Lukewarm Virgin With An Empty Lamp

When I was a lukewarm Christian, I thought me and God were cool. My relationship with God was on my terms and He simply overlooked my sins because I was saved in Christ, right?  That's what salvation means, right?  That Christ forgives us for our sins and we continue to live our lives pursuing our own interests?  Living our lives for our own pleasure according to our own plans?  Dating who we want to date, marrying who we want to marry, divorcing when our choice doesn't work out never mind the fact that we never consulted God in the first place, wine and cocktails on the weekends, watching what we want to watch, listening to music that glorifies the things of the world, spending our money on what we want, living our lives according to our feelings ...... all with a little bit of God on the side.  A spiritual blue-plate special with a heapin' helping of ourselves and a side-order of God.  That was me and God for a long time, and nobody needed to question my relationship with God because me and God were good.

It is that deluded mindset of my past, that drives my passion for what I do now. Because God lifted me out of that self-deception, I have a passion for those who are still stuck in it.  I was saved for a long time, but I had never bothered to read the Bible.  Sure, I got snippets of scripture here and there and listened to the messages at church on my sporadic attendances, but I didn't have time for Bible study.  I was too busy with my own stuff.  I didn't need to go to church every Sunday because my relationship with God was my business, the Body of Christ could operate just fine without me.  There was even a time when I taught Sunday school, feeling like I was doing "my reasonable service" for God, but all the while I was still worldly minded and living my life for my own desires and purposes.

When I finally read the Bible, you know, the whole thing, I was forced to reconcile the way I was living my life with the way scripture said I was supposed to be living my life. I was also forced to reconcile Who I thought God was, with Who scripture says He is.  I was also forced to reconcile the actual Jesus of the Bible, with the love-your-neighbor Jesus I grew up hearing about.  I was forced to reconcile these things with the way I was living my life, because according to scripture I was a hypocrite.  I was not living out the faith I claimed to believe in and follow because my life was more about myself than Christ.  You see, claiming to be a Christian and actually living like one according to scripture, are two totally different animals.  It was when I read the Bible, that God revealed to me that I was a lukewarm virgin with an empty lamp, and that is something that you do not want to be when Christ returns.

Jesus speaks of Christians with lukewarm faith at Revelation Chapter 3. They are the middle-of-the-road Christians of the Church of Laodicea, which I wrote more about in an article titled, "Examining The Church Of Laodicea".  That was me for a long time.  I was saved in Christ, but I wasn't doing anything with my salvation, I had no passion for scripture and no passion to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  My faith was dead because I had no works to back it up (James 2:17), and there was very little change being done on the inside of me by the Holy Spirit because I lived a life that didn't foster an environment where the Holy Spirit could flourish.  I was full of the world and I was full of excuses.  I was one of those that Christ said, "I will spit you out of my mouth.." (Rev 3:16). Those are Christ's words, not mine.  And they are harsh and they are painful to hear and they were offensive to my fleshly ears.

Jesus also tells a parable about the ten wise and foolish virgins at Matthew Chapter 25. They are believers in Christ who all began with their lamps full of spiritual oil.  But only five took extra oil for their lamps with them to meet the Bridegroom (Jesus).  All ten anticipated Jesus' return.  All ten fell asleep.  All ten woke up at the shout of the Bridegroom.  But only five had enough oil to go with Him.  The haunting words of Christ tell us, "those who were ready went in with Him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut." (Matt 25:10).  Those who were ready.  Those who had the extra oil.  Those words haunted me because all that time I thought I was ready, I wasn't ready according to the words of Christ, Who says those who are truly ready to be taken from this place will be those who have the extra oil for their lamps.

We can't earn our salvation, nor do we keep our salvation with works of our own effort. The salvation of our soul from hell is free and it is ours eternally by God's grace.  However, the Bible speaks of a time in which Christ will return to take "those who were ready in with Him to the wedding feast.." And I don't know about you, but that is a party I don't want to miss.  Neither do I want to find out what those who weren't ready must endure after that door is shut, because the Bible also speaks of a time in which those in Christ will be, "handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of Me." (Matt 24:9).  A time in which the Beast that is coming will be "allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them." (Rev 13:7).  How this will all actually play out, I do not know.  But I do know that if there is any way for us to escape it, then we should strive for it.  We should be serious enough about our Father's business to strive for the extra oil that He freely gives to those who seek it.

These should not be received as words of discouragement, but as sobering words for a church that is drunk with the world, enamored with "self", and blinded by our emotions. I don't write this blog to appeal to people's flesh.  God led me to start this blog to appeal to people's spirit with His word of truth.  Often times the truth is bitter to the taste, but sweet to the soul of those who are teachable-- to those who genuinely hunger for righteousness and thirst for truth.  I take great joy in the fact that Jesus' instructions to correct someone like I use to be are simple and reasonable: "be zealous and repent."

"Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you." (Rev 2:5)

"I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent." (Rev 3:18,19)

"Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place." (Rev 2:5)

"If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire." (1 Cor 3:14,15)

Unqualified

Sometimes I wrestle with God over some of the things He leads me to write about because I don't feel qualified to speak on such matters. My argument is, "Who am I to point a finger?  Who am I to call out sin, when I am a sinner myself?"  As I was mowing the grass the other day, feeling sorry for myself and fretting and wrestling with God over some of my own spiritual shortcomings, He spoke into my spirit, "I didn't call you because you are qualified, I called you because you are obedient."

The Bible never tells us what we must do to be "qualified" to serve God because we are all flawed and we are all sinners, so, in essence, we are all unqualified.  The Bible only tells us what makes us disqualified from serving Him in certain capacities.  As I continued to mow that day, God began to bring to my mind examples of various people in the Bible who He called to serve Him. And there were two things that they all shared:  they were unqualified and they were obedient.  Jacob, Moses, David, Gideon, Jonah, Peter-- all were unqualified, but all were obedient. 

The simple fact of the matter, is that I am indeed unqualified. I disciple under my Pastor and I've read the Bible from cover to cover, but I have no degrees behind my name, I have no formal training.  No mantle of spiritual authority has been handed down to me.  The only claim I can make is Christ, and that is enough.  I am not qualified, but the Holy Spirit that works within me, is.  Every morning I tell God that I am His to use, for whatever purpose.  I ask Him to search my heart and show me any wicked way within me.  I ask Him to open my eyes to truth and to make me well-equipped for service unto Him.  I ask Him to correct any wrong thinking or understanding and to help me rightly divide His word of truth.  I say with my mouth, "Father I submit to You in obedience, You are Lord of my life."  I ask that my humility be genuine and my motives and intentions be pure. I ask Him to make me clean, to pluck a burning coal from His holy altar and place it upon my lips, that I may only speak His truth and nothing else.   I pray all these things, and I mean them.

I am not sharing these candid, intimate details of my life to make it seem like I am some spectacularly faithful person, because I'm not. There is nothing exceptional about me, I am just like everyone else.  I am simply obedient.  I have counted the cost to follow Christ and I am willing to die to whatever is necessary for me to glorify God with my life and bear Him fruit (Luke 14:28).  Which means that any person who is saved in Christ can be used in a mighty way and can experience the spiritual riches of an intimate relationship with God and hear His voice clearly, as long as they are obedient.  It is equally available to all of us, none of us being of any greater value to God than the other. 

I am sharing these personal details of my life, because I want people to know and understand that God will always answer these kinds of prayers. God answers these kinds of prayers because they are His will for us.  He desires that we know Him intimately.  He desires that we submit to Him so we can bear Him fruit with our lives.  He desires us to understand His word and to hear His voice clearly.  These are all prayers that are in line with His will.

No human being could ever possibly be "qualified" to serve God because God is perfect and we are not. However, scripture tells us that we can be well-equipped for such service through study and application of His word, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Tim 3:16,17).

God is without failure, without fault, and without flaw and we, in our humanity, are intimately acquainted with all three. Therefore, if it were necessary that God call only those who were qualified, zero would be a very short list to choose from.  For all intents and purposes, it is only our obedience to the Holy Spirit that works within us that qualifies us for service unto a perfect and holy God and it is a thorough knowledge and application of His word that makes us well-equipped for such service.

"It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." (2 Cor 3:5,6)

"But thank God! ... Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume..... And who is adequate for these things? Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God." (2 Cor 2:14-17)

"If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work." (2 Tim 2:21)

"Now the God of peace... even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen." (Heb 13:20,21)

Examining The Church Of Laodicea

In a previous post titled, "Fire And Brimstone",  I discussed the church movement that has taken place over the last half-century to attempt to play-down the role of our sinfulness in the application of the Gospel.  However, because our understanding of sin is utterly integral to the Gospel message of Christ, any attempt to separate sin from the cross results in preaching another gospel.  It is this preaching of another gospel over the last half-century that has ushered us into the lukewarm Laodicean Church age. 

Jesus' Letters to the Churches in the Book of Revelation are to seven literal churches that existed at the time Revelation was written.  However, a very common understanding of those Letters is that they also spoke to seven different "types" of churches that would exist from that time and throughout, until Christ's return.  And it is with that perspective that we see that the Laodicean Church would be the last church "age" before Christ's return. Each church age would correspond to a definitive time period, yet some of each type would exist simultaneously.  Meaning, although we may be in the Laodicean age, there are other church types that still exist during this age.

So, let's open up our Bibles to Revelation Chapter 3, verses 14-22 and see what Christ has to say to us during this Laodicean age of the Church.

