1 John 1:6
So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.
How many people do you know that attend church every Sunday
morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night and yet live as the world? These people say that they love the Lord and
have fellowship with Him, and yet they gossip, back bite and talk of watching
hideous prime time shows that fill their minds with filth. These people look down their noses at those
less fortunate than they, and they have as their primary objective to work
harder to acquire more, to have the biggest and the best, often times at the
expense of relationships with spouse and children. There are so many people in this world that
go to church because it’s the socially acceptable thing to do, and yet they
don’t have a close relationship with our Lord. In fact they are hindering
others from having a relationship with Him.
There are hurting people in this world. People who are looking to fill
that “God-shaped” hole on the inside of them, but when they look to the church
and see the “Christians", they see pain, tremendous debt, selfishness,
back-biting, bitterness, resentment, gossip stirrers, “holier than thou stares”,
and they don’t want that. The church
should be our Lord’s hands, feet, words, eyes, etc., going out living an
example of agape love, reaching out and allowing our Lord to touch lives
through their every member. Imagine the
amazing difference that Christians could make in the world around them if
they’d arise daily and determine to pray, read their Bible, fellowship with our
Lord and become closer to Him. If only
they’d pray to have more and more of Him and less and less of “me, me,
me." I grew up in the church, and
for years I was a Sunday morning Christian.
I was pulled to and fro like a rubber band stretched to the limit to
break at any moment. On one side I was
pulled by the world and by my Lord on the other. Saved at twelve, I could feel His pull
through the years, but it was so much easier to live as a Sunday morning
Christian. Then one day, I determined
that I would get up early each morning and spend time with my Lord, watching an
evangelist on television, writing in a prayer journal, reading a devotional,
and reading my Bible. I now crave that
time with my Lord. He wants to have a
close personal relationship with each one of us. He has led me through very dark times within
my life: labor and delivery of my stillborn daughter, taking care of a
mother-in-law with Alzheimer’s, living through bouts of infidelity in a former
marriage, emotional abuse, very tough decisions that I’ve encountered as
Superintendent of Education where I had to take a stand for what I felt was
right but had so many against me. My
Lord has never left me in the wilderness, He has carried me up every mountain
from every valley, all the while holding me and protecting me from the
enemy. Often times, I’ve witnessed my
Lord take what the enemy meant for my harm and instead cause it to be a
blessing to me just like His word promises.
If you’ve been as this devotional describes, you’ve attended church all
your life, but you don’t have a close fellowship with our Lord, and in fact
your life would cause your brother to stumble, you can repent and follow our
Lord. Determine to set aside special
time each day to spend in fellowship with our Lord, seeking His face, seeking
to know Him more. As you determine to do
that, you’ll become closer and closer to our Lord, and you’ll more and more
shun the things of the world. You’ll
grow to want more and more of Him, and you’ll see and feel His hand of guidance
and protection more and more on your life and your children’s lives.
Dear Lord, I pray You
would daily use my every member to Your service. Lord, may Your Light always shine through me
for all the world to see. May I be as a
puppet with You, Lord Jesus, the puppeteer and the ventriloquist, ever using me
and speaking only positive words of edification through me. May You convict any “Sunday morning
Christians”, and may they begin to turn to You every day and seek a close
personal relationship with You daily.
All these things I ask in Jesus’ most precious holy name. Amen.
Written by Donna Shea
