Walls

Why do Christians feel the need to have walls? 

I understand that we are to "guard your heart because from it flow the springs of life" (Proverbs 4:23 ISV), but I believe there is a difference between “guarding” and building a wall. Being guarded means that things can pass through; nothing can pass through a wall.

I've been surrounded, lately, by situations in which I see the walls that people have constructed. I have been tempted to build them myself. I know about walls; I used to have a lot of them. I understand why we put them up. Vulnerability is a scary thing, but knowing who I am in Christ gives me courage to be vulnerable. In ancient times they would build a wall around the city to fortify it against attack, but even a city had a gate where provision and supply could pass through. I want Christ to be my protector; I don’t want to depend on a man-made wall which can crumble under a strong attack. How many blessings and how much guidance do we miss because we have our walls constructed so well that nothing gets through? When we build a wall, we are actually telling God we don’t trust Him.

I remember a time when I was praying fervently for a breakthrough in a situation. God showed me a vision of a wall blocking Him from me. When I saw the wall, I wanted to push it down, but I was weak and it was painful. Then I realized, I was actually holding the wall up as He was trying to push it down. When I let go and stepped back the wall came down.That night was the same night God shut my mouth and told me to just "be still and know that He is God". The Holy Spirit began to move in my life in ways I didn't think was possible.

When we build wall to protect ourselves we are, in reality, blocking God’s will from moving freely in our lives. The same is true when we put on our masks to protect ourselves and keep others from seeing who we really are. Masks only enable people from holding us accountable and are another form of hypocrisy. They are also another form of a wall, this time blocking growth and teaching.

A wall is saying to God that you doubt his protection and security. He promises in his word that “He knows the plans He has for us” and they are “not to harm” us so why do we fear vulnerability? Instead of trusting God with our lives, we try to determine and make our own plans and guide our own ways pushing aside the will of God for our lives.

Isaiah 55:8-9
" ' For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways My ways,' 
declares the Lord
'As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are My ways higher than your ways
and My thoughts than your thoughts' "

You Can't Drag People Into the Kingdom

When I was a teenager, growing up in a small town, I ran from the hypocrisy of the church and I ran from God. I had people in my life at that time who would gently nudge me to return to church and I also had people in my life who would try to push me back to God. Maybe it's because I am very strong willed, but when someone pushes me I tend to do the opposite of what they wanted me to do (God has worked that out a lot with me, but that is a subject of another blog).These well-intentioned people knew I had grown up in church, but the more they pushed, the more I ran.

I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine who had been "pushed"  by someone. She knew my beliefs and she also knew that I knew and respected where she was on her journey. That is the only reason she confided in me, because I had earned her trust and respect.

I have seen it too many times; well meaning Christians pushing people away from God, as they try to drag them into the Kingdom. It is a matter of the condition of the heart for that individual. I'm pretty sure Jesus wants people to come to Him on their own terms not because they are made to feel guilty  or because they want the person "ministering" to them to just leave them alone.

I've been called a "turn or burn" person, and maybe I am. I guess that depends on how you define "turn or burn". I don't force my faith on other people, I tell them the truth, I give testimony of what God has done in my life, then I leave them to make their own choice; even if that choice is to burn. It's not that I give up on the person, I continue to pray for them and love them. I just know that just like you cant pull a sprout out of a seed you cant force the faith in someone else.

How many Christians continue to use the same approach with the same person, getting the same results and then they blame and judge that person instead of realizing that what they are doing is trying to force or drag that person into the Kingdom. I don't think that is how Jesus did it.  Just look at the story of the prodigal son. Here is a story about a father who raised his son in the way he saw fit, but his son rejected it; the son made a choice. The father didn't beg or plead with his son when the son wanted to leave. He didn't bargain with him trying to convince him to stay. Instead he gave him his inheritance and let him go. The father didn't forget about his son, however, instead he waited for the day that his child would returned, and when that day came he celebrated with joy and a party. (Luke 15:11-32)

Another example was when the rich man approached Jesus and asked what it took to get into heaven.

 (Matthew 19:16-26) After telling the man to follow the commandments, and the man saying he did follow them, Jesus tells him to sell everything and follow Him. The man becomes sad and chooses to walk away. Jesus then proceeds to say in verse 24, " again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God". The disciples thought that was pretty harsh and Jesus responds in vs 26, "with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible"

When Christians try to push or drag people into the Kingdom they are trying to be the Holy Spirit to them. The hardest ones to minister to is family, especially our children, but our job as disciples of Christ is not to force someone, bribe someone, or guilt someone into believing, it is being ambassadors for Christ; representing Him. Jesus didn't force anyone to believe in Him. He taught them, spoke truth to them, demonstrated His love for them but He never begged for them to love Him back. Instead, He let them go their own way and let the Holy Spirit do the work on their heart. I believe what Mathew 19:26 meant is that it really isn't man's responsibility to change the heart it is only our responsibility to share the Gospel and to love that individual. It is up to God to work on the heart.

