‘Gal 5:1 STAND fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage
(Posts contrasts traditional Christian practices vs authentic fruits of Christianity desired by God. )
As the generic church member, is my fear larger than my faith? Is my trust in what I can see with eyes of Faith, or in what I can bring to existence by my own efforts? Many traditional Christians fear everyday things such as sickness..not making ends meet…not having a good job, not having health insurance…not having fashionable changes of apparel and jewelry, not having a nice home, not being affirmed as good, not having our heart-felt religious beliefs validated, not having our spiritual abilities and gifts recognized, , not having a conservative president, not having born-again religion taught in public schools, not having born-again religious views serve as the basis for government, not being Raptured,…..and many seriously fear the evil one.
We fear satan’s influence on the physical body, on the family, on our schools, on our churches, on the community…state…and nation. We often assess our Christianity and conclude that personal church attendance, tithing, use of God-given talents/abilities, right associations, good standing in the community, and hard work….are all fruits which testify to true Christianity. But what I have just described is the church members at Ephesus who were extremely busy with the work of the Lord….but who did not allow the First Love as head of the Body of Christ.
Rev. 2:2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
4Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent
SO WHAT DOES GOD DESIRE OF ME….THE CHRISTIAN…THE CHURCH MEMBER ? Most of all, He desires that I think, feel, act from the thoughts of His mind. After all, He is the Head of His own body…the Body of Christ…the Temple of God… the Bride…the Church.
ALLOW THE RENEWING/TRANSFORMING OF THE MIND BY THE HOLY SPIRIT: Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
REPENT: Matt 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand
FOLLOW ME: Matt 4:19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
LABOUR IN THE HARVEST: Matt 9:37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; 38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
LOVE …BLESS…DO GOOD…AND PRAY FOR THE UNGODLY:Matt 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
BE PERFECT AS THE FATHER IN HEAVEN IS PERFECT: 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
PROVIDE MATERIAL HELP FOR THE FATHERLESS AND WODOWS/KEEP CLEAN FROM THE DIRT OF THE WORLD: Ja 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
DON’T JUDGE OTHERS AS GOOD OR BAD: Matt 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
ONLY THOSE WHOSE SINS ARE FORGIVEN CAN REBUKE THE SINS OF OTHERS: 3And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
TREAT ALL OTHERS AS YOU WANT TO BE TREATED: 12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets
LOVE GOD WITH THE ENTIRE HUMAN BEING: Matt 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind
38This is the first and great commandment.
LOVE ALL PEOPLE EQUALLY: 39And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
TRUST GOD TO RULE HIS CREATION: Luke 11:2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
Heavenly Father,
Forgive me the evil audacity of judging my own heart …or the hearts of others…unto righteous or unrighteousness. You alone are the judge.
Forgive me the evil audacity of placing faith in the fruits of my own hands rather than trusting You for guidance and sustenance.
Forgive me for my self-righteous works which are far from those You desire from me….. pure love and service to my fellow man.
Forgive me for placing faith in the rule of man’s government above your rule in the kingdom of men….in the here and now.
Forgive me for the log in my own eye that has blinded me to the needs of others.
Forgive me for not possessing your indwelling heart of love so I might love my neighbor as myself.
Forgive me for adorning the outward man with changes of apparel, bangles, bracelets and earrings…more than I have adorned the inward spirit man…who is made to bear Your image.
Forgive me for offering on the altar to You…my church participation, tithes, and “Lord-Lord” rather than allowing your possession of… and residence in…my heart.
Forgive me for the years I have blindly practiced my own desires, pleasures, and false righteousness rather than seeking the fullness of LIFE found only in You who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Forgive me for the years lived in fear and not in TRUST found only in Your perfect LOVING presence.
Forgive me for the years I did not believe that if I draw nigh to You…you would draw nigh to me…as You promised.
Forgive me for the years I did not believe that the battle is Yours alone…the Victory is yours alone…the Glory is Yours alone. And that…apart from You…I am powerless.
Forgive my fleshly lust for the pleasures of food which has resulted in detrimental effects on my physical body which is intended to be the Temple of God.
I ask nothing of You beyond forgiveness except…..THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.
powerful prayer
oh yeah, i almost forgot, thanks for the comments. You are the first to comment on my site!
