Believe you me
Man, I love Eden's Bridge!! They take me far away yet keep me grounded in reality. I think someone is praying for me because I have been having a clarity of thought and feeling a shaft of light in my dark soul as of late. I am reminded and renewed of the Truth of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. I have always had the knowledge that God is real and His way is the right way even when I just don't care or feel any sense of his presence ro love. It's like bedrock, I know there is a loving God who came down to Earth as Jesus Christ 2000 years ago. I know he made everything and knows everything and is everywhere all at once. The thing that must be a learned/experienced thing is the knowledge of his personal love for me individually. I must ask and seek and believe when I do. I must push past the prevelent lie of western civilization that there aren't things that exist that I cannot see with my eyes.
He is the invisible God. To the unbelieving that sounds like a copp-out but thats because they assume and believe there is no God; therefore THERE IS NO GOD. They believe that believing something can make that thing true, meaning real. Therefore if you don't believe something it CANNOT exist. It is truly sad. Many live life this way, or at least look at life that way. There life and actions reveal what they really believe.
I just had an epiphany!! Or a big thought anyway. Is it possible that the reason the western chruch is becoming more powerless and irelevant is because we are "doing" the "things" believers "do", but only because we think we know what we "should do" and "do" them?
God works in and through people whose faith is real and alive. I'm sure that won't be contested, scripture is full of examples and many are alive today that anyone would say God works through them mightily. It is also clear in the Word that faith is a big component in God's working in our lives. SO...is it possible that there are a LOT of Christians that "believe" in Him as the world defines the word, meaning that they have "faith" but only as a way to conivince themselves that God is real, rather than actually believing He is and praying in actual belief. They experience good feelings and emotions at church and have good times with friends, cry at worship services,etc. read the Bible and study it, maybe even had an"experience" that they can point to as a God thing. But in there lives they treat their family bad, hold grudges, gossip, lie, cheat, steal when no one is looking and in there hearts they put all these things in a place called "thats just how I am".
Their real actions, meaning the ones they do when around their family and/or alone, or at work, around non-believing friends reveal what they truly believe. This may not seem so profound on an individual level, but my "ah-ha" is not this, but rather the effect of this on the large scale.
Most of us believers get told our whole lives to live as examples, spread the gospel, be a witness, etc. . Those are "things a true believer does". We try to do them and try and try and feel guilty when we don't . Then we get together at big rallys to get pumped up and "encouraged" ( always a good thing) to live the life, walk the walk, talk the talk, blah, blah, blah, witness, witness, be a missionary, go, go go, go!!!!!!!!!! The statistics come out and so do the guilt trips, all for a good cause mind you, I'm not saying those things are bad. The real selling point they use are the statistics, the numbers. They are startling and sobering and rightly so. Hence my epiphany...
If the church is still active and being "radical for christ", "etreme for Jesus", holding HUGE coventions, selling millions in books, music and televised sermons, why is the church being more changed BY the world instead of the WORLD by the church? Why are people running from the church? Why is Christianity the ONLY religion its politically correct to slam and suppress? Why is it that the Bible is a joke to so many "intelectuals"? Why isn't the Holy Spirit convicting men/women of sin and bringing them to their knees everywhere with all the "noise" we make about how powerful He is? Why do we hear " oh, I tried that God thing,and it wasn't for me"? Why are brothers and sisters walking away from the One true God, the only One Who loves them unconditionally?!!!!!!?????
Could it be that we are doing the actions to SHOW that we believe, when we don't really believe? If we truly believe and have faith then why this reversal of influence? Mustard Seed, must remember, Mustard Seed!! Those good things and actions WILL HAPPEN when we truly believe and walk in the REALITY of life in God!!! Our actions should come from the outpouring of our faith through the Holy Spirit, pouring the Water of Life to the world, as promised!! Not because we are "supposed to" or because "thats what a true beliver does". It just seems to me that too many "christians" do the christian things they see TRUE believers doing and think that if they do them too, that they are true believers too. So the motivation and approach is all backwards, hence the lack of power from the Holy Spirit. It's hollow. Like wearing a flight jacket and telling people you're a pilot, because your wearing a flight jacket. You put on the jacket thinking that wearing it makes you a pilot because pilots wear them. You don't do to be, you be to do!!!!! And maybe the lack of power is because we're all just doing and not being, therefore not having the faith for God to really move? (NOT AT ALL saying He is dependent on us for Him to move or for anything else for that matter). Its all so rediculous, scary and sad. I wonder how much the Enemy has infected our thought process regarding belief.