Not everyone is going to make the choice to come to Jesus. I  have friends and family of varying beliefs. Some believe there is a God but don't think they need to go to church, others don't even believe there is a God, and still others believe in Jesus, desire to attend a church but cant get past the judgments and hypocrisy that plagues the church today. I desire for every person who comes into my life to come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ but I also know that I can't force them. The best way to get someone to want the Kingdom and to want Jesus is to do what He did. He loved them where they were, not asking them to change before He would love them. He loved them just as they were, because He knew that if they accepted that love, started to learn more about Him, then they would grow to love Him back with sincerity because of how He first loved them.

We have all had the telemarketers call our house. We say no to the offer and they keep persisting. We say "no" several times, till we finally hang up on them, cutting off the contact. How does it make you feel when they don't listen to your answer and push on with their agenda? I don't know about you, but I don't want to be that pushy person, and I definitely don't want to push until they feel like their only option is to hang up.

We cannot transform people into what we think they should be. God created them for their own testimony and  it is not our place to interfere in that. We need to be observant when ministering to others and be respectful if they do not want what we are offering. Whether that be a simple prayer, or the gospel itself, we must respect their decision. It doesn't meant we give up on them, but it does mean we go to our prayer closet and contend for that person there. Plant the seed, water it if you can, and let God do the rest.

The Lord Will Do Great Things

I have been a Christian for going on 14 years now and I can honestly say that I am not the same person I was. As I walk through this life though, I have come across many who claim the name of Christ and yet I never see change in their life.

The Bible says "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone and the new is here!" - 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Notice it doesn't say, "I am becoming a new creation", instead the "new creation HAS COME: the old is gone the new IS HERE!" It is not a waiting to happen, it has happened. Too many who come to Christ have never been taught that they are a new creation. Salvation isn't just about saying a prayer and going to heaven. That is not why Christ bore the punishment of our sins and died for us so that we can coast through this life and stay in the same muck and garbage He found us in. No, He makes us new; He adopts us as sons and daughters, heirs to the Kingdom.

We are not to conform to the pattern of this world, but we are to "be transformed by the renewing of our minds" (Romans 12:2).  Jesus tells us twice in Luke 13, "unless you repent, you will all perish". the word "repent" in Greek is metanoeo; which means to think differently. When we turn to Christ, our thinking should change.

Look again at 2 Corinthians 5, this time at verses 19-21 "that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Think about that. God sent His Son so that we could be reconciled (brought back into intimacy and fellowship) with Him. Why? "so that we might become the righteousness of God", representing Him to a lost and dying world.

We are Christ to the world, we represent Him to everyone we meet. Our thoughts and our actions need to be different from the world's thoughts and actions, not to act better than them, but to show them the blessings of joy and peace that God gives to those who follow Him and step out in obedience to Him. Instead when the world looks at the church they see gossip, slander, judgement, hypocrisy; everything that Jesus abhorred about the pharisees is in the church today. There might be times when God calls us to do something radical and unusual by worldly standards and He desires a church that is not going to shrink back because of what others might think of us.

Before the Israelites crossed the Jordan into the promised land in Joshua 3, Joshua tells them in verse 5  to "consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do great things." The word "consecrate" means to make or declare sacred; set apart or dedicate to the service of God. Are you living your life "set apart" or do you blend in with everyone else around you? God showed me this verse in 2011 and convicted me to start setting myself apart. When I started to let go of the "old" ways God did indeed do great things. Today He is, yet again, reminding me, (not just me, but the Church) to "consecrate ourselves" because He is about  to do even greater things. The church should not look the same as the rest of the world. If I am an ambassador for Christ then my life needs to represent Him, not the things of this world. 

I used to be a "people pleaser". Yes, I hear those of you who know me laughing hysterically right now. I was timid, shy, and wanted to be accepted and others around me to be happy, regardless if I was happy or not. I was always trying to conform to blend in, and I was miserable, stressed,and anxious. I was always striving for perfection and acceptance, then something finally sunk in; the only one who can even accomplish perfection is Jesus. I also learned that it was o.k. to not be accepted and liked. If I was walking in Spirit and Truth I actually should expect persecution. It was as if a huge wait was lifted off my shoulders. I could finally be "me", the only problem was I didn't know who "me" was. Then one day a revelation hit me. I don't have to worry about who I am. I am a child of God, I am His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, to do good works, which He prepared in advance for me to do.(Eph. 2:10); but to do so I have to let go of the world and grab on to the Kingdom. When we as the body of Christ set ourselves apart, then the world will begin to see Christ in us; that is when He will do great things.