Now that tax season has ended here in these United States, many of you are either receiving refunds or realizing you have to pay more taxes. Now is the time to start praying for more financial wisdom in your life. What do you do with this unexpected bonus? How do you prioritize your bills to cover this unexpected expense? Prayer is a vital part of figuring out how God wants you to prioritize the things in your life. Your life needs to be properly ordered so that you can follow His will more closely.

It has been said that “31 Prayers for Financial Wisdom” is just a book of prayers; this is true. It does not have financial advice, nor am I qualified – either by education or by experience – to give such advice. All I’m offering is what Scripture says on the matter and a few prayers based on Scripture to help you enact God’s will in your life.

If you want Christian financial advice, I suggest paying attention to Dave Ramsey. He is qualified to offer financial advice, and he offers it from a Christian perspective.

Now go pick up your FREE copy of “31 Prayers for Financial Wisdom” for your Kindle device today!

Here are a few hints: Get-rich-quick schemes don’t work. Prayers for prosperity do not always result in monetary gain. Televangelists will not give you the secret to financial security if you only give them your credit card number. God does not give us riches for our own sake, but for the sake of His kingdom. Remember, “You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures” (James 4:2-3, NASB). If you ask the LORD to bless you financially, always remember that He will not do so if you intend to buy things to please yourself; however, if you intend to spend your money wisely, as He intended, to further His kingdom and spread His Word, then you will be blessed.

If you are poor in spite of your prayer, then examine your heart. Ask yourself, “Why do I wish to be wealthy?” Is it so that you can obtain your every desire? We must always be wary of the power of money and of technology; as renowned author J. R. R. Tolkien wrote, the point of this power is often “speed, reduction of labour, and reduction also to a minimum (or vanishing point) of the gap between idea or desire and the result or effect.”¹ This does not mean that money and technology are evil, but that they may be used for evil or for good; if your desires are good, then they can quicken the fashioning of good, but if your desires are evil, selfish, prurient, or villainous, then money and technology will quicken the fashioning of evil.

When it comes to prayers for finances, right motives are key to receiving the blessings God has designed for us.

May God bless us that we may bless others in His holy Name.

With that in mind, “31 Prayers for Financial Wisdom” is now available completely free for all Kindle devices and apps, starting yesterday (January 1) and running through Saturday (January 5). Remember, if you have a device that can view this web page, then you have a device that can run a Kindle app; just click the appropriate link on this page.

Thanks to everyone who has participated in give-aways in the past, and to those who have already participated in this one. I urge you to +1, tweet, retweet, share, like, or otherwise tell your friends, colleagues, associates, and acquaintances about this give-away. We as Christians need to live our faith, and our financial habits are one of the most noticeable ways in which we prove what we really believe. Pray through Scripture for financial wisdom, and further God’s kingdom in your own life and the lives of everyone around you.

¹ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. Ed. Humphrey Carpenter (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1981), 200.

To celebrate this holiday, and to prepare for Christmas giving, we are having sales on both printed and Kindle versions of ALL FIVE “31 Prayers” books. As I’ve mentioned, the print sale is only through the CreateSpace eStore, which can be reached through our purchase pages above. When you are ready to check out, enter the discount code 2SN3DBNR. This will lower the price of every “31 Prayers” book in your cart to the minimum allowed by the store. Remember, you will still need to part shipping, but even so, your purchase will be cheaper than Amazon’s best offer.

If you’re more interested in the Kindle versions, for which you can get a free reading app for any device, then you can use the purchase pages above to find links to each book on Amazon.com. All five will be completely free for Kindle!

Happy holidays and enjoy!

It is currently available for the Kindle or in our eStore through CreateSpace, but it has not yet been posted in print on Amazon.com. I’ll edit this post when it is.

Edit: It is now available in print at Amazon.com!