The first thing He says is, "I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot." (v. 15).  The first thing Christ says to this church is that their faith is mediocre and they have no real passion.  No passion about their salvation, nor for His word.  They may have come to the cross, but they are still living in the world and are blinded by the things of the world.  These are "middle-of-the-road" Christians.

Then He tell them, "So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth." (v. 16).  Because of this church's complacency in regard to their "works"--for example:  standing up for truth, seeking God through prayer, reading His word and living their lives according to that word-- Jesus said that He would reject them.  These words of our Savior should make everyone who claims faith in Christ to sit up and take notice.  Every human being who claims to have faith in Christ should be deeply affected by these words.  Jesus is not playing "church", and neither should we.

Next, Jesus tells them, "Because you say, 'I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,' and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked," (v. 17).  The most heartbreaking thing about this whole situation, is that this group of believers think they are in right standing with God with their mediocre faith.  The real passion in this church is for their own way of living, their culture and their own selfish desires and pursuits.  Many in the church today have far more passion for their favorite sports team, their personal hobbies, their favorite book or television series, their favorite movie themes, their favorite band or music, or clothing and fashion, than they do about the things of God and His word.  We are far more consumed with all the worldly things we are passionate about that bring us circumstantial satisfaction and temporal enjoyment. 

But Jesus tells them that all of the things that have their attention most of the time, are an utter waste of time, and are worthless in comparison to the eternal things of God, "I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see." (v. 18).

When He tells them to "buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich,"  He is speaking of the refining "fires" of sanctification that all Christians must go through.  We are saved by faith, but our souls are refined through the fires of obedience to God's word (Eph 5:26; James 1:21; 2 Thess 2:13) and death to self.  That is what Jesus meant when He said, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." (Matt 16:24,25). The white garments Christ speaks of, is the pursuit of righteousness.  As Christians, a genuine faith in Christ should compel us toward a life of progressive sanctification-- a life of increasing righteousness and victory over sinful behavior.  Christ accuses this church of being spiritually naked and blind, not only because they continue to dwell in unrighteousness, but also because they are utterly ignorant of their shameful condition. 

One of the trademarks of this Laodicean church, is that an entire group of believers have come to the cross for forgiveness, without ever having truly repented.  Or, perhaps they repented initially, but failed to understand that repentance, or "turning away", is something we must do daily, throughout our entire lifetime.  Without perpetual repentance, without daily "turning away" from sin and the things of this world, no real change happened on the inside of them.  Or, what change that did occur, became stunted.  In either regard, Jesus is telling them that they still need to undergo sanctification through the "fires" of refinement.

And it is that sanctification through the "fire" of refinement that will purify them in order that their garments may become "white".  Jesus is telling them that the way they are living their lives is making a mockery of His blood that was shed to deliver them from sin.  He is also telling them that their utter lack of effort or cooperation toward any spiritual maturity is shameful and has left them spiritually naked, "...the shame of your nakedness.." and He advises them to buy "eye salve" so that they may see their actual spiritual condition, verses the image of the one they have comforted themselves with in their own mind.

No doubt these words of our Lord and Savior are harsh and even offensive to those who may be in this particular spiritual condition, however Jesus doesn't apologize for His severe tone.  Instead, He justifies His instructions to them by saying, "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent." (v. 19).  In essence, Jesus is telling them, "I love you enough to tell you the truth, even and especially when you don't want to hear it, even though it hurts, even though it may seem harsh and cruel.  But it is my genuine love for you that makes this revelation to you necessary." 

And because Jesus is a perfect Savior, He does not simply rebuke them and then leave them to wallow in discouragement.  He tells them what they need to do to fix their situation:  "be zealous and repent."  He gives them instructions that are simple and reasonable. He tells them to be more consumed with the things of His kingdom, rather than the things of this world.  He tells them to be more passionate about His kingdom, His ways and His word, rather than their own kingdom, their own ways and the words of men.  And He tells them to repent, to confess that they have sought the wrong things, been passionate about the wrong things, been distracted by the wrong things and to turn away from them.  He is telling them to confess and admit that they have failed at making a genuine, consistent, faithful effort towards spiritual growth and to make the changes in their life that are necessary to put their spiritual growth on the top of their list of priorities, "be zealous".

Then, because He loves them, He makes them a promise, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me." (v. 20).  He tells them if they will heed and obey His word, then He will help them make the changes they need to make in themselves and in their lives.  Indeed, it is the Holy Spirit that does the sanctifying work in us to help us more reflect the image of our Savior, but we must cooperate.  God will not change a person against their will, and when we are distracted by the things of this world and by our emotions and our circumstances, very little cooperation takes place.  And when we spend little to no time in prayer and fellowship with God and in His word, any cooperation on our part grinds to a standstill.

Lastly, Jesus makes them another promise, one that is filled with hope and a future, "He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." (v. 21,22). 

