There it was. “Sitting on the shelf in the pantry. Just beyond the pantry door. Through the kitchen. Past the living room. Down the hall. And outside of my bedroom.” I thought the steps through to myself as I pondered what it would take for me to get up and go to the kitchen for something sweet. Finally, I couldn’t resist anymore. I put down my pen and made my way from my bedroom, down the hall, past the living room, and through the kitchen to the pantry. I opened up the door and looked around momentarily until my eyes rested on what had sounded so good to me a few moments before. “Ahhh … chocolate.” I picked up the package of neatly wrapped cocoa-ey goodness and began to unwrap it. The smell of the chocolate seemed overpowering as I pulled a piece from the wrapper. “Yep,” I thought to myself, “this is what I want.” I opened my mouth, drew the highly anticipated chocolate to it, and bit down. “UhhhAAaahhgg!” *INSERT GAG REFLEX* It wasn’t just any chocolate that I had just taken a bite out of – it was 100% cacao baker’s chocolate bar. I quickly made my way to the sink like a mad woman to spit out the revolting bitterness I was in the process of chomping down on, but my attempt was a sad fail as the “wannabe” chocolate made its way down my throat. What was I thinking? I knew that 100% chocolate was completely unsweetened, but when you’re craving chocolate – you can’t tell the difference until it’s already in your mouth.
I may be the only one who has ever made the mistake of allowing the look and smell of 100% chocolate to trick her mind into thinking that the word “unsweetened” on the package was somehow going to change in my mouth, but I can almost guarantee that I’m not the only one who has ever had this happen in other forms in life. Have you ever talked to someone before who seemed like they were the sweetest, kindest, most genuine person, but as the conversation went on you began to notice that, “perhaps this person isn’t all he/she is claiming to be?” Ahh .. common ground. We’ve all been there before. The anticipation of waiting to meet someone or talk to someone who you look up to, only to have the impression you had of them completely reversed? There are times when we find that what we once held onto as concrete has become more like Jello or Silly Putty.
As I pondered on all of this, I couldn’t help but think about the church. The Church – the people of God who have been baptized in the Name of Jesus into this Wonderful Covenant with Him. Those called by His name and filled with His Spirit. The Bride of Christ. We boast so much on the fact that we are filled with the Holy Ghost and we have the name – but do we understand the responsibility of such a privilege? I’ve been so burdened lately by the lack of knowledge that the church has expressed with their actions concerning our responsibility as the Body of Christ. I do not judge the body by one or more of its members, but by the evidence of cause and effect throughout multiple congregations all over.
As the Church, the Bride of Christ, it is our responsibility to become as Christ to this world.
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” John 15:4-8
Jesus gave us a commandment in John 15. He said that we (the Body/His Bride) are to abide in Him and He in us. I find it interesting that the first part says that we are to abide in Him and THEN it says He in us. Why is this? Because whenever we are getting in tune with God and we are filling our time with the things that please Him then we create a place for Him to dwell. Having the Holy Ghost isn’t a one-time thing. It’s a lifestyle. We can’t fall into a mindset of thinking that once we have the Holy Ghost than we have the freedom in grace to live as we please and still be pleasing to God. This wondrous grace allows us a chance to recognize that we have erred. It is God’s grace that clothes us with His righteousness and enables us to be justified and forgiven. It’s not a privilege to be taken lightly. We’ve become abusive of His grace and forgotten to live a lifestyle of Holiness and Godliness. Convictions are to draw us closer to the heart of God as we walk in daily submission to His will. Instead, they’ve become little nudges that are ignored whenever we get too close to the line. We should be so far from the line that our convictions serve to draw us ever deeper and not just back to the surface.
When we learn to abide in our King, then He will desire to truly abide within us. It’s got to be more than just a surface relationship with Him. He said that if we are abiding in Him and He is abiding within us, then we can bring forth much fruit. We can ask what we will of Him and it shall be done unto us. When we are bearing much fruit, then He is glorified. “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” Whenever we are glorifying God by bringing forth much fruit, then we are His disciples. How can we claim to be His disciples if we aren’t bearing any fruit to glorify Him?
As the Body of Christ, we can’t allow the focus to be on ourselves. For truly, what are we but mere lumps of clay?
I don’t want to be an artificial follower. What’s the point in saying that we are a part of the Body of Christ if all we want is to display our own glory? We want to build large and beautifully elaborate buildings to house the meeting of the saints, yet what do we see whenever it comes to looking within our individual houses? Are we spiritually condemned? Do we attend a beautiful building to disguise the mess of a house we own ourselves? (As in our spiritual homes?) What would happen if all of a sudden we had no place to attend? There were no services? There was no music from the worship leaders? There wasn’t someone else telling us that we need to seek out God and get ourselves ready and spread the Word of God to those around us? Where would that leave us? Would we be able to say that, “Yes, I will still do whatever it takes to draw closer to my Jesus even if the world around me is falling apart and no one is helping me!” I know it’s a heavy question. But I believe that the Body needs to stop and examine itself as individuals. Who are you living for? Are you living for Jesus or are you allowing the enemy to sing you a lullaby of ease and false contentment?
” But godliness with contentment is great gain.” 1 Timothy 6:6
Wherein lies our contentment? If we are content to live on a fence of mediocre values with a standard that is only a mere step above the world – God help us! Christ never intended us to live like this was heaven. There is a reason the hymn was written,
“This world is not my home
I’m just a-passing through
My treasures are layed up
Somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me
From Heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home
In this world anymore”
We have to be content in godliness and in the desires of the Lord. We can’t allow the enemy to set snares of false contentment. We can own the world and lose our Jesus. We’ve got to give special attention to the details of our spiritual houses. There’s nothing wrong with attending a beautiful building until you slack on your own. There is nothing or no one that can replace the effects of a daily walk with God. Does He know He can count on you to be His mouthpiece when He desires to speak? Will you seek out His desires before you go chasing your own?
It’s not enough to hold a standard on the outside. What glory does God get when people know you as the long-haired-skirt chick, but not the woman who will always be there with a Word from God and a prayer life to match? What kind of example is it for a guy to be a musician at the church and have a place on the platform, but whenever he gets together with his buddies he’s talking trash and degrading women? You can quote the Word of God because of Bible quizzing, but you can’t tell someone what the significance of baptism is according to the tabernacle plan even if you have the verses memorized? We can’t be satisfied with being artificial Christians.
I know that all of this is hard, but if no one is trying to change the pattern where will it go from here? I speak to myself and anyone reading this. Artificial Pentecost is NOT okay. We can look like it and we can “smell” like it (or talk the talk) – but when we tell someone else to “taste and see that the Lord is good” according to the God that we are really serving – we have to let them taste a God who is ALIVE. He is the God of the Old Testament who robed Himself in flesh to bring about a New Covenant better than the old one.
We have to get back to the heart of God. We have to have that true “Calvary Experience” that the elders spoke of – daily. How can we repent lest we rend our hearts? How can we understand the sacrifice Jesus made lest we beg Him to take us back to the hill and allow our mind’s eyes to see that faithful sight? There’s got to be a change rise up within us from our depths that won’t be satisfied with anything less that true genuine godliness. Lest I fear those who do not know will taste the artificialness and spit it out just like the chocolate…
My Beautiful Blue Skied World 