I want to pose this question to you; “What is the point of going to church if you are not going to let it change you?”
47 As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words
and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like.
48 They
are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on
rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it,
because it was well built. 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into
practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation.
The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was
complete.” Luke 6:47-49
It’s so easy to hear God’s word and not
listen, to pray without concentration, to believe without conviction, to have
faith without trust and to change without the intention to make a change.
The majority of us are driven individuals, if
we want to achieve a specific goal we actively pursue it until we succeed so shouldn’t
we carry the same mentality into our walk with Jesus Christ? Shouldn’t we stop
at nothing to see our friends and family saved and be compassionate and loving
to every single person who crosses our path? I love what Brian Houston says in
his new book How To Maximise Your Life,
“To have a Kingdom spirit means you have a vision that is bigger than you – you
will always be devising generous strategies or plans to bless others.” Jesus
actively pursued his purpose without hesitation he was always moving and
bringing about change to crowds of people. He never gave up until the very end
when “It was done”.
People often like to compare the Holy Spirit
to the wind, “You can’t see it, but you can feel it”. If the spirit who lived
in Christ now lives in us then we too should be free and moving like the wind
touching everyone and changing everything in our path. We can choose to be a
subtle breeze or a gale force wind. A breeze is comfortable, people delight in
it, but it doesn’t bring about change, the leaves only move a short distance
until the breeze dies down. A gale force wind however, is uncomfortable, people
try to hide from it, but it moves and affects everything around it. It doesn’t
only move one or two leaves but a whole bunch of leaves will soon follow the
motion of the wind. I want to encourage you to actively pursue God like a gale
force wind, it may make you feel uncomfortable, people may try to avoid the
truth, hide behind walls of empty promises but gale force winds are able to
bend the firmest trees. You will inspire others to come along
with you and with that motion many more people will venture on the journey too. Your willingness to never give up will bend and shape the
mindset of those you deem as completely lost. When the truth moves it brings
about change.
We weren’t saved just to be well behaved. We
weren’t called to push people away but to point them to the way. We were chosen
to reach further and make a different with every motion. We made our decision
to ensure that people hear the truth with great precision.
You see we are so focused on being loved
that we forget that our mission is to love everyone else unconditionally. With
the power that Jesus had he could have easily built himself up and become one
of the most loved individuals at that time. But he loved us more than his
desire to be loved, he delivered the truth and although it made people feel
uncomfortable, he was unapologetic about it which led to his crucifixion.
Can I encourage you to actively pursue God’s
calling in your life, don’t sit back and allow others to do the job for you.
Yes the church may have amazing leaders but you too can become a great leader
and Jesus may be our shepherd but “The student is not above the teacher, but
everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.” Luke 6:40. We will
never be Jesus but we can try with all our might to live by the principles he
lived by, leading by example in every area of our life.
Jesus left the earth and entrusted us with
the responsibility to carry out the message of his good works in the generations
to come and nothing feels worse than disappointing your father. Follow God persistently with
a pure heart in 2014 and I can promise you that you will see God’s blessing in
every area of your life as well as in the life of others.
Amazing Nush. Spoken like a true leader♡
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