Most often I realize the message here tends to be repetitive, and for good reason. In the face of all that is out there, one message is really all you need and it is through the lens of that one message that everything should be view and started from. An intimate, personal, life transforming relationship with Jesus Christ is our baseline and cornerstone. It is the air we breath and the food that provides nutrition for who we are becoming. If you preach and teach in that direction who could get tired of that? So here is just one of many reasons He continually presses me to reiterate that all so important message. Many will write books and stand before people and teach gospel centered principles and promises.They do this in a variety of ways. The use allegories and acronyms, they talk about the 5 points to this and 5 ways we need to change this. Information is presented well, in most cases and what I can not argue with is how in many cases it is the scriptures themselves that give great bases to what is being taught. And yet, here is where I have what amounts to a massive struggle. God keeps calling me deeper and closer to Him. I strive to get there and I am certain that I am not even close to where He wants me to be. As a side note, I feel as though I am on the verge of clearing some really awesome spiritual hurdle. I say that because at times there is clarity and at times confusion or doubt. The times of clarity are becoming more frequent, which brings me an encouraging joy. Anyway, this deeper and closer walk with Him has Him pointing to many things, the most common are the people. I feel like He has me on this quest to find people that are completely sold out to Him and form a team so that we can unite and encourage each other to keep pushing forward. To not lose hope that there are so few that are really, really, genuinely serious about their walk with Him. So Im just gonna say whats on my heart...where are His followers? I see plenty of people that are kind of interested. I see many that are what you might call going through the motions. Now this is not judgement, because here is the lens that He has me looking through and I know very well that transformation is a process that works it self out over time. But Jesus says give up everything for Me. He says it over and over again in the Gospels. In the Beatitudes He walks us through those who are blessed and yet we live and talk as though having much is His blessing. It is only through quiet, daily, intimate, devotion to Him that we can ever have Him speak to our heart and transform our lives and yet again I ask...who is doing that? Who is even offering to continually teach that? Its probably because that message is not fancy and rarely does it ever make you feel all warm inside and real good about yourself. But thats the problem. Thats what we really want, dont we? We want to be told we are okay. And not only that, we want a few pointers thrown in on ways we can please God. And yet if we are truly striving to please Him it is our unquestioned obedience He is after. And when it comes to some of the tough choices He leads you and I to in life, we almost always choose what we think is best, way before we consider what it is that He thinks is best. That engine that feeds our well being can not be defused. So we make decisions on jobs because we need the money. And we choose what to spend our money on to maintain our status in life. You really wanna know if someone has any inkling of being sold out to Christ in relation to where they are in life. Ask them to daily pray this prayer...God, I want to be obedient to you as a high form of worship. If this vocation you have me in, is not where you want me to be, then please pull me from here and place me where you desire me to be, even if that means nothing for whatever period of time you need to speak to my heart. I know it is not your will for me to be idle and will patiently wait, while diligently seeking you, for you to place me in my next vocation as I trust you completely...In Jesus name...amen. Before all the what abouts come rumbling to the surface, those are not your concern, if your are striving to follow Him. And thus that takes me back to all of those messages and books that we read and listen to that we rarely get told that the gospel centered messages and these principles and promises are only for those that are genuinely IN Christ. Its almost like the writer or the speaker just makes the assumption that their audience is just there...IN Christ And yet, as I said, where are these people? Where are these genuine, humble, sold-out followers of Christ? And so what is happening is this huge misconception for many, many people. The speaker does not qualify these things through the lens of the sold-out follower, they talk as if that is a forgone conclusion. So we all sit there and decide that wherever we are, we must be okay, and that is certainly not the case at all. That, is why thousands upon thousands walk in and out of church and in and out of your life with this idea that they are okay and good, because no one is telling them otherwise, all the while they are trying to fulfill the 5 point plan to displaying grace from the message they heard on the weekend. Do you see my point? Following Christ is really difficult and few strive to go anywhere and everywhere He asks us to go because that is a difficult place to get to. What is probably a better way of stating that is, do you have any desire to get there and are you trying to be obedient to Him? This walk comes at a huge price and when we devalue it by not continually pointing people to how much it cost the Father to offer it and how much it will cost them to follow Him, we are simply leading people to a lie that says they are okay. The sad part is nobody seems too concerned about it, but because I have a loving Father that asks me to be obedient and share things that arent wildly popular, youre probably going to continually here it from me. Whats worse, the more I do, the more the enemy swoops in and tries to create havoc in my life. So I plead with the Father for His hedge of protection, all the while knowing that even as God allows the enemy to attack...it is God that is saying...are you sure you want to continue to be my messenger? On the surface it doesnt seem fair to be His messenger and deliver what He asks and then get pummeled by the enemy, but that is how He has chosen to continue to keep me on the path of transformation, reconciliation and sanctification, all I can do is continue to look at Jesus, for in Him is my hope and my joy. His truth must be shared...
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 11:18:15 +0000