You are traveling in a mundane dimension. A dimension of familiar sights, sounds and like minds. A journey into a colorless land whose boundaries require no imagination. Your next stop, The Comfort Zone.
The Comfort Zone may be one of most unsatisfying places in the world. What happens in The Comfort Zone? NOTHING!
No adventure, no excitement, no anticipation... no meaning. Just routine.
Not much spiritual growth takes place in The Comfort Zone, in fact, spiritual growth is stunted and hindered. The Comfort Zone is a premature destination that ruins a wondrous journey God has mapped out for you.
Actively serving God is an adventure. Everyone loves Indiana Jones. Had Indiana Jones remained in the classroom merely talking about searching for hidden treasure, no one would even know who he was. Indiana Jones left the confines of safety and comfort to pursue his passion and literally saved the world from Nazis. Yes, I know Indiana Jones is not a real guy, but the concept is true for all of us, we can sit in the pew and learn about what it means to serve God or we can get out and actually serve.
What good is learning if the learning is never applied? What credibility as a teacher of the Word do I have if I only instruct others how to serve God and never actually get off my hind end and do it?
A few years ago, I was dragged, kicking and screaming from my comfort zone. I had carved a nice little den for myself where I felt insulated and secure. I served God within the confines of established Christianity and just told myself, over and over, "my ministry is to equip the saints for works of service."
Easy, just give me a classroom or a living room and a couple of people wanting to learn the Bible and I was good to go! I was rotting away, marking time, waiting for... I don't even know. I never realized why I never progressed past a certain level of spiritual growth.
I stopped growing because I stopped allowing God to stretch me. I insulated myself inside my little Christian bubble.
If you are feeling frustrated with your Christian growth, you are probably rotting away in your comfort zone, also known as the serving free zone.
Not everyone is called to be an evangelist in the strictest sense of the word. Not everyone is equipped to strike up meaningful, life changing conversations in a grocery line or a doctor's waiting room. The ability to do that is a special gift from God. Everyone is, however, called to outreach to the lost in some form or fashion.
If no aspect of your life, even indirectly, supports outreach to the lost, you are missing out on a major component of the Christian faith. Chances are, you will never reach your full potential as a servant of Christ.
Just as every army has front line soldiers, every army has a vast support staff which is vital to the mission. I am blessed to be part of a ministry actively serving the homeless. Within this ministry, in addition to those who come out to the streets, we have a vast support of prayer warriors, those called to provide supplies and financial support, and those who spread the word about what we are doing. Each component is essential to the execution of the mission.
If you are dissatisfied, it is because you are rotting away in your comfort zone and not fulfilling your God ordained destiny. The command to "go and make disciples" did not end with the last martyred Apostle.
If you are not actively serving God according to your designed purpose, you are trapped in The Comfort Zone, missing out on true satisfaction, joy and peace.
God has blessed you with a unique personality and abilities that are essential components to the Great Commission. By rotting away in The Comfort Zone, you are not only robbing yourself of blessings, you are robbing those whom you were designed to serve and serve with.
James 1:22 - Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
We are designed by God to serve, to do , to function as a unit. This cannot happen in The Comfort Zone. Get up and go!
Now, go live as Christ... and give the devil hell!!
"Hello Darkness my old friend, I've come to talk to you again..." - Paul Simon
What happens, when God's children, children of the light, are drawn to the darkness? How can this even be?
As one who has wrapped himself in darkness as a cloak, I understand how something which promises comfort quickly becomes a straight jacket. Satan's design is to isolate us from the pack and leave us vulnerable. Satan has lost your soul, believer, so he desires to destroy you and your calling.
Every so often, I get the feeling of being disconnected from God. Discouragement leads to withdrawal, withdrawal leads to isolation and isolation leads to vulnerability to the lies of the enemy. There were times I would go months with little or no social interaction.
I recall, being in the midst of active ministry, relating to Christopher Walken's character in the film Prophecy when he, an angel, lamented, "He doesn't talk to me anymore" The thing about feeling disconnected and isolated is God never moved, God never hid Himself, and God never stopped speaking, I stopped listening, trading the light of God for the darkness of self.
Like Adam, fruitlessly hiding in the Garden, I thought I could avoid God's attention. According to Genesis, God was in the habit of visiting Adam in the Garden of Eden. Adam, ashamed of his sin, attempted to hide himself from God. Notice, God was right where He always had been, it was Adam who moved, it was Adam who hid.
In dark times, I enjoyed feeling sorry for myself and embraced my own shadow. My life seemed to cycle through spiritual ups and downs, where I would have amazing moments with God and slowly slip back into a spiritual slump.
