This past week I was sitting around and thinking about our worship service last Sunday. I thought about how great the choir sounded when they were singing the anthem. I thought about how good Betsy and Matthew played during the offertory. I thought about how well the congregation sounded when they were praising the Lord. I thought about how good God is and how He loves us enough to send His Son to die for our sins, give us eternal life, and allow us to enter His presence and worship Him.

As I was thinking about all that went on during worship, a smile began to stretch across my face. The church is joyously worshiping the Lord and it is so exiting to be a part of it. But it also made me think about all that God has provided for us. When I went home after worship, I turned on the news. Maybe that was not the best idea, but the contrast could not have more stark.

The world is filled with chaos and uncertainty. From the new war in Libya, to rising gas prices, to the earthquake in Japan, there seems to be much unrest in the world. As I watched all those unsettling things pass across the screen, I realized that I was not in a state of unrest. My heart was filled with God’s peace. I was in a state of rest. I realized that my present state of mind was a result of being with the body of Christ worshiping the Lord of Glory.

As I pondered the contrast, I was reminded of the vision God has given us about heaven. In the book of Revelation we are told about all the people who are before the throne worshiping the Lord (Rev 7:9-12). Then I realized that this vision is given in the midst of one of the most grueling books of the Bible. All through the book we see a fallen world under the spiritual influence of the evil one waging war against God. Yet despite the unrest of the world’s affairs, God’s people are safely placed before the throne of the Lamb. While the world rages, God’s people worship.

Worship is a great gift from our Father. It is a promise of things to come. It is also a reminder that God is our refuge and fortress. He knows His own and is able to deliver His children. And oh how He has delivered us! Jesus died so we may be free from the bondage of the world, sin, and death. He rose from the dead so we may have eternal life with the Lord. He ascended to the right hand of the Father so we may be filled with God’s grace, mercy, and love. He rules over the heavens so we may enter His presence in worship and find rest for our souls.

God loves us more that we can ever imagine!

Jesus said some hard things that should get our attention. Here is a sampling:

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Luke 6:46, 11:23; Matt 7:13-14).

Fifteen college professors who taught human motivation were asked to write a concise statement on human motivation. After hours of study, they said: “What the mind attends to, it considers. What the mind does not attend to, it dismisses. What the mind attends to continually, it believes. What the mind believes, it eventually does.”

In short, we practice what we believe. I don’t think we need college professors to tell us something so basic, yet how many of us claim to “follow” Christ when, in fact, we barely give Him the time of day?

I am thankful for God’s grace. I realize how far short of His glory I truly fall. Yet, one thing I do, I strive (imperfectly) to walk with Christ. Walking takes time and effort. If you walk far enough, you might get tired. Sometimes walking with Christ can be tiring because those who do discover the resistance that comes from the flesh, the world, and the evil one.

It can be hard to love as God commanded. It can be hard to forgive others. It can be hard to flee from sin. It can be hard to be thankful for God’s mercy, grace, love, and forgiveness. It can be hard to open up the Bible and actually study God’s Word as we are expected to do. It can be hard to actually apply the Bible to our lives. It can be hard to actually worship in spirit and truth. It can be hard to be a part of the church fellowship where we love unconditionally and daily encourage each other in our walk with Christ. It can be hard to be a servant and actually use the spiritual gifts that God provides. It can be hard to share the gospel with lost people. In short, it can be hard to “follow” Christ as he demands – but demands He does!

Belief always translates into practice. If you are a Christian, quit fooling around with half measures and get on board! 🙂

Christian author and speaker S. D. Gordon said, “In every man’s life there is a throne. And when self is on the throne, Christ is on the cross. But when Christ is on the throne, self is on the cross.”

As we think about our Christian walk it is wise to occasionally do an inventory of our heart. It is a great truth that we war against principalities and powers; but it is equally true that our hearts are prone to wonder. Often times the sin that so easily besets us has very little to do with the world as much as it does with the condition of our heart.

The bible says that God “has put eternity into man’s heart (Eccles 3:11). I think that this attribute of our heart was created to be the throne where God reigns over our life. But often times we don’t allow God to fill that space, but instead we attempt to fill it ourselves.

Unfortunately we do not have the capacity to do that. When it is not filled properly by God’s Spirit then we are left incomplete with a sense of longing and emptiness. But instead of turning to God through Christ, we often seek to fill that space with our own ambitions and desires. In the end all we get for our trouble is a more intense longing and feelings of emptiness.

