I remember when my husband first got saved some 10 years ago now. He had one of those Road to Damascus experiences where God showed up big time and gave him visions of demons and angels and beams of light shooting into heaven representing the saved. After a month of spending every spare moment studying the Scriptures, my husband looked up at me one night and said, "Now what?" In other words, what do we do now with this grand revelation? How can we go on with our mundane lives when we know there's a God and a devil and a heaven and hell and a battle going on all around us. What do we do?
At the time all I said was "We live what we believe." I wasn't sure what that meant exactly but the more I study the Bible, the more I believe that as followers of Jesus we are supposed to be having adventurous abundant exciting miraculous lives. Then why when I look around at my fellow Christians do most of them seem so bored and defeated? They come to church on Sunday, they may attend a Bible study during the week. They may even read their Bible occasional and pray. They rarely talk about God at social events and even if they do, there's no excitement in their voice, no spark in their eyes.
In my opinion the church in America has reduced itself to a social club, a place where like-minded people get together to hear a good talk, get entertained by a good band and then go home and live our lives like everyone else. (Well, except for the fact that most of us try to be moral)
But is this what God had planned for His children? When I read the Bible, I find nothing but stories of people who did great things for God, people who lived fulfilling adventurous lives and accomplished unbelievable tasks for God. All because they held God to His Word. They believed Him and they stepped out of their comfort zone to obey Him.
We in America have become far too comfortable in our walks with God. We have turned Christianity into a self-worshiping religion instead of God worshiping. We put our own comfort and happiness above doing God's will.
Are you bored with your faith? Do you have doubts from time to time that any of it is true? Perhaps you ought to pray and ask God to wake you up. Ask Him to call you out of the boat into the storm. Ask Him to use you in a mighty way to further His Kingdom. Tell Him you'll obey Him no matter what the cost to you or your family. Wow, now that's a radical prayer! But don't pray it unless you mean it. Because God WILL answer. You can choose to lead a hum-drum Christian life more concerned with your comfort than in joining the battle for the Kingdom of God. OR you can risk everything and live the life of adventure God has planned for you since the beginning of time.
Think about these people in the Bible. How dull and ordinary would their lives have been if they hadn't been willing to risk it all for God?
- What would have happened if Moses had told God that No, he wasn't going to go to Egypt and free his fellow Israelites. It was too dangerous, too much work, too hard, too scary, the people won't listen, Pharoah will kill him, etc etc. ?
- What if Joshua hadn't agreed to lead the people into the promised land? What kind of life would he have led?
- What if Abraham had never left Ur?
- What if Joseph had been too frightened to interpret the King's dream?
- What if Daniel had blended in with all the other captives and not stood up for his beliefs?
- What if Peter and John had remained fishermen and not followed Jesus when He called?
I could go on.
The point is, if you're bored with your faith, then you are probably playing it safe. You are the eleven disciples who never asked to get out of the boat and walk with Jesus on the water. They never got to feel the rise and fall of waves beneath their feet as they tromped through the storm! What a rush! Only Peter asked to come to Jesus. Only Peter got to experience that.
If you are considering praying the prayer I mentioned above, make sure you are serious and will obey God when He calls. If you're not willing to pray the prayer, you are still going to heaven. You are still a child of God if you believe in Jesus. You will most likely remain in your dull complacency and live out your life in comfort. But you will miss out on the thrill! The thrill of walking with God minute by minute and seeing Him work in ways you could have never imagined! The thrill of seeing miracles, healings, deliverances, people plucked from the fires of hell.!!
Don't be one of the many who will arrive on those heavenly shores and say, "I wish I'd done more for God. I wish I'd done more."
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Wow! Preach it sister! Great post! Definitely sharing this one!
ReplyDeleteI agree!! Sharing this, MaryLu :) Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Marylu, I will share.
ReplyDeleteAmazing is He, that simply by asking for use of a picture He could have blessed Rayed Redemption with your acquaintance. You are a great example of a woman of God.
