It bewilders me how we, for whom Christ was crucified, whom He saved from eternal damnation, whom He filled with His Spirit, adopted as His own, and whom He’ll share His throne as His bride and companion in the world to come – yes, I’m bewildered at how cavalier and nonchalant we are. And, yet, I too, find myself resting comfortably at ease as though all is well in our world. How I wish we could see more clearly into the spirit realm. The apostle Paul admitted that he, only through squinted eyes, peered into this other world so vaguely as though through darkened glass. Yet he laboured and prayed unceasingly for the early church. He took Christ at His word when He said, “Think not there are yet, four months before harvest. Look on the fields, they are white for harvest” (Jn 4:35). Indeed, Christ is pleading with us to pray for labourers for the harvest, as he wishes none to perish (Matt 9:39; 2 Pet 3:9). And through the history of Christ’s body on earth, there have been those who have been earnest in prayer and in deed. But for us, especially in the developed world, He tells us that because of our lukewarmness, He’ll spit us out like putrid water, unfit for drinking.
I am jarred and shaken by this pronouncement. Not only because of our own selfishness, as if warned that if we don’t love each other, we’ll be punished, but by the stark and glaring truth of our carnality, worldliness and prayerlessness. Yet I know that that is not who we really are. We have been born anew with the Spirit of the living God now indwelling us. But we’ve become deceived. I am compelled to look deeper into this ruinously dire situation. I’m certain that if we could see into the spirit realm and see the warring between God’s angels and the forces of darkness taking place to save souls from hell, we would be on our knees taking part in the fight as Moses did while Joshua fought on, “Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.” (Ex 17:11). The problem is we don’t see the reality or seriousness of the real world. As alluded earlier, we are being lulled into disaster, much like those who were dancing and singing before the sinking of the Titanic. Really, the Church needs to wake up.
Unfortunately for us, Satan has devised and implemented his most effective strategy yet – making us so comfortable, we don’t feel the need to pray, we don’t feel the need to rely on God and we’ve become so self-absorbed, we don’t care about the suffering of others. We’ve bought into the lie that we need money. Money has become our new god, much like the Israelites worshipped foreign gods bringing God’s wrath upon themselves.
Radical change is needed. But you need to ask yourself if you’re ready for radical change. If not, your eternal state or position is in jeopardy. Here are a few ideas I believe we could implement now to avoid the spew later.
- Sell what you don’t need and give it to the poor
- Avoid sanctimonious, over-paid and materialistic pastors and priests
- Seek pastors who are gifted by Christ within your assembly
- Be Holy Spirit directed, not program and project directed
- Devote yourselves to prayer, praise and worship
- Meet weekly with others for prayer, praise and studying God’s word
- Expect answers to your prayers
- Discover and exercise your spiritual gifts.
- Get rid of your possessions that may hinder your walk with Christ.
- Study, memorize and believe God’s Word – put on the FULL armor of God.
- Seek and learn humility, brokenness and self-denial.
- Give yourself wholly to Christ – detest lukewarmness – love God with ALL your heart, mind and soul
Finding True Christianity 