thankful

Rise Up Sleeping Warrior

I don’t know if you like to drink tea. My preferred drink is coffee…black coffee. But there are occasions that I really enjoy a cup of tea. Again that is black tea and it must be HOT,  unless is a very hot day. In that case I like ice tea; REALLY cold ice tea. If at any time my hot tea starts to cool down, or my ice tea begins to get warm, I will throw it down the sink. Lukewarm tea is just gross.

This caused me to think of the verse found in Revelation 3:15-16 ” I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish that you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold or hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth!” (NKJV)

I suddenly seemed to understand what the Lord was trying to explain. This was a warning to the Laodicean Church. According to the material that I have read about the city of Laodicea, the waters there were constantly lukewarm. The icy waters that flowed towards the city from the mountains became lukewarm by the time they arrived and the hot water from the hot springs that were brought into the city also become lukewarm before they arrived. So this message made a lot of sense to them because they had become lukewarm like their water system.

But what does it mean to us today and why would the Lord want a people either cold or hot? The “hot” terminology usually means that the individual is on fire for the Lord. What he says and the way he lives vibrantly screams, “Jesus is Lord”!  More times than not it appears that this is the individual that is radically saved from a dark lifestyle and suddenly comes into the light and wants the world to understand his transformation. That may not always be the case. There are several people that were raised up in the Christian home that believe likewise.

But then there are the cold individuals. The consensus with these individuals is that they do not believe in the salvation message at all. In fact some of them may actually be atheist. Or perhaps they firmly believe in another religion all together. The funny thing about that is that the “hot” crowd probably believed in the “cold” lifestyle at one time in their lives.

I think about Paul who wrote so much of the new testament. He was from the “cold” crowd. He was so angry with what people who called themselves Christians believed that he was having them arrested and killed. He even watched as the first Christian martyr, Stephen, was stoned to death. But he had such a radical transformation that he went from cold to hot in a short time. There wasn’t any time for the stagnant lukewarm lifestyle to invade his life.

So who are the lukewarm people? I would say they are the ones that are ho-hum people. They really don’t have anything strong to say about anything. They may even be believers, or confessed to be at one time. They may go to church quite regularly but it really doesn’t mean much to them.  They have come to the place of believing the sayings: “each to their own” or “live and let live”.  Compromise and goodness is their theme. That is an easy place to fall into, especially if you were raised in the church. Jesus has become too familiar and unimportant.

It is similar to getting an inoculation or vaccine. A small portion of the actual disease is shot into your body.  Your body is able to build up your immune system against the disease so if the real disease would try to attack your body you would have already built up antibodies and the disease couldn’t destroy your system. So it is with some people . They have heard “Jesus saves” for so long that they have become immune to it and don’t even recognize the real move of the Lord.

That immunity has snuck right into the church. It seems more important to be accepted by the world than being a light that shines in the darkness.  Because we no longer pour over scripture we question the black and white truths we have heard and begin to walk in that all too familiar gray area. We begin to compromise.

Our time may be spent on good things but we have forgotten our need for a Savior. We have fallen out of love with the one that delivered us from sin and death. Instead of spending any time with him we fill our time with entertainment or even “good” causes and cares of this life. Soon we believe we are fine and all is well. We have become lukewarm.

Believe me when I say that I am speaking to myself. I don’t write this blog thinking I know so much or that I have my act together. As I write it I realize I am speaking to myself. And these words I write actually begin to convict me. I realize that I have compromised in so many ways. Like I said, it is easy to do. Somehow we are lulled to sleep and don’t even remember drifting away from truth.

But God is good. He always leads us back to his truth IF we will listen. Chapter 3: 19-22 in the book of Revelation continues with the Lord saying,

“I correct and discipline everyone that I LOVE.

Take this seriously, and change the way you think and act.

Look, I’m standing at the door and knocking.

If anyone listens to my voice and opens the door, I’ll come in and we’ll eat together. I will allow EVERYONE who wins the victory to sit with me on my throne, as I have won the victory and have sat down with my Father on his throne.

