Spotlight 09/2019: Preserving our wealth
A house that is unoccupied decays. And relationships that are not fostered threaten to fall apart. What about our faith? Care instructions from District Apostle Wolfgang Nadolny (Germany).
“A prayer can move heaven and the heart of God,” it says. When we pray we should be aware that we are speaking with the triune God. This knowledge forces us to be honest and to take a very close look at what we tell God. If we intercede for our neighbour in our prayers, we show that the love of God has created a bond between us.
In our prayers we acknowledge God as the almighty and omniscient and are aware of His majesty and holiness. We are dependent on Him. But this knowledge alone does not force us on our knees, but also His love and care we experience.
In the creation, which has been corrupted by sin, everything tends to decay and sink into disorder. If you leave a house unoccupied, you will notice beginning decay after a few weeks already. If you do not maintain your garden, it will become overgrown in a very short time. If we did not foster our marriage or take care of our family, there is a danger that what began in great love at one time, breaks apart. Even our faith would lose its strength if we did not allow it to be fortified in the divine services. Our inward stability and security, the strength of our inward being, would go lost.
However, if we have a strong faith, sin cannot overwhelm us even though we are all sinners. The sluggishness that clings to us cannot paralyse us even though it can make life very hard for us at times. Annoyances and conflicts cannot make our fellowship fall apart. And our patience is never-ending, even if it is very strained sometimes. And even the love for our enemies is strong enough so that we can always extend a hand in peace.
“Rich in Christ” is the theme that the Chief Apostle issued at the beginning of the year. God is rich, He has an abundance of everything. Everything that we see or perceive in the natural as well as in the spiritual comes from Him.
One Bible passage spoke to me in particular, and I would like to share it with you as one of these riches: “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ … that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man” (Ephesians 3: 14, 16).
Let’s never forget: we can count on God. For Him nothing is impossible. Whatever He promises He keeps. “… and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Photo: Oliver Rütten
