30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 16 19-31 Released from self cetredness 10 I will lift up my hands in your name
📖 Luke 16:19-31
13May2020 - *I will lift up my hands in your name* - _Luke 16:19-31_ - Bible reading: _Psalm 63:4-5_
_Luke 16:22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried._
The rich man's reality now begins for him. Till this point in his life, he was in a stupor. He was full of himself, his clothing, his comforts, his food and his wellbeing. His riches had lulled him into thinking that all things would continue as it was and it was all about him at the centre of his life but now the time of reckoning had dawned on him.
Isn’t it the same with us? As we go through this pandemic, we are thankful to God for His provision, for His care, for His protection and for His goodness. Yes, we are also praying for those who are suffering and those who need protection, which is important to pray and thank God for.
Nevertheless, we are in the centre of our lives. God is taking care of me/us and this is where we are in, in our relationship with God. Let us be sure that our ultimate reality is God. This crisis, this world and all that pertains to life here is temporary. God is. He is the one with whom we have to reckon with, ultimately.
_Psalm 49:11-14 Their inner thought is that their houses will last forever, Their dwelling places to all generations; They call their lands after their own names. (12) Nevertheless man, though in honour, does not remain; He is like the beasts that perish. (13) This is the way of those who are foolish, And of their posterity who approve their sayings. Selah (14) Like sheep they are laid in the grave; Death shall feed on them; The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; And their beauty shall be consumed in the grave, far from their dwelling._
This world has the capacity to lull us to think that God must bless and meet all our needs. Lazarus’s needs were never met on earth. He suffered till the very end but Lazarus was now enjoying God, the ultimate reality. So, let’s get our perspective right and always be worshipping Him, whether things go well with us or it doesn’t, for God is the reality.
_James 1:11 For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits. Psalm 73:17-19 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end. (18) Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. (19) Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors._
_Mark 8:36-37 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? (37) Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?_ What use is it if everything works out well for us here on earth but we missed out on our reality with God? The soul is that part of us that we received from God when God breathed His breath into the nostrils of man. Our soul is what we need to keep nourished all the time for that is where we have the opportunity to be in tune with God, our reality.
How do we keep our soul nourished? _Psalm 63:4-5 Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. (5) My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips._ *It is in lifting up our hands in His name*. It is in worshipping and praising God and always keeping God at the centre of our lives and not ourselves.
In this very short time that we have here on earth, let us be lost in Him and in His purpose, which is sharing the gospel to those, who are yet in darkness and death and need to come to the light and to life. _Mark 8:35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it._
*Thought to ponder*
```Is your life centred on yourself or is God at the centre?```