It will also be part of a sale the weekend after Thanksgiving; if you enter a code on CreateSpace, you will be able to get a paperback book at cost plus shipping. Unfortunately, I have no control over Amazon.com’s prices, or I would offer a sale over there, too. But as it stands, the book would be priced at $3.59, with shipping & handling at $3.59 for 1 copy, for a total of $7.18 (a total savings of $1.81 from purchasing it new on Amazon.com). If you order more than one book – say, all five “31 Prayers” books – then you’d pay 5 x $3.59 in price ($17.95) plus $5.95 in shipping, for a total of $23.90 (a total savings of $21.05 from Amazon.com). The savings improve even more if you purchase 10 or more copies, and there’s another jump at 50+.

Just to clarify, if you were to purchase 10 copies – say, 2 of each book for a couple of your friends – you would spend only $43.90, saving a total of $46. If you were to purchase 50 copies – say, 10 of each book for your Sunday school class – you would spend $202.50, saving a total of $247.

If you want to calculate your shipping costs for your own order total, here’s a handy table:

 
That should help, if you’re interested in those details. Regardless of quantity, though, I’m afraid I can’t make the price any lower than $3.59 ea. But this is still probably the best deal you’re going to find on these books this holiday season – and giving physical books as gifts is much easier than giving Kindle books as gifts (although there may or may not be a Kindle promotion for all 5 prayer-books on the Kindle, too — keep an eye out!).

All that said, “Forgiveness” is available now! So if you’d like a copy, go ahead and pick it up! Remember that Amazon provides completely free software to read Kindle books on almost any device. And if you’re buying it for yourself, $2.99 is a tough price to beat!

ἡ γὰρ ἀγάπη τοῦ Χριστοῦ συνέχει ἡμᾶς, κρίναντας τοῦτο, ὅτι εἷς ὑπὲρ πάντων ἀπέθανεν, ἄρα οἱ πάντες ἀπέθανον· καὶ ὑπὲρ πάντων ἀπέθανεν, ἵνα οἱ ζῶντες μηκέτι ἑαυτοῖς ζῶσιν ἀλλὰ τῷ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἀποθανόντι καὶ ἐγερθέντι.

Ὥστε ἡμεῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν οὐδένα οἴδαμεν κατὰ σάρκα· εἰ καὶ ἐγνώκαμεν κατὰ σάρκα Χριστόν, ἀλλὰ νῦν οὐκέτι γινώσκομεν. ὥστε εἴ τισ ἐν Χριστῷ, καινὴ κτίσις· τὰ ἀρχαῖα παρῆλθεν, ἰδοὺ γέγονεν καινά τὰ δὲ πάντα ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ καταλλάξαντος ἡμᾶς ἑαυτῷ διὰ Χριστοῦ καὶ δόντος ἡμῖν τὴν διακονίαν τῆς καταλλαγῆς, ὡς ὅτι θεὸς ἦν ἐν Χριστῷ κόσμον καταλλάσσων ἑαυτῷ, μὴ λογιζόμενοσ αὐτοῖς τὰ παραπτώματα αὐτῶν καὶ θέμενος ἐν ἡμῖν τὸν λόγον τῆς καταλλαγῆς. ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ οὖν πρεσβεύομεν ὡς τοῦ θεοῦ παρακαλοῦντος δι’ ἡμῶν· δεόμεθα ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ, καταλλάγητε τῷ θεῷ. τὸν μὴ γνόντα ἁμαρτίαν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἁμαρτίαν ἐποίησεν, ἵνα ἡμεῖς γενώμεθα δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ.

This is the original Greek of Paul’s Second (technically fourth) Letter to the Corinthians, chapter 5, verses 14 through 21. I wanted to go through this passage because I’ve been thinking about atonement and forgiveness lately.

(Aside: Those of you in the know will notice that Paul is using Koine Greek, not Attic Greek. If you want to know the easiest sign, here’s a hint: consider how καταλλάσσων would differ in Attic.)

First, let us take a completely literal translation of this passage. Please, bear with me; this will not sound the least like good English, but I will go through it and make it readable in just a moment. Brackets mark added words and notes, and italics mark emphasis. Note that in words with variable meaning, I allow for all possible meanings at this stage; interpretation comes after gaining a conceptual awareness of the text.