Fire And Brimstone

The very foundation of the Gospel message is predicated on the notion of sin and our salvation from it.  Unfortunately, over the course of church history, many well-meaning pastors inundated their congregations with fire-and-brimstone messages of God's judgment of sin, and balanced it out with very little of God's abundant grace towards repentant sinners.  The result of their extreme focus on God's very real hatred of sin, in effect, caused the pendulum to swing in an equally opposite extreme towards His very real abundance of grace towards those who repent from their sins.  Anything done to one extreme, usually results in a backlash toward the other extreme, neither of which portraying true balance. 

Thus, over the last half-century, most church movements have laboriously tried to disassociate themselves from the "fire-and-brimstone" messages of their predecessors. Which means that the pendulum has swung from "fire-and-brimstone", clear to the opposite side with "hyper-grace", resulting in an equally unbalanced presentation of the Gospel Message of Christ.  But despite the best efforts of many church movements over the last half-century, sin cannot be separated from the cross.  A message of hyper-grace may fill the churches, but it will not fill those who hunger for true righteousness. 

Any attempt to divest sin from the message of salvation in Jesus Christ results in preaching another gospel (Gal 1:6-9; 2 Cor 11:4).  Which means if you preach the true Gospel of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, then you must preach about sin, for it is our sin that makes the Gospel necessary.  Jesus didn't die for us to be happy, Jesus died because we are sinners in need of eternal salvation from hell.  Not a popular, warm and fuzzy message, but Gospel truth nonetheless.  Jesus loves us even though we are sinners, but He will not allow us to dwell in it.  Which means when we come to Christ in true repentance, we cannot bring our sinful lifestyle with us.  Jesus said, "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. No one puts new wine into old wineskins.." (Mark 2:21,22).  Forgiveness of sin, and sanctification from sin through continued obedience, are part and parcel of genuine salvation.

I have borne witness to those going so far as to quote Jesus' interaction with the adulterous woman at John Chapter 8 as an example of Him excusing sinfulness.  But the reality of John 8:11, is that when Jesus told the adulterous woman He did not condemn her for her sin, the word used in scripture is "KATAKRINO", which means He did not judge her worthy of punishment.  Why?  Because He could see true repentance in her heart.  That is why He simply told her, "Go and sin no more."  Because He knew, in her heart, she truly wanted to turn away from it.  Jesus never defended her for committing the sin.  He never said what she did was okay.  He never encouraged her to embrace it as a part of her life, neither did He try to convince everyone to be accepting of what she did.  He only said He wouldn't punish her for it and to never do it again. 

Jesus said, "I have come into the world to testify to the truth." (John 18:37).  And as followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to the same testament.  Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life.."  Therefore, anyone who condemns truth, whether a believer or unbeliever, condemns Christ.  And the truth is, God hates sin.  The truth is, when we come to salvation, God expects us to live holy lives.  The truth....is equal parts fire-and-and-brimstone and abundant grace.

"..but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy.'" (1 Peter 1:15,16)

 

"For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life." (1 Thess 4:7)

"But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral persons and those who practice magic arts, and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." (Rev 21:8)

"I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins.  I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless." (Isaiah 13:11) 

 

Spiritual Cannibalism

Scripture tells us that the Pharisees of Jesus' day told Him to rebuke His disciples for glorifying Him by speaking truth.  Scripture then tells us Jesus answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” (Luke 19:40).  This is one of my favorite verses in all of scripture because it attests to the fact that truth is an irresistible force that has no equal.  It cannot be counterbalanced because it is balance itself.  Truth needs no defense because it stands alone in eternal offense, marching forward against time and circumstance, history and culture.  When Jesus was being questioned by Pontius Pilate, He told him, "I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." (John 18:37).  Pilate then asked Jesus, "What is truth?" (v. 38).  Unbeknownst to Pilate, Truth was standing right in front of him, about to be put on trial, judged by the people and crucified.

An unfortunate condition of the church today, is that many of those who claim to have made Truth Lord of their life, condemn those who speak it.  Like Pilate, even though truth is staring them in the face, they put it on trial and crucify it.  When a Christian condemns another Christian for speaking truth, they commit spiritual cannibalism.  Despite what the world would like you to think, there is nothing wrong with a Christian calling out sin.  Jesus said we are the light of the world and that we are to let our light shine before men, giving light to all who are in the house (John 5:15,16).  To speak truth is to shine a light into the dark rooms of deception.  Unfortunately, many Christians aren't shining their light before men because they have adopted the worldly mindset of, "Don't judge people because they sin differently than you do." 

Something that most people don't realize, is that when they reference Jesus' instructions to "Judge not, lest ye be judged," and "Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye," they are misquoting Jesus in verbiage and in context.  In almost all instances, people who do this, fail to include the verse in between these two, which says, "For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you." (Matt 7:2).  Which means, if your standard of measurement is God's word, and you are not living your life in violation of it, then you are neither a hypocrite, nor is your standard of measure unfit.  As long as your motive is love--  the love of God's word and the love of the soul you are trying to reach-- there is no condemnation in your assessment.