If this sounds familiar to you, know that you are not a hopeless cause or too far gone for God to draw you back. Though the darkness beckons and draws you promising refuge, the refuge becomes a prison. God offers freedom from the darkness.
One of Satan's great lies is discouragement. Even the superstars of scripture were susceptible to discouragement. King David, arguably the most victorious king, suffered bouts of discouragement and darkness. Major prophets like Jeremiah and Elijah did as well. Jeremiah even wrote a book called Lamentations! Go read Solomon's opus, Ecclesiastes and you will realize no one is immune.
What is the remedy? There is no magic pill that will instantly transport you out of the darkness. Steadfastness, prayer and honest fellowship are necessary factors to breaking free. Recognizing, as the Christ centered metal band Place of Skulls puts it: The Black Is Never Far, helps you avoid the trap.
Darkness has always, and still calls to me and has been a false place of comfort and refuge, even as it hindered my ability to lead my family in the ways of righteousness.
As long as my eyes were on me and my circumstances, as long as my heart was set on my desires, I cycled through one spiritual roller coaster after another.
God knows the darkness lurking in the hearts of men. God understands the enemy, Satan, comes to kill, steal and destroy. Satan who disguises himself as an angel of light, offering us darkness packaged as light and freedom. Satan's bogus gift to us is hopelessness and despair
Scripture tells us, 1 John 1:7 - But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
God calls us to walk in the light because He knows our penchant for the dark. In the dark is isolation, fear and confusion. This is the perfect place for the mortal enemy of our soul to lead us in order to destroy us. This is why the Apostle Paul asked the Corinthian church, "what fellowship has light with darkness?"
Scripture tells us: 1 John 1:5 - God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. In God, through Christ, we can escape the darkness and drive it out. Fellowship with other believers, serving with purpose according to your design ( for more about that CLICK HERE ) and keeping your eyes focused on God will not only help you avoid the siren song of darkness but help lead you out of the suffocating blackness, as well.
Satan is the father of lies and the peddler of darkness. If you hear the deceptive call of darkness, as I do, you know how appealing it can be, if you embrace the offer of comfort in isolation, as I have, you know what kind of debilitating prison the darkness can become. Scripture tells us, if we submit to God and resist the devil, he will flee from us.
The light of God can and will, not only chase away darkness, but extinguish it as well. Jesus calls us to an abundant life. Just as important as repentance, acceptance of God's love and forgiveness are fundamentally key to freedom. God loves you, nothing you have done or has been done to you, can separate you from the love of God. Accept God's love and forgiveness, know that when your heart condemns you, God is greater than your heart and Jesus died for and cleansed you from all condemnation, according to Romans 8:1.
Yes, for some, the black is never far, and darkness does call like an old friend, only to envelope those who heed the call in the deafening sounds of silence, but we are victorious in Christ and His light can and will extinguish the darkness. Embrace the light and watch the darkness fade away.
Now, go live as Christ... and give the devil hell!
Ok, so now, you are a born again believer, what's next? Why, conforming to the standards of your local congregation, silly. You will be instructed on all the important things pertaining to your new, or renewed Christian faith. You will learn, for instance, what style of clothing is acceptable, what type music is approved, the proper hairstyles and all the places and people types you should avoid. If you work very hard, you too can become a perfect clone, protected from all the evils of the outside world. In fact, if you follow all the rules and make all the necessary changes, you and your whole family can become totally insulated from all contact and tainting of unbelievers - isn't that exciting?
Cue the loud sound of screeching brakes..
When Jesus walked the sands of Israel, this type of religious hypocrisy was the norm and 2000 years later not much has changed. Jesus was accused of being a glutton, a drunkard and a friend of sinners. How does a perfect and righteous man get labeled with such ignanamous titles? Obviously, Jesus was none of those things (ok, maybe He was a friend of sinners, but only to tell them "go and sin no more") yet, something about the way He lived His life caused the religious crowd to disparage Him.
Jesus refused to conform to political correctness, nor did He allow the traditions of man to influence His lifestyle and ministry. Jesus was God, clearly. Not only does the Gospel of John demonstrate this in the very first chapter, but the Old Testament reveals the Messiah would be God CLICK HERE to read my post Yehovah Yeshua. In addition to being God, Jesus was a man who experienced life like all men do, He had a personality and style influenced by His life experiences.
