Thursday, February 18, 2010

What if...?

What if?

It may be one of the most, if not the most powerful two worded question in the English language (the other question is: Got milk?:).
Asking What if, changes the entire playing field of any scenario, if you take it seriously. Now please, sit tight with me now, as I ask a series of questions from a Christian point of view. Hopefully they will make you think a little bit.

Before though, I want to encourage you to always strive to see where YOU are in your relationship with Christ. There are always changes to be made and sin to get rid of. Of course, I'll be the first to admit that I'm not perfect. However, that is no excuse to be made. I believe that as Christians we should do everything in our power to honor God with our lives. This way Christ will ultimately be represented through us.

What if...

What if we decided that instead of living an abundant life according to the world, we wanted to live a successful life according to God's standards?

What if we threw mediocrity to the side and took up our CROSSES? Who ever said the way was easy?

What if we stopped acting like the rest of our friends do, and act like Christ instead? Wouldn't that be a better testimony?

What if we actually began to care about our testimony? We would not be coming out of church looking for the nearest bar or hookah joint for "social interaction".

What if we fell on our faces and dared to give God our all?....not just in words done in a special church service...but in action.

What if we dedicated ourselves to rescuing as many people from the very grasps of hell as we could? Instead we waste our time listening and watching things that are an abomination before God.

What if we decided we would rather die reaching out to a country in need, instead of sitting in the comfort of our leather, La-Z-Boys and fancy TV's?

What if, instead of complaining about what we don't have, decide to thank God for what we can give away?

What if we did everything in our power to help those in need, in place of buying the latest True Religion and video game system.

What if we decided to give God more time in our busy schedules...have you ever wondered what kind of change that would bring?

What if we were always grateful and never content with where we are in our relationship with God? We would seek more of Him.

What if you knew that when you get to the judgement seat of God Almighty, when everything has passed away, and you stare in awe at your Creator with tears streaming down His face, He says,
"Who are you?"

Our testimonies would be different.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Too loud?

Weak from the journey,
The long traveling days,
Hungry to worship,
To join in the praise.
Shock met with anger
That burned on His face,
As He entered the wasteland
Of that barren place.

And the Lamb is a Lion
Who’s roaring with rage
At the empty religion
That’s filling all their days.
They’ll flee from the harm
Of the Carpenter’s strong arm,
And come to know the scourging
Anger of the Lord.

The priests and the merchants
Demanded some proof.
For their hearts were hardened
And blind to the truth.
That Satan’s own law
Is to sell and to buy.
But God’s only Way
Is to give and to die.

And the Lamb is a Lion
Who’s roaring with rage
At the empty religion
That’s filling all their days.
They’ll flee from the harm
Of the Carpenter’s strong arm,
And come to know the scourging
Anger of the Lord.

The noise and confusion gave way to His word.
At last sacred silence so God could be heard.

And the Lamb is a Lion
Who’s roaring with rage
At the empty religion
That’s filling all their days.
They’ll flee from the harm
Of the Carpenter’s strong arm,
And come to know the scourging
Anger of the Lord. (© Michael Card)

I heard a part of this poem while listening to a sermon, and it really made me stop and think. Am I too busy for God? Do I go throughout my day and am so caught up in what I'm doing, that I don't have time to meditate on Him? More importantly, if I do think more about His word, how would that change how I live my life?

I wonder how many lies of the enemy would be brought to light if we just spent time in the Bible. Those days, mentioned in the poem, weren't the only ones filled with empty religion and hollow words. What is the status of your relationship with Christ? To evaluate this, you should ask, how much time do I spend listening to Him?

I think that confusion and uncertainty in our lives would be zero to none if we took the time to actually meditate on God. I challenge you to make more of an effort to think of His goodness. Remember where He brought you from, and what He snatched you out of. I guarantee that many of our priorities would change if we would...
Be silent, so that God can be heard.