For the love of Christ holds together us, [us] having judged/distinguished [once on a particular occasion] this [thing], that one died [once on a particular occasion] over all, then all died [once on a particular occasion]; and [he] died [once on a particular occasion] over all, in order that the living no longer for themselves live but for the [one] over them having died [once on a particular occasion] and having been raised [on a particular occasion].

Therefore we know from the [time] now no one according to flesh; and if we have known [with result in the present] according to flesh Christ, but now we know [him according to flesh] no longer. Therefore if anyone [is] in Christ, [he is] a new creation; the old [things] passed away [once on a particular occasion], behold! they have become [with result in the present] new [things]; and the [things] all out of God, the [God] having reconciled [once on a particular occasion] us to himself through Christ and having given [once on a particular occasion] to us the ministry/deaconry of reconciliation, that God was [over a period of time] in Christ reconciling [at the time of the main verb, i.e., over a period of time] cosmos/world/creation to himself, not reckoning/calculating to them the missteps/transgressions of them and having placed [once on a particular occasion] in us the word of reconciliation. Over Christ therefore we take precedence/are ambassadors, as God calling for aid/summoning [friends]/invoking [gods] through us; we ask [from you] over Christ, be reconciled [once on a particular occasion] to God. The [one] not having known [once on a particular occasion] sin over us [he] made sin, in order that we may know justice/righteousness of God in him.

Now, that probably looks ridiculous. But I asked you to bear with me, and you have; let’s clean this up a little bit, interpret a few definitions, and clarify a few things.

For the love of Christ holds us together, having judged aright this thing, that one man died on behalf of all, so then all died; and He died on behalf of all, in order that the living no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died and who was raised on their behalf.

Therefore from now on we know no one according to the flesh; and though we have known Christ according to the flesh, we know Him this way no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away, and behold! they have become new. And these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ, reconciling creation to Himself, not counting their transgressions against them, and He placed in us the word of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors on Christ’s behalf, and God summons allies through us; we ask of you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. God made Him who did not know sin to be sin on our behalf, in order that we may know the righteousness of God in Him.

There. That’s better. A little clearer, certainly.

But what can we learn from this passage? What does this reading make exceedingly clear?

Well, first of all, it reminds us that Christ’s sacrifice was a one-time event. Every time I noted “once on a particular occasion” in the literal translation, that sense was present in the verb tense itself. That means that everything with that notation occurred only once, not repeatedly, but just once. He died once, so we died once; he was raised once; the old passed away once; God reconciled once; He gave once; He placed once; and Christ never once knew sin. This is a clear reminder that Christ died once for all, and we cannot crucify Him again on our own behalf (Hebrews 6:1-8).

(Aside: Some people claim that the Eucharistic branches of Christianity, that is, those claiming to have the real presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper, are attempting this recrucifixion of Christ. Most notably, the Catholic and Orthodox churches are accused of this. To clarify their position as I may: they do not claim to make the sacrifice anew, but to participate in the singular, once-for-all, transcendent sacrifice at Golgotha. It’s not about making a new sacrifice to get rid of new sins, but about two goals: (1) reminding the people of Christ’s sacrifice nearly 2000 years ago; and (2) granting grace through the real presence of God. But I digress.)

What else do we learn? We learn that our price for sin has been paid. You may recall that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), but here Paul tells us that we have already died – with Christ, when He died for us all. So our wages have been paid already, and we are made new. The old passes away, and becomes new. Our death has died, our savior has risen again, and we are free from the chains of sin (Romans 6).

Another thing we learn from this passage is that we are ambassadors of Christ. We bring the message of this reconciliation to others, just as Paul here brings it to the Corinthians. We ask others on Christ’s behalf, we beg them, we plead with them, to be reconciled to God. We are like Jonah to the Ninevites, Jacob to the Egyptians, Moses to the Israelites, Elijah and Elisha to the kings of Israel, Daniel to the Babylonians, and all the prophets. We bring this good news: Christ has died for all, that all might live for Him, made new by His sacrifice and reconciled to God. Paul imagines us as agents of God, ambassadors to foreign lands; we are diplomatic, amiable, and humble. The time will come when we will be warriors for God, but for now, do not try to conquer those who oppose Him, but offer them these truths. Be ambassadors, and ask from others on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God!

