Crazy Love - Excerpt about Lukewarm Christians

This profile of the lukewarm christian is not an all-inclusive definition of what it means to be a Christian, nor is it intended to be used as ammunition to judge your fellow believers' salvation. Instead, as 2 Corinthians 13:5 says, it is a call to "examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves." 





Lukewarm People attend church fairly regularly. It is what is expected of them, what they believe "good Christians" do, so they go.    (Isaiah 29:13)

Lukewarm People give money to charity and to the church, as long as it doesn't impinge on their standard of living. If they have a little extra and it is easy and safe to give, to do so. After all, God loves a cheerful giver, right?  (see http://takeupyourcross11.blogspot.com/2011/04/why-not-give-it-up-i-dont-really-like.html)    

Lukewarm People tend to choose what is popular over what is right when in conflict. They desire to fit in both at church and outside the church; they care more about what people think than what God thinks.
(Revelation 3:1; Matthew 23:5-7)

Lukewarm People don't really want to be saved from their sin. They want only to be saved from the penalty of their sin. They don't genuinely hate sing and aren't truly sorry for it, they're merely sorry because God is going to punish them. (Romans 6:1-2)


Lukewarm People rarely share their faith with their neighbors, coworkers, or friends. They don't wanna be rejected, or make people feel uncomfortable.   (Matthew 10:32-33)


Lukewarm People gauge their morality or "goodness" by comparing themselves to the secular world. They feel satisfied that while they aren't as hard-core for Jesus as so-and-so, they are nowhere as horrible as the guy down the street. (Luke 18:11-12)


Lukewarm People say they love Jesus, and He is indeed a part of their lives. But only a part. He isn't allowed to control their lives. 


Lukewarm People feel secure because they attend church, made a profession of faith at age 12, were baptized, come from a Christian family, vote Republican, or live in America. (Matthew 7:21)




So basically the point behind this whole post is to point out some traits of a lukewarm Christian.  When I read this section of the book, every time I got to an example I would read it then ask myself if I'm that way. Thankfully I can answer "no" on pretty much all of them, but once in awhile I can catch myself acting like this.  Can't we all? 


Challenge: Re-read this and ask yourself at every key point, "am I like that?"  "Do I do that?"   You may be surprised at the answer.  If you answer yes to any of them, THAT'S OKAY!!!  You can ask God to CHANGE you and change your heart. He will help you, because He doesn't want to spit you out of His mouth.  ("So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth." - Revelation 3:16)


Please really consider this, because it could make the difference in your life.  Do you want to live for Jesus with everything, or do you want to be a person that doesn't bother. The person who doesn't want to rock the boat. Here's what I say..... ROCK THE DARN BOAT! Be a disciple of Jesus!!


God bless, and blog soon






(I do not own any rights to the book Crazy Love or any of it's content. The excerpt has been slightly edited so as to not copy directly from the book. Please go to http://crazylovebook.com/ for more information.) 

Joy and Happiness. You mean there's a difference?!

So contrary to popular belief, there IS a difference between Joy and Happiness!  Lets start out with what "happiness" is.

Happiness: Is dependent on our outward circumstances and doesn't last. Happiness comes and goes!! We can't be happy all the time because our circumstances aren't always worthy of the happy feeling.  Say for instance, if I won the million dollar lottery, I would have happiness. But if my dog died, I can't say I'd be happy because I definitely wouldn't be! 

Joy:  Is based upon an inward peace that isn't dependent on our outward circumstances.  Joy is constant!! It should never leave because we have an inward peace telling us that God is with us, no matter what happens to us on the outside.  If I won the million dollar lottery, I can have joy through that, and if my dog dies, yes I'll be so upset! But I can still have a joy that never leaves because it isn't based upon what happens to me. It's based upon my relationship with Jesus Christ, who will never leave my side. 

Sometimes what happens to us is terrible, and you think you'll never ever be happy again. Well, we need to learn to have Joy in our lives, so that we can sing through the storm. We can praise God's name through the hurricane, so we can laugh through the tears.  Remember in my last post the acronym for Joy?

J - Jesus

O - Others

Y - You

If we line that up in our hearts like that, and start serving Jesus, then others, then ourselves, then we can attain that precious joy that sticks with us through the hurt and pain.  

I don't want to over-stress this issue, but please just go back and re-read those definitions one more time.  Then ask yourself if you have that joy, or if you're just settling with happiness?

Here are some encouraging verses to help you through your walk of discovering pure and true joy:

Habakkuk 3:18 (NASB) - Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. 

John 15:11 (NASB) - These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

Psalm 33:21 (NASB) - For our heart rejoices in Him, Because we trust in His holy name.

Isaiah 61:10 (NASB) - I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness...

I hope and pray this has shown you the difference, because it's important we know this!! Jesus wants us to have happiness, and to be glad, but more than that He wants us to have true, everlasting Joy. 

