Apicontent

“Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.” (Psalm 37:5, ESV).

What does the word trust really mean? What do you trust in? Who do you trust? And what does your behavior show about your trust—in people and in things? A quick Google search turns up this definition of trust: “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something; one in which confidence is placed.” Hmm … does that describe your trust in God? Do you have an assured reliance in his character, his ability, his strength? Do you have confidence in him? It’s something to think about, isn’t it?

When we accept the salvation of Jesus Christ, it is the first step in becoming the kind of Converterlator God wants us to be. We begin a journey where life takes on a whole new perspective as we learn what the Bible has to tell us about God and his plan for our lives. Our view of life and our view of this world begin to change as the Spirit of God enlightens us through his Word about this temporary, perishing world and eternity to come. As a result, our goals and motivation for living totally change.

We live in a world where so much is really beyond our control. Variables beyond count impact our lives in ways we would not think possible. If we are to maintain a sense of balance, contentment, and peace in our lives, we must learn to trust in God and his provision for us. This is not an easy concept to grasp, and sometimes it is even more difficult to see “trusting in God” actually working in our lives as we meet the challenges of everyday living. But he is there, guiding and directing our lives. The Bible tells us, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1, NIV). We have confidence and assurance that we can trust in him!

The decision to believe in the person of Jesus Christ, alone, for personal salvation is by far the most important life-impacting decision a person will ever make. But our decision to believe is only the beginning. As we learn more about God, we learn to trust him more, to have confidence in his character, to rely on his ability and strength.

We exercise our trust every day: in the news reporter, in the engineer who worked on our mode of transportation, in the places where we purchase our food. We make our decisions based on an intrinsic belief that things and people are trustworthy.

Here is a real-life example. In today’s world tall buildings have elevators. We enter the building planning to meet someone on the thirtieth floor. To reach that floor we need to enter an elevator, push a button, and wait while a power surge propels the elevator upward to the thirtieth floor. Think for a moment what this process involves. We believe the elevator has the capacity to lift us to the thirtieth floor, and that it will not crash downward. We step on by an act of our will. We have faith, trust, confidence, and conviction that it will work. When we push the button, we trust that the elevator is wired into a source of power that will propel it upward. We now enjoy the benefit of what it is supposed to do.

When it comes to our living relationship with Christ, we engage the same steps. By an act of our will, we push the button of faith. We walk through life, with an expectation of seeing God perform his good work toward us, for our expectation is from him. We have confidence in his promises to work in our lives.

What needs to happen in your life in order for you to develop an assured trust in the character, ability, strength, and truth of God?

Converterlators trust in God and his provision.

“I know you by name.” (Exodus 33:17, ESV)

The Bible tells us that life in this world and the world to come is all about having a growing relationship with almighty God. We are not talking here about a relationship of convenience or superficiality; God wants an intimate relationship with us! Jesus Christ came into the world to give us that relationship with God, and our decision to accept salvation through Christ has major implications for not only eternity, but for the time we have remaining in this world.

Being a Converterlator is all about having a right relationship with Jesus Christ and having his Word and life personally operating in your life. This is a tremendously exciting place to be! When we have a growing relationship with God, we experience his favor and blessing. And if we have the favor and blessing of God, what else could we ever need? To have his presence and the truth of his Word operating in our lives through Christ living his life in us truly makes us a different people.

Moses modeled this principle for us. The living presence of God in his life was paramount. In fact, he did not want to proceed with the tasks God had for him without having God’s very presence in his life. “And he said to him, ‘If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here’” (Exodus 33:15, ESV).

This kind of dependence on God is not possible without knowing God and understanding how he thinks. This means we must not only begin a relationship with him, but go on to develop an intimate relationship with him in order to truly experience his presence in our lives. Moses realized that if he ever hoped to find favor in God’s sight, he needed to know God in a deeper way when he said, “Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight” (Exodus 33:13, ESV).

What we are talking about here is developing an intimacy with God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Relationship is not about external rules or a list of what to do and not to do. Relationship is about being with someone. When we like to be around a person, we make time to be with them. We like to experience their presence for increasing time periods. Each one of us needs to be spending time with God!

