Back to Ferdi's Desk

I would like to share this devotion given by Bill Herzog at the November 2008 Deacons' Meeting with a larger audience, so please read this:

While preparing for tonight's devotion, one of Ferdi's recurring comments about God not having a bank account stuck in my mind. Although this was aimed primarily at this month's Stewardship Drive, it struck me that God provides for us in many ways that can be contrasted and compared to bank accounts. These verses from Matthew seem to encompass God's gifts to us and all of our concerns in these trying times.

Matthew 6:26-34 
26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life]? 28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

I searched the internet for stories and commentaries that showed how God provides for us without the need for a bank account or in ways that can be compared to a bank account. This first story speaks directly to Ferdi's statement that God achieves His ends without need of a bank account and shows that He is not limited to using the people of His church to achieve these ends.

Little Old Lady and the Atheist
There was a little old lady who would come out every morning on the steps of her front porch, raise her arms to the sky and shout, "Praise the Lord!"
Well, one day an atheist moved into the house next door. Over time, he became irritated at the little old lady. So every morning he would step out onto his front porch and yell after her, "There is no God!"

Time passes with the two of them carrying on this way every day. Then one morning in the middle of winter, the little old lady stepped onto her front porch and shouted, "Praise the Lord! Lord, I have no food and I am hungry. Please provide for me, oh Lord!"

The next morning she stepped onto her porch and there were two huge bags of groceries sitting there. "Praise the Lord!" she cried out. "He has provided groceries for me!"

The atheist jumped out of the hedges and shouted, "There is no Lord. I bought those groceries!"

The little old lady threw her arms into the air and shouted, "Praise the Lord! He has provided me with groceries and He made the devil pay for them!"
Found at http://www.godandscience.org/humor/lady.html
God's gifts do not have limits and penalties associated with earthly accounts.

The second commentary directly compares the gift of God's grace to a bank account.
Excerpt from "God's Bank and Trust" By Lori Beth Crawford
http://www.thisisby.us/index.php/content/god__s_bank_and_trust

We're all familiar with how banks work on earth. You open an account and deposit money. Depending on the type of account and bank, you can earn interest on what you put in. The flip side is what goes in is what comes out. You have to be careful not to take out more than you have in the account.

God's Bank and Trust is similar. Except He doesn't charge you exorbitant fees if you mistakenly overdraft the account. In fact, you can't overdraft His accounts. He deposits Grace and Mercy into every account each morning. All you need to do to access the deposit is slide in your ATM card with the Repentance Logo and it flows freely from Heaven's ATM along with your receipt marked Forgiveness. And you never have to search for one of these ATMs. They're never farther away than your knees.

Our accounts on earth are covered only up to $100,000 by the FDIC. Our Heavenly account is covered for an unlimited value by the BoJC (Blood of Jesus Christ). This coverage insures not only against theft, but also decay, destruction and diminishing value. Our deposit will last forever.

Devotion Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we come to you tonight knowing your awesome power and infinite wisdom. We thank You for this day and for everything that You have given us, especially on this election day that provides an opportunity to demonstrate the freedom given us in this country. Forgive us our faults, wastefulness and thoughtless actions that fail to reflect our faith in You. We pray tonight that You will guide us and show us the way to make the most of this time in Your service. Help us accept Your answers to all our prayers (Yes, No, Later) as You always know what is best for us and for Your Kingdom. We ask everything in the name of Your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Today is the most important day

I know that I am part of an eternity that was already started for me here on earth; I have the responsibility to challenge every day. God made this day for you and delivered it especially to this world. There will never be a similar day like today, so don't rush through this day. Use it as a unique moment in time and use it wisely.

Remember that God created the world slowly, actually day by day. Therefore we need to be sensitive to this rhythm of God. Wake up in the morning and look around you at the rising sun, listen to the fluttering of birds' wings as if it is a whisper of an angel, look at the painted cloth of the morning sky. Do this silently and you'll be reminded that God wants you to be part of his creation in a very special way. Leave the man made noises or the daily newspaper for a later time. Firstly, experience the calmness of the world around you and remember that it's God's world.

Everyone rushes through the day and everything is wrapped in throw away paper: Fast food, instant diets, and instant worship. God made one day at a time and rejoiced over every day he made. He calmly made a second day and beautified it with his love and care to remind us of His recommended speed that we should proceed through the day with.

