I'm not hungry, because I am. That wouldn't be the truth. I can't say I don't want anything because I really do. I can't say I'm fasting because that'll be boasting!" See, I was just young. It's not wrong to tell people I'm just honoring the Lord right now. I'm fasting this for the glory of God. It's the attitude of the heart, it's not something we do and say, "Well, brother, I'd really like to, but God called me to fast this thing. Pray for me, anoint me with ketchup." Whatever it is. It's not a sacrifice, it's a privilege, that's what He's saying here. Don't become of a sad countenance dragging in. "Dear God, what is it your thirty-ninth day of your forty day fast?" "No, I started at noon and it's three o'clock." The joy and being able to honor the Lord; this is the spirit that He's talking about. Don't be afraid like I was as a young Christian, "What can I say? What do I say here? "No, I'm not hungry, thank you. No, I don't like chocolate milkshakes and sundaes." Liars go to hell. You don't want to go to hell over fasting. We're sitting here, and we just have to own up and realize that it's the attitude of trying to receive the same spirit that we read earlier in this, the recognition of men, the honor of men. We're not trying to receive special attention, that this is somehow meritorious; it's just part of who we are and what we do.

So, when you fast don't be as the hypocrites that you may appear unto men. They would not fix their hair in the mornings, they wouldn't refresh themselves. "They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, [be as joyful and refreshed as you possibly can] and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast..." We're not here trying to get recognition. The fact that if you happen to be with people--now remember in this day hospitality and fellowship was a big part of the culture, and people could be offended if you didn't partake.

We fast as unto the Lord, the privilege, the discipline of the flesh. We all know what fasting is. We take that time and we don't just abstain from food, we take that time and honor God, and we seek the Lord, we pray, we spend time in fellowship with Him, we serve somebody else instead of ourselves. This is the spirit, so He says that we're not looking for men's approval and men's admiration. "The Father which seeth secret shall reward thee openly." This is the thing that we rest in--that it's done in God's sovereign time and way. This rewarding openly doesn't always mean that it's going to be something that honors you in the midst of men. It's just something that is an obvious expression of Him recognizing you. Having been in secret and in faith, living in faith, you see openly, outwardly, the true manifestation of whatever it is: abundance, provisions of food, of finance, of fellowship, or whatever else it might be; but we do it secretly meaning in faith, in the spirit realm, and God manifests it into the natural realm for us.

He goes on and says and I want to encourage you, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth." We'll end with this for this evening, but in light, again, of the time that we're living in--what time did we start? I'm all mixed up. I've been in meetings in the back, I didn't even know--I thought it was Wednesday. Don't lay up for yourselves treasures upon the earth we're living in this time, in this generation when it's all about the treasure hunt. Dear God, it's the Lotto and everything is "get rich quick"; the market, investments, real estate, get your education, you're going to be wealthy.

I remember back--it's interesting, the hot ticket back when I was in school--I can remember talking to my counselor and he said, "You need to really look into being an aeronautical engineer." I could barely add and I thought, "Huh, there's quite a choice for you." My only use for physics was hitting somebody as hard as I could. I wanted to be a good linebacker. For every generation there's been that, "This is it, you have to go into this field." So we have a glut, don't we? We all know about the technology age that we have today.

If the Lord tarries, I'd like to encourage some of our young people here, stop listening to what they're saying and go into the services. Go into some type of vocational thing. I want to tell you something: you know that guy that's working at all of the computers? His toilet is stopped up. Plumbers will come in--you call them, you get your Palm Pilot because your toilet is in trouble. You're typing it in to the plumber and he comes in and you're sitting there, and you're so proud of this beautiful home you have, and you come in and find the dude's charging you three hundred dollars an hour! He says, "Thank you, I'll name my next john after you." You go out--it's all supply and demand. Nobody is doing this stuff anymore. Somebody has to fix all this stuff. Everything that breaks isn't electronic. I can live, barely, with my computer down, but not with my toilet flowing through the house. That's just something to think about. I don't know how I got off on that, but where your treasure is...

As we're looking at where people are today and all that we're seeking after, can we really say that our treasure isn't discernable to the natural eye? Our treasure is we're really working for an invisible, eternal reward, that's where my heart is. And Jesus begins to delve into that very clearly here, and He says, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal." Now, you have to understand the culture of what He's saying right here. In the orient, back in those days wealth was really discernable by garments, by the attire that people wore. What was it that Akin sinned over? What was it that he was hiding, remember, that he flew upon? The wedge of gold and--see the garments and the gold were held the same. I guess that's a pretty good way to have your wealth where you could put it on and run if you have to get out of town quickly. We know that in times past governments put their money into jewelry didn't they? That's how Crown Jewels came about. Crown Jewels didn't just come about for just putting them on and looking good. There were a lot of coups in those days. It came about, "If we have to get out of town we can wear it." Grab the jewels and run. That was the wealth of the nation, that's why the Crown Jewels were. We know that in the time of conflict in Europe, and all of the diamonds, the wealth was put into diamonds, because diamonds are a lot easier to carry than gold. What are we putting our treasure as today?

Well, here Jesus is saying, "Look, you need to understand something: if your treasure is these garments, these beautiful silk garments that are embroidered with gold and everything--it takes just one moth, the corruption of the rust." Now, we know gold doesn't rust, but the other items that He's speaking of that were seen as treasure. He talks about thieves breaking through. We know that in that day what He's talking about is they didn't have the safes we have today. They had all of these bricks that were made, and it was easy for a thief to actually tunnel right through your house. Think about that. You have your house all locked up and a guy is standing out there with a garden hose. He has a nice entry right through the side of the wall, right? Mud, in some cases, they were easy to tunnel through. He says, "Make sure that they're not laid up down here where men can defile, where it can vanish, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven." There's no possible way for the natural to affect your eternal treasures.