There are many things that can keep us from having an intimate relationship with God: other people, confused priorities, “stuff,” busyness, you name it! The Converterlator is willing to swim upstream against the world system. We have a different worldview. We live differently, act differently, and are motivated by factors unknown to most of the world.

This is not to say that life will be easy. There will be hard times, but God will be there with us. In my first book, KingdomNomics, Irecounted how I experienced the Lord lifting a spirit of oppression from me. I have also experienced his presence as I lived through some very difficult situations. He does work in our circumstances.

What are you currently doing to develop and grow in your relationship with your heavenly Father?

Converterlators have an intimate relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” (Proverbs 3:5–6, NLT)

When we allow the needle of our lives to focus on the wrong reference point, we end up making poor decisions. We also end up pursuing things that ultimately lead to death and destruction. And so, a critical question each one of us needs to ask is: How do I decide what the right reference point is?

What we want is to have Jesus Christ as the only true reference point of life. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6, NIV). Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. This statement of truth is directional: Jesus Christ is True North personified.

As we fix our eyes and thoughts on Jesus, we focus our mind on him. When we do so, we experience extreme benefits.

Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest.

—Hebrews 3:1, NIV, emphasis added

Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

—Hebrews 12:2, NIV, emphasis added

For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

—Philippians 2:13, NIV, emphasis added

The greatest discovery we make when we plunge into the Bible is that our relationship with God through Christ is far more valuable than anything else this world has to offer. The living, vibrant relationship with God is life! Not only that, we obtain favor from the Lord! All of the promises of God find their “yes” of fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ.

When do you most often take your mind and your focus off Jesus? What steps can you take to avoid that happening?

Converterlators have Jesus Christ as their true reference point for life.

“But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:16, NIV)

For a brief period of time in the early part of my business career, I was in a location where hunting was big on the agenda of most men. I grew up in the city, and I knew very little about hunting. I bought all of the necessary clothing, boots, thermal underwear, gloves, warm hat, and a compass. This was long before the days of having a portable GPS device available. To top off the list of purchases, I bought a rifle by Remington that supposedly could kill anything on the North American continent.

On a cold day in November, I joined a few other men who had experience in navigating their way through the woods of northwestern Pennsylvania for a hunting day.

After a few hours of being outside, I told the guys that I was ready to call it quits. I pulled out my compass and unknowingly held it very close to the rifle barrel that was in my other hand. I told them I thought I should go in a particular direction back to where my car was located.

In the background I heard a few chuckles, and one of the men suggested that I move the compass away from the rifle barrel and see if the needle was still pointing in the same direction. When I did that, the needle snapped a full fifteen degrees in another direction! Wow! If I had followed the first reading, which was totally inaccurate due to my lack of knowledge, I would have lost my way in the woods and mountains.

There is a huge application here. As we delve into the pages of the Bible, we discover we are in the middle of two totally different value systems striving to win our commitment and loyalty. The one is the perishing world system, and the other is the imperishable eternal realm lasting forever. We need to be aware that the world system will always point us in the wrong direction.

Using the right point of reference is critical in making our decisions in this world. If we do not have the right point of reference, we will lose our way in the vast complexity of this perishable world system. I believe the key question is: Who is controlling my mind? This is the battle ground. Whoever or whatever controls our mind controls us. The Converterlator seeks to have Jesus Christ control his mind.

This truth brings us to the Compass of Life Concept. The needle of our life is our mind. In our mind we make the decisions, good or bad, that determine what we actually end up doing with our time, talent, and treasure. If we allow the needle of our lives to focus on the wrong reference point, we will end up making wrong decisions.

Look carefully at the diagram of the compass. If this was a typical compass, north would be at the top of the circle, east on the right side, south on the bottom of the circle, and west on the left side of the circle. However, this is not a typical compass! As you can see, we’ve substituted Jesus on the north point, Crowd on the east, Self on the south, and World on the west. These are the general reference points that strive to capture our attention and control the needle of our lives. But we possess a power that can exert influence over the needle.

We must choose to point our decision-making process in the right direction. If we fail to do so, we will be subject to consumerlating, frittering away our perishable commodities of time, talent, and treasure.

