Treasuring God in Troubles

• James 4:14 says, “You do not even know what will happen tomorrow.” Since we do not know what will happen tomorrow or even in the next moment, is it biblical for us to plan or prepare for the future?

• Does the inner working of the Father in us eliminate our responsibility to participate in Christ being at home in our hearts?

• If Christ already dwells in believers by His Spirit, why does Paul pray for strength for us so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith (Eph. 3:16–17)?

• Why does James use a vapor or mist metaphor for human life (James 4:14)?

On any given day, we spend most of our waking hours working for that paycheck. Perhaps that's why 2,350 verses in the Bible deal with finances. In fact, more Bible verses refer to money than to faith, love, and baptism put together. To be good stewards of our material treasures, particularly money, we need wisdom.

We often store things that are precious to us in a safe place. But according to the apostle Peter, we have the treasures of our Christian life in the Word of God. According to 2 Peter 1:4, God's glory and goodness have provided believers with "very great and precious promises" that enable us to "participate in the divine nature." The clue to understanding what Peter means by this is in the phrase that follows: "having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires."

Recently we received a reader letter and a photo that made our Today in the Word team extraordinarily happy!