JANUARY 11 "VENTURE OUT FOR GOD"

"When he heard this he bowed down to the ground and worshiped the Lord"  Venturing out for God is what keeps us worshiping the Lord. As scary and uncertain as this venture was for this servant, it reinvigorated his relationship with God. Who knows if back at home he was sliding into spiritual lethargy and just becoming more religious than anything.  The less we venture out for God, the more distant we grow from Him and the closer we get to becoming religious. When we venture out for God and leave the comfort zone is when we see the hand of God at work and that is so vital and healthy in our relationship with the Lord. This servant was amazed to see the providential hand of God directing him right to this woman, a complete impossibility in the natural realm, but a complete possibility with God. I want you, quickly, off the top of your head to name 5 Christians you personally know, that are venturing out for God right now! Hard isn't it? Now I want you to do the same exercise, naming 5 Christian that you are are struggling in their faith. Which exercise did you find easier to come up with 5 names. Most will find that it was easier to come up with 5 that were struggling in their walk with God; than 5 that were venturing out for God. If we fail to see how the two are related, than we are completely blind. The strategy to stay in the "safe zone" as a Christian, backfires every time! As we keep ourselves in the safe zone, we will find our faith deteriorating over the years and as we watch people constantly venturing out for God, we will see their faith increasing and notice a vibrancy in their walk with God. They will, as the servant was; be bowing down to the ground to worship the Lord, as you sit on the sidelines, in the same Church, under the same sermons, same songs and wonder....."what's all the hype about, let's get through this service before it's too late and the ball game is over when I get home or it's too late to watch my favorite episode of..........This stuff may have moved me in my earlier years but I'm pass that now".  Well, the truth is you should never get pass worshiping, with enthusiasm, your Lord and Savior. The only thing I would say you are "pass" is venturing out for God and just like a slow leak in a tire, you are not noticing your faith slowly leaking out, until one day you get up and the tire is flat and think you have some major blowout only to find out that it was just a very small leak and the air was probably leaking out for quite some time. One morning you will will wake up and decide to skip church that Sunday, take it easy and not have missed it at all, but rather enjoyed your day way from church, worship and that whole scene. Your faith will not be what it once was and you will not be able to trace where it all begun, but simply know nothing more than you don't feel the same". When was the last time God was able to move upon your heart, to venture out for Him? Trace back to that time and you may be able to trace back to when your faith was first punctured and that slow leak began.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NOVEMBER 6 "DOES GOD STILL DO MIRACLES?"

 The Psalmist writes, "who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord!" I dare say, there are some reading this blog that might challenge that!"  They would say, "list them, I'm hard pressed to think of one! How'' your miracle life? Miracles go hand in hand with opportunity. We have our lives so structured and we don't venture out in faith, we keep it safe. Well then don't complain you have no miracles. Peter had to step out of the boat to experience a miracle, but don't forget there was a handful of other disciples that stayed in the boat, safe and experienced no miracle! You can have it both ways.  Christians who venture, in faith, are the ones that have the "lists of miracles" to write about.   "Does God still do miracles? In your intellect you say, "yes of course", but in your heart what do you say? God does miracle, yes! Does He do miracles for you? Do you encourage others to believe in miracles and now you need ...
Read more

NOVEMBER 21 "CLASS WARFARE IS AN UGLY THING"

     There’s no denying, James is not that fond of “rich people”.  If it was only this reference in Chapter 5, that would be bad enough, but James has taken jabs at the rich in other chapters as well. No doubt, James did not grow up with affluence of any kind. We know from the Gospels that Joseph and Mary (James’ parents) were poor. Historians believe that Joseph died at an early age, as he is not mentioned in the Gospels; except in the early stages of Jesus’ life. Now with Joseph dead, James & Jesus, probably had to work that much harder to make ends meet at home. Jesus himself takes a jab at rich people saying, “ it is easier for a camel to get through the eye of an needle than for a rich person to get into heaven ”.  I’m sure in the  Church  of  Jerusalem  where James was an elder, there were not many affluent people in that congregation. However we cannot deny that it was Joseph of Arimathea, an affluent man , a prominent member of th...
Read more

FEBRUARY 8 "ABANDONED IN MY TIME OF NEED"

   This may end up being one of the greater indictments against The Church of Jesus Christ at our judgement; that we abandoned our brothers and sisters in their most dire time of need. In our reading today, the Psalmist eludes to a time of great anguish in his life and because of this his strength is failing; he then goes on to say concerning his friends, "I am a dread to my friends....I am forgotten by them". Unfortunately, it is when we are not at our best that our brothers and sisters in Christ seem to get turned off by us and often abandon us when we need them the most! Why is that? Is it because of selfish reasons, after all, who doesn't want to hang around upbeat people full of joy and victory, but are there not times that we need to also grieve with those that are grieving?! Another reason is their weakness probably turns us off, "why are you even struggling with this ....what's wrong with you!!?" Thence, we're turned off and leave them to struggl...
Read more