What or who most often controls your mind?

Converterlators seek to have Jesus Christcontrol their mind.

“The Lord says, ‘I will make you wise and show you where to go. I will guide you and watch over you.’” (Psalm 32:8, NCV).

We have been born into a world not of our own making; it is a world full of conflict with many voices demanding our attention. Specific circumstances, including physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and material, shape and influence our lives in almost unlimited ways. And the conflict rages in both the seen and unseen worlds; Ephesians 6:12 tells us, “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places” (NLT). Our world tells us, “Use this specific product, buy this specific brand, accumulate more stuff, desire the best, use your time here, use your talents there.” And all the while, we are consuming. Only God’s Word can give us the hope, power, and guidance we need to make our way through the jungle of activity in this complex world.

It is important to remember that the choices we make now impact greatly how we not only experience life here on earth, but how we will live in eternity. Second Corinthians 5:10 says, “For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body” (NLT). This provides us with enormous opportunity! We need to embrace the fact that life now can be tons of fun when we become Converterlators!

We all know there are foolish ways and wise ways to spend our time, talent, and treasure. We can either consume our resources, using them for perishable pleasure, or use these resources for imperishable treasure. How do we stay focused? Psalm 32:8 tells us, “The Lord says, ‘I will make you wise and show you where to go. I will guide you and watch over you’” (NCV). We need to ask for God’s wisdom!

Only the Word of God can give us a proper perspective. The world system ultimately destroys and will be destroyed itself according to Scripture. Even so, the Bible gives us the counsel we need to conduct ourselves in this difficult world.

The Bible tells us, “Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:7, NIV). Since the beginning of time, Satan has been seeking to trip people up! It is critical that the resurrection power of Christ be at work in our lives in order to enable us to live the life that God desires for us. As this power grows in our hearts, the spiritual desires to invest our time, talent, and treasure in the kingdom of God will overcome our desires for pursuing perishable things. The lure of the world is constantly with us. We must find a way to recognize when we are being tempted to waste our resources, and then know what to do about it! When we submit to God, the Holy Spirit empowers us to focus on his desires for us.

How much time are you committing to the study of God’s Word in order to be able to make good choices with your time, talent, and treasure?

Converterlators know that only the Word of God can give them a proper perspective.

“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” (Ephesians 6:11, NIV)

Way back in the Garden of Eden, Eve wanted what she wanted! God had told her and Adam that they could eat of any tree in the garden … except for one. And Eve decided she wanted more. Satan came and enticed her; he convinced her that she wanted the fruit of that tree and the knowledge that he promised would come with it. She wanted more than what God had already given her.

Unfortunately, we are all in the same boat. Most of us want more. More of whatever we don’t have. More stuff, more prestige, more opportunity, more power, more influence. You name it; we want more of it, if we’re honest. And because of that desire for more, we concentrate on how we can meet our own desires and needs and give little thought to our eternal destinies or the eternal destinies of others. But you know what? God wants to change the propensity we have to focus on ourselves into a focus on his desires and goals. Because when we focus on ourselves, we are willing to consume our time and talent and treasure on the immediate rather than invest it in the eternal.

The Bible tells us in Genesis 1–3 that God created a beautiful and perfect world. He created Adam and Eve in his image to inhabit his perfect world with the express purpose of having fellowship with him. And his creative design was for Adam and Eve to administer responsible stewardship over his creation.

Unfortunately, a fallen angel, named Lucifer, entered God’s creation to entice mankind to disobey God, thereby introducing sin into God’s perfect creation. We often refer to Lucifer as “Satan.” Peter describes him in the New Testament in this way, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8, NIV). I like to refer to Satan as the Chief Consumerlator. A consumerlator is anyone or anything that steals an opportunity to converterlate time, talent, or treasure into something of eternal value. Satan’s express purpose is always to steal, kill, and destroy that which is good. He will use whatever means possible to get us to use our resources on those things that are perishable. He wants us consuming our resources rather than converterlating them!

However, the Word of God gives us the hope, power, and guidance we need to make our way through this complex world. “The Lord says, ‘I will make you wise and show you where to go. I will guide you and watch over you’” (Psalm 32:8, NCV). The Bible provides the direction we need to make wise choices in this difficult world.