Jesus tells us that we are to be sanctified in truth and He defines that truth as God's word:  "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth." (John 18:38).  By the mouth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Himself declares God's word-- which should be every Christian's standard of measurement-- as truth.  And part of that truth is defining what is sinful so that we can be sure to turn away from it.  We may not like to hear it and we may feel uncomfortable talking about it, but it is truth nonetheless.  And in a time in which the church only wants to hear messages about God's mercy and grace, we need those who are bold enough to preach the truth about sin to balance us out now, more than ever.  As Christians, we should be more inclined to stand with our brothers and sisters in reminding the world what God sees as sin, rather than defending or excusing those practicing it.

 

"If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you." (Matt 18:15)

"Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently." (Gal 6:1)

"If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother." (2 Thess 3:14,15)

"In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us." (2 Thess 3:6)

"My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins."  (James 5:19)

"Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people's hearts, and they will learn the truth and come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will." (2 Tim 2:25)

"As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, for people like that have turned away from the truth, and their own sins condemn them." (Titus 3:10,11)

"But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister [in Christ] but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.  What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?  Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?  But those who are outside, God judges..." (1 Cor 5:11-13)

"Let the godly strike me! It will be a kindness! If they correct me, it is soothing medicine. Don't let me refuse it. But I pray constantly against the wicked and their deeds." (Psalm 141:5)

More Than A Feeling

One of the ways the devil likes to gain a foothold into our lives, is through our emotions.  He is intimately acquainted with our vulnerability to our own emotions.  This is why our feelings cannot define our relationship with God, because our feelings change from day to day.  But God never changes.  This is also why our feelings cannot dictate our response to God's truth.  Because His truth doesn't change either. 

However, one of the greatest weapons in our enemy's arsenal is our emotions.  If he can appeal to our emotions, if he can get us wrapped up in them, distracted by them, and ultimately consumed by them, then he has gotten his foot into the door of our heart.  He has gained access into our lives to begin building a foundation of lies.  He's done this with many things the Bible calls sinful, but that the world has tried to excuse.  He has ensnared us into complacency by appealing to our emotions.  He has so crippled us with lies, that we do not have ears to hear the truth. 

Any weakness we may have toward something that the Bible defines as sinful, does not serve to redefine it.  Nor does it mean that we can't love those who have weaknesses toward certain sins, but it does mean that our love for them cannot redefine what the Bible considers sinful.  For many, this may be a hard truth to bear, but it is truth nonetheless. 

One thing I know, is that we live in a time in which we need more voices crying out in the wilderness to, "Make straight the way of the Lord." (John 1:23). 

We need more disciples who will preach repentance, "They went out and preached that men should repent." (Mark 6:12).  

We need more watchmen on the wall who will not keep silent, "I have appointed watchmen; All day and all night they will never keep silent.." (Isaiah 62:6). 

 

But alas, the Church is wounded.  We are eaten up with compromise, rebellion and pride.  We are slaves to our emotions, giving our allegiance to what we feel, rather than to what God says. 

"For this people's heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.'" (Matt 13:15)

"But he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!' But he said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.'" (Luke 16:30,31)

"But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing. They made their hearts like stone so as not to obey the law and the words which the LORD of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets;" (Zech 7:11,12)

"For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked." (Rev 3:17)

"The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?  I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind...to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds." (Jer 17:9,10)

The Brook Dried Up

I like to have things all planned out.  I like to know where I'm going, what I'm doing, and why.  I like answers.  I like to have reasons for those answers and I like to understand those reasons.  Because of this tendency, sometimes I can be my own worst enemy.  Many times, God has had to remind me of the scriptural account of the prophet Elijah being sent to Brook Cherith to wait.  I've written about this before, but it is something that God keeps pressing upon my spirit.  The whole account of this incident is only eight verses long, but there is a tremendous amount of spiritual food that can be mined from it.

Scripture tells us:
"²Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah:  ³'Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. ⁴It shall be that you will drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there.' 

⁵So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. ⁶The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook.
⁷ It happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. ⁸Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, ⁹'Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there'..." (1 Kings 17:2-9)

We see in verses 2 through 4, Elijah was never told why he was supposed to go there, nor was he told how long he was supposed to wait there.  God simply told Elijah where to go, and that He would supply Elijah's basic needs while he was there.  That's it. 

Neither are we told exactly how long Elijah waited at that brook, but we are told that it was long enough for it to dry up (v.7). 

