I just realized i have not made a single post in over a week! I've just been feeling very distant from God, almost as if He has left me. I have really been struggling with seeking Christ's face lately. I don't understand what is going on :( but i stand on HIS promise to never leave nor forsake me. So to all my readers, please bare with me while i take some time to check-in with my FATHER.
Random Thoughts: I watched this video for the fist time last Friday at FNF, the Bible study i attend. It really hit home for me because i have been meditating on this for a while now. I mean think about it for a second....won't it be easy to give Jesus your all if you think of him simply as a gift giver who came to make you rich? How different are we then from the Israelis who rejected Jesus because he was not the "HERO" they thought he was? Can you still accept Him even if he took away EVERYTHING you thought He came for? or is it easier for you to accept him if he is presented as a gift bearer? Because it's one thing to love the gifts idolatry and something completely different to be in love with the giver! So which one will you chose? Do not be deceived by the false Jesus Being portrayed! the one who came for good health, wealth, fresh kicks, a new car, nice house and a perfect life. Lets get back to basics people, examine yourself. Go to Romans & 1 John and figure out what serving God really means. Take the time to read about the 12 disciples....HINT "suffering for Christ triumphs vanity prosperity". Don't waste your time worshiping a make believe Christ who looks like the one in the scriptures but is nothing more than an angel of light.
Sometimes i have to stop and think " am i performing acts of righteousness for God, or for compliments and acknowledgment from other Christians and non believers respectively"? I constantly have to check myself to make sure i'm not just going through the motion because that is what is expected of a Christian. I have to examine myself every time i say praise God, Amen or even put a scripture filled status up on Facebook. I have to double check to make sure that i am not being enticed by the desire for approval. For a very long time, I lived for compliments, I wanted my pretense, hard-work to be noticed by SOMEBODY!, a pastor, friend, sister or brother in the faith. I never really understood the meaning of having a "personal relationship" with God. But i have come to understand whose approval matters the most. The beauty of having an intimate connection with THE greatest God, who took the time to create me, and has my name written on his heart! When you understand the true value of God's approval, none other will matter. What gain is there in getting the approval of everyone but loosing that of God, the one which matters most? Is a thumbs up really worth it?
The WORD: Be careful not to practice your "acts of righteousness" before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your father in heaven.
Does the difference in how we worship really matter IF we truely offer ourselves as a living sacrifice in the process?
So what is WORSHIP, what does it really mean? Is it a culture? an emotion? or obedience to the law? For a really long time, i was stuck in the belief that worship was equivalent to crying at the alter on sunday, or constantly listening to christian music that made me feel remourseful for the choices i had made in the past. I was so convinced that my emotions were enough! But i have come to descover what true worship really means. While emotions are a good thing, they can be dangerous if they are not in line with the word. For we are led by the mind of Christ, not his emotions...So i finally understand that true worship is not as complex as i thought, its not about rolling on the floor or screaming I LOVE JESUS-while not keeping his commands (ps not condeming anyone who worhips this way), but true worship...is giving ALL of urself to God. Your attitude, career, lifestyle, will, desires and your heart. When it really doesn't matter what you want anymore, but God comes first in every aspect of ur life, then you have began to worship God in a language He understands.
The Word:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
Maybe you are not even a victim of this kind of preaching! Maybe you escape the truth that the word brings for fear of having to CHANGE your life, so you seek watered down preachers who meet your worldly standard. Examine yourself! Examine yourself! don't hide behind the excuse "they have other uplifting messages...for they will come as an angel of light and deceive many". You do not want to be surprised on that day. It's one thing to know Jesus, but does Jesus know you? And for you who are holding onto God with everything you got and preaching his Word, not false interpretation and emotion aimed at eliciting applause and fame, keep fighting the good fight and do not be discouraged for the bible warned about this...
The Word: I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 2Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. 3For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 5But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
I get really confused when i see the body of Christ do certain things which are so clearly against the scripture that i begin to wonder if we have moved away from reading the WORD and now rely on our feelings and what we "think" God approves as if we understand his ways. A few days ago, i watched a video that completely rocked my world! It was of two prominent preachers dancing frantically at the alter which had been filled with money from the members in exchange for an anointing on their finances. It took me by surprise, before i knew it, i was in tears. I couldn't stop thinking of the thousands of people who are dying and going to hell because a false Christ is being portrayed, one who cares about your financial status rather than you being truly saved! And then we wonder why there are so many people who despise Christianity when all they see are a people who prophesy how much they love Christ but then live with the same worldly and money hungry principles as people of the world do. Trust me the WORD, 1 Timothy warns about such teachers. If you are a member of a church where Sunday service has become a breed between entertainment and a money ritual, where scripture is replaced with feelings and opinion, you need to GET OUT! and find a bible based church. where the preacher will not spare your feelings at the expense of your LIFE!
The Word:5Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.
10For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 11But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
Jannette Ikz from the P4CM says it all in this video! Maybe you are tired of waiting for the person God has saved for you, you constantly wonder when he/she will arrive like you wait for that pair of shoes you ordered online in the mail. Maybe your happiness depends on your relationship status and you are just that person who absolutely needs to be in one at all times "single just isn't your thing". But maybe what you really need is to take the time off to figure out who God says you are. If you focus on God instead of worrying about when that special one will arrive, trust me trust the WORD all things will fall in place!...Even if we may not understand, just trust that God know what's best, He knows it all.
The Word: He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Caption: I know i ate your shoes today, and i will eat the carpet tomorrow but does this sweater count?
So i was thinking...just how deep does my/your love for God really go? Is it deeper than my love for people's opinions, than that sin i just won't let go, the excuses i make to keep from fully committing to God or even my love for money? I mean, does it go beyond wearing a shirt to have the whole world think we love Him? Is it about putting him on our facebook status and downloading every christian song we can find? Is it even about confessing out loud how much we can't live without Him? or does it come down to "what's deep down in our hearts", which is shown by whether we obey his commands? While you may be able to tell a tree by the display of its fruit, the fruits of the true christian are not displayed on a shirt, an item of clothing or a bumper sticker. Are you like the dog in the picture? Will you continue to disobey God's commands, yet claim to love him? People, let us really seek God, He will reveal Himself and show us how we ought to love Him.
Because silence is deadly, surrounding yourself with hush Christians/people is equivalent to death. I would rather be around people who will pull me to the side and correct me in love. Rather than those who would "shhhhhh" not mention it and just go with the flow, pat me on the back and quote scriptures of blessings because they are too scared to offend me. All the while watching me flirt with sin and potentially loosing my soul. See, its like this: if you saw your friend walking onto a train track while a train approached at 200km/h, would you frantically yank them out of harm's way or would you avoid telling them how unwise that act is in fear of offending them? The devil is no different my friend, he comes to kill the soul, steal the truth and destroy your life. Please don't spare my feelings at the expense of my life.
So why do i still act like a slave? If the word says i have been set free from the bondage of sin (no longer a slave to sin) and have now been made a slave to righteousness, why did i for the longest time still believe in the popular phrase "we all goin' sin?" How come so many of us still tend to think we are bound to sin? This is because we still have a slave mentality thus continue to think and live as though we were still under captivity of sin. The famous cliche "we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" has become an excuse for stagnation. But we fail to understand, that scripture says " we have all sinned" meaning it is in the present passed. As long as we are born again and fellowship with Christ, we no longer have an obligation to sin! We sin because we give into what our heart and flesh desires. Fact is, if we walk by the spirit sin will become foreign to us. Get rid of the slave to sin mindset and start living in the freedom Christ died to give you.
The Scripture
14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
