Many Christians give off the persona as though they are joyful and happy all the time – let’s be real, okay? That’s now how it REALLY is in this walk with Christ. As you can probably tell by my writings, I am not a “fake” person. Why? Because I simply don’t see the point in it…
GOD LOOKS AT YOUR HEART
Why should I hide what I’m feeling when He already knows? Why should you? I never gave much credit to the term, “fake it till you make it.” No, I think that God wants YOU to be YOU. He sees right through fakeness and in order for you to develop an intimate relationship with Him, that requires honesty. David said in Psalm 139:
“Lord, you have examined me and know all about me. You know when I sit down and when I get up. You know my thoughts before I think them.”
So why would anything think that denying how you feel or even trying to hide it would be something that God wants you to do? I believe being transparent before the Lord is a GOOD thing. I believe that if you are saying:
“Father, I want to have a heart to heart with You… This is how I am feeling, this is what I think, now YOU tell ME what YOU think and if there is anything that needs changing within me, please help me to change it.”
THAT to me is honesty. That to me is a relationship which is allowing God to transform me or change me according to His will… So, if you are feeling down, discouraged, angry, upset or confused or ANYTHING that you are feeling – pull up a chair, sit on the floor or whatever stance makes you comfortable to have a heart-to-heart discussion with the Lord and bring whatever it is to the table.
It is easy to feel alone in a room crowded with people… Especially as a Christian…We live in a day and age where everyone gets offended by everything and everything is acceptable EXCEPT the Word of God. Unfortunately, this is not something that is new, being persecuted in any type of manner for your faith and relationship with God has been going on ever since Jesus walked this earth. If you are ridiculed for being a Christian, welcome to the body of Christ! The Bible even tells us in Matthew 5:11:
“Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.”
Matthew 10:22 tells us:
“You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”
Perhaps you were told that this would be the case, by a mature Christian when you became saved (made a confession of faith) or maybe not – but maybe you didn’t expect that persecution to come in the form of being ostracized by family or friends… If it was the case with Jesus (and it was) we should not be surprised that it is the same with us… The Bible tells us in John 15:19:
“If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
1 Peter 2:11-12 says:
“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”
I remember when I accepted Christ as my Savior and made Him Lord over my life at the university I was attending, I was so excited to share with the world the good news!
JESUS SAVED ME!
I wanted the WHOLE world to know the good news that I had learned! I was totally NOT prepared for the disdain and the rejection I would experience for sharing what I had thought (and still think) was the BEST news in the whole world! Being ostracized or ridiculed for your walk or your relationship with Christ is a NORMAL thing. Sad, isn’t it? But if it hurts you (and it does hurt when you are rejected by family, made fun of and cast away for your faith) imagine how much it hurts God? John 3:16 says:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
PEOPLE REJECT THE TRUTH OF GOD FOR A LIE EVERY DAY
Imagine how it feels to give someone a gift that cost you everything, and they choose to reject it? To ridicule it? To mock it? To doubt it? To question it? Now think on how Jesus feels, He DIED a death He didn’t deserve.
FOR YOUR WELL-BEING. FOR YOUR SALVATION. FOR YOU TO HAVE A RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FATHER.
1 Corinthians 1:18 tells us:
“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
He knows what it is to be rejected… There is NOTHING you are feeling that He cannot relate to or understand. Many turn away from Him instead of towards – where there is healing, where this is unbelievable love, where there is understanding, where there is peace. All the things that you have been looking through other people or through some other means – was meant to be filled with one thing, the ONLY thing that can make you whole… The ONLY thing that can heal you or fill those empty spots within you. What is that? It is that which you were originally created to have:
FELLOWSHIP WITH YOUR CREATOR – GOD.
There is nothing that can fill that void, though many try – unsuccessfully I might add. There IS no substitute. Many don’t discover this until at the end of their lives when they stand before Him and realize that Jesus continuously stood at the door of their lives and knocked – right up until their very last breath, but still they refused to respond, to answer. I pray that as you read these words, that does not become you, for it won’t be for His lack of trying… It will be on YOUR lack of responding. In the end, because we have a loving God who created us with free-will the decision of where you will spend eternity will have been up to you. If you chose to live a life without God. Without accepting the invitation that Jesus’ paid for with His precious blood, it won’t be because “God sends people to hell” (He doesn’t). It will be because YOU decided that you didn’t want Him in your life.
