The Voice of Destiny

Disappointed

I am posting my feelings today.  Recently a friend wrote an essay concerning the state of America and the state of the Church.  It was a good message quoting from the book of Jeremiah about the prophet pleading with Israel to repent or judgment would come.  We know what happens to Israel, they do not repent and thus suffer 70 years in captivity.  No doubt the spiritual condition of our nation is lacking and few people want to hear the Truth.  Only God can soften the hearts of people in and out of the church.

I have no problem hearing about the judgment of God, though I do not believe that God is simply waiting to punish any nation or person, but is long suffering and merciful.  Judgment in my opinion comes as a direction result of our actions and therefore we experience the results of those actions much as you would if you tried to deny gravity and jumped from a building.  

What I am so disturbed about is the overwhelming response of other Christians to hail this message as if it were some great revelation.  Repentance should be a very important part of our walk with God.  It is called humility!  We are to walk humbly with our God.  The great response causes me to wonder about the maturity of believers.  Then you hear some crying for more messages about hell fire and judgment as if that is going to cause people to serve God in a loving relationship.  Hell fire doesn't produce intimacy.  It produces fear which is the opposite of faith.  I am totally blown away with what I see right now in the Church.

Personally, I feel we should be mature enough to walk in humility with God, which means if I sin, I confess my sin and then go on to live for Christ.  So much emphasis is being placed on sin, when I believe we should be well past this stage, walking in the righteousness of Christ and being the Church before a world that is looking for a living example, not another sermon.  People don't want to hear the Bible quoted, they want solutions to real problems.  Sometimes that requires loving correction and others times simply loving period!

Personally, I much prefer telling people about the love, mercy and compassion of God who has created them with an amazing destiny for their lives.  Repent?  Absolutely, but because the Kingdom of God is here and Jesus longs for them to walk in what was originally intended for them, rather the hopelessness of a world that knows not God!  May we all mature in our relationship with God so that we can be a voice of destiny, rather than pronounce doom to the desperate.

The Parable of the Sower

I am not much of a farmer, though years ago my wife and I had a small farm with a pretty large garden. One thing I do know is that farming is work.  You have to constantly attend to the garden if you want to produce anything worth eating.  I remember coming home from a long day at work, I was in construction at the time, and having to weed that garden.  I didn't like it very much and struggled keeping the weeds out that robbed my vegetables of important nutrients and most of my joy as a farmer.

I see the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:18-23 as being so apropo to what is happening in the lives of many believers today.  First of all "words of the Kingdom" are not easily understood with the carnal mind. The carnal mind is the wayside.  Pretty hard to grow anything on the wayside. These are people who don't even want to take the time to get into the field!  They say, "I'll stay right here."  Guess what, nothing grows there!  It is not rocket science.  

The others mentioned in this parable other than of course the one who receives it or accepts the Word, are those who lack the discipline to move to fertile soil, discern that Satan is stealing their seed, or are not determined enough to beat the weeds!  I am totally amazed at the decisions that mature believers (at least I thought they were mature), make and then wonder why they are struggling so.  They have little or not joy and not much to offer when it comes to spiritual insight.  They have allowed the weeds to rob all the nutrients from their lives.  They are a mere shadow of what they should be producing.  

In all my years as a believer one thing I have learned and that is the power of persistent discipline to pursue God. There have been many ups and downs, disappointments, and heartache, but the only way to walk with God is to remain faithful in the midst of tribulation.  It is that very tribulation that produces perseverance, and perseverance produces character, and character produces hope!  This is the epitome of discipline!

Disciplined in reading the Word, prayer, intimacy, giving and yes, church attendance!  It is a simple formula for success and yet many fall short in many of these categories.  

My friend don't quit, give in, or slack off!  Remain faithful because your discipline will produce!

"Nothing will work, unless you do."

John Wooden

Now is not the time to give in to your flesh.  The prize is before us.  Stay Focused!  Your destiny is at stake!