One of the beloved Christmas stories is that of the Wise Men and their journey from the distant East to seek and worship the Messiah. What can we learn from these wise men? Did they just have a one-time encounter with God and then go home? I have my doubts. If this was truly a momentous occasion, a real encounter with the Messiah, I bet they went home and spread the good news… that a King who had all authority in heaven and on earth, a King whose kingdom would never end, had finally come for the world. They would likely spread the news- that Jesus was the answer to “The Great Question” of life, the universe, everything!”

As we await the celebration of the birth of our savior take a moment to examine not only how sweet this season is- but to look into the life of one of the Bible’s unsung heroes and what we can learn from him about how obedience is the highest expression of our LOVE for our Heavenly Father.

Everything in prayer life changes when we focus FIRST on just adoring God. Tell God how amazing, magnificent and wonderful he is. How you are blessed by the extravagance of His love. How he was YOUR Jesus and hero. And do you know why things change? It won't be because you are pumping up God’s ego and all of the sudden He says: “Well, they're is finally telling me how great I am- Now I am going to give out some rewards!” No. That’s not how things happened at all. Think about it. Why does God want us to spend our time in adoration? Though He is worthy of it, it’s not because He needs to hear it--- it’s because we need to hear it!

Why does Jesus tell us to go pray in secret? Remember Jesus also says in Matthew 6: for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. So- Why go to our secret place and petition God if he already knows our petitions and our needs? The point is this- Prayer doesn’t change God, it changes us. The point of petition is not to pray fervently for what we want. It’s a time to allow God to work on our hearts so our petitions come in line with what God wants.

When we fast, we set our hearts above on Jesus and it reminds us that God sustains us! It is here you realize that He is your provision for a fully satisfied life. Remember Jesus is our Daily bread! John 6:35: Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. The challenge for you is to be sure you are getting your daily diet of spiritual food! Every day you need SOUL FOOD!

The best road map of your soul is- to be like the FBI- and “follow the money.” Jesus called “Money” “Mamon” in order to personalize it as a rival God. “Money” wraps up all the resources of your spiritual wallet. Time, Talent, and Treasure- ask yourself: Where does it all go? It’s painful to expend resources on things you don’t like, but if it’s something you really love--- the money and the time flies right out of your wallet and eats up your schedule! Is Jesus the place where you are expending your resources?

What does Jesus mean by Giving in Secret? What is one factor that gets in the way of our giving and choosing to be a servant for Christ? It is our own self-righteousness. There is a difference between choosing to serve and choosing to be a servant. When we choose to serve we put our “self” in charge and we hold the power. We expect “appreciation” for our deeds or we worry about being taken advantage of by those we are ”helping.” However, when we choose to be a servant we realize: A servant has no power. Servants are bound to allocate all of their resources to the master. When we choose to be God’s servants we surrender the “right” to choose who, what, where, when and how we will give and serve. We let God decide those things. Giving in secret is specifically designed to conquer our desire to have the power.

In today’s episode of Known and Loved we continue our series, A Secret Life, based on the teachings of Jesus in Matthew chapter 6. In this series we are examining the question: How do we deepen our relationship with God and gain security in the truth that we are known and loved by him? We search for the answers to that question in this episode by examining the idea of pursuing a Secret life with God through our giving. Today we find that transforming lives comes from all aspects of giving. God doesn’t just want us to throw our money at things. He wants us to throw our lives and our hearts in with people. That means people will see it. The heart of Secret Giving is not that no one ever sees. It’s that you’re motivation isn’t in the being “seen.”