Many
in today’s world are obsessed with spirituality. There is a God-sized hole in
each life, and we try to fill it with everything but Christ. Our body and soul
- our mind, will and emotions – are alive, but our spirit is dead in sin. Our
sins grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians
4:30; 1 John1:5-8). They erect
walls between God and us. People need the Lord. However, Christians over the years have been anything but
loving and gracious; and this turns many people away from Christ.
Since
its inception, the Christian church continues to fail society. Some church
members are dissatisfied, neglected, divided or downright antagonistic. Many
choose to leave the church rather than to put up with the carnal politics and
cold-hearted or condemning treatment they receive. They still desire a
spiritual awakening and nourishment, but they are not finding it in what should
be spiritual congregations.
The
modern emerging church is incorporating the fallacies of other religions,
beliefs and ideologies into their identity to make up for this lack. Evolution
is incorporated as part of Creation, in spite of the missing link. They embrace
sinful lifestyles as acceptable choices. They compromise Biblical standards and
water down God’s Truth. The
current church is dying a slow, but eventual and agonizing death because of
Satan’s deception. The stage is being set for a one-world religion.
When
we fail to warn these people that their sin of unbelief will send them to an
eternity in hell, God requires their blood on our hands (Ezekiel 3:18,20; 33:6,8). These issues are not trivial. We have the Good News to
share with both the disillusioned and the compromising seeker. God wants us to
take every opportunity to share with others what Christ is doing for us.
Getting them into a Bible believing, Bible teaching church is of paramount
importance as well.
The
only solution to this emptiness in a person's life is for their spirit to be
Born Again (John 3:7). At this same time, we receive the
Holy Spirit who seals us in Christ (Ephesians 1:13, 4:30). This is the first step toward true spirituality. We give the Holy Spirit of God full reign in our life.
We refrain from living our life through selfish motives and ambition, and we
allow Christ to live His life in and through us instead (Galatians
2:19-20). We are no longer consumed with
our personal goals and dreams, but we focus instead on the Spirit’s leadership
and God’s will for our life.
We live an authentic
Christian life. We confess our sins
daily, and He is faithful and just to forgive them (1 John 1:9). We yield our carnal thoughts and desires to Him, so that
He can cleanse us from all unrighteousness (Titus 2:14). He fills us with the fruit of His Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Then the Holy Spirit guides and directs our life
according to the truth of God's Word, so that we succeed in everything He leads
us to do (John 16:13). Being filled with the Spirit is
not a one-time event, however.
God
fills us with His Spirit at salvation, but then we are to sit daily at Jesus feet
(Luke 10:42) and allow Him to fill our spirit
with His Spirit. It is only then that we can accomplish all that He calls us to
do (Galatians 5:16,25). A spiritual Christian will
exhibit Godly behavior, a consistent walk of love and peace, and Biblically
based decisions and actions (Micah
6:8).
We act, not by our self-effort, but by our total commitment and surrender to
God's Spirit. This allows us to enjoy the direction of the Holy Spirit and God’s unbroken
fellowship moment by moment throughout the day (1 Thessalonians 5:19).
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, people today are putting words in Your mouth, perverting Your Truth and making up Your nature as they go along – using humanistic characteristics to describe You and Your teachings. They are perverting the exactness of Your commands and watering down the holiness that You require from each one of us. Help us to live as salt and light in this wicked and perverse generation (Matthew 16:4), and to reach out to everyone You bring into our life with love and grace. Help us to offer to them the new life, which You have given us.
Thought for the Day:
When we allow the Holy Spirit to completely control our life, then we can say that we are walking in true spirituality. - Ephesians 5:18
