Prepare Yourself: Part 2

"There must be more than this.
Oh, Breath of God, come breathe within.

We live in a very selfish, lazy generation. Everything is catered to us. We don't have to grow our own fruits and veggies. We pick them up at the grocery store. We don't raise our own livestock for milk and meat. That's what the milkman and butcher are for. We don't have to travel to speak with friends. That's what our iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks are for. We don't even have to go to the library to study. That's what the Internet is for. We take all that we have so much for granted that we start bringing this mentality into church with us. We think that going to church is showing up with a bunch of other people to listen to some cool music, have the pastor talk at us for a little while, and then go home and watch the game. Our culture has corrupted the very essence of why we go we church.

We fill our lives with such worthless things and activities that there is no preparation of our hearts for meeting with the body of Christ to worship our God and serve one another. We spend countless hours watching TV and movies, browsing the Internet, and doing hobbies that we many times neglect doing things that edify our souls and the souls of others. You see, as we do the things God wants us to do, as we spend time with Him learning more about Him, we are preparing to edify the body of Christ (whether it be at church or not). When we spend more of our time with God and doing more godly things we are more likely to open up to the rest of the church to edify them. It's is these things that we use to build each other up, encourage one another, and help those who are struggling. (I want to clarify that spending time watching TV and movies, browsing the Internet, and having hobbies isn't a sin, but rather spending too much time with them and neglecting greater things is.)

Christian, my challenge to you is to not only prepare your mind for church but also your heart. Start saying "No!" during the week to the things of this world that drag you down and influence you against Christ. Begin serving your family, friends, and church selflessly every day as though you were serving God (because all in all, you are serving God). Read God's Word to strengthen your walk. Practice the things that God commands us to do. Implement the mentalities He teaches us to have through His Word. Let God and His work through you be more satisfying than the things of this world. Let your life become a daily sacrifice of yourself as worship to God. It is then and only then that we will have a reciprocated view of church. It is then and only then that we will begin to see that it's not about us but about God and all His glory. It is then and only then that we will view church as a time of worshipping God and edifying His people.

If your life lacks worshipping God.. If you lack joy.. If you lack pleasure in God.. Maybe it's because you have been too focused on yourself and what God can do for you rather than what He has already done for you. It is now time to see what you can do for Him, not as payment back to Him but rather as service from gratitude.

Life is a battle.. Life is a brutal war against sin and the flesh. If you are flirting with your enemy, that is, your flesh, then how can you expect to fight victoriously against your flesh? How can you expect to be satisfied in God when you are serving your foe. I encourage you to prepare yourself for war against sin. I encourage you to prepare yourself for any service that God might call you to do. In doing so you will be prepared to meet together with the body of Christ to serve one another, edify one another, encourage one another, and lift up one another as we ought.

If your heart is not prepared to serve God or His people, ask Him to change it. Ask Him to give you His strength to overcome sin and temptation. Ask Him to give you His compassion for His people. Ask Him to have your heart treasure Him above everything that is worthless in this life. God doesn't leave you alone to work everything out in your own power. He gave you a Helper, the Holy Spirit, to help you walk in this life for the glory of His name and the edification of His people. He gave you all the necessary tools for preparing yourself to serve Him and His people. These tools are found in the Bible.

Worship your God today in selfless sacrifice, laying down yourself as an offering to Him. You won't regret it. In fact, you will find it most satisfying.

Consuming Fire, fan into flame
A passion for Your name
Spirit of God, fall in this place
Lord, have Your way
Lord, have Your way in us

Blessings,
Nick

Prepare Yourself: Part 1

"Oh, be careful little eyes what you see.. Oh, be careful little eyes what you see.. For the Father up above is looking down in love.. Oh, be careful little eyes what you see.."

The distractions of this world are getting worse, and these distractions have been weaving themselves ever so quietly into the Church where they ought not to be. Our Enemy, Satan, wants to do everything he can to feed our sinful flesh to make us stray and keep us from enjoying God in the fullest way possible: from using the mainstream media to bring more sexualized television shows into our living rooms, to using the box office to produce more pornographic movies for us to go see, to using indecent books of adulterous affairs hitting book shelves for us to read, to using music labels to put out more vulgar and perverted music for us to hear. By feeding our souls with this kind of entertainment we are corrupting our hearts and minds against the Gospel by which we have so graciously received salvation.

You may say, "Now, Nick.. It's just a movie (or TV show, or book, or song)! Get off your high horse and quit judging people. Live a little!" Let me ask you, how can you watch, read, and listen to this stuff without your conscience screaming at you? This brings me to the words Jesus said, "Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness." How do you expect to live a victorious, joy-filled life in Christ when you fill your soul with things that God finds absolutely offensive?

We must prepare ourselves for the daily battle against our flesh. We must prepare ourselves against the spiritual warfare we fight against this world every single day. How is flirting with the enemy preparing for war? How is entertaining ourselves with sin preparation to fight it? How is giving our minds over to the flesh strengthening to our relationship with Christ? "He that sows to his flesh will from his flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap everlasting life." Our battle against our flesh, sin, and the world doesn't begin and end in Church on Sunday morning. It begins at our salvation and ends at our deaths.

Too often do I hear of people who claim to be Christians going out and partying with the world. Too often do I hear of Christians going to see movies that God hates. Too often do I hear of Christians loving the things of this world over our ever-fulfilling, fully-satisfying God.

To those who say "It's only a movie," I say "It's only treason!" To those who say "Live a little," I say "That's living in death!" Wake up, Christian! We don't fight against nations or peoples of this world. We fight against sin! Put on the whole armor of God so that you can stand against the sinful temptations of this world! Stand confident in salvation as a helmet on your head, wear truth like a belt around your waist, rest assured in Christ's righteousness as armor protecting your heart, have faith in your God as a shield against flaming arrows of sin, wield the Scriptures like a sword defending against all unrighteousness, and spread the Gospel wherever you go.

Wake up, Christian, to the fact that this world is passing away. Wake up to the fact that the sinful pleasures of this world only harm your walk with God. They only harm your ability to march into battle as a victorious soldier. It may even incapacitate you from fighting at all. Prepare yourself every single day you breathe to fight for the Gospel, to fight for the holy, righteous name of our God. Or is your sin more worthy than God?

Worship your God today.. Praise
His most excellent name above all. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Resist the devil and the devil will flee from you.

Blessings,
Nick