Grace Church

1 comment  February 10th, 2010

How Can a Christian Insulate Himself From Christ? by Jordan

The answer is "All too easily."

We are professional sinners. All of us. We will use anything and everything as a means of avoiding God.

Would the words "fresh encounter" accurately describe your current fellowship with Jesus? Notice, the question isn't, "Did you have your quiet time at least four out of seven days this week?" Any non-Christian can do that. Many do!

We're so messed up that we'll even use "Christian routines" to keep us away from Christ. How many times have we bowed our head before a meal and uttered religious words while not truly engaging the Living God? Painfully too many. We're so crafty that we can actually use God's ordained means of grace (i.e. bible reading, prayer) as another layer of defense against Him.

Rarely do we see that each pretentious "Christian activity" adds another block to the wall of broken fellowship between us and our Lord. While busying ourselves spreading the mortar of "spiritual disciplines," is our heart warm in the glow of God's presence?

A "quiet time" can as readily be used as a means of trying to soothe a seared conscience as a drinking binge. Yes, it is possible press the hot brand "Not Seeking God" against your soul while reading the Bible. Jesus had devestating things to say about those who employ prayerless praying (Matt. 7:21). What's our deal? 

If honest, who wouldn't admit to having employed "forms of godliness" while divine power was notoriously absent (2 Tim. 3:5). Before we know it, we can look in the spiritual mirror only to see all form and no substance. Do you find that you're living in the land of who you think you are rather than who you truly are? God isn't fooled.

Insanely, we will go on pretending devotion hoping God doesn't notice. But He who sits above the circle of the earth also searches the heart (Isaiah 40:22; Romans 8:27). God sees. He knows. And He woos us back to Himself.

God is willing to watch while our Pharisaical concrete sets in. "Jump through the hoops, never be transformed, and there's no growing pain" is the prescription label pasted across many who "name the Name" (Acts 5:41).

Like water, Christians too can gravitate toward the path of least resistance. Our flesh wants to resist God's transforming work. And in the routines of avoiding His transforming power, "lifeless life" flows and the heart remains parched and dry.

But it doesn't have to be that way. Christ is an ocean of delights for all who will have Him.

We've been convinced it's easier our way. We've bought the lie that floating in the sewer of apperances is more comfortable than actually having our hearts scrubbed with the friction of God's Word & Spirit. Wrong. Our way is harder.

Jesus said, "My yoke is easy" (Matthew 11:28-30). He promised to carry the load, to enter into our burdens, and to shoulder the brunt of the weight. But being "yoked" to Christ requires being close to Jesus. Being "double-yoked" to the Lord pictures closeness. Intimacy. That requires a heart that is close, not lips that blab while heart-experience is empty (Matthew 15:8).

"Piercing" is a great description of the Bible's effect on our souls (Hebrews 4:12). "Judging the thoughts and intentions of our heart" is something we cannot avoid when we come to God's Book. Oh to come with a heart desiring to be evaluated in the light of Christ. There will likely be hurt under the light of the Word, but it will be a hurt that heals. Seeing God for Who He is and being exposed for who we are is the first step toward times of real refreshing. Deep down that's what the Christian needs and it is what we truly want.

Because we want Jesus, no matter the cost. Let's be done with self-effort. Let's have our hearts happy in God.

15 Questions for Soul Evaluation

1. Have you lost the desperate and deep "Oh God" in your soul's cry to the Lord? (Psalm 17:6)
2. Does lingering in God's presence present itself to you as laborious or life-giving? (Psalm 84:10)
3. Does "spiritual alertness," like sensitive antenna, describe your soul's watchfulness? (Ephesians 5:24; Romans 13:11)
4. In the use of spiritual discplines, does your soul demand to quest for God until He be found? (Psalm 42:1-2; Jeremiah 29:13)
5. Does your soul feel bright with the glory of Christ? (2 Corinthians 4:3-6; Matthew 6:22-23)
6. Does the fear and glory of God seem to dominate the entirety of your heart? (Psalm 86:11-12)
7. How much allure (pulling power) does the world have to your heart? (James 4:4)
8. How much allure (pulling power) does greater experiential knowledge of Christ have to your heart? (Philippians 3:7-17; John 14:21-24)
   
9. Does the blessing of God present itself to your soul as more valuable than all the world? (Matthew 5:3-12)
10. Is loving obedience to Christ provoked to action when you consider that Jesus is your Lord? (John 14:15; Luke 6:46)
11. What place does boasting in self-effort have in your spoken or unspoken spiritual confidence? (1 Corinthians 1:30-31; Galatians 6:14)
12. Is the yearning to have Christ revealed to you through Scripture by the Spirit on the rise? (Ephesians 1:17; Luke 24:25-27, 44; Acts 28:23)
13. Would the glory and depths of Christ's Person and gospel work be delightfully digestible to you? (Hebrews 5:7-14)
14. Do you find your heart quickly running to God through Christ for confession and repentance when your sin is exposed? (1 John 1:7-10)
15. In your experience, is Christ your greatest Treasure? (Matthew 13:44)
    

 

 

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