God created everything at this speed, he worked at this speed and he walked at this speed. So, don't exceed His speed limit because you will surely be exhausted. We are not created to move faster than this. It's too dangerous to ignore God's speed limit and miss out on His grace, love and care.

Today is created with 24 hours for our use to walk and sing with God.

Eternity Already Started

We always want to know how and when the earth or humans were created. Perhaps we think that by knowing these answers we will have a better understanding of our purpose on earth. At least if we know more about the place where we live it may be easier for us to control our surroundings, even our own lives or destiny.

But John tells us about the eternal component of our existence in the gospel of John when he said that God stepped away from his eternal existence into a limited human realm when He created the earth and human beings. The Word or Jesus was always there and will always be there. God just got a face and hands when Jesus came to this world. Therefore John does not refer to eternity like Paul did as a future event but as something that is here and now. We are not underway to eternity but experience it already. He is using eternal language!

Jesus arrived just in time to give us abundant grace to survive and face the darkness of this world. Light started to shine in the darkness; death was exchanged for life, hunger for abundance, and thirst for living water.

Eternal life is not limited to a specific time span which will happen one day when we die or a specific place which we call heaven. Eternal life became a person with the amazing name Jesus Christ, a real person. Jesus is the true life: John 14:6 says "I am the way, and the truth, and the life."

Eternity happened when Jesus became human. The entire drama of eternal condemnation or freedom happened on this earth. There for we rejoice in the joy of our salvation today and every day.

Reversing the Curse

You know you have messed up – Big time. When what you have said or done has caused much pain to someone close to you. You can see it in his/her eyes and hear it in the words. But sadly it is done – you can not turn back the clock. It is a given - you have broken trust and did what you were asked not to do. Tension eats at you from the inside as you try to figure out what you need to do to limit the damage that you have caused to this relationship. Many words are spoken, promises made, tears shed but deep inside you know that only time and your actions may bring healing.

God asked us not to turn away from Him and disobey Him. He warned us that this will bring so much pain and distress in our lives. But sin happened and we now live in a world that carries the heavy burden of the curse that followed sin. Broken relationships with God, ourselves, others and this world we occupy are vivid reminders of the destruction that entered our lives as we removed God.  

So how can we fix this? How can we reverse the damage done? The Book of Proverbs teaches us it all starts with a new commitment to God and then to seek His will in all we do. God wants the relationships that we are created for to be successful and good. God is providing us the ultimate tool to limit the damage that sin can cause - the Wisdom or direction from God Himself on how to live your life in relationship to Him, others and yourself.

Sadly, the knowledge of what we need to do to limit the damage sin causes means nothing if it is not applied to your actions and words.

 Living God’s wisdom will reverse the curse and a taste of paradise will enter your world.

God’s will – seek it - live it.

It is the time for the Lord's Favor

If you read the headlines or watch the news today you might think the end of the world is just around the corner.

War, terrorism, genocide, food riots, crisis in the housing market, epidemic diseases, spiraling gas prices, global warming, and a host of other unsettling events, are now daily media fare.

Yet in the midst of a world that seems increasingly dark and difficult, the Bible tells us that, from God's perspective, we are living in an extremely favorable time. Many times, the worst of times are the best time for the children of God to bring the Good news of Jesus Christ to those around them.

In times like these where so many are struggling with so much uncertainty, almost everyone wants to talk about these things and this opens up such an excellent opportunity for us as followers of Jesus Christ to share our faith in His provision, protection and will for this world.

The Bible teaches us that life will not be easy. The Bible tells us clearly that as time passes things will get more difficult for all people in the world. But the Bible also teaches that this is part of God's plan to open the hearts of the people to hear the gospel.

As bad news swirls all around us, the Good News of His forgiveness and reconciliation must be extended to all those that we have contact with.
In a time of darkness, light is so much more appreciated and sought after.

We have the light of hope and peace to share. Do not hide it now under a basket - no, put yourself on a "lamp stand" and share - His love, peace and grace. (Matthew 5:14 -16) The Apostle Paul's words to the Corinthians still ring true.

"As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. For He says, 'In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.' I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:1-2).