The thing that speaks loudest to me about this whole account, is Elijah's unquestioning and unwavering obedience to God and His word.  Granted, scripture does not reveal Elijah's thoughts or emotions, but what it does reveal is that regardless of whatever those thoughts and emotions were, they did not get in the way of Elijah's obedience.  We know that Elijah's obedience was unquestioning because when God instructed Elijah to go to the brook, verse 5 simply tells us, "So he went and did according to the word of the Lord..."  How many of us really, truly apply this level of obedience to God in our own lives?  How many of us allow our emotions and reasoning to get in the way of our obedience to God's word?

We also see that Elijah's obedience was unwavering because even though the brook was drying up, he remained there.  Imagine sitting there, day after day, watching your only source of water dwindling to a mere trickle, and then ultimately stopping altogether.  How many of us would have fallen victim to our own reasoning to seek out another water source?  How many of us would have reasoned, "surely God understands I need water, surely when He said to wait here, He didn't mean 'no matter what'."  Yet, we see no evidence in scripture of Elijah reasoning within himself, nor seeking his own way.  Many times when circumstances in our lives become challenged by God's word, we try to reason our way around it instead of simply submitting to God's truth in humble obedience.  We try to seek out another "water" source, instead of holding on to the "living water" of God's word.

My brothers and sisters, we live in a time in which people are so confused that they don't even know which bathroom to use.  We live in a time in which those who profess to belong to Jesus Christ are so Biblically illiterate that they cannot tell truth from the lie.  We live in a time in which our emotions and our own reasoning have become lord of our life in place of Jesus Christ and His commandments.  We live in a time in which the very definition of "love" has become so diluted and perverted by the world that another gospel is being preached, simply to appease those who refuse to love God's truth.  We live in a time that was prophesied 2000 years ago to Timothy by the Apostle Paul, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths." (2 Tim 4:3,4).

Unless your desire is God's truth no matter what the consequences, then you are seeking your own desire.  When we seek to justify anything that is contrary to God's word in our own lives, we turn away our ears from truth and away from God.  When we seek our own desires and turn our ears away from truth, we are seeking another water source.

If you are serious about your walk with Christ, then sincerely and earnestly pray for God to search your heart and to reveal any way within you that is contrary to His word.  Pray for Him to give you the ears to hear and receive His truth.  Pray for Him to fill you with an unquestioning and unwavering obedience to His word, no matter what brook you may find yourself sitting at. 

 

"So he went and did according to the word of the Lord..." (1 Kings 17:5)

 

The Only Way Out

As I was spending time with God in my morning prayers, He began to impress upon my spirit to pray for those who are living in spiritual bondage.  As I prayed for these unknown people, He began to speak into my spirit what to pray.  One of the things that was impressed in my mind was that "the narrow path is their only way out."  I prayed for God to show them that there is hope by showing them the light at the end of their seemingly dark tunnel.  But His reply was that it is only the narrow path that will lead them from their current spiritual state to the light they so desperately desire. 

The narrow path means you gotta dust off that Bible and stop sleeping in on Sunday mornings.  Even more than that, I can tell you from personal experience that the narrow path means you will probably have to change your lifestyle.  The narrow path means you will have to allow God to change the way you think.  I can also tell you from personal experience, that you don't realize how infected you are with the way the world thinks until God delivers you from it.  And God can and will deliver you from it by leading you down the narrow path, but it requires genuine and perpetual surrender and personal death.  That is why Jesus said very few find it:  "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it." (Matt 7:13,14).  Very few find it because our natural tendency is to love ourselves more than we love God.

If you are frustrated in your walk with Christ, if you are crippled by depression, anxiety, fear, doubt or confusion, if you feel like you are a slave to your flesh, whether it be food, drugs, alcohol, sexual impulse, or a spirit of rebellion, stubbornness or pride, then the narrow path is your only way out.  When a Christian is living in spiritual bondage, it is usually because they are trying to follow Christ on the broad path.  And anytime a Christian tries to follow Christ on the broad path, they soon realize that they are only spinning their wheels and living a life without any spiritual traction.  But to walk the narrow path, we must make a conscious and purposeful decision to do so.  Every.  Single.  Day.

 

Our perception of being victims of circumstance is an illusion, because God always gives us a choice.  However, sometimes God will allow us to dig our hole so deep, so He can remind us that He is our only hope of ever getting out.  So He can remind us that He doesn't speak to be heard, He speaks to be obeyed.

"And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it." (Isaiah 35:8)

"You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God." (James 4:4)

"'You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,' declares the LORD.." (Jer 29:13,14)

 

Hand To The Plow

For a long time I resisted God's call on my life because I was scared.  I was scared because when you start preaching truth, you gotta live it.  And that's a scary thing to someone as flawed as me.  I had been a believer in Christ for a long time, but I lived my life the way I wanted to live it with a little bit of God on the side.  But there came a time a few years ago that God was ready for me to move into the ministry He had created me to fulfill.  That doesn't make me special or exceptional, because the truth is, everyone who is saved in Christ is created to fulfill a particular ministry within the Body of Christ.  And that's all fine and good if God has called you into a ministry that you are already fully prepared to walk in.  But I wasn't ready and my particular preparation would be painful because there was a lot of death that needed to take place.  I wasn't ready, but God was.

