A Live Oak, depending on the size, may have thousands or even millions of little leaves and each spring they cover the ground with a dense layer of leaf litter, which can make an ideal breeding spot for mosquitoes. I really hate mosquitoes. They are pests but unlike scorpions, wasps, centipedes, crotches, and fire ants they seem to hunt down trouble. Those little blood-sucking kamikazes instantly irritate me when they fly near my ears and if one sneaks into my bedroom and buzzes near my head…forget. I will hunt it down and squish it.
So needless to say, to cut down on these pests at the church, I use the blower and lawnmower to mulch up the live oak leaves.
I was blowing a good 5 to 6 inch layer of spent oak leaves into a pile from around the youth buildings when God showed me something. Just under the boardwalk, the blower uncovered a massive rock.
The majority of the rock was still underground but some of the top proportion was now exposed. The exposed part runs 8 or 9 feet long and looking at it's smooth surface it had to be part of stream at some time in it’s life.
God then showed me something “else” about the rock. He showed me that the rock represents Him and His Son (Jesus Christ). People are so lost in the leaf litter of life that they either bury the experience of God in their everyday lives or don’t even realize He is there because he has either been forgotten or covered up by the foolish ideas and notions of the world. And it is not just people of the world but also people in the church.
It can be a REAL problem in the church. People can get so focused on time, schedules, this song and that song, this activity and that activity, this program and that program that there is no room left for God. Leaf litter only makes a church dead and impersonal. I call it a “church machine” because it no longer is in touch with God. A church is rendered useless when it is just run by human motives, ideals, thoughts, and understandings. A church filled with leaf litter is religious and religion may look like it is going somewhere but it is going no where because it only deals with customs, rituals and head knowledge and not Holy Spirit dealings and heart knowledge.
Did Jesus not say, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth? He will not be presenting his own ideas; he will be telling you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by revealing to you whatever he receives from me. All that the Father has is mine; this is what I mean when I say that the Spirit will reveal to you whatever he receives from me.” (John 16:12)
God the Father says “And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their hearts of stone and give them tender hearts instead, so they will obey my laws and regulations.” (Ezekiel 11:19)
Blowing the trumpet from the watch tower.
Some churches however have not just created their own leaf litter problems but have brought the leaf litter from the world and dumped into the church.
The church always has to deal with worldly matters but when the church deliberately disobeys God’s standards, laws and regulations and embraces standards of the world over what God has said, it no longer represents God or wants to hear from God.
If the worldly ideals, matters and status matter more then God to a person/or church how can God be seen in that person and/or congregation? God is talking to the legalist too! If you only enforce laws and regulations but God is not involved then you have only become religious and religion leaves God out of the process and equation.
If the church or individual doesn’t believe in absolute truth in the bible how can they be empowered to do God’s will? You have not only short changed yourselves but God as well.
If the Word of God is twisted and changed to resemble more the ideals of world - then what God says and Jesus says in red print, whom does it really represent?
If money and prosperity is emphasized over living right and doing God’s will, there is a problem.
If the giftings of the Holy Spirit are NOT embraced or encouraged because it makes certain individuals uncomfortable, what has the church done?
What would God say to a church that allows a gay and/or lesbian pastor/ teacher to preach to His people?
What would God say to individuals in a church that hate, judge, gossip, are unforgiving and sue one another?
What would God say to individuals who don't give 10 percent of their earnings to God to help pay for all the utility bills, missionary support, Sunday school materials, food pantry, maintenance and repairs on the church building, and your pastor's income? You hold on to your money like it is really yours but is it? Who gave you that job? Who gave you the ability and knowledge to do your job well? You hold onto that money because of some fear or future want or need but you don't realize God fulfills every want and need at just the right time. Be faithful and give that 10 percent and God will honor that.
Some churches have so much leaf litter that they have made quite the pest problem and resemble more the world then servants for God … and then they wonder why they don’t hear or experience God? Would God show himself where He isn’t welcomed?
(Of course, He does show up sometimes and it’s a real reawakening. And sometimes He lets the church fall apart so they will repentant and come back to Him. And yes He does allow the weeds and wheat to grow together but they won't end up in the same place at harvest time.)
An individual or a church cannot serve two masters and these are huge warning signs.
I plead with you the Christian church. Just look at what Jesus says to the churches in Revelation Chapter 2, 3 and 4. "Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the Churches." Ask God to help you examine yourselves.
For the people lost in this world, the leaf litter is upholding the values and ideals of the world. They can’t see God because the world and all it’s allures blind them. They are slaves to a world that says “I” or “ME” are more important then anyone else. They react and do things merely by human instinct because they don’t know God and/or have never been shown God. God hasn’t touched their heart… YET. These people have no truth to stand on so they go with what the rest of this world wants to believe. God to them is whatever they decide they want Him to be, -certainly not a God that wants His people to uphold His morals, laws and regulations. They can only see that kind of God as a controlling and convicting God but if they only knew God, they would see why He made such morals, laws and regulations in the first place.
(He made such morals, laws, and regulations because He didn’t want His beloved creation to destroy it’s self.)
They believe in a god of love and a god that sends nobody to hell… and that is true. God is a God of love and He sends no one to hell. Of course God’s love isn’t made up of what we consider or try to manipulate or understand love to be. God’s love is Holy, unrestricted, and unselfish. It is righteous, sinless, and quick to save. And God sends nobody to hell.
(The devil and his army have whispered this particle truth to thousands, but they forgot to tell these precious individuals the ENTIRE truth.)
The truth is “God doesn’t send people to hell because they DO that to THEMSELVES because they do not want to believe in Jesus Christ, who took the punishment for our sins and they choose not to believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.”
These poor souls choose to continue and practice sin and won’t come to Jesus to save them. They do not realize they were made for Jesus Christ not for the ways of the world. That is why every time a person tries to find fulfillment in the things (the leaf litter) of the world they are left unsatisfied. The leaf litter of the world has covered their eyes and hears so they cannot see the Rock of Salvation (Jesus Christ). They are too busy wondering why they have all these pest problems to seek the solution, which is Jesus Christ.
To truly be the body of Christ and be free we must blow away the leaf litter from our lives so we can truly see God and what truly matters in life. To seek God’s face, to get right before God, to be filled and empowered by God’s Holy Spirit, to read His Word, love one another, and to reach out to those who don’t know Jesus Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment