Oreo Cookie shakes take 2

Okay, so yesterday's post was not very clear. Let me try to muddy the waters some more.
What I was trying to say was that when I spend money on non-God honoring things, for me, an Oreo cookie milkshake since I fight the Battle of the Bulge, I am not honoring God with my wealth.

It seems logical that if we are not tithing plus some, we are not honoring God with our wealth, but beyond that, exercising stewardship of our wealth and our lives is another place where God can be honored or dishonored.

So, our spending habits need to honor God- be it in housing choice, automobiles, clothing styles,recreational choices, and Oreo Cookie Shakes--or what ever your addictive food is.

I have always said, "Show me a person's calendar and check book, and I can tell you what and who they love."

Two verses speak to this. 1 Tim 6:17-18 commands us to be generous. So when I am not generous I am not honoring God with my wealth.

17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.NIV

In that same vein, James says if we are only getting to spend on our pleasures God isn't going to answer our prayers.

James 4:33 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. NIV

Don't know if this is any clearer, but I'm still not going to have an Oreo Cookie shake

Proverbs 3

Two thoughts this morning about Proverbs 3.

First, Honor the Lord with all your wealth. We often take this to mean we should tithe. That is a good start. The tithe is a symbol of God's ownership of the remaining 90%, but, and this is a big thing, the real test is what we do with the remaining 90%. I don't always think about honoring God with my spending habits. For example, on the way home from the airport late at night, I often buy an Oreo Cookie Milkshake. As I think about it, it just makes me fat and for me at least, adding the extra calories is not God-honoring. It's just a small expenditure, but its not really God honoring. It's choosing the second best route and there are ramifications. Enough milkshakes and I won't be able to fulfill God's plan for my life.

The second verse in Prov. 3 is verse 11. s My son, do not despise the Lord's disciplineor be weary of his reproof,12 for the Lord reproves him whom he loves,as t a father the son in whom he delights. (ESV)

It would be easy if discipline from the Lord came with a little note that said, "I did this, its for your own good" Signed God. But almost always discipline from the Lord comes through other people or circumstances that we can misinterpret or chalk up to another source.

I have been particularly chafing over a discipline in my life and only in the past month have I come to realize that I need to see my pain in the context of what God is doing in my life. God doesn't like to see me in pain, but knows that if I don't respond to discipline I'll be a spoiled brat in life.

If I'm ever going to get past being a bruised reed and smoldering wick, I must accept God's reproofs and allow him to work his perfect will in my life. Charles Stanley says, "God takes responsibility for a life fully devoted to him" I don't have to worry about the "others" who may be administering God's lessons in my life, God will take care of them. I just have to be willing to learn and grow with God.