| Email Nikao Ministries |
 |
TRUE RICHES |
 |
| Years ago when I was in high school I had a classmate with the last name of Nickel. Another classmate once joked, "Nickel, you aren't worth a dime." | ||
| You know, there is a deep spiritual truth in that! | ||
| Note the above two coins; one is a $5 gold piece and the other is a common gold-plated nickel. Both are genuine. One is 90% gold with the exact composition required by the US mint. The other has the exact composition of the mint as well, except that it is gold- plated. They are both dated 1883. | ||
| Now for the Spiritual Truth | ||
|
There are many genuine Christians in the world; however some are more valuable than others. Do I mean God loves some more than others? NO! What I mean is that the more they allow God to pour in His material into their hearts, the more valuable they become to their fellow man. Some Christians allow God to change them so that the metal they are made of is rare, and thus they create value in other lives that they touch. Because other Christians don't allow God to change their composition they remain common and those whose lives when they touch don't appreciate their true value. True value is based on what is internal not on what is external. Gold-plating gives an appearance of rarity and value; but when you hold it in your hand, all you have is a nickel. People who work merely on outward changes but refuse to allow God to change what is on the inside are merely "a nickel not worth a dime." |
||
| Common is really uncommon | ||
| My preceding allegory needs to be placed in its true context. In one sense all Christians have a "common salvation" (Jude 5), so I speak as a fool when I call Christians "common." We are not to call anyone whom God has cleansed "common"(Acts10:15). For it was the "common folks"(Mark 12:37) that heard Jesus gladly. To the religious folk He said, "First cleanse the inside of the cup so the outside may be cleansed also."(Matt.23:25-26) These religious folk took great care about their outward appearances but were merely "gold-plated." On the other hand the "common folks" had a really rough exterior and they didn't fit well in the established religious circles of the day. So what sometimes looks like a nickel is on the inside pure gold, but it takes a "metal specialist" to discern the difference. | ||
| >> Continue | ||
| 1 of 4 | ||