This guest post is coming atcha from a very special blogging buddy named Moe Vivas, whom I like to call Moevelous, also known as Moeses. Moe is a brotha in Christ who has impacted my faith in more ways than he even realizes. He writes with conviction, shares from the heart, and always makes me literally LOL. Read more of his words at Beta Christian and Discipulus and be sure to follow him on Twitter.
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Technology moves at the speed of light. Just when you think you got the hang of it, it shifts and introduces a new way to make our lives easier. It’s hard to ignore that technology has changed how we communicate, listen to music and access our data.
Today, the fight for the consumer is by offering an effective and painless way of offering server space for all our data. This is called the “The Cloud”. You no longer have to keep your music in your device, you can stream it from the cloud. Your photos? Access them on a server. Documents, backups, bookmarks, emails? They live in the cloud also.
In the next 12 to 24 months our culture will shift and we’ll be singing the cloud’s benefits. We will no longer have to manage files, music, photos, etc. Whenever we need them, we’ll fetch them from the cloud. The cloud becomes the mothership of our information. We will keep our eyes on the cloud for all of our computing needs.
Store your treasures in the “Cloud”
One of Moe's many fabulous instagrams
In Matthew 6:20 Jesus encourages His disciples to store up their treasures in the cloud {heaven}. This is the place where our treasures will be safe. We don’t worry about losing our data or someone breaking into that “server” and take what is rightfully ours. Our Father’s cloud has the best protection with the best guarantee in the whole world:
neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal
We don’t have to build treasures in this world. What God offers us Christians is a place of hope that is ours. It’s not a complicated strategy. It’s simple, yet powerful.
A Cloud with Hope
Apple promises an automatic and effortless cloud strategy. It’s integrated into your apps, so you can access your content on all your devices. Microsoft offers online storage for thousands of docs and photos with your data a click away. Google organizes your information and makes it universally accessible and useful.
In other words, there are huge benefits that come with those offers.
But what God offers is a more intelligent and perfect strategy. One that builds a hope that is everlasting.
Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. {John 14:1-3}
Jesus was telling His disciples that He was personally involved in preparing a place for them. This place is where He dwells. A place that will be theirs as well. And the benefits and hope of this place is that last sentence. Where He is, they will be. Now that’s what I call a cloud strategy.
This Is It!
John, the disciple that Jesus loved, was taken into an abandoned island. While there, he received a vision so amazing that it’s written in the last book of our Bibles. He received a sneak peak at this place that Jesus promises. He goes on to say,
And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.
This is perhaps the best motivator. We have this hope that comes with trusting this Jesus. Very little is said of this “new Jerusalem” but what is said, cannot be compared.
Today’s culture has begun singing the benefits of cloud computing. But what they can’t offer is the glory of what God offers in Jesus Christ. Effortless syncing {prayer}, unlimited storage, security and a living hope. There is no shame in that. Only glory!
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What treasures are you storing up in God’s “Cloud”?
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Nicely done Moe. Good work Keri securing Moe for a guest.
It’s funny when I think about “The Cloud” it changes what I might would have stored if I was just thinking about my “treasures.” I makes me less petty, less selfish. That is what I need to be all the time.
Securing? She did a background check and interviewed me for 12 hours just to guest post. Insane!
I agree with you. The “cloud” really puts things in perspective. When I lift up my eyes, I see how insignificant some of my worries are and how my foolish “treasures” are temporary.
Yes, I will admit. I put Moe through months of interrogation and sleep deprivation before he passed my numerous tests. Wahahahaha
The Cloud is coming and I do not fully trust it yet….
I love tech, my wife calls me gadget boy, and if provided with the funds my house would look like something from a sci-fi movie. I am also old enough to not trust imaginary data to the extreme….I know they have redundant storage and servers…but hard copies or at least my own hard drives/cd’s give me some comfort.
We have that hard copy of God in Jesus Christ….the Eternal Second person of the Trinity who took on flesh and became the God-man….If you have seen ME you have seen the FATHER
We also have His Word to learn from and His Spirit to guide us….
I think I feel a post coming on….
God bless and Keep the Faith
Hey Luther. Welcome to the club. I’m a geek to tenth degree.
I like your way of thinking. Jesus is God’s hard drive. The Cloud became flesh (physical as in hard drive) and has given us the Spirit to look above and have a constant connection.
Awesome stuff Luther!
Oooh, Luther…I’m not techy, but I really do like your analogy of Jesus as the hard copy! Holla!
Technology & Theology! That’s what I’m talking about! #geekedout
Almost spelled the same! Sick!
What a great parallel that I never considered before. I think the moments that I consciously make sacrifices for my family are treasures that I get to enjoy on earth while storing them up in the “cloud”.
Indeed they are, the inspiration, hope and love you exemplify are a testimony of your God. Just remember, behave or the ECN will make sure you get to the “cloud” faster.
Awesome post, Moe!
It’s so easy to get caught up in earthly treasures…like my iPhone haha, but nothing compares to God’s cloud. My hope, my trust is in Him.
Oh don’t worry, iPhones are from the cloud! From the cloud they came and to the cloud they will return.
Keep trusting in Him. And when I forget, remind me!
Other than to say – great post – I do not know what else to say!
When it comes to storing in the cloud of Christ – I store my treasures there where moth and rust or computer virus cannot destroy!
Word! Tamper-proof storage!
Truth be told, I’m not a huge fan of iCloud. I think Cloud, in general, is the future… but *gasp*…. not Apple’s offering.
I want to store up kind words, acts of service, and investments in my childrens’ lives…
The greatest thing is that there is never any down time from His Side and the treasure is found in Him anyway. All else is simply fringe benefits.
You speak blasphemies!
You are only seeing the beginning of iCloud. You’ll be singing it’s praises.
As far as your investment? That has heavenly benefits!
I love this cloud… the hydrologic cycle… evaporation… transpiration… precipitation… how it’s all connected… I know I want to store up as much goodness as I can… excited about eternity!
My struggle is that I let the things of this world prevent me from storing up the treasures in heaven. And, I don’t mean in a material sense, but just the every day of life-the laundry, the dishes, the chauferring the kids, going to the DMV. It takes so much energy out of me at times to just live my life that sometimes I feel so depleted by the temporal that I have little energy left for the eternal. I’m recognizing that I need to instill some new habits and disciplines to keep myself in check and CREATE time for the spiritual nourishment that I need. Thanks for the gut check Moevelous.
I LOVE this, Moe. You’re a pretty great guy – and I’m privileged to know you
I haven’t taken stock of what I have stored up in heaven, but I sure hope I am billionaire by the time I get to heaven. There are many things that we can do here on earth to ensure that we store up our treasures in heaven, i.e. visit the sick, visit prisoners, help feed the hungry, help our neighbor in need, and the list goes one. Of course we can’t show Jesus’ leave and try to keep a running tally of what we have done on earth, otherwise we will get our just reward on earth, and miss our heavenly reward. Great post Moe. This truly a “Pop Parable”. God Bless.