Monday's Musings

I am very concerned about our personal as well as corporate response to God. Many of us are praying for Revival, Renewing, and Refreshing. How are we choosing to respond to God on a daily basis? Are we making room for Him in our lives? Are we sincerely worshiping Him or am I just choosing to go through some "form of religion" and never fully connecting with the heart of God? Is it possible that we are missing what we need because we are failing to respond correctly to the presence of God? This is the time for a "heart" exam! I am not talking about a visit with a cardiologist but I am talking about a visit with the Holy Spirit. Who or what controls my heart today?  Am I being led by the flesh or am I being led by the Spirit? 

Here are a few thoughts that I shared during the message at New River on Sunday morning. The presence of the Spirit of God was certainly manifesting Himself in this particular service. You would have needed to be present to have captured the full essence of the Spirit as He challenged our hearts. 

I feel led to remind us that many Christians face the battle of keeping the AWE in the AWESOMENESS OF GOD. If we are not careful our relationship with God becomes something of a “robotic” action in which our responses are more from the flesh than the spirit. We learn what to say, we learn how to act and in some cases we only respond to God through these actions that we have learned over the years of our walk with Christ. I am concerned that worshiping God has become driven by the need to make us comfortable, happy, content, satisfied and feeling better about our lives. The attitude of being “seeker friendly” rather than “God friendly” has created an atmosphere that in many cases is void of conviction, revelation of truth and a call to deal with the sins, failures, and attacks of satan in our lives. It goes without saying that we desire for people who walk through the doors of New River to find a friendly, kind and welcoming atmosphere. But let us remember we are not selling clothes, shoes, or automobiles, etc. We have been called to point people to Jesus Christ. The presence of God demands our respect, our appreciation, our recognition and a response that is full of sincerity, honor and humility.