Luke 12:1-34

Jesus was telling His disciples that they should be more concerned about their standing with God rather than with the Pharisees. The worst that anyone on this earth can do to you is kill you, but if you're right with God, your eternal future (the part that matters most) will be secure. If you're not in right standing with God, you'll spend your eternity in hell. Even still, He told them that the Holy Spirit would be with them to teach them what to say when they would eventually be brought before the Pharisees or other leaders.

We can become so afraid of what other people think or what they might do to us if we proclaim belief in Christ and stand up for Him. That's just short-sighted thinking. People pleasing may make us comfortable in the here-and-now, but we need to be thinking of eternity. Jesus said that if we lift Him up before men, He will lift us up before God. This isn't just a one time thing though. We need to lift Him up in the things we say and the things we do all the time. The best part is, we don't need to go it alone. We can lean on the Holy Spirit for strength and guidance, especially when things seem to be getting tough.


Jesus taught that possessions don't determine you who are. Material things are temporary and we can't take them with us when we die. Rather than worrying about how we're going to get all the things we need to get by, we need to focus on serving God and He will take care of the rest.

Wherever we store our treasure, that is where our heart will be. When we serve God, we are storing treasures in heaven. Knowing what awaits us there, our hearts long for the day we will see the kingdom and see God face to face. If our treasure is here on earth, heaven has little appeal.