The Church Renewed
I mentioned earlier in a post on facebook, that I believe it is time for the church to repent and seek the Lord. It appears to me that much of the church is weak and that many churches today are dying. In fact, many are dying in America today. Many of those that exist seem to have completely lost their importance in people's lives and power to change people's lives. The New Testament church was not like that. People's lives were changed and the power of God was demonstrated in people's lives.
I believe the church needs to get back to the basics. I am speaking to myself here as well for I need repentance and renewal. For too long the church has tried to make friends with the world instead of being sanctified or set apart. In Romans 13:8 it says, "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfulled the law." Later, in verse 10, the writer says, "Love is the fulfillment of the law." Jesus also mentioned this in Luke 10:27. Jesus said that to love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and to love your neighbor was the most important commandments that there is. I believe as a church, we need to get back to stoking the flames of the love of God in our heart because it is at risk of dying out completely.
When you want to kindle and increase flames on a fire you stoke it and then put fresh logs or paper or something on it to increase the burning. We need to do this and enflame the love of God in our hearts. I focus on this first because I know I cannot love other people they way God wants me to until I love Him the way I should. My ability to love others comes from Him and not myself. We simply need to make time to focus and love our Lord. I know we are all very busy in these times, but this is critical to everything else that we do as believers. I don't want to go back and look at my life like the Laodicean church was guilty of and realize that my love for God was lukewarm. I believe the steps that are needed to fan these flames are three fold.
First, I think we need to renew our minds about who we serve. Many believers are nominal believers only. They primarily serve themselves and gratify themselves. This is not being a follower of Christ. I need to spend time everyday renewing my mind, remember who it is that I serve. Remember that God is not simply a larger man than myself and his wishes and desires are not optional, but primary. We serve the God of the universe. The one who Paul said in Colossians 1:16-17 "For by him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for him He is before all things and in him all things hold together." We owe our existence to God and our continued existence. It is by his very power that the universe is held together and it is for Him that we were created.
Second, we need to remember what he has done. Easter is a great time for doing that, but as a believer I need to remember Easter all year long. Christ gave up the glory of heaven that he enjoyed before the world began and became a man, suffered rejection from everyone and utterly became forsaken on the cross for your sake and mine. We simply cannot conceive of the pain and horror that Jesus endured for us. The sinless lamb of God came for the express purpose of taking your place. Our lives should be lived in gratitude for this sacrifice that he made for us.
Third, we need to remember what is ahead of us. Primarily, I am thinking that ahead of all of us is the throne of God. We will all have to stand before it and give an account of our lives. For some people, this will be a very sad experience and they will see that everything they did in their lives amounted to nothing. That nothing had eternal value in God's eyes. Worse than that, that they will hear the Lord condemn them and cast them out of heaven because they did not know Him. But, for the believer, the mind and heart has not conceived of what God has waiting for us. It is beyond your imagination. The beauty and majesty to behold led Paul to say in 1 Corinthians 2:9 "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has coneived what God has prepared for those who love him."
I believe the church needs to get back to the basics. I am speaking to myself here as well for I need repentance and renewal. For too long the church has tried to make friends with the world instead of being sanctified or set apart. In Romans 13:8 it says, "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfulled the law." Later, in verse 10, the writer says, "Love is the fulfillment of the law." Jesus also mentioned this in Luke 10:27. Jesus said that to love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and to love your neighbor was the most important commandments that there is. I believe as a church, we need to get back to stoking the flames of the love of God in our heart because it is at risk of dying out completely.
When you want to kindle and increase flames on a fire you stoke it and then put fresh logs or paper or something on it to increase the burning. We need to do this and enflame the love of God in our hearts. I focus on this first because I know I cannot love other people they way God wants me to until I love Him the way I should. My ability to love others comes from Him and not myself. We simply need to make time to focus and love our Lord. I know we are all very busy in these times, but this is critical to everything else that we do as believers. I don't want to go back and look at my life like the Laodicean church was guilty of and realize that my love for God was lukewarm. I believe the steps that are needed to fan these flames are three fold.
First, I think we need to renew our minds about who we serve. Many believers are nominal believers only. They primarily serve themselves and gratify themselves. This is not being a follower of Christ. I need to spend time everyday renewing my mind, remember who it is that I serve. Remember that God is not simply a larger man than myself and his wishes and desires are not optional, but primary. We serve the God of the universe. The one who Paul said in Colossians 1:16-17 "For by him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for him He is before all things and in him all things hold together." We owe our existence to God and our continued existence. It is by his very power that the universe is held together and it is for Him that we were created.
Second, we need to remember what he has done. Easter is a great time for doing that, but as a believer I need to remember Easter all year long. Christ gave up the glory of heaven that he enjoyed before the world began and became a man, suffered rejection from everyone and utterly became forsaken on the cross for your sake and mine. We simply cannot conceive of the pain and horror that Jesus endured for us. The sinless lamb of God came for the express purpose of taking your place. Our lives should be lived in gratitude for this sacrifice that he made for us.
Third, we need to remember what is ahead of us. Primarily, I am thinking that ahead of all of us is the throne of God. We will all have to stand before it and give an account of our lives. For some people, this will be a very sad experience and they will see that everything they did in their lives amounted to nothing. That nothing had eternal value in God's eyes. Worse than that, that they will hear the Lord condemn them and cast them out of heaven because they did not know Him. But, for the believer, the mind and heart has not conceived of what God has waiting for us. It is beyond your imagination. The beauty and majesty to behold led Paul to say in 1 Corinthians 2:9 "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has coneived what God has prepared for those who love him."
