Lack - And a Snippet from More About Morgan

When I saw this week's word prompt for Five Minute Friday was "lack," I immediately thought of a scene I wrote about in my fiction work, More About Morgan, addressing the very idea of lack.

First, I'll write 5 minutes on the word, "Lack," from the perspective of not BEING enough; and then, if you're interested, I'll share what Morgan learned about lack from another perspective.

‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?”
Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
Matthew 19:19-21

GO

If you're like me, you may wonder if what you are doing is enough. Does pondering all the ways you are less than keep you up at night?

This story of the rich young ruler in the bible speaks to this situation. It might have looked like he had it all on the outside, but he knew there was something lacking.

So, he got inspired and decided to ask his hero, that young rabbi that everyone was talking about, "What do I lack?"

The answer was hard to swallow. 

Seriously? Jesus wanted him to give away his wealth and follow Him. Seems pretty radical.

It's not wrong to have money, but some people make it the boss of them instead of letting the Lord lead. Evidently, that was the rich young ruler's problem. His dollars ruled him instead of God.

He made the wrong decision but left us a lesson for a lifetime. When something is lacking in your life, go to the Lord and ask, "What do I lack?"

The Holy Spirit knows and will reveal it to you. Basically, it will be anything that keeps your focus from Christ, but sometimes we just have to have it spelled out for us.

STOP

Is there something lacking in YOUR life? No time like the present to ask Him for help in examining those things deep inside.

~~

Now, to address the subject of lack from the perspective of not HAVING enough, is a snippet from More About Morgan:

“Today,” Sister Clara said, “I feel a prompting from the Lord to share with you some truths found in Psalm 23.”

I remarked, “I’m a little surprised because we’ve been exclusively in the New Testament since we started studying together.”

Clara went on to explain, “That’s right, and we’ve been focusing on the gospels and also on spiritual warfare to give you a good grounding since you all are new to the faith. But we don’t want to leave the OT out! Mercy, no! There are such rich truths to be found.”

“You know, how John 3:16 is considered the gospel in a nutshell?”

We all nodded our heads in agreement, as Mom, ever the eager student, recited the timeless words,

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

“Well, to me, Psalm 23 is like the Christian walk in a nutshell. Let’s look at verse one.”

We all turned in our bibles to Psalm 23:1, 

“The Lord is my shepherd;I shall not want.”

Jamie said excitedly, “Look! My translation says it this way,

“The Lord is my shepherd; 

I have all that I need."

Sister Clara beamed. “Love that! And I can tell you from years of experience of walking with the Lord, I’ve found this to be true. I’m not saying I’ve been living the life of Riley ever since I accepted the Lord as my Savior, but when I look back over my life, I can truly say that I had everything I needed to make it. Not just spiritually, but materially and emotionally, too.”

“Mama used to say we’re not promised a rose garden but a friend that would stick to us closer than a brother would,” Mom smiled as she recalled Rose’s saying.

“I seem to remember a scripture in the New Testament that says something about God giving us everything we need …” I said as I was thumbing through my marked passages. “Ok, here it is,

“His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue”

Sister Clara nodded her head in agreement, “You see! It’s there, too. Everything we need to make it in this life will be given to us. We are to live our lives believing that and standing on it. When lack comes knocking at your door, slam the door in its face and say, ‘My God shall supply my need, Lack, you go away and don’t come back!’”

We all laughed as Sister Clara acted out pointing her finger to the imaginary Lack trying to get inside the door.

“God wants you to take Him at His word,” she explained. “Don’t be afraid to claim His word. You can say things like, “Father, I need peace in my life; and you promised I would have what I needed. I’m trusting you to give me peace.” And He will give it.”

~~~

I'm so honored you made it all the way to the end of this unusually long post! Thank you, dear reader, and be sure to visit the communities where I'm linking this post:

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