Belief Trap

Dr. Mike 2020, Traps , , , , ,

James 2:20

Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?

You begin to experience salvation when you start to believe Jesus Christ is who He claims to be is how theologian Karl Barth expounded in his writings.

Belief is more than a wish or superstition. Real belief is built on facts, logic, and experience. Yet some people, after battling and working through the reasoning process, think that is all there is. Why? Didn’t Jesus himself say that if you believe on him you will receive eternal life?

From what I remember my psychology classmates telling me, belief is the centerpiece of action. Belief leads to action. We act upon what we believe. From our central belief system lies our values and worldview. But if we believe and do not act upon those beliefs, then do we truly believe?

James writes in his letter that belief without action is dead. He likens it to the body without a spirit: dead.

Belief is demonstrated through its fruit. An orange tree may have hundreds of green balls (the real color of oranges before the factories paint them for resale to the public) hanging on its branches, but when you take one from the tree and begin to peel it only to find dryness in the inside, don’t you throw it away? It may look like an orange hanging on the tree with other oranges, but is it a healthy orange?

Belief in Jesus Christ is like taking an escalator in a high-rise shopping mall. We start on the first floor and the moving steps take us higher unto other floors with more stores to discover. After we experience the 2nd floor, we take the escalator up to the next floor, and the next floor, and the next floor, where we discover more. Belief in Jesus Christ is, in a poor analogy, the escalator that takes you to places where you can experience real life.

Real life begins with believing Jesus Christ is the Messiah promised to the Jewish and Gentile nation back when Adam and Eve were discharged from the garden. When that fact hits us in the head and heart, our values and worldview begin to change and leads us to action which demonstrate our belief in Jesus Christ as King and Savior. Yet inaction may not tell the whole story on some who believe but are frozen from doing good work. Some may believe but be lazy; a character flaw. Others may believe, but are ensnared by the world’s glitter. And others may believe, but be angry with God and like a 2-year-old still pouting in the corner until lesson learned.  So, we need to be extra careful and not condemn the heart of others. Instead, let’s first pray for our brothers and sisters and let God lead us how best to relate with them. Maybe God will open a door for you to discuss the situation and help restore your sister/brother into a closer relationship with Him. Or bring another solution for their struggle. Either way, if God makes you aware of a problem, He will lead you.

Is that not what turning belief into action all about? Therefore, doesn’t our actions demonstrate our beliefs?

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Encourager & Founder of
Vocational Leadership 360
Author of e-Books:

 *  Dancing With God: Life-Giving Theology Explained
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

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Copyright 2013-2020 Abbaco LLC | All Rights Reserved

Greed Trap

Dr. Mike Kingdom Paradigms ,

Psalm 10:3

For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord.

Somewhere I wrote a blog how marriage, ballroom dancing, and day trading has taught me more about God than all the other activities combined. When it comes to greed, trading the future markets with its quick turns and higher volatility easily brings out the best and worst of one’s character traits. As many a book records, two of the strongest emotions for day traders to manage are greed and fear.

Most traders eventually over time and practice learn to understand the markets, the setups, and the indicators they choose to use. Yet annually over 94% of traders will close their brokerage accounts within six months because they have run out of funds. The primary cause? They haven’t mastered their emotions.

Greed and fear are two opposites of the same coin. Both will throw you off your game. When you see your money plumbing downward in a spiral, many traders panic and get out taking a financial hit in the process. On the other hand, traders also try to squeeze out every penny of an upward move not knowing when enough is enough. Of the two emotions, most successful day traders will acknowledge greed is a bigger problem than fear.

If fear was their problem, they wouldn’t even attempt to play the markets. But with superb confidence in themselves, they jump in with all their bank accounts under the illusion this will be easy like everything else they have attempted and achieved. Being honest with oneself as one trades, will quickly allow reality teach lessons of life along with a greater respect for the markets.

Greed blinds oneself from reality. The desire for more, and more, without contentment places the focus on gain rather than mastering the process. The greed desire non-managed makes everything around you unimportant; including God, health, and family/friends. Time escapes into a greed trap where life becomes an addictive game of more, and more, and more for no greater purpose but to accumulate. Instead of enjoying freedom and its fruit, greed enslaves oneself within the limited confines of hell.

Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes greed is chasing after wind. You cannot ever catch it.

Jesus even commented on the subject when he stated “how does it profit someone to gain the whole world but to lose one’s soul”.

The objective is to better manage the ugly desire whenever it makes its appearance. One of the better disciplines to practice if you need help to better manage the greed desire is to practice giving without conditions. Whether you practice tithing or simply ask God to help you become a generous giver, you open the lid of the greed box and share yourself through your gain for the benefit of others who can’t ever repay you. When you realize you don’t need more stuff, but only enough, and you redirect your focus unto Jesus, then you will discover what He is trying to teach us all: life is more than having everything we desire; it’s about serving Him in His Kingdom for the sake of others.   

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Encourager & Founder of
Vocational Leadership 360
Author of e-Books:

 *  Dancing With God: Life-Giving Theology Explained
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

Encourage a Friend…Share Today’s Message!

Copyright 2013-2020 Abbaco LLC | All Rights Reserved

Fear Trap

Dr. Mike 2020, Traps ,

Isaiah 41:13

For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”

Fear is a weapon used by manipulators to mobilize you into serving their purpose.

Watch the evening news and one catastrophic event after the next plays on your emotional heart memorizing you into a state of mental enslavement.

Watch how politicians create havoc with character assassinations and power plays against the other side and then reach out for money from you the public to help them clean up the mess.

Watch how advertisers place the fear of not having their product in your possession, making you feel left behind the social curve and therefore influencing you to purchase now rather than wait till tomorrow after you had time to thoroughly think through the opportunity.

Whichever way you turn, we are being bombarded with ads, videos, music, movies, photographs, books, etc. designed to place fear into its recipients. A fear of potential loss of money, family, friends, and freedom moves the markets and creates many of the paralyzing stories of the day.

Satan himself loves to operate from the position of fear. He casts doubt causing us to question our trust in another. He steals glory for himself rather than allowing you to realize your true identity in Christ. He also loves to destroy whatever is good in life so people will rarely experience the heavenly riches of God’s pure intentions.

Fear is a heavy task master when one doesn’t have a relationship with the living God.

“Fear not” are the words Jesus would reiterate to his disciples. Fear not are also the words that God through the prophets of old would tell Abraham, Isaiah, Daniel, David, and many others.

Jesus would reiterate how much God loves humanity. He spoke about how God takes care of the birds and grass and how people are more important than the creation around them. God cares and wants what is best for us. Yet, because we don’t truly know Him, we allow fear to replace Him in our mind, heart, and spirit.

When fear becomes greater than God, we are loss under its influence. However, when the Triune God is the center of our life, the central core of all our relationships, values, and decisions, you will quickly expose the fear trap doors in your world and avoid their manipulative paths.

Fear not, the Lord your God is with you and the one who will help you slay the fear mongers in your world. Always remember: overflowing life, free from worldly fear, is rooted in Jesus Christ.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Encourager & Founder of
Vocational Leadership 360
Author of e-Books:

 *  Dancing With God: Life-Giving Theology Explained
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

Encourage a Friend…Share Today’s Message!

Copyright 2013-2020 Abbaco LLC | All Rights Reserved