I have lost a few relationships this year. Friendships. Romantic relationships. I have gained a few also, but lately I have just been yearning for close relationships. I miss the years I spent in college with so many friends. I have a lot of friends here but many do not share my desire to seek God in all aspects of life. That is huge to me, and I just yearn for friendships with people walking that same path.
This past week in particular I have cried out to God to bring healthy, strong, beneficial relationships into my life. And then today I read God calling and was literally blown away. God spoke so boldly to my need:
The Joy of meeting Me should more and more fill your lives. It will. Your lives must first of all be narrowed down, more and more, into an inner circle of life with Me (the three of us), and then, as that friendship becomes more and more engrossing, more and more binding, then gradually, the circle of your interests will widen.
For the present do not think of it as a narrow life. I have My Purpose, My Loving Purpose, in cutting you away from other work and interests, for the time.
To work from large interests and a desire for great activities and world movements, to the inner circle life with Me, is really the wrong way. That is why so often, when, through all these activities and interests, a soul finds Me, I have to begin our Friendship by cutting away the ties that bind it to the outer and wider circle. When it has gained strength and learned its lesson in the inner circle, it can then widen its life, working this time from within out, taking then to each contact, each friendship, the inner circle influence.
And this is to be your way of life.
This is the way of the Spirit. Man so often misunderstands this.
That perfectly defines that state of my life. I have prayed recently that God would use the last days of 2012 to grow our relationship. I am seeking God and asking him to define me and my life, to draw me close to him. And now, I get it. He needs me to himself to strengthen out relationship before allowing others into my “inner circle.”
Thank you, Lord, for speaking what I needed into my heart today.
For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God – that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” [NIV]
Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” [NASB]
For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God,righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written,“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” [ESV]
[This is] because the foolish thing [that has its source in] God is wiser than men, and the weak thing [that springs] from God is stronger than men. For [simply] consider your own call, brethren; not many [of you were considered to be] wise according to human estimates and standards, not many influential and powerful, not many of high and noble birth. [No] for God selected (deliberately chose) what in the world is foolish to put the wise to shame, and what the world calls weak to put the strong to shame. And God also selected (deliberately chose) what in the world is lowborn and insignificant and branded and treated with contempt, even the things that are nothing, that He might depose and bring to nothing the things that are, so that no mortal man should [have pretense for glorying and] boast in the presence of God. But it is from Him that you have your life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, [revealed to us a knowledge of the divine plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as] our Righteousness [thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God], and our Consecration [making us pure and holy], and our Redemption [providing our ransom from eternal penalty for sin]. So then, as it is written, Let him who boasts and proudly rejoices and glories, boast and proudly rejoice and glory in the Lord. [Amplified]
God’s nonsense is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. Brothers and sisters, consider what you were when God called you to be Christians. Not many of you were wise from a human point of view. You were not in powerful positions or in the upper social classes. But God chose what the world considers nonsense to put wise people to shame. God chose what the world considers weak to put what is strong to shame. God chose what the world considers ordinary and what it despises—what it considers to be nothing—in order to destroy what it considers to be something. As a result, no one can brag in God’s presence. You are partners with Christ Jesus because of God. Jesus has become our wisdom sent from God, our righteousness, our holiness, and our ransom from sin. As Scripture says, “Whoever brags must brag about what the Lord has done.” [God’s Word]
Yesterday I posted about lukewarm Christianity… And tonight I was listening to one of my current favorite songs, Jimmy Needham’s “Clear the Stage.”
Tell your friends that this is where the party ends, until you’re broken for your sins you can’t be social.
That was the line that reminded me of the video in yesterday’s post. Drop everything until you are right and on fire with/for Christ.
Drop everything.
Your friends… Any idol.
Take a break from all the plans you’ve made and sit at home and wait for God to whisper.
Phew.