God bless, and blog soon

Count it all joy?

Count it ALL joy?

Yes.

Let me elaborate. Recently I had stood up and spoken out against abortion, and had many people agree and support me, along with a few who thought I was crazy for my stance on it. After I had made some good points supporting my argument, they decided to act childish and call me names, "evangelical bible thumper" being one of them. persecution.   Well, it hurt! I called up on my friends and vented the situation, and the advice they gave me helped my perspective. Being called an "evangelical bible thumper" is actually a compliment! Weird right? But Jesus said: "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials"  (meaning persecution) in James 1:2.       Jesus is saying here that we need to not worry and be let down when people say things or try to hurt us, because it means we're doing something right. It means we're making an impact on people, whether they like it or not.  


Key Word: when - Jesus said when you fall into various trials, not IF.  We know we are going to have troubles and trials and persecutions when we follow Jesus, so He wrote this verse to comfort us, saying He knows it too, but He also knows that "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" Philippians 4:13.   


1 Peter 2:19-22 My friend that gave me the advice actually just sent me these verses as I'm typing, and they're SO encouraging! It just goes to show that Christ suffered and endured much worse, so can't I or you suffer for His sake?!  We owe everything to Him, so we should be living as an example of His love, even if we endure some hardship. He's worth it. 


One last thing I've been struggling with:  making a difference.  I put myself in a place that I knew was going to be hard, but I was feeling called there, and I needed to be a witness and shining light. I thought "if only one person shows a difference, or turns to Christ, then it'll be worth it."  Well, no one has.  Sure, I've had many people ask me questions..... "why are you a virgin?"  "why are you so nice?"  "why do you wear a purity ring?"  and questions like that. But no one has really asked me about my relationship with God, and it's really discouraging me.  But that same friend I told you I called earlier, also gave me some huge wisdom, saying:  "We're the seed sower, but God is the one who waters the seed and grows it".     Meaning that we may not always see the fruit of our labor, (we may not always see people change) but it's our job as a christian to sow those seeds for Jesus to water and grow. 


Speaking of seeds..... WE HAVE A CHOICE! Is the seed we sow good seed, or bad, discouraging seed?  I sure hope it's good seed if we're calling ourselves christian, we must make a positive impact, not a bad impact. Pray about the type of seed you're sowing to others around you. 


As I finish, just remember this one thing....God hates when you go through trials, but it's going to happen so is your attitude "woe-is-me" or is your attitude full of joy?


Check back soon for the next post, which will explain the difference between joy and happiness.




God bless, and blog soon.

Am I beautiful?

 I think the age old question is: "Am I beautiful? really beautiful?"

The answer is: yes. 

I don't care what you think, God has made you BEAUTIFUL because He made you the way He wanted. 

Lately I've been really struggling with this concept, I haven't believed that I'm beautiful.  But I know that's just self-pity and I need to stop.  It's not healthy to be constantly criticizing yourself about your looks!  

I took the "No Mirror for a Week" Challenge, and it CHANGED MY LIFE!!   Go check it out using the link at the bottom of the page.
(and while you're there, check out her website. She's a great role-model)

Ever since that challenge, I haven't worn eye-liner, and I've used a lot less mascara. I don't look in the mirror as much, and when I do I don't stand there starting at myself like I used to. I've started caring about things that matter a lot more than what I look like...I've started caring about what my inside looks like. 

I think true beauty comes from within, from the heart. In Proverbs 31 it states "beauty is vain"  (hence my twitter name, and the whole motto for Take Up Your Cross). Outside prettiness with fade away, but inside beauty will be remembered. It will be admired.  

Which leads me to the next topic.  Guys. 

I could spend all day on guys! But for now, here's the bottom line. True God loving, christian guys aren't going to love you for your outward appearance. They will love you for how much you love God, for how much you love people. For how gorgeous you are on the inside.  Crazy right?! 

So, you might ask yourself,  "how do I get beautiful on the inside then?"  Let me tell you.  You get JOY. 

J - Jesus

O- Others

Y - You

You put Jesus first in your life, and stop caring about what other people think of you!! 

Then, you put Others second, and learn to serve the way Jesus served people. And NOT for recognition. Do it because you know it's right.  and lastly, and I do mean lastly, put yourself.  Yes, you need to take care of yourself and your body, but you shouldn't be so concerned with how you look that you aren't putting J and O first!!   You JOY should not look like YOJ.  Just saying. 

Learn to think of yourself as beautiful, but don't get wrapped up in it. There's a lot more important things in life to be thinking about.  I hope this helped you. Remember, true beauty comes from the inside, and THEN it shows on your face!  If you have it inside first, your face will start to glow with happiness, and love, and people are going to notice that more than what your eyes, lips, or nose look like. Trust me. 

http://www.projectinspired.com/christian-challenge-no-mirror-for-a-week-by-pi-angel-jessinia/

God bless, and blog soon