A Letter to the Church

Do you believe God is enough?

At a Bible study the other night someone said, "Even though I was reading my bible it was like it meant nothing until I could talk to someone about it! You need that fellowship and accountability to help you be close with God."

Deception.

Believer, GOD IS ENOUGH.

You don't need anyone else to teach you what only He can. It's like me saying, "My husband is great and all, but I need to spend time with another man in order to love him more." Say what?!

Ok so let me clarify first before you start freaking out on me. YES it is good to talk with a friend about what you read in the bible, YES it is good to learn from Bible teachers and pastors, YES it is good to have fellowship with others, BUT if you are placing more value in all of THAT than you are in the risen Christ Himself, God Almighty, then you have been deceived.

And the enemy loves that. If he can keep you distracted from God or busy taking notes on a sermon and not actually applying them to your life, then he's got you right where he wants you: too busy to spend quality time in God's Word learning for yourself.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22 (NIV)

The Word is truth, it's a lamp for your feet and a light to your path. (Psalm 119:105) Without spending time in that light you can't see the way you should go. So instead you just sign up for whatever good church thing sparks your interest. Busy doing, as opposed to busy being. Being at the feet of Jesus.

2 Corinthians 12:9 says: But he (the Lord) said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  (ESV)

His grace is sufficient. He is enough.

He can do MORE when we are weak on our knees in front of Him than when we are confidently doing what we are comfortable with at church. His power is made perfect in our weakness. Nothing is wrong with serving at church, in fact we are called to serve, but we cannot replace personal one-on-one God time with service. Otherwise we are just serving ourselves.

Let's do a little excersize to see if you are really understanding what I am talking about here. Think about your favorite part of church. What is your favorite thing on a sunday morning at church that you just love? Are you thinking of it? Now, what if that were taken away? How would you feel?

My favorite thing at church is worship. I absolutely love it, I love the band playing, the voices singing, and I love when the Holy Spirit moves and we are all worshipping together. It is a wonderful thing. Nothing is wrong with that. BUT, if I am putting the act of worship, and the experience of worship ABOVE Jesus, then I am saying I need Jesus AND worship in order to be satisfied with Him.

Maybe you answered, "the pastor's message" to my question about your favorite thing. Imagine if that were taken away? Would you still know how to be in love with God?

Friends, I am trying to help you see that there is a deception far greater than we could've ever imagined going on in the church today. That deception is that we need Jesus AND something else in order to be satisfied. When the truth is, all we need is Him. He is enough!

Look at churches today. They are crammed full of small groups, bible studies, ministries, coffee, bumper stickers, etc. It's as if churches are trying so hard to please everyone and to promote themselves that they are forgetting to focus on the ONE we are all there for. 

This probably all sounds crazy coming from a pastor's wife but I believe God has shown me something and He wants me to speak it out. As a follower of Christ you should be immersing yourself in the Word, praying without end, and going and making disciples. (Joshua 1:8, 1 Thes 5:17, Matt 28:19) These are things that the Bible commands us to do. 
Could it be possible that Satan has twisted the very thing that was meant to grow our faith to be what's wrong with believers today? 

Hear me, we have women going from bible study to bible study learning how to be a wife of noble character yet when you see her she is bossing, nagging, and over ruling her husband. We have men leading the family to church every sunday yet rushing home for the big game and the cold beers waiting in the fridge.

Is the church today raising up true followers of Christ that have turned from their selfish ways and are taking up their cross on a daily basis? Or is the church raising up people who are so in love with "church" that they don't even know they aren't in a real relationship with their Father God who just wants to spend time with them?!

It's time for a change. If Paul could see the churches we have today he would cringe. It's all about comfort! Cushioned seats, coffee bars, lotions in the bathroom. I don't know about you but to me that says, STAY and get comfy with us. But God's Word says the exact opposite! It says, "Therefore GO and make disciples of all nations.." It doesn't say, "Go, make coffee and make church popular and do everything thing you can to attract the crowd, because it's all about numbers and membership and recorded baptisms." UGH! 

It's time the Church got back to the basics! Jesus had crowds following Him, but as soon as He said something challenging, hundreds would walk away. Instead of having mega churches full of the hundreds that would walk away if they knew what it really meant to be a follower, what if we had small bodies of believers meeting in homes that would eat together, pray together, and read God's Word together? What if these bodies of believers were living intentionally everyday in communion with our Lord and watching for the moment when God brings a person across their path that He wants a connection with? What if Believers were physically being the church instead of just going to a cool building where most of the tithe goes toward the A.C or the toilet paper bill when it should actually go towards feeding the hungry and building shelters for the poor?! What if?

What a world this would be if Christians would stop glorifying the church and start being the church.

Ok I'll get off my soapbox now. Bottom line: God is enough. Don't think you need anything else to be close to Him. If you were stranded on an island with nothing but God in your soul, He would be enough for you. Wait that sounds familiar…oh yeah that's what happened to John, the disciple who wrote the book of Revelation. That's what God showed him when he was stranded on an island alone. Let this be your revelation today!

Imagine what God could show you.
Give Him the time. Get off the committee and get on your knees.
God is enough. 
Experience Him for yourself, then go share His love with others.

A Roller Coaster with God

While in a spiritual discussion with a friend, she said, "Well that's how it is with your walk with God, it's like a roller coaster, sometimes it's high and sometimes it's low!"

This made me think: Why do we have highs and lows with God? 
Especially when He doesn't change. We can't earn His love, it's always covering us, so why don't we always feel it and stay in that euphoric state with Him?

The answer is simple my friends. It's because WE change. WE don't choose to stay in His love. We wander from Him.

He is always there, waiting for us, offering His unconditional love to us, but we are the ones that run from Him, ignore Him, and fair-weather Him away.

In a dating relationship you are excitedly getting to know the person. With Jesus, you can excitedly get to know Him through His Word. The Bible is His Story. History. If you are reading it everyday, then you are getting to know Him more and more. 

And what happens when you have gotten to know someone and you fall in love? You want to shout it from the rooftops!! You want to TELL OTHERS ABOUT THE LOVE YOU HAVE FOUND.

It IS possible to stay in that warm fuzzy with God. But just like a newlywed couple that moves from warm fuzzies to deep mature love, so does our relationship with God move. 

The way love progresses in a healthy relationship is through honesty, communication, putting the other first, and loving them through the hard times just as much as the good. 
Doing these things and acting this way requires commitment, sacrifice, and selflessness. 
So does our relationship with the Lord.

If we are being honest with Him and communicating with Him all day, then we are remaining close with Him. We will feel His presence. 

If we are putting Him first, and praising Him even when times are tough, then we will feel His love.

So staying in a "high" with God is a simple concept: stay in the Word, stay in communication, and pour that love into others!

If you are in a "low" with God right now, just remember HE doesn't change, so He is not responsible for the low.

YOU are the one that can change. So change into the person He has designed you to be: a believer that turns from your selfish ways, takes up your cross, and follows Him, no matter what. (Luke 9:23)

THAT is how you stay in love with the Savior.

Stay close to Him and continue to get to know Him and those lows won't come your way, even in the trials of life, you will consider it ALL joy, just like it says in James 1:2-4, Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds,3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (NIV)

So let's take "highs and lows with God" out of our vocabulary. It is a lie Satan wants you to believe, that that's just the way it is. Guess what Satan, IT'S NOT. My God doesn't change, and I will stay close to Him no matter what comes my way, because He is worth it, and He will never leave me nor forsake me. #sothere