In Ephesians 6 we read, “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth … the breastplate of righteousness, … your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace … take up the shield of faith … the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (verses 12–17, NIV). The Christian life is all about advancing for the purpose of accomplishing God’s will on this earth. We invade the darkness with the light of the gospel, going into all the world with all of the means God has given us. Retreat is not an option. We are in a battle, taking new ground. We are to use our time, talent, and treasure to make a difference for the kingdom. We must be bold. We must be empowered by the Spirit.

What does the Chief Consumerlator most often use in your life to distract you from God’s purposes?

Converterlators stand against Satan’s schemes with all of God’s armor.

“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.” (Revelation 22:12, NIV)

I have come to realize that whatever time, talent, and treasure I have in this world will lose their value when I leave this world. Because of this fact, they are perishable items. These will do me no good in the world to come. Their value only lasts while I am in this world. It was a lightbulb moment for me when I finally came to realize I was spending all of my time and effort on things that are in the process of perishing. Earthly objectives like careers, positions, status, wealth, physical fitness, accumulated “stuff,” etc., are all perishable items. I really wasn’t using any of my resources for God’s kingdom. After I became a Christian, I learned that my spirit is going to last forever. It will only be spent in the presence of the Lord if I have established a right relationship with him.

The time, talent, and treasure we have are all perishable, but they become imperishable when we invest them in the kingdom of God; they last forever with ever-increasing eternal rewards.

The eternal rewards that we will someday receive should be a huge motivational factor in the life of the believer. The Bible is filled with verses that talk about our eternal reward.

And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return.

—2 Timothy 4:8, NLT

Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw.  But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.

—1 Corinthians 3:12–15, NLT

So here we are. We are living in a perishable world. We are going to a world that is imperishable. In the meantime, we are to be preparing for the imperishable world by being engaged in a transformation process in this perishing world, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18, ESV). What Christ has done for us compels us to be focused on God’s kingdom!

What resources are you investing in God’s eternal kingdom?

Converterlators are focused on God’s kingdom because of what Christ has done for them.

“Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal.” (Matthew 6:20, NASB)

It’s easy to be blinded by earthly wealth. One day I took a penny and held it very close to my eye, keeping the other eye closed. I found that if I held the penny close enough to my eye, I could block out the sun. In the same way, the pennies of this world can block out the power and life of Jesus Christ when we hold them too close.

Scripture has names for the things that are a barrier between us and God, “But the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful” (Mark 4:19, NIV, emphasis added). These things can keep us from having the relationship God wants us to have with him. We fail to realize that, “one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15, ESV). What a tragedy to spend all of one’s life to simply please oneself with the currency and the “goods” of this world. Living life just for “stuff” is a big mistake. It can lead one on the road that looks so good, but ultimately leads to self-destruction.

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with things or money. However, we enter into the red zone of trouble when we look to them to provide life for us as a substitute for God in our lives. It is only through the prism of the Cross that we can see the true purpose for why God has given us our resources. We need to remember that our earthly resources have been given to us so that we can enjoy them and use them for eternal purposes along life’s way. Yes, our resources can be used to accumulate treasure in heaven! How so? Let’s look at the example of the wise men, “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh” (Matthew 2:11, NIV). This act of worship will be remembered for all of eternity.

The wise person today will do the very same thing as the wise men did when they visited the young Jesus: use their talents to seek him, use their time to pursue him, and present their treasure to the King to be used for his purposes. This is the Converterlator in action, investing in what counts for eternity. The “smart money” is going into the kingdom of God. We want to be in the process of helping to save people from a purposeless eternity. We want to be about helping to prepare them for not only a new life in this world but a life in the imperishable world of eternity as well. We are making friends for eternity by converterlating our temporary, perishing time, talent, and treasure into eternal value. It actually makes “cents” for us to invest in the kingdom of God.

In what ways are your currently pursuing God and his agenda?