I was an alcoholic.  I was prideful, obnoxious and crude.  I was always ready to have a good time and fulfill everyone's expectations to be the life of the party.  I sought fun more than I sought God.  And when I did seek God, I looked everywhere but the Bible.  I thought I was smart and I prided myself on my education, cleverness and quick wit.  I always had an answer because the thought of saying, "I don't know", and taking the chance that people might think I was stupid, horrified me.   I exuded security and confidence on the outside, but I was insecure and wounded deep within.  And because of my secretly wounded inside, I incorrectly saw my value as being my self-perceived intelligence, abilities and personality, rather than seeing my value as who I was in Christ.

One thing I quickly learned, is that God cannot use someone in a mighty way until they are broken and empty.  I was full of myself, full of the things of this world and full of old wounds and it all had to go, because God will only fill an empty cup.  It is a scary thing to let go of who you think you are so God can show you who He wants you to be.  It is a scary thing to set your hand to the plow, knowing you can never look back, because if you're anything like me, your fear of failure will stand between you and that plow as long as you let it. 

"But Jesus said to him, 'No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.'" (Luke 9:62)

"For it is written: 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.'" (1 Cor 1:19)

"For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." (Matt 23:12)

"Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth." (Col 3:2)

What Is Your Treasure?

Scripture says that Christians are supposed to be the light of the world and to give light to all who are in darkness:  "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house." (Matt 5:14,15)

Those in Christ give light to all who are in darkness when they speak God's truth.  When a Christian shines their light from atop a hill, things that were once hidden in the dark begin to scatter like cockroaches.  Darkness tries to hide truth, but light sets it free.  Jesus said God sent Him to, "..proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed." (Luke 4:18).  So why are so many of those who are saved in Jesus Christ still living in captivity?  Why are so many who claim salvation in Jesus Christ blind to truth and oppressed by temptation?  Because darkness tries to clothe truth with deception, but light clothes it with Christ, "For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." (Gal 3:27).

The problem is, many of those who are saved in Jesus Christ have dimmed their light because they are still clothing themselves with the things of this world, instead of Christ.  We are living in the age where those who are saved in Christ have covered their lamps and fallen asleep, content with a lukewarm effort to seek God, they are not reading their Bibles, they are not doing Bible study, they are not going to church, nor fellowshipping with other believers on a regular basis.  We are living in the age where those who claim to be saved in Christ spend more time consuming the things of this world and what the world teaches, than Christ's words and His teachings.  There are too many Christians that can tell you more about pop culture, popular movies, books or T.V. shows than they can about God's word.  Jesus said, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Luke 12:34).

Why are so many of us intimately acquainted with the storylines in worldly entertainment, yet grossly ignorant of scripture?  Because we treasure and value things that entertain us, rather than things that challenge us spiritually.  We want God to work in our circumstances, rather than work in us.  We want to come to God when we need Him to fix a problem, but we don't want to invest the time trying to establish a relationship with Him through prayer and study of His Word.  We want to define God on our own terms, according to worldly knowledge and understanding, rather than surrender to the revelation He has given to us about Himself through scripture.

A few years ago, when I was still a lukewarm Christian, I began to pray for God to help me understand Him.  I had this inexplicable longing to really know Him, for Him to reveal Himself to me. Don't get me wrong, I thought I already knew God, I was just longing for something more, something deeper.  After praying for God to show Himself to me, all the while having grandiose expectations of my own "burning bush" encounter, or for God to audibly speak to me, He simply placed the thought into my mind, "Why don't you start with what I've already told you about Myself....read the Bible."  So I did.  Cover to cover.  And what I quickly found out, was that all those years I thought I knew Who God was, in all actuality, I really had no idea.  All those years I was so confident in my lukewarm Christianity, I was really only following my own personal version of it.

Scripture says that many will think they know Jesus, but the only ones who really know Him are those who are obedient to Him, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven." (Matt 7:21).  By the lips of our Lord and Savior we are told that only those who are obedient to God will enter the kingdom of heaven.  That obedience starts with genuine repentance to turn away from this world and the sins that so enslave us and accept the free gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.  And that obedience continues through daily surrender to God, His Word and His plans for our life, rather than our own.  The Apostle Paul so accurately described a genuine walk with Christ when He said, "I die daily." (1 Cor 15:31).

Fortunately, scripture also says, "'You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,' declares the LORD.." (Jer 29:13).  But make note, God's instructions are to seek Him with "all your heart."  So I suppose the question is, what is the treasure of your heart?