Anything I put before my God is an idol Anything I want with all my heart is an idol Anything I can’t stop thinking of is an idol And anything that I give all my love is an idol
Are you on fire for God right now? See, my concern is that some of you in this room, many of you, I’m not judging – you would probably say it about yourself – that you’re lukewarm. If I were to ask you, “ok are you on fire for God right now or are you lukewarm?” I think a lot of you would say you’re lukewarm. What concerns me more than the fact that you’re lukewarm is that you would say, “yea I am lukewarm.” and then you’ll walk out the door and do nothing about it. What concerns me the most is that some of you are lukewarm, you know you’re lukewarm, but you want to be lukewarm…
Lukewarm = spit out
You are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind. If you get it you won’t be lukewarm.
“Ooo I don’t know if I can give up this little thing on this piece of dirt for Him, he says that makes me sick. You make me want to gag – I just want to spit you out of my mouth.”
Your riches have so blinded you that you see this stuff as good – you don’t see it as dung, a big pile of crap.
“I want to be in love with you. I want to see how valuable you are.”\
Get me here. Get me on fire for you.
You can’t end your life lukewarm, do you get that?
I cried after seeing this. Yea, I guess I am lukewarm. I kept wanting to justify that statement both in my head and here by saying, “there are some areas I am so passionate about with God and there are just a few areas where I am lukewarm.”
Danger. Lukewarm in one area of your life = lukewarm.
I am lukewarm.
I know this is a trite comparison, but when I think about lukewarm coffee I think about spitting it out. I love iced, cold coffee. I love scolding hot coffee. I am not a fan of lukewarm coffee. I rather not even have coffee than drink it lukewarm. But if i pour my lukewarm into my cold coffee, it turns it lukewarm. If I pour lukewarm coffee into my hot coffee, it brings down the temperature – it makes it lukewarm.
One are of my life being lukewarm = all of my life being lukewarm. Disgusting. Despicable. Dishonoring to the God who created me and loves me more than I can imagine.
As tears fill my eyes, I feel unsure of what to do. This is a raging battle between my flesh and my spirit. My spirit so longs to please God with every area of my life, while my flesh wants to please itself. This is a deadly battle and the only way I can claim victory is to give myself fully to the spirit life – to God’s spirit directing me and being my source of life.
This whole post stemmed from a post, where I found this video, from Nicole Cottrell, who blogs at the Modern Reject. At the end of her post she asks people what they are going to do about it, if they find themselves saying, “I am lukewarm.”
I was reading some of the comments and wanted to post some annonymously:
Lukewarm is indeed an epidemic. You know what’s on top of that? Many, many Christians try to make others as lukewarm as themselves. If someone is boiling hot for God and trying to do so many powerful things other Christians line up to throw cold water on them in an attempt to make them lukewarm…and that lukewarm is a version of Christianity that offends no one and those who aren’t Christians line up to say how great they are because they’re “enlightened” Christians.
You won’t please everyone with this change. It’s actually easy to be lukewarm. So, piss off Satan, your family, and friends. Because if what you’re doing and where you are is what Gods needs you to do…where He needs you to be…that’s all that’s important.
My question is, how can you know what lukewarm is? I am trying to live for God, attempting to convey His greatness to the young people I lead, and messing up time and time again. Does being ‘on fire’ mean I would be willing to be a missionary in Japan/sell all my possessions/something equally radical to show myself and God how serious I am about Him? Because I definitely don’t feel like I could do those things. What does being ‘on fire’ look like in day-to-day life?
That last one echos how I feel – I am trying to live for God, and know areas I could be doing “better,” but I am messing up all the time. I mean all. the. time.
So I am I lukewarm? I think my answers still yes. There is still hesitation, but the point is not to figure out where I stand. It’s to do something about it. So whether or not I am technically lukewarm in the eyes of Christ, I need to be doing whatever I can to be on fire. Forget figuring out if I am hot or cold enough and just be so freakin’ on fire there is no question.
Brings me back to my manifesto. I need to remind myself of this. Daily. Hourly. Minute-by-minute.
It is a process – learning to be on fire. Learning to be the light, as Newworldson sings it:
Worthy Heart 