Mere entertainment?

     This is the Christmas season, and churches are now busy getting ready for the Christmans program. Kids are learning their lines, costumes are being made, candy bags are being put together, and presents are being bought. All this is fun, and most everyone enjoys this time of year.
     It is also at this time that the "unchurched" come to church. They come to see kids or grandkids in the christrmas play, they come for presents, they come out of tradition, and many come out of guilt. Pastors get excited at the chance to present the gospel at this time.
     But, is the gospel really presented? Everyone gets to see a play about the birth of Jesus, and then hear a brief talk by the pastor, perhaps followed by a "blanket" sinners prayer, the kind where everyone repeats after the pastor. This looks at it is a good thing, and everyone hopes that someone actually prayed and meant it, but are people really getting saved? Did we allow the Holy Spirit to work in power convicting the lost? Was the whole gospel presented, sin and depravity, God's just wrath, man's hopeless condition, Christ's death and ressurection, repentance, submission to His Lordship?
     This might sound like I'm complaining, but in truth I see the same thing every year. The same people coming to these events for entertainment and leaving the same way they came in. A Christmas program is a great thing if done to exalt Christ, and perhaps there is a chance to see an individual saved during one, but let each one of us be filled with the Holy Spirit, and ready for any chance we have to reach the lost all year long!

Prayer, a measurement of Spiritual life.

     In Luke 18,  Jesus teaches that in prayer we must be persistent. We need to pray with an intensity and fervor that does not give up. He closes this lesson by asking the question "When the Son of Man returns, will He find faith on the earth?".
     Where there is spiritual life there will be fervent prayer. There will be the kind of prayer that seeks God and the interests of His kingdom. There will be prayer that hangs on without giving up, until the answer comes. True prayer is kindled in the heart by the Holy Spirit. Where the Spirit is present there will be prayer, deep intense prayer.
     There is a lot of praying going on, shallow empty prayers, selfish prayers, prayers that do not expect to be answered. E.M Bounds stated that all the unanswered prayers could more than fill up the earths oceans. I heard of one minister who got in his prayer time while brushing his teeth in the morning. He was just too busy to find anyother time. This is the case with so many today. Too busy to pray, content to send up a few prayers now and then when it is convenient, or when something important comes up. This is not the kind of faith that Christ desires to find in us.
     When He returns will He find true faith in you?
    
   

Three things we have in Christ.

     In Revelation 1:9, John mentions three things that those who are in Christ share.
     1. Tribulation. Those who are truly united to Christ, and take a stand for Him, will suffer for it. Jesus stated that if He was persecuted, we will be as well. Paul states that those who desire to be godly in Christ will be persecuted.
     As well as persecution, we all face temptation as well. The battle for our souls does not end once we begin to follow Christ, in fact, this is where it really begins. We need to stand firm in Christ knowing that He will provide the way of escape.
     We will face trials of everykind. It is through the testing of our faith that we are refined, and have patience produced in us. All things work for the good of those who love the Lord.

     2. We have a kingdom. Those in Christ have a kingdom that is not of this world. We belong to the kingdom of heaven. Christ is our Lord and King. We follow the kingdom laws based on love to God, and love to our neighbor. This kingdom resides in each one of us through the presence of the Holy Spirit. It is a kingdom of power and victory. Victory over sin and temptation, and power to fulfill all that God has called us to do. While we live on this earth, we eagerly await the appearance of Christ, who will take His rightful place of authority for all eternity.

     3. Endurance. In Christ we have everything we need for life and godliness. We do not need to fall. The true believer overcomes whatever comes his or her way. It is through faith in the risen Christ that we walk in victory. The same power that raised Christ from the dead is at work in us. Jesus is able to keep us from stumbling, and to present us faultless before God the Father.  Trials only make us stronger. Those who truly know and follow Christ will endure to the end and be saved.

Simplicity

     The Bible portrays the Christian life as one of simplicity. Simply put, Jesus is all we need. We are to be content because He is all we desire. We are to rejoice because no matter what we face, we have Him. Our lives can be lived free from uneccessary stress and clutter, because they are to be lived for His glory alone. If this rule was truly followed, I think most of what we do could be eliminated, and we would find life was a lot easier.
     It comes down to this. Are we really in love with Christ? He wants us to be consumed by Him. He wants to be our portion. He wants to be the object of our deepest affection.

What would it cost us?