Let the person who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. (GWT)

So I challenge you, as I challenge myself, to listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. It is time to wake up. It is time to ask the Lord if there is any area of compromise in your life. Why? Because the Lord Jesus LOVES you and wants you to be victorious.

Let your light be a hot burning flame of salvation to those around you.

It is time to take your position in Christ.

Rise up sleeping warrior.

God bless.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Thankful Attitude is Powerful

Count your blessing name them one by one.
Count  your blessing see what God has done.
Count your blessings..name them one by one
Count your many blessings,
See what God has done.

This was a chorus I used to sing in Sunday School when I was little. But it never gets old. It is so important to be thankful about what you DO have instead of grumbling about what you do not have.

Philippians 4:6-7 states, “Don’t worry about anything: instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and THANK him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

In dark moments it is always important to remember what you’ve come through; what God has already done for you. Thank him for what he HAS done and then thank him for what he WILL do. In fact, it might be a good idea to mark several of the monumental moments on a calendar and actually celebrate that victory in your life as a constant reminder of what God has done.

The prophets of old did the same thing.

Abram (who later was called Abraham) built an altar of remembrance after the Lord appeared to him in the land of Canaan promising to give that land to him and his descendants.

Joshua built an altar of 12 stones taken from the middle of the Jordan River and then placed them in their camp. They were built as a reminder to their children of how God parted the waters for them.

Also a celebration can represent a time God showed up. For example, Passover Seder is celebrated in the Jewish faith. It is a reminder of the time the angel of death passed over the children of Israel and their people were brought out of slavery from Egypt.

There has been circumstances when I felt God had done a miracle for me. He had parted the waters, so to speak. I wasn’t clear how he was going to take care of a situation, but  somehow he did it.

Every March I am reminded how easily our house got sold. It seemed near impossible. The place needed a lot of work to go on the market. We were in the middle of moving to another state. We weren’t sure how to take care of our house while living so far away and dealing with the new chapter that was presented to us. Our only hope was to run across someone who was willing to buy the house, as is, and preferably in cash. And within a shorter time than I expected, that is exactly what happened!

When any discouragement might arise I am reminded of that moment and I am thankful.

There is POWER is thankfulness.

Think of Paul and Silas in prison in Acts 16. They weren’t in a prison that had cable TV, free education and free medical. They had been beaten and were in shackles.I presume their surroundings were pretty raunchy; maybe rat infested and filthy and of course no inside plumbing , no electricity, no amenities at all.  But when they began singing praises; rejoicing in the Lord, in the midst of their dilemma, there was an earthquake. The doors broke open and all the shackles fell off .

God loves to rock the earth for you in your praises and thankfulness. It is there that the things that hold you back, the things that bind up your life are broken off and you can rise in victory.

Not only did Paul  and Silas get out of prison but the prison guard wanted to learn about God and he and his family were saved. The guard took them to his house, fed them and cleaned their wounds. On top of that, the authorities realized the mistake in arresting Roman citizens and apologized.

Has the enemy of your soul attacked you? Are you feeling down and out, frustrated and discouraged? I am telling you that any demon of darkness that is harassing you is dealing with a citizen of heaven. Not only can being thankful and rejoicing break you out of your prison, but you can be restored.

Why would the reference in Philippians state “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice”?  Is it because it holds an important key of deliverance?

Psalm 22:3 states,”Yet you (speaking of the Lord) are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.”(NLT) God seems to move at the praises of his people because that is where he dwells.

I recall being in church listening to praise music and worshiping the Lord. Yet I was feeling a bit guilty as I had just heard that Christians in other countries were being killed for their faith.

But the Lord reminded me that to stop worshipping is exactly what the enemy of darkness would want. That praise is actually a weapon, as it ushers in his glory and breaks bondage and sets people free.

Choose to be thankful.
Choose to rejoice.
Chose to be free.