Laughing Gas

I got a root canal the other day.  When I sat in the chair for them to begin the medieval torture, they told me they would give me laughing gas to help me relax.  I laid back in the chair and the doctor began to give me a series of shots in my mouth, but despite the gas, I was nervous, anxious and fretful.  I wanted out of there, out of that chair, out of that room, out of that building.  I was horrified and wanted to get as far away from him and what he was doing to me as I could.

After a few moments, my mouth began to get numb but my heart was still racing because I knew what he was about to do in there.  The thought of it still made me fretful and anxious.  But by the time he began to work on my tooth, the gas mask had been on my face long enough for its effects to begin to take place.  My body eventually began to relax.  I was still concerned about what was going on inside my mouth, but I was no longer tense and fretful about it.  Then after a while, I no longer cared about what he was doing to me.  Nothing had changed about the procedure, the horror of what was taking place was still being played out in my mouth, but I was unconcerned and unbothered, content to sit there and suck on that gas mask.  In less than thirty minutes, I went from horrified about my condition to completely unconcerned and content.

This is what happens to us spiritually when we allow sin into our lives.  All sin, no matter how seemingly small or insignificant, should make us want to get as far away from it as we can.  That is why the enemy of our souls works unceasingly to devise subtle ways to desensitize us towards sin, so he can accomplish his signature move:  to get us to rebel against God in ways of disobedience that seem reasonable and justified.  When we make a conscious decision to justify or excuse our disobedience, we make a conscious decision to allow the enemy to do his work on us.  Then after a while, things that should horrify and repulse us, we are content and unconcerned about. 

 

As Christians, we should have a revulsion in our spirit towards sin because of the influence of God's Holy Spirit at work in us.  But over time, as we turn a deaf ear to God's voice and refuse to surrender in obedience to the transforming work of the Holy Spirit, we will eventually succumb to the influence of the devil's work upon our flesh over God's work in our spirit.  And even though certain sins may still make us fretful or anxious, our enemy is able to easily consume us with distraction. We end up in a state in which we are much more inclined to surrender to the enemy, rather than surrender to God.

Scripture plainly tells us, "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." (James 4:7).  But far too many of us are submitting to the enemy, instead of submitting to God.  Scripture tells us to "resist the devil", but far too many of us are resisting God, instead of resisting the enemy.  We resist the enemy by submitting to God.  

 

Not only are we called to defensive action by resisting the devil, we are also called to offensive action by standing against him: 

-"Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes." (Eph 6:11)
-"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." (Eph 6:13)
-"Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith.." (1 Pet 5:8,9)

The rest of the scripture at James 4:7 says, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded." (James 4:8).  This scripture is telling us to submit to God and resist the devil.  To draw near to God and He will draw near to you.  To cleanse our lives of worldly things that only serve as distractions to God's kingdom work.  To purify our hearts with obedience to God and His word, so that we will not be reaching out for Christ with one hand and holding on to the world with the other.

 

Resist the enemy of your soul, get as far away from his work as you can, lest he make you numb to his schemes.  Even a little bit is too much because it accumulates over time until you find yourself unconcerned, unbothered and content about things that we, as Christians, should find repulsive to our spirit.

Eating Bird Poop

When I was a little girl, I remember someone telling a story about a person getting into their car while holding a baby on their hip.  As they fumbled around with their keys to unlock the car door, the baby saw a big pile of bird poop on the roof of the car and reached out and grabbed it.  Thankfully, the parent noticed the fistful of poop as it was on its way to the baby's mouth and managed to keep the child from cramming its mouth full of bird doo doo.  Although the parent was horrified at what the baby did, they didn't reprimand the child because it was too young to understand what it had done was wrong.

Now imagine this same child being seven or eight years old, reaching out to grab the pile of bird poop from the top of the car and shoving it into their mouth.  The child is old enough to know better, yet chooses to do it anyway.  In both cases, eating the bird poop is wrong and shouldn't be done.  Yet in the first case, the child is given mercy because it is just a baby.  It is incapable of understanding that what it is doing is wrong.  But in the second case, more is expected of the child because the child should know better.

This illustrates where many of God's people are in their spiritual development in these end days.  We are old enough to know better, yet we choose to do what God clearly instructs us not to.  I tolerate my one year-old pooping on herself in her diaper because that is normal at her age and development.  I would not be so tolerant of cleaning up such a mess from my nine or eleven year-old.

Because God is perfect in mercy, He is merciful on the ignorant and He is longsuffering on those who are doing their best to move forward in spiritual maturity.  He gives us room for mistakes.  However, God makes no wiggle room for outright rebellion.  When we know better, He expects us to do better.  When we consume the things of this world more than we consume Christ and His word, we may as well be eating bird poop.

"..it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil." (Heb 5:11-14)

"Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly--mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly.." (1 Cor 3:1-3)

"Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal...I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats this bread he will live forever;" (John 6:27,51)