     Every move of God has been birthed by prayer. From the 120 in the upper room prior to the day of pentecost, to the present day, you will find that someone somewhere gave themselves to prayer. A study of revival history will quickly show that individuals sought the face of God with passion and fervor, with fasting and tears, before the blessing came.
     It is my firm belief that God will call His people into the prayer closet. He will place a burden upon the hearts of those who respond to Him. In and of ourselves we have no ability to pray down a revival. However, God looks for those who will respond to Him. He speaks to  our hearts, often with a still small voice, longing for us to spend time with Him.
     It has been costly for the individuals who have followed the call of God to prayer. Real prayer is a hard work. It takes time and energy. It takes focus and dedication. While it can be a time of great joy, it can also be a time of great sorrow. That is why we must pray in the Spirit, with His energy and direction. That is where we get the strength to go on. Many get discouraged and give up, many are too easily distracted.
     Too many Christians in American live to be entertained. We have our tv shows and movies and video games, electronic devices of all sorts, internet etc. Too be sure, many of us watch "christian etertainment" no cussing, sex, or violence, clean stories to entertain us. You can get out of most church services by noon on sunday, and go home and watch football from noon to 11:00 pm. Then there is a couple hours of sports center to get us all caught up on all the sporting news of the day.
     In the midst of all of this there has been a still small voice that got smaller and smaller until it grew silent. what will it cost us to see revival in our land once again?

Full surrender.

     God is looking for the individual who will abandon all for the cause of Christ. He is looking for the one who will give up all dreams, plans, goals, agendas, self-will, and instead live only for the will of God. Posessions, position, and prestige, mean nothing to such an individual, only that Christ will be glorified..
     This is the call to do all for the glory of God. Whether eating, drinking, whether in word or deed, all is done in His name, for the sake of His kingdom, and for His good pleasure. This is the meaning of "Seek first His kingdom, and righteousness".
     This is the hungering and thirsting after righteousness that Jesus refers to in the sermon on the mount. This is the point that we must come to to be filled with all the fulness there is in Christ. This is Paul's heart when he says he has given up all that he may know Christ. This hunger drove him to do one thing only, to press on in his relentless pursuit of Christ. Only when one is truly empty can he be filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit. As long as we allow other things to satisfy us, we will never reach the place of true hunger. Just like a child spoiling his supper by eating junk food, we too can lose our spiritual appetites by filling up on worldly things, things that may not be wrong in and of themselves, but yet they stand in the way of knowing Him in a deeper way.
     Christ died, rose, and then ascended to the Father, making it possible for all to experience the total and full communion with with the Father through the presence of the Holy Spirit. That is why Jesus told His disciples that is was good that He went away. That is why He instructed them to wait until they received the Spirit. It is those, and those only, who live in the fulness of Christ, who are the most effective for Christ. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to convict and reprove, and He does it through those who are filled with Him.
     It was in the power of the Holy Spirit that Peter stood and preached on the day of pentecost. It was in the power of the Holy Spirit that Stephen stood before the Sannhedrin. It was the Holy Spirit who worked in and through the apostle Paul. The New Testament church was founded and advanced by individuals who were entirely devoted to Christ, filled to overflowing with the Spirit. It was not by human wisdom or strength, but by the very Spirit of the living God.
     Throughout the history of the church you will find souls who hungered for more.They began to earnestly seek God. They prayed and fasted and prayed some more until they were filled. They would then go out in the power of the Holy Spirit and began to proclaim what God had done for them. The fire would spread, and great changes would come to the church. Backsliders would return, complacent souls would catch fire once again. The lost around them would be convicted and saved. Sin would be put away. Drunks would give up drink, cursing would turn into praise, thieves would return what they stole, and then lead productive lives. The sick, just like in the days of Jesus, would be prayed for, and they would recover. There was a complete revolution in the life of the church!
     It takes a total consecration. A giving up of all, so that He may become all.

Character formation.

     And not only this, but we rejoice in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance proven character; and proven character hope.
     Romans 5:3,4 (NASB).

     Consider it all joy my bretheren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
     James 1:2-4 (NASB).

    

     It is during times of stress that our true character is revealed. Many individuals think they are doing pretty good in their christian walk, but fall to pieces under pressure. Many a temper has been lost in traffic jams, unkind words have been exchanged in heated moments, faith has been abandoned in times of extreme crisis. Yet there are those who weather lifes storms with grace. They are always cheerful. They never complain. They are thankful in all situations. They never lose their tempers. These individuals only grow stronger under pressure.
     The bible tells us that times of trial are when we form our character. These are the times when we are faced with the hard choices. It is easy to live what we consider good christian lives when things are going good, but quite another thing to do so when we are under pressure.
     This is the trying of our faith. We can fail, or take the opportunity to do the right thing. This is an act of faith in Christ, who has given us everything we need for life and godliness. As we begin to weather trials we become consistent, steadfast. This in turn becomes our character, who we really are deeep inside.  Peter says that as we add self control to our faith we become patient, leading to godliness (2Peter 1:6).  James says that if we let patience work in our lives, we become complete, whole, the person that god wants us to be.
     We all face times of trial, the choice is ours. Will we allow our faith to fail, or will we take the opportunity to grow?