I was reading Wayne Jacobson’s ‘Lifestream’ blog and found his latest entry to hold the quote below:
We are in an age of religious complexity. The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found amoung us. In its stead are programs, methods, organizations, and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention but can never satisfy the longing of the heart. -A.W. TOZER-
I totally love this quote. It is the mission statement of what I feel Papa is doing in my life right now. My follow blogger Paul wrote recently, “We do not have our governments kicking in the doors of our churches. Our lives are not at risk preaching the gospel. Yet we are the most fearful group of Christians in the world.” I believe that a portion of the fear we live in as Christians, is the fear of Papa being in control. “If we stop the programs, where will we find ourselves?” Even farther still, “If we stop the functions, how will He be able to do anything?”
It is not hard to find yourself throw into the mix of things that are not from Papa. It's easy to stay in the 'comfortable', soft, sleepy business of programs. The things we find ourselves conjuring up to bring in the masses and rev up the church. Then when you pull yourself from it ... or should I say, when He pulls us from it, we find ourselves facing another challenge. The challenge of, "What do I do now?"
Trust. Trust and believe. Believe that He is our source. That He is in control. That He is the key to everything. That He is what will move us. That He is The One who opens doors no man can open and closes doors no man can shut.
We believe that we are okay. We are okay because we are in His hands.
And we will find that Papa has many ideas for moving His church. That He has many ways of the lost seeing Him and believing that He is their King! We will begin to see that when everything we do has the heart beat of Heaven, He can move mountains!
I believe that we will do many things, when we let Him be in the driver’s seat.
And this continues to hit us so frequently and so hard, it is difficult to ignore! How can we fully bleed ourselves of this drive to be "functional" in the mindset of the institution? Is it really enough to just wake up and give him the day and believe that He will move and do extraordinary things?
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, Honey!
ReplyDeleteI know your "right" and we don't just "agree" because Janna/Paul's answer is in 1 Peter 5:4-11 which I like in The Message http://is.gd/qpsg
Blessings all!
@GaryFPatton in Toronto
"It won't be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does."
ReplyDeleteThis is the last two sentences of the above scripture. I love it! He has glorious plans for us and He has the last word. I cling to promises like this one.
Yes, I think that it is enough to give Him the day. For He has the last word in our lives! When we see Him and know Him, nothing else will take that position in our hearts. Is He asking you to witness something (He wants to do in) your life?