I’m just not there yet.
You are way too spiritual for me.
I’m glad that works for you, but I’m good where I’m at.
Those just aren’t my convictions.
The list of responses I’ve heard from Christians goes on when having discussions about lifestyle.
With that in mind, I want to talk about how easy it is for us to become complacent and just how dangerous getting there is. We start off extreme for Jesus, telling everyone we see, worshiping big, wearing the T-shirt’s, and volunteering in every department at church. We attend every activity and feel proud to be a part of something much bigger than ourselves. Then, somewhere down the line things change. When does that change happen and why?
When you don’t make intentional acts every day to pursue a life in Jesus, through Jesus, and because of Jesus, that’s when. And to quote Smith Wigglesworth on the why, “when you’re not moving forward you’re moving backward.” There seems to come a time with many of us when we begin to believe lies. The lies that we’re doing better than so-in-so, so we must be doing good. Or maybe it’s that no one else around us is living that extreme so that must not be right.
Peter tells us it is written “be Holy even as he is Holy.”(1 Peter 1:16) Holy here means saint which is pure and sacred. Jesus was sacred and pure, a saint, so we too must be.
“So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.” James 1:21
“So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.” Romans 8:6
The Jesus life isn’t just a name, it isn’t just a good thing to say; it’s not just religion. It’s a relationship.
Relationship is defined in the dictionary as involvement with someone; intimate. Would you say that you’re involved with Jesus today?
Part of being involved with someone is having the desire to know them more. You do that by spending time with them. If you have been reading my posts, then you’ve seen that concept mentioned in most of them. That’s because that is what Christianity, the Jesus life truly consists of at the fundamental level.
“Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, then all these things will be added to you.” Matt. 6:33
Seeking the kingdom of God is seeking his way about life, his vision of his bond with man. It’s knowing his characteristics and acting in accordance with that. And it’s allowing his Holy Spirit to transform you from within.
We try to complicate things. We try to make knowing the will of God some far off impossibility. When really His will is his word. Isn’t what you will expressed by what you say?
I’ve asked a lot of questions today because I want you to perform a self evaluation. Determine where you are in your relationship with God today. Then get in his word, talk to him, worship him, and see where he wants you to be. Then do it again tomorrow. And the next day. And the next. You don’t have to change yourself, you just have to be willing to let God change you.
The W.O.R.D. 