I am so glad that I have not had to work outside in this cold weather this year very much. With all the warm days, the cold ones seem somehow colder. It reminds me of how we live in today's church. Often, church becomes a routine, a ritual that is held worldwide every Sunday morning. You can set your watch by the length of a sermon, list of song choices, etc. Then, much of the "church" goes out during the week into the bitter cold after being warmed by the fire of God's Word. Unfortunately, this is how some people see the experience, that you have to experience the cold to appreciate the warmth. Being cooped up in the house most of the week, I can tell you that being in the warmth for a long time leads to a desire to avoid the cold on purpose. Friend, you never have to go out into the cold again. You can take the light of God's Word and the warmth of Jesus' love with you wherever you go.
"What does that have to do with our Christian walk?", you may say. Well, in our schedules of work and play and appointments, family gatherings, we all experience times of discouragement and "cold" but we always have the joy of knowing Christ to remind us that life is not about us, but about Him. If Sunday is the only time your Bible is opened and the rest of the time you would just as soon watch the boob tube as talk about God, then you have a problem. It is like sitting in your home walking past the wood stove and never putting in wood and starting a fire. Would you wonder why it was cold? We have the spark, kindling, and firewood always at hand, be it a single person, married, widowed, or a dozen kids running around. The Word of God is light, it is the "fire" that keeps us on fire for God. We always have a "friend that sticks closer than a brother" to keep us warm, and all we have to do is ask Him to come along each step of the way with us.
Without the fire in our hearts to reach the lost for Jesus, we are just sitting on the sidelines wondering why God doesn't seem to work through us. We need to be broken vessels, allowing the potter's hand to craft us into what He has for our lives. Only after He has molded us into what He wants us to be can we hold the fire in our vessel to carry onto others. We cannot come to Him with our own desires and wants, but rather wishing only for His glory and honor to be fulfilled in our lives.
A lyric comes to mind from the song "Trust and Obey"
When we walk with the Lord, in the light of His Word, what a glory He sheds on our way. While we do His good will , He abides with us still, and with all who will trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey"
The other verses are also power packed with encouragement and joy for our lives. One line says "never fear, only trust and obey" What a promise we have in the Bible that "with Christ, all things are possible" and we can know that we need not fear, for the God of the universe that created all things and set the laws of physics, is able to do ALL things. That is a big word, and I hear it a lot in Scripture. It doesn't say most, a lot, or a majority, it says ALL. Unfortunately for our prideful hearts, in order for God to work in our lives we must also give ALL of ourselves to Him. Holding back our wants and wishes only hinders what God can do through us for His kingdom!
Let's face each day coming with the fire in our hearts, a vessel broken and spilled out of ourselves, and fashioned and filled with the Holy Spirit. Let the warmth of God show through to a cold and dying world. Cold is just an absence of heat, so let's light a fire in our homes, our towns, and our churches. It starts at home, and can spread like wildfire. If we are on fire, our spouses and children will catch the flame. Then, we can reach out to friends, neighbors, work associates. The children can help reach other children, at school(unless you home school like we do) or at play.
A scenario for you. If 100 people, a small church body, each led someone to Christ once a year, after 1 year you have 200. If all those light a fire in someone else, after 2 years you have 400. If those all reach one lost soul, after 3 years you would have 800. After 5 years you would have 3,200 Christians out there from 1 small body of 100. You could plant a new church every year, and infiltrate the world with home churches and small assemblies of believers, meeting not just on Sundays, but working together in their own communities to reach the lost.
In 10 years of every Christian reaching a friend, coworker, or family member, you would have over 100,000 Christians from this group of 100 faithful followers of Jesus' example of reaching out with the message of sin and salvation, of grace that will save souls from the fire of hell. As one of the 100, you could stand before God and hear"well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord" All it takes is dedication to winning 1 soul a year. How hard is that? God will have to do the saving, but we have been called to GO and preach. He can take it from there. What mighty things God can do with a little fire from 1 small community of dedicated followers of Him.
That thought should be adequate to stir up the fire in the most timid soul. We have all been called to reach the lost, not just the preacher or evangelist. Good News Clubs, vacation Bible school, Sunday School, and mostly our daily interactions with people are all opportunities to talk to someone about their need for a Savior. Unfortunately, many "church folk" have no fire at all in their own lives to share, or a desire to do anything but warm themselves by the fire. This is not what we were called for, but our own selfish desire to stay warm. The worst part is, if we bring no new wood for the fire (lost souls coming to Christ) the fire goes out and dies, leaving no warmth. If that same small church does not share the fire with at least 1 lost soul each over their time on this earth, the church grows smaller, not larger. Let's not sleep through the night and forget to bring more wood to our fire. Let's carry in wood by the armload until we have an inferno on our hands.