If you will notice, I have indicated that Paul’s command (“be reconciled to God!”) is in the aorist tense, that is, it has this “once on a particular occasion” sense to it. Be wary of using this passage to support a theology of “once saved, always saved.” I am not debating whether or not that particular theology is accurate, but I want to point out that this passage does not necessarily support it. First of all, remember to whom Paul is writing – he said it in chapter 1, verse 1: “To the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are throughout Achaia.” Why would Paul tell the church at Corinth to be reconciled to God if they can only do this once?

Notice also that the aorist tense (“once on a particular occasion”) has a very peculiar meaning in commands like this one. It does not mean that what is being commanded can only happen once, nor that it can never happen again. What it literally means is that what is being commanded happens at once, in a singular event, not over a period of time or through repetition. Compare this to its past sense: Such-and-such a thing happened once, not over a period, and not multiple times. There is nothing inherent in the text that indicates that none of these things can happen again – only that, when they took place, they were singular events at particular times. For example, using this tense, I could very easily say, “I stood up, sat down, and stood up again,” all in the aorist tense. The actions are repeated, but they take place at singular moments in time, not over a period, and not as a habit.

So there is nothing about the verb itself which suggests that the Corinthians should reconcile themselves to God once and be done with it. If you believe that once a person is saved, they are always saved, that’s your prerogative, and I’m not telling you that you’re wrong. I only seek to provide clear information on this passage.

If you see anything here that I haven’t discussed, feel free to comment or send me an email. I hope you enjoyed this language lesson on 2 Corinthians 5:14-21!

With my author Twitter account, I follow actor Adam Baldwin, and he was having a conversation with a fellow, Paul Doreika, about atheism and its political agenda. Mr. Baldwin indicated that he thought that some atheists are both evangelical (zealously intending to spread their belief – or lack thereof, as the case may be) and hateful, and Mr. Doreika tweeted a response, which I found to capture perfectly the very position of religious folk everywhere.

That response was, “Why do so MANY people think atheists are hateful? We just want to help people to shake free of the cage that is religion.”

In fairness, it’s not accurate to call atheists hateful (at least in general). Most atheists I’ve spoken to prefer to be left alone. But there are a few, yes, who have an “evangelical” perspective, trying to spread the “good news” of nothingness to those who have religious faith and fervor. Yet even these are not necessarily “hateful,” but think that their efforts are in good faith, trying to “rescue” the religious from their outdated and restrictive frivolities.

Yet these few, these “evangelical atheists,” as Mr. Baldwin puts it, are in a prime position to sympathize perfectly with the evangelical Christian mindset (and by “evangelical” here, I do not necessarily mean that branch of Christian Protestantism that refers to themselves thus, but I mean any Christian who seeks to spread Christian faith among those who do not believe). After all, more than any other religious or philosophical group, I have heard Christians called “hateful.” We are “hateful” because we disagree with or disapprove of certain actions–actions which we call “sin.”

Once again, I must be fair. There are hateful Christians out there. I won’t point any fingers or name any names, but I have heard plenty of “sermons” that were little more than soapbox diatribes against a certain group of people, decrying them for their actions and declaring them damned. Do not misread me: sin is sin, and there is nothing about sin which is worthwhile, beneficial, or good. But we do not have the power nor the authority to condemn others to Hell, and we are in no position to claim otherwise (Matthew 7:1-5; John 8:2-11; Romans 2:1-11; 14:10; Hebrews 10:30; James 4:11-12). At most, we can recognize sin in a fellow Christian and compel that Christian to separate from the church until s/he repents (Matthew 18:15-18; 1 Corinthians 5:9-13). And God has given us the ability to recognize sin in others (Luke 6:43-45), so that we may warn them.

And that warning is what gets us into trouble.

