Discover Life's Greatest Treasure

What do you treasure most in your life? Most people say their family. Isaiah 33 speaks of the majesty of the Lord God this way. "How great is God? He always protects His people and gives them wisdom and knowledge. Their greatest treasure is their reverence for the Lord."

How does reverence for God become your life’s greatest treasure? First, submit  to him completely and then change what you’ve put in place of the reverence that belongs to God. When you make reverence for God your greatest treasure, he gives you strength and wisdom for making this your life’s priority.

Getting rid of sin and evil in your life is difficult, but it’s necessary for reverence of God to have first place. Hebrews 12:1 tells us to "Rid yourself of everything that gets in the way, especially the sin that holds on to you so tightly." This is possible as you keep your eyes completely fixed on Jesus and keep your heart and mind receptive to his cleansing power. You can do that. God will help. 

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The God who said, “Out of darkness the light shall shine!” is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts, to bring us the knowledge of God’s glory shining in the face of Christ. Yet we who have this spiritual treasure are like common clay pots, in order to show that the supreme power belongs to God, not to us. We are often troubled, but not crushed; sometimes in doubt, but never in despair.  

~2 Corinthians 4:6-8 Good News Bible

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Reverence for God – Reclaim the Treasure

There are those who suggest that we’ve lost true reverence for just about everything that deserves it. Instead, we reverence what is transient and temporal, such as success, wealth, and sex. Initially, reverence usually provokes images of worship and devotion that belong to God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

If reverence is accepted as a virtue, then reclaiming reverence and focusing on it as highly desirable would be the right thing to do. Some people in our society believe marriage deserves reverence and devotion. When marriage is acknowledged as deserving loyalty, faithfulness, and respect, then choosing a lifelong partner should be done with God’s approval.

God's word tells us not to conform to this world's image but be transformed to a new way of thinking by understanding God's will for our lives. To have reverence for God and for what he approves provides a quality to life that is worth obtaining. This treasure guarantees security for eternity and peace with God.  

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With these promises ringing in our ears, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from anything that pollutes body or soul. Let us prove our reverence for God by consecrating ourselves to him completely.

2 Corinthians 7:1 Phillips – New Testament in Modern English 

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Rediscovering Reverence

History acknowledges that thousands of Russians came forward to mourn the death of Joseph Stalin, knowing he was responsible for the death and enslavement of millions of the Russian people. Despite knowing this, the people still needed to adore and show reverence for him. Reverence is a mindset that elevates someone above normal.

At the other end of the spectrum is one’s losing reverence for what should be honored and respected. Becoming too self-centered is usually the culprit for becoming less reverent in one's thoughts and feelings. The early Christians’ reverence for Jesus was apparent, for they honored him above everything and everyone.

John Greenleaf Whittier offered this prayer for those who had  become indifferent to the virtue of reverence: "Dear Lord and Father of mankind, Forgive our foolish ways! Reclothe in us our rightful mind, In purer hearts Thy service find, In deeper reverence, praise." We need this prayer to help us rediscover reverence for the Lord God and Christ Jesus.  

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Don’t envy evil men but continue to reverence the Lord all the time, for surely you have a wonderful future ahead of you. There Is hope for you yet!

~Proverbs 23:17-18 The Living Bible

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What Indifference Communicates

Indifference is a state of mind that’s contrary to what God created us to be. Indifference portrays apathy, a lack of compassion for others. The verbal and nonverbal message of indifference is, “You deserve what you get, and I could care less." How is it possible to lose reverence for the gift of life and especially for God, its creator?

The unwillingness to be forgiving is associated with the attitude of indifference. Anger and bitterness entombed in the heart eventually transform into indifference. Losing a sense of reverence for life and the pleasure of fellowship with Christ Jesus usually comes as a result of extended pain and suffering.

God will restore those who have lost this sense of reverence and have become indifferent to life. If this is your plight, why not renew your vows to Christ Jesus and let him transform you to the depths of your soul? Ask him to help you make whatever changes that are needed so you can once again feel a sense of wonderment toward the life God has given you.  

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All of them have stubborn minds! Their ears are stopped up, and their eyes are covered. They cannot see or hear or understand. If they could, they would turn to me, and I would heal them.  

~Matthew 13:15 Contemporary English Bible

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Expressing Thanks from a Sincere Heart

In the movie Shenandoah, James Stewart plays a hard-working farmer, who in prayers of thanksgiving relates how he cleared the land, plowed the fields, planted seeds, and harvested crops – but was thankful that God contributed to the final product. It took several crises for him to realize that he had little control over the destiny of his family.