One of the great promises of God, however, is that we can enter His rest (Matt 11:28; Heb 4:9-10). When a person rests in Christ, they don’t experience longing and emptiness. They experience peace and joy. It is said that such a person rests from all their labors. As such they no longer are striving to fill that eternity in their hearts through their own efforts.

Only God has the capacity to fill that special place. He designed it that way. If your heart is troubling you today, could it be that you are trying to fill it yourself? Remember it’s a bottomless pit! It’s a place of eternity. No matter how much you put in there, it will never be enough to fill it. Only God can do that.

The good news is that the promise still stands. Jesus invites us today to enter His rest. We can stop striving and simply invite Him into the place that He was meant to fill, and experience His peace and rest.

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matt 11:28-29).

I was born and raised in the North, but live in the South by choice. It’s been over twenty years since I lived in the North. During that time my blood has thinned out. I no longer like cold weather. But lately it seems that the temperature keeps getting colder.

Jesus said in the last days that, “because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold” (Matt 24:12). It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to notice that lawlessness is on the rise. Most people today do what’s right on their own eyes, contributing to the spiritual cool climate around us.

In fact, there is an official dogma taught in schools and universities, and accepted by the major institutions of our culture. It’s the idea that truth is “relative.” When a person says that truth is “relative” what they mean is that they no longer believe that there is such a thing as “objective” truth, or a divine standard that all people are accountable to. For them, truth is what they decide it is.

At its core, this is an atheistic principle that sets man at the center of his world. The obvious result is that people become self-centered. Self-centered people are not interested in how their actions affect other people. The effect is that “the love of may will grow cold.”

I believe we are witnessing this prophecy that Jesus made concerning the last days. However, despite the reality that many people no longer believe or follow God, we still have an obligation to love others – even those who are unlovable.

Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). As the world walks further away from God we can expect the spiritual climate to become colder. However, this only gives us more opportunity to make the warmth of Christ all the more conspicuous.

As followers of Jesus, let’s make every effort to share the love of God with everyone we can. In a spiritually cold world the warmth of Christ’s love will be noticed. So, though the love of many will grow cold in the world, as the church, let’s make every effort to ignite the fire of God’s love in our own heart so we can raise the temperature around us.

In Matthew 13:23 Jesus says, “But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” In John 15:8 he says, “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so will you be my disciples.”

As I was listening to Carlos and Sandy Rios last Sunday night I was reminded of these passages. Carolos told how he came to Christ and told how the Lord began to work in his life. As I was listening to their testimonies I began to think that what they are describing is really, from the biblical point of view, the normal Christian life.

I was particularly reminded of the impact the Lord wants us to make in the lives of other people. When Carols and Sandy began to show the pictures of all the people they have led to Christ and brought into the body of Christ, that thought was only strengthened.

The normal Christian life is about the influence of Christ on two levels. These can be distilled into two chapters of every Christian’s life. The first chapter of a Christian’s life begins when one meets Jesus and is saved.

When a person is saved, there is a period of time when that person has to get to know Jesus. They begin to understand who He is through Bible study, prayer, worship and fellowship. For each person this chapter will last different amounts of time. But for a truly saved person, this chapter bears some very specific fruit.

The fruit that a person bears in this period of their walk with God will, at its most basic level, involve at least three things. First, there is the fruit of righteousness. As person gets to know Jesus, they want to leave their sin behind. As a person grows spiritually, they begin to have a hunger for righteousness. Second, there is the fruit of praise. As a person grows in Christ, they have a desire to want to praise and worship their Savior. Third, there is the fruit of love. As they learn to walk with God in Christ, a person begins to love God and love people more and more.

The second chapter of the Christians life begins at the moment they realize that they are satisfied in Christ and madly in love with God. It is at this point when two things happen. First, that person can say with complete conviction and joy, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel,” and as a result, that person will make the decision to follow Christ anywhere He leads.

When that happens, a person’s life necessarily changes. That person is now seeking to do the will of God wherever he/she is. The result is that he/she is no longer living for themselves, but for Christ who died and rose for them.

It is in that chapter of a Christian’s life when a different kind of fruit is born. While still producing the fruit of the first chapter of their life, that person is now seeing fruit begin to develop in the lives of the people he/she is influencing for Christ.

When Sandy and Carols where sharing the pictures of all people they have and are influencing for Christ, I was reminded that in the end, the only thing that really matters are people. Christ died for people; and in heaven we will be with people made perfect through the blood Christ.

The normal Christian life is ultimately about bearing fruit; fruit that is seen in our personal life as we walk with Christ and fruit that is seen in the lives of others as we influence them for Christ.

Are you living the normal Christian life?