Will write more later, but I would recommend going to www.wayofthemaster.com if you want to learn more about being saved from sin and the promises of a home in heaven for eternity. Also visit the site to learn more about being equipped to reach the lost.
"What does that have to do with our Christian walk?", you may say. Well, in our schedules of work and play and appointments, family gatherings, we all experience times of discouragement and "cold" but we always have the joy of knowing Christ to remind us that life is not about us, but about Him. If Sunday is the only time your Bible is opened and the rest of the time you would just as soon watch the boob tube as talk about God, then you have a problem. It is like sitting in your home walking past the wood stove and never putting in wood and starting a fire. Would you wonder why it was cold? We have the spark, kindling, and firewood always at hand, be it a single person, married, widowed, or a dozen kids running around. The Word of God is light, it is the "fire" that keeps us on fire for God. We always have a "friend that sticks closer than a brother" to keep us warm, and all we have to do is ask Him to come along each step of the way with us.
Without the fire in our hearts to reach the lost for Jesus, we are just sitting on the sidelines wondering why God doesn't seem to work through us. We need to be broken vessels, allowing the potter's hand to craft us into what He has for our lives. Only after He has molded us into what He wants us to be can we hold the fire in our vessel to carry onto others. We cannot come to Him with our own desires and wants, but rather wishing only for His glory and honor to be fulfilled in our lives.
A lyric comes to mind from the song "Trust and Obey"
When we walk with the Lord, in the light of His Word, what a glory He sheds on our way. While we do His good will , He abides with us still, and with all who will trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey"
The other verses are also power packed with encouragement and joy for our lives. One line says "never fear, only trust and obey" What a promise we have in the Bible that "with Christ, all things are possible" and we can know that we need not fear, for the God of the universe that created all things and set the laws of physics, is able to do ALL things. That is a big word, and I hear it a lot in Scripture. It doesn't say most, a lot, or a majority, it says ALL. Unfortunately for our prideful hearts, in order for God to work in our lives we must also give ALL of ourselves to Him. Holding back our wants and wishes only hinders what God can do through us for His kingdom!
Let's face each day coming with the fire in our hearts, a vessel broken and spilled out of ourselves, and fashioned and filled with the Holy Spirit. Let the warmth of God show through to a cold and dying world. Cold is just an absence of heat, so let's light a fire in our homes, our towns, and our churches. It starts at home, and can spread like wildfire. If we are on fire, our spouses and children will catch the flame. Then, we can reach out to friends, neighbors, work associates. The children can help reach other children, at school(unless you home school like we do) or at play.
A scenario for you. If 100 people, a small church body, each led someone to Christ once a year, after 1 year you have 200. If all those light a fire in someone else, after 2 years you have 400. If those all reach one lost soul, after 3 years you would have 800. After 5 years you would have 3,200 Christians out there from 1 small body of 100. You could plant a new church every year, and infiltrate the world with home churches and small assemblies of believers, meeting not just on Sundays, but working together in their own communities to reach the lost.
In 10 years of every Christian reaching a friend, coworker, or family member, you would have over 100,000 Christians from this group of 100 faithful followers of Jesus' example of reaching out with the message of sin and salvation, of grace that will save souls from the fire of hell. As one of the 100, you could stand before God and hear"well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord" All it takes is dedication to winning 1 soul a year. How hard is that? God will have to do the saving, but we have been called to GO and preach. He can take it from there. What mighty things God can do with a little fire from 1 small community of dedicated followers of Him.
That thought should be adequate to stir up the fire in the most timid soul. We have all been called to reach the lost, not just the preacher or evangelist. Good News Clubs, vacation Bible school, Sunday School, and mostly our daily interactions with people are all opportunities to talk to someone about their need for a Savior. Unfortunately, many "church folk" have no fire at all in their own lives to share, or a desire to do anything but warm themselves by the fire. This is not what we were called for, but our own selfish desire to stay warm. The worst part is, if we bring no new wood for the fire (lost souls coming to Christ) the fire goes out and dies, leaving no warmth. If that same small church does not share the fire with at least 1 lost soul each over their time on this earth, the church grows smaller, not larger. Let's not sleep through the night and forget to bring more wood to our fire. Let's carry in wood by the armload until we have an inferno on our hands.
Will write more later, but I would recommend going to www.wayofthemaster.com if you want to learn more about being saved from sin and the promises of a home in heaven for eternity. Also visit the site to learn more about being equipped to reach the lost.
