A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump

a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree

proverbs 11:28(Msg)

"so much spending, so little mind"

"so much spending, so little mind"

what's your money motto?Money is something eagerly desired, but not always well managed. In Matthew 6, Jesus told us we "cannot serve both God and money" This includes becoming a slave to spending, and to wasting our resources on things that are frivolous.A need to manage our money is often forgotten or misplaced. When there's so little left in your bank account only then there will be regrets and conviction. "I shouldn't have spent on that..." should sound familar ;) I've taken a step, to lay down a budget and cap my expenses at a limit. Like a solid wall, not going out of what I have established. I hope this passage speaks to you just as it has to me ;)A lot could happen over the next few years. It's important for you to have your finances in a healthy state. God could call you to the mission field or to study further or to help the needy. Perhaps you will start a family.Be prepared. Be ready to put your money where your mission is.

"where your treasure is,there your heart will be also" (Tom Felten) Excerpts from my devotional

Devotion

Sharing Your Life Message

By Rick Warren

“Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony of God in them.” (1 John 5:10a GW)
“Your lives are echoing the Master’s Word .... The news of your faith in God is out. We don’t even have to say anything anymore – you’re the message!” (1 Thessalonians 1:8 MSG)
When you became a believer, you also became God’s messenger. God wants to speak to the world through you. Paul said, “We speak the truth before God, as messengers of God.” (2 Corinthians 2:17b NCV)

Your Life Message includes your life lessons. These are insights you’ve learned about God, relationships, problems, temptations, and other aspects of life. David prayed, “God, teach me lessons for living so I can stay the course.” (Psalm 119:33 MSG)

Sadly, we never learn from a lot that happens to us. Of the Israelites, the Bible says, “Over and over God rescued them, but they never learned – until finally their sins destroyed them.” (P 106:43 MSG) You’ve probably met people like that.

While it is wise to learn from experience, it is wiser to learn from the experiences of others. There isn’t enough time to learn everything in life by trial and error. We must learn from the life lessons of one another. The Bible says, “A warning given by an experienced person to someone willing to listen is more valuable than … jewelry made of the finest gold.” (Proverbs 25:12 TEV)
Write down the major life lessons you’ve learned so you can share them with others. We should be grateful Solomon did this, because it gave us the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, which are filled with practical lessons on living. Imagine how much needless frustration could be avoided if we learned from each other’s life lessons.

Mature people develop the habit of extracting lessons from everyday experiences. I urge you to make a list of your life lessons. You haven’t really thought about them thoroughly unless you’ve written them down. Below are a few questions to jog your memory and get your started:

So what?

What has God taught me from failure?
What has God taught me from a lack of money?
What has God taught me from pain or sorrow or depression?
What has God taught me through waiting?
What has God taught me through illness?
What has God taught me from disappointment?
What have I learned from my family, my church, my relationships, my small group, and my critics?

Prayer Pointers for S.K.

Hi everyone,

I believe the recent news about the kidnap and execution of the South Koreans in Afgan has surprised and shock many of us here. We receive and send sms prayer chains and email prayer chains to pray for the Koreans. However, what do we really need to pray for?

Firstly, the Koreans are already saved by the Holy Spirit, so we can't really pray for their salvation. Secondly, the Koreans are already safe in the Lord, so we can't really pray for their safety too, can we? Many people are praying for God to bring them home safely. Indeed, I believe they too want to go home to their families and friends. But, if they die, they will return home to the Lord.

Friends, the Lord has told us in Matthew 5: 10-12

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The Koreans are truly persecuted because of Jesus. But blessed are they! If they die during the time of kidnap, they will return to the Lord.

So then, what can we pray for them?

1) Pray for the Koreans to look to the Lord in their time of need.

Ps 121 says:
I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life;
the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

The Lord may be using this experience to test their faith. Will the Koreans use this experience to strengthen their faith?

2) Pray, if the Koreans do die, that something good will come out from this loss. Pray that God will do something miraculous. Pray that their deaths and suffering will not be in vain!

Deut 32: 35-36 says:

It is mine to avenge; I will repay.

In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near

and their doom rushes upon them."
The LORD will judge his people

and have compassion on his servants

when he sees their strength is gone

and no one is left, slave or free.

The Lord our God is good. Never will he leave us or forsake us.

Therefore, I pray for all of you that you will be encouraged to pray for the situation in Afghan. I encourage you to be strengthened in faith in Jesus, that he will bring deliverance to the Taliban and the Afghan people. Do not be discouraged in the Lord!

Trust the Lord in all your ways!

Plz PRAY!!!!!!!!

GHAZNI, Afghanistan: Afghanistan's Taliban said more of the 21 South Korean hostages could be killed "any time" after a Wednesday deadline expired and negotiators asked for a 48-hour extension. The noon (0730 GMT) deadline was the latest in a series imposed since 23 hostages were seized two weeks ago. The militants have killed two of their captives – one late Monday after two other deadlines expired. "After the deadline passed, one or more hostages could be killed any time," Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP. He said earlier there had been no progress in the negotiations in which the rebels have demanded that some Taliban prisoners be freed from Afghan jails. One of the main negotiators, parliamentarian Mahmood Gailani, said tribal elders fronting the talks had asked for 48 more hours. "We are waiting for the answer," he said. The bullet-riddled bodies of four Afghan court officials were meanwhile found on Wednesday in Ghazni province, where they were captured by the Taliban two weeks ago – around the same time and place the Koreans were seized. "We killed them because they worked for the government," Ahmadi said. The extremists, leading an insurgency after being removed from government in 2001, are demanding the freeing of least eight Taliban prisoners in exchange for the South Koreans. Afghan authorities have rejected the demand after being condemned internationally for a similar deal in March. Talks resumed on Wednesday, and there was no progress overnight, Gailani said earlier. Religious clerics among a delegation negotiating with the militants had "asked the Taliban to stop killing hostages", he said. Negotiators also want the militants to unconditionally free 16 women in the group, two of whom a Taliban spokesman Tuesday described as gravely ill, before considering other possible demands. The murder of the second hostage was widely condemned, including by UN chief Ban Ki-moon -- a former South Korean foreign minister -- the Arab League and Al-Azhar, the premier Sunni institution of learning, which is in Egypt. Muslim-majority Malaysia and Human Rights Watch Wednesday added their calls for the 21 surviving Christians to be freed. A 42-year-old pastor, who had led the church group that was captured while returning to Kabul from an aid mission to Kandahar province – the birthplace of the Taliban – was found dead a week ago. Seoul, which has reportedly offered the Taliban a ransom that has been refused, has appealed for "flexibility" in negotiations with the Islamist group. South Korean civic groups, political parties and relatives of the hostages have called for US involvement. But a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai said authorities should not bend to the demands of "terrorists" for fear of encouraging kidnapping. "This shouldn't become an industry," Humayun Hamidzada told reporters on Tuesday. There were also fresh fears for a German engineer held since July 18, a day before the South Koreans were captured, after Al-Jazeera television broadcast late Tuesday a video that it said showed him pleading for his life. The footage was the first to show the engineer. The Taliban has said he has been ill and drifting in and out of consciousness. The video showed a man it said was the German hostage standing in a rocky clearing with several men pointing guns at him. There was no sound in the clip but the broadcaster said the captive called on Germany and the United States to pull their troops out of Afghanistan so that his life could be spared. He was captured with a German colleague, who has since died in unclear circumstances, and five Afghans, one of whom escaped.