Personal Reflection

Over the past two weeks I have met with two separate leadership groups of New River Worship Center in Radcliff, Kentucky.  These meetings have been ministry strategy sessions as well as an opportunity to remind ourselves of the call that God has placed on our lives.  The Holy Spirit continues to encourage me to stay connected with those things that are important to the work that God has placed on our hearts.  It is easy to drift away from the heart of God although we talk about the importance of following after the heart of God in our conversations as well as our worship songs.  We must maintain the courage to stay focused on the purposes of Christ and not allow the strategy of the enemy to lead us off our course of action. The enemy seeks to pressure each of us in many different manners and this pressure can cause us to lose our spiritual connection with God and this sets in motion a "spirit of religious activity."  Religious activity may impress men but it does very little to impress the heart of God.

John 12 reminds us of a group of people who "...loved the praise of men more than the praise of God" (verse 43).  The prophet Isaiah spoke about those people who would fail to "believe the report of the Lord."  Isaiah also spoke about people not believing because their eyes were blinded and their hearts had been hardened.  Verse 42 of John 12 reveals that there were people (these people were referred to as leaders) who believed but because of the pressure of the Pharisees they failed to make their belief public.  They were intimidated and were afraid that they would lose their place of prominence in the synagogue.  Verse 43 states the reason behind their failure to publicly confess Christ.  As a matter of fact John states this reason in a very straightforward declaration; this group of people "...loved the praise of men more than the praise of God."  This statement is a powerful indictment of people who found themselves catering more to man than they did to the revelation of God.  Each of us as believers face those moments in which we must choose to make some difficult decisions.  Will my life be lived to please God or will my life be lived to please men?  Will my life be lived to follow after the "heart of God" or will my life be lived to win the applause and approval of men?  These individuals in John 12 lost the opportunity to follow Christ into a deeper revelation of His glory and presence because of the pressure of men.  If we are to avoid this trap of the "flesh" we must remain committed to pursue the heart of God and resist the temptation to follow the whims and plans of men.  I truly believe that I have made connection with a group of leaders who possess the passion and desire to please Christ.  Each of you know people who possess that same passion and desire.  We must learn to fan that flame of passion and to serve as an encourager for each other as we travel this road of life.  Take some time today to encourage someone to continue their passionate pursuit of Christ and the work of His Kingdom in their life.  Each of you will be better people because of this action on your part.