Sincere thanksgiving appreciates that life is a gift and that we have the privilege of managing what God has entrusted into our care. The Psalmist encourages us to come before the Lord with thanksgiving, expressing our gratitude for the honor of humbly connecting with the Creator of all things.

Godly thanksgiving should create hope in the one expressing it, for gratitude points to the abundance of God’s blessings. Hope is felt as we recall how God has enriched our lives with his presence and provision. When thanksgiving is expressed from a sincere heart to Christ Jesus, our lives then testify of his love, acceptance, and provision.        ________________  

 O Lord, I will praise you with all my heart, and tell everyone about the marvelous things you do. I will be glad, yes, filled with joy because of you. I will sing your praises, O Lord God.

~Psalm 9:1-2 The Living Bible  

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Thankful Communications to God

An undisputed purpose for working is to purchase the things we desire. While there isn't anything necessarily wrong with wanting the necessities of life, we may forget to express thanksgiving for what we have received. As we communicate our feelings of thanksgiving and appreciation to Christ Jesus, the more clearly his purpose for us is understood.

Discovering God’s purpose for us is paramount, for to do so brings contentment and joy. To express thanksgiving to God creates a deep sense of satisfaction for what we do possess. Expressing thanksgiving helps us to cease our lusting after that which is elusive and out of bounds.

As we focus on communicating thanksgiving for what God has provided, it clears the way for a deeper relationship with the Lord God. Psalm 42:1 proclaims, "As the deer longs for a stream of cool water, so my heart longs for you O God." Communicating gratitude is the antidote for feelings of dissatisfaction and deprivation, so give thanks to God for his goodness, patience, and kindness.

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 Say “Thank you” to the Lord for being so good, for always being so loving and kind...praise the Lord for his loving-kindness, and for all of his wonderful deeds! For he satisfies the thirsty soul and fills the hungry soul with good.

~Psalm 107:1, 8-9 The Living Bible 

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Voicing Your Thanks

Suppose for a moment that all forms of verbal communication were suspended. How then would you communicate to those special people in your life how thankful you are for them? In the busy, rushed world we’ve created, it’s not uncommon to forget words of gratitude and lose touch with thankful feelings. Has expressing thanksgiving become obsolete?

What would your children think if you were to tell them how much you appreciate being their parent? How difficult would it be to say “thank you” for the benefits family life has provided? Caring enough to articulate gratitude that comes from the heart is recognizing that all we are and all we have is because of God's favor and blessings.

Voicing thanksgiving helps us see beyond our immediate situation. Thanksgiving is an integral part of praise to the Lord God. Psalm 138:3 reminds us that when we communicate with the Lord God, when we call out to him, he gives us courage and strengthens our souls. Isn’t that a delightful reason to express thanksgiving?

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I will give thanks to you with all my heart…I will give thanks to your name because of your mercy and truth. You have made your name and your promise greater than everything. When I called, you answered me. You made me bold by strengthening my soul.

~Psalm 138:1-3 God’s Word Translation 

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Bridging a Communication Gap

I'm sure you've noticed that the more we acquire, the less time there is to enjoy loved ones and our possessions. The subtle loss of closeness should matter more than things we've acquired. Our tendency is to plod through life marginally in touch with ourselves and family, which invariably leads to a lapse in communication and intimacy.

Where there is a communication gap, negative thoughts and feelings tend to get a foothold. Anger surfaces over the infringement of rules and boundary. Fear reaches for a chokehold when our influence is threatened. The worst problem with the gravest consequence is the emotional distance these powerful emotions create.

Caring enough to communicate can be revived even after years of intimacy deprivation. Getting to know what’s important to each other is crucial to reconnecting. God approached Adam and Eve with love and patience. He challenged them onward to what was possible currently and in the future. The Lord God gives us the same challenge. 

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For God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but a spirit of power and love and a sound mind.

~2 Timothy 1:7 Phillips – New Testament in Modern English

Therefore confess your sins, your offenses, to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed and restored. The heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous believer can accomplish much when put into action and made effective by God – it is dynamic and can have tremendous power.

~ James 5:16  Amplified Bible

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Do You Care Enough?

When Adam and Eve ventured out in the Garden of Eden beyond the boundaries of God's plan, they automatically feared the worst when He came looking for them. It was then that feelings of uneasiness and dread surfaced. It's interesting how fear and guilt work in tandem against our feelings of security and peace of mind.