Oh, Lord grant us repentence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He is the invisible God. To the unbelieving that sounds like a copp-out but thats because they assume and believe there is no God; therefore THERE IS NO GOD. They believe that believing something can make that thing true, meaning real. Therefore if you don't believe something it CANNOT exist. It is truly sad. Many live life this way, or at least look at life that way. There life and actions reveal what they really believe.
I just had an epiphany!! Or a big thought anyway. Is it possible that the reason the western chruch is becoming more powerless and irelevant is because we are "doing" the "things" believers "do", but only because we think we know what we "should do" and "do" them?
God works in and through people whose faith is real and alive. I'm sure that won't be contested, scripture is full of examples and many are alive today that anyone would say God works through them mightily. It is also clear in the Word that faith is a big component in God's working in our lives. SO...is it possible that there are a LOT of Christians that "believe" in Him as the world defines the word, meaning that they have "faith" but only as a way to conivince themselves that God is real, rather than actually believing He is and praying in actual belief. They experience good feelings and emotions at church and have good times with friends, cry at worship services,etc. read the Bible and study it, maybe even had an"experience" that they can point to as a God thing. But in there lives they treat their family bad, hold grudges, gossip, lie, cheat, steal when no one is looking and in there hearts they put all these things in a place called "thats just how I am".
Their real actions, meaning the ones they do when around their family and/or alone, or at work, around non-believing friends reveal what they truly believe. This may not seem so profound on an individual level, but my "ah-ha" is not this, but rather the effect of this on the large scale.
Most of us believers get told our whole lives to live as examples, spread the gospel, be a witness, etc. . Those are "things a true believer does". We try to do them and try and try and feel guilty when we don't . Then we get together at big rallys to get pumped up and "encouraged" ( always a good thing) to live the life, walk the walk, talk the talk, blah, blah, blah, witness, witness, be a missionary, go, go go, go!!!!!!!!!! The statistics come out and so do the guilt trips, all for a good cause mind you, I'm not saying those things are bad. The real selling point they use are the statistics, the numbers. They are startling and sobering and rightly so. Hence my epiphany...
If the church is still active and being "radical for christ", "etreme for Jesus", holding HUGE coventions, selling millions in books, music and televised sermons, why is the church being more changed BY the world instead of the WORLD by the church? Why are people running from the church? Why is Christianity the ONLY religion its politically correct to slam and suppress? Why is it that the Bible is a joke to so many "intelectuals"? Why isn't the Holy Spirit convicting men/women of sin and bringing them to their knees everywhere with all the "noise" we make about how powerful He is? Why do we hear " oh, I tried that God thing,and it wasn't for me"? Why are brothers and sisters walking away from the One true God, the only One Who loves them unconditionally?!!!!!!?????
Could it be that we are doing the actions to SHOW that we believe, when we don't really believe? If we truly believe and have faith then why this reversal of influence? Mustard Seed, must remember, Mustard Seed!! Those good things and actions WILL HAPPEN when we truly believe and walk in the REALITY of life in God!!! Our actions should come from the outpouring of our faith through the Holy Spirit, pouring the Water of Life to the world, as promised!! Not because we are "supposed to" or because "thats what a true beliver does". It just seems to me that too many "christians" do the christian things they see TRUE believers doing and think that if they do them too, that they are true believers too. So the motivation and approach is all backwards, hence the lack of power from the Holy Spirit. It's hollow. Like wearing a flight jacket and telling people you're a pilot, because your wearing a flight jacket. You put on the jacket thinking that wearing it makes you a pilot because pilots wear them. You don't do to be, you be to do!!!!! And maybe the lack of power is because we're all just doing and not being, therefore not having the faith for God to really move? (NOT AT ALL saying He is dependent on us for Him to move or for anything else for that matter). Its all so rediculous, scary and sad. I wonder how much the Enemy has infected our thought process regarding belief.
Oh, Lord grant us repentence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
posted by Jason at 8:18 PM
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