I love the church. It’s God’s idea, God’s intention for his people to be the church. I love being with God’s people and I love seeing people saved.
But I’m not satisfied with church being a club or an obligation or a chore! I want church to ONE of the places that we come to encounter the real, true GOD!
I live for the day, I am praying for the day, when we ask people, ‘why did you come to church today’ and they say…
- I was sick and I needed healing – then I found Jesus
- I was broken and I needed help – then I found Jesus
- I was lonely and I needed real relationship – then I found Jesus
- I was lost and I needed hope – then I found Jesus!
Wouldn’t it be great if people didn’t stay away from church when they were sick and broken and in pain – but that church would be one of the first places they would come.
Jesus said I have come for the sick and the broken (Matthew 9:12)
Let’s be a church that invites, prays and believes for people who are sick and broken to encounter the real, true God.
SOMETIMES I forget how incredible, how amazing, how deep and how enormous the love of God is in my life.
WHEN I think about how deep God loves me, I almost can’t imagine how far it actually goes. God’s heart aches for me, He is jealous for my affection and His love goes so far that He would do whatever was necessary to rescue me from a life of hell…literally.
I don’t have any other love quite like that in my life and so there are times I don’t give that justice. What I mean is, when I really sit a remind myself of God’s love for me…. it actually CHANGES EVERYTHING. It turns my world upside down!
WHEN I experience His love all over again it changes my perspective and my response to the world around me. And so it should. A revelation of God’s real love changes the way I treat people in my life, it changes the way I respond to pain and hurt, it changes the way I love my family, it changes the way I live my life, it changes the things I live for.
And I want it to change everything. I don’t want to love the same way the world loves. Selfish, conditional and temporary. I want to love with the kind of love that can only come from God. Unconditional, selfless, forgiving, transforming, extravagant and gracious. That’s the kind of love that CHANGES EVERYTHING!
“Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes and always perseveres.” 1 Corinthians 13:7
I find this verse both encouraging and challenging at the same time. I am encouraged by the emphasis on love being consistent but when it comes to the reality, ‘always’ is a pretty high standard to live up to.
I am challenged in my life to be as consistent as possible in being a person who loves and lives like this. I want to be someone who always protects those in my life. Protects their reputation, and protects the things of God in their life. I want to be someone who chooses to trust rather than get cynical and skeptical of people. I want to be someone who chooses hope in the face of despair, and I want to be someone who perseveres and doesn’t quit on people. That’s the kind of love I want to have and I want to receive in my life.
Of course, I can’t love like this without a revelation of this kind of Love that God gives. It can only come from God, cos none of us are perfect. Loving God first is the key to loving other people. But I know that without this love I cannot be the kind of person God has called me to be. If God didn’t continue to hope and trust and persevere and protect me then I know my life would be very different.
Loving people is not easy but with God’s help, I believe that when we choose to love others, as we have been loved, Love doesn’ t fail. It brings out the best in people.
We need a LOVE REVOLUTION!
Today I did a little experiment and it was really a great exercise to do.
At the start of the day I sent the message out there to anyone who wanted to respond, send me one word that describes something I can pray for you about today! I had a positive response from people. And was interested to hear some of the words people requested prayer for. Things like PEACE, WISDOM, SALVATIONS.
But the real privilege came when I sat down to pray for each of these women. I love to pray for people and I often do this, but to sit and pray for the people in my world, and in my church, knowing something real and relevant they wanted prayer for – gave great clarity and power to what I prayed for them.
We should consider it a privilege to pray for each other. The bible talks about praying for one another and loving one another. And sometimes our worlds can get so inward focussed that to stop and think about someone elses world is important.
What a joy to pray for one another!
Watch out next week for One Word Wednesday! (thanks Helen)
As I was praying last week, God began to break my heart for the spiritual apathy that is over this nation and has crept into the church. I began to cry out to God in repentance for the times when I had, and indeed the church had, chosen to sit back, or hide the message or remain silent when God had been moving.
My heart has been stirred and disturbed by this apathy that I see infecting the hearts and lives of Jesus disciples.
Apathy can be defined as a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation and passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of interest or concern to emotional, social, or physical life. They may also exhibit an insensibility or sluggishness.
As I began to delve a little deeper into this issue I discovered that the concept of apathy became more well-known after World War I, when it was called “shell shock”. Soldiers who lived in the trenches amidst the bombing and machine gun fire, and who saw the battlefields strewn with dead and maimed comrades developed a sense of disconnected numbness and indifference.
I believe we at times have become shell shocked by the state of this world and the condition of people’s hearts. It has shocked us as the church to the point where we have become ineffective and numbed from responding with the mission God has called us to.
I thought we were meant to share the love and hope and truth of Christ to a hurting world. I thought we were meant to shine the light of God in the darkness. I thought we were meant to lead the change.
We have a decision to make and we must choose. People’s lives are at stake.
We as the church, as God’s disciples, have been sent on the rescue mission.
I felt the Lord prompt me to repent – we must repent on behalf of… apathy towards God and His church, towards each other, towards the mission, towards injustice, towards the orphans and the widows, towards leadership, towards those who need salvation!