IT WILL BE BECAUSE YOU CHOSE TO REJECT HIM
And because our God has given us free will – He will give you your choice, to spend an eternity without Him. He will give you your choice…
But if you are reading these words, then there is still time and Holy Spirit has brought you to this page for a reason, what is that reason? 2 Peter 3:9 tells us:
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
Some will stop reading this post before they reach the end, because what I am writing is not in line with what they want to hear, but it doesn’t negate the truth of the scriptures. These words are life to those who Holy Spirit leads to have understanding. They are death to self, to sin to living contrary to how the Bible (the Word of God indicates we should live) but they are life to those who are looking to fill that hole inside of you which has not been filled by anything that you have tried to fill it with – sex, drugs, alcohol, people, purpose, things – to name just a few. When you are alone with your own thoughts, how are you feeling? If you are feeling incomplete, it is because completeness ONLY comes from HIM.
YOU WERE CREATED BY A LOVING GOD WHO LOVINGLY CREATED YOU WITH A PURPOSE. ARE YOU FULFILLING YOUR GOD-ORDAINED PURPOSE? DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT IS? YOU CAN’T KNOW IT WITHOUT BEING IN AN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM.
And that is EXACTLY what the enemy of your soul wants, you to life an unfulfilled life of the purpose you were created for… That the spiritual blinders remain on your eyes all the days of your life until your life is over – please dear reader, don’t let that be you!
Becoming a part of God’s Called Remnant just means responding to the God who is calling you! Turn your ear to hear Him! Respond! As in Psalm 34:8:
“Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.”
Listen, becoming a Christian does not mean you won’t have moments of loneliness or sadness or feel downhearted – but the reasons WHY will have changed… It will be because all of a sudden Holy Spirit will give you a heart for others – who are lost, who don’t know what it is they are really rejecting when they are rejecting a God who loved them enough that He left the grandness of Heaven to come down here, putting on human flesh (which is what Jesus did by being born of the virgin Mary), to MEET YOU right where you are at! Because He IS that personal, pull-up-a-chair-and-meet-with-you kind of God. He lived a sinless life, was crucified and died on the cross for forgiveness of YOUR sins (and mine), so that YOU could enter into a right relationship with God the Father… He rose from the dead and is EVEN at this moment, as you read these words, is seated at the right hand of the Father, interceding on YOUR behalf. Why?
BECAUSE GOD LOVES YOU.
Did you read that right?
GOD LOVES YOU!
And He wants you to know this – He wants you to know that there is NOTHING He would not do (and has already done) to communicate that love to you. Becoming a Christian doesn’t mean you won’t still have “bad” days, Hebrews 13:14 says:
“For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.”
But in the meantime, we know we have a purpose, and that purpose is to declare God’s glory! To share the good news that was shared with us! To be used as vessels to draw others into the knowledge that God used others through Holy Spirit to open up OUR spiritual eyes! And He didn’t say it would be easy – but I can tell YOU there is NO greater reward than being used as a vessel of God to bring others into Christ’s salvation! There is NO greater joy! Truly! So we go forward in Him, knowing that His Word tells us in Hebrews 13:5:
“I will never leave nor forsake you.”
And He won’t… God is true to His Word.
“Father, thank You for loving me. Thank You for relentlessly pursuing me. Thank You for forgiving me. I am opening the door You are knocking on, forgive me for my sins and wash me with Your precious blood. I accept you as my Savior and invite You to come into my heart and be Lord over my life. Thank You for filling ALL those empty places inside of me that was meant to be filled by You. Holy Spirit you are welcome here, please use me as Your vessel. Be glorified in my life. Thank You Father, Thank You Jesus, Thank You Holy Spirit, in Jesus’ precious name I pray – AMEN.”
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