DO NOT ALLOW THE WHIMS OF MEN INTERFERE WITH YOUR GROWTH
Guess what, you too have a personality and style influenced by your life experience. The life you have lived has helped shape who you are today. Tough things you have gone through and difficult situations you have faced, along with victories and high points have all played a role in the person you are. God looks at the person you are and He loves you. You have a unique style and way of viewing life formed by your experiences. God has allowed you to become who you are and will use you within your uniqueness.
This is not to say God excuses sin or harmful behavior. Those things must change as we grow in our faith. God wants to change your heart and lead you to obedience while allowing you to minister according to your personality. As you grow and pursue the righteousness of Christ, you will change inwardly. The trap you must avoid is allowing the rules of men to interfere with the work God is doing in you.
For most of my adult life, I have looked and dressed in a certain manner. For 3 of the last 5 years, I attempted to conform to a certain image. I "cleaned up" my appearance and dressed more "professionally" and felt like a fish out of water. I literally wanted to punch every mirror. Finally, about 2 years ago, I came to a place where I could hear God's voice tell me, "be who you are." By being true to who God has allowed me to become, I am able to serve Him according to my design. Do I still need to grow and allow God to prune sin out of my life? You bet. The sanctification process goes on until we die.
So many times well meaning believers want to impose rules, not found in scripture, to help you in your spiritual growth. Maybe God does want to change many things about you, but that is a willing partnership between you and God. True spiritual change takes place within and manifests outwardly. This is natural or organic change. Again, this does not apply to obvious sin or destructive behavior. We are beholden to point these out to one another as part of healthy accountability.
IS WHATEVER I DO NOT LIKE SIN?
I have to be careful not to allow my preferences to define sin. I personally do not care for Rap music. Rap, in and of itself is not evil, just as Metal in and of itself is not evil. I have met believers who will adamantly declare drum beats are inherently evil. I have met believers who adamantly declare men wearing earrings is sin. If the Bible is the final authority and the Bible never once condemns drum beats and the Bible actually commands the piercing of men's ears under certain circumstances, drumbeats and earrings for men become a preference thing, not a sin thing. How about nose rings, pretty edgy in certain circles, right? Rebekah the mother of Jacob, had a nose ring...
BE WHO YOU ARE WITHIN THE FRAME WORK OF LOVING GOD WITH ALL YOU ARE
Often, society attempts to define sin by norms and mores, which leads to the same self righteous hypocrisy Jesus encountered within the so called religious community of His time. The danger in this is we know how to make the outside appear clean without ever having to deal with the inner sin. Your hairstyle manner of dress or taste in music genre does not define your spiritual maturity, your devotion to God and your pursuit of holiness defines your spiritual maturity. God has made you unique for a unique purpose. Be who God has allowed you to be within the framework of loving Him and loving others with all your being. Serve God according to your design.
Now, go live as Christ... and give the devil hell!
If you have ever set off fireworks, you know how disappointing it is when you light a fuse only to watch a little wisp of smoke drift off and no bang. It's a temporary let down when you realize you lit a dud. Out of a box of 100 firecrackers, there is bound to be 3 or 4 duds. Even though 97 exploded and brought satisfaction, those 3 that failed still let you down because you anticipated a certain outcome and nothing happened. After all, you did your part by lighting the fuse so, obviously, the maker of the firecracker failed you because you got no bang.
GOD CANNOT BE STRONG ARMED
Sometimes our spiritual life seems like that. You do some good deed, or you faithfully go to church every week and you pray for a certain situation anticipating a certain outcome and... nothing but a wisp of smoke. You think, I did everything right and still nothing happened, there must be something wrong with the maker... Though you may be careful to never verbalize such words, they sometimes float around in your mind. The problem is not with the Maker, the problem is with our perception and expectation. We sometimes get to a level of self righteousness where we falsely believe God somehow owes us something for being good. Or even worse, we perform solely for the purpose of demanding something from God. God cannot be manipulated, strong armed nor fooled into giving us what we want.
WE ARE NOT TRAINED CIRCUS ANIMALS
Many people fall away from faith because of faulty thinking. Once you believe God owes you something or you have somehow earned God's favor through good behavior, you have failed Theology 101. If your obedience to God is motivated by what you can get from God you have reduced yourself to the level of a trained seal clamoring for a fish or a poodle jumping through a hoop of fire for yummy dog treat. We are not trained circus animals, we are children of the Living God, created in His image.