Converterlators use their talents to seek God, use their time to pursue him, and present their treasure to him to be used for his purposes.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10, ESV)

Everything you and I can see and touch is ultimately going to pass away. Our time, talent, and treasure from a value standpoint will expire when we do. In eternity they will do us no good. We are forced to spend and use them while we are here on this side of eternity. We are like the shopper who has won a contest and is allowed to buy as many groceries as she can within a short period of time. When the time expires, the shopping spree ends.

Our worldly wealth is going to perish like everything else. The Bible tells us:

They will throw their silver into the streets,

And their gold will be like refuse;

Their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them

In the day of the wrath of the Lord;

They will not satisfy their souls,
Nor fill their stomachs,

Because it became their stumbling block of iniquity.

—Ezekiel 7:19, NKJV

However, although all worldly wealth is going to perish, the Bible tells us that the Word of God will never pass away, and we also know that the soul of each person is going to exist forever in either heaven or hell. This is good news; we have the opportunity to make a difference beyond this perishing world!

Jesus said, “Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home” (Luke 16:9, NLT). I believe this is the Converterlator in action, investing in what counts for eternity. We are fishers of people, saving them from perishing and preparing them for new life in this world and a life in the imperishable world of eternity. We are making friends for eternity by converterlating our temporary, perishing time, talent, and treasure into eternal value!

We are talking about eternity here, and it is important we try to understand what is at stake. In KingdomNomics we are concerned with the brevity of life. The Bible itself comments extensively on life and how short it is. One verse that sums up this thought is, “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14, NIV). We need to be busy converterlating the perishable into the imperishable before time expires. We want to be active Converterlators before the opportunity to do so vanishes!

Honestly, what are the perishable things in your life that are receiving your time, talent, and treasure?

Converterlators use their perishable resources for imperishable purposes.

“Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.” (John 6:27, ESV)

Have you ever considered that everything you and I can see and touch is ultimately going to pass away? We live in a perishable world; it is all subject to decay and destruction. However, the things of heaven are imperishable; they will last forever!

Jesus said, “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal” (Matthew 6:20, NASB). Do you want to be rich in the next world, the real world, the world that will last forever? If so, you need to be actively converterlating the perishable items of this world into the perishable treasures of the world to come.

Converterlators understand that we all live in a time bubble that can pop in this perishing world at any time. When that happens we will find ourselves in a totally different paradigm. The wise person realizes that in the end, all of our earthly time, talent, and treasure is going to perish. The apostle Paul made this point clear when he said, “For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it” (1 Timothy 6:7, NLT). Think of it, everything we know and love about this world will eventually be gone!

This eternal focus was at the core of Paul’s teaching. He set his eyes and his heart on the eternal because he knew that the world as we know it is temporary and wasting away. Paul’s eyes were fixed on eternity, and he conducted his life accordingly.

As we study the Bible, we discover we are in the middle of two totally different value systems that are striving to win our commitment and loyalty. The first is what we call the perishable world system, and the second is the imperishable eternal realm.

The world system is doing everything it can to consume all of our temporary time, talent, and treasure, enticing us to invest all of them into stuff, activity, and experiences that in the end of life will have no eternal value. For the most part, the world system is held together by force, greed, and power. It caters to developing a self-centered life, a self-first mindset; it is bent on finding significance in power, fame, status, and accumulation of wealth. A wrong emphasis on these things often destroys the lives of people and their loved ones.

Self, fame, status, personal wealth: these often become idols in the lives of many people, even those who profess to have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. These things take the place that God should have in our lives. In many instances the world system emphasizes striving to get more for doing less. Get as much stuff as you can so you can retire from work and have a life of ease doing what you want to do when you want to do it. It does everything it can to keep us from thinking about the eternal aspect of life.

On the other hand, we have the value system of the heavenly realm revealed to us by the person of Jesus Christ emphasizing a life of love, giving, and serving. This involves work that leads to glorifying God, building treasure for oneself in the next world, and living a life of fulfillment in this world as well. Jesus Christ came into this world not only to save us from separation from God for eternity; he also came into the world to save us from wasting our lives while we are here in this world.

In what ways are you living your life dedicated to the values of this perishing world? In what ways are you living your life in way that will echo into eternity?

Converterlators set their eyes and their heart on the eternal.