Several times over the past few weeks while I slept the Lord has bombarded me with my faults, weakness, sins and even immaturity. It was like being with God and having Him tell you all the things that are wrong with you. All I could do was feel bad and agree. I awoke every morning feet awful, mad at myself, dirty.
After the first time this happened I though I was just wrestling with some personal issues and paid little attention. As this process has gone on, I see that the Lord is trying to bless me. The Lord is trying to awaken me to my great need for Him and the 'thousand and one' areas that I have failed to mature. My immaturity is costly. God is showing me how my immaturity is resulting in His Kingdom not advancing. People are not getting saved, healed, restored or delivered because I have not done what is required to fulfill the promised provision. Sometimes the justice of God sucks. I want mercy, not maturity.
Recently I was compelled to read a sermon my Finney on the promises of God. Later I got the MorningStar word of the week http://www.morningstarministries.org/Publisher/Article.aspx?id=1000025566
and it was confirmed to me about the need to grow up and live a life worthy of Jesus Christ and not waist my life on "being saved". I believe "being saved" is a wonderful thing, but if you try to live there, you soon shrink back into shallow and lukewarm living. If all we contend for is daily happiness and self fulfillment then when is the Kingdom of God ever advanced? When do we die to self, if self is all we are living for (even - the Christian self)?
Saturday night as I lead the time of prayer for our city (40 days of prayer) I prayed for the prayer movement and the cost of city transformation. Someone is going to loose their life to take the city. People were visibly offended at this truth. If we can take the city with a shout or a praise, everyone is for it. But if sacrifice, perseverance, faithfulness, endurance and mytardum are required, forget it. Christians now days can always go back to living happy lives filled with inspiring messages of how to be blessed, rich, popular, anointed to be the worlds next great leader (humble of course).
Yet God is also raising up old people and youth who have it in their hearts to pay the full price. It is insightful if not fulfilling of Biblical prophecy that the old and the youth have it in mind to be Christian. I find more old ladies and more youth that want to live for Christ and not just have Christ live for them. In just a little while when the troubles of life increase we are all going to be very glad someone has been paying the full price for the promises of God.
In a sin sick church where the morality and behaviour of the people who call themselves Christian is compatible with the world; in a christian society that worships wealth, ease and self-gratification as much as it does Christ, let me offer these words of Peter.
2 Peter 1:3-11
3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge; 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness; 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; 11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.
NAS
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