by David Rinehart | May 27, 2021 | Articles, Mentors Corner
God teaches what is of ultimate importance: Jer 9:24 but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD. God also warns us, what not to boast about: Jer 9:23 Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; The serpent wants you active in your pursuit of Success, Significance, and Sufficiency on man’s worldly terms (which will not satisfy). And when you have spent your life in the pursuit of wealth, wisdom, and power you will come to the end of your life and conclude (as Solomon did) it was vanity, striving after the wind. In the meantime, you lose opportunity to know God, participate in His plan and model Jesus. To this end, you will suffer appreciable loss: 1Co 3:11-13 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 1Co 3:15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. To be clear, God raises Christians to positions of increased power, wisdom, and wealth...
by David Rinehart | May 17, 2021 | Articles, Mentors Corner
Gen 3:3-5 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'” The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” The serpent and the world sing the siren’s song consistently, loudly, every day and in every way. The song goes like this: “You can make yourself Successful, Significant and Sufficient”. The second stanza: “You don’t need God to realize your best self” (just like Adam/Eve before the fall). Meanwhile, the worldly back-up singers affirm: “You are the man!”. The remaining question, however, is have you prepared your convictions now to avoid wrong pursuits for wrong motives? Developing your convictions today is the act of a reasonable man. The book of Ecclesiastes provides an unflinching and thought provoking picture of our lives (from man’s perspective) assessing the true value of the worldly pursuits to which we can give our lives: Ecc 1:14 I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind. In this book, Solomon severely and repeatedly challenges man’s definition of Success, Significance and Sufficiency to only one conclusion; what men can spend their lives to “produce” is in reality vanity, striving after the wind. It is noteworthy, this is the conclusion of a man who was the wisest man on earth (by God’s grace) who possessed, pursued and indulged...
by David Rinehart | Nov 27, 2020 | Articles, Mentors Corner
“Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.” Jeremiah 9:23-24 Recently, God has impressed upon me the issue of presumption. I define presumption as those expectations (however illegitimate) I have placed upon God; how He should act, how He should treat me, how He should treat others, how He should treat those who persecute/harm me, how He meets my needs, etc. Over time, it has become clear to me that presumption is a soul crushing, silent, cancer of character which must be continually identified and purposefully removed to avoid harm to me and others around me. Apart from the filter of the Bible, one may not even realize how much presumption they have in their life. In many ways it is like the sin of covetousness; you don’t even recognize it as sin until the Bible defines it for you. Then you need to ask God to show you this sin in your life and repent. Admittedly a painful process, but powerfully healing. In developing my view of presumption, I found Romans, Ecclesiastes and 1 Corinthians to be mirrors to the souls of all men and a powerful reminder of the impact of presumption on a man’s life. Specifically, presumption can send a man to hell, leave a man with...
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