Temporal Benefits of Prosperity
“Your kingdom come, your will be done.” Matthew 6:10
I have been doing a lot of funerals lately, which really keeps my focus on eternal things. One day while studying I came across a story I think is important for us to remember in this material focused world in which we live.
Goodyear. Rockefeller. Pulitzer. Vanderbilt. Morgan. Macy. Gould. Crane. Astor. These celebrated millionaires represented only the most highly visible names from the membership rolls of the powerful Jekyll Island Club. In 1886 some of the East Coast’s most prominent millionaires purchased a coastal island near Georgia for a hunting preserve and winter family retreat. By the early 1900s, members had informally linked together to form one of the most powerful, wealthy, and influential earthly kingdoms ever known.
Members of the exclusive, Jekyll Island Club controlled one-sixth of the world’s wealth, forging together an alliance that virtually controlled America’s corporations and government—the railroads, the banks, the industrial complex, the significant inventions. The concentration of power at the Jekyll Island Club represented the zenith to which men can orchestrate temporal kingdoms.
Today however, the Jekyll Island Club is history. Curious visitors wander among a half -dozen restored buildings scattered around the grounds. The overgrowth of weeds, the peeling paint, the shattered glass—all symbols of the futility of man-made kingdoms. The once posh winter “cottages” lay in ruin, illustrating the brief standing given to the temporal kingdoms of man. Though they once commanded one-sixth of the world’s wealth, these power brokers have two things in common with every other man of their era: All their plans have come and gone, and they are all dead.
“What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). All the benefits of prosperity are temporal. No matter how affluent and influential we become we will not find eternal profit from temporal kingdoms. Despite all our prosperity, we must still come daily to the foot of the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ to inherit an eternal kingdom. Tread lightly in your temporal kingdoms, all your plans will come to an end, and then you die. The only profit that matters is an eternal one. Invest today in the eternal not the temporal.
In His Service,
Eric Barnes
Climb on Board
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
I have played a lot of sports and worked with a lot of kids in sports over the years and one thing I have figured out…..there is a great difference between those who believe they can play and those who trust in their skills. Let me explain! Some people believe they are good and can play the game, they practice, and they play but when push comes to shove and the rubber meets the road (game time) they cower and hide their talent or run from the spotlight revealing what they really believe about themselves. Others believe they are good, they practice and become so confident in their skill set that they thrive and never back down from the spotlight. You see, the one who is willing to trust in their skill set is the one who really believes they can play.
The same is true with many people and Jesus. They have a belief that Jesus is the son of God, the Lord, and the Savior; however they don’t believe in Him as Lord and Savior! They never really get past the intellectual “belief that” level. Jesus is saying “whoever believes in Him”. When Jesus says this it means “to place confidence in…. to trust on”. It is not credence but a reliance upon. It is the same difference between a person who believes a plane can fly and the one who boards the plane proving his belief in the ability of a plane to fly.
God desires that we “climb on board” in faith. We all need to go beyond merely believing that Jesus is the Son of God who died, rose, and reigns as Lord. We must take the further step of faith and trust “in him” for forgiveness as Savior, as well as trusting “in him” as Lord who is capable to lead our life. Jesus says these are the ones who shall not perish but have everlasting life. It is game time show the world your confidence “in him”.
In His Service,
Eric Barnes
Living Creature
You and I will be a part of the “every creature.” Let us reconsider who God is—His power, His wealth, His wisdom, His glory, His honor, His praise. Let us take our cue from the living creatures, the elders, and the angels. Let us not approach the God who is holy, holy, holy with unthinking casualness. Let us come into His presence with praise and thanksgiving, but also in sober recognition that we are in the presence of the Holy. “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence.” (Hebrews 4:16), but with the bearing and respect we would show to the One whose identity we have learned: the God who is, who created all things, in whom we have our being. When you come to meet with God enter into the presence of the God with the respect and honor and praise He is due.
In His Service,
Eric Barnes
