Where's Your Fervor?

Thursday, August 22, 2013, 9:57 p.m. – the Lord Jesus put this song in my mind.

Myopic / An Original Work / August 19, 2013

Based off 2 Peter 1:3-11

Jesus has given ev’rything
Needed for life and godliness.
His great and precious promises
Free us from our sin and distress.
Add to your faith His goodness;
Knowledge; patience; godliness;
Brotherly love and mutu’l affection;
Kindness and unselfishness.


If you possess these qualities,
Growing in your maturity,
They will keep you from vanity.
You will bear fruit effectually.


Nonetheless, if you lack them;
Forget you’ve been cleansed from sin,
Nearsighted are you; you can’t see Jesus.
You have closed your heart to Him.


Therefore, beloved, confirm, then,
Your calling and your election.
Do this by showing diligence:
Obey your Lord; be repentant.


Practice all these qualities
God provided on a tree.
He died for our sins so we’d be given
Life with Him eternally.


http://originalworks.info/myopic/

Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. Then he put this scripture in mind:

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord” ~ Rom. 12:11 (NIV)

I got the sense that he was leading me to read the next passage of scripture in Revelation 3:14-22 (ESV), so I pulled out my Bible and began to read:

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.

“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
The Amen

Jesus Christ, God the Son, is faithful in all he has done and will continue to do. We can count on him to do everything he has promised and threatened. He is unchangeable, steadfast and true. His words can be totally and absolutely trusted. And, these are his true words to the lukewarm church of that time, and also for today.

Lukewarm Christianity

This church is neither on fire for Jesus Christ, keeping its spiritual (of the Spirit) passion and zeal for the Lord and for his service (for his calling), nor is it entirely cold toward (opposed to) Jesus Christ. They are neither completely indifferent to Christ and his gospel of salvation, nor are they passionately for him and his gospel. There is no submission, commitment and surrender to Jesus Christ, i.e. for following him wherever he leads us in obedience. There is no zealousness for the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ; and no ardent concern to expose error and false teachings in the church, which lead people astray from their pure devotion to Jesus Christ. There is also no grieving of spirit and weeping over lost souls and those bound by sin’s deceitfulness, including mourning over our own sins. And, there is no agape love for one another, which gives up our lives to see others be set free from slavery to sin and to be free to walk in Christ’s righteousness and holiness.

This church today is comfortable, it is fun, it is entertaining, and it is socially acceptable. It tries not to offend people with the gospel (the cross of Christ), so people will keep coming back. It is culturally relevant, blends in nicely with the world, and uses worldly methods to reach worldly people for a worldly church. It is a nice place to hang out with friends, to enjoy professional-sounding music and to hear fun and entertaining, as well as enlightening feel-good messages. It is also partnered with the world, with a worldly and evil government, and is operated and marketed just like a business, often incorporating gimmicks, lies, manipulations and deceptions in order to draw in large crowds of people. It is much focused on entertainment and having fun, often at the sacrifice of truth, and confronting unrepentant sin, and teaching the true gospel of salvation. It makes for a nice social club with clean-cut (mostly, but not all) family entertainment. It is a nice place to take your kids... that is, if you don’t mind that they are being fed lies and deceptions and they are being given a false hope of eternity in heaven absent of the cross of Christ in their lives.

Hot or Cold

Jesus would rather this church (where the shoe fits, wear it) be either on fire for him or be absolutely disinterested and, in fact, strongly opposed to him. Why is that? The reason is that lukewarm “Christians” (maybe genuine; maybe not) think they are ok like they are. They believe they are under God’s grace and they have their ticket into heaven, so they are not motivated to change. They are content in their mediocrity. They are self-deluded into thinking that their so-so Christianity is acceptable to God, too. They obviously ignore the massive amount of scriptures in the New Testament challenging their level of commitment to Jesus Christ and that call for repentance, obedience and surrender to Christ and to his will for our lives, and that warn of the consequences of ignoring their Savior. They are nearsighted and blind, i.e. they don’t see their own spiritual condition, and thus they have forgotten that they have been cleansed from sin. Professing Christians such as these are much harder to reach, because they can’t see their own spiritual nakedness.

So, Jesus is about to spit this church out of his mouth. If you have ever picked up and started to drink water that is lukewarm, and you felt the urge to spit it out, then you understand what this is saying. Jesus rejects such a church. He still loves her, and he is still calling her to open her heart to him, yet he is adamantly opposed to such lukewarmness among his followers. So, he reminds her of his love and his care for her and of his desire for her to be in close, intimate and obedient relationship with him. And, he counsels her to find in him all that she needs for life and godliness and to stop looking to the things of this world to satisfy her. Instead of filling her life with all the pleasures and treasures of this world, he counsels her to receive from him all that he gave up his life for. He died, not just so we could have a free ticket into heaven, but he died so we would be free from slavery to sin day-to-day, and so we would be free of the control of sin so we can walk daily in his righteousness and holiness. He is counseling this church today to walk in his truth and in his love, and to follow his ways, obey his teachings, and surrender to his will for our lives.

Repent

To repent literally means to have a change of mind. If we truly have a change of mind about something, our hearts and actions should follow. In the context of scripture, repentance was nearly always in the context of forsaking sins and sinful lifestyles – idolatry, adultery, and the like – and turning to walk in faithful obedience to God/Christ. Even in these seven letters to the churches, it is obvious that when Jesus says to repent he means for us to stop doing what he says is wrong and to start doing what he says is right. Yet, we don’t have to do this in our own strength and flesh. He gives us all we need for life and godliness if we will but put our trust in him, abide in him and in his love, resting in his promises, and surrendering our wills to the will of the Father for our lives.

If we do not repent of our ways (those he says are wrong and sinful), then he says he will reprove and discipline us, and in this case he is about to reject those who have all the forms of religion but who deny its power in their lives. So, if he is putting a finger on an area of your life which he says is not right, and that needs to be corrected, do not ignore his voice. Open your hearts to him - let him in, and enjoy the sweet fellowship with him that he died to give us. Put on the armor of God daily in order to fight off Satan’s schemes, and abide in Christ and let his words live in and through you, and walk in his love and truth.

Abide in Him / An Original Work / July 31, 2013

Based off Ps. 27:14; Is. 40:31; Jn. 14-15

If you wait for the Lord,
Put your hope now in Him,
He will give you His strength
And endurance within.
He will renew your strength,
So you will not lose heart.
You will soar on wings like eagles,
Never depart.


“If you abide in Me,
And My words live in you,
You will walk with Me daily
And follow what’s true.
I will live now in you;
Give you peace now within,
If you obey My teachings
And turn from your sin.”


“If you listen to Me,
And do all that I say,
I will give you My comfort;
Be with you always.
I will heal all your pain;
Life with Me now you’ll gain,
If in fellowship with Me
You always remain.”


http://originalworks.info/abide-in-him/
 
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