Some people, like the aforementioned hateful Christians, take that warning too far; they believe, for whatever reason, that frightening the sinner with threats of Hell and damnation and fire and brimstone will send them scurrying back to the Father. But this is folly. Scripture itself shows us the failure of this path. The Mosaic Covenant, the pact between God and the people of Israel through Moses, indicated that the people could be saved from destruction if only they obeyed God’s commandments. Yet time and again, throughout the whole history of the Israelites, mankind failed that test. Fear is an insufficient motivator. Instead, God used the system established by this covenant to create a new Covenant, through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ; this new Covenant is a covenant of love. Love is the best motivator of righteousness.

But I digress. I have leaped to the solution before fully addressing the problem.

Because a Christian opposes certain actions, and prefers not to be made party to those actions (through legislation or social pressure), he is declared hateful. His only goal is live a holy life by God’s will and help, and in so doing, to lead others to Christ, but even in calm discourse, he is declared hateful, a bigot, destructive, unkind, cruel, vindictive, and worse. We should not be frustrated or defeated by this, but we should rejoice in it and pray for God’s will to be done through it (Luke 21:12-19; John 15:18-25). All the same, it is not easy to live under such accusations and assumptions of hatred.

But we are not alone! Our own fellows, our philosophical opposition, is treated similarly. Christians are not perfect, after all, and when we are told that we are ridiculous, outdated, foolish, and useless, we may occasionally lash out. And followers of other religions are not exempt from this reaction, either. As a result, “evangelical atheists” feel as though they are being accused of hatred, when in fact, most of them are not hateful. Like many Christians, they suffer from the assumption of hatred.

Necessary Digression: It should be noted, with extreme care, that the presence of persecution for your beliefs does not vindicate you, nor does it indicate your beliefs to be true. Heretics throughout history have been persecuted (and prosecuted) for their beliefs, but that does not make them correct. (Such a presumption would lead to a confusing state in which all heretics, even those who vehemently disagreed with each other, as well as Christians, are all correct. This starts a dangerous path to intellectual relativism, which cannot stand.) The test of truth rests in the hand of God, the Living Judge of all (or, should the atheists prove correct, that test would lie in the nothingness that follows death, in which we would all languor unconsciously).

That “persecution,” however, does give us insight into the minds of our fellows. They believe, as we do, that others suffer an imprisonment at the hands of their own selves (John 8:34); they believe there is only one path to freedom from that slavery, that imprisonment (John 8:31-36; Acts 13:38-39; Romans 8:1-8; Galatians 4:4-7). Yet there are two differences between Christians and evangelical atheists: First, while they may feel an urge to rescue their fellow man, enlightened as they believe they have been in escaping from Plato’s cave, we have an obligation to live our lives in accordance with God’s will (Galatians 5; 1 Peter 2:16) in hope “that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption” (Romans 6:1-8:25). Second, “evangelical atheists” are among those false prophets, who would lead the brethren astray (2 Peter 2:18-19). They promise freedom, but their path leads only to slavery.

This is a hard thing to discuss, with anyone, let alone those who fervently believe in complete opposition to you. Often, a Christian and an atheist will speak past each other, each declaring things they believe to be true, never to be heard by their counterpart. In many ways, Christians and atheists lack common ground on which to converse in this manner: for example, atheists declare Christian belief unfounded and without evidence, because they do not accept the evidence which a Christian posits; meanwhile, Christians point out personal perceptions and life-changing experiences that inspire justified and evidenced faith, because they do not comprehend the atheist’s use of the common maxim, “The plural of ‘anecdote’ is not ‘data.’”

In an effort to be understood, we have an obligation to do two things. First, as always, we must pray. Pray for the softening of others’ hearts. Pray that the Word of God be spoken through you, so that others may hear. And pray for their souls, that they might be saved. Second, we must live the differences between the Spirit and the flesh. Recall Galatians 5 and “walk in the Spirit.” Recall Romans 8:26-39, and trust that the Lord will bring you help, since we cannot do it alone. More powerful than any argument, any discussion, any conversation, are these two things: prayer and righteousness. The Lord works in mysterious ways, and all in His own good time; and as the saying goes, actions speak louder than words. So if you find yourself in a debate, do not descend into vehemence, verbal abuse, and explosions of anger, but pray and live.

