06 August 2023
Two-Minute Features | 13 August 2023 | 30 July 2023

Jesus is Going to Come Again Twice More (TMF:2155)

Friday, August 11, 2023
Peace to Live By: Jesus is Going to Come Again Twice More (TMF:2155) - Daniel Litton
(Tap or right-click link to download two-minute feature)

       Now, we come to verse 7 of James chapter 5: “Be patient, therefore, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” (ESV). We who believe in Jesus Christ know that he is going to come back again—really, technically speaking—he is going to come back twice more. He’s already been to the earth once, and that was to teach, guide, and pay our sin-debts in full so that we are no longer seen as guilty in front of God for our sins. It’s a tremendous thing. We all know, if we examine ourselves, that we’ve done wrong. We’ve done wrong in small ways and even big ways, and the only solution to cover that is through the blood of Jesus Christ. That’s the way God sees it. Anyway, Jesus is going to come again, first, at the Rapture of the Church. He will descend from Heaven into the sky of the earth, and those who have a personal relationship with him will fly up into the sky themselves to meet him there, and at the same time, receive their new, resurrection bodies. This is where we become truly complete. This is where we lose the sin-nature.

Wantingness Out of Control, Part 2 (TMF:2154)

Thursday, August 10, 2023
Peace to Live By: Wantingness Out of Control, Part 2 (TMF:2154) - Daniel Litton
(Tap or right-click link to download two-minute feature)

       When I was a senior in high school, I was considering becoming an attorney for a living. I thought I would go to law school. That being the case, as part of my high school program I had the opportunity to mentor (shadow) a couple practicing lawyers for twelve weeks straight. I was all over the place with them doing that. But I set in on a lot of behind the scenes meetings too. And I will tell you this. I never in my life saw people get more greedy and vicious about anything but when it came to money, and obtaining that money. Whether it was a divorce or a person trying to gain power of attorney over a failing parent to get early access to an inheritance, people could show a dark side I’d never seen before. I say this because it is important that we evaluate our internal drives and desire, and, at the same time, keep watch on ourselves, lest we become like one of the people James is talking about today, and we find ourselves to be full of greed and viciousness, full of wantingness, full of desire, and not having money and possessions in proper perspective, and finally finding ourselves displeasing to God.

Wantingness Out of Control, Part 1 (TMF:2153)

Wednesday, August 09, 2023
Peace to Live By: Wantingness Out of Control, Part 1 (TMF:2153) - Daniel Litton
(Tap or right-click link to download two-minute feature)

       Finally, James said in closing about the rich, “You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.” You see, when we become too into what we have, and what we want to obtain, when the desire becomes too strong, we will stop at nothing to get what we want. James says that the rich go after people. They go after people’s money and possessions who have less. Wantingness is out of control; covetousness is at its full manifestation. James notes the righteous person here perhaps as the one who has been faithful with their money. They’ve lived like God wants them to live. This person isn’t going after others; this person is content. This person has their desire for more relinquished. The rich person, though, that person is at that level, with the wantingness out of control. It is out of control to the point where murder might even happen. We see it on T.V. from time to time. We’ve seen it in the news. The person plummets to the bottom level of consciousness and does something heinous for money’s sake.

Ripping People Off, Big & Small (TMF:2152)

Tuesday, August 08, 2023
Peace to Live By: Ripping People Off, Big & Small (TMF:2152) - Daniel Litton
(Tap or right-click link to download two-minute feature)

       Most of us listening today probably don’t really pay laborers. Some might. But most of us don’t have people we pay to do work for us. It’s important if we are in a position of paying others for services done on our behalf that we pay them fairly and perhaps even better than most. This is because we want to be generous with our money, to act like we believe Jesus would act if he were paying another for a service rendered. If we rip people off, big or small, that’s not getting us anywhere. There are a lot of consequences to such an action. Think about it. We have no reward in Heaven in the future for being generous because we weren’t generous. We are perhaps hurting our reputation. People might start calling us a cheap skate or penny pincher. We are probably hurting the reputation of the Christian name. People might say, “Those Christians are poor tippers.” We are probably causing ourselves to have to face guilt inside our minds because we know we should have done better. We have to walk around for an hour trying to repress those thoughts of guilt that are swarming around inside our minds.

Giving & Where Our Hearts Are (TMF:2151)

Monday, August 07, 2023
Peace to Live By: Giving & Where Our Hearts Are (TMF:2151) - Daniel Litton
(Tap or right-click link to download two-minute feature)

       Another heart check we can perform is by considering how much we give to others, or, if we have something someone else needs, are we willing to give it to them? I know, this second part is a tall order. Let’s focus on the first part. If we consider our money, every which way it goes, how much do we find that we actually give to others? How much is given to charity? What about the church? Hopefully the church gets something. Your pastors deserve it. There used to be this thing called a tithe. People would give ten percept of their income to their church. Some people still do this. The point is that by evaluating our giving, we can determine where our hearts are at, particularly in how much we value our possessions. I will say that I believe that the more we give, the less we miss it. I’ve seen God provide in big ways for people who have wanted to give even when they didn’t feel like they had the money to do so. God is watching; he loves cheerful givers.