May His blessings continually rain down upon your fmaily.
David
Excellent. We Americans need to wake up and be filled enough to the brim with the power of God to withstand persecution when it comes, and I have no doubt it will come. It is at the door.
ReplyDeleteAmen, MaryLu. Blessings to you, dear sister in Christ. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you all for dropping by. It's a sensitive topic and one that's bound to ruffle a few feathers, but I love my fellow believers and want God's best for them. :-) I agree, Karla that we in America will soon face persecution.. perhaps in my lifetime. We think we are immune but we are not. That's when those who are serious about their faith will become like spiritual giants in the land. :-)
ReplyDeleteI don’t think there is anything wrong with a "mundane" life. You get the people who obviously use church as a social club, but then you have people who feel the only way you can really serve God is through doing so called big things. Missions, pastoral work, inner city evangelism…the list can go on and on. But many of us are called to the mundane. We are called to humbly serve our families and our neighbors. There is nothing wrong with this. The greatest impact can happen through the simplest means.
ReplyDeleteEmma, thanks for your comment! I believe you misunderstood my post, however. I'm talking about giving your all for God, stepping out of your comfort zone when He calls you, giving your heart, soul and body to the service of our King as Paul says is our "reasonable service" in Romans 12:1. I'm talking about being ALL IN for Christ. Whether that translates to being a stay at home Mom who influences other Moms around her or being a missionary on the frontlines of Iraq, that's up to God. :-) Both are equally important.
DeleteLove this post, MaryLu - which, by the way, prompted a discussion with my mother, after my reading it to her!!
ReplyDeletePer your above comments, I stepped out of my comfort zone, a number of years ago, when I moved out-of-state - without a job or place to live, and knowing no one - because God led me to do so. The time spent living there and doing what God had called me to do was among the most spiritually fulfilling in my life.
I grew up attending a Baptist church, but became a member of a non-denominational church whose services and beliefs were foreign and uncomfortable to me, at the time - while living in my new city. That church changed my entire outlook on what it means to give my all for God, what it means to truly praise and worship Him, and the experiences possible if one is willing to do this. The miracles and healings you mentioned were among the things I experienced.
Several years ago I moved back to my hometown and am again attending the church I attended as a child and teen-ager. It's not the church I prefer, but the one I chose so that I could attend church with my aging parents who are both in bad health. I would really love to attend a church similar to my previous one, however, attending church is only a part of living a Christian life and I compensate for the things I miss - in other ways than through church.
What leaped out at me from your post: "they rarely talk about God at social events, and even if they do, there's no excitement in their voice, no spark in their eyes". Many people I know give the appearance of being totally dedicated Christians, attending church every time the doors are open, committing themselves to every church function, giving tirelessly to missions and others on local, state, national, and international levels, etc., etc. - yet, unless engaged in a specific discussion - I don't often hear God's name mentioned and I sometimes elicit blank stares and feel like a religious zealot when having a discussion with them and displaying my passion for God and the ways He can work in one's life. While I realize that passion can be purely words without action for some people, and I would never try to assess anyone's relationship with God - it's a truly personal thing in which only God truly knows one's heart - yet, it does make me wonder if underneath all of their actions - they're bored with their faith or aren't fully aware of just what they're missing out on or how much even more fulfilling their lives could be for God.
Thank you for your post, MaryLu, and for never being afraid to stand up for God!! I always love your spiritual posts - they inspire me while causing me to reassess my relationship with God.
Love, prayers, and hugs!!
Thank you for your thoughtful reply, Bonnie. :-) I can relate to being stared at like I'm some religious zealot! That happens a lot to me. And usually at church functions! I know the kind of church you are referring to. I attending one when I was young, but didn't really appreciate it at the time. I believe persecution might be the only thing to really wake up the western church. :-( Love and hugs and prayers to you!
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