Stop assumptions of hatred. Just because a person disagrees with you does not mean that they hate you; in the case that they do hate you, recall Matthew 5:43-48, and love them back. And when someone assumes that you hate them, do not try to prove them wrong, for they will not be convinced by the arguments of someone who “hates” them. At best, you will get them to demand that you leave them alone. Instead, pray for them – and live in accordance with the will of God.

Consider the heart in Scripture and its relation to sin and righteousness.

Genesis 8:21 - “The intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” Sin springs from the fallen nature of man, not from his circumstances or his environment. The claim that a person is compelled to sin because of his circumstances is simply false. Note, thereby, that his salvation cannot come from circumstances, either; as sin comes from within, from the heart, so also must repentance, reconciliation, and righteousness be first in the heart, and only afterward proceed into action and life.

Psalm 14:1 - The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; there is no one who does good. The ungodly man has no fear of God before his eyes, and he denies the existence or presence or relevance of God. Just as sin rises from the heart, so also does foolishness, beginning with the rejection of the testimony of Christ (compare with John 5:30 and following).

Psalm 19:14 - Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer. Note the connection between the heart and the tongue. This comes up again in other passages, but realize that righteousness begins here, in the heart, and proceeding through the tongue (compare with James chapter 3).

Psalm 51 - Note especially verse 10 (Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me) and verse 17 (The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise). A clean heart, a contrite heart. A contrite heart repents and seeks forgiveness. Forgiveness opens the door to righteousness, but the process is here incomplete. Seek a clean heart, a pure heart, not in forgiveness only, but in all things, that you might become righteous.

Psalm 119:9-10 - How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word. With all my heart I have sought You; do not let me wander from Your commandments. Here again we see that what is in the heart is carried out through action. Seek the LORD with your whole heart, that He may lead you by the pure way, according to His word, and prevent you from wandering or deviating.

Proverbs 12:20 - Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but counselors of peace have joy. Note that deceit is tied to sin. One leads to the other, just as lies themselves are sins and sin itself is self-deceit (compare especially to John 8:42-47). Keep in mind that counselors of peace, the opposite of those with evil plans and deceitful hearts, have joy in life.

Ecclesiastes 7:7 - For oppression makes a wise man mad, and a bribe corrupts the heart. This verse seems to stand out from the rest of Ecclesiastes chapter 7; on the surface, especially in English, it does not seem to fit into the narrative that Solomon has established with these poetic verses. But let us examine these words more closely, beginning with the second part of the verse. A bribe corrupts the heart, it says. The word here for a bribe is the same as for a sacrificial offering, but here it is in a negative connotation. Basically, this is a “tit for tat” exchange, receiving one thing as payment for another. The bribe refers to a benefit for yourself in return for a small favor; it might seem harmless at the time, but it leads to ruin. The word for oppression can also mean fraud, deceitful gain, or extortion.

Looking back at the beginning of this chapter, we see that a focus on mortality, an awareness of inevitability, and a preference for solemnity provide a sound basis for life. You should live with the knowledge that tomorrow will come, that you will die, and that you will be judged. Living in the moment is contrasted here – you accept an emotional or spiritual bribe from the offerings of the devil, accepting temporary happiness or perceived peace. In this way, you take from the LORD what you do not own, but could receive simply for the asking through prayer (joy and true peace). This kind of living may lead to laughter, but this laughter is short-lived (Ecclesiastes 7:6) and will corrupt your heart (which we know leads you into sin). It also makes the wise man mad; literally, the word here for “make mad” means to shine. Because of this meaning, it later came to mean making a show, especially of oneself, or boasting. Boasting is the hallmark of a fool, and so this word came to mean making oneself a fool, or making oneself mad. So this laughter leads to folly and selfishness; recall again Psalm 14:1, the story of the foolish son in Luke 15, and that the foolishness of man is the wisdom of God, and vice versa (I Corinthians chapters 1, 2, and 3).