I was very blessed to have the opportunity to read this blog. Truly, the Spirit of the Most High has led you to write these things. In the end, the only thing that matters is our relationship with YHWH our Elohim. Serving Him is a big part of that relationship but we must not get too busy that we stop hearing that ‘still, small voice’. Let us not forget that first love when we first began to walk with the Lord and every moment was as sweet as walking in Garden of Eden.
littleguyintheeye…..God is doing a perfect work in the world. And in these days of increased spiritual warfare….I rejoice in my heart as I watch His perfect Word being fulfilled. I have, by His mercy and forgiveness, encountered that ‘first Love’ in a very personal way. I’ll never again be the same. I don’t think that one can understand the scripture “God is Love”….until one encounters for himself/herself the person of the Father through the person of Christ. I am being transformed….after taking so very much for granted for so many years. And LOVE is the center of the transformation. A LOVE which embraces the unlovable as though he/she were an adorable newborn baby. A LOVE which overtakes my heart with deep compassion when I see those who ‘hurt.’ A LOVE which fully trusts the Father as ‘good.’ A LOVE which pours it fullest joy out within me when I am of SERVICE to others. Indeed, ‘it is more blessed to give than to receive.’
I am so ‘renewed, littleguyintheeye, at having encountered you. The encounter is not coincidence. I ‘needed’ it. I have very, very precious family members and precious Christian friends who reject my experiences with God and who strongly judge me. And that is perfectly okay! But what a blessing from God to encounter who has God-given WISDOM related to the Truth of the Word. Wisdom and understanding seemingly, are very RARE things in the Christian society these days.
Thanks for visiting my site. May God’s ‘will be done’ in your life.
I really appreciate your honesty here. It is very refreshing…and oh so very lacking in many of the congregations.
I know that I have had to look deeply at myself…more deeply than I would have liked. But it is necessary. I want Him to remove anything and everything that hinders my loving Him with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and loving my neighbor as myself. I want to live up to His call to live a holy life. I know that I can ONLY do that by the Holy Spirit who lives within me. There is nothing of myself that can accomplish this.
Amen, Abigail. The Church of this age…and the people called by His name have dishonored Him grievously. More than ‘dishonored’…..we have broken His heart! He loves us deeply and desires to bring us from death to Life. But He is merciful, patient, and longsuffering. In these days of change and carnality, I see and feel His heart and hands reaching to us and we turn again to Him and cry, ‘Father, they will be done…on earth..as it is in Heaven.’
Thanks for visiting.
Now you are speaking like the Christians I have been exposed to most of my life. You often use the phrase “Father, thy will be done”. You realize that if God is real than HIS WILL, will be done? Right? His ‘word’ seems to imply his Will, his pleasures and his desires Will be done. Anyway, after reading a few of your posts I am seeing that you are not much different in your belief than traditional Christian and align more like many of them to what is taught. peace
truelogic..thanks for visiting and for your comment. I was concerned when I did this post that the ‘fears’ listed might be seen as my own. They are not my own. after reading your comment, I added a clarifying statement at the beginning to show that the purpose of the post was to contrast ‘traditional Christians with those described in the Bible. There is quiet a DIFFERENCE. The LAST thing I want to be ‘like’ is the aggressive, argumentative, judgemental, self-righteous, and wringing-of-the-hands Christian. That’s not me AT ALL. I have peace. I’m not threatened by the ‘belief’ or ‘unbelief’ of others. We have a free will. I prefer friendship to fighting, peacemaking to troublemaking, and seeing the broad view rather than the narrow view. But I am totally and wholly convinced of God. I’ve encountered Him in real ways. He is real.
Concerning “Thy will be done’….you are RIGHT! His will….will be done. By saying ‘thy will be done’….I am affirming my trust in His total being….His wisdom, foreknowledge, fairness, justice, mercy and Love. “Thy will be done’ is a statement…not an ‘asking.’ I don’t have the audacity to tell God what to do.
AS far as ‘alignment’….I am aligned to other Christians only in the area of Christ as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I am protestant. I ‘know’ the Bible is the inspired Word of God. But more than that, I encounter Him in very personal ways. He teaches me. He corrects me. He inspires me. I’m a 100% proponent of God…….not of the apostate church. There is a real Body of Christ. and you know them by their gentleness, mercy, servitude, quietness, meekness, kindness, love for all others…..and they are few in number.
Again, sorry to mislead. Thanks for the comment.