When will we wake up?
I want to see a church that embraces the lost, the broken, the hurting, that stands for the truth and fights for the justice on God’s heart, advocates for the widow, parents the orphan, restores the prostitute, reforms the addicted to power and money, is a voice of hope and truth to the desperate and depressed, rescues those going to hell and tells them about salvation…
It all starts with our apathy or passion in our relationship with Jesus
People who are passionate about their relationship with Jesus – change the world…
Discipling begins in the home
If we ever want to affect the culture we live in, discipling must begin with our children. Before we go looking for people to disciple, we should start with our own families. God has entrusted our children to our care for but a few short years of their life. We will mark them for eternity.
So how do we be intentional about how we disciple our children.
Obviously Jesus was pretty good at discipling others, so what can we learn from him.
1. Jesus called his disciples to follow him, showing them how to, in turn, follow God. We are to lead our children by our example. Be mindful everyday of how you are demonstrating your life to your children. It doesn’t mean you have to be perfect but it does mean you have to be authentic.
2. Jesus was with his disciples all day long! Whether we can be with our children all day or not, the fact is we as their parents need to make quality time to spend – some for fun and some for discipling! (Both should be happening at the same time!) Time is a quality investment of who we are.
3. Jesus taught his disciples scripture and showed them how to live it. We can be very good at teaching our children rules and skills for living. Even helping them with school work, but sometimes neglect to make learning of the scriptures a priority. The bible is a book for life and the better we know it the more we can learn about how to live as God intended us. It’s a worthy investment into your children.
As you reflect on this example of Jesus, how does it affect your discipling of your own children?
In the theme of our mission possible series God has been stirring my heart for people. More and more my heart is breaking for people everywhere. God’s heart is for people… “For God so loved the world that gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” John 3:16
Sounds simple doesn’t it. God’s love is a powerful expression that changes people’s lives. And God has given us His love not only for ourselves.
I believe that God is love. The bible talks about this and also says, “this is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins…. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” (1 John 4:10,11)
I think that’s pretty awesome. That because God loves me, I can love him and love others. And I believe this is the way God wants us to live. Loving others actually points people to Jesus. Loving others, means God is seen in our lives.
I am challenged by this scripture to love people in my world. And to understand that as I love people, that they would come to love God too.
How do you love those in your world who don’t know about God’s love?
Currently in our church we are teaching a series called Mission Possible. It’s a series about becoming a more missional church but also about recognising that each christian is called to be a missionary.
I am personally challenged by this. I am so hungry and so desire to see people become disciples of Jesus Christ. At the moment, every day I wake up feeling burdened in my heart about people meeting Jesus. It’s not that I never thought about it before, but my prayer has been to ask God to break my heart for what breaks His heart and I am discovering that is people.
I can’t shake it, I can’t ignore it, I can’t deny it – the mission is a part of who I am as a christian.
So my prayer everyday is for the mission that Jesus has given me. That I would not waste an opportunity.
I can see how the enemy is constantly trying to persaude me or distract me upon remembering that it’s all about Jesus.
Comparing myself to other people, getting down on myself for not being great enough or interesting enough. Constantly striving in my own strength to be better, to do better. There is always so much I could dwell upon about myself. But it’s not the extent of what my life is supposed to mean.
Then I lift my eyes, turn my face toward God and remember so humbly – it’s not about me. It’s all about Him.
The creator of my life, the redeemer of my soul, the King of kings, the Holy One, the righteous one – living in me.
I just so want my life to give glory to God and spending time thinking this life is about me is a waste. Through my brokenness, through my failings, through my weaknesses to be someone who truly lives for God and makes God famous on the earth.
I can always find a better mum than me, a better wife, a better preacher, a better friend – but what counts is am I doing these things, using my life for the glory of God?
1 Corinthians 10:31 “so whether you eat or drink, WHATEVER you do, do it all for the GLORY of God.”
So today my prayer: What can I do for your glory today, Lord?
It’s all about Him…
I recently spent an evening in front of the t.v. with my hubby watching the movie Fireproof. It is a movie about a married couple who have grown cold in their love for one another and as a result have grown far apart, almost living separate lives. Living under the same roof but not doing life together.
Check this out for a preview..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5lSu6GkC2k
It was a great reminder to me of the covenant I have made before God in marriage to my husband. It is so easy to forget the great and special things about our spouse after some years of living with them. We can very quickly become too familiar with each other and loose the romance or the energy to keep showing our love to one another.
It also reminded me that it takes a daily effort for the rest of my life to love my husband and keep my marriage the best it can be. It is up to me to do what I can each day to show and express love in my marriage.
In the movie, Fireproof, the husband embarked on a 40 day challenge to save his marriage. Each day, he would deliberately do, say or be something that would restore his marriage. And I kinda like the idea.
So I am challenged each day, to look for ways in which I can be a blessing to my husband, love him with an unconditional love and be an active part of making my marriage the best it can be.
What are you doing to Fireproof your marriage?