OBEDIENCE OUT OF FEAR IS MISPLACED
Another trap to avoid is obedience out of fear. This is not the "Fear of the Lord is beginning of wisdom" kind of fear, this is the, if I step out of line, God will whack me kind of fear. This fear is an unhealthy fear that reduces God to an angry control freak who looks for opportunities to inflict pain and retribution on His wayward children. The scriptures tell us God takes no pleasure in the destruction of the wicked. If anyone deserved to get a whack it was Adam in the Garden of Eden. Adam sinned and then tried to hide from God. God did not yank him out of the bushes by his hair and beat him, instead God called out to him and covered his nakedness. Yes, there was the whole curse thing, because there are consequences for bad behavior, but even in the midst of consequence, God demonstrated mercy, grace and love.
GOD IS NEITHER A GENIE NOR AN OGRE
God's nature is revealed to us in scripture. He is neither a Genie we can call upon to grant us our wishes nor is He an ogre angrily awaiting our failure so He can gleefully inflict pain and suffering. God is a loving father who desires fellowship with His children. Yes, obedience leads to blessing, but on His terms and determination, not our whims. Yes, disobedience leads to discipline, as scripture reminds us God disciplines the ones He loves, however, Godly discipline is designed to correct bad behavior and bring restoration.
OBEDIENCE BECOMES WHO WE ARE NOT WHAT WE DO
When we begin to see God as He truly is, obedience becomes part of who we are, not merely something we do. If you love someone, you want to please them. Therefore, if you love God... well you get the idea. God desires a relationship that is more than you simply following a set of rules, God desires the pleasure of your company because He loves you. Jesus told us His yoke was easy and His burden light because the commands of God are designed for our own protection and benefit. Our disobedience breaks fellowship, our repentance restores fellowship. In the midst of all that, our position in Christ remains secure.
Do not be discouraged when God tells you no. God is not beholden to your behavior or religious practice, He is beholden to His own sovereignty and holiness. When God says no, it is for your good. Rejoice in the knowledge He loves you enough to tell you no.
Now, go live as Christ... and give the devil hell!
I am often amazed by the design and symmetry of creation! The earth, moon, and sun, all working together with the precision of a Swiss clock. Last year, I was fortunate enough to witness a total eclipse of the sun. (didn't even need to fly to Nova Scotia) Millions of Americans were able to witness this extremely rare event. Did you ever stop to think - how is it the moon is a perfect fit for the sun during an eclipse? If you have ever seen a total solar eclipse, the moon appears the same size as the sun and covers the sun without any overhang from either celestial body.
The moon happens to be 1/400 the size of the sun. The moon also happens to be 1/400 the distance from earth as the sun. So how did this amazing phenomenon take place? The two prevailing ideas from science are the Capture theory and the Giant Impact Hypothesis. The Capture Theory postulates the moon was flying through space, minding it's own business, when suddenly, Earth captured it in it's gravity. How exciting, and fortunate, that a celestial body sooo beneficial to earth (governs tides, believed to govern seasons by holding Earth in it's axis), arguably necessary for life to exist on Earth, just happened to get captured. It's almost like the Earth knew!
The Giant Impact Hypothesis states our planet was impacted by something about the size of Mars and the impact was so great the moon popped out of the earth and flew into space. This is what scientists currently believe! So, in a effort explain the existence of the moon without the Creator, science has postulated the earth gave birth to the moon after colliding with another planet.
Psalm 191:1 - The heavens declare the glory of God, The skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day, they pour out speech, and night after night, they reveal knowledge
Precision and design is why the moon makes monkeys out of evolutionists. Evolutionists would have us believe that an object 1/400 the size of the sun, accidently popped out of the earth and shot out into space until it reached 1/400 the distance to the sun and locked into orbit. Scientists would also have us to believe this cataclysmic accident was necessary or life to have evolved on Earth.
The Bible tells us, in Genesis, God created the moon on the 4th day of creation. God gave us the moon as a lesser light to govern the night and to mark times and seasons. The intricate details in the relation of the earth, sun and moon suggest intent which demands a creator. Aside from the 1/400 thing noted earlier, there is an even more astounding mathematical fact: the circumference of the sun is equal to the circumference of the earth multiplied by the circumference of the moon. Once again, a mathematical wonder that defies chance.
When studying the universe, the imprint of design and intention is undeniable. This is only one of millions of examples of symmetry and detail that cannot be denied. The Bible tells us, "the fool says in his heart, 'there is no God'." and only a fool could study the universe and not see the clear imprint of design. Where there is design, there must be a designer.
The next time you see a full moon - keep in mind the care and detail that went into designing a world for you to not only live in but to have fellowship with the creator. Do not allow the foolishness of man's attempts to ignore God make a monkey out of you!
Now, go live as Christ ... and give the devil hell!