We, like Adam and Eve, try to hide and cover ourselves when we’ve betrayed God’s boundaries for us. What Adam and Eve learned is crucial for getting beyond failures and disappointment. God came looking for them to restore fellowship and communication so forgiveness and reconciliation could take place.

Communication can be difficult, but caring enough to communicate should mean sharing responsibility for causing pain and suffering. At this juncture it is possible for restoration to begin. God can change fear and hiding into joy and peaceful companionship when there’s the will to begin the process of making things right with God and others.

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So if you are about to place your gift on the altar and remember that someone is angry with you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. Make peace with that person, then come back and offer your gift to God.

~Matthew 5:23-24 Contemporary English Version

 

Do not be afraid – I am with you! I am your God – let nothing terrify you! I will make you strong and help you; I will protect you and save you.

~Isaiah 41:10 Good News Bible

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Make Time to Care

The ability to communicate varies from person to person. The desire and need to communicate depends on each individual’s personality and temperament. As a teenager I made a concerted effort to explain to my father how I wrecked the car he had just given me. Needless to say, I was under great pressure to successfully plead my case. 

At the heart of all effective communication is caring enough for the other person and the relationship to speak honestly and thoroughly as well as being committed to listen to each other’s response. Caring enough supplies the incentive to speak on issues that need to be addressed.

So another basic principle for effective communication is making time to stay in touch so relationships can remain healthy and thrive. God patiently allows us to confess our sins and express our struggles without resorting to intimidation or condemnation because he cares enough to give us the latitude to grow and change. This personifies his grace and mercy. 

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 Don’t overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the end because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change.

~2 Peter 3:9 The Message

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God's Conduit for Information and Insight

A basic principle for effective communication is realizing interactions with others serve as a potential for change. Communication becomes an agent for change as it serves as a conduit for the flow of information and insight. Complex problems can be solved through communication.

Gaining knowledge through communication can be deliberate or incidental, but either way it’s an agent for change. Bible study and worship can offer wisdom and comfort for living in our complex, complicated world. The quest for insight is a necessity through each phase of development.

Proverbs 2 gives us a formula for finding helpful insight. "If you cry out to the Lord for insight and cry aloud for understanding and if you look for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear and respect for the Lord and find the knowledge of God…For wisdom will enter into your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul." Here communication with the Lord God is the agent for managing life’s problems.

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 For the Lord grants wisdom! His every word is a treasure of knowledge and understanding. He grants good sense to the godly – his saints. He is their shield, protecting them and guarding their pathway. He shows how to distinguish right from wrong, how to find the right decision every time.

~Proverbs 2:6-9 The Living Bible

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Communication: An Agent for Change

One of the key purposes for counseling is to help individuals, couples, and families change the way they communicate. Communication has always been an effective agent for change. As individuals relate their experiences to a counselor and as they are met with understanding and acceptance, hope for change seems possible.

It's not unusual to grow up feeling ineffective, or unworthy. These negative perceptions are powerful because a negative self-judgment believes that others have the same negative assessment of yourself. This judgment is then responsible for limited motivation to communicate because failure seems inevitable.

 A personal objective is to eliminate this negative concept of self. As persons come to see themselves as valued children of God, they receive power and confidence to interrelate with others in a way that pleases the Lord God.  It is possible to change a negative self-image by God’s transforming power that he bestows on those willing to receive it. 

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 Become new in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, which is created to be like God, righteous and holy in the truth. So don’t lie anymore, but tell one another the truth, because we are members of one another.  

~Ephesians 4:23-25 Beck – New Testament in the Language of Today

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Communication That Transforms

Personal growth and change can be subtle, almost unnoticeable, taking place over an extended period of time, or it can be swift and dramatic. Some life experiences can be so shocking and earthshaking that life no longer proceeds down its seemingly predictable pathway. God often gives us a new roadmap to follow.

The Apostle Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus was a life-changing event. In that moment he lost his eyesight and his life’s mission, along with his identity. Waiting in darkness, vulnerable and defenseless, his world was turned upside-down. When God restored his vision, he was ready to learn a new way to think and believe.

Although the Apostle Paul would continue to grow and change as God intended, becoming temporarily blind would be a high-water mark for his life. Hatred changed to compassion, while loathing was transformed into a desire for fellowship. God's power and love will create in you a clean heart, transforming how and with whom you communicate.

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It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom.

~Galatians 5:13-14 The Message

 

And so encourage one another and help one another, just as you are now doing.

~1 Thessalonians 5:11 Good News Bible

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