On the other hand, self-awareness and an acknowledgement of your fate and judgment will allow you to have a joyous heart (Ecclesiastes 7:3) through renewed dedication to God instead of to the world (recall, too, that all is vanity under the sun – Ecclesiastes 1:14).

Ezekiel 18:30-32 - “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his conduct,” declares the Lord GOD. “Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you. Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord GOD. “Therefore, repent and live.” The heart as the source of either sin or righteousness is here confirmed again. Cast away your transgressions (step one) and make a new heart and spirit for yourself (step two). In this way, do not die, nor live in death, but live in Christ. Repent (step one) and live (step two). Compare to Ephesians chapter 2.

Matthew 5:8 - “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” The pure in heart shall see God, shall enter into His presence and look upon His glorious face, Which neither Moses nor any man could behold and live (compare with Exodus 33:20-23). Note that no man is thus capable (compare with Genesis 8 again), but the pure in heart, who have been changed within, in their very nature, will do so by the word of Christ Himself.

Matthew 5:21-30 - Note especially verses 28 and 29 (“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart”). To commit a sin in the heart is to be guilty of it, even if no other action is taken. The heart is the source, the cause, and the ultimate place of sin, and in that place, war must be waged against sin, not in actions only. Compare with I Samuel 16 and Hebrews 4:12.

Matthew 15:8-11 - “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’” After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand. It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” Outward action may be deceitful. The heart is the source of sin or righteousness, and the tongue is its agent. Compare to Matthew 12:33-37.

Acts 2:37 - Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Here we see that Peter’s sermon pierced the crowd to their heart; by the power of God, Peter’s words were able to change their hearts, thus changing their natures and bringing them closer to God. Again, change must begin within.

Acts 15:8-9 - And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. Through faith and trust in the LORD are hearts and lives changed and cleansed. This makes all the difference, not some outward imposition of the law (in this case, circumcision of the flesh); compare this to the following verses, Acts 15:10-11, which indicate that the outward, circumstantial imposition has never succeeded in salvation, but only the grace of God is so powerful. Remember, though, that it is nevertheless necessary that what begins in the heart be carried through to completion in righteous behavior (that is, a person must be changed throughout, and cannot claim to have a pure heart but live willingly in sin); compare with Philippians 1:6.

II Corinthians 3:1-3 - Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you? You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Changed hearts, which are manifest to all (because of the overflowing righteousness entering into their words and actions), are letters of commendation to evangelists, proof to the agents of God that He is in your midst.

James 1:26-27 - If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. If you have a loose tongue, you deceive your own heart, and you are not religious. But an honest and religious heart does righteous and merciful deeds. Recall again Psalm 19, James 3, and Matthew 12.

So we see what the psalmist means here: The ungodly is revealed, in his heart and in his actions, by his transgressions; he has no fear of God, which is folly and destructive, but he lives for himself and is careless in speech and in deed. Pray earnestly for forgiveness, but pray also for righteousness, that you will be changed within, in order that you may be changed without.

Receiving a windfall doesn’t mean you get to buy whatever strikes your fancy for a few days, whether that’s a new television or a new couch or a new game console and a bunch of games. Do you really need a new television? Or can you see what’s on the tube well enough already? Is your couch reasonably used, or are you donating it to Goodwill or a similar charity? Or are you just stuffing it in the attic or the garage because you want more luxury? Do you need video games? Or can you enjoy your free time and learn something with a Bible and a few good books, or quality time with your family? If your entire family enjoys video games, then that’s an option – but if anybody feels left out by them, maybe you should consider something else.

And what if you don’t get a windfall? What if you owe something? Maybe that’s the last scrap of your budget, and you’re wavering over that line between “just making ends meet” and “broke.” Pray for support, and don’t be afraid to ask friends and family to pray for you, too. Sometimes you’ll find love and charity right when you need it.

Pray for financial wisdom in the tough economic times. Get a free copy of the latest “31 Prayers” book today.

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