Friday, November 25,
2011
I find myself in a strange place. Yesterday I documented a
few of the things I am thankful for and yet something else is going on inside
of me. I find that no matter how much I've grown or progressed in the Lord, I
am never satisfied. I often, if not always feel like I am falling short of the
mark. I tend to think more about my weaknesses than I do my strengths. Even
though I am a pretty optimistic person and believe and hope for the best, I
find my thoughts focused on my failures rather than my victories. I'm not sure
why that is.
I also feel like there is a fairly wide gap between where I
am in my faith and where the rest of my family is. It's like we share the same
basic values but have substantially different commitments to those values. I'm
not trying to be judgmental, I just know the time and effort I put into my
development of relationship with the Lord and I don't see them willing to make
the same effort. It frustrates me because I know that it is a key to unity in
our family and it makes it more difficult for me to communicate to them what
the Lord is speaking to me.
I have a great sense of urgency! I know God is moving in a
way that few if anyone has seen before. The Church has become so contaminated
with the concerns and behavior of the world that it reflects very little of
Christ. It is for this reason that God is raising up a remnant of believers who
will walk as Kingdom Citizens. People who are 100% sold out to God and will
obey His voice completely and without question.
Maybe that is why I'm not
satisfied with my relationship with Him. On the one hand I know I am more
mature and have a healthier experience in Christ than I ever have, but on the
other hand I know I/we have some significant areas of disobedience to the Lord.
Areas of life that are unrepentant and resists the will of God. The hard truth
is that I/we have some behaviors and decisions in our life that we want to
control and not surrender to Him.
This is a difficult place to be when God is in the process
of raising up His Kingdom people to clearly meet a higher standard than what we
see in the mainstream church today. No wonder I am experiencing so much
conflict both internally and with those I love and are closest to me. I believe
this stronghold must be broken for God to fully release His blessing upon me/us
so we can move into His good and perfect will.
The challenges we have
experienced over the years have been God's process of extracting us out of the
world and its distorted mindsets, even in the church, in order to bring us into
a place of His truth and clarity. It creates a conflict between what we think
we know and His truth because so much false doctrine and teaching has found its
way into our seminaries and churches.
People often say the truth will make you free but that is a
misquote of the Bible, it actually says, we must KNOW the TRUTH and that is
what sets us free. We live in a time when our minds are literally bombarded
with information and messages nearly every waking moment. TV, radio, web enabled mobile devices,
computers, ipods, etc. With all of these input/output devices pumping
information and demanding our attention, how do we ever find a quiet peaceful
place to spend time with our Heavenly Father? Why do we consider prayer and the
reading of His word a chore?
Consider this thought? We have a REAL heavenly Father, who
loved us enough to send His only Son to die on a cross to give us freedom from
our sinful nature and Satan's control or influence in our life. He has also
given us the Holy Spirit to be our coach, comforter, and guide to teach and
train us in how to use the power and authority that we have been given. And
because we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior we can boldly come
before the throne of God to ask for His purpose and instructions for our life
to be realized. We can and are having direct relationship with the creator of
all that is in the universe and has put His breath and Spirit within us, but we
act like and think like it is a chore or work to spend time with Him.
Why? Because it may interfere with the TV show we want to
watch, or the game we want to play, or some other form of entertainment that we
want to engage. We would rather give our focus and energy to some synthetic
form of pleasure or personal pursuit than spend quality time with the Father of
the universe who has loved and sacrificed so much just so He could restore
relationship with us, the creation that He loves so much. Isn't that idolatry?
Isn't this the same trend and behavior that we see over and over in the Bible
that led to the enslavement and adversity on the children of Israel?
Yet we will quote our scriptures, make our declarations and
proclaim His authority as though we have it all together, but like Samson after
his haircut we wake up to find that our power has left us. We have been deceived
by a relationship that brought us sensual pleasure whose only motive was to
take away our power and put us in chains. Samson was blind before they ever
took his eyes and so are many of us.
That is why He has given us this word; Ephesians 5:14 The Message (MSG)
11-16Don't waste your time on useless work,
mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the
sham they are. It's a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must
do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip the cover off those frauds and
see how attractive they look in the light of Christ. Wake up from your sleep,
Climb out of your coffins;
Christ will show you the light!
So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!
My translation is to stop deluding ourselves into thinking that the efforts we make to do busy church work has any value in the Kingdom of God when our hearts and attentions are so far from His. When will we recognize that He first wants all of our heart, mind and strength to be focused on and in Him and those closest to us before we can effectively and powerfully deliver the Gospel to the world around us. We are commanded to seek first His Kingdom and Righteousness and then all of these things will be added unto us.
May God place His hand on this word and it be a blessing of truth being spoken into your soul.
Steve
