Dealing with the symptoms will never really fix the problem!

Many years ago, I was on my motorcycle in Manila and witnessed a four car accident…each vehicle coming from a different direction! It was not high speed, (Which is impossible in Manila anyway!) but all four vehicles kissed each other in the middle of the intersection. Immediately I witnessed 4 individuals jumping out of their cars, fingers pointing at each other! How human…everyone else is to blame!

I have been watching what has been going on right now, and am seeing the same thing. Everybody is talking about how uncivil and hostile we have become…which is true…yet; all are pointing their fingers at others!

I am sure there are many more reasons for this than I could name, however, I do believe at the core exists a basic Truth that we all must face.

I am very political by nature, but have chosen to silence myself in these matters because my priorities are elsewhere. It seems senseless to me to clean and bandage a wound when the patient has a terminal disease that is not being treated!

Still, I sense from the Lord I should endeavor to challenge our thoughts about which system we are operating from, so the next few Devos I will deal with that.

Jesus identifies the two systems that we operate from in John 12.

John 12:23–27 Jesus replied, “Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me. “Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But this is the very reason I came!

In this Devo I will lay some groundwork, and then take the passage apart in following devotionals.

Jesus points to two systems in play:

The world’s & The Lord’s.

We interact with both: Notice the differences:

* The World’s: Its Goal is accumulation of Power, Money, Fame, Pleasure, and Things. Relationships that feed our self-esteem, it operates on sight…you see what you want and ways of getting it…MAYBE! (No guarantees)

* The Lord’s: His Goal is transformation of you. It operates on Faith. You see a path of question marks that lead to Jesus. The only thing you know you are going to get is Him! You don’t know whether a path will turn, stop, go on or blend into another path.

* The world’s end product is GAIN

* The Lord’s end product is SURRENDER

* The world’s reward is Temporal

* The Lord’s reward is Eternal

The So What: Which system are you operating from? Do you get so caught up in the events of the day, that you lose your perspective of what God thinks is important? Do you really believe one person, or a political party can fix what’s wrong?