Now, let's take a moment and ask ourselves, because He's going to go on in just a moment and talk about the light of the eye; but here we want to talk about the heart for just a moment. Where is our heart? "Where your treasure is that's where your heart is," He says. Now, out of the abundance of the heart what happens? The mouth speaks. So our treasure begins to be identified for us by our words, by what we talk about. One thing that I've noticed, it's not just what we chat about or talk about always in abundance, but you know what I found? And I found it in my own life, when my life is out of order, it's what you talk about fervently, with passion. Tragically, I've caught myself over the years being passionate about an object, talking to somebody about the Grand Sport that we used to own. I could find myself when I was going to talk to somebody there was an excitement, there was a passion in sharing how neat that car was. Telling somebody, "Oh, yeah, it has one of the authentic L-88's in it, and there were only 116 of those that were made, and it has a four-inch, two-chassis, it has Connolly leather in it and it has..."--an excitement! Then you just share the Lord. You share the Lord, but it's not passionate. I wouldn't even go so far as to say it's obligatory. But after forty years you ebb and flow, and there are times that we're all fired up, and there are times that we're just staying on course. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? Our treasures change, don't they, from moment to moment? Hopefully, not moment to moment; but it could.

What Jesus is saying here is concentrate on your heart, where your treasure is. What are you really living for? What are you passionate about? Are you passionate about the kingdom of God today, or about the Babylonish garments, the wedge of gold, the new job, the new house, the new relationship, the new hobby? What are you passionate about? Are you conscious of the fact that we're making investments daily into an eternal account? Some of us rise up and we'll look at the stock market to see how our stocks are doing, and we want to check that thing out. Are you aware of your heavenly account? Are you just as aware of the fact that I need to prepare myself? "I feel like right now I'm just going through the motions. I'm going to stop and get my passion back for the kingdom of God! I'm not just going to go through the motions today. I'm going to take this time, get quiet, get back to the model prayer, and hallow His name. If need be, I'll fast and get things back on track to where I am passionately conscious and aware of doing God's work, honoring His name, laying up treasure where thieves can't break through and steal, and moth and rust can't corrupt." See, He's talking to us here and saying these are conscious deposits being made. What does your deposit slip look like?

Remember when we were kids and we had those little bankbooks? Does anybody know what I'm talking about? Did you have a bankbook? How many of you remember the little envelope that had the string that you wrapped around, and you'd write down how much money, and you had a little savings account? They'd take it down and deposit it, and they'd come back and you thought, "Whoa man! That baby is up to a dollar thirteen. It's only been three years, things are going well." You'd look and you'd follow that, and get excited about what you were depositing. You're setting up a goal and trying to save some money, you have this goal and you'd see the account, and finally you're on target, and you're going to make it. How conscious are we of our heavenly passbook, our heavenly account? What's our balance in heaven? I don't mean trying to earn God's approval or whatever. The best that I can see is that we're going to rule and reign with Him based upon our faithfulness, not how much, but how much we've done with what's been given to us. Where's your treasure? How are your gifts being used to honor God? What would you say your time and energy is being spent on--building an earthly kingdom that's going to pass, or depositing into your heavenly account for His glory for His honor?

Father, we thank You tonight for Your Word. All of these topics that we've dealt with so many times, nothing profound in here, just practical, daily living that challenges our hearts. Father, I ask You tonight to do one thing in each of our lives--give us a real glimpse of where our treasures are. It's so easy to get distracted about the new project we're involved in, the new relationship whether it be friends, a betrothal, a new baby in the house, a combined project of evangelism, and the ministry begins to be what our hearts are excited about and not Your glory. The work we're doing for you, not the fact that it's being done by You. Where is our treasure? Is it in Your presence? Every decision made to make us aware of Your presence, to consciously be moved by Your Spirit, sustained by Your power, living for Your glory. Father, make that the reality, we ask, in our lives, in Jesus' name, amen.

Let's stand before the Lord tonight. Hallelujah! As Gary plays for us take just a moment here and--what are you fervent, passionate, about?

Father, we're so easily distracted. Forgive us for not honoring Your name in all that we do and all that we say. Father, we're so self involved, and indulgent, and self-righteous. Forgive us for not forgiving as we should. We're the debtors. Lord, we don't know how to go out or come in, so we pray not our will but Your will be done. For all that You've blessed us with, make us truly thankful, Father; not a token, not just, "Well, thank You." We don't deserve anything and yet You've blessed us, Lord, with our daily bread. What we have has been received at Your hand and we just say, "Thank You," that we would be privileged to be the children of God. It's by Your might and by Your power, Thy kingdom come Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Help us now, Father, to be rich in the spiritual economy of Your kingdom; not for merit, not to be seen of men, but because it's truly worth something. It's been approved in Your heart, it's for Your glory. It will cause us to hear, "Well done." That's our treasure, to one day have You look on us and say, "You did a good job with what I gave you. Come on home, I've prepared a place for you, and so shall [you] ever be with the Lord." Thank You, Father.

Let's sing it together. Hallelujah! Lord, we know that You're seen in Your Word and You're seen in the communion that we have. "Lord, show us Your glory," was the cry of the man of God. It'll suffice us and we've seen it, Lord, in Jesus. Let that passion burn to be like You, to live for You. Be our treasure, we ask in Jesus' name, amen.

Before you go, turn to somebody next to you and say, "Father knows." Amen. Go in peace, God's love go with you.

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