Loving God

The weekend services at New River Worship Center were refreshing, encouraging, and challenging.  I truly believe that the Spirit is issuing a wake-up call and challenge to this generation of believers.  I also believe that each previous generation has received this call and God has found men and women who will answer that call.  I also believe that it will be said that there are believers in the 21st Century who will choose to respond to the call from the Spirit in spite of the fact that the enemy is doing all in his power to hinder the correct response.  I for one desire to be one of those individuals who will not only hear the call but I am preparing my heart to respond to the call from the heart of God.

I was led to speak from this passage in Matthew 24:12 on Sunday night.  Christ offered this insight to His people as He spoke about some of the challenges of the final (last) days that would precede His return.  Take a moment and reflect on these words, "And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold" (NKJV).  Jesus reminds us that the presence of evil, sin, iniquity, and rebellion against God would seek to interfere in our love relationship with Him.  The pressure from the culture would seek to drive us away from God all the while the Spirit is calling us to draw closer to God.  Don't you believe that are facing that paradox today?  On one hand, we feel the forces of evil and sin attacking our minds; yet, the Spirit of God continues to reveal the love of God to us and His love will provide the strength to resist these attacks of satan.  I must not allow the enemy to "cool off" my love for Christ. 

A few years ago Pastor Tim McCaleb shared this illustration in a devotional in which he was leading on a particular night of a Revival meeting.  Pastor Tim told us that we will pour hot coffee, hot soup, or hot chocolate in a bowl or cup.  We will hold that bowl up to our mouths and blow on the contents so as to "cool off" those contents in the bowl.  He shared that satan uses the challenges, trials, difficulties, setbacks, etc. to "blow over" our lives in such a manner to cool off our passionate love for Christ.  I echo those same words today.  Each of us face our own set of these circumstances that blow across our life on a daily basis and satan will use them to hinder and in some cases even stop our love relationship with Christ.  This prophetic time is demanding that we refuse and refute this tactic of the enemy and allow our love with God to remain passionate regardless of and in spite of the circumstances that each of us are facing.  Will you take a moment and ask yourself this question?  "Is my love for God hot, cold, or lukewarm?"